Passages

Ruth and I went to the Passages exhibit today. It will be in town only one more week. It will then be disassembled and transported to Los Angeles, where it will be on display for 18 months. I wish I would have gone sooner. I could have encouraged more of you to take advantage of it. It is a Bible Wonderland, a spiritual treasure.

The Green family, of Hobby Lobby fame, has amassed one of the largest Bible manuscript and artifacts collections in the world. They have invested tens of millions of dollars to save some of the most treasured Bible items in the whole world. I am grateful for them. We are able to have the exhibit here because Second's very own Cary Summers oversees the project on behalf of the Green family.

You have one week left to go through the exhibit here in Springfield. Tickets are about $20, when headphones are included. Allow 2 to 4 hours, even more if you are heavily into Bible archaeology.

To me, the most touching sections were those about the Hebrew Scriptures salvaged from Hitler's Holocaust against the Jews, and those about the price martyrs paid so that we could have the Bible in the English language. The most memorable moment was when an actor, who was talking about the possibility of having an English Bible, told of a man who gave up one year's salary in order to buy a copy of the Gospel of Matthew.

When you leave the exhibit, you will love the Word of God more than ever. You will treasure it more in your deepest heart of hearts.

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2 Corinthians Again

It's Christmas Eve. I just now finished my annual reading of the Bible, a custom I have maintained since 1976. 2015 will mark my 40th time to read the entire Bible. This is by far the most important spiritual discipline of my life. My life would be much impoverished without it.

Once I finish this annual habit, I try to read 2 Corinthians again. There are several reasons for this--one of the most important being the emotional bond between a preacher and a congregation that permeates the book. The Corinthians had their problems, yet Paul radically loved them.

Ruth and I feel this way about Second. We revel in our 19-year love affair with our church. These words from 2 Corinthians 7:4 brought this truth to mind this morning, "Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf." Ruth and I feel honored to serve at Second.

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Pliny's Letter to the Emperor Trajan about Christians

Pliny was governor of Pontus/Bithynia. His letter to the Emperor Trajan in 112 AD is the first pagan reference to Christianity. I thought you might find parts of the letter interesting, and have listed excerpts from it here.

 

…In the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished…

 

The sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god,…When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food…

 

The matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms.

Jesus: God of True God

Christians have always worshiped Jesus as being God. In the early days of the Church, Pliny, a Roman governor, wrote to tell the Emperor that Christians in his province regularly met to sing praises to Christ as God. The early Church did not simply admire and venerate Christ. They adored Him.

 
         Their mighty chorus has continued to swell through the ages. Saints of every generation have lifted the song of adoration to Jesus. Let the believers of our day join the celebration. Worship Jesus. Praise Jesus.

         The best way to honor the Father is to honor the Son. Some 300 years after Christ ascended, a church leader named Arius began to teach Jesus was divine, but created and secondary, less than God the Father. Arianism, like a cancer, weaved its way into the thoughts and minds of countless believers.

         Many, including a bishop named Amphilochus, vigorously fought the heresy, and were dismayed at the lenient spirit Emperor Theodosius showed toward Arianism. His lackadaisical attitude encouraged those who were undermining the full Deity of Christ. On the day Theodosius elevated his son Arcadius to serve as co-emperor, Amphilochus was among the throng of well wishers. The crowd processed by, congratulating the two rulers. The bishop spoke only to Theodosius and completely ignored his son. The angry father snapped at Amphilochus, “Do you take no notice of my son?”

         At this, the bishop said to Arcadius, “The Lord bless thee, my son.” This did not satisfy Theodosius. “Is this all the respect you pay to a prince I have made of equal dignity with me?” Amphilochus curtly replied, “Sire, do you highly resent my neglecting your son by not giving him equal honor with you? What must God think of you, who has let His co-equal and co-eternal Son be degraded in His proper Deity in every part of your empire?”

The reproof achieved its desired result. God help us never to indulge a creed holding Jesus to be anything less than God of true God. Jesus is Lord.

         Our greatest champion in this early struggle was Athanasius, the first person to list the 27 books as we have them in the New Testament today. His list, done in 367 AD, was confirmed at the Synod in Carthage in 397 AD.

This was not his main claim to fame. He is most famous for the crime that exiled him five times. He served as Bishop of Alexandria for 45 years; 17 of these in exile due to Roman opposition. His crime was; an unrelenting battle against the heresy that God the Son was less God than God the Father.

 Athanasius often stood alone, thus giving us the Latin phrase for which he is famous, “Athanasius contra mundum” (Athanasius against the world). Emperors feared him as powerful, but could not kill him due to the love of his people. In his 17 years of exile, they never acknowledged anyone else as their bishop. He was humble, and single minded in his love to Christ. He refused to embrace anything less than the full deity of Jesus, and he carried the Christian world with Him. Thank You, Lord.

Babe Ruth Memorabilia

I found myself today in the middle of a little debate over who was the greatest baseball player of all time, Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb. If the result is measured by the monetary value of each one's personal memorabilia, the winner hands down is Babe Ruth.

The Sultan of Swat had an unbelievably good sale of his artifacts this past week. One of his hats sold for over $300,000. A baseball he and Lou Gehrig autographed sold for over $100,000.

The real eye popper, though, is the fact his 1914 rookie card is expected to sell for over $650,000. It last sold for over $400,000 in 2013. It is considered the grand kahuna of baseball cards.

Here's why I am fascinated by this. Over 20 years ago Ruth and I saw a Babe Ruth rookie card on sale in Fort Smith AR for $15,000. One week after this, it was stolen. It was never retrieved. Had I known then what I know now I would have mortgaged my house to buy that card. Oh well. Maybe next time.

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An Ordination Memory

"What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8 NAS).

I was ordained at age 18. Alvin Daniels was one of the deacons in our church. When he placed his hands on my head, I recognized his voice saying to me, "Remember Micah 6:8; Remember Micah 6:8".

I have remembered it, and every year when I reach Micah 6:8 in my daily Bible reading, I pause to meditate on its message, and pause to remember a special event in my life.

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Jesus' Radiance

I preached this morning on one of my favorite Bible phrases, “He is the radiance of His glory” (HB 1:3a). God is Light, a luminous One who dwells in His own uncreated brightness. To see God in His innermost essence means certain death.

His glory is too splendid for us to see and live. The Father must hide Himself from our view, but loves us and wants to reveal Himself in some way to us.

God the Father allowed His brightness to be transformed in a way that could be safely perceptible to human beings. An outflowing of God's glory was permitted. A beam was released. It was bright enough to be recognized as God, but veiled enough to keep it from being fatal to human eyes.

Jesus is the Ray that proceeds from the central Glory, and visits us. The Son brings God the Father to us, according to the measure of our capability.

Jesus reveals the glory of the Father, as rays of our sun reveal the glory of that body. A beam from our sun is distinct from the sun; each has its own identity. Even so God the Father is not God the Son, and vice versa. But it must also be said a beam is never separate from the sun, and the sun is never without a beam. In a similar way, the Father and the Son also co-exist. Neither is ever separate from the other.

The most important comparison found in this illustration is; the sun cannot be seen except by a beam. The only way our sun communicates itself is through its rays. Likewise, the Father has hidden Himself except for what shines forth in Jesus. Only by looking at Jesus can God be seen. Without Christ, people are completely in the dark with regard to knowing God.

 

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Son-Spoke

Sunday I began my Christmas messages for this year. My text included Hebrews 1:2a, “In these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son.”

When God gave revelations in portions, He used prophets. When He gave the ultimate revelation, He Son-spoke. God used various servants to give certain messages, but when it came to His last, best word, He chose to come Himself and inhabit flesh. Since revelation has God as its source, and people as its object, it is appropriate the ultimate revelation was a God-man.

Now we have God's final Word. In our Lord Jesus we have the climax of the Gospel revelation. God has held nothing in reserve. We are no longer kept in suspense regarding new discoveries about God. He has nothing more to reveal.

Christ has to be the final spokesman of Deity, because He is God. Nothing more could be said or revealed.  Jesus revealed God by being Himself. Christ was not only a messenger; He was the message. Nothing more can be conveyed than God Himself. This is what happened in Jesus.

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Honor Both Testaments.

Today I began my Christmas sermons for this year. My text today was Hebrews 1:1, “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.” In the Old Testament, whatever the portion proclaimed, and whatever the method, the important fact was that God was doing the speaking. God was in the prophets, controlling their thoughts and guiding their words. The same God who speaks in the New Testament also speaks in the Old. We must think of both testaments with equal reverence. The Old Testament is also God's Word. "It was our Savior's Bible" (F. B. Meyer). Jesus loved it, and fed on it.

Neither testament would be complete without the other. One is the plant in full bloom, the other the seedbed. The roots of Christianity are buried deep in Judaism. The Old is fulfilled in the New, the New is built on the Old. For instance, Leviticus "lives" when studied in the light of Hebrews, and Hebrews is impossible to completely understand without Leviticus.

Our writer believed God wrote the Old Testament. Hebrews gives abundant proofs of the verbal inspiration of Scripture. In referring to Old Testament passages, our writer usually makes no mention of an author's name, but instead speaks of the passages as emanating from God Himself.

Whether Old Testament or New, it is God who speaks. He inspired the writers, who wrote His utterances.

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Ferguson

Tonight I've watched with rapt attention the news about the city of Ferguson, Missouri. Seeing the destruction and fires is breaking my heart. This city hugely blessed me in my younger years.

As a teenager, I lived and worked in the Ferguson area during the summer. My life was forever affected by the ministry of Pastor Bob Werner at First Baptist Church of Ferguson.

He poured his life into us young bucks. To him we mattered. I look back on those days as being profoundly significant in my spiritual development.

Ferguson blessed me. Now I pray God will bless Ferguson.

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God Desires Our Salvation

God is always more willing to save us than we are to be saved. No unbeliever has ever had to wait for Jesus. Long before we come to Him, He comes to us. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, it is the Father who ran.

God’s enthusiasm for us is boundless. If we can eke out only a spark of interest in Jesus, He has a blazing furnace of interest in us. “The gate of salvation is flung wide open. The door is taken off the hinges” (Spurgeon).

         Some taunt God, saying they plan to come someday, but not right now. Whoa! Is Jesus to wait for our convenience? Is He our lackey, a servant having to wait for our pleasure and timing? Do we really want an extension of our time to rebel, and more time to risk everlasting perdition?

         People can be obstinate. They do not like God’s terms. They love their sins, and don’t want to give them up. They also love their good works, and want to trust in their own righteousness. This puts them in double jeopardy. Since they will not yield to God’s governance and grace, the deal is off.

 

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Zechariah the Martyr

Zechariah was the son of the great priest Jehoiada. Wicked Queen Athaliah ordered all the seed royal to be executed in order to eliminate any possible rival claimants to the throne of Judah. Jehoiada hid baby Joash from the murderers, and later made him king. Due to his extraordinary greatness, Jehoida the Priest was buried with honor in the tombs of the Kings.

Years later (2 CH 24:20-25) King Joash scorned Jehoiada’s kindness by murdering the priest’s son Zechariah, who as a prophet rebuked the king for embracing idolatry, “You have abandoned YHWH, He has abandoned you”. The king’s assassins killed the prophet in the Temple courtyard. As he died, he said, “May YHWH see and demand an account”. In a year, Jerusalem had been plundered, its leaders killed. King Joash, severely wounded in the attack, was assassinated by his servants, and denied burial in the tombs of the kings.

         Jesus chose Abel and Zechariah as prime examples of the religious leaders persecuting the prophets (Luke 11:50) because they were the first and last martyrs in the Old Testament. Zechariah was not the last martyr time wise, but the last book in the Hebrew canon is 2 Chronicles. Thus, for Jesus to say Abel to Zechariah would be like us saying from first to last or Genesis to Revelation.

 

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Lost Forever?

Some do not believe in eternal damnation, but Jesus did. Don't try to be smarter than Jesus. Believing in the possibility of eternal separation from God helped drive 2000 years of mission passion. We have fervently believed people desperately need a Savior. Harold Renfrow, longtime Southern Baptist missionary to Brazil, may have been responsible for more salvations than anyone else I ever knew personally. He was driven by people's lostness.

Dr. Renfrow is the only person who ever chided me for having John 3:16 as my favorite Bible verse. He adamantly believed John 3:18 was the most important verse, "He that believeth not is condemned already." He urgently said, "John, people are already condemned here and now. We must rescue them here and now."

Universalism sucks the life out of Christianity. Some are calling for the Church to "lighten up" a bit, to compromise core convictions. They think if we become more like the world, we will win more to Jesus. Not true! The very churches that are doing this are the ones dying fastest among us.

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A Tithing Experiment

Rather than come on too strong about tithing, which I confess I have done in the past, let me offer a truce between us. Could we meet halfway, and agree to an experiment? Would you pray about possibly tithing, talk to your family and friends about it, and give one percentage point more each year to see if you might eventually tithe? I feel strange in doing this, but tithing is an area of life YHWH challenged us to test Him in (Mal. 3:10).

         Raised by tithers to be a tither, I never doubted God expects us to live on 90% of what we make. My earliest recollection of an allowance was fifty cents a week, of which a nickel had to be put in a church-offering envelope. This left me with forty-five cents, which was painful, because it cost fifty cents to go see a movie. Roy Rogers always seemed only a nickel away.

         I fear too many of us can relate to the following humor. After church one Sunday, a family was heading home in the car. The children were in the backseat, listening to their parents assess the day. Dad was pessimistic, "The sermon was too dull, and the music not loud enough." Mom was optimistic, "You have to admit, for a family of four it was a good show for a dollar."

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