It’s Not Always about Satan

February 28, 2024.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

-Galatians 5:16-21 (NIV)

I once took a Spiritual Warfare class as a Continuing Education credit.  Here, the professor mentioned that we’re at war against Satan, the world and the flesh.  He even called it the “unholy trinity”.  Yes it’s true, we have Satan as our ultimate enemy and by extension, the world works with Satan to constantly lead people astray from Jesus Christ.  However, it’s not always about Satan!  We tend to forget that our fallen nature has a gigantic part in our natural aversion to seek Jesus Christ.

When’s the last time you flew-off the handle in intensified anger (fits of rage)?  When’s the last time you gazed upon another with lust, impure thoughts in your head or actions (sexual immorality that can lead to further impurity and debauchery)?  When’s the last time you sought your own comfort over the wellbeing of a group (selfish ambition)?  When’s the last time you strongly disagreed, drawing others to your side and thereby creating an unhealthy wedge (dissension leading to faction) between fellow brother and sister?  When’s the last time you felt discontent, resulting in desiring of qualities or lifestyle of another, or even resenting another for their qualities (envy)?  I won’t even touch upon the rest of this list in the above Galatians reading, but the point I’m trying to make is that if we’re honest with ourselves, I bet we all fell into at least one of these temptations multiple times in our lives.

I believe our fallen nature has corrupted us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually since the Fall of Adam and Eve, and that’s why we’re completely fallen!  In short, we’re engaged with a spiritual war and against our flesh or against our own fallen nature.  Gal. 5:13 describes us being given freedom (in Christ) to not indulge in the flesh (sarx in Greek).  The footnote here says the flesh refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit, also in verses 16, 17, 19, 24 and 6:8.

It can be sobering to know that it’s not always about Satan, but often times we’re our own worst enemy when trying to follow after Jesus.  With God’s help, we must make every effort to wage war against our sinful state/our sinful nature. 

The following are just a few practical examples of your sinful state/sinful nature trying to gain dominance.

·      You don’t feel like praying

·      You don’t feel like reading scripture

·      You don’t feel like serving God’s kingdom

·      You don’t feel your God-given abilities are needed

·      You don’t feel like fellowshipping with other believers in Christ

·      You don’t feel like attending worship

·      You don’t feel like sharing your Christian faith with others

Many of these matters may ultimately break down to an actual selfish ambition and the desire to feel comfortable and not give God glory.

Some of you may still be wondering, “Well, how are these feelings coming from a sinful state/sinful nature?”  Here’s the answer: If you didn’t feel barriers (ie. If you were completely free of the effects of Sin), you would be eager and excited to participate in these matters with no hesitation at almost all times.  So what do you do about this? – Press on and fight on!  Keep praying for a constantly changing heart, spend more time with Jesus and eventually these Godly desires become more dominant.  Lastly, don’t be fooled into thinking desired changes happen right away.  As with most things in life, it’s a process and don’t be hard on yourself when Godly changes don’t happen immediately or if we keep stumbling.  The real danger lays in the feeling of not caring and not continuing to fight the good fight, in outright defiance and rebellion! 

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Truly Delighting

February 21, 2024.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
-Psalm 37:3-4 (NIV)

In a table of values, where does our utmost pursuit of Jesus Christ stand?  I think if we’re honest with ourselves, most of us struggle to put him at the top of that list on a daily and practical manner (not just in our heads).  Point blank, that probably means a fair number of us struggle with truly delighting in Jesus.  John Piper once said, “You can’t stop wanting to be happy.  God has wired you in this way and it isn’t sinful wiring.”  Many of us know that being joyful is locking into God and the eternal salvation he brings (now and future), and with that, joy is never fleeting, contrary to the temporal desires of feeling happy.  Even though many of us know this, we still wrestle with pursuing happiness.  In order to rectify this, we have to allow God to change what makes us happy!

When we indulge in sin, we find pleasure in it because it makes us feel good in whatever that may be including greed, lust, power, etc.  What do we do about it?  We have to realize that our view of happiness is too low!  When we realize this, I think it’s a game changer.  The acrostic Hebrew poem, written in Psalm 37 gives an account of David’s contrasting views of the righteous vs. the wicked and their end results.  In verse 4, is it any surprise that David is stressing to take delight in the Lord and by doing so, he (not anything, nor anyone else) will give the desires of your heart?  This is the way to reframe our happiness and magnify it!  Anything and anyone else can never truly and fully give us the desires of our hearts simply because if we are born again Christians, God gives us new hearts.  While it’s true that we have to ratify ongoing and daily sins, the fact of the matter is we indeed have new hearts because indeed we are new creations (2 Cor. 5:17) and this means our value tables radically shift to be more Christ-centric. 

It’s only then we can fully trust in the Lord (verse 3) to do good in the manner that God sees fit (not our own).  And when we do so, indeed we will fully dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture, because we’ll be able to connect with and commune with God more.  This allows us to observe and experience all of God’s providence, but notice the wording here when it says, “enjoy safe pasture”.  It’s not denying while in this life an existence outside of God’s providence  and pleasure (sinful pleasure) is not possible.  Instead, it’s bolstering God’s safe providence and pleasure.  Perhaps this can be a completely different sermon altogether, but true freedom is found within boundaries and limits for our sake.  If there are no boundaries and limits, we would be completely lost to sin and shackled to sin which leads to harm and death.  God wants us to stay away from sinful desires and sinful pleasures as the prescribed method to increase our happiness and increase our safety.  How can we do so?  Replace sinful pleasures with Godly ones.  Sure, we can replace sinful pleasures with “neutral ones” like reading other books, watching tv shows, etc., but at the end of the day God has hardwired us to find joy and happiness in him and the sure and ultimate fix is replace our sinful desires with Godly ones – go deep into prayer, go deep into scripture, go deep into repentance, go deep into fellowship with other Christians, go deep into missions, go deep into evangelizing, go deep into witnessing, go deep into giving for his kingdom, go deep into praising God, go deep into anything and everything Godly!            

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The Provider

February 14, 2024.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
-Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV)

It appears that a number of people are great worriers and even anxious.  On March 16th, 2016, Psychology Today posted an article that actually separates the worry from anxiety.  If you want to find all the differences, here’s the article:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201603/10-crucial-differences-between-worry-and-anxiety

Overall it seems that anxiety is more severe, bodily focused and longer lasting whereas worrying tends to be less severe, focused in our minds, shorter duration and easier to manage.  Whatever the case may be as with anything in our lives, God’s word has an answer to that and points to Jesus Christ as the solution!

Interestingly enough and in Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus talks about anxiety in the ESV version and worry in the NIV version by using the Greek word merimnate.  For this writing’s purpose, I’m going to assume worry and anxiety mean the same thing.  I admit and most times, I prefer the ESV or the NIV (but I won’t get into the AMP, NLT, The Message, NASB, NRSV, etc. at this time).  Additionally I usually prefer the ESV version the most, as I personally find it’s a little more closer to the biblical languages than some of these other translations and yet not too far from modern English to make it too hard to read.

Now when Jesus talks about worry/anxiety and how he provides in the midst of it, they’re words of extreme confidence, hope and peace.  Let’s not forget that one of the completely true descriptions and prophecies of Jesus from Isaiah 9:6 tells us that Jesus is the Prince of Peace!  Let’s also not forget that Jesus calls his people to turn to him because he gives rest, he is gentle and lowly in heart (not harsh, prideful or arrogant), and his burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).  These are not false statements and not descriptions to take lightly.

Our passage in Matthew also comes right after Jesus urging his followers to store up treasures in heaven and I don’t think that’s by coincidence.  Jesus is also not denying there’s daily worries and our eternal focus should be heaven bound and eternity with him.  However, there are still daily concerns we go through.  Let’s also keep in mind JESUS IS THE PROVIDER!  Thus some followers call him Jehovah-Jireh, meaning “the Lord will provide” – and provide he does!  When we examine our main text in Matthew and rather than ignore the daily concerns, Jesus repeatedly confirms his Lordship over all life’s challenges

1)    he provides for physical needs (vv 25)

2)    affirms his care and love for us (vv 26)

3)    affirms he’s Lord over time (vv 27)

4)    shows his care for all generations of his followers no matter how great or small (vv 29)

5)    emphasizes our need for greater faith (vv 30)

6)    urges not to focus so heavily on physical needs and makes known Yahweh has this already covered – so don’t sweat it! (vv 32)

7)    refocuses us on what’s important – Jesus, his righteousness and his kingdom - eternal values (vv 33)

Knowing all of this, how will you respond to worry or anxiety?  Place your whole trust in Jesus Christ!  He doesn’t ignore your concerns, and he knows all about them.  He wants you to run to him and find the Prince of Peace that he is!  Experiencing that peace may take time, but if you are genuine in your pursuit of him, (that’s quality time and effort) you’ll receive his supernatural peace and assurance that Jesus is Lord and master over everything, and yes Jesus is the ultimate provider!

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First Love

February 7, 2024.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
-Ephesians 2:1-7 (ESV)

Even when things seem pretty good on the outside, at the core maybe they’re not.  If you stop to think about it, probably one of the scariest ideas is the fact that God looks directly at your heart.  In other words, we can’t fool God!  Generally and especially in the world of business, all that matters is results and even if core business practices are not healthy.  This is especially true with shareholders.  As long as the company is profitable and getting earnings, shareholders are happy and the results they wanted are obtained.  I think the vast majority of us would be appalled to learn that many profitable and common household brands seem healthy on the outside, but on the inside there are unhealthy practices.  For example, Nike (clothing), Nestlé (chocolate), Microsoft (computers) Apple (computers) and many others use child labour to get things done.  They seem like great brands on the outside and they probably make many shareholders happy, but on the inside there is some cleaning to do.

To be honest and frank, I’m also concerned about churches growing rapidly on the outside, while not having a good handle on discipleship, worship, scriptural knowledge and application, outreach and fellowship.  However and when we examine Ephesians 2:1-7, I think we should be more concerned with keeping our first love – Jesus Christ!  This was the fatal flaw of the church in Ephesus after Priscilla and Aquilla founded it and after Paul and Timothy strengthened it.  On the outside they seemed like they were doing everything right.  Ephesus had the temple of Artemis (Diana) and this city was occult central in the Hellenistic world.  All kinds of paganism and mysticism was rampant.  The church in Ephesus did right by not giving into those trends. 

It mentions that the church in Ephesus doesn’t like the teachings of the Nicolaitans.  The name Nicolas means, “one who conquers” and scholars are divided on if the Nicolaitans were named after Nicolas – once a follower (maybe an apostate deacon in the church in Acts) that promoted food offered to idols and sexual immorality (teachings of Balaam), or from another group of people that also offered food to idols, coming from the name Nicolah meaning “let us eat” in Greek. In any event, the practices of the Nicolaitans (food offered to idols and/or sexual immorality) is something that Yahweh despised and at least the church in Ephesus got that right.  They also got patience and endurance for Jesus Christ’s name, not tolerating evil and properly testing false believers all right.  All of these qualities and actions seem to promote and are signs of healthy churches right?  I mean, in the midst of an occult city and all kinds of heresies,  they seem pretty vibrant and healthy from the outside don’t they? – Wrong!

God found what was in their hearts.  You see, they mechanically did all the right things and did all the right motions on the outside, but inside they were cold and lost their first love – Jesus Christ.  This is a real danger for many churches and individuals today!  Here’s something to consider:  People of St. Andrew’s, do we have it right?  A lot of great things are happening: our financial giving improved. We’re gaining more people to join various outreach, missional, fellowship and other committees and through them doing good work in the world and in our humble church.  Many of us regularly gather for worship.  A few of us regularly attend small groups or bible studies.  A few of us gather for prayer.  We’re growing in number weekly, but where are our hearts?  Can all of us honestly say at any given moment, “I am truly, madly and deeply in love with Jesus Christ?”

I implore you dear brothers and sisters.  While all those things I mentioned are great, I implore you, take the time to fall in love with Jesus, over and over again.  This means spending deep and personal time with him on a regular basis and intentionally doing so!  And by doing so, I’m convinced you’ll never lose your first love!