Month: June 2009

“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” Jn 17:19

Christ is our pattern in all things. His example as He lived among us was that He acted for our sakes, not for Himself. He is our Lord and Master, yet said “I am among you as the One who serves.” (Lk 22:27) He said in Jn 10:11: ““I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” As we considered last week, the natural response of the people of God in acknowledgment of that truth is found in 1 Jn 3:16. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

In continuing with our thought last week on the church as a spiritual mother to individual believers, we understand that good mothers are constantly sacrificing for their children’s sake. Sure, if they didn’t have anyone else to think about, they would perhaps involve themselves in other activities that would be more enjoyable; but the reality is that their children need them, and for their sakes, they restrain themselves from things that would not be best for their kids. That’s the type of love Paul was teaching us about in 1 Cor 10:23,24:

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.”

In other words, if it’s not good for the body of Christ, no matter how much I might enjoy it, I’m going to leave it alone. In order to be a disciple of Christ who also makes disciples as Christ commanded in Mt 28:19, we must be disciplined (hey, that word sounds a lot like “disciple”…coincidence? I think not!) to not give ourselves to anything that might hinder others and to be busy about that which would benefit one another. This discipline goes so far that Paul calls it in 2 Cor 4:10, “carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.” As uncomfortable and difficult as this sounds, this dying to self is necessary if the reward of v. 13 is to be reached: “So then death is working in us, but life in you.”

Of course, we only see v. 13 as a reward to our efforts IF we love as Christ loved–putting others ahead of ourselves. It is that same type of mothering nature that I’ve witnessed in my mother and grandmother. I’ve seen them time and time again labor in the kitchen preparing a big meal, and yet, though they were no doubt hungry themselves, they insisted on serving us first before they would eat. Do we want God to use us as spiritual mothers in birthing children into his kingdom? Then we must labor in this fashion, laying aside our lives “for their sakes.” When we see the fruit of such labor, just remember to give the glory where it’s due. “…neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Co 3:7) All glory to His name!

Jamie

“…but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Gal 4:26

Who is this Jerusalem which is above? We find her called “new Jerusalem” in Rev 21:2, and we understand her to be “Jerusalem above” because here she is coming down! Notice what she looks like: “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Are we to take that to mean she is a bride or just in some way resembles one? Check out v. 9-10 of the same chapter for clarification: “Then one of the seven angels…talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…” This new Jerusalem, or heavenly Jerusalem as she’s called in Heb 12:22, is said to be the Lamb’s wife. I hope that leaves little doubt in your mind that this city represents the church, the bride of Christ. To see the church clearly as the bride, read Eph 5:22-32 which instructs us on the proper relationship between husband and wife only to wrap up with this thought: “I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

All of the above was simply to Scripturally prove “Jerusalem above” to be the church so that we might consider the church collectively as the mother of individual believers. We realize God to be our Father, but how often do we think of the church as our mother? With that picture in mind, we begin to understand some of the key functions of the church. One function is that the church is involved in the birthing of children into the kingdom of God through the preaching of the Gospel. Now, I think it’s important to note that this birth takes place only by an act of God. Just as in the natural a woman does not impregnate herself, so the same holds true in the spiritual. The Lord plants the seed of life within the church that results in the new birth. That’s why Jn 3:8 calls the new birth being “born of the Spirit.” Ac 2:47 shows us who’s responsible for the growth of the church: “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Though God is the source of this spiritual life, the church immediately has a responsibility for that new creation that has now been formed within her. There are certain things a woman should and shouldn’t do when pregnant. She may exercise, watch her diet, take certain vitamins, etc. all for the good of that unborn child. Likewise, the church has to pay attention to that which she gives herself to for the health of those babes being birthed within her. And the actual birthing process isn’t easy. There is suffering and work associated with childbirth. In Gal 4:19, Paul said concerning those that had received his Gospel that he was “in the pains of childbirth”. It’s difficult, right ladies? That’s why it’s called labor!

Now, sadly, some churches stop right here. They are focused on birthing only, but what would we think of the natural mother that birthed her child only to abandon it in pursuit of birthing more children? We would call her negligent and unfit for motherhood (and that’s putting it mildly!). There’s far more to being a mother than simply having a baby. In fact, the real work begins after the baby is born! Such is the case for the church. The church is responsible for nurturing God’s children as they mature. She has a responsibility to spiritually sustain them. Remember the Lord’s admonition to Peter if he did indeed love Him in Jn 21:15-17? He didn’t say “birth My sheep,” but He said “feed them!” Our responsibility does not end with the new birth! Just as a mother must feed her children, teach them, discipline them, etc., the church has corresponding responsibilities to the spiritual babies born from her. A good mother puts her life aside for her kids’ sakes. Doesn’t that sound just like 1 Jn 3:16? “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” I’m excited about this topic and hope to share more in the coming weeks.

Jamie

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
1 Jn 2:18

The modern view of antichrist and the church’s struggle with him seems for many to only be futuristic, yet John nearly 2,000 years ago said there were already many antichrists among us. The danger in viewing the conflict with antichrist as only a future event is that we leave ourselves unprepared for the warfare that’s been raging since John penned the words above!

Did you know that John is the only New Testament writer to use the term “antichrist”? He uses it in our text above and in the following passages:

Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. (1 Jn 2:22)

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (1 Jn 4:2b-3)

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. (2 Jn 1:7)

That’s it! There are no more passages in all of Scripture where the antichrist is specifically mentioned! To hear some people tell it, you’d think every chapter deals with this subject. And did you notice how John speaks of the antichrist? He speaks of him not as a single, future individual, but rather as a type of person that existed in his day and “even now is already in the world!” An individual that denies that Jesus is the Christ and does not acknowledge that He has come in the flesh is antichrist. I’d say we’re surrounded by such individuals, wouldn’t you?

My point is this. When Christ came into the world, many didn’t recognize Him because He didn’t come in the way they expected. The Jews had read about Messiah’s kingdom in the Old Testament, so when Jesus came on the scene, their preconceived idea about the Christ was that He would establish an earthly throne. In fact in Jn 6:15, Jesus hid Himself specifically because the people were going to take Him by force and make Him king! But, He said it plainly when speaking to Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world.” Many of the Jews did not receive Him because He didn’t come in the package they were expecting! They were looking for an outward, visible kingdom, but Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is within you.”

I wonder today if we’re also being lulled into a false sense of security. We’ve got our own preconceived ideas about the end times and how things are going to pan out, but are we overlooking the battle that was already very real back in John’s day? Some seem to be consumed with the visible signs of the “end times” that they’re looking for, and yet God’s people are said to “walk by faith, not by sight”. (2 Cor 5:7) Will we be waiting on some future great battle only to have Christ return and say the war’s over? Like Jesus asked in Lk 18:8, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Remember Eph 6:11,12: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…”

Jamie

Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him…

Mk 10:32

On the surface, nothing particularly exciting seems to be happening in our text above, so why do we read that the disciples “were amazed”? The first part of the verse holds the key. Look at their destination. They were following the Lord to Jerusalem. Earlier in Mk 8:31, Jesus had told them that He “must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” If you remember, Peter rebuked Him right after this statement, in essence telling Jesus, “Don’t talk like that!” But it was true. The Jewish leaders hated Jesus and wanted Him dead.

“But, wait Lord! Jerusalem is where the Jewish leaders live. Surely, you don’t mean to go there! They’re plotting to kill you! They’ll be waiting for you!” I wonder if the disciples kept expecting Jesus to take the fork in the road the led away from Jerusalem. But with every step, it became clearer to them that their Lord would not turn aside. It must have been amazing to watch! Jesus wasn’t hesitant. We read He “was going before them.” He was leading the way! It’s as if they had to quicken their pace just to keep up! The Lord didn’t fear this destination. He desired it!

So, as they witnessed His resolve, as they saw He would not be deterred, their amazement gave way to fear. Perhaps they thought, “Maybe He doesn’t realize what they’ll do to Him in Jerusalem. Maybe He doesn’t understand just how bad it’s going to be.” Jesus removed all doubt concerning such thoughts in His next statement in Mk 10:33,34:

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

He understood fully what awaited Him, and yet He pressed on. We would have veered off the path long before! If we had only known mocking awaited us, we would have stayed home. Yet, mocking, scourging, spitting, and ultimately death could not make Him hesitate. And not just any death either! “…He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Ph 2:8) What would motivate the Lord of glory to willingly suffer to such a degree? You, church!

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:6-8)

God, help us to maintain our amazement! I pray this story, though familiar, will never lose its luster! We will never know any greater love than this…

“Amazing love, how can it be?
That Thou, my God, would die for me!”

Jamie