Children, it is the last hour and just as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have arisen. From this we know that it is the last hour.” And then down in verse 22, “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” Now without needing to go into all of the rest of what’s in this wonderful section, we can sort of focus, to begin with, on this matter of Antichrist, a term that has become very familiar to Christians in this generation, as I’m sure in many other generations. The word Antichrist is well known to us. It occurs in the New Testament only in John’s letters. It occurs in 1 John several times, and then it occurs in the seventh verse of 2 John. And though it is limited as a term to John’s epistles, it expresses a widely known reality that is dealt with in other portions of the Bible, not only in the New Testament but even in the Old Testament as well. The term “Antichrist” which John uses is antichristosin the Greek. Christosobviously means Christ, antican have two possible meanings. It is a Greek preposition that can mean either against or in the place of…against or in the place of. Antichrist can then mean either someone who is against Christ, or someone who seeks to replace Christ. Someone who is an adversary of Christ, or someone who is a false representation of Christ. We can take it then to mean the one who opposes Christ. In that case, the opposition is clear, it is plain. Or we can take it to mean one who seeks to be put in the place of Christ and then the opposition becomes more subtle and more disguised. And antichrist can mean either of those, or both. We don’t need to choose between them. Clearly antichrist is one on some fronts who is openly and overtly against Christ. That is to say they speak lies concerning Christ, such as in verse 22 that I just read. They deny that Jesus is the Christ, a denial of the nature and identity and work of Jesus Christ. This is clearly an antichrist perspective. Over in chapter 4 verse 3 John writes, “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus…that is, does not agree with what the Bible says about Jesus…is not from God and this is of the antichrist.” This is the nature of the antichrist, or the spirit, or the attitude of the antichrist which you have heard that it is coming and now it is already in the world. It because it is an attitude, it is a spirit. Anyone who possesses any kind of opposition to Christ has the antichrist spirit. In 2 John, I mentioned earlier, verse 7 John says, “Many deceivers are gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, this is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Anyone who has an aberrant view of Christ as to the nature of Christ, as to the deity of Christ, or the humanity of Christ, is an antichrist. Anyone who attacks Christ. But it is not just limited to those who assault Christ. That’s the emphasis that John makes, but that’s not a limitation by any means because there are also those who put themselves in the place of Christ. For example, in Mark 13 and verse 22 where Jesus says, “For false Christs, pseudo Christs, and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders in order if possible to lead the elect astray.” Matthew 24 talks about the same thing. There are and always has been and will be in the future pseudo Christs, false Christs, those who impersonate Christ as well as those who attack Christ. The ones who attack, as I said, are clear and open. The ones who impersonate are more subtle. And, of course, impersonating Christ is an attack on Christ. Now go back to our text for a moment in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 18. “Children, it is the last hour and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. From this we know that it is the last hour.” The last hour is here identified twice, at the beginning and the end of the verse. We can know it’s the last hour because of the proliferation of antichrists. It isn’t the last hour until you have antichrists. It isn’t the last hour until you have opposition to Christ. It isn’t the last hour until you have false claimants to messiahship. It isn’t the last hour until that happens. When that happens you know it’s the last hour. And you know that finally THE Antichrist is coming. And so this verse is very helpful for us. We know it’s the last hour because we’ve heard that the final Antichrist is coming, we know it’s the last hour because already many antichrists have arisen. Now let’s talk about that for a moment. The Bible is clear that one man will be the final, most complete and powerful Antichrist. He will appear in the future history of the world in a time which is called the time of the Tribulation. This is a time that will end man’s day. It is a time, a seven-year period of time divided into two three-and-half year sections in which Satan releases his power in the world, at the same time God releases judgment in the world. And there will be in that day a world ruler who is identified as the Antichrist. He is the culminating and final one, that’s why we have here the singular “Antichrist is coming.” And I think most Christians know about the Antichrist that is coming. In fact, throughout the history of the church there’s been a lot of discussion about that, a lot of study and even some speculation who that Antichrist might be. But he is not the only Antichrist. He is just the final one. He is just sort of the apex, the culmination, the last in a long line of antichrists that are also here in the last hour, many antichrists have already arisen. At the time John wrote this, of course, it was just the end of the first century. It had only been about well 60 years since Christ had come and so the last hour had only just begun 60 year s before because the last hour is to be associated with the arrival of Messiah, as I’ll show you in a moment. And already in that first period of 60 years many antichrists had already arisen. That is to say already there was rampant opposition to Jesus Christ as well as pseudo messiahs trying to call attention to themselves as the true Messiah. We learn then what we read earlier in chapter 2 to be the case and also in chapter 4 that this Antichrist concept is an attitude. It is a spirit. It is a way of thinking. It is not just one person, it is not just many persons, it is an attitude toward Christ that personifies itself finally in one person, but in the meantime in many persons. Any person who is against Christ, any person who attacks the deity of Jesus Christ, any person who is hostile to the true nature of Christ, His deity and His humanity, to the true work of Christ is possessing the spirit of antichrist. Any person who offers himself as the true Christ, the true representative of God against Christ, calling attention to himself as if he were the true Christ and Christ is not is the spirit of antichrist. So you can think of antichrist not so much as a person, but as a force, as an attitude that incarnates itself or incarcerates itself in people in every generation since Christ first came. Anybody ad everybody who is against Christ, anybody and everybody who rejects Christ, they don’t have to be false prophets, they don’t have to be false messiahs, they don’t have to be false teachers, all that is required to possess the spirit of antichrist is to be against Christ. To John this was simply another way to describe a non-believer. This is another way to describe a Christ-rejecter. Certainly it embraced false teachers and false christs. Certainly it embraced them. But it was not limited to them. Anyone who rejected Christ and in particular those who had known about Christ and having been told the truth about Christ rejected Him, therefore bore the name antichrist in a more direct way because they having heard of Christ, heard the gospel of Christ, took up a position against Christ. Anyone in that posture is an antichrist. Yes…as Mark 13:6 said…Jesus said, “Many shall come in My name saying I am Christ. And they’ll deceive many.” There are fewer of those who actually claimed to be Christ, but they’re around, but there are many who are against Christ, who reject Christ. So John says, “Look, I’m trying to distinguish here who is a believer and who is not.” Throughout this epistle he is giving us tests, tests by which we could measure who is a true believer and who is not. And there are doctrinal tests and the doctrinal tests surround two areas. One, your own evaluation of sin, that is they have a sort of anthropological test to evaluate the sinfulness of man, and then the Christological test is to evaluate Christ. So if you want to know who is a Christian, you will test them on this basis. Do they have a true view of sin and a true view of Christ? Those are the doctrinal tests. And then we’ve also been learning that I guess we could call them has traditionally been the term moral tests, not just doctrinal tests, but true Christians are known because they have a right view of man as sinful and depraved, and a right view of Christ as the God/Man the Savior and the Redeemer, but they also can be tested on the moral level because if they are true believers their lives will be marked by two things…love for Christ and love for others and obedience to the Word of God. John also has thrown in, “They will love Christ, they will love others, and they will not love the world as we have seen.” So as we come in to verse 18, John cycles us back through these things all the way through his epistle, we move back in to the doctrinal test and the issue becomes Jesus Christ. True Christians confess Christ. And as I noted for you, he will say this again and again. As we saw down in chapter 2 verse 22 and over in chapter 4 verse 3, the doctrinal test involves a true assessment of who Jesus Christ is. True Christians confess Christ. False ones deny Him. They are antichrists. So the distinction is between Christians who affirm the truth about Christ and antichrists who do not. And John is always the master of contrast, isn’t he? He’s already contrasted light and darkness in chapter 1. He’s contrasted love and hate in chapter 2. Again he’s contrasted the family of God with the world in verses 15 to 17. And now he contrasts the struggle between truth and error regarding Christ. Those who have the true concerning Christ, and those who do not. John then presents the difference between Christians and non-Christians as having to do with their understanding of Jesus Christ. To say this is obvious but it needs to be said, a wrong view of Christ is the fastest path to damnation. So let’s talk about the antichrist concept tonight a little bit in verse 18. Let’s look at the verse. “Children, paidia, children,” used in verse 13 where he says, “I’ve written to you, children, because you know the Father.” So there is the same word. We can assume then that he’s talking to those who know the Father. Those who are children in the spiritual sense, they’re babes, you remember back there that the children don’t know much but they do know the Lord, they know the basics, and so he’s writing to assist spiritual children with this very important understanding. “Children, you need to learn you are living in the last hour. It is the last hour. It is the last hour, you need to know that.” And the order of the Greek is emphatic, “Children, last hour, hora, it is.” Greek always places things in the sentence in order to lay the emphasis where it wants it laid. And that’s why in the Greek it says, “Children, last hour it is!” Well what does this mean the last hour? This is like two thousand years ago. What is this talking about? Well as we have pointed out numerous times in the study of the New Testament, the last times, the last hour began when Jesus arrived. There’s only two ages outlined for us in the New Testament. There is the present age and the age to come. The present age and the age to come. The present age is an evil age. Galatians 1:4 Paul characterizes it as evil. It is the age then from the beginning of evil to the end of evil. The present age is this evil age. That’s what Paul calls it, this present evil age. The age dominated by evil. We’re in it, all of humanity has been in it since the Fall. The age to come is the Kingdom when righteousness will prevail in the world and Christ will rule with a rod of iron, the great Millennial Kingdom, the thousand-year reign of Christ that’s promised in the Old Testament, promised in the New Testament and described for us in the end of the book of Revelation. So you have the present age which is an evil age. You have the age to come which is the age of prevailing righteousness under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. John says it is the last hour of this present evil age. It is the last hour of this age in which we live. How do we know it is the last hour? Because Messiah has come. And the prophet said that Messiah would come at the end of man’s day, that He would come to set up His Kingdom, to set up the age to come. The Old Testament prophets, the Old Testament writers didn’t know there would be a several thousand years between the original arrival of Messiah and the establishment of His Kingdom, that was not disclosed to them. Although it was disclosed to them in places such as Isaiah 53 that the Messiah would die and rise again, there was nothing in the Old Testament to demonstrate to them with any clarity this lengthy period of millennia between the arrival of Messiah and the establishment of the age to come. We are in this present evil age but we have this marvelous privilege of living in the last hour of this present evil age, living at a time when the end of the age has actually come and been inaugurated by the arrival of Jesus Christ. This, just in case you need some passages to sort of undergird this, you remember that in the fourth chapter of Galatians and the fourth verse, “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son.” It was in God’s perfect timing when the exact moment came that He sent forth His Son, this really sort of inaugurated the fullness of time. This is the final chapter in human history. This brings this present evil age to its culmination, the arrival of Messiah. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 11 it talks about the Old Testament. It says, “Now these things happened to them, in the Old Testament, as an example they were written for our instruction upon whom the end of the ages has come.” We then are living in the fullness of time, the end of the age, just other ways to express the last hour. Hebrews chapter 1, “God…verse 1…after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions in many ways,” that’s Old Testament, God spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets in many portions, in many ways, “In these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” With the arrival of the Son is inaugurated the lasts days. We are then living in the last days. In fact, for us today we’re two thousand years into the last days. In fact, in Hebrews 9:26 it says, “Christ now once at the consummation of the ages has been manifested.” Christ was manifested at a time called the fullness, the consummation, the last days. Peter understood that. First Peter 1:20, “He appeared in these last times for your sake.” And 1 Peter 4:7, again, “The end of all things is at hand.” We’re living at the end of the present evil age. The last times, as I said, have been going on for two thousand years. How do we know it’s the last times? People have a right to ask that question. How do we know we’re living at the end of the age? How do we know this is the last days of this present evil age? How do we know that? Go back to your text in 1 John chapter 2, it couldn’t be more clear. “Children, it is the last hour.” How do we know that? “Just as you heard that antichrist is coming, he is a feature of the last hour, even now many antichrists have arisen from this we know that it is the last hour.” Anybody ever ask you, are we at the end of human history? Tell them yes and take them to that verse. You can’t have antichrists until you have Christ, and as soon as you have Christ, you have antichrist and that identifies that we’re living in the last hour. The Jews even knew this. They knew that the end of the present evil age would be the arrival of Messiah. Messiah would come and bring a kingdom of righteousness and glory. They knew that knowledge would fill the earth and peace and Messiah would reign, righteousness would prevail. And so we know that when the Messiah came, when the Lord Jesus came, He inaugurated the last hour of this present evil age. With Christ came antichrist and the opposition didn’t take very long to form, did it? It didn’t take very long to form. He announced His messiahship and three years later they crucified Him on a cross and launched the antichrist spirit which has continued to flourish in this two thousand year period. In fact, one of the great proofs that Jesus is the Messiah is the antichrist spirit. Jesus Christ is the most loved person who ever walked on this earth, and the most hated…and the most hated. There is so much opposition to Christ that He has to be the Messiah. The dominant world attitude that is against Jesus Christ, that resents Him, that hates Him when He’s truly presented and represented, that dominant world attitude is proof that He’s Messiah, that it is the last days and He indeed is the true Messiah. So to be simple about John’s eschatology, he says, “Look, you have heard that antichrist is coming, and I’m telling you there are already many antichrists.” Let’s talk about the antichrist for a minute. “You have heard that the antichrist is coming.” How have they heard that? How did they know there was going to be a final antichrist if in fact the word doesn’t appear anywhere except in John’s epistle? This is the first New Testament mention of the term antichrist here. But John says you already know about him. You already know about him. Because he has a lot of other names, how would they know about him? How would these people know about him? Well, if they knew the Old Testament they would know about him because he is very, very carefully presented in the book of Daniel chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 11. But even more than that, John writes his epistle in the nineties of the first century, some time in the nineties, dying I think around 96 he wrote his epistles as well as receive his revelation at the end of his life. This then is at least 40 years after the writing of 2 Thessalonians. These are believers who very likely knew the contents of 2 Thessalonians. And in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians written in about 51 or 52 A.D., there is a very clear presentation of this coming antichrist though that’s not the name that’s given to him, it is clearly the one in view. And we’re going to look at that tonight to see what it says about him and what they knew and what we need to know. But before we do that, let’s finish off at least a look at the verse. “Even now many antichrists have risen.” The final antichrist is not solitary figure. He is just the final one in a long line of antichrists. Anyone in opposition to Christ, as I said, anyone who offers himself as a false replacement to Christ fits the term…false Christs, false prophets are going to be around, pseudo Christs are going to be around and so are those who attack and assault Christ. The world is full of antichrists, full. Any liberal theologian who denies the deity of Christ possesses the spirit of antichrist. Charles Manson in his bizarre demonic attempt to identify himself as Christ manifests the more bizarre spirit of antichrist. Anyone who attacks the deity or the humanity or the work of Jesus Christ is antichrist. And all of that is going to culminate in the final antichrist. That’s one of the reasons we know we’re in the last hour. Let’s look for a moment at this final antichrist. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians because I want to follow up on what John writes, “Just as you heard that antichrist is coming.” They would have heard that because they would have had opportunity to be exposed to the material in 2 Thessalonians. Now without going into all of this, and that’s a strong temptation for me since I’ve been working on 1 and 2 Thessalonians now for months and months and just this week received the First and Second Thessalonian commentary, so I’ve been writing this commentary and I’m prone to draw all the things that are in my mind, I’ll try to restrain myself. But anyway, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 3, “Let no one in any way deceive you, it will not come.” What will not come? The day of the Lord, chapter 2 verse 2, the day of the Lord mentioned there, the day of the Lord. Some of the Thessalonians were afraid the day of the Lord had already come, they were suffering a lot, there was a lot of persecution. They thought they had missed the Rapture of the church and they were now stuck in the day of the Lord and they were feeling the heat of divine judgment. And so Paul is saying, “Look, the day of the Lord has not come. The day of the Lord has not come, and don’t let anyone tell you it has.” Verse 3, “Because it won’t come until the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition or the son of destruction.” Here we are introduced to the antichrist under the title, “The man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, or the son of destruction.” Further referred to down in verse 8, “That lawless one will be revealed.” It goes on to say the Lord will slay him. Verse 9 identifies him as the coming one, in accord with the activity of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, with all deception of wickedness for those who perish. Clearly Paul is saying you can’t be in the day of the Lord, you can’t be in that judgment because the lawless one hasn’t come, the son of destruction hasn’t come and he hasn’t committed the apostasy. Now let’s just take that term “apostasy” for a minute because that’s how he starts the discussion. The day of the Lord won’t come until the apostasy, the apostasia. Short definition, the revolt, the rebellion. It is so used in Joshua 22:22 in the Septuagint of a rebellion against God. A longer definition, short definition-revolt, rebellion; longer definition, a deliberate abandonment of a formerly professed position, a defection, a deliberate abandonment of a formerly professed position. It’s a defection. But it’s not just a general defection, it’s not just a general abandonment of God or of Christ, the kind that you would expect to see in the church as people come and go and shallowly believe and then defect. This is not an apostasy, or this is not general apostasy, this is THE apostasy. There will be defection. There will be always through the history of the church Laodicean churches that have a superficial identification with Jesus Christ but He spews them out of His mouth. There will be those churches who leave the true faith. There will be escalating defection from the truth as time goes on. Churches that once held to the truth will be led astray, they will be seduced by demons. First Timothy 4, “In the latter times, times we’re living in, the end of the present evil age, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits, doctrines of demons, lying hypocrites, seared in their own conscience will lead them astray,” and so forth. In 2 Timothy 3 he talks about the same thing, there will be a turning away from the truth, there will be a drifting away from the truth, from the reality of the gospel among those who profess Christianity. Peter writes about that, 2 Peter, “False teachers will come and people will abandon the truth.” Jude writes about it, Jude 17 and 18, “Defectors.” That’s not what he’s talking about. He’s not talking about some sort of general flow of apostasy, he’s not talking about churches that abandon what they once believed or Christianity in general defecting in some kind of a sort of general overall decline, although that definitely will be the case. There will be a general defection. There will be a decline. There will be a Christianity that has literally lost its trust in the faith and exists only in name. He doesn’t have that kind of general idea in mind, although that is reality. He’s talking here about THE apostasy. This is an event. This is an identifiable unique event. He’s saying, “The day of the Lord can’t be here because THE apostasy hasn’t happened.” And he identifies THE apostasy as coming first and being led by the man of lawlessness, being revealed this son of destruction. There’s an event that has to happen. There’s a climactic act of apostasy. There’s a climactic revolt. There’s a climactic rebellion that’s going to take place. This man of lawlessness, this man of sin, it’s actually anomia, lawlessness. This man who lives without regard for God’s Law. This man who openly defies God’s Law, who openly defies God’s rule. This is a man of sin because all sin is lawlessness, 1 John 3:4. There have always been millions of lawless people, the whole human race. There’s always been millions of blasphemers and God-rejecting and Christ-hating people through history since Christ came. There are many who feigned an interest in God, feigned an interest in Christianity and defected. But this is THE apostasy led by THE man of lawlessness and THE son of destruction. This is emphatic. Points to a definite time, a definite event done by a definite individual. This is the final and ultimate apostasy by the man of lawlessness, son of destruction. That’s an interesting term. Man of sin, or man of lawlessness is sort of his own approach. He is lawless, God-defying, has no regard for the Law of God. That’s his own title. He will take God on in flagrant revolt and rebellion and disobedience. But God’s title for him is Son of Destruction. That is an old Hebrew way to speak meaning he is one headed for destruction, he is doomed for destruction. He literally is the Son of Destruction to say it is part of the fabric of who he is. When you’re the son of somebody, you bear their image. He bears the image of destruction. He carries the spiritual genes of destruction. He belongs to destruction by nature, like a son belongs to his father by nature. He belongs to hell and he belongs to torment and he belongs to apoleia, he belongs to perdition. This is a man of ruin, human trash for the dump of hell. By the way, Son of Perdition only a title given only one other person in the Bible, do you remember who it was? Judas, John 17:12, Jesus called him a Son of Perdition. And Judas was controlled by Satan, John 13:2, “Satan entered into him.” And the Antichrist is controlled by Satan, Revelation 13says, “Satan is the power behind him.” So the Hebraism here, Son of Destruction, means he who is destined to be destroyed, he who is destined to be destroyed. Now they would have known about him. As I said, they would have known about him from Daniel. They would have known that Daniel wrote about him, as I said, Daniel 7, Daniel 8 and Daniel 11. They might have known about him, and here’s a little more obscure passage you might find interesting, Zechariah. You know, Zechariah looked at the future in his marvelous prophecy. Years ago I did a verse-by-verse exposition of Zechariah, one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had in doing exposition. Not an easy book, but a rich, rich book. Zechariah 11:16, “Behold, I’m going to raise up a shepherd,” the Lord says, “I’m going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing. He will not seek the scattered. He will not heal the broken. He will not sustain the one standing but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves.” That’s some shepherd. Huh.., “Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock, a sword will be on his arm and on his right eye. His arm will be totally withered, his right eye will be blind.” God says…and you know, that’s all in the context of Zechariah which is looking at the end of the age when the Messiah comes and the Jews look on Him whom they’ve pierced and they mourn for Him and a fountain of cleansing is opened to them, and salvation comes, and the Kingdom comes, and that’s all at the end of Zechariah. But at that time God is going to raise up a shepherd opposite the Good Shepherd, this is the bad shepherd, this is the evil shepherd. He doesn’t visit those that are in pain and those that are dying. He has no regard for the scattered. He has no care for the broken. No sympathy for the standing. He is no shepherd, he rather slaughters his sheep to fill his insatiable satisfied hunger, but he is doomed. His arm represents his strength, his eye represents his intelligence, and God is going to destroy his strength and destroy his intelligence when God’s sword of vengeance falls upon him. That’s why he is a son of destruction because he himself is devoted to destruction. Now with that in mind, go back to 2 Thessalonians again. They would have known about this antichrist, this lawless one, this false shepherd from Zechariah, from Daniel. And you’ll have to read the passages in Daniel, they’re rather lengthy. They would have known about him as well from this wonderful epistle of Paul. Now what is this apostasy event? Verse 3 says that the day of the Lord won’t happen, the day of the Lord’s final judgment in the establishment of His Kingdom won’t happen until this apostasy occurs under the man of sin, under the son of destruction, what is it? Verse 4 describes it, here is the event. “Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” There is Antichrist in action, both in opposition to the true Christ and offering himself as this pseudo Christ. Verse 4 describes the big event, the great apostasy. What we’re looking for then in the future is the coming of what Daniel calls the willful king…the willful king. And he comes to do his own will. And he does this amazing act in which he opposes and exalts himself above all other gods, he is the ultimate egotist and you read about him in Daniel 7, 8 and 11 in regard to that. This is not an abstraction, this is not some kind of movement. This is not a system of evil. This is not Caligula, this is not Nero, this is not Antiochus Epiphanes, if it is, as some would have us believe, then the day of the Lord is already over because the day of the Lord doesn’t come until this comes first. This is not Satan, verse 9, it’s in accord with the activity of Satan, but it’s not Satan. This man is human, this man is earthly. This man comes into the Middle East, is described by Daniel, and reeks havoc and slaughter. This man is satanically controlled but he is the ultimate evil genius, superior intellectually, superior oratorically, superior militarily, superior economically. He becomes the leader of the world. He offers himself as the world’s Savior, if you will, the world’s Messiah, the world’s deliverer. So convincing is he as the Christ and the Messiah that Daniel 9 says the nation Israel signs a pact with him to be their Savior, their Messiah and their protector. He puts himself above every God, every object of worship. He at first is supportive…apparently supportive of religion, for a while he tolerates religion. And then he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. He goes right into the temple, that tells you they’ll be a rebuilt temple in the time of the Tribulation, he goes right into the naos, right into the sanctuary, right into the innermost part of the temple and he puts himself on the throne, exhibiting himself as if he is God. He moves into the rebuilt temple which for the Jews in the time of the Tribulation will still symbolize the presence of God, the presence of Jehovah and he says that he’s God, he is the true God, the true Christ. So it’s an act of deification. This is THE apostasy, this is THE rebellion. And from then on when he does that then everybody in the world has to worship him. There isn’t any option for anybody, everybody has to worship him…everybody…everybody. He is described in the seventeenth chapter of Revelation, in fact much about what he does is described in that seventeenth chapter of Revelation, you’d find it very instructive to read through that chapter. In the first three and a half years, if you study eschatology, the first three and a half years of the Tribulation he makes peace, he conquers without a sword, he’s the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6. He comes with a bow without a sword. He comes to conquer peaceably, maybe by intimidation and the appearance of power. Makes a pact with Israel. But at midpoint, at the midpoint of that three and a half years, he commits what Daniel 9:27 calls the abomination of desolation, the abomination of just desolation. Jesus referred to it in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapter 24, verse 15 talks about the abomination of desolation, when this man who has reached power in the world where he’s the world’s Messiah and the world’s leader, then moves in and calls himself Christ, calls himself God and that is the final and ultimate apostasy. This is the supreme blasphemy of the final Antichrist. Just to give you that in the very words of our Lord, go back to Matthew chapter 24 and just a couple of verses will suffice. Verse 15, “When you see the abomination of desolation,” as described through Daniel the prophet, Daniel 9:27 which is described in the ninth chapter of Daniel as an act perpetrated by this Antichrist with whom Israel has signed a pact of protection, believing him to be their Messiah, “But when you see the abomination of desolation, when you see him exalt himself, go into the temple of God, set himself up as God, standing in the holy place.” But when he goes in and does this, then you better run, verse 16 , “You better run. If you’re in Judea flee, if you’re on the top of your house, which is where the patios were, don’t go down to get anything, just get out of there. If you’re out in the field, don’t go back to get your coat at the house, if you happen to be with child pregnant, or be nursing babies, woe to you because you’re not going to be able to run fast enough because once he establishes himself as God, and his intolerance then begins, he’s going to massacre anybody and everybody and there will be a great tribulation,” that means that this event will happen at the half-way point and it launches the second half of the seven years, the three and a half years known as Great Tribulation. And trouble is going to come such as not occurred since the beginning of the world until now or ever shall be. The three and a half years of the worst trouble the world has ever known. And if it weren’t cut short and limited to three and a half years, verse 22 says, nobody would survive, nobody. God protects the elect by shortening the time. It’s a horrifying time, horrifying time. And it’s triggered by this abomination of desolations. That which abominates, that is that which mocks or blasphemes God. Abomination denotes an act of disgust or an act of revolution, or an act of abhorrence. It indicates things that are gross and blasphemous. That’s what he’s going to do. And when he sets up his power, you better run, he says, because the bloodshed is going to begin. Another fascinating view of the Antichrist is in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation. Turn over there, if you will. Since John introduced him to us just in name, I thought we ought to know a little bit about him, so John [means Revelation] 13, in the vision that John has here, the Antichrist appears as a beast. “He stood on the sand of the seashore and,” speaking about the dragon, Satan, who is referred to in the prior verse, and then John writes, “And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea,” and that is identified in very strange fashion, “having ten horns and seven heads and on his horns were ten diadems and on his heads were blasphemous names.” Here he comes. The raging sea, the mass of humanity, the nations. And out of them comes this beast, this is a frightening figure, a treacherous deadly figure with crowns and horns and heads and each of them with a name of blasphemy, describing features and aspects of his wretched, wicked, sovereign rule. Horns denote power. Crowns denote dominion. This is the ruler of the world. This is the ultimate ruler. And he’s also identified not only with all the heads and horns and all of that blasphemies, but he has great strength. He is pictured in verse 2 like a leopard, like a bear, like a lion. Back in Daniel chapter 7 also, verses 3 to 8, he’s sort of the composite rising of the fierceness of Babylon, the strength of Medo-Persia and the speed of Greece now in a final form in the final world empire. “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, verse 3, and his fatal wound was healed and the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.” He revives the old Roman Empire, as it were, pulls together a unified Europe very apparently and causes the whole world to worship him. I don’t think he rises from the dead, only one of his heads was slain, it doesn’t say that he himself was slain. Some would say he’s a resurrected being. Satan can’t resurrect people from the dead. I don’t think that’s what it’s saying. I think he is a resurrection of the great Empire that was Rome and all those details are in my Revelation commentary if you want to dig into them a little bit. The whole earth is so amazed they follow after the beast. They worshiped the dragon, so he leads them into Satan worship because it was the dragon who gave the authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast also saying, “Who is like the beast and who is able to wage war with him?” Everybody capitulates, he goes in, he abominates the temple of God. He sets himself up as God. You better run for your life because the first people he’s coming after are the Jews and he’s going to massacre them. He feigned to be your Messiah, he’s going to turn out to be your executioner, you better run and you better run fast because you’re going to be vulnerable to him. The whole world is going to roll over under the power of this man and he’s going to follow after him, they’re going to worship him, they’re going to worship the devil himself. In verse 5, this is going to go on, it says, because there is given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies. He’s not at all subtle about his blasphemy but he’s going to be given authority by God to speak and to act for 42 months, three and a half years…three and a half years. Constant unending flow of blasphemy is going to come out of his mouth for three and a half years as he blasphemes the true God, the true Christ. Verse 7, “Wherever he finds the saints, the believers, people who will believe…” By the way, during the time of Tribulation people will believe, the gospel will be preached by two witnesses, preached by the 144 thousand Jews, preached by an angel flying through heaven, all of that is in Revelation. There will be a mass of people who believe the gospel from every tongue, tribe, and nation and those who believe are going to be the target of the Antichrist. He’s going to make war with them. He’s going to overcome them. Authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him by God, by the way. God is going to give him the authority to be His instrument of judgment. “And all who dwell…in verse 8…all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain.” If you’re not one of the Lamb’s, you will worship him. The whole world goes after him. The whole world. Really amazing. Powerful final Antichrist, horrible creature, energized and empowered and indwelt by Satan himself. Turns the whole world into Satan worshipers. Tries to massacre the Jews. And you remember that God protects them, protects them down in the desert so that they’re preserved to come to faith in Christ and enter into the Kingdom. Then he goes after the saints and many of them are martyred. You remember in the sixth chapter of the book of Revelation you have the martyrs that have been slaughtered during the Tribulation, under the altar praying to God and saying, “How long are You going to allow the slaughter to go on before You call a halt? How long are You going to allow the Antichrist to do what he’s doing?” As he makes war with the saints. This is another glimpse of this same figure who is coming. Now you can return, if you will, to 2 Thessalonians. We just need to wrap up our look at that section. And I want you to just notice down in verse 5, Paul sort of picks up this same theme that John picked up when he says, “Do you not remember that while I was still with you I was telling you these things.” From the start of the church it appears that this was really important information. From the very beginning Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians, and we’re very early here in the writing of Paul and the letters of Paul, from the very outset even before he wrote about the Antichrist he was telling people about the Antichrist. This is where world history is going, this is what’s happening. The Messiah came, the spirit of Antichrist is already at work. It’s going to culminate in a final Antichrist. So he says, “Do you not remember that while I was with you, I was telling you these things?” It’s going t come, he’s going to come. John in writing, as we noted, says, “You know these things, you know them, you know them from the Old Testament, you know them from the epistle to the Thessalonians, you know them because they’ve been apostolic testimony.” The reason he hasn’t come yet, verse 6, “You know what restrains him now so that in his time he may be revealed.” The final Antichrist isn’t here, Paul says he’s restrained, and you know what restrains him. It’s amazing that he would say that because people say it’s really hard to figure out what restrains him. Well there’s only one thing that could restrain him, there’s only one power that could restrain him and whose is that? God. The mystery of lawlessness, that the unfolding of lawlessness is already at work, now we find it’s not an it that restrains him, only He who now restrains will do so until He’s taken out of the way. The restrainer is God. God, the Holy Spirit, likely, retrains the Antichrist from coming, restrains Satan from working his final evil until the time is right. The only power that could hold back Satan, the only power that could hold back this demonic evil, the only power who could hold back Antichrist to the perfect timing when God says it’s going to happen, just 42 months before the day of the Lord explodes in its final fury on the world, the only power that’s going to make sure that that timing is perfect is the power of God Himself. The man of sin can’t come until God’s time, until God’s restraint is removed. Then…verse 8 says…the lawless one will be revealed. And he won’t have a very long career, “The Lord will slay him with the breath of His mouth.” All God has to do is speak and he’s dead. And by the way, in Revelation you can see that he gets cast into the Lake of Fire with the devil and all his angels. He’ll be slain with the breath of His mouth and brought to an end by the appearance of Jesus Christ. The Antichrist gets slain when Jesus comes at the end of the Tribulation at the battle of Armageddon. Jesus comes, defeats the armies of the world that have gathered to war against Him under the leadership of Antichrist, He destroys and slays the Antichrist and the false prophet and casts them into the Lake of Fire. Short career, but during that career, verses 9 and 10 say, he works according to the activity of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they didn’t receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. If you don’t receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, then you are among those who can be deceived, you are deceived…you are deceived. In fact, God will even send a deluding influence so that people would believe what is false in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness. So, all that to say…let’s go back to our text in John…all that to say Antichrist is coming. Antichrist is a horrible figure, horrible individual. You would think an almost solitary figure in human history, so blasphemous, steady stream of filthy blasphemy against God proceeds from his mouth for a three-and-a-half period. Does everything he can to wipe Israel out so that he can thwart under the influence of Satan the purposes of God for the nation Israel. Does everything he can to slaughter the saints who refuse to take his mark and refuse to worship him. Does everything he can to claim the world as his own and to claim the worship of the world for himself. He’s the most anti-Christ, anti-God, he’s the consummate figure in all of that. But the difference between him and somebody who rejects Jesus Christ is not a difference in quality, it’s a difference only in quantity. That’s the real point that John is making. As horrible as the Antichrist is, equally horrible without the same extent of influence is anybody who is against Christ…even now many antichrists have arisen. And that’s how we know we’re in the last hour. We have to be in the last hour because Christ is so hated and so rejected. And the fact that there’s so much animosity toward Jesus Christ, you heard the testimony of that girl who said the name of Jesus Christ made her shudder. There is so much hostility toward gospel truth, the biblical truth concerning Jesus Christ that He has to be the Messiah, He has to be because the world’s venom is sent on Him. And so it will be in the end on the final Antichrist. He’s not going to attack Buddha, or Mohammed, he’s going to attack Christ and set himself up in Christ’s place. It’s frightening to think about the fact that a non-Christian is in terms of quality no different than this horrifying Antichrist. And so John has identified people who reject Jesus Christ in the most severe terms. Many antichrists are now in the world. And if you don’t believe in the true Christ, the God/Man believing He is who He is, believing in His work of salvation, His substitutionary death and resurrection, you possess the spirit of Antichrist, qualitatively no different than this final horrific figure who comes from the kingdom of darkness to be the ultimate blasphemer. Some of these antichrists get down in your own congregation. Verse 19, “They went out from us but they were not really of us.” We had some antichrists around here who seemed to be interested in Jesus, but they also were apostate, they rebelled and revolted and left. But we’re different, verse 20, “You have an anointing from the Holy One, you all know, I haven’t written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it…because you know it.” Down in verse 23, “The one who confesses the Son has the Father.” Verse 25, “This is the promise which He Himself made to us, eternal life.” He’s not writing to make the true Christian doubt, verse 26, “These things I’ve written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. I just want you to be sure you understand you’re His. You’re Christians, not antichrists.” www.gty.org .

Introverts and extroverts — it seems like a useful designation for personality types. Even if they’re not biblical categories, they lead to an interesting conversation for Christians, and to this question today from a middle-aged man. “Pastor John, how can I tell if I am being introverted in social settings or simply being selfish? Is this something you have ever struggled with? Are there strategies for an introvert to grow in social selflessness, kindness, and love, without feeling a false guilt for not being an extrovert?” Limiting Labels My experience is that categorizing ourselves and others as introvert or extrovert has not borne very good fruit. In general, it seems to frame our way of thinking about ourselves and our behaviors in a way that is more naturalistic, fatalistic, and limiting than perhaps is healthy for a Christian. I think it tends to have the effect of minimizing our sense of what is good and bad, helpful and harmful, loving and unkind, edifying and destructive. It replaces those more biblical categories with a kind of fatalistic personality typing that very easily says, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” It says, “That is the way I act, and you do not like me because of it. Well just get used to it — deal with it because that’s who I am.” You may say that to a wife or a husband or a friend. I think our friend who wrote this (he didn’t give his name, so we’ll call him our friend) realizes this. That’s why he’s asking the very question he’s asking. How do you keep from using a category of introversion (or whichever category) as a justification, say, of being withdrawn or selfish or unkind? Let me suggest that we come at the issue about our personalities from another angle — namely, from the angle of spiritual gifts. Personality Gifts The suggestion I’m going to make is that we think of introvert and extrovert not as limiting personality types, but as strategic spiritual giftings. This really will provide some practical guidance for our friend’s question in just a moment. First, let me set up the biblical foundation for this suggestion. Consider, for example, Romans 12:6: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.” Now listen to three gifts out of the list that follows in Romans 12:7–8: “if service, in our serving; . . . the one who contributes, in generosity; . . . the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” I mentioned only three in that longer list because serving and contributing and mercy sound so natural. Anybody can do that, right? They don’t look supernatural; they look ordinary. Yet Paul puts them in the category of “gifts that differ according the grace given to us,” so they are supernatural. I take this to mean that what looks like a natural bent toward serving, a natural bent toward contributing with generosity, or a natural bent toward being merciful — those personality types, you might say — become spiritual gifts when they are suffused with grace and made edifying to others to point people to the glory of Christ. I think this is the way Peter talks about spiritual gifts in 1 Peter 4:10–11 as well, just to underline this. He says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” I think it would be fair to say that in Peter’s mind, a spiritual gift is any bent or ability that you turn into a stewardship of God’s varied grace so that God is glorified and people are built up. A spiritual gift in Peter’s mind is any trait of your personality which, in the power that God supplies, becomes graciously helpful to others and draws attention to the glory of Christ. Leveraging the Comfort Zone Here’s the implication for thinking about introversion and extroversion. Shift your thinking away from naturalistic, fatalistic, limiting categories, and direct your thinking into categories of introversion and extroversion as this kind of spiritual gift. This means that our entire focus will be on how I make my peculiar personality serve, by God’s power, the extension of grace into other people’s lives for the glory of Christ. I think this will have two really good effects if we do that kind of thinking shifting. First, when I’m in a situation outside my comfort zone, I will not surrender to the selfish, fatalistic thinking of “Well, I just am the way I am.” Instead, I will seek God’s power to make my peculiar bent and gifting a means of grace to others. That’s the first implication it will have. Second, when I remain in my comfort zone, I do not simply slip into a kind of fatalistic self-centeredness. I don’t take on the attitude, “Well, this is just the way I am. I’m not going to go to that party. I’m not going to go to that reception. I’m not going to stand over there and talk to anybody. I’m going to sit over here in a chair. I’m just going to chill.” A lot of people feel justified because they’re one way or the other: “I’m just going to do it because I feel like it.” Instead, I should focus all my thinking toward this: How can my peculiar bent and gifting in this comfort zone that I’m staying in become an instrument of grace for others and for the glory of Christ? Maximizing Introversion Now let me just give a couple of examples, because people may not be following with me and understanding what I mean there. I’m saying you can walk out of your comfort zone and deal with this as a spiritual gift, and you can stay in your comfort zone and turn that into a miracle of grace. Here’s the illustration. Suppose a person (I have real people in mind here when I say this, but I won’t name anybody) is so introverted that he decides he could never function as an upfront minister or manage a lot of social gatherings the way a pastor might. So, he’s never ever going to do that. What does he do? He asks, Okay, if I’m not going to do that, if I’m going to remain in my limitations and my comfort zone, how can I maximize my gift of introversion — my spiritual gift of introversion — for the glory of Christ in my comfort zone? What does he do? I know him, I know his name: he became a Bible translator in a remote tribe for thirty years. I’ve watched this happen. In other words, in choosing to remain in his comfort zone, he denied himself, as Jesus said, and he made sacrifices in that kind of comfort zone, leaving another kind of comfort zone. He risks his life for the glory of Christ in the translation of the Bible. That’s the kind of thing I mean. Quietly Productive Here’s one more example involving John Piper. I would probably put myself in the category of an introvert. I really love to be alone. I love to read. It’s a chore for me to hobnob in gatherings and just go down and make small talk. If I choose not to move toward a more sociable lifestyle, what do I do? I feel a tremendous impulse inside of me to make my solitude as productive as I possibly can in writing for the good of others and for the glory of Christ. So here’s the bottom line: Shift your categories of thinking from naturalistic, fatalistic, limiting personality typing to the category of spiritual gifts. This means that your introversion and extroversion are given to you not to justify selfishness or hobnobbing or whatever, but to shape the stewarding of grace for the good of others and for the glory of Christ. www.desiringgod.org .

How do you answer the charge that America was not founded on Christian principles since there seems to be no religious language in the US Constitution? Here’s one answer: Christian language was in America’s State constitutions. And there was a lot of it. Here is language from America’s first 24 State Constitutions filled with Christian references. The reason the US Constitution did not feature such language was because the State Constitutions already had it. This was the same reason why the Bill of Rights did not appear in the Constitution until 4 years after the US Constitution was written, the State versions already had their own Declarations of Rights. I hope you find this interesting and inspiring. Please share. North Carolina—1776 Section 32. That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the protestant religion, or the Divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the state, shall be capable of holding any office, or place of trust or profit, in the civil department within this state. Article IV, Section 2. The thirty second of the Constitution shall be amended to read as follows: No person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Christian religion, or the Divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the state, shall be capable of holding any office, or place of trust or profit, in the civil department within this state. Section 34. That there shall be no establishment of any one religious church or denomination in this state, in preference to any other; neither shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith or judgment, nor be obliged to pay for the purchase of any glebe or the building of any house of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes right, or has voluntarily and personally engaged to perform; but all persons shall be at liberty to exercise their own mode of worship: Provided that nothing herein contained that be construed to exempt preachers of treasonable or seditious discourses, from legal trial and punishment. Right 19 That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience. Right 21 That a frequent reccurence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to the preserve the blessings of liberty. New Jersey—1777 Article 18 That no person, shall ever within this colony, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience: nor under any pretense whatever, be compelled to attend any place of worship, contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall any person in this colony ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rates, for the purposes of building or repairing any other church or churches, places or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged himself to perform. Article 19. That there shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this province in preference to another; and that no protestant inhabitant of this colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right, merely on account of his religious principle; but that all persons professing a belief in the faith of any protestant sect, who shall demean themselves peaceably under the government, as hereby established, shall be capable of being elected into any office of profit, or trust, or being a member of either branch of the legislature, and shall fully and freely enjoy every privilege and immunity enjoyed by others their fellow subjects. Massachusetts—1780 Part I, Article 2. It is the right, as well as the duty, of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the Supreme Being, the Great Creator and Preserver of the Universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping God in the manner and seasons most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession, or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship. Part I, Article 3. As the happiness of a people, and good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion, and morality; and as these cannot be generally diffused throughout the community, but they the institution of a public worship of God, and of public institutions in piety, religion, and morality; therefore, to promote their happiness, and to secure the good order and preservation of their government, the people of this commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature with power to authorize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God, and of the support ant maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality in all cases, where such provision shall not be made voluntarily. All the people of the commonwealth have a right to, and do, invest their legislature, with authority to enjoin upon all the subjects an attendance upon the instructions of public teachers, as foresaid, at stated times and seasons, if there be anyone whose instructions they cannot conscientiously and conveniently attend:— Provided, notwithstanding, that the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, shall, at all times, have the exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and contract with them for their support and maintenance. All monies paid by the subject to the support of public worship, and of public teachers aforesaid, shall, if he require it, be uniformly applied to the subject of the public teacher or teachers of his own religious sect or denomination, provided there be any, on whose instructions he attends; otherwise it may be paid towards the support of the teacher or teachers of the parish or precinct in which the said monies are raised. And every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law. Part I, Article 18. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and a constant adherence to those of piety, justice, moderation, temperance, industry, and frugality, are absolutely necessary to preserve the advantages of liberty, and to maintain a free government. The people ought, consequently, to have a particular attention to all those principles, in the choice of their officers and representatives, they shall have the right, to require of their lawgivers, and magistrates, an exact and constant observance of them, in the formation and execution of all laws necessary for the good administration of the commonwealth. Chapter VI, Article I Any person chosen governor or lieutenant–governor, counselor, senator or representative, and accepting the trust, shall, before he proceed to execute the duties of his place or office, make and subscribe the declaration, viz. I, A.B., do declare that I believe the Christian religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth; and that I am seized and possessed, in my own right, of the property required by the Constitution, as one qualification to the office or place to which I am elected. New Hampshire—1792 Part I, Article 6 As morality and piety, rightly grounded on evangelical principles, will give the best and greatest security to government, and will lay, in the hearts of men, the strongest obligations to due subjection; and as the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through a society by the institution of the public worship of the Deity, and of public instruction in morality and religion; therefore, to promote these important purposes, the people of this state have a right to empower, and do hereby fully empower, their legislature, to authorize, from time to time, the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate, or religious societies, within this state, to make adequate provision at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality: Provided notwithstanding, that the several towns, parishes, bodies corporate or religious societies, shall at all times, have the exclusive right of electing their own public teachers, and of contracting with them for their support and maintenance: And no person, of any one particular religious sect or denomination, shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the teacher or teachers of another persuasion, sect. or denomination. And every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves quietly, and as good citizens of the state, shall be under the equal protection of the law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another, shall ever be established by law. And nothing herein shall be understood to affect any former contracts made for the support of the ministry; but all such contracts shall remain, and shall be in the same state, as if this Constitution had not been made. Part I, Article 38. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and a constant adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry, and frugality, and all the social virtues, are indispensably necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and good government. The people ought, therefore, to have a particular regard to all those principles, in the choice of their officers and representatives: and they have the right, to require of their lawgivers, and magistrates, an exact and constant observance of them, in the formation and execution of the laws necessary for the good administration of the government. Vermont—1793 Chapter I, Article 3. That all men have natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences and understandings, as in their opinion shall be regulated by the Word of God; and that no man ought to, or of right can, be compelled to attend any religious worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any minister, contrary to the dictates of his conscience; nor can any man be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right as a citizen, on account of his religious sentiments or peculiar mode of religious worship; and that no authority can or ought to be vested in, or assumed by, any power whatever, that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner control, the rights of conscience and the free exercise of religious worship. Nevertheless, every sect or denomination of Christians ought to observe the Sabbath, Lord’s Day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God. Chapter I, Article 18. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles, and firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry, and frugality, are absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty and keep government free; the people ought, therefore, to pay particular attention to these points, in the choice of officers and representatives, and have the right, in a legal way, to exact a due and constant regard for them, from their legislators, and magistrates, in making and executing such laws as are necessary for the good government of the state. Chapter II, Section 41. Laws for the encouragement of virtue and prevention of vice and immorality, ought to be constantly kept in force and duly executed: and a competent number of schools ought to be maintained in each town, for the convenient instruction of youth; and one or more grammar schools be incorporated, and properly supported, in each county in this state. And all religious societies or bodies of men that may be hereafter united or incorporated for the advancement of religion and learning, or for other pious and charitable purposes, shall be encouraged and protected in the enjoyment of the privileges , immunities, and estates, which they in justice ought to enjoy, under such regulations as the General Assembly of this state shall direct. Georgia—1798 Article II, Sec. 9 Divorces shall not be granted by the legislature, until the parties shall have a fair trial before the superior court, and a verdict shall have been obtained, authorizing a divorce upon legal principles. And in such cases, two–thirds of each branch of the legislature may pass acts of divorce accordingly. Article IV, Sec. 10 No person within this state shall, upon any pretense, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in a manner agreeable to his own conscience, nor be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall he every be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rate, for the building or repairing of any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or has voluntarily engaged himself to do. No one religious sect shall every be established in this state, in preference to any other; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right, merely on account of his religious principles. Kentucky—1799 Article II, Sec. 26 No person, while he continues to exercise the function of a clergyman, priest, or teacher of any religious persuasion, society, or sect; nor whilst he holds or exercises any office of profit under this commonwealth, shall be eligible to the General Assembly; except attorney’s at law, justices of the peace, and militia officers: Provided that justices of the courts of quarter sessions shall be ineligible so long as any compensation may be allowed them for their services: Provided, also, that attorneys for the commonwealth, who receive a fixed annual salary from the public treasury, shall be ineligible. Ohio—1802 Article VIII, Sec 3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no man shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent; and that no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious society or mode of worship: and that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or trust or profit. But religion, morality, and knowledge, being essentially necessary to the government, and the happiness of mankind, schools, and the means of instruction, shall for ever be encouraged by legislative provision, not inconsistent with the rights of conscience. Virginia—1830 Right 16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance and love, and charity towards each other. South Carolina—1808 Article I, Section 23. And whereas the ministers of the Gospel are, by their profession, dedicated to the service of God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions: therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or public preacher, of any religious persuasion, whilst he continues in the exercise of his pastoral functions, shall be eligible to the office of governor, lieutenant–governor, or a seat in the senate or house of representatives. Article VIII, Sec. 1 The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference shall, for ever hereafter, be allowed within this state to all mankind: Provided that the liberty of conscience thereby declared, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state Maryland—1812 Right 33. That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks is most acceptable to him, all persons professing the Christian religion are equally entitled to protection of their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion or profession, or for his religious practice; unless, under colour of religion, any man should disturb the good order, peace, or safety of the state, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil, or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent or maintain any place of worship, or any particular ministry; (yet the legislature may, in their discretion, lay a general and equal tax for the support of the Christian religion: leaving to each individual the power of appointing the payment over the money collected from him, to the support of any particular place of worship or minister, or for the benefit of the poor of his own denomination, or the poor in general of any particular county;) but the churches, chapels, glebe, and all other property, now belonging to the church of England, ought to remain to the church of England forever. And all acts of assembly lately passed, for collecting monies for building, or repairing particular churches or chapels of ease, shall continue in force, and be executed, unless the legislature shall, by act, supersede or repeal the same: but no county court shall assess any quantity or tobacco, or sum of money, hereafter, on the application of any vestryman or church wardens; and every incumbent of the church of England, who hath remained in his parish, and hath performed his duty, shall be entitled to receive the provision and support established by the act entitled, “and act for the support of the clergy in of the Church of England for this province,” till the November court of this present year, to be held for the county in which his parish shall lie, or partly lie, or for such a time as he hath remained in his parish, and performed his duty. Right #34. That every gift, sale, or devise of lands, to any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the Gospel, as such, or to any religious sect, order, or denomination, or to or for the support, use, or benefit or, or in trust for, any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the Gospel, as such, or to any religious sect, order, or denomination; and every gift, or sale of goods or chattels, to go in succession, or to take place after the death of the seller or donor, to or for such support, use or benefit, and also every devise of good or chattels to or for the support, use, or any benefit of any minister, public teacher, or preacher of the Gospel, as such, or any religious order, sect, or denomination, without leave of the legislature, shall be void, except always any sale, gift, lease, or devise of any quantity of land not exceeding two acres, for a church, meeting, or other house of worship, and for burying ground, which shall be improved, enjoyed, or used only for such purpose, or such sale, gift, lease, or devise, shall be void. Right #35 That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this state, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this convention or the legislature of this state, and a declaration of the belief in the Christian religion. Right #36 That the manner of administering the oath to any person, ought to be such as those of the religious persuasion, profession, or denomination, of which such person is one, generally esteem the most effectual confirmation of the attestation of the Divine Being: and that the people called Quakers, those called Tunkers, and those called Menonists, holding unlawful to take an oath on any occasion, ought to be allowed to make their solemn affirmation in the manner that Quakers have been heretofore allowed to affirm; and to be the same avail as an oath in all such cases as the affirmation of Quakers hath been allowed and accepted within this state instead of an oath. And further, on such affirmation, warrants to search for stolen goods, or the apprehension or commitment of offenders, ought to be granted, or security for the peace awarded, and Quakers, Tunkers, or Menonists ought also on their solemn affirmation aforesaid, to be admitted as witnesses in all criminal cases, [not capital.] Louisiana—1812 Article II, Sec. 22. No person, while he continues to exercise the function of a clergyman, priest, or teacher, of any religious persuasion, society, or sect, shall be eligible to the General Assembly, or to any office of profit or trust in this state. Indiana—1816 Article I, Sec. 3 That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences: that no man shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent: that no human authority can, in any case whatsoever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience: and that no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious societies or modes of worship; and that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office of trust or profit. Illinois—1818 Article VIII, Sec. 3 That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent; and that no human authority can in any case whatsoever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience: and that no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishments or mode of worship Article VIII, Sec 4 That no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under this state. Article VIII, Sec. 18 That a frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of civil government is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty. Connecticut—1818 Article I, Sec. 3. The exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be free to all persons in this state, provided that the right hereby declared and established shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or to justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state. Article I, Sec. 4. No preference shall ever be given by law to any Christian sect or mode of worship. Article VII, Sec. 1. It being the duty of all men to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and their right to render that worship in the mode most consistent with the dictates of their consciences: no person shall, by law, be compelled to join or support, nor be classed with, or associated to, any congregation, church, or religious association. But every person now belonging to such congregation, church, or religious association, shall remain a member thereof, until he shall have separated himself therefrom, in the manner hereinafter provided. And each and every society and denomination of Christians in this state, shall have and enjoy the same and equal powers, rights, and privileges: and shall have the power and authority to support and maintain the ministers or teachers of their respective denominations, and to build and repair houses for public worship, by a tax on the members of any such society only, to be laid by a major vote of the legal voters assembled at any society meeting, warned and held according to law, or in any other manner. Article VII, Sec. 2 If any person shall choose to separate himself from the society or denomination of Christians to which he may belong, and shall leave a written notice thereof with the clerk of such society, he shall thereupon no longer be liable for any future expenses which may be incurred by said society. Maine—1819 Article I, Sec. 3. All men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; and no one shall be hurt, molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, nor for his religious profession or sentiments, provided he does not disturb the public peace, nor obstruct others in their religious worship;—and all persons demeaning themselves peaceably, as good members of the state, shall be equally under the protection of the laws, and no subordination nor preference, of any one sect or denomination to another, shall ever be established by law, nor shall any religious test be required as a qualification for any office or trust under this state; and all religious societies in this state, whether incorporate, or unincorporated, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and contracting with them for their support and maintenance. Alabama—1819 Article I, Sec. 3. No person within this state, upon any pretense, shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in the manner most agreeable to his own conscience; nor be compelled to attend any place or worship; nor shall anyone every be obliged to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate, for the building or repairing any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry. Article I, Sec. 4. No human authority ought, in any case whatsoever, to control or interfere with the rights of conscience. Article I, Sec. 5. No person shall be hurt, molested or restrained, in his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasions, provided he does not disturb others in their religious worship. Article I, Sec. 6. The civil rights, privileges, or capacities of any citizen, shall in no way be diminished, or enlarged, on account of his religious principles. Article I, Sec. 7. There shall be no establishment of religion by law; no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship: and no religious test shall every be required as a qualification to any office or public trust within this state. Article VI, Sec. 13. Divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be granted but for cases provided for by law, by suit in chancery: and no decree for such divorce shall have effect until the same shall be sanctioned by two-thirds of both houses of the General Assembly. Missouri—1820 Article XIII, Sec. 4. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no man can be compelled to erect, support, or attend any place of worship, or to maintain any minister of the Gospel or teacher of religion; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights on conscience; that no person can ever be hurt, molested, or restrained in his religious profession, or sentiments, if he does not disturb others in their religious worship. Article XIII, Sec. 5. That no person, on account of his religious opinions, can be rendered ineligible to any office of trust or profit under this state; that no preference can every be given by law to any sect or mode of worship; and that no religious corporation can every be established in this state. Article XIII, Sec. 18. That no person who is religiously scrupulous of bearing arms can be compelled to do so, but may be compelled to pay an equivalent for military service, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law,; and that no priest, preacher of the Gospel, or teacher of any religious persuasion or sect, regularly ordained as such, be subject to militia duty, or compelled to bear arms. New York—1821 Article VII, Sec. 3. The free exercise of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this state to all mankind: but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of this state. Article VII, Sec. 4. And whereas the ministers of the Gospel are, by their profession, dedicated to the service of God , and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions: therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatsoever, shall, at any time hereafter, under any pretense or description whatever, be eligible of holding any civil or military office or place within this state. Article VII, Sec. 5. The militia of the state shall, at all time hereafter, be armed and disciplined, and in readiness for service; but all such inhabitants of this state, of any religious denomination whatever, as from scruples of conscience may be averse to bearing arms, shall be excused therefrom, by paying to this state an equivalent in money: and the legislature shall provide by law for the collection of such equivalent to be estimated according to the expense in time and money of an ordinary able-bodied militia man. Delaware—1831 Article I, Sec. 1. Although it is the duty of all men to frequently assemble together for the public worship f the Author of the Universe, and piety and morality, on which the prosperity of communities depends, are thereby promoted; yet no man shall, or ought to be compelled to attend any religious worship, to contribute to the erection or support of any place of worship, or be the maintenance of any ministry, against his own free will and consent; and no power shall be, or ought to be vested in or assumed by any magistrate, that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner control the rights of conscience, in the free exercise of religious worship: nor shall a preference be given by law to any religious societies, denominations, or modes of worship. Article I, Sec. 2. No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under this state. Article VII, Sec. 8. The rights, privileges, immunities, and estates of religious societies and corporate bodies shall remain as if the constitution of this state had not been altered. No [ordained] clergyman or [ordained] preacher of the Gospel of any denomination shall be capable of holding any civil office in the state, or of being a member of either branch of the legislature while he continues in the exercise of the pastoral or clerical functions. Tennessee—1834 Article I, Sec. 4. That no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust within this state. Article IX, Sec. 1. Whereas the ministers of the Gospel are, by their profession, dedicated to the service of God, and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions: therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatsoever, shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the legislature. Article IX, Sec. 2. No person who denies the being of a God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state. Article XI, Sec. 4. The legislature shall have no power to grant divorces, but may authorize the courts of justice to grant them for such causes as may be specified by law: provided that such laws be general and uniform in their operation throughout the state. Pennsylvania—1838 Article IX, Sec. 4. That no person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments, shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this commonwealth. Mississippi—1833 Article I, Sec. 3. The exercise of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall for ever be free to all persons in this state: provided that the right hereby declared and established shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state. Article I, Sec. 4. No preference shall ever be given by law to any religious sect, or mode of worship. Article I, Sec. 5. That no person shall be molested for his opinions on any subject whatever, nor suffer any civil or political incapacity, or acquire any civil or political advantage, in consequence of such opinions, except in cases provided for in this constitution. Article VII, Sec. 5. No person who denies the being of a God, or a future state of rewards and punishment, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state. Article VII, Sec. 14. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and the happiness of mankind, schools, and the means of education, shall for ever be encouraged in this state. Article VII, Sec. 15. Divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be granted, but in cases provided for by law, but suit in chancery. Rhode Island Section from original charter: Paragraph 3 Now know ye, that we being willing to encourage the hopeful undertaking of our said loyal and loving subjects, and to secure them in the free exercise and enjoyment of all the civil and religious rights appertaining to them, as our loving subjects: and to preserve unto them that liberty in the true Christian faith and worship of God which they have sought with so much travail, and with peaceable minds and loyal subjection to our royal progenitors and ourselves, to enjoy: and because some of the inhabitants of this same colony cannot, in their private opinion, conform to the public exercise of religion, according to the liturgy, form, and ceremonies of the church of England, to take or subscribe to the oaths or articles made and established in that behalf; and for that the same, by reason of the remote distances of those places, will, as we hope, be no breach of the unity and uniformity established in this nation, have therefore thought fit, and to hereby publish, grant, ordain, and declare, that our royal will and please is: — Paragraph 4 That no person within said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be anywise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinion in matters of religion, who do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his own and their judgments and consciences, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves, peaceably and quietly, and not using this liberty to licentiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others; any laws, statute, or clause therein contained, or to be contained, usage, or custom of the realm, to the contrary hereof, in any wise notwithstanding. Paragraph 5 And that they may be in the better capacity to defend t hemselves, in their just rights and liberties, against all the enemies of the Christian faith, and others, in all respects, we have further thought fit…. guywithabible.com

Character has always been important, but it seems like it’s never been as important as it is now. There have been far too many stories of church leaders, business leaders, politicians, athletes and other public figures whose private walk has not measured up to their public talk and whose integrity has been far less than expected or needed. Especially if you’re a Christian leader, there should never be a gap between your private walk and public talk. The people who know you the best should admire you the most, not be covering up for you or dismayed at what they know. The problem, of course, is that that’s hard for us sinners. I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But the longer I live, the more I’m realizing character is everything. Competency may get you in the room. But character keeps you in the room. Above all, character endures. It’s what your family and friends remember about you (for better or for worse), and ultimately it gives you the moral authority to lead. Especially today, character matters most. So how do you guard your character…in a day-in-day-out manner? Here are 5 character rules every leader might want to follow: 1. ASSUME WHAT YOU DO IN PRIVATE WILL BE MADE PUBLIC What if you lived in a way that you assumed whatever you did in private will be made public? I’m not just talking about having an affair or other scandals that make headlines. I mean definitely don’t do that. I’m talking about less headline-worthy but still-damaging things. Like treating your spouse or kids harshly. Or turning to porn or drinking to cope with your stress. Or anything else you’d rather not anyone know about. What if you lived in a way that just assumed it’s only a matter of time until everyone knew about it? That would change how you live, wouldn’t it? When I first got into ministry I was a little fearful of the level of accountability that comes with the role. Now, I’m grateful for it. Why? Because honestly, it’s made me a better person. Not a perfect person by any stretch (ask my team; ask my family). But I’m a better person because of the higher level of accountability that come with pastoring. Knowing I’m accountable and living as though whatever I’m doing might see public daylight is a good thing. So ask yourself: if what you’re about to do was made public, would you still do it? There are so many leader who wish they had asked that question and changed course. So ask it. Daily. It’s an incredible check on your spirit and, ultimately, on your actions. Plus, the people around you will be so grateful. 2. ALSO, ASSUME THAT WHAT YOU SAY IN PRIVATE WILL BE MADE PUBLIC This one’s even a little more nuanced. As a leader, there’s a need to blow off steam…I get that. You face a lot of pressure every day and it’s not always easy to keep it together. Plus, it’s important to give vent to your feelings. But are you doing it in a healthy way? Ask yourself: how comfortable would you be if someone had the passcode to your phone and started reading, or was a fly-on-the-wall in your closed-door meetings? Theologically, this principle shouldn’t be a stretch for any Christian leader. Jesus promisedthat whatever we said in private would be shouted from the rooftops. That’s true in a way we’ll only really see in eternity, but we may not have to wait that long. We live in an age where every email and text has the potential of being made public. A few months ago, I had a situation I was nervous and a little upset about that I wanted advice on. I emailed some friends about it, one of whom happened to have the same first name as the person I was concerned about. I accidentally emailed the person I was concerned about with the email about my concern. You know how that goes: Gmail auto-suggests names, and I picked the wrong “Alex.” That could have been disastrous if I had been careless with my words or been acidic in my tone. But I wasn’t. I had been trying to live by the principle that what you say in private will be made public. The Alex I was concerned about actually let me know I had sent my email to the wrong “Alex,” and there was no harm done. Because (in that moment at least) my email was professional, balanced and more than fair. Some of you have accidentally discovered that what you thought was a private DM posted instead as a status update. Same thing. (I’ve seen this happen many times on social.) Just assume that what you say in private will be made public. At work, at home, in life. You’ll be a better person. You’ll have richer and less conflicted relationships. And you’ll sleep better at night. Assuming what you say in private will be made public changes what you say in private. 3. DON’T SAY SOMETHING ON SOCIAL YOU WOULDN’T SAY TO SOMEONE’S FACE Social media makes us all a little bolder, and a little stupider. There’s a weirdness to social media and any online communication that makes us think pot-shots are worth it, that hurting other people is fair game, and that public ridicule is in season. Some of the most toxic things ever said to me have been said by people I’ve never met, never will meet, and who don’t really know me. Ditto for you if you’ve written anything. Just read the comments on this blog, my Amazon reviews or Podcast Ratings. We live in a one-star universe where people delight in tearing down people they don’t know and don’t care about. Don’t get me wrong…the vast majority of interaction I have online is extremely positive. Good people gather online too. And sometimes the criticism is fair. I have a lot to learn. But what’s missing online is actual human interaction. That look into another person’s eyes. That scan of their face that notes the hurt you just caused them. The realization that they’re a person just like you. Look, I’m tempted to respond in kind—to get back at a critic. And then I think “no, there’s no point.” There isn’t. The reason there’s no point to responding in kind is that first, you won’t win. You won’t win because nobody wins at that game. Nobody. They don’t. You don’t. The mission doesn’t. You end up behaving like a six-year-old who can only think about themselves. Sometimes you do need to respond to someone. And when you do, don’t let your emotions get control of your fingers. Type prayerfully. When you’re responding, imagine that you’re talking to the person face to face. And that you care about them. And that they’re made in the image of God. You might even try to love them. That changes a lot, doesn’t it? Just know this, leaders: you can disagree with someone without being disagreeable. 4. ASK YOURSELF, ‘5 YEARS FROM NOW, WHAT WILL I WISH I HAD DONE?” I know there’s a lot of verb tenses in that question, but the question has helped me so much over the years. Leadership is emotionally confusing. You get kicked a lot. You end up being misunderstood, and sometimes you are at a loss on how to respond to a difficult situation. When you’re in that place, ask yourself: 5 years from now, what will I wish I had done? I don’t know why, but that question is so clarifying to me. It makes me swallow hurtful words. It makes me search for the high road. And sometimes it makes me push an issue I am too afraid to push because five years from now I’ll know I wish I had done it. When you don’t know what to do, ask yourself…5 years from now, what will I wish I had done? 5. HUMBLE YOUR TALK. ACCELERATE YOUR WALK. All of us in leadership can talk today at an unprecedented level. Thanks to social media, blogs, podcasts and so many of the other channels at our disposal, talking about what we’re doing has never been easier. Which surfaces the always-present tension of wanting to make things seem better than they are. Big mistake. In an age where most people seem to be accelerating their talk more than they’re accelerating their walk, one of the best things you can do to increase your integrity is to humble your talk and accelerate your walk. If you simply make your talk match your walk, the gap between who you are and who you want to be becomes smaller almost instantly. Increase your walk. Humble your talk. OF ALL THE WORK YOU DO…WORKING ON YOURSELF PAYS BACK MOST

Share 0 Sometimes misery comes in waves. For me that was the year both my parents died. I also lost both our dogs that year; my oldest child left for college and my pastor husband was in charge of moving our church of five thousand members from a fifteen-acre campus to a new eighty-five acre site on the week of our twentieth wedding anniversary. Did I mention I was working on a graduate degree, writing papers, and driving long distances to attend classes? Stress and questioning God were on the menu that year. Some challenges I had anticipated, like my parents being sick and suffering for four years, and some changes caught me completely by surprise like the grief I would feel over my oldest child leaving for college. The one thing I learned that year was asking God, “Why is this happening?” was not helping. Going through a year of echoing loss will tempt you to believe God is not on your side. John the Baptist knew that misery. From prison, Luke 7:20b records John the Baptist sent messengers to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ESV Interestingly, Jesus did not directly answer John’s probe. I believe John’s inquiry was doomed from the very start. What did John’s question reveal? John or one of his disciples was having doubts about whether Jesus was the long-ago promised Messiah. What response did Jesus give the messengers? His answer might surprise you. In Luke 7:22-23 Jesus said, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” ESV Jesus’ lack of a direct answer was not because he had no affection for John. Jesus’ words in the next verses will show his deep respect for of his cousin John. But like John, if you pursue the wrong line of questioning it will be impossible to find the correct answer. Don’t get me wrong, God is not afraid of your questions, but some questions and answers will not satisfy or bring comfort. Ironically, Jesus has his own set of questions he wants to ask in the next verses in Luke 7:24-27. When John’s messengers had gone Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings courts. ‘What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet. This is he of who it is written, Behold I sent my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” ESV And then in Luke 7:28 Jesus compares John’s righteousness to one who is the least in the kingdom of God. “I tell you among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ESV There was never anyone more righteous than John. Never anyone greater had been born of woman than John the Baptist. So, how does the least in the kingdom of God surpass John the Baptist? The phrase, “least in the kingdom”, was at first probably very confusing for Jesus disciples. It was only after Jesus’ death and resurrection that his followers would be able to fully comprehend what he was teaching. Jesus was referring to the righteousness that is imparted to those who are now hidden in Christ, and even the youngest and the weakest in the kingdom receive his righteousness (Ephesians 2:8-10). In Luke 7:29 -30 Jesus begins to show the superiority of those who are the very least in the kingdom. When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purposes of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. ESV A) Even the least in the kingdom can declare God as just. When God has accepted you because of Jesus’ righteousness there is nothing to strike you down. And the good news is nothing will snatch you out of the kingdom. You can declare God as just because miraculously Jesus has made a way for you to enter into an unconditional love relationship with him that you could never earn on your own merit. When you try to justify yourself you will never have any assurance you have fully met God’s holy standards. It is easy to question God’s goodness, his power, and your worthiness all in the same breath. You can mistakenly believe there is a formula, or a ritual to perform so God will be obligated to bless you. B) Even the least in the kingdom can embrace the purposes of God. Those who had been baptized by John could embrace the purposes of God for their lives, while the Pharisees could not. Even the least in the kingdom will know their King is good. That he is holy, even when they don’t understand what he is allowing. They can do this because they know God’s divine purposes are higher than anything they could fully comprehend this side of heaven. C) Even the least in the kingdom can act like an adult. In Luke 7:31-35 Jesus asks yet another question and compares those who rejected the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus as acting like children. “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” ESV Childish behavior has this label because it is inappropriate for adults. Jesus is saying that the Pharisees think emotions like joy or grief are spiritual games. They openly criticize John and Jesus, but accuse them of opposite motives. John was too gloomy, Jesus was too merry, and with this attitude they became a people who could never be satisfied. Like the lawyers Jesus’ confronts, when you rely on your good works, you will be tempted to play games with people, and try to manipulate them or God. Continued childish behavior will eventually destroy you. When you rest in knowing Christ’s righteousness has been freely given to you, everything changes. Now you don’t fear adult responsibility. Your king has a purpose for your life and you will want to walk in that purpose. What if “why” is the wrong question to ask God when you are struggling? What if understanding the “whys” would not bring you peace? What if comprehending “why” would not protect you, or allow you to change anything from your past? The truth is, trusting God with what you don’t understand is more important to God than you thought. So, how might the questions you ask God change? Instead of “why”, maybe your inquiry could start with “what” questions. “God, what do you see?” “What do you hear?” “What do you desire to do?” These are requests God delights to answer.

Almost everyone tries to develop new habits and make improvements at the beginning of a new year. But by the time March rolls around, most of the diets have crashed and the gym memberships have gone unused. Nancy identifies the true power you need for lasting change in the series “Adding to Your Faith.” Below are follow-up questions to deepen your understanding of 2 Peter 1:5–7. Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (2 Peter 1:5–7). Faith Do you have genuine faith in Christ? Who or what are you trusting for your eternal salvation? What evidences are there that you have true faith: that you have believed and placed your faith in Christ? (Faith without works is dead.) Virtue Is your life characterized by moral excellence? Do you choose to think, read, be entertained by, and look on things that are virtuous and excellent? Is your character (speech, actions, and choices) morally excellent? Do you have a heart and appetite for things that are excellent, good, and pure? Do you have an energetic, vigorous faith? Is it active, alive, and growing? Are you fulfilling your intended, created purpose? What does your life reflect to others about the nature and character of God? Knowledge Are you growing in your knowledge of God’s Word and His ways? Are you growing in your knowledge of God, in an intimate relationship with Him? What are you doing to nurture your relationship with Him and to get to know Him better? Are you spending consistent time seeking to know Him through the study of His Word and prayer? What things are you most motivated and interested to learn about? Are you able to take the Word and apply it to your life circumstances and to use it to minister to the needs of others? Self-control Do you have any recurring or besetting sinful habits or areas of bondage in your life? Are you enslaved or addicted to anything? Do you exercise self-control with your tongue and words in your moods and emotions with your body: food and drink with your time: entertainment, hobbies, and habits in your spending sexually with the computer and the Internet Is there any area where you frequently and habitually give in to sinful or fleshly desires, drives, or passions? Steadfastness (Perseverance) Does your faith hold up? Do you endure under pressure and testing? Do you keep trusting, loving, and obeying God even when His providence and choices are not what you would choose? When hard times come, do you throw in the towel and give in to discouragement, fear, or resentment? What trials or afflictions are you facing at this time? Are you enduring them steadfastly, or have you grown weary and fainthearted? Are you responding to these trials with joy? Godliness Is your heart orientation and inclination toward godly things? Is your heart devoted to God? Is your life God-centered? Is what you think about, dwell on, and seek after God-centered? Is the essential orientation of your life God-ward and heavenward? Or is it self-centered and earthly (earthbound)? Is it temporal or eternal? Are you training to be godly? What are you doing? Brotherly Affection Do you genuinely care for the people of God? Are you fond of them? Do you enjoy their company? Are you cultivating rich friendships with other believers? Do you think of them as your brothers and sisters? Are you kind to and considerate of your fellow believers? Do you assume the best about other believers? Are you warmhearted toward them? Do you look for ways to encourage and bless them? Do you treat them with honor, respect, and goodwill? Do you speak charitably and well of other believers? Are you quick to serve and minister to their needs whenever possible? Are you hospitable? Do you welcome God’s people into your home? Do you receive others as Christ has received you? Love (1 Corinthians 13) Is your life characterized by selfless, sacrificial, serving love? Do you seek the Kingdom of God and the interests of others above your own? Do you love God (evidenced by obeying His commands)? Do you love your family? Do you love the lost? www.reviveourhearts.com .

Crossroads Birth: “The rich and the poor have a common bond, the Lord is the maker of them all.” ( Prov. 22:2 ) Authority: “The eye that mocks a father and scorns a mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out…” ( Prov.30:17 ) Chores and responsibilities: “An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning will not be blessed in the end.” ( Prov. 20:21 ) Family: “Like a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.” ( Prov. 27:8 ) Submitting to discipline: “Discipline your son while there is still hope, and do not desire his death.” ( Prov. 19:18 ) God: When the faith becomes your own. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” ( Prov. 1:7 ) School: “A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge is easy to one who has understanding.” ( Prov. 14:6 ) Peer pressure: “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” ( Prov. 13:20 ) The Bible: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.” ( Prov. 29:18 ) True religion: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination…” ( Prov. 15:8 ) Boys and girls: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” ( Prov. 31:30 ) Mastering the body: “And he who rules his spirit, [is better] than he who captures a city.” ( Prov. 16:32 ) The ability to relate to people: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.” ( Prov. 11:30 ) Sensitivity to others: “Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, is he who sings songs to a troubled heart.” ( Prov. 25:20 ) Flexibility: “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.”( Prov. 14:4 ) Critical thinking: “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on, and are punished for it. ( Prov. 22:3 ) Anger: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,” ( Prov. 16:32 ) Choosing a vocation: “Train up a child in the way he should go (his way), even when he is old he will not depart from it.” ( Prov. 22:6 ) Drugs and alcohol: “Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup,… at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper.” ( Prov. 23:31-32 ) The ability to achieve short term success: “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is made fat.” ( Prov. 13:4 ) Control of the tongue: “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing,” ( Prov. 12:18 ) Handling of money: “There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up.” ( Prov. 21:20 ) Values: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe. A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own imagination.” ( Prov. 18:10-11 ) The workplace: “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.” ( Prov. 22:29 ) Getting rich quick: “Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.” ( Prov. 17:24 ) Marriage: “It is better to live in a corner of the roof than in a house shared with a contentious woman.” ( Prov. 25:24 ) “Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways…” ( Prov. 22:24-25 ) Caring for parents: “He who assaults his father and drives his mother away is a shameful and disgraceful son.” ( Prov. 19:26 ) Raising kids: “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother.” ( Prov. 10:1 ) A legacy: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…” ( Prov. 13:22 ) “The memory of the righteous is blessed…” ( Prov. 10:7 ) Grandkids: “Grandchildren are the crown of old men…” ( Prov. 17:6 )

Share 0 What are the idols of your heart? What are the ways in which you have allowed your heart that is intended to worship God, to worship the golden calves that surround us?[i] There are several ways to diagnose our hearts. Ask yourself the question: what keeps me up when I’m trying to sleep? What do I fear? What do I think about? What do I daydream about? What gets me most excited in life? What do I give myself to? What do you use your time for?[ii] Often what we will first uncover are the superficial idols. Maybe it’s pornography or adultery, or maybe it’s alcohol, television, or shopping. Or maybe it’s fitness, sports, work, patriotism, or family. Everything can be turned into an idol. And these gods are rarely solitary.[iii] Gods open doors for gods. Culturally, we are often taught therapeutic methods to deal with these idols, often exchanging one idol with another seemingly “good” idol. We exchange pornography for patriotism, alcohol for fitness, television for family and think that we’ve fixed ourselves, but we haven’t. We are still worshiping a god. There are many churches out there who preach the good news of these better gods: family and patriotism and financial security. But these are still gods, and while they are good gifts from the Giver, they are still just gifts. But there are deeper idols that lurk behind these superficial idols. The enemy is quite content to have us replace these superficial idols with “better” idols that serve the same function in our lives. What lies deeper? What are you trying to get when you crave coming home and collapsing on the couch and watching TV? What need are you filling when you shop? What lies behind the answers to those questions are the deeper idols. And these too are almost always good on their own. They are gifts from the Giver. If you aren’t a Christian, it’s how you answer the question: what I hope for most in life is _____. Or, if you’re a Christian, it’s how you honestly answer the question: I would be content, if I could have God and ______. What is in that blank? Happiness, power, money, achievement, satisfaction, comfort, security, love, independence, respect? That last one is my idol of choice. When I’m frustrated or discouraged and able to dig into my heart to figure out what the cause is, it’s usually because my idol of respect is being threatened. I am a master at defending my idol. “I show them respect. Is it too much to ask that they respect me? “I’m just asking for what is owed to me.” “Everyone around me has ______.” “Doesn’t God want me to be ______?” God desires good things for us, his children, and the best of those things is the purity of our hearts, our holiness. So when I ask, “Doesn’t God want me to be respected?” Or when we ask “Doesn’t God want me to be happy?” Or “Doesn’t God want me to be secure?” Or “Doesn’t God want me to be loved?” The answer is yes, but those are all trumped by God’s desire that you are holy and that you worship him alone. And so, God will allow those other good things to be uprooted for that ultimate reason. He will refine us of those idols so that our worship will be set on him alone and our happiness will be found in him alone. What is God’s response to Israel’s idolatry? He burns with anger. This anger might make us uncomfortable, but it is a holy and a pure anger. God loves us too much to leave us as we are. He is the just judge who will judge wickedness and evil. He will one day purify the earth from all evil and unrighteousness. If God was not angered by idolatry, if God was a “live and let live God,” we would have no hope that one day what was wrong would be made right. We would have no hope that the wickedness in our own hearts would be purged. But it will be. So God responds ferociously to our idols. It’s startling, but God shapes us as his people by destroying our idols and ridding our hearts of idolatry that we might experience true worship. Moses spends forty days with God and then comes down to the people worshiping the idols. Furious, he breaks the tablets and God brings his wrath on the people, bringing a plague and destroying those who worship the idols. God actually has those who worship executed. It’s not easy to read. This doesn’t make sense unless we understand how serious God is about shaping us as pure worshipers. On the mountain, God is manifested as a devouring fire, and when we experience him, we are refined by him. God loves you and has given his Son that you might enter into an exclusive relationship with him. The Gospel is God’s unconditional love for you on display. It is, in fact, better than unconditional love, it is ‘contra-conditional love,’ a love where Christ bears the consequences of our idolatry.[iv] A love that loves us too much to let us remain as we are. It is a love that does not leave us to our own ways, but transforms us into his likeness, a love that leaves us with the shine of Christ on our faces. God calls us to put away the shiny things and turn to him so that we might have shining faces. When Jesus calls us to follow, he calls us to be all-in. God can’t be one god among many. If our answer is that in this life will only be content if we have God and _____, then there are idols that must be taken down. When Jesus made it clear that it was all or nothing, many left.[v] Will you leave or will you stay? Will you allow God to shape you as he desires? Will you destroy your idols and be shaped by whole-hearted worship of the true God? [i] In Timothy Keller’s important book on this subject he says, “The biblical concept of idolatry is an extremely sophisticated idea, integrating intellectual, psychological, cultural, and spiritual categories. There are personal idols… cultural idols… intellectual idols…” Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods, xix. Keller examines what he considers the three basic categories of idols: love, money, success, glory, and gives prescriptions for how to demolish each one. [ii] Tim Keller quotes Archibishop William Temple who said, “Your religion is what you do with your solitude.” Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods, 168. [iii] See David Powlison’s tremendous “Idols of the Heart and ‘Vanity Fair’” for a tremendous exploration of this: http://cldibillings.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Idols-of-the-Heart-David-Powlison.pdf. [iv] I borrow this wonderful idea of ‘contra-conditional’ from David Powlison’s “Idols of the Heart and ‘Vanity Fair’”: http://cldibillings.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Idols-of-the-Heart-David-Powlison.pdf. [v] John 6:66

What is Noah’s Ark? The Ark of Noah is at the very heart of this story. Therefore, it is the Ark that becomes God’s prophetic message to future humanity. At times people have thrown a bottle containing a message, into the sea, and years later it is found and the message contained within it is read. This is the picture I have for the Ark of Noah: the prophetic message is inside this story, and it is our task to ‘unseal’ it in order to understand the message. Noah himself probably did not realize the prophetic meaning of his own story (just as people who throw a bottle into the sea don’t know when and by whom it will be found) – but God definitely did know: He threw this sealed Ark into the waves, for us to unseal and to read. Today, as we open this ancient message, what do we find there? PURE BLOODLINE OR PURE HEART? First of all, who was Noah? Who was this man who was chosen to give a new beginning to the whole of humanity? Why was he chosen? Scripture tells us that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.[1] Since we are dealing here with the last level of PARDES – sod, secret, mystery – we have to ask: what does it have to do with Noah? What is the secret of him finding grace in the eyes of the Lord? After everything we’ve discussed here already, the very first, and most obvious, suggestion would concern Noah’s bloodline. Various commentators assume that the expression “perfect in his generations”[2] might be read, and even should be read, in the sense of his perfect bloodline : Noah was perfect in his genealogy. His bloodline was pure, in that it was totally human, and that was the first and most obvious reason why God chose him. We have to remember though, that the God of the Bible is first of all God of the hearts. That is why I have no doubt that Noah’s heart was also pure and that he indeed, was righteous before God. Scripture tells us very clearly that Noah ‘walked with God’[3] (by the way, there are only two people in the whole Bible that are described in this way: Enoch and Noah). Yes, Noah had a pure bloodline, but he was also righteous before God; in fact, these two things are connected and go together: Noah’s bloodline remained uncorrupted because he was righteous. He was completely separated from the sinful world and sinful people (and half-people) around him – and that’s why he was perfect in his generations. Do you know that in Hebrew the word kadosh, holy, also means “separated”: the words “at mekudeshet lee”, pronounced by the groom to the bride in the Jewish wedding ceremony under the chuppah, simultaneously mean “you are separated to me” and “you are holy to me.” This is exactly what God would later expect and require from His people: to be holy, and to be separated from the sin of this world. Noah, with his pure heart, was separated from the corrupted world and therefore passed on a pure human bloodline, not corrupted by the demonic seed. Thus, Noah was a perfect candidate for God’s plan. PITCH OR ATONEMENT? However, that is only part of the message that God is sending to us through this story. The central point of the story of the Flood – God remembered Noah[4] – reminds us that this message is not only about man, but also about God. So, what is the second part of the mystery that God wants us to see in this story? We will find the second clue in the Ark itself. You might remember that, when God instructed Noah how to build the ark, He commanded him to pitch it within and without with pitch[5]. In English, it sounds like a mere technical description, and you may never have given much thought to this verse. However, when we read in Hebrew, we discover here the root??? (kafar: kaf- pei-reish) : vehafarta ota mibait umihutz bekofer. You are probably familiar with Yom Kippur – this is the same root that we have in the word “Kippur”. Yom Kippur means the Day of Atonement, therefore the meaning of this verb has to be: “to atone”. We know, however, that Yom Kippur, as well as the whole concept of atonement, will only be introduced much later. Why then, would this verb be used here, in the story of Noah? We don’t find the word “atonement,” or anything pertaining to atonement, in our translated texts, whatever language we read. So what’s going on here? Why does this amazing root word occur here in the Hebrew text – and why then does it disappear in translation? This word is too significant, too deep, too important for all its future redemptive meanings, and therefore can’t be ignored. This is a beautiful example of how deep and multifaceted the Hebrew language is. Turn with me to a dictionary, and you will be overwhelmed (as I was, and have been ever since) by the incredible depth of His word. Since Hebrew is a root language, most of the words are formed from a three-consonant root by changing vowels and by adding different prefixes and suffixes. Thus, we find in the dictionary two verbs from the same root, with two completely different meanings: (kafar) – to pitch something with pitch; and (kiper) – to atone, to pardon Can you imagine? This very technical command – you shall pitch it within and without with pitch – in Hebrew, this sounds almost like a theological statement. We all know of course, that the Flood and the Ark are great symbols of punishment of the wicked and salvation of the righteous; however, without Hebrew, we completely lose something that is obvious in the original text: even phonetically, the story of Noah is the story of redemption and atonement, the word “to atone” being actually built into the original text! Do you see what is going on here? The language of Torah is given by God, and therefore it is different from any other human language: the meanings that are yet to come are shown here through the regular meanings of the words. More often than not, the words of Torah are pregnant with these future meanings – with something that is yet to come, that was not seen by man, but was installed there by God. Here we find the Sod, the Secret that God wants us to see in the story of Noah: Yes, a man has to be separated from the corrupted world and to walk with God – and yet, even those within the ark of Noah were not ‘perfect’ and still needed to be “pitched” by God: within and without. From inside and from outside. www.eteacherbiblical.com . Used by permission.

Have you ever had a difficult person in your life? Maybe it was a family member, or a co- worker. Maybe it was a next-door neighbor you found yourself in a dispute with or even your boss. Learning to deal with difficult people was not a skill I wanted to develop. I am not a psychologist, but learning to navigate through my own emotional wounds has given me insight in how God uses our hurt to develop muscles of mercy in our own lives. It is one of the ways God is bringing good from the evil, which was done, to me. How do you handle an ongoing conflict with a person who is determined to win at any cost? Friends may urge you to forgive, and you have, but what do you do when the person continues to hurt you, and the hurts pile up. It is obvious to everyone this person is in no mood for repentance, so what do you do? How can you respond in a way that is God honoring without losing your self-dignity in the process? Look at this parable which follows Jesus’ words in Luke 6:37-38 on giving mercy: Luke 6:39-42 “He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”’ This parable reveals why most of our efforts to resolve broken relationships fail. When we are hurt it is easy to hyper focus on another’s failing and blindly miss our own sin problem. This parable gives us insight into how God sees our hypocrisy. When dealing with difficult people in our lives we need to remember God is most interested in the transformation, which needs to take place in our own heart. He has allowed this conflicted person into our lives with a purpose. They may be making our life miserable, but that suffering has a divine agenda behind it. God wants to expose the plank in our own eye first. Maybe he wants to use this complicated relationship for some deep self-introspection and repentance before he can use us to remove the speck in their eye. As long as our goal is to change the other person we won’t awaken to our own need for transformation. When we are wounded there is a great temptation to replay the offense over and over in our head, and when we do this, one of two outcomes is inevitable in our reasoning. One outcome of not capturing our thoughts is to embrace a victim’s mentality. At the end of the day this person will always view himself as the victim, helpless to ever protect himself or overcome his wounding. The second possible outcome of concentrating on our abuse like a never-ending movie rerun is a destructive attitude of self-protection which leads us to become as mean as our abuser ever was. Sadly, bitter self- protection will not bring us the peace we long for or protect us. Jesus’ call to bear his image upon the earth offers us a third option. We offer mercy not because we have to, but from a place of strength and choice. As an act of our will we courageously choose to forgive. Nobody is forcing us to forgive it is our willful choice. Under Jesus’ direction every time we are tempted to replay our abuse we can capture our thinking by actively praying for our enemies (Luke 6:27-28). God is not the author of our struggle, but he allowed this combative situation for a higher purpose, so we would become people of mercy. Luke 6:41 calls the relationship in question a brother. Family conflicts are complicated by the fact we often feel we are not free to escape them. If it was my boss I could quit my job, though that might not be a possibility in a bad economy. If my difficult person is a neighbor, again in a good market I could move. But you can’t stop someone from being your brother. The first thing we need to understand if we are going to find permanent release is this exercise is not about their sin. Let’s admit they are sinful and deserve judgment, but what needs to happen to us so we can experience God’s peace? On the cross Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Following Jesus’ example Stephen voiced this same prayer in Acts 7:59-60 as he was being stoned to death. There is an early church tradition that this prayer was widely adopted by the early Christian martyrs as they marched to their deaths. They mercifully prayed for their abusers’ forgiveness as they submissively went to their death in the Roman coliseums for worshiping Jesus. These unusual acts of mercy are credited with slowly converting an entire empire to the cause of Christ. One of my seminary professors loved to point out, “Praying `Father, forgive them for they know not what they do’ is still one of the most relevant prayers we can pray today for someone.” When hurt we must be careful how we process that hurt. The more betrayed we are the more tempted we will be to judge the other person’s motives and justify ourselves. An overwhelming desire to judge others is a symptom of self-protection and self-righteousness. The sad part about this attitude is it will not protect us like we thought it might, because of one simple reason. We cannot read minds. Only God can read the intentions of a heart. Only he can purely judge someone’s motives, because he is the only one in possession of all the facts. Praying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” is a positive way to capture our thinking. It is choosing to function from a place of strength and mercy. God knows the “whys” behind someone’s behavior, an asset in self-protection mode we might not even consider. The truth is all behavior has a purpose. Even when a person does not know why they act the way they do, there is a reason behind their conduct. Knowing the motivation that drives someone’s behavior doesn’t release him or her from the consequences, but it can give us insights into a person’s impulses. By modeling and praying this prayer of intercession at his greatest hour of need Jesus was showing us how to offer mercy, redirect our thoughts, and positively control our thoughts (2 Cor. 10:3-5). It may feel insincere to pray this prayer in the beginning because of the way anger can stir our emotions, but when we act on what we feel the Holy Spirit is calling us to pray, eventually our emotions will catch up to our will. If this prayer seems like a lofty task take a deep breath, ask God to enable you to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 618), and don’t lean on your own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6). In Luke 6:27-28 Jesus taught us, “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Maybe learning to pray for our enemies is as much about our future as it is theirs. Is it possible that supplication for those who hate us is the most protective posture we can assume? When we bring before God’s throne of grace those who curse us we are exercising spiritual muscles of mercy and faith, because we do not know how God is going to use our obedience in prayer. Praying for those who abuse us is not a lofty idea reserved for super Christians and missionaries in Africa. Jesus’ desire is that we choose to place our feet exactly in his footsteps. God is patiently wooing us to his ways. He is urging us to think his thoughts and be conformed to his image, so we can be a channel of his mercy. This is not the way we naturally want to respond to hurt. When faced with the temptation to replay those old tapes of offense in our head we must realize the choice we make will determine who we will become. When we find ourselves confused and don’t Know what to do; we can remember it is always appropriate to pray, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Conflict is unfortunately very normal, mercy is not. • Does it bother you to recite a rote prayer like, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”? Does it feel sincere? Why? ? • The Greek word translated “repentance” in the New Testament means, “to change your thinking”. How do you need to change your thinking about those you are tempted to hate? ? • Read Ephesians 4:26-27. Why do you think Paul urges us to deal with anger before the sun sets? ? • Passages for further reading on the value God places on merciful prayer and forgiveness: 1 Sam. 12:23- 25, 2 Chron. 7:14, Prov. 3:5-6, Matt. 5:43-45, 6:5-6, 6:12, 18:21-35, 26:41, Luke 22:31-34, Romans 8:28- 29, Eph. 4:26, Col. 3:13, 3:21, 1 Peter 3:7. ?

Rejection is a difficult thing to reason with. Truly, when we are rejected once, it hurts, and it often takes some time to get past the pain of that rejection. But when those rejections start to pile up, one on top of the other, well, that’s a whole new ball game, isn’t it? Feeling rejected by those I hold in high esteem happens to be one of my Achilles heels. Satan knows that, and he absolutely loves rubbing salt in that torn heel every single chance he gets. In truth, I think rejection in one form or another falls on just about everyone’s radar of “Ouch, that really hurt my heart.” Consequently, rejection is one of Satan’s favorite playgrounds. Recently I had to deal with yet another of those ever-occurring moments where rejection slammed my heart into the back of my chest. When that happened, that little voice started almost immediately: “What did you expect? Of course they rejected you. That’s what happens every time. Why do you expect anything else?” Do you ever hear that voice when you’re rejected? The funny thing is, that voice is you, isn’t it? It’s your voice talking to you in your head, reminding you that you shouldn’t be surprised at this turn of events, because it isn’t a turn of events at all. It’s exactly what always happens, so you had better just go with it. This is your life. Get used to it. So, when I heard those familiar words that I wasn’t wanted or needed—again—I also heard that condemning voice—my voice—reminding me that I shouldn’t be surprised. However, I also remembered a sermon I just heard a couple of weeks ago that our pastor taught on spiritual warfare. He very wisely reminded us that one of the enemy’s favorite tactics is stealth, and his favorite method of stealth is to disguise himself as us. I mean, think about it. The one voice you will always believe is yours. My pastor said that, and he’s right. I will always believe me. I might not believe you or my husband or any other person, but I will always believe my own voice in my head. What better voice to use as a disguise than mine! That morning when my spirit was doing battle with my flesh after this most recent rejection, I knew that it was a lie that I heard in my head. I remembered my pastor’s words; I remembered that the voice I was hearing, though it sounded like me, was actually the enemy’s and that he was speaking lies to me. I knew that truth, but knowing that truth wasn’t stopping how that lie was making me feel. I still felt rejected. I still felt unwanted, unneeded, and ultimately unloved. My heart, as it most often does, was completely ignoring my head. I was at the gym while I was engaging in this internal battle, as I often am. I find the battle with my physical body cathartic when I’m battling my spiritual against my flesh. Maybe I’m also masochistic. Yeah, I probably am. Be that as it may, as I was sweating and working out, that voice was unrelenting. I kept speaking against it even as it yelled louder and louder in my mind. Then suddenly, out of the darkness that was threatening to overtake all that was inside of me, these words boomed inside of my mind: “What then shall we say to these things?” I recognized this immediately as Romans 8:31. This is the first part of the Triumph Song as written by Paul in Romans 8:31-39, which is more than likely my favorite passage in the bible. And then the phrase just kept repeating itself, over and over in my head. “What then shall we say to these things?” “What then shall we say to these things?” “What then shall we say to these things?” Do you see what was happening there? When the lies of the enemy had invaded my brain, the only thing that could dispel those rancid, foul untruths were the very words of my Father, and those will invariably come from Scripture. Satan can disguise himself as me, but he cannot disguise himself as God. What then was I to say to these things that Satan was saying to me? I needed only to remember the rest of the Triumph Song to know the answer to that. What are you to say to the lies that Satan tells you about who you are and what you mean to your Father when someone rejects you in this life? What then shall we say to these things? 1. We say that if God is for us, who can be against us? The very Creator of the universe, I Am who is I Am, is in your corner and He is FOR YOU! He has a plan for you, and He knows intimately what that plan is. This is not small stuff. It’s huge! When Satan tries to convince you that you are unwanted or unloved because someone here rejected you for this or that, just remember that the Lord of literally everything chose you to be His from before time began. He wrote your name in His book because He wants you. That Great God is for you. We say that to these things. 2. We say, “No” to Satan, because in all these things we are more than conquerors through God who loves us. This, my friends, is another biggie. Paul doesn’t just say that we are conquerors; he says we are more than conquerors. How can we be more than conquerors? It’s in the way that we win. We win in eternity for sure, but our winning here is a different kind of winning. It might not look the way the world thinks winning ought to look. Jesus’ win certainly didn’t look the way the world thought it should look, but demons howled at His death and resurrection because the win was complete, and they knew it. Even when it may appear that we are losing here, when we keep our eyes trained on our Savior, we win. That makes us more than conquerors, and in that, we say, “No” to Satan and his empty lies. 3. We say that we are sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wow. That should stop all of us in our self-pitying tracks. Not anything anyone does or says or doesn’t do or doesn’t say will ever separate us from God’s love for us. And notice that these things can’t separate us from His love for us, not our love for Him. I’m afraid we are separated from our love for Him quite often. Our love for Him tends to be very circumstantial if we are all honest with ourselves. But God’s love is constant. Not one thing can separate us from His amazing, ever-present love for us. That’s astounding. That’s awesome. And those are the words that Satan simply can’t say. He has no comeback, and he is silenced before them. What then shall we say to these things when we are rejected, when Satan disguises himself as us and tells us that we are unloved and unwanted? We repeat God’s very words to ourselves, and what better words than the Triumph Song of Romans 8:31-39. If God is for us, who can be against us? We are more than conquerors through God who loves us. Nothing can separate us from God’s love for us. www.debwaterbury.com . Used by permission.

Is your marriage in trouble? Many couples I see will inevitably tell me the tale of being in a sexless marriage for months, years, or decades. I smile and tell them not to worry. I have heard that on most Mondays for almost thirty years. The reality is that many couples, regardless of faith, finances, or culture, go to bed feeling alone next to the one who said they would love, honor, and cherish them. Why is it that so many couples suffer quietly in a sexless marriage? In this blog, I’ll give you eight common reasons I have found that couples are sexless and married. Two Choices for Those in a Sexless Marriage When a person is in a sexless marriage, they have two major choices. The first choice is to address the real issues as to why they are sexless in marriage, set boundaries, and seek professional help to resolve the core issues. The second choice is to medicate their pain with addictions such as porn, affairs, alcohol, work, or drugs. Often they will blame their spouse because they medicate this way. I have counseled individuals with addictions for almost thirty years, and it is never the spouse’s fault if you choose to medicate this way. For those who want to address the real issues for your sexless marriage, this blog will help you identify some of the most common reasons that lead to sexless marriages. This information is taken directly from our new DVD called “Sexless and Married.” Reason 1–Intimacy Anorexia Intimacy anorexia happens more frequently than you might think. It’s when a spouse actively withholds spiritual, emotional, and sexual intimacy. If someone is an intimacy anorexic, they will: Stay busy to avoid their spouse Blame their spouse for all of the problems in the relationship Withhold love from their spouse Withhold praise from their spouse Withhold sex from their spouse or not be present during sex Not talk about their feelings Have ongoing or ungrounded criticism of their spouse Control or shame around money issues If one or both spouses have five or more of these characteristics, you are dealing with intimacy anorexia. This is a real and prevalent issue as to why a couple might be sexless and feel like roommates in their marriage. If this applies to you, do some research and get qualified help to restore your marriage. Reason 2–Sexual Addiction You’ve probably read stories about how many men and women are turning to pornography and acting out with themselves or others outside their marriage. Yes, this is most likely true even with people you know. This has caused many marriages to separate or divorce. When I speak at men’s conferences on the topic of my book Sex, Men & God, I’ll ask how many men think that they may be addicted to pornography. Typically 50% or more of these men acknowledge having this problem. A sex addict will have three or more of the below characteristics as it relates to their habit including lust, porn, or behavior with self or others. Their addiction can lead them to becoming sexless in marriage. Tried to stop and failed Promises to self, others, or God to quit and failed Having consequences for their behavior Using even after having consequences for their behavior Doing more of the same or escalating in behaviors Take more or different for same high Takes more time in addiction Begins to pull away from other activities or relationships Withdraw if they can’t access their behavior There are six types of sex addicts according to AASAT.org (American Assoc. for Sex Addiction Therapy). If sex addiction is the issue for the sexless marriage, the addict will need to seek help, attend support groups, and address core issues to heal. The impact of a sex addiction is huge for the spouse as well. Two good books would be The Final Freedom and Partners: Healing from His Addiction. Start your journey of putting porn in your past, check out the blogpost “ How to Quit Porn: 6 Essential Steps.” Reason 3–Sexual Abuse It’s possible that the previous sexual abuse of either spouse could be triggering a sexual shutting down. Sometimes this happens out of the blue. For example, when their child reaches the age that they were when their abuse happened or perhaps seeing a movie that triggers a memory of their abuse. Sexual abuse can be a journey, but it is necessary to move beyond it to have a thriving life and marriage. I have been sexually abused by both genders, and I took responsibility for my healing and have enjoyed a healthy sex life. The responsibility to heal is ours. If this is the reason for sexlessness in a marriage, I would start your healing journey today. There are plenty of books on this, and if you are not making accelerated progress, then I suggest you see a counselor that specializes in treating one to help move from victim to thriving. Reason 4–Depression I agree that too many Americans are diagnosed with depression, however it can really be an option for what’s creating a sexless marriage. Let me give you the characteristics of depression other than a lack of interest in sex. A depressed person would have low energy, difficulty with concentration and making decisions, weight gain or loss recently, sleep disturbance, feelings of worthlessness and possible suicidal thoughts, and lastly a sense of not enjoying life. If someone has several of these symptoms, they could be depressed. Now if the person is so depressed that they aren’t going to their place of work or they have a lack of interest in it, then it may be because of depression. Unfortunately people can be depressed because of unresolved anger, grief, or a lack of serotonin in their brain. See a medical doctor and make sure you talk to the doctor about side effects for the medication they may be giving you because some antidepressants lower your sex drive and that wouldn’t be helpful. If you are seeing a counselor, again, make sure they specialize in depression. Reason 5–Schizoid Personality Disorder A person with Schizoid Personality Disorder will have several characteristics. Some of these characteristics include having no close relationships, choosing alone activities, having no desire for sex, getting no real pleasure from activities, indifference to praises or criticism, and appearing emotionally cold or detached. If this is what is going on, he or she can be very resistant to treatment. This person must be motivated if change is to occur. Reason 6–Low Thyroid Sexlessness can also be caused by low thyroid. This is totally a medical issue. The symptoms other than less interest in sex would be low energy, difficulty concentrating, hair loss, weight gain, constipation, and muscle soreness. This is very treatable both homeopathically and medically. If this is even close to your symptoms, ask your doctor for a blood test. Reason 7–Low Testosterone We see a lot of commercials for men with low testosterone, but it is also a significant issue for women. I’ve had both genders get this checked out and get on a medical regimen. It helped and was the only issue. The symptoms of low testosterone other than a low sex drive are weight gain, low energy, anxiety, hair loss, weakness, and sleep disturbance. Men may have erectile issues, and women may have vaginal dryness and the inability to orgasm. If you are reading along and think depression, low thyroid, and low testosterone symptoms sound a lot alike, you are very perceptive. I recommend if any of these symptoms sound familiar, get all three checked by a doctor to see what might be causing sexlessness in your marriage. Reason 8–Sex Language Mishaps Each one of us has a unique sex language. However we often marry someone with a different sex language than our own. In the book 5 Sex Languages, I share about the sex languages of Fun, Desire, Pleasure, Patience, and Acceptance. Most couples did not have this as part of their preparation for marriage. They fumble through sex trying to make their spouse like themselves. This can set up years of negative experiences and reduce the desire for sex. This issue is easy to address. Discover your spouse’s sex language. I will never forget one couple that came to my office for an Intensive from another country just to get this area strong. They both guessed wrong about which sex language the other person was. I walked them though each phase of sexuality utilizing the correct sex language, and they had the best week of their entire marriage. Healing from a Sexless Marriage Sexless marriages are real and affecting millions. I hope that an intelligent conversation can open the doors to healing and close the doors to any medicating. We are responsible to heal if we know what to heal. Keeping this pain in a marriage can damage or even destroy it. You are worth having the best marriage, including the best sex ever, however some of us have to work harder to get what we are worthy of. I have seen thousands of couples heal from a sexless marriage and wish you the best on your journey. www.covenanteyes.com . Dr. Douglas Weiss, guest author