The wording of the Spirit—inspired Scriptures is very
important. God has chosen to give us a library of 66 books in one book – the
Bible. Even so, much concerning this life and spiritual things is left unsaid.
God has chosen to give His message for us as we have it.

In the Gospels and Acts we find the word most often used
of believers is from the root for disciple (math?t?s).
It is used over 265 times in Matthew through Acts. In the book of Acts the word
disciple is interchangeable with the word believer. “Christian” in singular or
plural form is used only three times in the whole of the New Testament.

When we come to the remainder of the New Testament,
Romans to Revelation, a new word appears for the believer, the word saint.
Several of the books open with the words “To the saints of…” and then
references the location of the recipients. God is revealing what we are positionally
as His followers. However, practically we are not there yet as this will take
place only when we are in His presence.

A disciple can be defined as “a disciplined one.” This
description used most often of believers carries with it the idea of one who
practices the biblical spiritual disciplines. As disciples we are in the
process of moving from where we are practically: disciples, toward what we are
positionally: saints. Spiritual transformation is moving toward sainthood as we
have been admonished to “…exercise yourself toward godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).
The word “exercise” has also been translated as “train” in some of our English
versions.

So often I hear believers say, “I try to live the
Christian life” or “I try to do what is right.” Scripture admonishes us that we
don’t just try to be Christlike, we must train to be so! The Apostle Paul
reminds us that the transformation in our lives is directly related to   our
contemplation of “…the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 3:18 – 4:6). This is only
accomplished through the implementation of the spiritual disciplines in our
lives as a result of our love for Him.

1 Peter 4:7 – 11

A certain group has declared that the judgment of the world is to take place on May 21, 2011, followed by the destruction of the world five months later. However, Jesus reminded His disciples that no one could be certain of the time except the Father (Matt. 24:36).

Scripture does declare that the time is coming and the followers of Christ looked for it even in their day. We are closer now then we have ever been. Our passage states, “But the end of all things is at hand…” (NKJV) What is the disciple to do? Peter, under the inspiration of God, addresses several things in this text that we should note:

(1)   “…therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.” The spiritual discipline of communication with our Heavenly Father is of utmost important in our walk with God. Do you have a specific time and place to practice the art of prayer?

(2)   “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sin.’” Agape love is a matter of position and passion as it is not as much an emotion as a decision. This leads to forgiving others as we have been forgiven by Christ.

(3)   “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling…” The discipline of guarding the unity and love of the body is important in the perilous last days.

(4)   “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another…” The pastor in the pulpit is the “equipper” while all believers are the ministers (Eph. 4:11 & 12). Are you being a good steward of the manifold grace of God by implementing the spiritual gifts that He has granted you?

(5)   “…speak as the oracles of God…” The tongue is a serious weapon (James 3). How do you speak as the words that are uttered from the lips reveal what is in the heart (Luke 6:45)?

(6)   “…minister…with the ability God supplies” God has called you as His disciple to minister as light and salt in your world (Mt. 5:13 – 15). How is your testimony for Him?

The purpose in all of this: “…that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Yes, the end is near…nearer than when God inspired Peter to write these words. We are closer to the end than any time in human history. Are we living like it?

Christians are not to give way to “eschatological frenzy” but to practice self-control and be active in prayer. Peter had set a negative example in his failure to watch and pray in the Garden (Matt. 26:40-41). – Edwin Blum

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. – C.S. Lewis

We are probably familiar with “Beatitudes” from the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest Preacher to ever live: Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5:1 – 12). It is interesting to note that James uses the term “blessed” (makarios) three times in this practical epistle on living out the faith. God inspires him to use it at the beginning of his letter (our text) and toward the end of his letter as he writes in 5:11, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure.”

It is an amazing thing that we, in our human frailty, can be called “blessed” as this was attributed by the secular society of that time as an attribute of the gods. In biblical Christianity, God calls His self-crucified disciple “blessed.”

James “bookends” this letter with the pronouncement of who is “blessed.” Yet, sandwiched between these two pronouncements is the key to living in this freedom of Christ:

James 1:25, But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

The key to living out the Christian faith, the foundation to enduring temptation, the ability to persevere until we receive the crown of life, the stride of the walk in freedom is found in this passage that stresses the look, hear, and do of the crucified life. It is the reading, memorization, and meditation on God’s Word, the perfect law of liberty, that allows us to, “…be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord” (5:7). Be mindful that the “…the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). We desperately need that systematic, serious, and sincere daily time in the Word of God in order to live out true freedom in Christ!

He doth not bid us take a taste of all sins and vanities, as Solomon did, to try them:  for they are tried already; but that we should set the Word of God always before us like a rule, and believe nothing but that which it teacheth, love nothing but that which it prescribeth, hate nothing but that which it forbideth, do nothing but that which is commandeth, and then we try all things by the Word. – Puritan Henry Smith

I have now concentrated all my prayers into one, and that one prayer is this, that I may die to self, and live wholly to Him. – C.H. Spurgeon

In this epistle of practical Christian living James will now address those who suppress the poor even as they gain by taking advantage of them.  He has dealt with the merchants in Chapter 4: 13 – 17 and now concentrates on the truly wealthy of an agrarian society:  landowners. Please note that he does not refer to these as “brothers.”

The first thing that James points out is the coming judgment on these who worship their achievements over God.  This judgment is based upon their sins which are listed as they abuse the poor.  They have hoarded wealth, withheld wages, and “murdered the just” (v. 6). This last phrase may have to do with the withholding of wages to those who had so little that their lives were in jeopardy due to starvation.

This passage is not a diatribe against anyone having possessions as there have been many in Scripture and throughout church history that God has blessed with what we would call “wealth.”  Rather, this is about the heart of those who worship wealth rather than God.  In fact, much like the rich young ruler that Jesus addressed in the Gospels, these landowners hold their possessions as God. God’s Word warns them that, “you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter” – a dire warning to all who love the things of this world.

This passage ties in with chapter 1:9 – 11 which states, “Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.” Here is the reversal that we find in The Kingdom of God. It is those who are “poor in spirit” (Mt. 5:3) who will be exalted by God rather than those who are successful in the eyes of the world if their hearts are not right before God.

It is so easy for the disciple of Christ to lose sight of what is important. May we be challenged and convicted by the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:33,

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

In Galatians 5:13 – 18 God inspired Paul to write,

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Paul is warning against both legalism and license. The answer to these two extremes of Christian freedom is “…through love serve one another.” In this way we, like Christ our example, will fulfill the Law that God has given us. Paul then describes two aspects of our lives, the “flesh” and the “Spirit.” We will serve one or the other, for there is no in between. WE ARE EITHER IN SLAVERY TO SIN OR IN SLAVERY TO GOD AND OTHERS!

Slavery to sin is to walk in the flesh while slavery to God and others is to walk in His Spirit. One might exclaim, “Well, it is still slavery!” That may seem a legitimate response, yet this is not a contradiction but a paradox. When we study God’s creation of this world (Gen. 1 – 3) we find that we were made for an intimate relationship with God and with others – an intimacy that was destroyed because of sin. To be called back to that is God acting in salvation in our lives. We are now living kingdom lives even though the kingdom, in its fullness, is not yet here. The Spirit of God has been given to us that we might live the character of the disciple of Jesus Christ. This life is neither legalism nor license, but it is true FREEDOM! To die to self that Christ might live through us is to walk in true freedom. This is the freedom that Christ created humanity to live in and calls us back to as His disciples. May we follow Christ’s instruction of Luke 9:23, “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” This is the daily and moment-by-moment of living out the kingdom life. This is true freedom.

God’s right to reign and rule over all creation and over all peoples of the world must be univocally understood. This brings together the message of the OT and NT narratives because the Kingdom of God is one of the most central themes of the Bible. Although explicitly a New Testament theme, we are deeply persuaded that the Old Testament can also be understood from this perspective…The lordship of Christ can be best understood when it is informed by OT concepts of kingship.

As part of my sermon preparation for this Sunday I printed out the verses that speak of the “Kingdom of God” and Matthew’s synonym, the “Kingdom of Heaven.” I was amazed that just the verses (not the context verses) on the “Kingdom of God” take up five pages and the “Kingdom of Heaven” verses take just over two pages. The “Kingdom of God” takes us from Matthew 6:33 to 2 Thessalonians 1:5. Understanding that the Kingdom is what God has called us into in the present even as we wait for its ultimate fulfillment (when Christ returns to rule and reign) invites us to live beyond this world as the “light” and “salt” that Jesus called His disciples to. This has a major impact upon our lives as we are to, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13 – 16, vs. 16 quoted). When we live with the realization that Jesus is King of all things it will call others to surrender to the Rightful King! This is the evangelism/discipleship that Jesus called His disciples to in some of His last words with them (Matthew 28:16 – 20; Acts 1:8). As Jesus’ modern day disciples, this calling is now ours. It all begins with the realization of Who the True Sovereign is – Who is really in charge! Have you and do you (and I) continue to surrender to His Kingship? Something to meditate on.

In delineating the rationale for the Christian life we should heed seriously the biblical dictum that being is prior to action. We must be in Christ before we can act in harmony with his will. This truth is underlined by Paul: “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col 1:9, 10 NKJV)

Jesus makes this same point when he contends that good fruit can only come from a good tree (Luke 6:43–45). Once we are converted into salt and light by God’s grace we must sprinkle our salt and let our light shine before others so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matt 5:14, 16).

As Christians we are enjoined to be rich in good works (1 Tim 6:17–19), but our motivation is not to make ourselves acceptable before God or to earn the favor of God. The Heidelberg Catechism rightly reminds us that our commitment to a life of service is to be based on gratitude for what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ (Bloesch 1991, 184).

From the very beginning, however, we must understand that ethics is a way of seeing God and ourselves in relation to him before it is a matter of behaving a certain way. Without vision of God as high, lifted up, and worthy of worship, there will be no permanent change of life. Surely that is why God produced such a dramatic scene on Mount Sinai. Worship is the foundation on which the ethical life of the people of God is built. Until we feel the “tremble” produced by a vision of God’s glory and might, making ethical choices is a burdensome duty. But when ethics are grounded in reverence, the pursuit of a holy lifestyle becomes the joyous enterprise of discipleship (Shelly 1984, 18 & 19).

Because there is one true people of God on earth, there remains a “theopolitical” structure and calling for the church. It is not the structure of the kingdoms of the world. To apply to the world the form of the church is a sacralizing process that is just as illegitimate as the secularizing process that would apply to the church the forms of the world. Yet the fact that the church does not possess a worldly political structure does not mean that it possesses no political structure whatever. The “politics” of the kingdom are the pattern, purpose, and dynamic by which God orders the life of the heavenly polis in this world. Only as it conforms to this heavenly pattern is the church a city set on a hill, given as salt to preserve the world from corruption and as light to point the way to salvation.

Christ builds his church on the confession of Peter; a confession of faith that is given by revelation of the Father. Since only the Son can reveal the Father and only the Father can reveal the Son (Matt. 11:27), human wisdom cannot bring in the kingdom. Long ago the Qumran covenanters recognized from the-Hebrew Scriptures that the community of God must be founded upon the truth, the revealed mysteries of God. But only in Jesus Christ is that foundation of truth laid (Clowney 1979, 301 – 302).

WORKS CITED

Bloesch, Donald G. “Law and Gospel in reformed perspective.” Grace Theological Journal 12 (Fall 1991): 179 – 188.

Clowney, Edmund P. “The politics of the kingdom.” Westminster Theological Journal 41 (Spring 1979): 291 – 310.

Shelley, Dr. Rubel. 1994. Written in stone: Ethics for the heart. West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing Co.

I Timothy 4:6 – 11, If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.  But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness.  For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.  For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.  These things command and teach.

Hebrews 5:13 – 14, For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The Apostle Paul described the Christian life, among other things, as that of an athlete, a soldier, and/or a farmer. Imagine going into an athletic competition, a battle zone, or a field for harvest without having done any preparation! This would be an absolute disaster as there would have been no training in the first two cases and no sewing of seed in the latter. Yet this is how so many of us treat the walk of discipleship to which we have been called in salvation.

We often hear people say, “I have tried to do what I know God wants me to do” or “I have tried to do what I know is right.” Understanding the above Scriptures lets us know the problem is in the word “tried.” Both Paul and the writer of Hebrews (we know that God authored it, but are uncertain of the earthly writer He used) have implemented the word “exercise(d)” in their letter. This reminds us that the Christian walk is not about trying, but about TRAINING!

How much time did you spend today (or this week) exercising yourself, “…toward godliness?” We so often fail and become discouraged, wondering why we don’t do better when we have failed to exercise the very disciplines that God has given us to put into practice. After all, the word disciple comes from the word discipline.

In Matthew 11:29 Jesus said,

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

We either surrender to the King of King’s will, or we fight it. The call to take up our cross daily means death to our selves and all of our desires that we may live for and desire only His glory. May we be challenged to do just that!

“To see the church as a building or as the activities that go on in the building is to return to the sacred/secular split that has done so much damage to modern life. If church is only the meeting that occurs at a particular building at a particular time of the week, then the rest of the week is not church. And if church is a spiritual activity, then the rest of the week is not spiritual. But, …this is simply mistaken. Our formation as disciples of Christ is more influenced by the rest of the week than by the hour or two a week that we meet as a congregation. We must come to see that people cannot be engaged in kingdom life and work if they have reduced salvation, gospel, church, and ministry to only those programs or activities that are part of the church. This is destructive not only to our people but also to our understanding of what a church is.:

- Mike Erre in Death by Church (p. 241)

This is so well put! The church is neither the building nor the activities that take place there. The church is us 24/7! I believe that one of the things that must take place if we are to once again influence our culture for the Kingdom of the King of All Things is to stop DOING church and start BEING church! Some have labeled this “program paralysis” in that we follow a program that works at another “church” going from fad to fad, or we are so busy at the building that we fail to be the church in the world because we just don’t have time to be. Both of these scenarios are damaging to the cause of inviting others into what God is doing.

This has also led us to view the church as an institution rather than a movement. Institutions generally exist to perpetuate themselves. Movements exist to engage others. This is discipleship! God is moving in this world. The question is: Are we moving with Him and inviting others to join us?

The need is great, but so is the opportunity. I challenge you to BE the church this week.

I have underlined the words that describe God’s Word and the results of that Word of God. In the last phrase the word “pure” can also be translated “clear” and that same phrase lets us know that the Word gives direction to our lives. While the LORD Jesus spoke in parables and paradoxes, most of what He said is just plain practical!

Looking back into the Older Testament we find a portion of the Jewish Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Christopher J. H. Wright in his book, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament, (Downers Grove, IL. IVP Academic , 1992, pp. 186-7) states of the Temptation of Christ (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13):

“So, in the temptation narrative we see Jesus using his Hebrew Bible to define and affirm the whole orientation of his life towards God. He was meditating on the section of Deuteronomy which ‘preaches’ the fundamental attitudes and commitments that God expects from his people as their side of the covenant relationship. These chapters of basic orientation come before the details of the laws themselves. God was concerned not about mere conformity to the laws, but about the whole shape of a person and society, the inner drives of the heart, the direction of the walk of life” (Underlining mine for emphasis).

When approached by a teacher/student of the Law and asked how to gain eternal life Jesus asked “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” to which the questioner replied by quoting the above text from Deuteronomy, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus responded, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live” (Lk. 10:25-28). This we know as the Great Commandment.

Christianity is a matter of the HEART! Jesus would begin the Sermon on the Mount with this truth: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt. 5:3). Biblical Christianity BEGINS with the realization that I am nothing without Christ. I am spiritually dead, blind, and damned without hope or means of doing anything about it. BUT GOD HAS provided the way through Christ.

Obedience without love is legalism! Love leading to obedience is Biblical Christianity. Late in His life here on earth Jesus turned to His disciples and stated something that disciples today must remember, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).

Biblical Christianity is not difficult; for the Words of our LORD are clear! It is HARD because we battle ourselves to do the right thing! Total surrender (loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind) is the only way to truly be “Christian.”