Epaggelia

At the risk of sounding overly critical and unnecessarily negative, I think our spiritual maturity is worth considering an observation from a study in Luke’s writings, His Gospel and the Acts. I found a real contrast in the way Luke uses the word “condemn”. In the Gospel of Luke, he quotes Jesus using this word 24 times, yet as Luke writes the book of Acts, he uses it only once. This word obviously has a priority in the vocabulary of Jesus Himself!  It is a strong word, meaning, To destroy, it is not simply pronouncing a negative opinion on someone, or labeling property unfit for residency. To condemn is to inflict death, or assassinate a person; for a vegetable, it is to cut off the life source and be left to rot. It is the action of executing a sentence, and Jesus uses it a lot in the gospel of Luke, It also appears quite often in Matthew!

Consider the context of Matthew 10:24-34 letting people know that even Christians who are being quiet about Jesus and God’s love, are more valuable than many sparrows. So His question is why would we refrain from letting people know how valuable we are to Him? Especially when we are facing trials, mockery, friction or stark persecution, risking death.

Sometimes we have good reason to be scared to death, such as when we have a scary accident & are in horrible pain that is in no way shape or form related to how we share our faith, or behave as a Christian. However, within the Christian’s life, our opportunities to speak about Jesus, or act like Jesus, should never be deterred by fear of what other people might think or do to us. When the disciples feared for their life on a boat in a storm, they had already seen him work miracles and heard his command to cross the lake, Mt. 8:18. What could stop that from happening? But the storm deterred them from believing the presence of Christ could help them do the job He gave them to do. So they came and woke him up saying, “Lord, save us! We are about to die!” (Mat 8:25) When the disciples feared for their life, Jesus rebuked the storm and went on to teach his disciples that their fear was based on a lack of faith. They struggled to believe in God’s power to save them through a storm in His work to cross a lake! If they do not have that kind of faith, and show it, then they will not grow as Christians, if they live in fear of this world, they will become frustrated with God, instead of being granted strength to grow their faith and do the work God is giving them. This lack of faith is why Judas Iscariot ended up being a loser and the rest of his closest disciples became apostles! (John 17:12)

The example of a growing Christian, saved by grace, can be seen in the Apostle Paul being converted from the old Saul he was. Paul was saved in more than one way, (2nd Cor. 11:23), when he could have been killed just once. But because of his growing faith in the powerful loving care of God in Jesus Christ, he was saved (1st Cor. 9:27) No Christian should view themselves as a ‘reject’ in the eyes of Christ. It is only outside of Christ that we face rejection because of our sin, not our self, we, in and of our selves, our very being, is so valuable to God. Never forget what James says, “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:12) This is one of the many ways, a Christian can prevent losing our sure salvation. Believe and share the belief that Christ can save us from the wrath of God against our sin that we become so quickly identified and adversely affected by sin’s deceptive nature. It is wise for us, from time to time, to keep fresh in our mind and heart, how often Jesus used the word “Condemn”, God is able to do that! God is love, and very rich in mercy, but do we take advantage of his grace, and neglect the sharing of our faith in His love? James says, that for him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him, it is sin.”, James 4:17. We certainly do not want to continue in that way of thinking. We sure don’t want to live that habitually. The devil is sly and can deceptively distract us on a detour from the straight & narrow path Jesus wants us to walk on. Live right in His sight and share your faith in Him.

In this old creation, we call the cosmos, God made Adam as the first in humanity. Now, humanity has seen a new creation. His name is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Jesus is the reality of what God’s image really is. Adam was only a shadow of His image, he was given a soul when God breathed life into him and placed him in the garden of Eden. The first Adam brought death to humanity, the second ‘Adam’ brings life to this day, 1st Corinthians 15:23. Jesus is the unique Son of God, in the sense that He perfectly revealed God to us, and was ushered into this world without the aid of any man, God’s Holy Spirit created His unique Son in the womb of a virgin. Mary is blessed above all women to have the strength to submit in this work of God. Christ is entitled The Son of God in becoming flesh from the Word of God in the beginning of our universe, John 1:1-14. The Word of God before we existed was actually God Himself before Adam was created, and at that time Adam was a shadow of a ‘son of God’, as Luke 3:38 describes him. Adam enjoys the privileged position of being the progenitor of the human race which God uses to bring in His perfect and unique Son. Everyone in Jesus Christ, spiritually, is an adopted son or daughter of God, Romans 8:15. It is interesting to note how Adam is described in Genesis 1:26-3:19, as a ruler and head of humanity, as he is given dominion, while at the same time, it was planned before the foundation of the world, that God would bring Jesus into the world and establish dominion in a spiritual Kingdom in this world, Matthew 1:16-17. The Apostle Paul actually entitles Jesus as a very real King in 1st Timothy 6:14-15. His domain in His dominion still reigns to this day in the hearts of men & women by the millions, and is growing! You can see Jesus as the Head of the church in Colossians 1:18 and the head of his new creation in Romans 5:12-24, what a wonderful ruling Savior we have! The consequences of death which Adam brought to us, is in stark contrast to the consequences of life Jesus brings us, Genesis 3:16-19, and we see this explained so clearly in 1st Corinthians 15:20-49. Such an opposite negative act of Adam was committed in joining with his wife to rebel against God’s word, and eat the forbidden fruit, Genesis 3:6, yet, here we have Christ, joining with us, the bride of Christ as the church, to one day eat the fruit of the tree of life, Revelation 19:7-9, 22:1-2. Back in ancient days when Adam & Eve felt death approaching in their guilt & shame, God arrived and covered their nakedness with an animal’s skin, requiring it’s sacrifice, Genesis 3:21. We know Jesus is the Lamb of God, which was mocked, stripped, counted as a transgressor and slaughtered for our sins, Matthew 27:27-35. Never forget how God loves us, in providing a way to have our guilty sins covered up and washed away by blood & water, 1st Peter 3:21. The effect Adam had on his children’s fellowship with God was isolation & distance, instead of a loving care for each other. Humanity’s experience became full of hate & violence. Cain killed Abel and society grew so bad, God had to bring the flood in Noah’s day. However, in Christ, the effect on His siblings is redemptive and causes us to experience true life, an intimate, personal & public relationship with God. Humanity’s experience can be full of love & life, when we set our heart’s desires on the reality of how much greater Christ is, than Adam. Praise Him for ever!

Jesus said this first (Luke 18:1) Paul repeated it, we echo this, don’t stop praying! “You also must help us by prayer” (2nd Corinthians 1:11). Paul wrote to the Corinthians about his near-death experiences on his mission trip to Asia – and declared how God delivered him through their prayers. Prayer isn’t just something that helps us deal with our problems. It is necessary for God’s will to be shown on Earth. The New Testament takes us on a journey of commanded prayer. We are told to “pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) for workers to go into the harvest (Matthew 9:38). We are to pray in faith (Matthew 21:22) and while praying for strength to escape persecution (Luke 21:36) we will not enter into temptation (Luke 22:40). We are to pray constantly (Romans 12:12) and with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6) be devoted to prayer (Colossians 4:2), asking for doors of opportunity to be opened for sharing the good news of Christ (Colossians 4:3) with lost people that want to be found. We are to pray always (I Thessalonians 5:17) for those serving the church’s leadership roles (2Thessalonians 3:1) and for all people (I Timothy 2:1) especially those in high positions of power over the nations. Plead with confidence for God’s purpose to be accomplished in our life, in our neighborhood and indeed capitols all over the world. Do we really pray like this? When Christ returns, will he find this kind of faith anywhere on this earth? (Luke 18:8) I sure hope so, what about you? If not, you better start praying!

The Lord Jesus Christ has a brother named James, and he wrote an inspired fact, “…whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy” (James 4:4) Jesus reminds us that we are to pray for our enemies, not against them. The reason I’m writing this is to help us pray that God will give His enemies an open heart to receive His truth and put a desire in their heart to hate sin and love Him.

A politician by the name of Marco Rubio, has made clear publicly his views against homosexuals being given marriage status by the Government and this has resulted in a gross amount of anger from the LGBT movement around our nation. Even the support of “civil unions” as an alternative to homosexual marriage, for which President Obama advocated as recently as 2012, is now unacceptable. Why? Because many people sympathetic to the LGBT movement have promoted propaganda. Propaganda is, Webster says, a “widespread dissemination or promotion of particular ideas, doctrines, practices, etc., to further one’s own cause or to damage another one.”  Mr. Rubio’s perspective is perhaps colored by the fact that he is the U.S-born son of Cuban immigrants and has a realist perspective of what happens when people are attacked for their beliefs. Under Castro, both Christians and homosexuals were dehumanized and painfully persecuted to death.

Our nation has now arrived in the public dialogue about same-sex marriage with polarized views that quickly engender violent hate speech. There is no longer room to debate how it may impact society, families, children, or the legal rights of other citizens. Religious beliefs based on Scripture – which has been held for millennia by many different religions – are swept aside.The simple truth, say the propagandists, is that anyone who articulates opposition to gay marriage is guilty of hate speech. The only remaining question is to what degree they should be censured, silenced and prosecuted. And judging by the rapidly growing hostility toward Christianity, it’s going to be harsh.

I’m not sure about how I will vote next year, personally, I think Mr. Rubio is a bit too young and our nation needs a more mature man, but however we vote, I’m convinced, we should vote prayerfully. Pray for your enemies to be defined as God’s enemies in your own heart, and that they would love the truth and hate sin, not the sinner. God loves each and every one of us, friend & foe. But we must take a stand to speak the truth in love, so if you are praying for God’s enemies, you can with confidence, vote with a clear Christian conscience. For the remaining months, make a point of memorizing Matthew 5:44, and remember that the most loving act of faith you can express towards an enemy of God is to look them in the eye and tell them the truth about how much Christ loves them. He died for the sin they are trapped in, to be released.

Who do I really focus on when I worship? If we call our time together on Sunday a “worship service”, who are we serving with love? Isn’t love the heartbeat of worship?. If my focus is on human performance rather than on the good news of Christ, it is not worship of Christ. If anyone other than Jesus is receiving my heart’s applause, it is not God that I really worship. The Apostle Paul believed that a human heart could “see”, (Ephesians 1:18). When my heart is filled with gratitude, why can’t it applaud? Perhaps that is what is happening on the inside when we sing with grace in our heart (Colossians 3:16) while on the outside our tongues are singing out loud.

If my attention is on the good news, I’m headed the right direction, but if I end up loving the messenger instead of the author of the message, what was my attention really on? What message is the church offering the world? If a visitor is offered a call to feel good about their potential and self worth, did they hear Christ call them to carry a cross, or do we call them to have fun in His name? The living fact of the good news is this: Jesus went to the cross because of his love for our forgiveness of my so-called worldly fun. While he hung on the cross, the only entertainment was in the people who mocked him.

If the heart of worship service gives visitors the impression that we are fun-filled instead of Spirit-filled, what are we winning them over to? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world?  To holy living? To self-discipline? To love for Jesus Christ as our God or love of self-fulfillment?

A Company may celebrate its grand opening by giving prizes to the first 100 customers or awarding the one millionth customer many gifts. But have we ever given much thought for what will happen when the very last person on Earth comes to trust & obey Jesus as Lord and Savior? In that hour, Christ will come for His church. “And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). This will be more glorious than any one can imagine, the inheritance is larger than life and out of this world! But it is reserved exclusively for that very last person who was just added to the Church, belonging to Christ. Every faithful child of God from the beginning of Adam’s family to that very last person will inherit eternal glory. Then, for the rest of the story and everyone that does not belong to God in Jesus Christ, an awful judgment will follow…one in which everyone else meets condemnation & a fiery end to this life. The Apostle Paul makes it clear that those who do not believe will be punished “because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (II Thessalonians 2:10) It is necessary to examine our own heart. Have we really trusted in Christ’s promise to forgive and been born again by faith in His baptism? If not, now is the time. Do we feel the urgency to tell people about Christ and His love. Please prayerfully intercede for this society. God is still waiting for lost people to come to Him.