There are so many things that we, as Christians, hope for in life. We get very exited and pumped up about the manifestation, or even the possibility of the manifestation of those hopes. People shout, scream and clap at meetings when a healing is announced, or a job or career boost is announced. We get excited about new homes, relationships and graduate degrees. We get excited and pumped up about all sorts of things. And rightfully so. These are things we should get excited about. We should be glad and happy that prosperity has touched someone’s life. It’s alright to hope for these things in our own lives. What has bothered me for many years now about all of this is that, while the Church is getting pumped up about all of this temporary stuff, the Church doesn’t seem to get pumped up about Heaven anymore. I don’t see Christians getting pumped up about Heaven. That is strange to me.
We seem to spend all of our time hoping for things that Jesus never spent any particular amount of time talking about. But, we don’t spend anytime thinking about the only hope that He talked about all of the time. And indeed, the only hope that He gave His life for. Healing, prosperity, the solving of problems and such all existed before Jesus went to the cross. People were even raised from the dead before He went to the cross. So, obviously, He did not have to die for those things. The hope that He died for is something that could be fulfilled only by His death. If He thought it was worth dying for, why do we give it so little importance in our lives these days?
Let’s look at a few of the encouragements that the Word gives us concerning this hope. 1Pet. 3:15 is a good place to start. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” Peter admonishes us to know this hope so well, that we will always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks at any time. By the way, this is not a suggestion, but, rather a God inspired command. Be ready! We talk about everything else that is a part of salvation all of the time. We talk about healing, prosperity, getting over hurts and broken hearts. But we don’t talk about the main reason for salvation: Heaven. That is like watching a horse race, clearly seeing the winner and then constantly talking about the also-rans. We spend all of our time talking about who came in second, third and so on and never talk about the winner. That doesn’t make sense. Yet, that is exactly what the Church has been doing the past 20 years, talking about the also-rans.
“…that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”(Titus 3:7). “…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”(Titus 2:13). Eternal life and the appearing of Christ to lead us into eternal life…this is the hope that lives within us. This is the hope that brings the joy of expectation. We are heirs to Heaven. Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house where there are many mansions. I speculate that, while He is going to prepare a place for us collectively, He will also prepare a place for us individually. So, you can come to my place and enjoy my kind of groove and I can go to your place and enjoy your groove. Jesus knows and loves us that much. 1Pet. 1:3-4 tells us that this hope is in a heavenly inheritance that is incorruptible and will not fade away. How can we not get excited about Heaven?
“Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel , confirmed by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul…”(Heb. 6:17-19. The early Church laid hold of this hope during a time of great persecution. It was the anchor that held them steady in the sea of turmoil. It was this hope that enabled them to die terrible deaths for their faith and still sing praises to God in the midst of dying. It was this hope that the persecutors saw in the faces of the saints as they were killing them. This same hope caused the persecutors to knell down on the spot and accept the Lord. It was this hope that caused the Church to flourish against all odds. It is this hope and only this hope that will keep us focused today in the midst of all of the distractions. Again and again we spend all of our time talking about things that Jesus never talked about and we never talk about what He talked about all of the time. Romans 8:20-21 tells us that all of creation eagerly awaits its redemption along with ours. Even a blade of grass is smart enough to look forward to Heaven. Aren’t we at least as smart as a blade of grass?
“But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”(1Cor. 2:9). This one passage alone should be enough to get Christians exited about Heaven. Think about all of the great accomplishments of mankind just during your life time. The imagination and talents of man have taken us to the moon and to Mars and other areas of space. Great strides have been made in medicine, art, technology, you name it. And yet, with all that we have accomplished and with all that we can imagine, God tells us that we won’t even get close to what He has in store for us who love Him. If that doesn’t get you pumped up, I don’t know what will. God loves us and has great things in store for us. We should be continually looking forward to His plan for our lives. He created us to spend eternity with Him. That hasn’t changed.
I often hear ministers say dumb stuff like, “You can be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.” Did they forget that Christ was heavenly minded and that we have the “mind of Christ?” Or they say something like, “Don’t use your Christianity as just fire insurance to avoid hell and get to Heaven.” Did they forget that the premium paid for our “fire insurance” is the Blood of Christ?
God placed the hope for heaven within us to keep us on course spiritually. In the past few years, we have been working overtime to replace the “blessed hope” with all sorts of other hopes. This is why we have so many frustrated Christians in church today. They are spending all of their time looking forward to the wrong hopes. The hopes that take up all of their time are not designed to fulfill a life. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for. If this is true, then our faith can never be stronger than our hope. Our faith can never exceed the level of our hope. If every thing that we hope for is at eye level, then our faith will be very shallow. It is not until we take our hope to the throne of God that our faith becomes deep. In other words, the higher the hope, the deeper the faith. The Bible is filled with God’s plan for our eternity. I hope this brief message will encourage you to look further than these few passages that I have shared with you. Remember: Christ in us, the Hope of Glory!!!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Welcome To Sowing The Word Ministries
Thank you for allowing us to sow the Word of God into your life.
To The Death
In Luke 9:23, Jesus says that a person should take up his cross daily and follow Him. He also states that if a person loses his life for His sake, he will save it and if a person saves his life, he will lose it. Gaining the whole world and losing your soul is not a good choice.
In John 21:15-17, Jesus restores Peter and tells him how he is to serve Him. In verse 18, He tells Peter how he is going to die and glorify God through his death. Then in verse 19, He says to Peter, “Follow Me.” Peter followed.
In John 5:29, Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the “good” to life. The resurrection is spoken of many times in the Word. Paul dedicates the entire 15th chapter of 1Cor. to the resurrection. Jesus was resurrected from the dead. We will be resurrected in Christ. It is the foundation of our Christian faith.
It is because of his belief that the dead will rise in Christ that Peter followed Christ knowing that it would lead to his death. Through their belief in the resurrection, the martyrs went to their deaths singing praises to God rather than deny Christ. Belief in the resurrection of Christ and belief in the resurrection of those who follow Christ is the ultimate test of faith. When Jude exhorted us to “contend for the Faith,” the resurrection is what he was talking about. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. There is no reason to be a Christian without the resurrection.
Persecution has historically come upon Christians all over the world. Christians have been challenged to deny their faith or die. Have you considered which choice you would make if faced with that decision? If God wants you to glorify Him through your death as He did with Peter, will you be able to stand. Do you love God more than your own life? These are questions that Christians have always been faced with. In these days of only using our faith to seek blessings, healings, houses, cars, spouses, jobs, etc., we sometimes forget that we are called to a much higher standard of faith. Merely believing for God to deal with our issues in life is not a sustaining kind of faith. It is a self-centered faith not Christ centered.
The martyrs had to answer the question, “Will I die for my faith?” When I understood that, I had to ask myself the same question, “Will I die for my faith?” Do I believe in the resurrection enough to die for my faith? Taking it a step further, is my faith in the resurrection strong enough to allow my wife and children to die rather than deny Christ? This is what the martyrs faced. They not only gave their own lives for their faith, they watched their spouses and children being tortured and slaughtered before their eyes. Yet, they stood for Christ. As they died, parents encouraged children in Christ. Children encouraged parents, spouses encouraged spouses. They were able to do this because they knew through faith that they would see each other again in the resurrection.
I believe this strongly in the resurrection. It is the foundation of my faith. Everything else pales in comparison. Therefore, if I am determined to stand in the greatest of challenges, then there is nothing that can shake my faith. It always interested me that Paul ended his strongest statement on the resurrection with these words, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”(1Cor. 15:58.) 1Cor. 15 is the longest single chapter written by Paul and it is all dedicated to the resurrection. God wants us to understand the importance of it.
Now is the time to make up your mind where you stand concerning the resurrection. You can’t wait until you are faced with persecution or the threat of death. Determining to die for your faith in Christ will strengthen you to live for your faith in Christ no matter what circumstances arise. Paul, Peter, the rest of the apostles, Stephen, and countless others all thought it to be a blessing and a privilege to be chosen by God to share in the suffering of Christ even to the death. They knew, through faith, they would also share in His glorious resurrection.
Hebrews 11 tells us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for…” One of the things inherent in this thought is this: The level of your faith can never exceed the level of your hope. If everything you are hoping for is at eye level, then your faith will be very shallow. The higher the hope, the deeper the faith. The highest hope produces the deepest faith. The RESURRECTION is the highest hope.
In John 21:15-17, Jesus restores Peter and tells him how he is to serve Him. In verse 18, He tells Peter how he is going to die and glorify God through his death. Then in verse 19, He says to Peter, “Follow Me.” Peter followed.
In John 5:29, Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the “good” to life. The resurrection is spoken of many times in the Word. Paul dedicates the entire 15th chapter of 1Cor. to the resurrection. Jesus was resurrected from the dead. We will be resurrected in Christ. It is the foundation of our Christian faith.
It is because of his belief that the dead will rise in Christ that Peter followed Christ knowing that it would lead to his death. Through their belief in the resurrection, the martyrs went to their deaths singing praises to God rather than deny Christ. Belief in the resurrection of Christ and belief in the resurrection of those who follow Christ is the ultimate test of faith. When Jude exhorted us to “contend for the Faith,” the resurrection is what he was talking about. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. There is no reason to be a Christian without the resurrection.
Persecution has historically come upon Christians all over the world. Christians have been challenged to deny their faith or die. Have you considered which choice you would make if faced with that decision? If God wants you to glorify Him through your death as He did with Peter, will you be able to stand. Do you love God more than your own life? These are questions that Christians have always been faced with. In these days of only using our faith to seek blessings, healings, houses, cars, spouses, jobs, etc., we sometimes forget that we are called to a much higher standard of faith. Merely believing for God to deal with our issues in life is not a sustaining kind of faith. It is a self-centered faith not Christ centered.
The martyrs had to answer the question, “Will I die for my faith?” When I understood that, I had to ask myself the same question, “Will I die for my faith?” Do I believe in the resurrection enough to die for my faith? Taking it a step further, is my faith in the resurrection strong enough to allow my wife and children to die rather than deny Christ? This is what the martyrs faced. They not only gave their own lives for their faith, they watched their spouses and children being tortured and slaughtered before their eyes. Yet, they stood for Christ. As they died, parents encouraged children in Christ. Children encouraged parents, spouses encouraged spouses. They were able to do this because they knew through faith that they would see each other again in the resurrection.
I believe this strongly in the resurrection. It is the foundation of my faith. Everything else pales in comparison. Therefore, if I am determined to stand in the greatest of challenges, then there is nothing that can shake my faith. It always interested me that Paul ended his strongest statement on the resurrection with these words, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”(1Cor. 15:58.) 1Cor. 15 is the longest single chapter written by Paul and it is all dedicated to the resurrection. God wants us to understand the importance of it.
Now is the time to make up your mind where you stand concerning the resurrection. You can’t wait until you are faced with persecution or the threat of death. Determining to die for your faith in Christ will strengthen you to live for your faith in Christ no matter what circumstances arise. Paul, Peter, the rest of the apostles, Stephen, and countless others all thought it to be a blessing and a privilege to be chosen by God to share in the suffering of Christ even to the death. They knew, through faith, they would also share in His glorious resurrection.
Hebrews 11 tells us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for…” One of the things inherent in this thought is this: The level of your faith can never exceed the level of your hope. If everything you are hoping for is at eye level, then your faith will be very shallow. The higher the hope, the deeper the faith. The highest hope produces the deepest faith. The RESURRECTION is the highest hope.
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