grace

Jesus Saves Sinners

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Luke 5:30
“Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

IMG_1486The scribes and Pharisees are complaining about Jesus’ actions. They do not think He should meet with sinners. I hear this complaint every time we gather as a church for corporate worship. It is not the voice of the Pharisees that I hear, but my own voice. I begin to think of all the reasons why I cannot enter into the presence of God, enjoy access to the throne of Grace or experience His work in my life. I am reminded of my sins, both the things that I have done and what I have failed to do. Along with those thoughts, comes an overwhelming sense of not being worthy to enter His presence. It is at that moment when this great truth rings out from His Word:

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32

Although hidden and unconfessed sin will hinder your relationship with, and experience of, God, Jesus came for sinners. When He entered the synagogue in Capernaum He was drawn to the man with the withered hand. In a room filled with people, He did not avoid the one who needed Him most, but was drawn to Him. He does the same thing today. The very things that we think keep us from being able to meet with Him and experience His grace, are the very things He wants to address in our lives.

If you have sin you have yet to deal with, that you are holding onto, confess it, lay it at His feet, and let Him wash you and empower you for victory. Don’t let your failures keep you from coming to Him, worshipping Him, and experiencing His marvelous grace and power in your life. After all, it was not the voice of Jesus that was keeping the sinners away, He is calling for you.

Pastor Jim

 

No Idols

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Exodus 20:4
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;”

IMG_1422On the top of a mountain covered in smoke, Moses met with God, and heard the standard upon which relationship with God would be established. The Lord gives a list of ten commands that reveal His holiness, and our need for sacrifice. The first four commands reveal things about the nature of God. We learn, along with being jealous, just, merciful, faithful and holy, He is also the only true God and must not be reduced to an image or an idol.

Icons or religious artifacts are a part of every religious system. People cling to man-made objects thinking they are closer to God if they kiss an image, wear a necklace, or carry a religious charm. God makes it clear, this has no place in relationship with Him. It seems to me there are two primary reasons for this.

First, no image can adequately represent God. If we try to make something that shows His love, He often looks weak. If we try to replicate His power, it makes Him looks tyrannical. If we showcase His mercy, we neglect to reveal His justice and holiness. There is no earthly image that can reveal the majesty of His divine nature. That does not mean we cannot know God. In fact, Paul wrote,

Colossians 1:15
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

The person of God will never be adequately revealed in a poster, icon or artifact. However, we can see deeply into the nature of God by examining the words and ways of His only begotten Son.

Second, images not only fail to represent God, they also give a false sense of his presence. When we cling to an icon as a reflection of God, we lose sight of the fact that He is ever near His children, and wants us to cry out to Him. We must learn not to look to an image, but beyond the image to the very throne of God, where Jesus sits ready to pour out His grace, mercy, love and power, to help us walk with God.

Pastor Jim

 

Dealing With Remorse

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Matthew 27:5
“Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

Man at the CrossWhile I do not want to tackle the subject of the eternal destiny of Judas, I do see in him an illustration of how the Christian often deals with personal failure or sin. After the initial pleasure received from sin, we are filled with remorse or guilt. That guilt can become overwhelming and lead to discouragement, depression, and even despair. Too often, we follow the example of Judas, attempting to remove our guilt.

First, like him, we attempt to undo our failure. Since this cannot be done, we spend time wishing we could go back, wishing we had that moment in time again so we could do things differently.

Second, we often attempt to deal with the remorse by going to others. Would Judas have been any better off spiritually if the chief priests had accepted the money? Of course not! While the kind and forgiving words of others are helpful, that is not how sin is removed from the life of the child of God.

Finally, like Judas, we often attempt to get the incident as far from us as possible. If I do not think about it, or I let time work its magic, I know I will feel better. This was Judas’ approach. He cast the money on the floor and departed. Perhaps he thought, if it were no longer in his possession he would not be haunted by it. While dwelling on your failure is not the way God would have you deal with sin, simply ignoring it is not His solution either. God has established a way for the child of God to deal with personal failure and sin.

John wrote,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9

God’s method of dealing with sin and remorse is confession. The first step to confession is going to God. It is at the foot of the cross where we will find the release from the haunting guilt of personal sin. While the forgiveness is immediate and we do not have to do anything to receive it (Jesus did it all for us), there are times when we must camp out at the cross. There, alone with only the presence of God and the promises of Scripture, we let Him communicate His lovingkindness to us. We must remain until we can clearly see that He has borne our grief and carried our sorrow.

Perhaps this morning, you need some time alone with Jesus, focusing upon the forgiveness He has provided at the cross. A forgiveness that is unearned, complete, and frees us from the penalty, power, and guilt of sin

“When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because a sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.”

“Before The Throne Of God Above”, Shane and Shane

Pastor Jim

 

He Wants You

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Matthew 23:27
“How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…”

2015/01/img_1366.jpgPaul prayed for the Ephesian Christians that they would comprehend the love of God which he described as beyond our ability to understand.

That you “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge…” Ephesians 3:19

His love is beyond comprehension, partly because there is no other love like it. We get a glimpse of His love by the way a mother cares for her infant son, or the way a groom looks at his bride, or the way a grandparent dotes over her grandchildren. But those are only glimpses, because His love passes knowledge. It will take us all eternity to delve into the great chasms of His love.

This love is expressed in the statement Jesus makes as He looks out over the city of Jerusalem. He says His desire is to gather them unto Himself, as a hen gathers her chicks. He wants to care for them, instruct them, and protect them from the natural consequences of living apart from Him. That alone is a wonderful expression of His love; but this statement does not stand alone. Chapter 23 describes some of the people He wants to gather to Himself. He wants the hypocrite, who loves the attention of being a godly man, while his example is actually keeping others from Christ. He wants the blind guide, who thinks he has heaven and earth all figured out, while rejecting and ignoring the Word of God. He wants the one who uses religion as a way to get things from others. He wants the one who will practice a few select religious observations, while neglecting to love God and others. He wants those who clean the outside of the cup, so others will think they are godly, but their lives are filled with hidden sin. And most importantly, HE WANTS YOU!

Don’t let your failures keep you from Him. He loves you and wants to gather you to Himself, and transform your life. Will you let Him? Take some time right now to offer yourself to Him, as if you were a living sacrifice.

Pastor Jim

 

Busted

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Genesis 38:24
“And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, ‘Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry.’ So Judah said, ‘Bring her out and let her be burned!’”

2015/01/img_1350.jpgOur sin always looks worse on someone else.

Judah, after the death of his wife, and in the loneliness of that condition, stumbled in his walk with God, committing fornication with a young woman. While we do not read of his reaction to this, it is highly likely he was ashamed, and at least somewhat remorseful. I can imagine he confessed his failure, and may have even made offerings to God.  A few short months after this  incident, Judah got word that Tamar, his widowed daughter-in-law, was pregnant outside of marriage. The same sin he had committed, had been engaged in by Tamar. Whatever his response to his own sin was we cannot be sure, but we do know how he responded to her’s. He was furious, and wanted her to receive the harshest judgment the law would allow.

It seems to me, this is an all too common reaction towards sin. We take the harshest stand we can against the sin of others, and expect the fullest extent of mercy for ourselves. It might do us well to consider what Jesus said regarding our sin and that of others. He declared;

Matthew 7:5
“Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus declared, while we should not ignore sins committed by others, we must always take the time to look inward, before we go on a campaign against the sins of others. One of the tragedies of the church is having people rally for causes, while neglecting their own walk with God. Paul gave this simple, yet very helpful, instruction for dealing with the faults in others,

Galatians 6:1
“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

Pastor Jim

 

Cover It Up

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Genesis 9:21
“Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.”

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/b9a/30989304/files/2015/01/img_1295.jpgOnce the waters had resided and the ark settled, Noah and his family exited the ark to begin a new life. They would have to survey the land, build shelter, plant crops, and much more. It is interesting to me, of all the events that must have transpired, the Scriptures only focus upon a few. We read in Genesis 8, Noah offered sacrifice to the Lord. We can assume, after all he experienced, he was still a very godly man. We read in Chapter 9,  a covenant between God and man was re-established, based upon the shedding of blood. When we come to the story before us, having settled in the new world with his new life, we find Noah indulging in wine and becoming fall-down drunk. As we continue through the Bible, we will see clearly that drunkenness is both foolish and forbidden. In our text, it is not the sin of Noah that is the focus of our attention, but the sin of his son, Ham.

It seems Noah had so much to drink he passed out naked in his tent. Whether his son was looking to find error in his father, or he just stumbled upon him, we are not told. We do know, Ham found his naked father, and went off to tell anyone who would listen. The reaction of his two brothers is quite heroic. Instead of mocking, condemning, or making a spectacle of their father, they simply cover him up. In so doing, they are covering up his failure. The next morning, when Noah awakens, he realizes what has happened and speaks prophetically concerning his sons. A curse is promised to Ham, while blessing is promised to Shem and Japheth.

Proverbs 10:12
“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”

This story teaches us an important truth about dealing with sin. First, we learn that even the godliest of men can stumble. Second, we find it is not our responsibility to broadcast the sins of others, but to help them overcome sin. The actions of Ham did nothing more than ridicule the failure of his father, while Shem and Japheth work toward restoration. They did not condone the sin of their father, but sought to restore his dignity that he might get back to following the Lord.

Pastor Jim

 

Finding Grace

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Genesis 6:8
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/b9a/30989304/files/2015/01/img_1290.jpgThe story of the flood is a story of judgment and redemption. Mankind had turned its back on God. Moses is careful to describe the condition of the world at that time;

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

People were living in open defiance of God. The line between the godly and the ungodly had become so blurred that the sons of God were marrying the daughters of men. The men of renown, the leaders of the ancient world, wanted nothing to do with the things of God. There was open demonic activity taking place among men. Jesus described a scene of such spiritual apathy that even Noah’s preaching of coming judgment, did not deter the people from their sinful lives. They continued on, as though they would never have to give an account to the God who created them. After 100 years of warning, the sky suddenly became dark, the rain began to fall, the earth began to rumble and split open. The judgment of God broke forth on the very people He had created to for fellowship. In the midst of this we read,

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Genesis 6:8
As much as this is a story of God judging sin, it is also a story of God redeeming man. Noah was the recipient of the grace of God, which rescued him from wrath. Nothing has changed. God is still Holy and will forever judge sin. He is also gracious, providing a way for sin to be forgiven, and men to be delivered. We receive the grace of God when we choose to accept the pardon for sin He has provided through the death of Christ upon the cross. When we receive Christ, all our sins are washed away and we are rescued from wrath.

We see in Noah a picture of how this grace affects a man. We read that Noah “walked with God.” Walking with God is a common idiom found throughout the Bible. It is used to illustrate a person who is living a life that is well pleasing to the Lord. We read of three distinct things about Noah’s walk. First, he obeyed the Lord. Four times we read that “Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him”. Not all that was commanded seemed to make sense. Instead of arguing, rationalizing, complaining or disobeying, Noah did as the Lord commanded. Second, we read that Noah’s faith impacted his family. Unlike Lot, Noah lived out his walk with God for others to see, and won his family members to the Lord. Too often our best Christianity happens at church, and we fail to live for Christ within the home. Finally, we read that upon exiting the ark, Noah offered sacrifice to the Lord. He realized that salvation was not based upon his good work, and he accepted the pardon that God provided.

Jesus told us, the times leading up to His return would be like the days of Noah. With evil increasing we must walk with the Lord all the more.

Pastor Jim