Be Careful, Little Eyes, What You See--Life of David Series

            What kind of qualities would you say are necessary to become President of the United States? Perhaps intelligence? The ability to think on your feet? According to some research, it may not take much more than simply being taller than your opponent.

            Since 1789, when our current Constitution was adopted, the taller of the major-party candidates for President has won the popular vote 67% of the time.¹ That means that in two out of every three Presidential elections, you could correctly predict the winner of the popular vote by looking at nothing more than which candidate is taller.

            During last year’s election, Google kept a close eye on what people were searching for during one of the Republican debates. The top search had nothing to do with tax plans or foreign policy. The top search question was, “How tall is Jeb Bush?”

            As humans, we’re inclined to form all kinds of opinions about people based on nothing more than how they look. This tendency can lead us to hold opinions about others that are way off base. We can come to esteem others whom we really should not hold in high regard, and we can look down on others for whom we should truly have great respect.

            When God announced that a teenage shepherd named David would be the next king of Israel after Saul, he revealed to us how we should form our opinions of others. The Lord’s declaration in this chapter is one that we should keep in mind:

Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

            I enjoy watching a good musical on stage. In a musical, all of the big turning points in the drama are expressed through songs. In this story in 1 Samuel 16, all of the big turning points are expressed through the Hebrew verb that means “to see” or “to look.” God first announces that he has seen a king for himself. Samuel then sees a likely candidate for the next king, but then we discover that Samuel was not looking at the right things. Then later, King Saul must look for a man for a certain task, and his servant announces that he has seen just the man that Saul is looking for. Let’s look through this drama and learn how to see other people the way that God does.

1. God sees a king for himself  (vv. 1-5)

            [READ v. 1] Here is the first verb of seeing, though it’s not entirely clear in the English translation. We could translate that last phrase “I have seen for myself a king among his sons;” or perhaps even better, “I have seen to it that there is a king among his sons.”

            Understandably, Samuel wasn’t sure about all of this [READ vv. 2-5].

2. Samuel sees a likely candidate for king (v. 6)

            When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel apparently thought, “This is the easiest mission I’ve ever had! Eliab is the obvious choice.” [READ v. 6]

            Eliab must’ve had a very commanding presence to stand out so quickly in Samuel’s eyes. Perhaps he had been the all-state quarterback at Bethlehem High School – tall, strong, broad-shouldered. Apparently Samuel chose kings the same way that Americans choose Presidents. But Samuel is about to get an eye exam from the Lord.

3. God adjusts Samuel’s sight (vv. 7-13)

            [READ v. 7] The point of that final statement is not that God knows more about other people than we do – although that is certainly true. The point is that God focuses on what is truly important while we get hung up on things that really are not important. God focuses on character while we focus on clothing; he looks at humility while we look at height; he looks at service while we look at skin color.

            If we want to learn to form our opinions about others the way God does, we can’t get hung up on superficial qualities. We have to look at their character – to look at what they say, what they do, and whether those two expressions of the heart match up with each other.

            Samuel receives an immediate lesson in this principle as an impromptu parade of Jesse’s sons then passes before him [READ v. 8-11, stopping at “keeping the sheep”].

            Can you feel how Jesse is almost dumbfounded by the thought of calling in his youngest son? Jesse hadn’t even invited him to the dinner in the first place! I’m sure he had affection for David, but this lack of an invitation tells us something of what Jesse thought about David’s position in the family. No one will even miss the runt if we don’t invite him!

            Jesse also offers a slight protest by declaring where his youngest son is. Notice that he introduces it with the word behold: “behold, he is keeping the sheep.” “Samuel, you gotta understand – he doesn’t have any cell phone reception out there, so we’ll have to send someone all the way out there to get him, and then we’ll have to wait for him to get all the way back. Is it really necessary to call him in? Maybe we can just rewind the parade and you can look over my older son’s again!”

            But Samuel was starting to learn God’s lesson, so he says, [READ v. 11b-12a, stopping at “handsome’]. It’s kind of ironic that in this lesson about not focusing on a person’s outward appearance, we get this explanation that David was handsome! What this teaches us is that a person’s appearance should be neither a point for them or a strike against them. We shouldn’t fawn over someone just because they have good looks, but neither should we write them off for the same reason.

            David was God’s chosen man, and so we read this [READ vv. 12b-13].

            David has now been declared to be the next king of Israel, and no one less than the Spirit of the Lord himself is now upon him. So it’s very instructive to discover that the next time anyone goes looking for David, he’s back out with the sheep! He was anointed as the next king, but in the absence of any further instructions, he thought, “Well, I guess I better go make sure the sheep are okay!”

            He didn’t surround himself with an entourage or form a transition team to prepare for his new administration. David had a very humble response, and that’s precisely one of the reasons why the Lord chose him for this significant position.

So the Lord has seen a king for himself, and Samuel has now received a new pair of glasses so that he can see the king, too. Now we read that King Saul needs to go looking for someone for a certain reason.

4. Saul looks for someone to bring him relief (vv. 14-17)

            [READ v. 14] There are two questions we should address after reading this verse. First, since the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, do we need to fear that the same thing could happen to us today? The short answer is no, because we have a different relationship with God today than Old Testament people did – even if they were sincere believers and people whom we will see in heaven.

            The death and resurrection of Jesus changed many things, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit was one of them. Under God’s administration in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit typically empowered people only for a season. It was not a permanent indwelling.

            With Christ’s death and resurrection however, the veil between God and man has been torn. There is now a new freedom for fellowship between God and man, so the Holy Spirit’s residence in our hearts is permanent. We can certainly grieve the Holy Spirit through our sins, as Ephesians 4:30 warns us, but he will not leave us since we have been adopted as God’s own children.

            The second question from this text is, what was this harmful spirit that tormented Saul? It may have been some kind of psychological illness. I should note that the Hebrew term for “spirit” and the English word “spirit” are similar in that they can both refer to either my own personal, human spirit, or they can refer to a supernatural, spiritual being. So it could be that the Lord sent bouts of depression into Saul’s spirit or something like that.

            I think it’s more likely that we have a situation like what Job experienced. In the story of Job, God did not initiate anything harmful against that man, but he did give Satan permission to afflict him. I think that’s the situation here – that because of Saul’s sin, the Lord gave Satan permission to afflict him.

            Saul’s servants suggest a solution which may not have been the first thought in our minds, but it’s one that does teach us something important [READ vv. 15-17; in v. 17 we find the verb for “seeing” or “looking” again].

            I want to talk a bit more in a moment about the power of music, but for now, notice that one of Saul’s servants announces that he has seen just the man that the King is looking for, and it is none other than David.

5. David is seen and comes to serve (vv. 18-23)

            [READ vv. 18-23] Notice how God’s eyesight is vindicated in this passage. He had seen for himself a king among Jesse’s sons, and now other people were starting to take note of David’s qualities. The Lord had obviously seen very well!

            Notice also a lesson that we can take from these verses about the power of music. Music has the power to soothe a troubled heart and calm an anxious soul. Music has a fascinating ability to touch every part of us. It can move your body – just think about how you feel like dancing when you hear certain kinds of music. It can touch your mind by calling up certain memories for you. It can touch your emotions by moving you to tears or putting a smile on your face.

            Music has such power that it should be the regular habit of every Christian to listen to music that praises the name of the Lord and turns our thoughts toward him and his commandments. Just as you should regularly read the Bible and pray, you should listen to music that will lead you to praise the Lord. When you are tempted to sin, use the power of music to your advantage. Sing or hum a hymn or song of praise to yourself, or turn on some Christian music and allow it to change what you’re thinking about and how you’re feeling in that moment.

            Since music is such a powerful tool, I must say this to all of you – be very careful about the kinds of music that you choose to listen to. Music can affect you in ways that you won’t even realize unless you stop to think about it.

            Music has the power to embed messages deeply within your mind. When I was in high school, there were certain artists that I listened to. I haven’t listened to some of them for 17 years now, but I’ve discovered that if I hear one of their songs in a commercial or out in a restaurant, the lyrics come back to me immediately.

            Music has that kind of power to make a lasting impression upon your mind. When we want to memorize something – like the alphabet, for example – we set it to music, don’t we? It helps us remember that information or that message in a way that simply reciting it never will.

            And it’s not just the lyrics that have power – it’s the music itself. So often I hear people listen to trashy music, and they say, “Oh, I don’t listen to the words – I just like the beat.” What you have to realize is that the music itself affects you far more than you think.

            For you younger people especially, think of it like this – there’s a reason you don’t play lullabies in pep band. The band is there to get the players and the crowd into a certain mood, so you play songs that will put us in that mood.

            If you listen to music that has an aggressive, edgy beat, you will feel more aggressive and on edge! If you listen to music that has a dark, somber tone to it, you will feel somber and depressed. This isn’t rocket science, it’s just reality, because that’s the kind of power that music possesses. So be wise about what you choose to listen to.

Conclusion

            David’s ascent to the throne is now underway. He has been seen and noticed by God, and now he has been seen and noticed by King Saul himself. He is now a member of the royal court, and all that remains is to see how God will deposed the rejected king and crown the anointed king. That drama awaits us in this series, and trust me—it is must see TV!

Notes:

1. https://www.thoughtco.com/does-the-tallest-presidential-candidate-win-3367512. Accessed March 23, 2017.

A King Oblivious to God's Own Heart: The Failure of King Saul--Life of David Series

            Have you ever gotten yourself in a big mess because you failed to carefully follow some instructions that were given to you? Maybe your doctor gave you some restrictions after a surgery but you didn’t think they were that big a deal, and you wound up hurting yourself. Maybe you tried something new and thought “How hard can it be?”—so you ignored the advice of experts and created a big problem because of it.

            If you ignore the instructions of another human being, your choice may not be that big of a deal. But if you ignore the clear instructions of God, your rebellion—yes, rebellion!—reveals the presence of a very serious problem in your heart.

            So it was with the very first king of Israel in the Old Testament, King Saul. The children of Israel had wandered away from God’s own heart for them back in 1 Samuel 8 when they demanded a king for themselves. The king they received was a perfect fit because he turned out to be just like them!

            King Saul was blessed by God in various ways, and he had some good moments because of that. But ultimately, his desire to obey God turned out to be half-hearted. When his own mind decided that a different path looked better than the road laid out by God’s commands, he didn’t hesitate to go his own way.

            We first see some rust appearing on the King’s crown in 1 Samuel 13 when Saul downplayed the importance of receiving divine guidance from the Prophet Samuel. Then, in chapter 14, he nearly killed his own son in a silly display of stubbornness.

            Here in 1 Samuel 15 today, we’ll read about the last straw that led God to declare his rejection of Saul’s kingship. What was it that sealed the demise of Saul’s reign? As we will see, it was the presumption to think that he knew better than God.

A Clear Command (vv. 1-3)

            This saga of Saul’s sin begins with a clear command from God to the King in verses 1-3 – a command that left little doubt about what God wanted to see accomplished [READ vv. 1-3].

            Now this command sounds rather harsh, and on one level, it is. Not “harsh” in an angry, sinful sort of way, but harsh in its decisiveness and comprehensiveness and finality. Saul was to leave no Amalekites alive and was to destroy all of their possessions.

            We could spend a fair amount of time talking about this command and how it relates to God’s goodness and love, but for today, let me simply make one observation. Notice that God gave this command in reference to what the Amalekites did to the Israelites as the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt. And what exactly did they do? As the Israelites traveled, the Amalekites attacked their rear and killed the stragglers who were lagging behind the rest of the group. Undoubtedly, this included the elderly, the sick, and women and children.

            That event was 400 years prior to what we are reading about in 1 Samuel 15. Apparently, in God’s eyes, the Amalekites deserved punishment all the way back then. But God chose to withhold their just desserts for 400 years, presumably to give them time to change their ways. Surely that is a sign of God’s love and goodness mingled together with his justice and holy wrath.

            We could say more about this, but for now just note the clarity of the command that was given to Saul, because what we will discover is only partial obedience to the word of the Lord.

Partial Obedience (vv. 4-9)

            [READ vv. 4-9] At this point in the story, we are only told what Saul and the people did – we are not yet given any explanation for why they chose to do it. It is clear, however, that they did not carry out the Lord’s command precisely as he had given it to them. Something convinced them that they had a better idea than what God had laid out for them, and if that seems like a small thing, let’s go on to see the Lord’s reaction to all of this.

Differing Evaluations of Saul’s Actions (vv. 10-12)

            [READ vv. 10-11] We’re not told precisely whom Samuel was angry with. Was he angry with Saul for the King’s disobedience? Probably. Was he angry with the people for insisting on a king in the first place? Perhaps.

            But while the Lord and Samuel were grieving, Saul was doing something much different [READ v. 12]. What irony! While Samuel probably wanted to forget this moment, Saul was setting up a monument to ensure that it would always be remembered!

            Here we see again the blinding effects of sin. We saw it last week in 1 Samuel 8 when the people of Israel refused to heed God’s warning about their demand for a king, and now here it is again. Saul was celebrating the very act that grieved God’s heart. A monument was going up at the same time that Saul’s reign as king was on its way down.

The Buck Stops There! (vv. 13-21)

            When Samuel finally catches up with Saul, he must confront him about his sin. Notice how Saul consistently tries to pass the blame for his actions on to the people of Israel [READ vv. 13-21].

            Ah, blame-shifting! It’s a time-honored tradition among mankind; one of our favorite pastimes, even. It started back in the Garden of Eden when Adam said, “Lord, the woman YOU gave to be with me brought me some fruit, and I ate it!” Well, passing the buck didn’t work for Adam, and it’s not going to work for Saul, either.

            Perhaps the people with Saul did have the first thought to spare the best of the spoil, but as Samuel reminded Saul, he was the king! He was the boss, so even if it wasn’t his idea in the first place, he had the authority to put a stop to it.

            But he didn’t, and perhaps that’s because he sincerely believed that sacrificing these animals to God would be better than simply killing them. That sounds so pious and holy, doesn’t it? But remember, that was not what the Lord requested, so however Saul’s decision may have looked on the surface, at its root was a poisonous and sinister thought – namely, the thought that I know better than God; the thought that says, “Yes, I know what God said, but I know what would be more appropriate for this situation.”

            That thought may come to us with the godliest appearance imaginable, but behind its mask is none other than the Devil himself. It’s just another form of the same old temptation that Satan set before Adam and Eve by telling them that they could be like God, knowing what is good and what is evil. Isn’t that what Saul did? He presumed to know what was truly best in that situation, even though his decision violated the clear command of God.

God’s Verdict on Rebellion (vv. 22-23)

            That’s why we find this verdict against Saul, and against every moment in which we may presume to know better than God. Notice this clarification from Samuel in v. 22 [READ v. 22].

            Now since we’re beginning to study the life of King David, I want to point out that David understood this truth, and more than any other reason, this may be why David is called a man after God’s own heart. For all of his failures, he always understood with the Lord truly desired from him.

            In Psalm 51, which David wrote after he confessed his sin with Bathsheba, he wrote this in verses 16-17: “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

            God certainly did command the children of Israel to offer sacrifices for their sins, but they were always intended to be expressions of the heart, never a substitute for the heart. Whenever you go through some kind of ritual, there is always the danger that you can do it without having your heart really in it.

            We face the very same danger today with all of our external expressions of our faith in Christ. We can sing hymns without our hearts being truly engaged; we can give an offering – even a large offering – without our gift really being sincere. You may have every Sunday bulletin from your church going back 30 years, but God is not impressed if your heart is not devoted to him.

            When you go through a ritual, you’re always offering something that is outside of you. But when you obey with sincerity, you're offering your mind, that it might be conformed to the way God thinks; you're offering your will, that it might be shaped to do the works of God; you're offering your heart, that your affections might be stirred by the things that God loves. God created you to be his very image, and obedience brings you ever closer to displaying that image in full.

            And why is obedience better than sacrifice? Why is it better than any ritual we might carry out? Well, notice the Lord’s opinion of disobedience as it’s expressed in verse 23 [READ v. 23a]. Divination is the attempt to receive guidance from evil spirits. That could be through witchcraft, sorcery, séances, or even Ouija boards or tarot cards.

            Now we hear that and we think, “Wow! I would never do something like that!” But notice the stark reality that this statement establishes. In one category, we have obedience to God’s commands. In another category, we have – everything else! If I don’t follow God’s commands, then on this level it really makes no difference whether I’m just following my own ideas or whether I’m trying to make contact with demons! The reality is the same – I have turned from God’s commands and thus I have committed rebellion.

            We see the idea of the same categories in the next part of the verse [READ v. 23b]. If I presume to know better than God does, then I have placed something above him in my estimation and thus I’ve committed idolatry. Once again, on this level it doesn’t matter what I exalt above the word of the Lord – whether it’s my own thoughts or thoughts that are coming from some other source.

            This is why it’s so serious to think that we know better than God on any matter. Remember – King Saul’s actions looked so holy and noble, didn’t they? He said he was going to offer sacrifices to the Lord! But his actions came from a heart that brazenly declared that it was a better judge of right and wrong than the word of God. And so, we find this declaration against King Saul at the end of verse 23 [READ v. 23c].

            Saul’s failure opened the door for someone else to become King – someone who was not from Saul’s own bloodline. In the very next chapter, David will be anointed the next king of Israel, though he will still have to wait a number of years before that becomes a reality.

            In the meantime, he would continue to learn what God truly desires from us, and it is a lesson that we must also learn well. What God desires from you is not rituals, but respect; not your wallet, but your will; not your minutes; but your mind.

            Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams! Let us never be so presumptuous as to think that we know better what we should do than God does. May humble obedience mark us at all times as we trust that God’s ways are always right and true.

A People Wandering from God's Own Heart: The Dawn of Royalty in Israel--Life of David Series

            One of the greatest ironies of the Christian life is that while we’re very comfortable trusting the Lord Jesus to take care of our souls for eternity, we struggle to trust him to fill our stomachs tomorrow. Trusting God for our ordinary, everyday needs is one of the most difficult lessons we have to learn. For that reason, it can also be the area of some of our greatest temptations.

            The struggle to trust God for everyday needs set the stage for one of the most important turning points in the history of Old Testament Israel—a turning point that would lead directly to a shepherd boy named David becoming King David. Since he was the king, it can be enlightening to ask, “How did there ever come to be a king in Israel, anyway?” Israel’s earliest leaders—Moses and Joshua—had certainly been powerful and influential, but they were never kings. So how did the dawn of royalty in Israel come about? For that, we must turn to 1 Samuel 8.

A Crisis of Leadership

            When we step into 1 Samuel 8, we are stepping directly into a crisis of leadership in Israel. The people with the most official power at that time were the priests. They had spiritual leadership over the people, and they also had some authority to collect taxes and settle some civil and criminal cases. But at the time of 1 Samuel 8, the most recent high priest’s family had been a miserable failure in their role because they didn’t care about the Lord—they only cared about themselves.

            The other prominent leaders at that time were the judges. Now when you hear that word, don’t think of men in black robes and powdered wigs sitting in a courtroom. The judges were more like the sheriffs in Wild West towns—they fought off the bad guys and maintained some law and order in the community. And just like those sheriffs, the judges had a limited area where they served. None of them were ever the recognized leaders of the whole nation of Israel.

            The prophet Samuel was the last of these judges, though that really wasn’t by his design. He had set up two of sons as judges in southern Israel, but their moral failures would lead directly to the major turning point that we read about in 1 Samuel 8 [READ 8:1-9].

A Transfer of Trust

            As the people looked around at their leadership options here in 1 Samuel 8, nothing looked very good. The most recent high priest’s family had been killed off because of immorality. Samuel’s own sons were taking bribes and perverting justice. But instead of crying out to God to deliver them from this leadership mess, the people decided that trusting human authority was the way to go if they could just put a new form of human authority in place.

            They looked around at the nations surrounding them and said, “You know, these other nations have got it figured out! They have a supreme human leader – a king – who protects them and provides for them. That’s what we need!”

            Now some statements in the Books of Genesis and Deuteronomy suggest that asking for a king could have been an acceptable request from the people. After all, Genesis 49:10 had prophesied that a scepter and a ruler’s staff would one day reside in the tribe of Judah, and Deuteronomy 17 had even given regulations about how any future king of Israel should behave.

            But the Lord makes it clear that the people’s request in 1 Samuel 8 was problematic because in their hearts they were transferring their trust from him to some larger-than-life human figure. In verse eight, God said it was just one more example of the people forsaking him and serving other gods. In this case, the people wouldn’t be bowing down to some idol made of wood or stone, but rather they would be submitting to a human to whom they would give godlike control over their lives.

            This sad story highlights for us the danger of looking to other sources to provide things that God has already promised to give us. If you glance ahead in this chapter to verse 20, you’ll see that what the people wanted was a king to “judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” God had already promised to do those things for the people himself if they would simply obey his commands! All the people truly needed to do was trust God to keep his word. They would have no need at all for a human to do those things if they would simply obey the word of the Lord.

            The people thought their problems persisted because they weren’t acting enough like all the other nations. But ironically, their problems remained because they were acting far too much like all the other nations. They had adopted the worship of false gods, with all the perverse behaviors that went along with it. They needed to repent and return to the one true God, to become his unique people once again. But sadly, they thought it best to sacrifice their uniqueness on the altar of human wisdom.

In a twist that should frighten all of us, we see how difficult it becomes to hear words of truth once we have decided on a sinful course of action.

A Stubborn Refusal to Repent

            In verses 10-18, Samuel warns the people about what they are truly asking for. He prophesies for them what life would be like under a king. Notice that he’s not merely sharing his own opinion – verse 10 says that he will tell the people “all the words of the Lord.” Let’s see what the Lord wanted them to know [READ vv. 10-18].

            These words should have scared the people to their senses. “You mean we’ll be like slaves again? That’s what our ancestors were in Egypt! That’s what God stretched out his mighty hand to deliver us from! And you say we’ll cry out to the Lord but he will not answer us? How could we ever live if our God would not answer our cries for help?”

            But instead, the people dug in their heels even more [READ vv. 19-20]. No amount of warning – and no matter how dire – would turn people around because they had succumbed to doubts about whether God could truly be trusted to do what he said. Once you seriously entertain a doubt like that, you have poured a casing of concrete around your heart, and if you don’t get rid of it immediately, it will harden and prevent the words of warning from getting through. Only tremendous force can break through a hardened heart – an experience that we usually call “hitting rock bottom.”

            Note the warning that the author of Hebrews gives us in Hebrews 3:12 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Now he’s not talking about becoming an atheist or an agnostic. In the context, he draws a comparison to the children of Israel in the wilderness. They always believed that God was real, but they struggled to decide whether they could really trust his promises. Will he really meet our needs out here in the wilderness? Will he really give us all that he has promised?

            For you and me, that is our greatest danger as well. For every person in this room today, the greatest danger to your soul is not running off into atheism but slacking off into apathy – losing any passion or liveliness that you once had in your faith because you’re not certain that you can trust all of the promises of God.

            I know he can save my soul for all eternity, but can he really satisfy my soul with peace and joy right now? If I obey him, will I truly find that his yoke is easy and his burden is light? Will he really put food on my plate and clothes on my back if I make obedience my focus?

            The author of Hebrews calls us in 3:13 to help each other as we wrestle with these questions: “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Sin truly is so deceitful because it always makes us question the promises of God, yet it never delivers on its own promises! Like the Wizard of Oz, sin doesn’t want us to look behind the curtain that hides it, because we will discover that all of its promises are empty and all of its accusations toward God are unfounded.

Declining to Be Different

            Notice one final emphasis behind the people’s desire for a king. In verses 5 and 20, the people stated that part of their motivation was that “we also may be like all the nations.” For nearly 450 years by this point, the Israelites had had repeated strife with their neighbors, and the nations around them gained the upper hand on them sometimes for decades at a time. It seems that the people finally decided that the only way for them to level the playing field was to follow the same supposed “wisdom” as all the other nations.

            It’s hard to be different, isn’t it? And sometimes we get the idea that life could be so much easier for us if we just weren’t so different from everyone else. Whether were talking about our personal lives or the way we do things in our church, we face a constant pressure to just go with the flow of our culture.

            Why do we have to get so concerned about a little sin here and there? Why do we insist that correct ideas about God really do matter? Why do we have to be so insistent that some things really are right and some things really are wrong? Can we just take a deep breath and relax about some of that stuff? After all, it makes us look so intolerant!

            This episode from Israel’s history is a warning to us about the danger we put ourselves in when we decline to be different. God’s whole intention for the children of Israel is that they would be different and unique. We call it “holiness!” That’s what he desired for them, and that’s what he desires for us.

            We can’t afford to do anything in our lives simply because it’s the way that everyone else does it. We are supposed to march to the beat of a different drum, and sometimes the rhythm of obedience will put us out of step with the world around us. That’s okay – and rather than have a desire to be just like all the other people around us, our highest desire must be to be just like Jesus.

            In his great kindness, the Lord would one day use kingship in Israel to be a blessing to the people. He would give them some godly kings, like David, Hezekiah, and Josiah. God may mercifully bring some good things out of our sinful choices, but for our part, we must desire to avoid the sinful choices in the first place.

            So let us determine today that we really can trust God to keep all of his promises. Let us beware of the deceitfulness of sin so that we will not allow it to harden our hearts. And let us be content to be different, because God has called us to such holiness, and one day he will reward us for it.

A Couple After God's Own Heart: The Godly Heritage of King David--Life of David Series

            If I were to ask you to think about some events that were world-changing, you would probably think first about events—like Pearl Harbor—that started wars, or moments—like the Moon landing—that changed what we thought we could accomplish.

            Those were certainly world-changing events, but more often than not, in God’s plan, world-changing moments or happenings are not splashed across TV screens for everyone everywhere to see. Rather, they often start as small seeds of faithfulness that are quietly planted by people who are trying to do nothing more than just obey God on a Monday morning.

            So it was, more than a thousand years before Christ, as the world began to change when a woman simply decided to make sure her widowed mother-in-law was taken care of, and a man then decided to let that woman pick up fallen grain out of his harvest fields.

            The story of Ruth and Boaz in the Old Testament is meant not only to inspire us, but also to serve as an introduction to the life of King David. Ruth and Boaz were the great-grandparents of King David, so the Book of Ruth tells us about David’s physical and spiritual heritage. It’s only fitting, then, that we would begin a series on the life of King David by looking at the great-grandparents who began to shape his godly character.

            Today, we’ll take a quick look at their story, and along the way, I’ll highlight a few of the ways in which this couple exhibited behavior that mirrored God’s own values.

            You know the story—in order to escape a famine in the land of Israel, a man named Elimelech takes his wife Naomi and his two sons and travels East to the land of Moab. The two sons marry Moabite women, but by the time ten years have rolled by, all of the men in the family have died—Elimelech and both of his sons.

            Being rather vulnerable now in a foreign land, Naomi decides to return home to her people in Israel, who have seen the famine come and go. At first, both of her daughters-in-law hit the trail with her, but Naomi tells them bluntly that their prospects for re-marriage would be better if they stayed in Moab. One daughter-in-law agrees and turns back, but the other, Ruth, sets aside any thoughts about herself and commits to taking care of her mother-in-law for the long haul. Notice their conversation in Ruth 1:15-18 [READ 1:15-18].

1. Ruth showed great kindness to her widowed mother-in-law (1:15-18)

            Ruth’s determination was so unselfish, because if she really followed through with it, then in her old age, she would be in an even tighter spot than Naomi was now. Naomi was at least going to have a daughter-in-law looking out for her, but when Ruth grew old there would be no one, as far as she knew now—no husband, no children, no sons or daughters-in-law. But Ruth put the uncertainties of her own future on the back burner in order to care for the clear and significant needs that her mother-in-law had in the present.

            This kind of compassion toward a widow resonates in beautiful harmony with the heart of God. Psalm 68:5 says, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” Deuteronomy 10:17-18 declares, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” And what kind of people is this great God concerned about? Who is near and dear to his heart? “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”

            Ruth may not have known all the details of how the people of Israel worshipped God, but she was practicing the purest form of religion there is. James 1:27 states, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

2. Boaz went the “extra mile” in following God’s commands (2:14-16)

            When Naomi and Ruth arrived back in Israel it was harvest time, so Ruth went to work in the harvest fields, picking up grain that had fallen on the ground after the harvesters had gone by. The Lord had commanded the children of Israel to let the poor among them do this—to let them have the grain on the edges on their fields, and to let them go through their fields to pick up any grain that was on the ground.

            When Boaz found out who Ruth was, he went above and beyond the minimum requirements of that command. Notice his actions in 2:14-16 [READ 2:14-16]. Boaz didn’t have to make those arrangements for Ruth, of course. He could have done the bare minimum of what God’s law required and told himself that was good enough. But instead of settling for the letter of the law, he embraced the spirit of the law—showing kindness to the poor—and he took it the extra mile.

            When the prophet Micah sought to give the people the essence of what God required of them, he wrote this in Micah 6:8—“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Notice that striking phrase in the middle—to love kindness. Not just to do kindness, but to love it.

            That was Boaz, wasn’t it? It was kind enough to allow Ruth to join the other people who were already gleaning from his fields, but then, like a kind, old grandfather at an Easter Egg hunt, he made sure Ruth was surrounded by goodies so she would go home with an abundance.

3. Ruth maintained pure behavior and won a good reputation for it (3:10-11)

            The story then takes a turn toward the romantic as Naomi puts on her matchmaking hat and seeks to unite Boaz and Ruth through the custom in the Law of Moses known as the kinsman-redeemer. Let me explain that to you briefly.

            Under this custom, if a man married but then died before having any children, his next closest relative was supposed to marry his widow. The first son born to the new couple was then named the heir of the deceased man, and this son would receive the man’s inheritance.

            This practice does seem strange to our sense of romance, because it certainly did emphasize practicality over fits of passion and romance. But remember—this was a time with no such thing as life insurance or Social Security or retirement plans or Medicare. Your security for old age was your children, so this custom made a way for a widow to have a husband for today and children for tomorrow.

            So Naomi hatched a plan that would leverage this custom but also keep pressure off of Boaz—she sent Ruth to speak with Boaz privately. That way, there was no pressure on Boaz—no one else would know that this conversation took place, so if he said no, it would never be known.

            Instead, Boaz had a favorable response to Ruth’s proposal because she had proven herself to be a virtuous woman [READ 3:10-11]. That phrase “a worthy woman” is the same phrase in Hebrew that is used to introduce the “excellent wife” in Proverbs 31. Ruth is thus the clearest biblical example of what an excellent wife is like.

So Boaz desired for Ruth to be his wife, but there was only one problem—according to the custom of the kinsman-redeemer, Boaz was not the first in line for Ruth’s hand in marriage [READ 3:12-13]. His refusal to undermine the appropriate process shows another part of his godly character.

4. Boaz would not deal deceitfully even when pursuing something he wanted (3:12-13)

            There’s an old cliché that says, “All is fair in love and war.” Supposedly if you’re in love, it’s okay for you to break the rules of fair treatment if you have to fight off others who might be pursuing your crush. Well, Boaz didn’t live by that standard—he lived by a higher standard, and he would not compromise his character even for the interests of love.

            But as the Lord would have it, Boaz was indeed the man for Ruth. They married, had a son, and just a few generations later, their family produced the man whom God would later call a man after His own heart—King David, the king whose reign would change the world and whose impact will be felt again when the Lord Jesus comes to revive the kingdom of David in this world.

            David’s story starts with his great-grandparents, Boaz and Ruth, two ordinary people whose simple, everyday acts of obedience set in motion a course of events that would change the world. The eventual impact of their everyday faithfulness is the lesson that I want to challenge you with today.

            I believe each one of us would like our lives to make a profound difference for the Lord. We would like to change the world for the glory of Christ, but too often, we get our sights set on the wrong things. We think we need a big, public platform to change the world and we’re tempted to cut corners to get it, because after all, it’s for a good cause, right? Wouldn’t the end justify the means that we might have to use to become well-known and famous?

            In reality, all we need to do to have a great impact for God is to simply do the next right thing—to take the very next step of obedience that He puts in front of us, however small and ordinary it may seem. Just do the next right thing—prepare a meal for your family today, work with integrity on the job tomorrow, love your neighbor. To us, it might seem as insignificant as tossing a pebble in the ocean, but in God’s plan that pebble might create precisely the ripple that He will use to change the world.

            I want to leave you today with one more story about a man whose simple step of obedience changed the world. This man was a Sunday School teacher in Boston—Mr. Kimball. His heart was greatly burdened for one of his students who worked in a shoe store, so he decided one day to pay that young man a visit. Here’s how Mr. Kimball tells the story, in his own words:

“I was determined to speak to him about Christ and about his soul, and started down to Holton's boot store. When I was nearly there I began to wonder whether I ought to go in just then during business hours. I thought my visit might embarrass the boy, and that when I went away the other clerks would ask who I was, and taunt him with my efforts in trying to make him a good boy. In the meantime I had passed the store, and, discovering this, I determined to make a dash for it, and have it over at once. I found him in the back part of the building wrapping up shoes. I went up to him at once, and putting my hand on his shoulder, I made what I felt afterwards was a very weak plea for Christ. I don't know just what words I used. I simply told him of Christ's love for him, and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all there was. It seemed the young man was just ready for the light that then broke upon him, and there in the back of that store in Boston, D. L. Moody gave himself and his life to Christ.”

            The ministry of Dwight Moody would change the world. Many of you have books in your home today that bear the name of the publishing company that he founded. Many of you have been influenced by pastors and teachers who were touched by the Bible Institute that he founded. It’s all because his Sunday School teacher just did the next right thing that God put in front of him. Never discount the impact of ordinary, everyday obedience, because it just might change the world!

The Resurrection and Ascension--Definite Convictions Series

            As a fan of Kansas City sports, I like to listen to a sports talk radio station out of Kansas City from time to time. There’s a jewelry store in Kansas City that runs a lot of commercials on that station, and their advertising slogan is, “Now you have a friend in the jewelry business.”

            That’s a pretty smart slogan if you ask me, because it makes us feel good to think that we have friends in strategic places. If you’re ever in a jam, it feels good to be able to say, “Don’t worry – I’ve got a friend who can get us out of this!”

            Today we’re going to be reminded that we have a friend in the most powerful place of all. We have an advocate in heaven – someone who is representing us and defending us. This friend is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

            Jesus assumed this role for us after his death when he was raised to life and then ascended to heaven 40 days later. Section 5 of our Statement of Faith contains brief statements about Jesus’ resurrection and ascension before describing his present ministry for us. This section states:

We believe in the bodily resurrection and Lordship of Jesus Christ, his ascension into heaven and his present advocacy and priesthood in the presence of God for us (Acts 2:32; 1 Cor. 15:20, 23; Acts 1:9; 1 John 2:1; Heb 7:25; 8:1-2).

Let’s take a closer look at these claims.

The Bodily Resurrection

            As you can see, our Statement emphasizes that Jesus’ body truly did come back to life after it had been entombed. This emphasis is meant to counter the tendency among some people to try to accommodate Christian teaching to the challenges of skeptics. The Resurrection was obviously an unusual event; it was out of the ordinary, and so many people over the years have said that there is no way that it could’ve happened.

            Some people who have desired to uphold the Christian faith have responded to these challenges by saying, “Well, we certainly believe that Jesus spoke to the disciples after he died, but perhaps he just spoke to them in a vision. Maybe it’s true that his body didn’t really come back to life, but the disciples just thought it did.”

            That idea flies in the face of so much of what the Bible records. What happened to his body if it did not come back to life? The Bible says that three women first found his tomb to be empty when they went to visit it on the first day of the week. They reported it to the disciples, and Peter and John found the tomb to be empty when they went to check it out. Even the Roman soldiers who were supposed to guard the tomb reported that it was empty.

            The Bible also states that when Jesus appeared to the disciples they touched his body and he ate food in their presence. The Bible clearly means to tell us that his body did come back to life, and that is the only explanation that makes sense of the facts.

The Lordship of Jesus Christ

            Our Statement then mentions the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This phrase refers to the truth that Jesus himself announced in Matthew 28:18 as part of the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Obviously, as the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God had always been ruling over all things. But after his resurrection, Jesus as the God-man was exalted into authority over all things. That fact will be on full display one day after Jesus returns to establish his kingdom in this world.

            The Lordship of Jesus is also highlighted in the rather familiar passage in Philippians 2:9-11 [READ Phil 2:9-11]. This detail is easy to misunderstand, but we should note that the title “Lord” is actually the “name above all names” that was bestowed on Jesus. It is not Christ’s human name of Jesus, but his new title of Lord that is the name above all names. He was given that title as an honor because of his willingness to carry out God the Father’s plan of salvation. And again, we will see his Lordship on full display when he comes to reign over this world.

His Present Advocacy and Priesthood

            It’s very natural for us to ask, “What is Jesus up to these days?” We know what he did in the past because we have read about it in the Bible. We know he’s going to return in the future and that we will be with him forever. But what is he up to right now? For many Christians, that remains a great mystery. Our Statement sums up the Bible’s teaching about this when it mentions his present advocacy and priesthood.

            As our advocate, Jesus acts like something of a defense attorney for us in the courtroom of God the Father. 1 John 2:1 puts it like this – “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” That’s Plan A for all of us, right? We don’t want to fall to temptation, but if we do, we don’t need to fall into despair.

            Why is that? Notice the rest of the verse – “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Jesus is right now in the presence of God the Father to plead our cause for us when we sin.

            Now we must understand that Christ’s advocacy is not for God’s benefit, but for the sake of our confidence and reassurance. God the Father is not some angry man looking for a fight who has to be restrained by Jesus. Remember the truth of John 3:16 – for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.

            The Father loves us and he doesn’t have to be constantly convinced to continue to love us. But that fact is so easy to forget when we sin, isn’t it? We think, “How could God still love me after what I’ve done? How could he still accept me after this?” So for our sake, whenever we are tempted to doubt God’s love for us, we have this reassurance that Christ is on our side – ready to take up our cause and defend us. What grace and mercy!

            Closely related to all of this is the work of Christ’s priesthood for us. Just as the priests in the Old Testament offered sacrifices for the sins of the people, Jesus has offered a sacrifice for our sins to God the Father. The author of Hebrews spilled a lot of ink in his letter as he emphasized that Christ’s priesthood is far superior to that of the Old Testament priests:

·         Jesus only had to offer his sacrifice once, whereas the Old Testament priests had to do it over and over again;

·         Jesus’ own blood was far more precious than the blood of animals that they offered;

·         Jesus never had to offer sacrifices for his own sins like they did, because he was perfect;

·         Jesus can now remain a priest for us forever – he never has to be replaced like they did when they died.

            So through his own death, Jesus offered once for all time the only sacrifice that was needed for us to receive complete and total forgiveness from God. As Hebrews 7:25 puts it, “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Monday Matters

            As always, we want to find a very practical application of these truths to our daily lives. With these ideas, such an application is not hard to find:

Jesus’ advocacy and priesthood give me all the confidence I need to pray to God about every temptation and to confess my every sin.

            Since Jesus sits right now at the right hand of God the Father, I never have to wonder if I’m going to get a friendly reception from God when I pray. I have an advocate pleading my cause and a priest representing me in the presence of God.

            With these reassurances, God has made such a gracious accommodation to our weakness. We are so quick to lose our confidence in the promises that God has already given us. Sometimes it is lost through sin, sometimes it is lost through cynicism. We are told in life that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and when we read in the Bible about God’s magnificent love for us, it sounds too good to be true! So even we, as God’s children, might say, “How can it be? Can I always count on him to be loving?”

            So that no lingering doubts about his love will keep us from him, God tells us that we have an advocate and a priest in his presence so that we are always doubly assured of a friendly reception. Here’s what the author of Hebrews has to say about this [READ Heb. 10:19-23].

            So that we will never wonder if God can truly understand what we need, we are reminded that our advocate and priest can sympathize with us through and through [Heb. 4:14-16].

            Isn’t that just what we need? Mercy! Grace! And they are ours for the taking whenever we go to the Lord in prayer. And we can do so with every confidence, knowing that our pleas are amplified by our great high priest!

You Cannot Serve Two Masters--Life with God Series

            Some relationships in life seem to get better when you share them with others. Having one best friend in your life is great, but it seems to be even sweeter to have a circle of friends who all enjoy each other deeply. The joy of those friendships seems to be enhanced because it is shared with others.

            Other relationships, though, cannot be shared without doing tremendous damage to the relationship. Your relationship with your spouse is one such relationship. You simply cannot share the intimacy that you have with your spouse with anyone else. If you do, then the relationship is greatly harmed.

            Over the last two weeks, we’ve been talking about sharing our faith in Christ with others—inviting them to enjoy the same kind of relationship with God that we enjoy. Today, we’re going to see that there is one sense in which our relationship with God cannot be shared with anyone else—that is in God’s role as our Lord or Master. God alone must occupy that role in our lives. Yes, we do have lesser authorities that we’re called to obey, like your boss or our leaders in government. But as far as our highest allegiance is concerned, that is to be given to God and God alone.

            It’s fitting that I mentioned marriage a moment ago when talking about this kind of allegiance, because all through the Bible, God compares His relationship with us to that of a husband to his bride. A husband and wife are supposed to give each other exclusive devotion on a number of levels; thus, that relationship is a fitting comparison for our relationship with God. That illustration also helps us understand one of the most unusual claims about God that we read in the Bible.

The Jealousy of God

            You don’t have to read very far into the Bible before you encounter this odd-sounding claim that God is a jealous God. For example, in Exodus 20, where we find the Ten Commandments, we read these words in verses 4-6 [READ vv. 4-6].

            The gears of our minds almost come to a grinding halt when we hear God call himself a jealous God. We don’t know what to make of that because we normally think of jealousy as being always and only bad. So then how could God call himself jealous?

            To make sense of this, we need to understand that at its root, jealousy is simply a passionate desire to possess something or to see something come about. The question that makes all the difference is this – do you have a right to the thing that you desire to possess? If you do and you are deprived of that thing, then your response could be called a godly jealousy. If you do not have a right to it, that’s when your desire becomes a sinful jealousy.

            A good illustration of a godly jealousy could be when a wife discovers that her husband has been unfaithful to her. She has an exclusive right to her husband’s affection, so when that right is violated, she has a natural and appropriate complaint about that. Now we might call her reaction a number of things – anger, devastation, disappointment – but we could call it a godly jealousy.

            As far as God is concerned, he has the right to receive our worship and obedience. He is our Creator and the one who keeps us alive for every moment that we are given in this life. Not only that, he is also our Savior, the one who has so graciously delivered us from the penalty of our sins. For all of this, he deserves to be the unrivaled master over our lives.

            When we do not treat him as such, he appropriately takes offense at that. But remember – this is not the same kind of petty offense taken by the person who doesn’t get the new pair of shoes that they wanted. This is the same kind of offense taken by someone who is denied justice, or by the woman whose marital rights are taken from her and given to another.

            The Lord warns us in this passage and others that when we spurn him as the unrivaled master of our lives, the consequences may appropriately be quite severe. Notice how the Lord states in verse five that he “[visits] the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” The consequences of our sins may affect our grandchildren’s children, and whether or not that will happen is up to God. In his grace, he so rarely gives us the full brunt of what our sins deserve, but he has the right to do so if he deems it necessary.

            But to no one’s surprise, we see the grace of God shining out far brighter than his discipline. In verse six he reminds us that he “[shows] steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” That might be better translated “1000 generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” The effects of God’s discipline may last for three or four generations – which is no small thing! – but the echoes of his blessing can sound forth through 1000 generations!

So God has given us fair warning that he is a jealous God. He will not sit idly by as we serve other masters ahead of him.

No One Can Serve Two Masters

            Jesus put this warning in perhaps its most memorable form in the Sermon on the Mount. In the context of talking about money and wealth, he said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24).”

            We could put many things in that statement and the principle would be just the same. The Lord could have said, “You cannot serve God and popularity,” or “You cannot serve God and personal comfort.”

            Remember that the Lord is talking about our highest allegiance. I am supposed to serve others in love, but that’s because God tells me to, and he is my highest master. I am supposed to serve my family, but that’s because God tells me to, and he is the Lord of lords – he is my highest authority.

The Danger of Idolatry

            Any time that we fail to give God our highest allegiance, we are engaging in idolatry, even though we may not normally think of our actions in those terms. We may understand that our actions have been sinful, but we don’t think of them as being instances of idolatry, though in fact they truly are.

            The reason that we can overlook idolatry in our own lives is that we associate idolatry with false worship, but our definition of worship is far too narrow. We normally think of worship as praying to something or singing a song of praise to it or literally bowing down to it and paying homage to it. So we don’t think we’ve ever worshiped our wealth because we’ve never sang a song of praise to our wallets. We don’t think we’ve ever worshiped our friends because we’ve never seated them on a chair in front of us and bowed down to them.

            But at its root, the idea of worship is simply the idea of assigning value to something. Whenever you have treated something as if it is more valuable than anything else in your life, you have worshiped it and you have committed idolatry, because you have given that thing the position in your heart that belongs to God alone.

Diagnosing Idolatry

            With that understanding of worship in mind, we can begin to diagnose idolatry that might be hiding within our own hearts. Let me present some questions that I believe can be very penetrating and very helpful for exposing idolatry.

1. Who am I willing to disappoint by my decisions?

            If I’m in a position where my decision is going to disappoint either God or other people, who am I willing to disappoint? To put it another way, am I willing to disobey God in order to go along with other people – or to impress others or to be popular? If I am willing to disobey God in those moments, that means I value the approval of others more than the approval of God. That means I am worshiping the approval of others and thus committing idolatry.

            If you find yourself in that position, you have to ask, “Why do I place such a high value on the approval of others?” It may be due to fear. If we lose the approval of others, they may reject us, and we may fear the thought of being lonely or the thought of suffering for our faith.

            It may be that you so highly value the approval of others because of a faulty view of who you are in Christ. You may tie your self-esteem to what other people think of you, when really your personal sense of worth and value should be built on the fact that you are a child of God.

2. Where do I find my sense of security?

            To put this another way, do I value the promises held out by things like money or power more than I value the promises made to me by God? Whose promises do I trust more? Thus, who will I give my highest allegiance to in the hopes that their promises to me will be fulfilled?

            In the time of the Old Testament Kings, the children of Israel repeatedly sought security in other people rather than in the Lord. On several occasions, when rumors of war came up, the kings of Israel or Judah would put themselves under the protection of a foreign nation, even though the Lord was promising to protect them. A few times, they even took some of the treasures in the Temple and gave them to foreign nations in order to buy their protection. They clearly did not value the promises of God the way they should have.

            In our lives today, we are bombarded constantly by the nearly overwhelming temptation to find our security in our wealth. This temptation can lead us to disobey the Lord in a number of ways. We may fail to be generous because we worry about our own futures or we cannot tolerate a change to our own standard of living. We may go along with unethical behavior on the job because we say, “I don’t know what I’d do without my benefits,” or “I’m just a few years away from retirement. This is no time for me to be rocking the boat.”

            So let’s all ask ourselves – do I value the promises held out to me by my savings account more than I value the promises held out to me by God? Do I value the promises held out to me by my standard of living more than I value the promises held out to me by God? If we have to answer “yes” to those questions, then we are idolaters.

3. What are my dreams for the future?

            Does my highest goal look exactly the same as that of someone who does not know Christ? Can my highest goal be accomplished in this life, or can it only be achieved when I see Jesus?

            Please understand I’m talking about your highest goal. We naturally share a lot of desires with unbelievers simply because we’re human beings. We all want to see our children grow up healthy and have everything they need. We would all prefer to live in comfort rather than hardship. I’m talking about the goal that is in the driver’s seat – the goal for which you are willing to allow other goals to fall by the wayside.

            Do I value worldly goals more than the goals given to me by God? Godly goals would be carrying out the Great Commission, storing up treasures for ourselves in heaven rather than on earth, and so on.

            It is painful to admit, but we have all been idolaters at one point or another. If you really want to press this thought, you could say that every instance of sin is an instance of idolatry because you’ve chosen to value something else more than you value obedience to God.

            The Bible cannot be more clear on this point – you cannot serve two masters. To serve anything else above God will provoke his holy jealousy and we will face his discipline for that. The only question is, to what degree?

            But the very God who is a jealous God is jealous because he is loving. He will not allow us to harm ourselves through idolatry without opposing our actions. And when we come to our senses and repent of our idolatrous ways, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. May we forsake all our idols today through the power of God’s Holy Spirit so that we may give God our highest allegiance, and no one else.

Sharing the Gospel Clearly--Life with God Series

            In some ways, communicating with other people is easier than ever these days. If I need to get a hold of you about something, I have close to ten different ways to do that. I can meet with you in person, send you a letter, send you an e-mail, or call your home phone. If you’re not at home, that’s no big deal, because I can call your cell phone or text you or video chat with you or send you a Facebook message.

            But ironically, communicating about important matters is just as hard as ever. One of the keys for good communication is to have your message crystal-clear in your own mind. If you’re confused about what you want to say, then there’s very little chance that you can make your point clear to someone else.

            With that thought in mind, we’re going to take a look today at what the message of the Gospel truly is. Last week, we talked about finding the boldness to tell others about the Gospel, but the truth is that we will never feel very bold until we have the essence of the Gospel clearly defined in our own minds. So first, let’s talk about what the Gospel is not, then we’ll look at a passage that tells us clearly what it is.

What the Gospel is NOT

1. It is not the entire story contained in the Bible

            As Christians ourselves, we know that Christians are familiar with the story of the Bible from Creation all the way to the Book of Revelation. The Gospel is not that entire story, however—it’s a much smaller slice of that story. When you’re sharing the Gospel, then, it’s not necessary to tell the whole story of the Bible. That’s nice to know, because it makes the thought of sharing the Gospel a little less daunting.

2. It is not an explanation of how Christians think or behave

            Sometimes we get in conversations about why Christians do or do not do certain things, and while those are good conversations to have, we need to realize that talking about some part of a Christian lifestyle is not the same as sharing the Gospel. So if you explain to someone why Christians don’t use the Lord’s name in vain, that’s good—but it’s not the same thing as sharing the Gospel.

The Heart of the Gospel—1 Corinthians 15:1-8

            So what is the Gospel? The Apostle Paul reveals the heart of it in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 [READ].

            These verses present two main claims about Jesus, which form the heart of the Gospel. For each claim, there is also a piece of evidence or proof given that establishes the truth of the claim. The first claim is that Christ died for our sins. The proof of this is that he was buried. The second claim is that He was raised on the third day. The proof of this claim is that he appeared to many different people.

            It is the claims mentioned here that form the heart of the Gospel. The proofs are important, of course, because they tell us that the claims are true, but when you are sharing the Gospel with someone else, it’s not entirely necessary to emphasize the proofs unless the other person asks for some reasons to believe the claims. And so, it is these claims about Jesus—that He died for our sins and then was raised—that form the core of this message that we call “the Gospel.”

            Notice two other details from this passage—details that also form a central part of the Gospel. Paul stated in v. 3 that it was Christ who died for our sins. This little word reminds us of what people must believe about Jesus in order to be saved.

            Remember that the word “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. In fact, it’s not part of His name at all; rather, it’s a title that describes who Jesus is. The title “Christ” means “anointed one” or “chosen one,” so Paul’s usage of the title here reminds us that it wasn’t just a mere man who died for our sins—it was God’s chosen one. And why was Jesus God’s chosen one? Because He was in fact the Son of God—fully divine, just as God the Father is divine.

            So this truth must also be communicated when we share the Gospel. The only reason why Jesus’ death had any benefit for us at all is because He was the Christ—God’s own Son, designated (or anointed or chosen) to be the Savior of the world.

            And how is it that we receive the benefits that Christ’s death and resurrection have provided for us? That’s what Paul told us in vv. 1-2—“which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.” We receive forgiveness for our sins simply by receiving it from Christ—accepting Him for who He is, and resting in what He has done for us.

            This picture of “standing” upon the Gospel is a helpful one for explaining what it means to accept Jesus in faith. As far as my confidence of being forgiven is concerned, I take my stand entirely upon these facts—that the Son of God died for my sins and was raised on the third day. I stand on that foundation and no other. I don’t have one foot on Christ and one foot on my own good works—no, I have both feet planted firmly on Christ.

So these verses in 1 Corinthians 15 give us the heart of the Gospel. Christ, God’s chosen one—the very Son of God—died for my sins and was raised on the third day. I receive forgiveness for my sins simply by receiving Christ—in other words, taking my stand upon what He accomplished for me. That is the heart of the message that we desire to share with others so that they can be saved. But how might approach the actual act of sharing that message?

How Can We Share the Gospel?

            Obviously, there are many different ways that we can share this message. The variety is just as wide as the variety of people we meet and the variety of conversations that we have. Perhaps in your life you have memorized certain ways of sharing the Gospel, such as the Romans Road. These can be good and helpful, but above all, it is most important to simply have the heart of the Gospel clearly defined in your own mind so that you are free to share this message in a variety of ways.

Telling Your Own Conversion Story

            Today, though, I would like you to think about how you could share the Gospel in the context of telling your own conversion story. I’d like to suggest this thought for two reasons.

Why share your story?

1. Our culture places a high value on a person’s life story/personal perspective.

            Now, our culture does take this respect way too far by saying that I can decide what’s true for me from the context of my life story, and you can decide what’s true for you from the context of your life story. That’s going too far, but nevertheless, our culture does consider it a virtue to show respect for another person’s life story or personal perspective, so we can use that fact to our advantage.

2. Sharing your conversion story is less intimidating and is not directly confrontational

            It is less intimidating in part because it is a more natural conversation. We talk about our lives with lots of friends and acquaintances all the time. We talk about what we did over the weekend, where we grew up; we talk about our hobbies. So when we talk about our conversion stories, it’s a pretty natural step from the kinds of conversations that we have all the time.

            It’s also a less intimidating approach because it’s easier to remember. We can all remember our conversion stories because we lived through them. If you’re trying to rely on a memorized presentation, though, there’s always that fear that you might forget the next verse you’re supposed to quote!

            Also, sharing your story is not directly confrontational. Someone might dismiss your story, but they can’t really argue with it. They might say, “I’m glad that’s worked for you,” but they can’t honestly say, “You’re lying! You didn’t find comfort in the Gospel during that hard time in your life!”

Two Ways to Structure Your Story

            Even though you know your own conversion story well, it can still be helpful to think about how to share your story. If you have even a very simple outline in mind, it can help you share clearly and make sure you emphasize the Gospel. Let me suggest two different outlines that might be a good fit for your story.

1. For an older conversion or dramatic conversion

            If you were saved a little later in life or you had a very dramatic change when you were saved, you might structure your story like so. First, share what life was like for you before you were saved. Highlight some of the problems that the Gospel solved for you. Perhaps you dealt with a lot of hopelessness or shame, or your lifestyle was very destructive toward yourself and others.

            Then, talk about when you accepted Christ. At this point, you would be careful to mention those claims that form the heart of the Gospel—that Christ died for our sins and was raised on the third day.

            Finally, you would describe how your life has changed since you accepted Christ. At this point, you could touch on how Christ has made all the difference for the problems you mentioned before—He has given you hope, He has taken away your shame, He has empowered you to change in ways you never thought possible.

2. For a younger conversion or less dramatic conversion

            For some of us, we don’t have much to talk about when it comes to our pre-conversion years because we were saved at a young age. Yes, maybe we lived like horrible heathens, but then we turned six and got saved! There’s not much for us to share about our life before Christ, so what we want to emphasize is how life with Christ has made all the difference.

            Here’s how we might approach our story, then: talk first about the grand sweep of your life. You might highlight some particular highs and lows, joys and sorrows. If the person you’re talking to is going through a struggle that you’ve faced, then naturally you might want to highlight that fact.

            Then, bring it all back to Christ and the Gospel. Explain to them that through it all, what Christ did for you has made all the difference. And of course, this is where you would emphasize the core claims of the Gospel about Christ’s death for your sins and His resurrection.

            However you share it, the Gospel is a message worthy of being proclaimed, because it tells of a Savior who is worthy of being praised. As the Scripture says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news (Romans 10:15)!” And good news is precisely what we have!

            So let us never be ashamed of the Gospel! Whether others realize it yet or not, it is good news for their souls. And how will they realize it if we do not tell them?