God Is Light

Most people in the church at the very least have a basic understanding of the gospel plan of salvation, but once they are in Christ I believe they hold an irrational fear regarding the condition of their salvation, believing that one slip up will condemn them forever to the fires of Hell. What these individuals have done who believe this way is that they have rejected the grace of God and replaced it with a belief in their own ability to earn salvation. And that is tragic, for no man or woman is capable of doing this. What happens is that many of these people, burdened with a sense of despair and frustration at their own failures and shortcomings, their own sins, end up giving up and walking away from the Lord. I believe a study of the writings of John are the cure for this malady that afflicts so many in the church. The Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:5-7 [ESV],

"This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

John says that “the message” the Apostles have heard from God is essentially, “God is light.” That is the fundamental truth relating to fellowship. As relates to God, “light” has several applications. It refers to His glory, His holiness, His truth, His illumination and His openness, but the only aspect that we can share in fully is that of openness. We cannot completely share in God's absolute glory, His holiness, His truth or His illumination this side of eternity but we can share or participate in living an open and honest life before God, as He is open and honest with us. God hides nothing from us pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). However, all sinners hide from God in one way or another, just as Adam and Eve sought to hide from the Lord when they sinned (Genesis 3:10).

The obvious condition for maintaining fellowship with God Who is light is for us to “walk in the light.” Essentially, that involves being honest and open with God and living according to our understanding of His word as best we can. When we sin, we “confess” (1 John 1:9). The emphasis upon that word is to admit our sin when we do sin, and to offer no excuses – no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Obviously, one seeking to “walk in the light” means that he lives honestly and openly before God. Those who walk in darkness means they are living their lives deceitfully, covering and excusing their sins. They do not have fellowship with God. Transparency with God, living in wholehearted acceptance of the fact that He seeks to walk with us, and responding in faith is what counts. It is a relationship, not a business or legal transaction!

Those who “walk in the light” are continually cleansed of their sins by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). This text has nothing to do with public confession, although that may be warranted in some cases. Our walk is with God. We admit our sin to Him and turn from it and seek His “light.”

I do not see the Scriptures teaching that Christians are like a yo-yo, bouncing in and out of Christ at the drop of a hat. I believe the Scriptures teach that one has to have a heart so hardened and removed from God and denounce Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, or one who believes his salvation is maintained by law-keeping, or one who denies that Jesus came in the flesh, is truly lost and fallen from grace. See Romans 1, Galatians 5 and 1 John 4:2-3.

Being saved does not give one license to sin (Romans 6:1-2), so please do not misunderstand me. I believe many people may think they are lost and fallen from grace, when what they really are is fallen and at a point in which they are no longer experiencing many of the blessings that come in this life from being one of God's own.

Participating in the Blood of Christ

The Apostle Paul, while addressing the church in Corinth, made what I believe is an interesting observation. He writes, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16 [RSV]) In the immediate context Paul was making the connection between the significance of the fruit of the vine in its representation of the blood of Jesus. But that is not the only way we participate in the blood of Christ.

We participate in being brought closer to the Father in the blood of Jesus. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13 [RSV])

As alien sinners, we are at enmity with God (Romans 5:10). But when we participate in the blood of Christ, peace is achieved. 19. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20. and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on Earth or in Heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20 [RSV])

When we participate in the blood of Christ, our consciences are purified. 13. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, 14. how much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God. (Hebrews 9:13-14 [RSV]) When we receive the blood of Jesus we receive a new conscience that desires to serve and obey God, a conscience that enjoys obeying God.

Finally, those who participate in the blood of Christ will be privileged to serve Him in His Temple for eternity. 13. Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?” 14. I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night within His Temple; and He Who sits upon the throne will shelter them with His presence. (Revelation 7:13-15 [RSV])

When we participate in the blood of Christ we are set free from dead works so that we can serve the Living God. The blood of Jesus sets us free from things that lead to death. We are set free from Satan, we are set free from the world, and we are even set free from our own selfish desires. Only when we are walking in freedom and liberty in Christ can we serve God, and that freedom only comes through our participating in the blood of His Son. God desires that we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. When we participate in the blood of Jesus Christ, we do just that.

Gardner-Whitworth Finishes Strong, Defeats Century 21 18-11

The Gardner-Whitworth 5th grade boys basketball team continued their fine play by defeating Century 21 18-11 on Saturday, March 6, 2010. This was the season finale for both teams, and Gardner finishes with a 2-3 record.

In many ways this was Gardner's best performance of the year. Although they basically ran a transition offensive game from start to finish, they protected the ball better than they have all season, committing a season low 14 turnovers. Defensively, Gardner was at the top of their game, holding Century 21 to 0 points in both the 1st and 4th periods. They also set a team goal to limit the damage of Century 21's top player, Konour Smith, and limit him they did, shutting him down completely from the field. Smith finished the game with just 1 point, going 1 for 2 from the charity stripe. As a team, Gardner's defense had 12 steals, led by Damien Ferguson with 4. Although the Gardner boys were just 8 for 48 (16.7%) from the field, they were taking very good shots, and just missing making the basket. The team also grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, turning those into 6 points on second chance opportunities. Gardner also cleaned the glass well on the defensive side, pulling down 21 boards.

Both teams came out slowly offensively, and neither team was able to score until Damien Ferguson connected on 1 of 2 free throws with 1:57 remaining in the opening quarter. On their next possession, Damien hit teammate Sawyer Overton down low for an assist, and Gardner led 3-0 as the period ended.

The teams matched up in the second quarter to a 5-5 stalemate, but Gardner found themselves leading at the half for the first time all season 8-5. Damien Ferguson had a basket on a drive to the bucket, and he also connected on another free throw. Cameron Brewer chipped in with his lone basket of the game, rounding out the scoring for Gardner in the 2nd period.

Things picked up a bit for Century 21 in the 3rd period as they scored 6 points to take a brief 11-10 lead, holding Gardner to just 4 points. Brock Rawlings had a basket after being fed a nice pass by Cameron Brewer, but when Century 21 took a 1 point lead with 1:47 reamaining to play in the 3rd, the Gardner coach called what will go down in basketball annals as the "Relax" timeout. Gardner's coach noticed that Damien Ferguson was about to "lose it" as his team had fallen behind, and he felt he was getting fouled a lot and not getting the call (he was), so the coach called for time to calm him down. Do Damien and calm go together? Calm and Damien? Damien? Damien! So the coach reminded Damien and the team that we still had a full quarter to play, and if Damien was not going to calm down he was going to have to pull him and not play him in the 4th period, and his team needed him. We win as a team, we lose as a team, and we play as a team. So as they broke from their huddle, the team said, "1, 2, 3 RELAX!" And relax they did, for Damien hit Sawyer with a perfect pass again down low. Sawyer missed the shot, but he grabbed the offensive rebound, putting it up and in through the hoop for his 4th point of the game, and Gardner found themselves on top as the 3rd period closed, leading 12-11.

Damien had 2 more baskets in the 4th period and Griffin Luce added his lone basket of the game to finish out the scoring. Damien's baskets came with under a minute to play and Gardner holding a slim 14-11 lead. The Gardner coach called for a full court press, and Damien was a one man wrecking crew, annihilating the Century 21 offense with his constant "stink-on-skunk" defense, garnering 2 steals and converting them to baskets for Gardner-Whitworth.

When Gardner was down 11-10 in the 3rd quarter, Andrew Polston of Century 21 committed his 5th foul of the game. He should have been removed from the game. However, Century 21 had no one on the bench to replace Polston, so the Gardner coach told the referees to let him continue to play. As the coach explained to his boys during the quarter break, "Boys, #5 just committed his 5th foul of the game. Technically, he should be out of the game, and I want us to win this game, but not with an asterisk, and not by having us playing 5 against 4 boys on the floor. We ARE going to win, but we are going to do so by beating their 5 players on the floor. So let's go out and win!" And the boys responded, shutting down Century 21 completely.

The coach for Century 21 was very appreciative after the game for our allowing his player to continue to play in the game. But I know I would have always had a bitter taste in my mouth if I had done any differently. After all, these are just 5th grade boys. As much as I want to win, I would prefer to lose against 5 players, than win by going 5 against 4. And I truly believe that the boys on the Gardner team preferred it this way, too, because they knew their coaches had confidence in them.

The Sad Truth

The Bible describes two types of people in the world. Most people will be on the unsaved (or lost) side of the line. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leads unto life, and few are they that find it.”

Jesus was not one to mince His words when it came to telling people the truth, especially when it came to speaking of the condition of one’s soul. In these two verses alone He makes it abundantly clear that the condition of mankind is a lost one. We are told in Isaiah 59:2 that our sins have separated us from God, and that includes everybody, for Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “ . . . for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. . . .” Jesus further makes no bones about the fact that most of the world will remain forever lost and cutoff from God.

There is much to be gleaned from these words from our Savior in Matthew 7, but one thing that seems to me to grow keener and clearer the older I get is just how much sorrow and just how much grief must have afflicted the Lord when He uttered these tragic words some two thousand years ago! Here He was (and is), the Creator and the Sustainer of the entire cosmos (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), the One Who is above all thrones, principalities and powers, the One Who is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8), the beginning and the Firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18), the One Who is the Redeemer of all the Earth (Job 19:25; Isaiah 41:14), the One Who stretched forth the very heavens from horizon to horizon and the One Who formed us in the womb (Isaiah 44:24), the One Who loved us so much that He left the glory and riches of Heaven to come to this lowly plain of existence and humble Himself to live His life as an unassuming servant (Philippians 2:7), the King of kings and Lord of lords, the only Potentate there is or ever will be (1 Timothy 6:15) Who suffered Himself to be beaten, and scourged, and nailed to the cross as a common criminal. This same Person had to tell us that in spite of all that He has done for us and continues to do for us, we will, for the most part as a people, continue to reject Him to our own utter destruction! I can only imagine how hard He must have fought back to keep the tears from flowing and streaming from His eyes when He spoke these words.

Yes, it is true that all have sinned, and that everyone is in dire need of salvation, but the sad truth is for us to face is the realization that one of the most difficult of all things to do is to convince a person that he or she even needs a Savior! That, to me, is the reason that most of the world will reject Jesus Christ as their Savior, and it seems the older I get while living in 21st century United States of America the harder it gets to show the people they have sin in their lives. The world about them, operating under the influence of Satan, even when they believe he does not exist, does everything in its power to teach our young that there is no such thing as sin. There is no right, there is no wrong. I take that back . . . according to the world, there is really only one thing that is wrong anymore, and that is to have morals and principles based upon a strong foundation in one’s belief and confession of Jesus Christ as the true and risen, living Savior He is!

Rejoicing With Those Who Are Rejoicing, Weeping With Those Who Are Weeping

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Wise Writer declares, 1. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven: 2. a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3. a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4. a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5. a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6. a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7. a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8. a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 [RSV])

This past week our congregation has run the whole gamut of these emotions as we have experienced a time of great joy in seeing two men baptized into Christ, while also mourning with a sister in Christ and her family over the loss of her dear and beloved grandmother. When our new brothers in Christ came to the Lord in obedient, saving faith, not only was the excitement felt palpably in our auditorium, the very halls of Heaven were moved. How do I know this? Because our Lord and Savior told us so Himself. “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the Angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10 [RSV]). Did you ever stop and ponder the significance of these words of Jesus, as well as what the Apostle Paul penned in Ephesians 4:29-30 [RSV]? 29. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. 30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. What our Lord, the very Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and His chosen Apostle to the Gentiles tell us is that our actions affect God and Heaven! The next time you start feeling down and beginning to believe yourself to be insignificant and unimportant, just remember that your actions affect what takes place in Heaven! We can either cause great joy, or we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God. And also please do not ever forget that you were so important that God sent His own Son for you! 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 17. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (John 3:16-17 [RSV])

Yes, “for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven”: A “time to be born,” and “a time to die,” a “time to laugh” and “a time to mourn.” Sometimes, those occasions occur simultaneously. There is no more apropos verse for our time now than what Paul says in Romans 12:15 [RSV], “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” So do not fear to rejoice in the rebirth of our brothers while simultaneously weeping with our dear sister in Christ and her family. We are there for all of you!

Discounting the Supernatural

I want to share with all of you a few passages of Scripture and then discuss for a few moments why I chose these.

"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

"Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under Heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?'” (Acts 2:4-8 [ESV])

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in Heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing" (Colossians 1:3-6a [ESV]).

"And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea." (Acts 8:39-40 [ESV])

The reason I chose to share these passages of Scripture with you this evening is because earlier today I found that a gospel preacher had written, in reference to a passage from the Book of Hebrews, “Further do you say that the Preacher is incapable of hyperbole? Does 'forever' always literally mean 'forever' in Scripture . . . did Paul mean that EVERY human had heard the Gospel (the Native Americans, Mongols, Aborigines, Chinese??)? I do not think so.” I don’t know about you, but I find these words quite disturbing.

Why are we so afraid to preach God and His miraculous powers? Why is it so hard to believe that the gospel was taken and preached to the entire world? The word translated here as "world" is, after all, "kosmos" in the original Greek, and it means just that: the world. Why do so many in the church today, including those who are preachers, so readily feel the need to deny the word of God for what it says, and exchange it for worldly wisdom?

In my humble opinion, I believe we, as a group, in our attempt to appear wise to the world, are increasingly falling dangerously under the influence of rationalistic thought. More and more often I find those in the brotherhood dismissing the miraculous explanation in favor of a worldly, rationalistic explanation of Scripture. And the Apostle Paul had a thing or two to say to those who wished to appear wise to the world.

"For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." (Romans 1:21-22 [ESV])

"For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.'

"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:19-25 [ESV])

If we continue down this road of explaining away all of the miraculous and all of the supernatural aspects of Scripture, it will not be long before we have rationalized prayer out of our lives, too. In many quarters, this has already begun as scientists have determined that prayer only works because our brain releases “positive” chemicals when we pray, and they say the answer to prayers has nothing to do with God but with physical and chemical reactions. (Let's just forget, no, let's just deny there is a Creator Who made our bodies and minds in the first place!)

If this tendency to dismiss and discount the miraculous continues, we will soon find ourselves in league with the Gnostics, and be denying that Jesus came in the flesh. And this is the only named heresy in the New Testament. It is not only a dangerous heresy, it is a damnable one, too.

"For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works." (2 John 1:7-11)

We know for a fact that the Holy Spirit gave the apostles the power to speak in other languages. We know for a fact that the Spirit miraculously transported Philip from one place to another after he converted the Ethiopian eunuch. We know for a fact that the Scriptures say the gospel was taken into "all the world." Is it really too difficult, then, to believe that God was able to do exactly as He said He did, and take His gospel plan of salvation into "all the world"? I do not think so. I, for one, refuse to dismiss God's clear teaching when it comes to the miraculous, ANYTHING miraculous, and replace it with rationalistic, human reasoning and wisdom.

I Witnessed Two Deaths . . . and Yet I Rejoiced!

This past Sunday I was privileged, thrilled and delighted to witness a fantastic occurrence: I was present to watch two men die! I witnessed this event firsthand along with several others, so I know that it happened. I watched as these men died and were buried, and yet no one who saw this event was saddened.

It is true that no one was sad, but that does not mean there were no dry eyes in that audience. Even though I did not know one of the men personally I still found some tears well up in my own eyes as his death was manifest. Many had actually prayed for this death for a long time, and tears of joy trickled down their faces as they watched their prayers being answered as this man surrendered his life to death.

How could anyone be happy with the death of a man? How could anyone have not only wanted, but had even been praying for the moment these men would die who, by all outward appearances, seemed to be in the prime of their lives and in perfect health? Those in the audience, and those who had prayed for this moment, were now rejoicing for this men chose to be immersed into Jesus Christ, washing away their sins (Acts 22:16)!

Our sinful nature must die in order for us to have eternal life in Christ. Paul wrote, "But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death no more has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died unto sin once: but the life that He lives, He lives unto God." (Romans 6:8-10) When we die unto sin we come alive unto God in His Son: "Even so reckon you also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11) Once we are alive unto God through His Son, we are also members of His family, and heirs to His fortune: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him." (Romans 8:16-17)

It is only through obedient baptism that one accesses the cleansing power of Jesus' blood: "Or are you ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:3-4) It is only through baptism that one becomes clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27). Won't you choose to die to self and to sin, and walk in newness of life with Christ, that we along with the heavenly host may rejoice for your death, too?

May God bless you!