The secret to self-control is to make decisions against your ego, flesh and second bests in life. Establish goals. An absence of goals is an absence of faith. Establish boundaries and routines. Self-control, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, keeps our hearts pure. Preached at National Community Church. Used by permission.

Many people tell me that they want wisdom for decisions, as a lot of people are making really big decisions in life. We’ve all heard of the great resignation, as people are quitting careers and jobs and starting new ones—which involves big decisions. It seems like in all areas of life, coming out of the pandemic is causing us to rethink our lives, and people are making decisions that will affect the trajectory of the rest of their lives. So, people want some help in getting those decisions and other decisions right, which is smart---because our lives are determined largely by the decisions we make. When I was in high school, this grumpy guy in our church used to say this statement when people said they wanted to do something, and he felt like they wouldn’t actually follow through. He’d say, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” That’s pretty grumpy, going all the way to going to hell. But he is right that good intentions will never get us to the destination we want. It’s way more about the path we are on and the decisions we make. Wouldn’t it be great to have a guide to make sure we make are on path and making good decisions? A couple of years ago some wonderful person treated me and Patrick, a pastor friend from Houston to go fly-fishing in Montana. I had never done that, so I was excited about learning how. Patrick and I were in this little boat with a guide whose job it was to know what kinds of flies that would work on the particular day to catch fish, to teach us how to cast and catch a fish, to untangle all of our tangles and so on. We were with him for two days, and I felt so bad for him. Patrick is even more ADD than I am, so he had trouble concentrating on the little float. You would cast and then watch the float for a while and then cast again. He got distracted and stopped watching the float. When he looked up, he didn’t see it, so he shouted to the guide, “Hey! Somebody stole my float!” The guide was like, “It’s a fish! Pull up!” My challenge was different. I grew up bass fishing, where you jerk back really hard when you get a bite, and where you cast with a lot of speed. Flyfishing is much more Zen than that, everything smooth and slow. It took me all that first day to figure that out, as he would tell me to relax and be rhythmic instead of whipping it around so hard. That first day I sunk the fly with the hook into my back nine times, and in my hat two more times. Each time the guide had to get his little pliers and pull it out of my back or hat. At the end of the day, I asked him, “So, nine times, plus the two in my hat…how does that compare to other first timers? Is that above average or below average.” His response, “Let’s just call it record-setting.” So, there you go, I set a record on my very first day!   I did enjoy it, but I would not want to flyfish again without a guide. Imagine having a guide for all of life like that, who was there to walk with us in life, to get us out of tangles, to lend wisdom for every significant decision. The great news is that we all have a guide available. Proverbs 3:6 tells us:   SLIDE__________________) Proverbs 3:6 “Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”     That is a wonderful promise, and God is committed to guiding our lives when we are open and seeking.   However, what you see in the Bible and experience in life is that he does not always guide us the way we want to be guided. What I mean by that is that he doesn’t generally make the decision for us, just part the skies and reveal to us the specific answer to our guidance questions. That’s often what we want, and occasionally that happens, but typically he guides our process of decision making, which is why the Bible gives us wisdom on how to make decisions.   Why doesn’t he just push us out of the way and make decisions for us? I’m sure at times he wants to, just like my fishing guide had to roll his eyes quite a bit watching me struggle. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if he just took the fly rod and said, “Hey, can I just catch some fish for you so you can stop sinking hooks in your back?” If he did, I would never have learned how to cast and catch—which I did learn. The next day was way better, because I was actually catching fish and not just catching me. God wants us to grow in wisdom. Occasionally in my life I have sensed God leading toward a specific direction in a very strong way but usually he allows us to make decisions as he ultimately guides the process and grows us.   So, if God guides our process of making wise decisions, then how to we make wise decisions? God has provided a lot of help in his revealed will, the Bible, to let us know how to make good choices. All of us have a significant choice or two looming, so get that in mind as we talk about how to make wise decisions.   SLIDE_____________________) Get on a Biblical Path. Andy Stanley wrote a helpful book called The Principle of the Path , which simply is that wherever you end up depends on the path you take, not the intentions you have. You will never end up at the right place if you are on the wrong path. If you are on a good path, you will have some options and choices, but as long as they are part of the path you know you are going to end up where you want to end up. Psalm 119:105 says,   SLIDE__________________) Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” God has revealed his general will in the Bible, and those principles form the boundaries, the guard rails, for every decision we make. God’s Word lays out the path. Let’s talk about choosing whom you are going to date or marry. The Bible is not going to give you names of girls or guys to consider, but it does give boundaries to that choice. 1 Corinthians for example tells us that we should as Christ followers marry only someone who shares that commitment. Listen to how he says it for widows:   SLIDE______________________) 1 Corinthians 7:39 “A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord.” Note, she is free to marry whom? “Anyone she wishes.” That’s not as romantic as the thought that God has just one person for us, and we’ve got to find that one person. That maybe sounds better but think about it. If we had to find our one person and there was only one person for us, then all it takes is for one bozo to pick the wrong one, and guess what? The ripple effect of that means it is ruined for everybody. Now, God is ultimately in control, and on his end, there probably is just the right person for us, but on our end, we would never be able to figure that out. So, on our end, we marry whomever we want. But he does give a guard rail: “but only if he loves the Lord.” If you love the Lord, then you are free to marry anyone who also loves the Lord. So, if you are considering marrying someone who does not yet have Christ in his or her life and you do, then you really don’t need to pray about that choice. God’s Word is clear. The answer is no, at least not until that person gets on the same page spiritually. Or let’s say you are contemplating a major purchase, like a car. You kind of like the Bentley convertible (show pic), which could be fine.     SLIDE_______________________) Special Sermon Slide Picture of Bentley Convertible But let’s talk about a biblical financial path. It starts with choosing to live on less than you make, and to build your budget around generosity rather than consumption. If you’ve been around Chase Oaks, you’ve heard Give, Save, Live. Meaning choose a percentage to give, to save, and then live on the rest, which is just a summary of biblical teaching. How much? You decide. The starting point we talk about is 10/10/80, but you choose. The Bible also talks a lot about debt, how to be wise with that and not end up becoming a servant to your debtor or your car. Does the Bentley fit? It might, but if it doesn’t, don’t get off path to get the Bentley. You might end up with a Kia, but you are going to end up at a better financial destination if you stay on path.   I find that when people come and talk to me about major decisions, that at least 50 to 60% of them are already laid out in the Bible. Those become easy decisions because they are a no brainer. Should I spend a bunch of money on lottery tickets? Should I move in with my boyfriend? What does the Bible say? Should I fudge on my taxes? What does the Bible say? The Bible gives us guidelines, and within those we are free to make decisions. The guidelines themselves will reveal God’s will for about 50-60% of the decisions we make, but what about when you are deciding between options within those boundaries, in areas where the Bible is not clear? God has given us help here, too. Let’s keep talking about how to make wise decisions.   SLIDE______________________) Pray for Wisdom. James 1:5 gives this wonderful promise: SLIDE__________________) James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” The God who has all wisdom will share it generously if we ask. When we have a big decision to make, we can ask God for wisdom in the process of making that decision. That’s different than making the decision for us. Part of every big decision should be prayer where we, with confidence, ask God for wisdom and then move forward in confidence that God will guide the process of making that decision. Jesus modeled this, where you see him before big decisions, like choosing the twelve disciples, go out and pray for an extended time. He also occasionally chose to fast, a spiritual discipline where you choose to not eat for a period of time as you focus on prayer as it heightens your sense of dependence on God. Jesus is God, but he wanted to do the will of the Father, so he fasts and prays. If you have a big decision, why not try what Jesus modeled? Fast and pray, asking God for wisdom. If it’s a smaller decision, still ask God for wisdom. This should give us a lot of boldness to make decisions and move forward, because God promises to give us the wisdom, we need to make tough decisions.     SLIDE___________________) Seek Out Advice from Wise People. Listen to these few Proverbs about how to become wise and make good decisions: SLIDE_________________) Proverbs 1:5 “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wisdom.” SLIDE________________) Proverbs 19:20 “Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.” SLIDE____________________) Proverbs 15:22 “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” SLIDE__________________) Proverbs 12:15 “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Pretty clear. We need other people’s perspective to make wise decisions. That is so important because often in big decisions we can easily lose objectivity about our own lives. We get emotionally connected and lose perspective. Like the Bentley you want. You may know you can’t really afford it, but it is so easy to rationalize. You can picture yourself in the Bentley. You feel like you could really serve God better if you had the Bentley, ride poor people around in it and stuff. You rationalize. If you can’t really afford it, you need otherwise people to knock you on the head and say, “How about the Kia?” Or you are a Jesus follower and meet someone who is not, and they are really pretty or really handsome. Sure, they have some character challenges, but you start to talk yourself into how you can change them over time. You need someone who loves you enough to say, “Really? You think you are going to change someone?”   This is why it is so important to surround ourselves with people who are on the path of following God with us. As Solomon says in Proverbs 13:20:     SLIDE_________________) Proverbs 13:20 “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” In the Bible, a fool is not someone with a low IQ. They might be a genius. A fool is a person who goes down an alternative path from the path of wisdom God has laid out for us. If you want to make godly decisions and wise decisions, make sure you have people around you who are godly and wise, people who are on the path with you. If we don’t do this, what the Bible is saying is that we will eventually make some really bad decisions that will lead to regret. And the best way to become wise is to hang out with those who already are.   I had dinner with a friend from my life group last week, and he is a wise and generous person. He was passing on wisdom for me that I really appreciated. Then the conversation moved to generosity, where he said, “Jeff, how can we help people move to greater generosity, because if they don’t, they miss out.” The biblical answer is all about who you hang out with. If you want to become wise, which includes generosity, then hang out with people who are wise. Get in a group with people who want to help each other down a biblical pathway.   The biggest gift you can give yourself is the gift of teachability around wise people. Some people just want to be right, and seen as right, and they don’t really listen to others. Better than being right and seen as the one who is always right is to make the right decision by being teachable. I like to move fast, I really do. But I have learned the hard way that it is almost always worth slowing down to get advice from wise people. I can learn a hard lesson listening to myself or save myself a lot of pain by listening to others who are on the path and who are wise.   SLIDE___________________) Consider your Purpose and Priorities.   Don’t make a decision in a vacuum, but ask yourself, “Which decision best furthers God’s purposes in this world and the priorities I have committed myself to?” I talked with a young adult a few weeks ago with a highly responsible job title and a young family. He was feeling tremendous pressure from his CEO to cheat his family to win more at work. He got that occasionally in a season you might have to do that, but he could see this was no season. It’s just the expectation, and he let his boss know that he would work really hard within appropriate boundaries but not at the expense of his family priorities. That’s tough to do, but wise if his family really his big priority.   In addition to priorities, consider your purpose. One of my concerns with the great resignation is people thinking about their comfort over their purpose. Here’s what I mean. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul talks to various groups of Jesus followers in uncomfortable situations who assumed the best decision was to get out of the uncomfortable situation, but Paul says, “Not so fast.” Here is his principle:     SLIDE____________________) 1 Corinthians 7:17 “Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you.”      The key word is “placed,” that where you are is not random but an assignment. God has placed you there for a reason, to be light in an otherwise dark place, and if you leave too early you leave that place in the dark. The 1 Corinthians 7 placements were more binding than being in a job—he’s talking about Christians married to non-Christians and slaves bound to serve a household, but he also applies the principle to single believers who are considering getting married. It’s okay to get married, but have you fulfilled your single assignment. It’s okay to take another job or pursue another career but ask the purpose question first. Have you fulfilled your assignment where God has placed you, because where he placed you is not random. You may say, “Yep! I’ve fulfilled it,” and then cool—go do something else. But at least consider the question. We are not here to be comfortable but missional. And sometimes when things get hard, it is an opportunity to persevere, to toughen us up. Other times, we are free to go. But tap the brakes first and ask the purpose question.   SLIDE___________________) Get on a Biblical Path. Pray for Wisdom. Seek Out Advice from Wise People. Consider your Purpose and Priorities.     So, let’s put all of this together. The most important thing you can do in life is pursue a biblical path—to live a life within the wise guard rails of God’s revealed wisdom. If you get on that path, whatever specifics you choose, you are going to end up at a good place. However, on that path, you will have some choices to make. He occasionally will make a direction more obvious, but generally, he gives us the freedom to make a choice, going through the process of wise decision-making. You may go through that whole process of considering what the Bible says, asking God for wisdom, seeking godly counsel, considering your mission and purpose, and it’s still a tough call. If that’s your situation, then at some point you’ve got to do what every other godly person has had to do through the centuries. You make the best decision you can by faith, trusting that what God says is true, that if you really commit your ways to him and make decisions the wisest way possible, he will indeed direct your path and superintend the whole process. You make the best decision you can, and you leave the rest to God. So, all that’s left to do then is to pray, to commit these decisions to God, and ask him to give us wisdom in the process. Do you have a decision looming? Let’s take it to God right now. And some of you may be off path, and you know it. That’s okay but be wise enough to get on path. Wherever you are right now, no matter how far off, there is a way to get on God’s pathway. I always appreciate that with GPS apps like Google Maps. My google GPS person never says, “You big dummy. Why are you here if you want to go there?” He just helps me get on a path from wherever I am that leads to where I want to go. God is not here to shame you but to guide you, so let’s get on path and ask him for wisdom with the choices we have.   Let’s pray.

MESSAGE SUMMARY    Introduction Status Quo Legal term == the current state of affairs Has come to mean unchanged, not different, boring Kids don't want to be different; peer pressure Individuality Be yourself As long as that fits in with what the group thinks is cool; individuality 1960s counterculture One day, our revolutionary music was playing in the elevator Bible calls us to be countercultural, "Do not be conformed: Romas 12:2 New series in an incredible book: Daniel First half centers on the man Daniel Second half centers on the message of Daniel Daniel himself was very courageous Hence the name of the series: I Dare You Song in 1800s "Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known" Each week we will look at a challenging aspect of Daniel About 20 studies -- 20 dares Think, act, live in a unique fashion I Dare, challenge you to step up to a new level of your Christian experience Theodore Roosevelt said, "It's better to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat" Challenge: live on the high wire Story: trapeze artist -- net underneath i. So we don't break our neck ii. So we don't fall We should live more daring because we have a net -- His loving hands (see Deuteronomy 33:27) I Dare You! Be Distinct Life Happens Unexpectedly vv. 1-2 Babylonians attack the city, kill and take people into captivity Two view points: Secular history and biblical theology "The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand: v. 2 On one hand: man is active in history, on the other hand: God is also active in history Story: 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated Egypt and Assyria 597 BC 586 BC -- burned Jerusalem with fire Israelites killed and some taken captive Daniel was taken captive around 15 or 16 years old Taken 650 miles away Entire population is in an uproar -- it's unexpected They should have expected it God warned them i. Warning number 1: Deuteronomy -- "Obey and love Me or..." (see Deuteronomy 28) ii. Several other warnings from prophets down through history iii. Isaiah 39 "Time is coming ...carried off to Babylon...descendants taken away into exile..." Always two side of histories Factual side: when, how, what, where Spiritual side: why God is the orchestra director Nebuchadnezzar is a pawn on the board Life may happen unexpectedly, but God is working supernaturally Calm down, God is behind the scenes One author said, "God's ways are behind the scenes, but He moves all the scenes He is behind" Why would God let the bad guys attack the good guys? i. Think Daniel would have said the same thing as Paul the apostle, "The things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel" Philippians 1:12 ii. Joseph said regarding his sale and captivity, "As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good" Genesis 50:20 The world demands conformity vv. 3-7 We live in a world that has standards that they want us to conform to It was that way in Babylon also They took the cream of the crop of the captives Brainwashed them Put them to service in the King's palace It was four-pronged approach -- still effective today Isolation -- take then from their homeland, family, priest, worship of their God Indoctrination -- challenge everything they learned growing up -- brainwash them, steep then in literature that would challenge their worldview i. Everything the learned growing up would be challenged by Babylonian, pagan worldview ii. Archeology shows they would have been trained in divination iii. Like our secular university campuses -- teachers try to undermine Christian student's belief system -- targeting them Concession -- make this so amazing that they wouldn't want to go back i. Food fit for a king ii. Impression of Babylon on a young teenager ii. "Our God didn't protect us, maybe..." Confusion -- new names, take away their identity i. Daniel: God is my judge; changed to Beltashazzar ii. Hananiah: Beloved of the Lord; changed to Shadrach ii. Mishael: Who is like God; changed to Meshach iii. Azariah: The Lord is my help; changed to Abednego Commitment begins inwardly vv. 8-16; "Daniel purposed in his heart" Daniel made a choice -- this choice made Daniel become the man that he was One author puts it this way "All of life is filled with crisis and decisions. There are right decisions and wrong decisions -- high roads and low roads -- almost every day there will be a fork in the road. Where you are today is due to the turn in the road that you took yesterday." The fork in the road that Daniel took was to not go along with the crowd -- to be distinct: to not "defile" himself There are things in life that can defile you Daniel drew the line at the food i. What's the big deal? No one's there to see you ii. Daniel wasn't looking for an excuse. Daniel had a purpose iii. It's been said that an excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie Daniel made an inward commitment to be distinct "Keep you heart with all diligence for out of it springs the issues of life" Proverbs 4:23 Question: What's defiling to you? Magazines you read? Television shows that you allow in your home? The company you allow yourself to hang out with? Relationships that you're toying with? The secret to living a distinct life is this: Living a life with the awareness of, nobody else may be looking, but God is always looking. "The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and He ponders all his paths." Proverbs 5:21 "All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13 Your reputation is what you are on the outside, your character is who you are when no one is looking Story of Moses when he was still living in Egypt and sees an Egyptian mistreating a Jewish person; he kills the Egyptian -- he didn't see anyone looking (see Exodus 2) God always honors loyalty vv. 17-21 "The eyes of the Lord run to and from throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9 After three years of graduate school, Daniel is about 20 years old Natural aptitude God's favor and grace -- three results Reverence v. 19: "When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Proverbs 16:7 Preference, prominence v. 20: they were at the top of the class Influence. 70 years -- Daniel has influenced four kings Another way God used Daniel Christmas The Magi (Medo Persian priests) Daniels' influence; taught based on the vision he had Closing Challenge: Will you be a thermometer or a thermostat? Thermometer just records what's going on around it Thermostat regulates what's going on around it Daniel was a thermostat Theodore Roosevelt "gray twilight" Story of Nancy Jones :...no hits, no runs, no errors: I Dare You: Be Distinct! Figures referenced: President Theodore Roosevelt Cross references: Genesis 50:20; Exodus 2, Deuteronomy 28, 22:27; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Proverbs 4:23, 5:21, 16:7; Romans 12:2; Philippians 1:12; Hebrews 4:13 Topic: Daniel Keywords: courageous, unique, commitment We learn from the courageous story of Daniel that: 1. Life Happens Unexpectedly (vv. 1-2) 2. The Word Demands Conformity (vv. 3-7) 3. Commitment Begins Inwardly (vv. 8-16) God honors such loyalty! www.skipheitzig.com

“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord will stand forever.” 1 Peter 1:24,25. NIV Our earthly bodies are like grass. When you walk out and see grass or you see a flower, you must ask yourself, "How long is that flower going to last?" It’s going to start wilting quickly. That happens to us. View yourself like a plant. Don’t take yourself so seriously. You’re not going to look good for long. And it’s going to get expensive to look good. When you're born, you’ll spring up like a seedling. You’ll have your glory days, but it’s going to be over. Peter says that there is only one thing that’s going to last. The Word of the Lord will last. The Word of the Lord is unique. When you are gone, God’s Word will still be here and it will still be true. When God says something, it’s always going to be true. His Divine Truth will never be obsolete when we die and go to heaven. God doesn’t say “Now, I take that back.” We have to be people that have to learn how to love His Eternal Word. Nowadays we have podcasts of preachers all over the world, we have all sorts of Christian books, devotionals and videos, but it can’t replace God’s Word. There is something that happens when you are reading God’s Word. It totally changes you. This Word is “…the Word that is preached to you.” In chapter two of 1 Peter, Peter describes young Christians as spiritual infants longing for spiritual milk. We have all heard babies that didn’t get their bottle. You always hear the babies crying who didn’t get their bottle and the mom is frantically looking for it. Nothing works. No pacifier, nothing will shut that kid up besides the bottle. We should be like newborn infants longing for His Word. Nothing else will satisfy us. I can never read too much scripture in a sermon. That’s what the world wants these days. Sound bytes. We need His Word. It's our life. Remember, “If you indeed have tasted that the Lord is good…” When we read and pray, communing with God, we have a unique relationship that is not obtained simply from relating with other people. Intimacy with God is irreplaceable. Invest your life in the God-moments.

Abel Able, or Making a Good First And Lasting Impression On God Hebrews 11:4 Soul Structuring Arts—Hebrews 11 Series #4 1504 Hebrews 11 delineates the soul Structuring Lifestyle Arts that we use to craft a life that pleases the Creator, Designer, God of the Universe.  He has not left us in the dark about how He intends for us to live. In Hebrews 11:4 we start at the beginning of the spiritual quest.  Read Hebrews 11:4. Read Genesis 4:1-8. Cain versus Abel: The Right Way and Wrong Way to God: Man’s Way versus God’s Way; Manianity vs Christianity Verses 4-5 hold the key.  The question is, What have you put on the altar before God?”  The fruit of our labor? Or the Lamb of God? Tread gently, this is life or death. There is a murder here. This is man’s religion gone sour. Nothing in the world is religion designed by God. Nothing in the world is as cruel as religion designed by man. Jesus VIDEO of temptations and what man’s religion will do on earth. Religion murdered Abel, killed prophets, crucified Christ, crusades, inquisition, Religion has shed more blood, produced more crying and sorrow than all the wars and desolations caused by all the world’s dynasties and politics put together. Right at the beginning of recorded human life we see the most grotesque evil in our world. And it has continued unabated ever since.  This is such a wicked world.  This is not how God created it to be.  Man is far away from what God intended. Been talking about creation recently and the possibility of life on other planets both scientifically and Biblically.  Someone asked, “Why no communication?” Worm holes: “Beam me down, Scottie.” Can transport, but the laws of physics make it impossible to put all the information back together and working again. C.S. Lewis has a fascinating answer. SLIDE #: Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters SLIDE #: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra That Hideous Strength “God isolates the fallen planets.”  Oyarsas: “They are bent.” I don’t care what you believe about life on other planets, that is rather immaterial.  But we all agree that life on this one is Bent. SLIDE #: Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” SLIDE #: Romans 6:23: “The Wages of Sin is Death;” (Death here talks about spiritual death.  Separation from God. An inability to approach a holy God who is tremendously disturbed by our sin. To many this seems absurd, but it is only because we have so little concept of the holiness of God. Jesus on earth helps us discover the infinite distance between God and us. Jesus on earth gives a good picture of what Adam looked like before the fall.  Controls the weather, talks to the animals, ability to heal transcends natural world.  Man uses only 10 to 12% of available brainpower. What happened to it? Lost it in the Fall. SLIDE #: Romans 6:23: “The Wages of Sin is Death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son.” SLIDE #: At the very beginning of the Bible, God announces that The Right Way back to God is by the blood sacrifice. READ GENESIS 4:1 Named him Cain – “To get something”. They were thrown out of the Garden. But, before God threw them out, He used His grace to say that He would provide a way that they could come back to Him. READ GENESIS 3:14-15. God said to Satan that some day a woman would produce a child who will be the victor over Satan. The child will have his heel bruised, but the child will crush Satan’s head. By woman came sin. By woman will come the Savior. Eve lived under the intense guilt of what she had done. She probably said every day, “God, how can I ever undo what I have done?” Then Cain was born. “Here is the answer! I have gotten a man from the Lord! “ Cain was the important one. So she calls the boy, “To get.” Really means, “He is here.” He was the one to lead them back to God. But, he was her idea—not God’s. Cain turned out to be a murderer. READ GENESIS 4:2-4a READ GENESIS 4:4b-5a. God accepted his gift. Fire from Heaven? Leviticus 9:4, 1 Kings 18:38. You say, “How unfair of God? How unjust!” On the surface this decision seems to be quite arbitrary. It seems to be a clear-cut case of divine discrimination. You say, “Didn’t Cain do the best that he could? He brought the best of his crop. Why if Abel was a shepherd and brought a sheep and Cain was a farmer and brought grain, why wouldn’t God accept it?” It is obvious that God very clearly told both boys what to do to be right with Him. READ GENESIS 4:6-7. The implication of verse 7 makes it clear that God had instructed them exactly what to do. He wanted a lamb to be sacrificed on an altar to forgive their sin. We know this is what God told the boys because this is what Abel did and God approved it.  This is not what Cain did and God rejected his. SLIDE #: One thing is clear. There is no doubt about this.  God wanted a blood sacrifice. WHY BLOOD?   READ LEVITICUS 17:11,14:  "The life is in the blood." In the human body there are many different kinds of tissues. We define them as muscle, nerve, fat, gland, bone, connective tissues, etc. All these tissues have one thing in common: they are fixed cells, microscopically small and having a specific and limited function. Unlike these fixed tissues, the blood is fluid and mobile, that is, it is not limited to one part of the body but is free to move throughout the entire body and supply the fixed cells with nourishment and carry off the waste products and the "ashes" of cell activity. In the normal human body there are about five quarts of this fluid, and this blood pumped by the heart circulates through the system about every twenty-three seconds, so that every cell in the body is constantly supplied and cleansed. He's telling us here there's life inside that blood. Now you and I know that. There are forces of death in our bodies at this moment which are only being held back because there's still blood flowing through our bodies. Why, you just let the blood stop, and in ten minutes and less in many instances, those forces are set free and the process of irreversible decay begins to destroy that flesh. The only thing that holds those forces back is that blood which brings life. READ HEBREWS 9:22.  "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin." DID YOU EVER WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS BLOOD? 4 suggestions: BUILD SLIDE #: 1.) Crusades - "authentic" blood of X brought back on rags and sold throughout Europe. BUILD SLIDE #: 2.) Tradition in Church of Holy Sepulchre - cross stood over grave of Adam - blood dripped on grave and covered all sin of Adam's race. BUILD SLIDE #: 3.) Some say it just returned to dust. BUILD SLIDE #: 4.) Hebrews 9:12 - "But when X appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come...He entered once for all into the holy place (in heaven), taking not the blood of goats and calves, but His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." If we omit the blood, we silence God.  If we oppose the blood, we rob God of the glory due His name. In Hebrews 12:22-24 the blood is at the top of the list. Because of Adam, the whole human race has sinned.  We all are guilty. SLIDE #: READ AND EXPLAIN ROMANS 5:12. SLIDE #: READ and EXPLAIN ROMANS 5:18-19. One man brought sin into the world—God designed for one God-Man to take it away. Saving faith, in its simplest form, is the placing of a Substitute between my guilty self and a sin-judging God. READ GENESIS 3:7, 21. God was here teaching by picture four things: BUILD SLIDE #: First, in order for a sinner to stand before a holy God, he needs a covering. BUILD SLIDE #: Second, that which is of human manufacture is worthless (3:7). BUILD SLIDE #: Third, God Himself must provide the required covering. BUILD SLIDE #: Fourth, the necessary covering could only be provided by blood-shedding. The precious blood of salvation is woven throughout the Bible like the central motif of a priceless piece of tapestry. The scarlet thread runs through every page. SLIDE #: When God demanded a proper sacrifice for Cain & Abel He demanded? The Blood of lamb! The first lamb was Abel’s lamb – one lamb for one man. SLIDE #: At the Passover when Death Angel passed through Egypt what was placed on door posts? The Blood of lamb! – One lamb for one family. SLIDE #: When high priest entered Holy Place in Jerusalem on Day of Atonement to ask forgiveness for sins of Israel what did he take in with him? The blood of an unblemished lamb—one lamb for one nation. SLIDE #: When God demanded one final sacrifice to pay for the sins of all the world for all time, He took the blood Jesus Christ at Calvary – one lamb for one world. GOD’S GLOSSARY SLIDE #[s-1360 #11: Ransom: Christ used His own blood as the purchase price necessary to buy us out of our slavery to sin. Read 1 Peter 1:18-19. Man is in bondage to sin—not to Satan. Read Romans 7:14. Romans 7 - "It's sin in me that causes me to act like I do." My sins bring great bondage...gluttony...bitterness...gossip...just can't get ultimate control.  Still do it and can't get victory. Illustrate bondage of sin with nightmare - can't wake up and can't move and can't holler for help.  Sin is just like that. An African woman was terrified when she discovered a poisonous six-foot Mamba snake slithering down the hallway of her home.  She called an exterminator to remove the snake.  When he arrived it took him several hours to locate the snake.  It was nesting in the mattress of the woman’s bed. Sin is like that deadly snake.  It entered our blood stream when Adam chose to turn from God.  The anti-venom is the blood of Christ. SLIDE #: SACRIFICE OF ATONEMENT: Jesus sacrificed himself so that we could live. The judgment of death is upon us.  He died in our place. 1 John 2:2 and 4:10 Romans 3:25 Barbara Brigham: Mom had breast cancer; was pregnant.  Estrogen production for baby was fueling the cancer’s growth.  Wanted to abort the baby to stop her production of estrogen and to begin massive chemotherapy.   She delayed and the baby is alive and well today—about to graduate from high school.  She died less than two years after he was born. Back in the days of the great depression, a Missouri man named John Griffith was the controller of a great railroad drawbridge across the Mississippi River. One day in the summer of 1937 he decided to take his eight year old son, Greg, with him to work. At noon, John Griffith put up the drawbridge to allow ships to pass and sat on the observation deck to eat lunch with his son.  Time passed quickly. Suddenly he was startled by the shrieking of a train whistle in the distance.  He looked at his watch; it was the 1:07 train from Memphis, with 400 passengers on board, roaring toward the raised bridge! He leaped up and ran back to the control tower. Just before throwing the master lever, he glanced down for any shops below.  Ther a sight caught his eye that caused his heart to leap into his throat.  Greg had slipped from the observation deck and fallen into the massive gears that operated the bridge.  His left leg was caught in the cogs of two main gears.  Desperately John’s mind whirled to devise a rescue plan.  But he knew it was too late. The train whistle shrieked in the air.  He heard the clicking of the locomotive wheels over the tracks.  That was his son down below—yet there were 400 passengers on the train.  John knew what he had to do.  So, he buried his head in his left arm and pushed the master switch forward. The massive bridge lowered into place just as the Memphis Express roared across the river.  When John Griffith lifted his head with his face smeared with tears, he looked into the passing windows of the train.  There were business men casually reading their afternoon papers, finely dressed ladies in the dining car sipping coffee, and children pushing long spoons into their dishes of ice cream. No one looked at the control house and no one looked down into the gear box. With wrenching agony, john Griffith cried, “I sacrificed my son for those people and nobody cares.” SLIDE #: SUBSTITUTE: Jesus was punished for our sin in our place. Romans 5:6-11 When I was a boy I often heard preachers talk about the Christian doctrine of Salvation.  And the Biblical picture of salvation was often portrayed like this. The preacher would hold up a dirty water glass. (Hold up dirty glass.) “See this glass?” he says. “That’s you. Filthy, stained with sin, inside and outside.” And that is really true. We all are filthy and dirtied by sin. The bible teaches this clearly. ROMANS 3:23 sums up the Biblical teaching:  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  It begins when we are children.  1st sin I remember was stealing a toy covered wagon from the boy next door.  I was apprehended by nightfall and duly punished.  None of us can say, I have not sinned.” And there is a severe penalty for sin.  ROMANS 6:23:  “For the wages of sin is death.” The preacher then picked up a hammer. “This hammer is the judgment of God. Justice can be satisfied only by punishing and destroying sinners whose lives are filled with sin and corruption.” He put the glass on the pulpit, and slowly, deliberately drew back the hammer clenched in his fist, took deadly aim, and prepared to let the blow fall to shatter the dirty glass. But, at the last moment the preacher covered the glass with a metal pan. [Hit the pan with the hammer hard]. [Hold up the undamaged dirty glass.]  The preacher would say, “Jesus Christ died for our sins. He took the punishment which ought to have fallen on us.” SLIDE #: MERCY SEAT: If you don’t get anything else, get this picture.  God sits on the “mercy seat” and flat out forgives us.” Hebrews 9:5 After all of this, Cain is not interested. He wants to do it his way. SLIDE #: The WRONG Way back to God Genesis 4:3: “Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.” Can was no infidel. He came to God as a worshipper.  Many worship God today – but refuse to do it God’s way. The way of Cain is a popular way because it appeals to the ego of the sinner. “You don’t need a substitute.” Cain proudly announces. “You can make it by yourself. To accept the sacrifice of Christ is to admit that you are not good enough like you are, and that really isn’t necessary. Your character and good works will get you into Heaven.” Cain stands for all time as the Father of Man’s Religion. Man’s Religion is any religion that tries to come to God in any other way than the one that God has prescribed. That is why, ultimately in comparative religions, there are only two religions in the world.  Man saves, or God saves. And every world religion comes down to Man saves. I don’t care what it is, man either does good things or meditates, or reincarnates up by good built up karma, It is more than good works and earning it, it is a manianity. Man must do something.  HE must feel something, experienced something, pay something, produce something, produce something. What they differ in is only in what the something is to be.  This accounts for the vast number of religious systems that have evolved in world history.  They are called religions. Mormon fruit on the altar JW’s Bahai Buddhists Hindu Muslims Do versus Done The one rests on what God says, the other rests on what man thinks. The one rests on what Christ has done, the other rests on what man can do. These two words sum up and embody the two: Do and Done. “Are you going to Heaven?” “I hope so.” There is a person on his way to Hell. Trying to arrive by his own goodness and abilities. You must respond.  The Biblical requisite is faith—trust.  Transferring your faith from you to what Jesus did on the cross. If you were to die right now, do you know for a fact that you would go to heaven? If you did die and God were to examine you and ask you, “Why should I let you in?” Would your response be? A resume?  A list of all the good things you have done? You are not a Christian, you are a Billian, or a Susian, or Jimina.  All of your faith is in you.  God saves those whose faith is in Christ.  He can forgive you, save you, seal you, and take you to glory. James Dobson tells of a lady, a beautiful lady, and because of some sort of accident a nerve was severed in her face—and her face sagged down on one side—and she was disfigured.  She was in the recovery room after the operation and she was deathly afraid, after so much of her self esteem being built on so much of her beauty, so much of her self concept being built on her loveliness, and here she was disfigured.   Her husband came in and sat on the edge of the bed, and she thought all of the worst, and he sat and just looked at her, and he smiled.  He looked at her mouth and he kind of mirrored her mouth on his, and he kind of crooked it a bit like hers, and he said, “Looks kind of cute.” And he took his crooked lips and pressed them down to her crooked lips. Now that is divine love.  He loves people with imperfect lips. Substitution A particular church received the personal greeting from the Kejave Medical Center Staff in Kenya containing the following amazing story. Eight year old Monica broke her leg as she fell into a pit.  An older woman, Mama Njeri, happened along and climbed into the pit to help Monica out.  IN the process, a dangerous black Mamba snake bit both Mama Njeri and Monica.  Monica was taken to Kejave Medical Center and admitted. Mama Njeri went home, but never awoke from her sleep.  The next day a perceptive missionary nurse explained Mama Njeri’s death to Monica, telling her that the snake had bitten both of them, but all of the snakes’ poison was expended on Mama Njeri; none was given to Monica.; The nurse then explained that Jesus had taken the poison out of Monica’s sin so that she could have a new life. It was an easy choice for Monica.  She received Jesus as her Lord and Savior on the spot.

Matthew 8:1-13 The demon-­‐possessed man comes up to Jesus. The crowd was amazed, but some in the crowd questioned him. Beelzebub is the prince or the Lord of the house. Sata as the ruler of the demons, was the power they accused him of using. The religious leaders were attacking him.   When you look at the first verse, Jesus cast out the demon was mute. Not the person, but the demon was preventing him to speak. When we talk about demon possession, many ask, could that happen to me? You don’t just become demon possessed. You are possessed by the Holy Spirit as a Christian, no one can take you from His hand. You have to allow Satan to come into your life. The houses I have been to, there tends to be a past with Ouija boards, or satanic worship. It starts so subtly. I don’t know many people who say, “I want to be possessed.” Satan is not an idiot. He is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. A cunning, sneaky way of gaining access to a person’s life. 2 Corinthians 11:13, “masquerades as an angel of light. Servants of righteousness. False teachers don’t walk in to a church and declare themselves. But they say, “We follow Jesus.” He appears beautiful. Do you ever just get curious about evil? I tried a séance in college. Can I see the power in a Ouija board, or to a palm reader? Is there magic in that? That seems harmless. I watched horror movies-in college. I remember we’d housesit and watch horror movies. Even when I moved down as a college student. Where Manson lived…I visited where he sacrificed chickens….I just want to see what it’s like. Then I read the Bible in Deuteronomy 18:9: Talking about the Israelites: Do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations around you. You must be blameless to the Lord your God. God hates that stuff. Someone pointed this out to me as a young man. God says stay away. He hates it. Satan has a way of making evil not so bad. If I minimized sin, you wouldn’t put up with that. If I put music to it, if I made a movie with it, we tolerate it. Satan makes something beautiful and harmless. God doesn’t want to consult (seek) the dead, or communicate with the dead. Their lover passes away, “Ghost” came out, beautiful story. All of these stories of love, communicate after death. The loved one came back and said something to me. “It’s my Grandpa…” You are seeking the dead. “I’m asking him to pray for me, talk to God for me.” You are pursuing those who passed away. It takes away from the character of God. God is omniscient, omnipresent. You don’t need another mediator. You have Jesus. We need to be fulfilled by Almighty God.  Saul did that with the Witch of Endor-calls up Samuel from the dead. Saul was in his sin. God wants you to talk to Him. He wants to be your #1. God says it’s time to move on. Satan is alive and well.  Isaiah 14:13, Ezekiel 28, Satan wanted to become like God. God gives the picture of the cherub in the Garden before the Fall. “I will make myself like the Most High.” Picture of Satan wants to rise up. He wants you to believe that you can become like God. Maybe there is some bizarre sect. God is Himself is once as we are now. Psalm 90:2. Error said “God was like us.” Joseph Smith said that. Michael the Archangel is our Father and Our God. Our father is Adam the Ancient of Days, with Eve, but is Michael our God. Brigham Young said that. Mormons have the beautiful temples, they are famous for valuing family. It goes against the core of what they believe. We must defend who God is. Satan is trying to tell the world that you can become God. God is the I Am. Not I Became. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. I say that with a broken heart. 2 Corinthians 11: They pose as Ambassadors of Christ. You believe Jesus is the spirit brother of Satan? They believe that! I am not here to bash anyone. You have to know the Word of God. It’s all about packaging. The Pharisees who are against Jesus were not these horrible people. They have the greatest intentions. They are separatists. They were worried how the pagan culture was corrupting God’s people. Suddenly they became self righteous. They made more laws. That’s why they refused to believe in Jesus. They had to come up with something when Jesus cast out the demon-They didn’t want to believe in Jesus. Jesus said “I did this by the power of God.” Verse 21-   If you have a strong man, he’s going to guard his house. Suddenly someone stronger comes into the house. V. 23-He who is not with me is against me. I want you to understand-Satan wants you to be neutral. You are scattering. There is no middle ground. Everyone must say, He’s the only way. If you say there are many other ways to God. I want you to know if you are not following Jesus, you are against. You don’t want to say Jesus is a liar! If you don’t believe, wasn’t telling the truth….but He wasn’t lying. You have to take a stand. House swept clean. The final condition is worse than the first. The demon will go right back into the person. He’ll even bring more. If your house is empty, you’d better fill it with something, the Holy Spirit.  I hate cats. I don’t like them. They go all over my back yard. I could chase them away, but if I occupied my yard with a pit bull, then the cats won’t come back. Stick the Holy Spirit, the Pit Bull in your backyard. As Jesus was saying these things, “Blessed rather those who hear the word and obey it.” Even then people were trying to elevate Mary. We’ve got to stick to the Word of God. The reason why we falter is because the Word of God is not filling us up. I have candy up here. Ever since I’ve been married, my house is filled with candy. The Reese’s is so good. I like to suck on it for awhile. The candy is such a temptation. It’s hard for me to resist. If I will eat just a bunch of healthy food. There is still some temptation. It’s so much less. But if you have an empty stomach and all you have is candy around. I can eat in the morning, and a few hours later I’m hungry again. We all have an apetite. If we are not filling us up with the Word of God, we will fill ourselves up with other things, sinful, worldly things. “Be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Be continuously filled throughout the day. Once a week, on the weekends, you will be toast.   Resist Satan’s temptations.   I know some of you are being tempted. There is so much junk in your life, and whatever the opportunities, they don’t come from nowhere. Satan is busy. You need to give your life to Jesus. You don’t have power to change on your own. www.crazylove.org.

The New Testament is consistent in its anticipation that the return of Christ might occur at any moment. That pervading perspective of imminence prompts three questions. The first question pertains to whether the Tribulation will precede Christ’s coming for the church. The answer to that question is that it will not because the church is never asked to look forward to the tribulation, but they are asked to look forward to Christ’s coming. The second question revolves around how the return of Christ could have been imminent in the early church. The answer here is that no one but the Father knows when the coming will occur, so that Christians including the early church must always be ready. The third question asks why Christ’s imminent return is so important. This answer relates to the motivation it supplies for believers to purify their lives and thereby progress toward the goal of sanctification and Christlikeness. The threefold call of the imminence doctrine is to wake up and obey right now, to throw off the works of darkness, and to put on the garments of holy living. Christ could come at any moment. I believe that with all my heart—not because of what I read in the newspapers, but because of what I read in Scripture. From the very earliest days of the church, the apostles and first-generation Christians nurtured an earnest expectation and fervent hope that Christ might suddenly return at any time to gather His church to heaven. James, writing what was probably the earliest of the New Testament epistles, expressly told his readers that the Lord’s return was imminent: Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for  the coming of the Lord is at hand.  Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold,  the Judge is standing at the door!  ( James 5:7–9 , emphasis added). 1 Peter echoed that same expectation when he wrote, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” ( 1 Peter 4:7 ). The writer of Hebrews cited the imminent return of Christ as a reason to remain faithful: “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” ( Hebrews 10:24–25 ). He wrote, “Yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry” (v. 37). And the apostle John made the most confident pronouncement of all: “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” ( 1 John 2:18 ). When John recorded his vision in the book of Revelation, he prefaced it by saying these things “must shortly take place” ( Revelation 1:1 ). The New Testament writers often wrote of Christ’s “appearing,” and they never failed to convey the sense that this could happen imminently. “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” ( 1 John 2:28 ; cf.  3:2 ;  Colossians 3:4 ;  2 Timothy 4:8 ;  1 Peter 5:4 ). All those texts suggest that in the early church expectation of Christ’s imminent return ran high. A solid conviction that Christ could return at any time permeates the whole NT. When the apostle Paul described the Lord’s coming for the church, he used personal pronouns that show he clearly was convinced he himself might be among those who would be caught up alive to meet the Lord:  “We  who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord . . .  we  who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” ( 1 Thessalonians 4:15 ,  17 , emphasis added). He obviously looked for Christ to return in his lifetime. He furthermore made it plain that a watchful, hopeful expectancy about Christ’s Second Coming is one of the godly attitudes divine grace teaches all believers: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,  looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”  ( Titus 2:11–13 , emphasis added). Will the Tribulation Precede Christ’s Coming for the Church? Nonetheless, some students of Bible prophecy today insist Christians should not have any immediate expectation of Christ’s return. Instead, they say, we should be looking for the beginning of the seven-year  Tribulation  period, the fulfillment of certain judgments and preliminary signs, the rise of the Antichrist—or all of the above. When they talk about future things, the emphasis is heavily weighted toward dread and disaster for the people of God. As far as they are concerned, “the blessed hope” becomes relevant only  after  the church has gone through the Tribulation. At first glance, this position seems not altogether devoid of biblical support. After all, when Christ outlined the events of the last days, He included many prophecies about tribulation and hardship, and He said these signs would precede and point to His return ( Matthew 24:21 ,  30 ). The epistles also contain prophecies about apostasy and persecution in the last days preceding Christ’s return. For example, the apostle Paul forewarned Timothy of perilous times that would come ( 2 Tim 3:1–3 ). He told the younger pastor, “The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith” ( 1 Tim 4:1 )—and he went on to describe an apostasy that would precede and signify Christ’s return to earth. Those who believe the church must suffer through the hardships of the Tribulation period invariably cite  2 Thessalonians 2:1–3  as proof: Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for  that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition (emphasis added). So on the one hand, the NT is permeated with an eager sense of expectancy and conviction that the blessed hope of Christ’s return is imminent. On the other hand, we are warned about trouble and affliction that will precede Christ’s return. How can we reconcile these two threads of prophecy? How can we cultivate a daily expectation of Christ’s return if these preliminary signs must yet be fulfilled before He returns? Several points must be borne in mind. First, all the general “signs of the times” given in the NT  have  been fulfilled—and  are being  fulfilled before our eyes. They are, in fact, characteristics of the entire church age. Apostasy and unbelief, self-love and sin, wars, rumors of wars, and natural disasters have all been common throughout the church age. Practically every generation of Christians since the time of Christ has believed they were seeing the end-times signs fulfilled before their very eyes. So how are  we  to know whether our own time is the true “last days” of Bible prophecy—or just more of the same general apostasy and calamity that have characterized the entire Christian era? The apostle John settled that question under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration when he wrote, “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” ( 1 John 2:18 ). The church was  already  in “the last days” even before the apostolic era ended. In fact, “last days” is a biblical term for the Christian era itself ( Hebrews 1:1–2 ). This entire age is a prelude to the final culmination of human history. These  are  the last days—and so was the early church era. Second, nothing in the NT ever suggests we should defer our expectation of Christ’s appearing until other preliminary events can occur. The one apparent exception is  2 Thessalonians 2:1–3  (quoted in full above), which says, “that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.” That is obviously a key text for those who believe the Tribulation is next on the prophetic agenda, and that the church should be expecting the reign of Antichrist rather than the return of Christ. Indeed, if  2 Thess 2:1–3  actually means Christ’s coming for the church cannot occur until after seven years of Tribulation, it nullifies everything the New Testament teaches about the imminence of Christ’s return. But look carefully at the context of 2 Thessalonians 2. The Thessalonian Christians had been confused and upset by some false teachers (possibly people pretending to speak for the apostle) who were teaching that the persecutions and sufferings they were currently experiencing were the very judgments associated with  the day of the Lord.  (The expression always refers to judgment and usually to a time of apocalyptic judgment—cf.  Isaiah 13:9–11 ;  Amos 5:18–20 ;  1 Thessalonians 5:2–3 ;  2 Peter 3:10 ;  Revelation 6:17 ;  16:14 .) Many in the Thessalonian church, in the midst of their own severe hardship and distress, had evidently believed that lie, and they believed it meant they themselves had become objects of God’s final apocalyptic wrath. Obviously, they were deeply troubled by this, for in his earlier epistle, Paul had encouraged them by telling them of the  rapture  ( 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17 )—the coming of Christ for his church. Paul had even instructed them to comfort one another with the promise of Christ’s coming for them ( 1 Thessalonians 4:18 ). But now, in a time of severe persecution and trial, the Christians at Thessalonica had fallen prey to the false idea that God was already pouring out His final wrath—and  they  were among the objects of that wrath. They obviously feared they had missed the rapture and were about to be swept away in the final and epochal judgments of the Day of the Lord. So Paul wrote, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come” ( 2 Thessalonians 2:1–2 ). “The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” is a clear reference to the  rapture.  “The day of Christ” is  the day of the Lord  (in fact, the older manuscripts use the expression “day of the Lord” in this verse). There were two aspects of the error troubling the Thessalonian church: one was the notion that they had missed the rapture. The other was the accompanying fear that they had already entered into the apocalyptic judgment that signaled the day of the Lord had arrived already. And so when Paul says,  “that Day  will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” ( 2 Thess 2:3 , emphasis added)—he is talking about the day of the Lord and its apocalyptic judgment, not the rapture. He was not suggesting that the coming of Christ for the church would be delayed until after the Tribulation events had all played out. He was certainly not suggesting that the Thessalonians should defer their hope of Christ’s coming for them until the end of the Tribulation. He had spent his entire first epistle urging them to be watchful and expectant and to encourage one another with the news of Christ’s imminent return (cf.  1 Thessalonians 1:1–9 ;  4:15–18 ;  5:6 ,  9 ,  11 ). If the apostle now meant to teach them that all the events of the Tribulation must be fulfilled  before Christ could return for them, that would be scant “comfort” indeed. In fact, it would overturn everything the NT has to say about Christ’s return being imminent, comforting, and hopeful. So the consistent teaching of the NT is that Christians should be looking for the imminent coming of Christ for His church, and  2 Thessalonians 2:1–4  is no exception. How Could Christ’s Coming Have Been Imminent in the Early Church? Some argue that Christ’s coming could not possibly have been imminent for the early church, given the obvious fact that two thousand years later, He has still not returned. Skeptics often ridicule Christianity or challenge the inerrancy of Scripture on that very ground. After all, the verses cited at the beginning of this chapter do prove that James, Peter, John, Paul, and the writer of Hebrews all believed Christ’s return was very near—“at the door” ( James 5:9 ); “at hand” ( Philippians 4:5 ;  1 Peter 4:7 ); “approaching” ( Hebrews 10:25 ); “com[ing] quickly” ( Revelation 3:11 ;  22:7 ). How can it be, then, that two thousand years later Christ still has not returned? Could the apostles have been in error about the timing? That is precisely what some skeptics claim. Here’s a typical excerpt from a newsletter whose sole aim is to attack the inerrancy of Scripture: Paul, himself, showed . . . that he was among those who awaited the imminent return of Christ. Yet, as the history of that era clearly shows, all was for nought. No messiah appeared . . . The NT repeatedly says the messiah was to return in a very short time. Yet, mankind has waited for nearly 2, 000 years and nothing has occurred. By no stretch of the imagination can that be considered “coming quickly.” . . . It is, indeed, unfortunate that millions of people still cling to the forlorn hope that somehow a messiah will arise to extract them from their predicament. How many years (2,000, 10,000, 100,000) will it take for them to finally say, “We can only conclude that we are the victims of a cruel hoax”? 2 What shall we make of this charge against the truthfulness of Scripture? Does the passing of two thousand years indeed prove that Christ’s coming was not imminent in the early church era, and that the apostles were mistaken? Certainly not. Remember the clear statement of Christ in  Matthew 24:42 : “You do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” The exact time remains hidden from us, as it was from the apostles. But Christ could nonetheless come at any time. The Judge is still at the door. The day is still at hand. There are no other events that must occur on the prophetic calendar before Christ comes to meet us in the air. He could come at any moment. And it is in  that  sense that Christ’s coming is imminent. In the very same sense, His coming was imminent even in the days of the early church. I suppose it is  also  possible that Christ could delay his coming another two thousand years or longer. Given the rapid decline of society, I do not see how that is possible, but neither did the apostles when they surveyed the state of the world in their time. He still  could  delay His coming. That is why Christ taught us to be prepared, whether He comes immediately or delays longer than we think possible (cf.  Matthew 24:42–25:12 ). In any case, the passing of two thousand years is no reproach whatsoever against the faithfulness of God or the trustworthiness of His Word. This is precisely the point Peter made when he anticipated the scoffers who would arise, mocking the promise of Christ’s return ( 2 Peter 3:3–4 ). Peter’s reply to those scoffers? “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” ( 2 Peter 3:8 ). The amount of earthly time that passes is of no consequence. It is certainly irrelevant from God’s timeless point of view. A moment is like many eons in His mind, and eons pass like moments. He is not bound by time as we are, and no amount of time can ever nullify His faithfulness. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” ( 2 Peter 3:9 ). In other words, the real reason for the Lord’s delay is not that He is negligent or careless in fulfilling his promises, but simply because He is longsuffering and kind, delaying Christ’s coming and the wrath that will accompany it while he calls out people to salvation. And Christ will not return before the merciful purposes of God are complete. Far from suggesting apathy or neglect on God’s part, the long delay before Christ’s appearing simply underscores the remarkable depth of His nearly inexhaustible mercy and longsuffering. And therefore the fact that two-thousand years have elapsed is utterly irrelevant to the doctrine of Christ’s imminent return. Christ’s coming is  still  imminent. It could occur at any moment. The command to be ready and watchful is as applicable to us as it was to the early church. In fact, the return of Christ should be an even  more  urgent issue for us, because it is drawing nearer with the passing of each day. We still do not know  when  Christ is coming, but we do know that we are two thousand years closer to that event than James was in those earliest days of the Christian era, when the Holy Spirit moved him to warn the church that the coming of the Lord was at hand and the Judge was already standing at the door. Why Is Christ’s Imminent Return So Important? Why is it so important to believe that Christ could come at any moment? Because the hope of Christ’s imminent coming has a powerful sanctifying and purifying effect on us. “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” ( 1 John 3:3 ). The knowledge that Christ’s coming is drawing closer should motivate us to prepare, to pursue Christlikeness, and to put off all the things that pertain to our former lives without Christ. The apostle Paul took this very line of argument near the end of his epistle to the Romans. He reminded the believers at Rome of their duty to love their neighbors as themselves, saying love is the one principle that fulfills all God’s moral commands ( Romans 13:8–10 ). Then stressing the urgency of living in obedience to this Great Commandment, he wrote, And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for  now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.  The night is far spent,  the day is at hand.  Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts ( Romans 13:11–14 ). That is the apostle Paul’s wake-up call to the church. Christ’s return is approaching. The time now is nearer than when we first believed. Every moment that passes brings Christ’s return even closer. How are we to redeem the time? He calls for a three-part response that perfectly sums up the Christian’s proper perspective on the imminent possibility of Christ’s return. Wake up!  “Awake out of sleep,” he pleads ( Romans 13:11 )—and he underscores both the urgency of this command and the imminency of Christ’s return, with four phrases: “now it is high time”; “our salvation is nearer” ( Romans 13:11 ); “The night is far spent”; and “the day is at hand” ( Romans 13:12 ). Time is short; opportunity is fleeting. The Lord is coming soon, and the event draws nearer every moment. The time to obey is now. The only time we can take for granted is now. And since there is no guarantee of  more  time, it is unconscionable to defer our obedience. Consider this: The apostle Paul was stressing the urgency of this commandment in  his  day, two thousand years ago. He believed the coming of Christ was near—and getting nearer by the moment. How much  more  urgent are these things for our time? “Now our salvation is nearer” ( Romans 13:11 )—two thousand years nearer, to be precise. Now is certainly not the time to let down our guard or fall asleep. Although some might be tempted to think the long delay means Christ’s coming is no longer an urgent matter, a moment’s thought will reveal that if we believe Christ was speaking the truth when He promised to come again quickly, we  must  believe that the time is drawing nearer by the moment—and the urgency is not lessened by the delay, but heightened. It is perfectly natural for infidels, skeptics, and unbelievers to think Christ’s delay means He will not fulfill His promise ( 2 Peter 3:4 ). But no genuine believer should ever think that way. Rather than despairing because He tarries, we ought to realize that the time is nearer now than it has ever been. He  is  coming. As we saw earlier, His Word guarantees that He will come. Our hope should be growing stronger, not diminishing, as He delays his coming. When Paul writes, “And do this, knowing the time” ( Romans 13:11 ), he employs a Greek word for “time”  (kairos),  that speaks of an age or an era, not the time  (chronos)  told by a clock. “Knowing the time” therefore speaks of understanding this age, being discerning, like “the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” ( 1 Chronicles 12:32 ). Christ rebuked the Pharisees for lacking this same kind of discernment: “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times ”  ( Matthew 16:1–3 ). Perhaps Paul had seen signs of spiritual lethargy or dullness among the believers at Rome. No doubt life in that great city held many distractions and earthly enticements that drew hearts away from the earnest hope of Christ’s appearing. Like the society in which we live, Roman life catered to the flesh, offering many material comforts and earthly amusements. Perhaps they were inclined to forget they were living in the last days. Spiritually, they were falling asleep. It sometimes seems as if the entire church today is in an even worse state of spiritual drowsiness. There is widespread indifference concerning the Lord’s return. Where is the sense of expectation that characterized the early church? The sad legacy history will record about the church of our generation is that as we neared the dawn of a new millennium, most Christians were far more concerned about the arrival of a computer glitch known as the “millennium bug” than they were with the arrival of the millennial King! Too many Christians in our time have settled into a state of insensate lethargy and inactivity—an unresponsiveness to the things of God. They are like Jonah, fast asleep in the hold of the ship while raging storms threaten to sweep us away ( Jonah 1:5–6 ). They are like the foolish virgins, who “while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept” ( Matthew 25:5 ). It is high time to awake from that slumber. Paul sent a similar wake-up call to the church at Ephesus: “‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’ See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” ( Ephesians 5:14–16 ). Never was such an alarm more needed than today. In the words of our Lord Himself, “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming; in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning; lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping” ( Mark 13:35–36 ). When Paul says “our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” ( Romans 13:11 )—he is speaking, of course, about the  consummation  of our salvation. He was not suggesting that the Romans were unregenerate. He was not telling them their  justification was a yet-future reality. He was reminding them that the culmination of what began at their regeneration was drawing closer by the moment. “Salvation” in this context refers to our  glorification,  the final goal of God’s saving work ( Rom 8:30 ). Throughout Scripture, this is connected with the appearing of Christ: “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him” ( 1 John 3:2 ). We “eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” ( Phil 3:20–21 ). “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” ( Colossians 3:4 ). “He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” ( Heb 9:28 ). Notice that the writer of Hebrews employs the word  salvation  the same way Paul uses it in  Romans 13:11 . This final aspect of salvation is what Paul referred to a few chapters earlier, in  Romans 8:23 : “We ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” That is the aspect of our salvation that is nearer than when we first believed, and it only awaits Christ’s coming. So Paul’s penetrating appeal here in Romans 13 assumes that Christ’s return is imminent. If another eschatalogical age  (kairos) —especially the Tribulation—were going to occur prior to Christ’s return for the church, Paul would have surely pointed to the onset of that era and urged the Romans to prepare for it. But far from warning them that a dark era of Tribulation was in their future, what he told them was virtually the opposite: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand” ( Romans 13:12 ). The  kairos  of persecution, hardship, and darkness was “far spent” ( prokopt_  in the Greek text—meaning “advancing quickly,” or “being driven out”). Daylight—the final consummation of our salvation when Christ returns to take us to glory—is imminent. We have no idea how much sand remains in the hourglass of human history. But we ought to realize that a lot of sand has passed through the hourglass since the apostle Paul said the dawning of daylight was already at hand. How much more urgent is this wake-up call for the church today! The nighttime of Satan’s dominion will soon give way to the dawn of Christ’s coming for His own. The apostle Paul used precisely the same imagery of darkness and dawn when he wrote to the Thessalonians: But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ ( 1 Thessalonians 5:1–9 ). God did not appoint us to wrath. The day of wrath that shall come in the Tribulation is not what we are to be preparing for. The sudden appearing of Christ to take us to glory is our hope. Wake up! Be sober. Be alert. Your redemption draws near. Throw off! The approaching of dawn means it is time for a change of garments: “Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” ( Romans 13:12 ). Paul’s imagery evokes the picture of a soldier who has spent the night in a drunken orgy. Still clad in the garments of his sin, he has fallen into a drunken sleep. But dawn is approaching, and now it is time to wake up, throw off the clothes of night, and put on the armor of light. The Greek verb translated “cast off” was a term that spoke of being ejected or expelled forcefully. The Greek term is used only three other times in the New Testament, and in each case it speaks of excommunication from a synagogue ( John 9:22 ;  12:42 ;  16:2 ). So the term carries the idea of renouncing and forsaking sin (or the unrepentant sinner) with vigor and conviction. Paul is calling for an act of repentance. He wants them to cast off—excommunicate, or break fellowship with—the “works of darkness.” It is the same expression he uses in  Ephesians 5:11 : “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” Paul often employs the imagery of changing garments to describe the putting off of sin and the old man. “Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” ( Ephesians 4:22 ). “Put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds” ( Colossians 3:8–9 ). Notice the twofold putting off: “you  have put off  the old man with his deeds”; but  keep putting off  “all these” works of darkness. The picture this evokes is that of Lazarus, raised from the dead, given new life, but still bound in old grave-clothes that still needed to be put off (cf.  John 11:43–44 ). Employing similar imagery, the writer of Hebrews urges believers to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” ( Hebrews 12:1 ). There he pictures the Christian like an athlete, stripped of all encumbrances and ready to run. There is much we must throw aside if we are to be prepared for the coming day. James sums it up succinctly: “lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness” ( James 1:21 ). And Peter echoes the thought: “laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking” ( 1 Peter 2:1 ). Put on!  There’s another aspect of being prepared for the Lord’s appearing. We are not fully prepared for the dawn of the new day unless we have put on the appropriate attire: “put on the armor of light . . . put on the Lord Jesus Christ” ( Romans 13:12 ,  14 ). Again, the imagery is that of a soldier who had spent the night in drunken carousing. He had stumbled home and fallen asleep in clothes that were now wrinkled and befouled with the evidence of his reveling. Day was dawning. It was time to wake up, to cast off the old clothes, and to put on something clean and polished and battle-ready. “Armor” suggests warfare, and that is fitting. Though the return of Christ is imminent, that is no warrant to forsake the battle. Scripture never suggests that His people should sit on a hillside somewhere to await His coming. In fact, between now and His coming, we are locked in a battle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” ( Ephesians 6:11 ). The nearness of our Lord’s return does not mitigate the seriousness of the battle. Now is not the time to slacken our diligence, but the opposite. We should engage the battle with new vigor, knowing that the time is short. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” ( Ephesians 6:13 ). In other words, we are not off-duty soldiers, free to carouse and indulge in the fleshly pleasures of night life. We are on duty, and our Commander-in-Chief might appear at any moment. Therefore, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy” ( Romans 13:13 ). The Christian who is not living a holy and obedient life with heavenly priorities is a Christian who does not grasp the significance of the Lord’s imminent return. If we genuinely are expecting our Lord to appear at any time, that blessed hope should move us to be faithful and walk properly, lest our Lord return to find us walking improperly, disobeying, or dishonoring Him. In Christ’s own words, “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming; in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning; lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” ( Mark 13:35–37 ). There’s more: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” ( Romans 13:14 ). Again, when we are glorified, we will be instantly conformed to the image of Christ—made as much like Him as it is possible for human beings to be. Christlikeness is therefore the goal toward which God is moving us ( Rom 8:29 ). Even now, the process of sanctification should be conforming us to His image. As we grow in grace, we grow in Christlikeness. We are to become a reflection of Christ’s character and His holiness. And that is what Paul means when he writes, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” We are to pursue sanctification, to follow after Christ in our conduct and character, to let His mind be in us, and to let His example guide our walk ( Philippians 2:5 ;  1 Peter 2:21 ). Paul compared his pastoral duty of discipling the Galatians to birth pains, as he sought to bring them to Christlikeness: “I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” ( Galatians 4:19 ). Writing to the Corinthians He also described sanctification as the process by which they would be remade in Christ’s likeness: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). In other words, we progress from one level of glory to another as we progress toward the ultimate goal. So “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” is simply a command to pursue sanctification (the whole theme of Romans 12–16). When Paul told the Galatians, “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” ( Galatians 3:27 ), he was in essence saying sanctification begins at conversion. From the first moment of faith, we are clothed in his righteousness. That is justification. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness” ( Isaiah 61:10 ). But that is just the beginning of what it means to put on Christ. Justification is a once-for-all completed event, but sanctification is an ongoing process. And the command to “put on . . Christ” in Romans 13 is a command to pursue the Christlikeness of sanctification. The hope of Christ’s imminent return is therefore the hinge on which a proper understanding of sanctification turns. Let’s review some of the key texts that speak of the imminence of Christ’s return, and notice specifically what kind of practical duties this doctrine places on us:  Steadfastness:  “Be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” ( James 5:8 ).  Kindness:  “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” ( James 5:9 ).  Prayer:  “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers” ( 1 Peter 4:7 ).  Faithfulness in assembling together and encouraging one another:  “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” ( Hebrews 10:24–25 ).  Holy conduct and godliness:  “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” ( 2 Peter 3:11 ).  Purity and Christlikeness:  “When He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” ( 1 John 3:2–3 ). Those cover several broad categories, embracing every aspect of our sanctification. The hope of Christ’s imminent return is a catalyst and an incentive for all these things—every fruit of the Spirit, every Christian virtue, everything that pertains to holiness and Christlikeness, and everything that belongs to life and godliness. That is why it is so important to cultivate a watchful expectancy for the imminent coming of Christ. The point is not to make us obsessed with earthly events. In fact, if your interest in the return of Christ becomes a consuming fixation with what is happening in this world, you have utterly missed the point. The knowledge that Christ’s return is imminent should turn our hearts heavenward, “from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” ( Phil 3:20 ). “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” ( 2 Peter 3:14 ). 1  1. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the  New King James Version  (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). 2  2. Dennis McKinsey, ed., “Imminence” in “Biblical Errancy,” issue 89 (May 1990). The source of this essay is the recently released volume entitled The Second Coming , copyright © 1999 by John MacArthur (Crossway, 1999).

When we talk about the chances or odds of something, we are speaking of the likelihood of the unfolding of a future event Some things are less likely to happen than other Plane crash Shark attack Some things are more likely to happen Being a victim of a serious crime Dying in a car accident Being audited by the IRS The God factor When you bring God into a situation, there is no such thing as a chance A virgin birth was against all odds, but with God, nothing is impossible (see Luke 1:26-38) Many situations in Scripture were against all odds Lightning from heaven (see 1 Kings 18:36-38) Hailstones from the sky (see Exodus 9:18-26) Darkness that covered the land for three hours (see Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44) God predicted over and over again that He would defy the odds Layers and layers of details Odds are exponentially decreased He can tell the future with detailed accuracy (see Isaiah 41:21-23) Jesus said fulfilled prophecy will bolster your faith (see Joh 13:19) Three basic credentials of Jesus Christ His impact on history His physical, bodily resurrection from the dead Fulfilled prophecy A Sorrowful Walk (vv 13-24) The disciples were at a low point They did not know Jesus had been resurrected They were venting Their expectations They expected a conquering Messiah; they got a crucified Man They expected a politician; they got a Prophet The expected the glorious Lion of Judah; they got the humble Lamb of God They did not recognize Jesus They were not expecting Him Mary (see John 20:15) His disciples (see Matthew 14:25-26; Mark 6:49) Their eyes were restrained They were kept from recognizing Jesus They could express honestly their thoughts and feelings about Him Their disappointment They talked about Jesus in the past tense When Jesus died on the cross, their hopes died with Him Jesus revealed Himself to them not through their sight, but through their ears as they listened to Him talk about Scripture (see Romans 10:17) A Scriptural Talk (vv. 25-27) Jesus rebuked them, then informed them "Slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken" (v. 25) Some people are slow of heart to believe the things of the Scripture If you are slow to believe God's promises, you will be slow to receive His benefits The first Bible study Jesus gave after His resurrection was an exposition on biblical prophecy The Prophets foretold Jesus started at Moses and expounded on all Scriptures about Himself He would crush Satan (see Genesis 3:15) He, God's only Son, would be sacrificed, just as Abraham almost sacrificed his only son whom he loved (see Genesis 22:2-18) First time love is mentioned in Scripture; love of a father sacrificing his son Same mountain Jesus would be sacrificed on He would be the perfect Lamb sacrifice (see Exodus 12:1-27) Practices in Leviticus Sacrifices Tabernacles Festivals He would be lifted up (see Numbers 21:8-9; John 3:14) He would die by crucifixion (see Psalm 2; 16; 22) He would be born of a virgin (see Isaiah 7:14-16) He would be a Child (see Isaiah 9:6-7) One-fourth of the Bible is prophecy Jesus fulfilled Anyone can make predictions; getting them fulfilled is another story The more detailed the prophecy, the less probable it will come to pass There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus Just sixteen of those prophecies: Born of a virgin (see Isaiah 7:14) Born in Bethlehem (se Micah 5:2) From the tribe of Judah (see Genesis 49:10) Begin ministry in Galilee (see Isaiah 9:1-2) Work miracles (see Isaiah 35:5-6) Enter Jerusalem on a donkey (see Zechariah 9:9) Betrayed by a friend (see Psalm 41:39) Wounded and bruised (see Isaiah 53:5) Hands and feet pierced (see Psalm 22:16) Crucified (see Isaiah 53:12) Garments torn (see Psalm 22:18) Bones not broken (see Psalm 22:17; 34:20) Side pierced (see Zechariah 12:10) Buried in a rich man's tomb (see Isaiah 53:9) Would rise from the dead (see Psalm 16:8-11) Some of these are impossible to manage In his book Science Speaks , Peter Stoner calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the messianic prophecies Eight fulfilled prophecies: one in 1017 Sixteen fulfilled prophecies: one in 1045 Forty-eight fulfilled prophecies: one in 10157 There is no way to explain the Bible's ability to predict the future unless you see God as the author We should not be amazed at these fulfilled prophecies, because God is omniscient -- all-knowing (see John 5:39) When the prophets wrote these things, they didn't always know what they were writing (see 1Peter 1:10-11) A Satisfied Flock (vv. 28-35) Opened eyes When they arrived at their destination, Jesus acted like He was going to keep going, but the disciples begged Him to stay Jesus will never force Himself on anyone He works by invitation only (see Revelation 3:20) Burning hearts Their hearts burned when they stopped talking and started listening to what He was saying to them A new understanding of old things Jesus didn't tell them anything they didn't know We do not need a new revelation; we need a new application of the old revelation Closing A God who is the detailed and accurate deserves our trust He can handle our problems and issues Works referenced :  Dumb and Dumber ,  Science Speaks Figures referenced : Jeane Dixon, Peter Stoner Cross references:   Genesis 3:15 ; 22:2-18 ; 49:10 ; Exodus 9:18-26 ; 12:1-27 ; Numbers 21:8-9 ; 1 Kings 18:36-38 ; Psalm 2 ; 16 ; 22 ; 34:20 ; 41:39 ; Isaiah 7:14-16 ; 9:1-2 , 6-7 ; 35:5-6 ; 41:21-23 ; 53:5 , 9 , 12 ; Micah 5:2 ; Zechariah 9:9 ; 11:12 ; 12:10 ; Matthew 14:25-26 ; 27:45 ; Mark 6:49 ; 15:33 ; Luke 1:26-38 ; 23:44 ; John 3:14 ; 5:39 ; 13:19 ; 20:15 ; Romans 10:17 ; 1 Peter 1:10-11 ; Revelation 3:20

1 Thes 5:1-11: How to Be Ready For Christ’s Return Main Text: 1 Thes 5:1-11 ESV 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Big Idea: Continuing his discourse on Christ’s return, Paul warns the Thessalonians that unbelievers will be caught completely unaware at the return of Christ. He exhorts the Thessalonians to live in such a way as to always be ready for the Lord to appear. As those who have placed their faith in Christ, their love for Jesus gives them a hope that they can ensure they are prepared for the Lord’s coming. How, then, should we live in order to be prepared — like the Thessalonians — for the second coming of Christ? By utilizing the spiritual armor that already belongs to us in Christ, we can exercise our faith, love, and hope to live as to please God until Christ comes again. Intro: Halloween is tomorrow, so you know what that means. Christmas decorations will go up in many stores this week! — if they aren’t already! That’s right, only 56 more days to finish your Christmas shopping! Christmas movies debate — which is your favorite? Always loved Home Alone Kevin was initially caught unaware as to Harry and Marv’s plan to rob the McAllister household. But knowing they’ll be coming back, he is able to put a plan in place to thwart the bad guys in their attempt to steal. Joke: God has given us tools to be prepared for the day of the Lord’s appearance coming like a thief in the night: the paint can of hope, the nail in the tar of faith, and the icy stairs of . . . Just kidding. What we do see is this principle: What you believe will happen tomorrow determines how you live today. 5-Minute Nerd-Out What Do We Know About the Return of Christ? Context of 1 Thessalonians - People are suffering persecution at the hands of their fellow citizens The early Church believed, as has every generation since, that Jesus would soon return for them Because they believed Jesus was coming back, many believers stopped working completely because they believed it didn’t matter how they lived with Jesus coming back soon. Like we said, what you believe will happen tomorrow determines how you live today. Paul probably received word from Timothy all this info about the Thessalonians. He probably learned many of them were also very emotional about the death of their loved ones, which is why he mentions grief in 1 Thes 4 - which we covered last week. So Paul writes to the Thessalonians to encourage them how they should live until Jesus comes back for His Church. The Greek word often used for the return of Christ is “parousia.” While the word is often translated as “coming” it can also mean presence. So it may not just refer to the imminent return of someone, it can also refer to being in the presence of someone. NT Wright, or Tom Wright — a brilliant theologian who currently serves as the senior research fellow at the University of Oxford — wrote this about the parousia: On the parousia: “So when Paul talks of Christians ‘being snatched up among the clouds’, he is again not thinking of a literal vertical ascent. The language here is taken from Daniel 7, where ‘one like a son of man’ goes up on the clouds as he is vindicated by God after his suffering—a wonderful image not least for people like the Thessalonians who were suffering persecution and awaiting God’s vindication. And their ‘meeting’ with the Lord doesn’t mean they will then be staying in mid-air with him. They are like Roman citizens in a colony, going out to meet the emperor when he pays them a state visit, and then accompanying him back to the city itself” This is the historical context for the word, parousia. It was often used, even outside of the Bible, to refer to a respected foreign dignitary coming to your town. Because this was an honored guest, the people of the town would often travel outside the city in order to greet the one they wished to honor. They would then form a celebratory processional welcoming the guest to their city. This is the idea Paul would have in mind when saying we’d be caught up in the air with Christ. We, the believers who make up the Church, would honor Jesus by coming to greet Him. There would then be a celebratory processional as we make our way to the new Heavens and the new Earth. Tom Wright goes on to say this: “We may find it more intelligible to speak of Christ’s ‘appearing’—as Paul himself does elsewhere—than his downward ‘descent’. But his point is that we can be confident in God’s future purposes for those Christians who have died. There will be grief, of course; but there is also hope. There will come a day when God will put all wrongs to rights, when all grief will turn to joy. Jesus will be central to that day, which will end with the unveiling of God’s new world. There, those who have already died, and those who are still alive, will both alike be given renewed bodies to serve God joyfully in his new creation.” This leads us to our passage tonight in 1 Thessalonians 5. GK Beale writes there are three main sections to be aware of I’ve reworded them for clarity’s sake, but we’ll see three things: 1- Christ’s return will be unexpected for unbelievers (5:1–3) 2- We can be ready for Christ’s return by being ready to live out God’s Will for us (5:4–7) 3- Godly living and assurance of our salvation through Christ is of great encouragement to true Christians. (5:8–11) 1. Christ’s return will be unexpected for unbelievers (5:1–3) 1 Thes 5:1-3 ESV 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. vs 2, 3 Those in the house not prepared for a thief and who think they have peace and safety will be surprised by Christ’s coming. The reference is to Christ’s coming itself, at which time the ungodly will be surprised by the final judgment inflicted upon them Shift to a focus on a pregnant woman: She may think she has peace and safety but is sometimes surprised by the onset of labor pains. In this manner, Christ’s appearance will catch people off guard. Too many people, including those who profess the name of Christ, live without due awareness of God in the ordinary decisions of life. vs. 3 (from Tom Wright) But the slogan ‘peace and security’ was also one of the comforting phrases that the Roman empire put out, to reassure its inhabitants around the Mediterranean that the famous Pax Romana, or ’Roman peace’, established by Paul’s time for more than half a century, would hold without problems. That is what Paul is really attacking. Don’t put your hope in the government, don’t put your hope in the military. Yes, we want a strong gov’t and a strong military — but as Christians, that’s never to be our hope. Our hope is always and only in Jesus. 2. We can be ready for Christ’s return by being ready to live out God’s Will for us (5:4–7) 1 Thes 5:4-7 ESV 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. vs 5 (from Tom Wright) For reasons that now become clear, Christians are daytime people, even though the rest of the world is still in the night. Example of int’l flight and jet lag — our bodies are confused after travel Example: often waking up at 2 or 3am in Ukraine at the beginning of our trips. While it’s still dark outside, my body is telling me it’s day time and I need to get up. Well, says Paul, here you are in the middle of the world’s night—but the spirit of Jesus within you is telling you it’s already daytime. You are already children of the day, children of light. God’s new world has broken in upon the sad, sleepy, drunken and deadly old world. That’s the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus, and the gift of the spirit—the life of the new world breaking in to the old. As Christians, we no longer belong to the old world. We belong to the new world in Christ! You are wide awake long before the full sunrise has dawned. Stay awake, then, because this is God’s new reality, and it will shortly dawn upon the whole world. The main point of 5:5–7 is being alert and self-controlled. This is explained the metaphors of light, darkness, and drunkenness. Why the metaphor of light? John 8:12 Jesus calls Himself the Light of the World. What does light do? It brings illumination. Illumination brings revelation. So Jesus comes to bring illumination in the darkness, revealing what happens in the darkness — the things that should not be. And then Jesus comes to bring revelation to the world — Paul calls Jesus the image of the invisible God in Colossians 1. Jesus reveals to us the invisible things of God. You want to know what God is like? Look at the God-man, Jesus Christ. So when Paul calls followers of Jesus “children of the light” there’s a double-meaning. We are identified as being WITH CHRIST, and we are people who live life with a knowledge of God’s revelation of what He calls us to do in life. GK Beale said this in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians: “. . . Darkness includes notions of spiritual ignorance . . .” and this leads to people living with disordered desires. We mistreat people in order to benefit ourselves. We prioritize meeting our own needs or filling the emptiness in our own souls by using others, often times at the expense of the relationships that truly matter most. Remember: What you believe will happen tomorrow determines how you live today. “The Thessalonians have become enlightened and are able to evaluate Paul’s instructions as being true, so that they are alert “to live in order to please God” because they have become part of the new creation in Christ.” So Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians, and likewise us!, to live in the light, to live in order to please God because we know that Jesus is coming soon, and we want to be ready for it! Rather than being caught asleep, we are to live with an awakened, an enlightened, and an illuminated mind. All of which is available to us because of Jesus. But Paul uses a second metaphor. Like sleepy people, those who are drunk are not alert. If a thief comes into someone’s house who is drunk, the thief can get away with quite a bit before the drunk person sobers up. Paul says one can be spiritually drunk. GK Beale says it like this: To be drunk spiritually is to too much of the world’s way of looking at things and not enough of the way God views reality. To be intoxicated with the world’s wine is to be numbed to feeling any fear in the present of a coming judgment. “Awake,” or as other translations might say, “alert,” in 5:6 literally means “watchful” in the original text. So God’s people must pay attention to how they are living so that they do not become morally careless and are not caught off guard when Christ returns. . . Both watchfulness and soberness are a contrast with the condition of drunkenness in which people are unable to exercise their faculties properly and cause harm to themselves. We are to be watchful and self-controlled because we have already become partakers of the revelatory light in Christ and of the new creation, which empowers us to be careful about how we live. Though darkness is around us, we walk in the light of God’s revelation, which serves as a shining beacon to prevent us from stumbling into potential moral pitfalls lying in our path. Paying attention to such revelation enables the saints to live in a state of moral and spiritual preparedness for Christ’s unexpected return. Let that sink in. How often do you feel like you fail God? If you’re like me there are so many times where there’s a way you wish you would live, there are decisions you wish you would make. And yet when the time comes you don’t do it. You give in to temptation. Paul is letting us know that right now we have available to us everything we need to live the way God wants us to live! Because the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night and we want to be ready for it! Tom Wright: Most people take ordinary and sensible measures to protect against theft; they do not sit in their houses, looking out the window with a gun, waiting for a burglar to come. To do so would paralyze our everyday lives. Christ will come in similar manner as a thief, but our reaction is not to sit around every moment of our lives with a Bible in our hands, looking out our windows, and waiting for him to come at anytime. That would paralyze us. Just as there is an ordinary and sane way to be ready for thieves, so there is a reasonable way to be ever ready for Jesus’ coming.… Revelation 19:7–8 explains that the church will make itself ready for Christ’s coming by wearing “fine linen, bright and clean,” which is then interpreted to be “the righteous acts of the saints.” To “keep our clothes on” and always to be ready for Christ’s return means that we keep on doing those righteous things that please God. So how do we keep our spiritual clothes on, as Tom Wright suggests here? 1 Thes 5:8-11 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 3. Godly living and assurance of our salvation through Christ is of great encouragement to true Christians. (5:8–11) Particular clothing often identifies a person’s profession. Police officers, soldiers, doctors, and mail carriers are all identified by their unique clothing. Moreover, some people could be injured if they did not wear attire appropriate to their profession. For example, a hockey player could get hurt if he wore a doctor’s white coat during a game. Paul argues in the remainder of 5:8 that those who profess Christianity must also possess the clothing suitable to that “profession” or risk being harmed. The language here is interesting, though. if one has become truly identified with Christ, then one has already put on the armor. The picture is of a soldier, who, after having been clothed with armor, must now be watchful in order to conduct battle and to avoid harm. Hence, the latter days have begun, and the Thessalonians must be watchful as they wear their armor of faith, love, and hope in order to fight and protect themselves in the midst of end-time trials and conflicts with the realm of darkness. Without faith, love, and hope God’s people will suffer harm by the ups and downs of life. As “children of light” you have already been clothed with the armor. That is, although Christians have been clothed with the armor of faith, love, and hope in Christ, they need to grow in these virtues and in their identification in Christ. Paul is encouraging them to become what they already are in Christ and to grow even more in him. Is that an encouragement to you? It should be! If you’re anything like me there are times where you just feel defeated. Times where everything feels like it is against you. But if you ever feel any faith, any hope, any Christ-like love then it should be an encouragement to you that you are still awakened to the things of God! Two types of soldiers on the battlefield: the ones totally at peace? They’re dead. The ones battling, struggling, fighting against fear and doubt and struggling to find courage, they’re alive to the battle! So be encouraged and remember what future glory awaits us! Because what you believe will happen tomorrow determines how you live today. So the way to be ready for the return of Jesus is to live a life of trust in God and his promises. If we are “uninformed” about what God’s word says and we are not living in close relationship to him and his word, then catastrophic events like the death of one we care for can harm us (4:13). We must love each other by encouraging one another in our faith in order to build one another up in our common hope. True saints are able to obey God because they have renewed natures enabling them to do so. The explicit connection between being a part of the new age (“children of light”) and being able to obey God’s commandment made in 5:8: But since we belong to the day and light has begun to dawn upon us, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love and hope. The point of these two sections of Scripture is to be self-controlled. Paul’s point, then, is that the way one should expectantly wait for Christ’s return is not by trying to calculate the time of that return nor by being carelessly unaware of one’s relationship with God but by thinking and living like a genuine Christian, characterized by faith, love, and hope. For Paul, a righteous lifestyle is the best way to prepare for Jesus’ return, which leads him in 5:9 to reflect on the deeper basis for such a lifestyle. Paul says in verse 9 that God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation, which will be through our Lord Jesus Christ. Together Jesus’ death and resurrection are the basis of the rescue and salvation of people: he died, receiving God’s wrath for his people, then conquered death through resurrection. Faith (5:8) is the means by which people are able to identify with Christ’s death and resurrection and benefit from his redemptive work. Therefore, Paul wants to give the Church an awareness of matters pertaining to Christ’s return in order that they know God and his ways and what he expects of them. They do this to achieve the great goal of pleasing God, whether it be in the midst of history or at its very end! We need to pay attention to God’s word in order not to be ignorant of God and his ways, as the world is ignorant. To whatever degree we are uninformed about what the Bible says, then to that degree we are “unclothed”, walking in spiritual darkness and stumbling because we do not have sufficient light shining on our path. (From NT Wright) vs. 9-11 He began the letter with the trio of faith, hope and love (1:3), and that is how he draws it now towards its conclusion. Faith and hope are the breastplate, to ward off frontal attacks. The hope of salvation is the helmet, protecting the head itself. Underneath it all, as always in Paul, we find God’s action in Jesus the Messiah. In verse 10 we hear again the basic Christian creed: he died for us and rose again. That is the main defense against all that the dark world can throw at the children of light. Paul’s main message: hold fast in faith to the gospel message, and you will find in it all the comfort and strength you need. Remember: What you believe will happen tomorrow determines how you live today. The Gospel is the very message that gives us hope for the future. Jesus has already told us how it all will end, and like Jack said over and over last week, when that day comes you want to be riding with Jesus. When we believe Christ is returning for His Church — just as He said He would — it affects how we live today. So put on faith, love, and hope. Be ready to ride with Jesus.

When anything in our life is in disarray, we are to turn to God’s Word for guidance. When political forces are vying for our vote, we must consult the same book for guidance. We are not meant to be left voters or right voters. We are to be kingdom voters. KINGDOM VOTING TONY EVANS If you have ever built a house, you know that having a good foundation is critical. Without a solid foundation, you run the risk of having issues that become costly. Like the foundation of a house, God made family the foundation for society and civilization’s well-being. When that foundation is eroded by governmental decisions and refusal to protect the family as God intended, the very fabric of society begins to unravel at a swift, breakneck pace. The role of family was made clear in the Creation narrative in Genesis 1:26-28. There, we see the first family formed and purposed to reflect and mirror God; to multiply His image throughout the world and to exercise God’s rule and dominion here on the earth. As the family creator, God established a specific way in which He saw fit for a family to be formed and to function. Marriage between a man and a woman was the first building block in the Lord’s construction of a family. The government’s mission should be to protect the image of God found in the family unit while protecting families’ sovereignty to uniquely fulfill their created purpose. When a government attempts to derail the structure and purpose that God set forth, the results are disastrous for all involved. Poverty, abuse, and confusion set in. Chaos and confusion are sure to follow when governments redefine instead of support and protect the family. In a time where paganism led the people in their institutions, the prophet Isaiah warned Israel by telling them God’s definition of family was being replaced. Isaiah 3:12b states, “Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths.” As Kingdom Voters, one of the important issues we must prioritize is protecting and promoting family as God intended. We must call the government to account for how they fail to build families. Kingdom men need to rise up like Joshua and declare, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15b). The battle we are facing today is one of kingdoms in conflict – an earthly kingdom versus a heavenly one. After seeing the effects of this battle played out through the generations, we must take a stand and choose to help our culture and government understand what family was initially created and intended for. And only then will we see the foundation of our culture strengthened like never before. GETTING STARTED 1. Have you ever experienced foundation issues in a house? What are some of the results of a faulty foundation? 2. Name one TV family you have watched that reflects at least one of the purposes and functions of family as God intended it. LET'S GET PERSONAL 1. What has been your experience when it comes to family? Have you experienced God’s reflection and image in your family of origin? Why or why not? 2. What would you say are the most devastating effects in our culture now due to the attack on families as God intended them to be? 3. Pastor Evans discusses the importance of being complete in Christ, whether you are single or married. So often, people believe marriage will complete them or fill in any emotional holes they feel. Why is this a dangerous mindset? How can this produce problems in the life of a believer? 4. No matter what your marital status is, how do you pray for your family? If you are single and desire to be married, what are some of the ways you pray for your future family? If you are married, how do you intentionally pray for your family? TAKE THE NEXT STEP 1. What are some ways you can personally protect the image of God in your family? How can you encourage others to do the same? 2. How can you hold civil government into account when it comes to the structure and function of family? What are some practical steps you could take to do so? 3. If you’ve faced the painful effects of a broken family, either in your family of origin or the family you’ve created as an adult, how can others pray for you right now? How can you pray for those who are enduring the effects of brokenness in their family right now? 4. Want to dig deeper? Take a look at these passages: Isaiah 3:12, , Genesis 6:1 7, Genesis 6: 17-18, Genesis 1:26-28, Malachi 2:14-16, Matthew 19:3-12, Malachi 4:4-6, Genesis 3:1-13, Genesis 6:13, Mark 6:14-29, Nehemiah 4:14, Isaiah 3:25, Exodus 34:23-24, Genesis 18:19, and Joshua 24:15. RENEW YOUR MIND “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'” Genesis 1:27-28 www.ocbf.com.

Encourage More Jack Schull 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 Apostle Paul wrote to a church he planted in Thessaloniki. In these works, he inspires a people that are living in uncertainty, to keep living by a dynamic faith in Christ and to persevere with hope, even as they were facing opposition and pressure from a culture that didn't believe or so much care for their beliefs. Followers of Jesus Christ should live with one foot in this world and the other in the world to come. We should be fully engaged with this life AND we should also live with an awareness of eternity. Having this double perspective - gives us wisdom for our 'here and now'. It shapes our priorities, impacts our schedules, influences our dreams and our decisions. It fuels our hearts for the gospel and for people around us to know and experience Jesus. Followers of Jesus Christ should live with one foot in this world and the other in the world to come. We should be fully engaged with this life. But we should also live with an awareness of eternity. Having that double perspective of this world and the world to come can grow us in living wisely for God… TRUTH: We all need encouragement - when we receive it — It’s like fresh wind in our sails. Everyone needs someone to encourage them. …often, we are good and the world is certainly good at pointing out people’s faults and telling them how they fall short or how they should improve; but we’re not very good at encouraging the souls of people.… God used Paul as an encourager to the Church in Thessalonica. Not only was Paul concerned about their safety; but he was also concerned about their spiritual growth. So he let his concern motivate his heart to stir him to action in order to encourage the people of this church. Q) How can God leverage you to encourage more around you? 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13 NLT 1 Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, 2 and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, 3 and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles. 4 Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come—and they did, as you well know. 5 That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless. 6 But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 7 So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. 8 It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. 10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith. 11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen. Do something. Being concerned is not enough. Our concern ought to push us into action. Paul had been convinced of the genuine conversion experience of these believers (1:5), but he also knew the importance of follow-up and discipleship. Faith needs to be strengthened and encouraged, so he sends Timothy went back to do just that for these believers. Paul also knew that facing “troubles” because of one’s faith in Christ should be expected. Some folks turn to God with the hope of escaping all suffering on earth. But Jesus never promised that. Problems are inevitable for God’s people. Your troubles may be a sign of effective Christian living. See John 15:18-19 and John 16:3318 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. “Yes, God is love. Yes, grace is amazing. Yes, mercy is necessary. *But please don't leave out that suffering is inevitable. God only had one child without sin (Jesus); he will have no children in his family without suffering. Timothy came to encourage...The Thessalonians had the Holy Spirit, but they also needed a Timothy: because, in this dark, fallen world, you will need someone visible, someone vocal, and someone tangible to help encourage you in your faith. It’s one thing to have the Holy Spirit walk alongside you, but it is something else to have a brother or sister hold your hand while you are trying to make it through) how many of you have had God bring someone into your life that He has used to spur you forward in faith? To encourage you? Who are some of those folks? At the end of this chapter - Paul writes to these believers then (and us now) praying that we be built up in love to share God's love… (ch. 3 v. 11-13) God is the source of love, Jesus is the proof of God’s love, and believers must be the agents of God’s love in this world. God has done his part, Jesus is doing his part—the question is: are we doing our part? Praying for and with people is important! God’s abounding love has no borders. We are to be ‘active agents’ of God’s love to all around us where we live, work, play and gather. www.elementscitychurch.com.

Romans, chapter 13. We have really, or at least I can speak for myself, really enjoyed the ability to go verse by verse through this incredible book of Romans. It's been so rewarding for me personally, and I think it's been good for us as a church. We're in Romans chapter 13. Now did you ever hear what I heard as a kid? I think maybe even from my parents. Never discuss religion and politics in polite company or in public, however you want to spin that. You've heard that before, right? It's kind of a common maxim. If that's true, I'm in a world of hurt. Because the text before us is Romans chapter 13. The theme of the first section of Romans 13 is the relationship of the Christian to the state, or to the government. It outlines our responsibility to civil authority, which some people have great difficulty doing. J.C. O'Neill even wrote, "these seven verses have caused more unhappiness and misery in the Christian east and west than any other seven verses in the New Testament." That may be an overstatement, but certainly the issue of how a Christian operates in a secular environment, especially in terms of the government and government authority, can be challenging. But here's the bottom line. As believers, we have dual citizenship. We are citizens of Earth and its governing realm, but we are also citizens of heaven. Philippians 320, Paul said our citizenship is in heaven. So I have an earthly address. I live in this country. But I have a heavenly address, a spiritual address. I am in Christ Jesus, which means I have an eventual address in the kingdom of heaven. So since we are residents of two realms, we should learn to live responsibly in both. We cannot be cloistered. We ought not to be uninvolved or uninformed. But learning how to balance our allegiance to both realms. I came to know Jesus Christ in 1973. Some of you weren't even born at that time. During that period known as the Jesus movement, that's a real thing, it's a real period of spiritual history in our country. A lot of people were coming to Christ. There was a lot of excitement that Jesus was going to return, which by the way, I still believe in. I believe he's going to come soon, sooner than we think, perhaps. But there was such an anticipation and excitement that Jesus was going to return. I mean, people thought like, he's coming next week. So that excitement for the return of the Lord became, in some cases, irresponsibility. Why bother getting involved in our culture, why bother getting involved in any political structure, why bother getting involved at all? After all, Jesus is coming next week. And I even had friends think I can get a credit card, I can get all sorts of charges rung up. And if Jesus is going to come back and I'm going to get raptured, I won't have to make any payments. I even had a friend come to me and say, "why do you bother going to college?" I announce I am accepted to UCLA, I'm going to go through a program. And the guy said, "why would you ever go to college? Don't you know Jesus will return before you graduate?" And I said, well, if he does, he'll find me in a classroom. Because last time I checked, colleges need Christians. Last time I checked, colleges in our country are not bastions of righteousness. I think they need involvement of believers just like political structures do. Jesus said occupy till I come. That is, stay busy until I come. In fact, Jesus even prayed in that great high priestly prayer of John 17 when he prayed to his father privately, he prayed for his disciples and he said this. "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." Our Lord never intended that we live in caves or monasteries or other hibernaculums that cloister us away from responsibility. In fact, Jesus even put it this way. Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Now if I'm a brand new sheep following that shepherd, that doesn't sound comforting. Come here little sheep, I'm glad you're following me. Now I'm going to send you out in the midst of wolves. Thanks a lot. You must not love me. No, I actually love them so much that by sending sheep out into the midst of wolves, my hope is that some of those wolves will become sheep. That is his plan. That is where the interface comes in. So one of our struggles as believers is balancing the responsibility as believers with God and state. But since we carry both passports, one in this world and one in the next, we need to discover what our obligations are. And we have that outline for us in the first seven chapters of Romans 13. Let's get a sense of it. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God. And the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and Avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. For because of this, you also pay taxes. Uh-oh, now he's getting personal. For they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due. Taxes to whom taxes are due. Customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Before we jump in and unpack those verses, let me take you back to the governmental structure of the New Testament. Can I do that? Let's go back to the time when Paul was writing this letter. In fact, a little bit before that when Jesus lived in Israel at the time of the New Testament, you need to know that the political background of the New Testament was not a democracy. It was an autocracy. There was only one governmental structure in power in most of the world, at that time, at least the world we're dealing with, and that is the Roman Empire. Rome had been a republic. Rome had quickly become now a monarchy, if you will, an autocracy, where all of the power was invested in one single individual named Caesar. He had unilateral authority. If he wanted to, and he did, he couldn't take a census of the known world and tax it. And the New Testament even records that. Caesar in Rome, though he had a Senate around him, Caesar in Rome was considered, at one point in Roman history, to be a God that demanded respect and worship and loyalty. So that every year the citizens of Rome scattered throughout the world and all of their communities had to publicly swear allegiance saying Caesar is Lord. And they were given a little libellus, a little certificate that announced, here's a loyal citizen. The political power in Rome, though vested in one individual, also had around it a Roman Senate. But if you know your history, the Roman Senate was easy access for wealthy patricians, but not so easy for the lower class plebeians. So it was very off kilter, off centered. Power was really all in one person. We also know that Israel was conquered by Rome. It was part of the Roman government. And to rule Israel, Rome used governors. So you know some of them like Pontius Pilate or Felix and Festus in the book of Acts. But they also had proxies. That is, Rome was benevolent enough to let you keep your language and your customs and even, up to a point, a certain form of government. So Israel was allowed to have a guy by the name of Herod as their King. A King under Rome, but a King nonetheless. And Herod was called of the Jews. He was the King of Judea. But he had so much power that he was a tyrant. He had unilateral power. He could make a mandate that every male child two years and younger, could be slaughtered in one section of Judea, which he did, without any repercussions at all. He couldn't be impeached, he couldn't be voted out, he couldn't be put in prison. What he said was law. Now add another layer to that. Slavery abounded. Slavery was an epidemic in Rome. One person said there are three slaves for every one free person. The actual statistic is between one third and one half-- depending on what era-- between one third and one half of the entire Roman population were slaves. Add to that an oppressive form of taxation to keep that Roman machinery operating and you have a little bit of understanding of what the governmental structure was like at the time Jesus lived and at the time Paul wrote. With that in mind, we approach Romans 13 once again. And I'm going to show you out of this quickly but definitely, five elements that form the relationship of the Christian to human government. Ready? First element is our role. What is our role with government to be? It'll be summed up in one word in verse 1. It's the word subject. It says let every soul-- I think that would include yours, since you are a living person. Every soul is every one of us. So let every soul, including yours and mine, be subject to the governing authorities. You might automatically have a problem with that. And maybe you're even thinking, well maybe it really doesn't mean what it says it means. So in case you're thinking that, look at verse 5, because he says it again. Therefore, you must be subject. That is an imperative. It is a command. What does that mean, subject? Peter took the same work and translated it. Submit. The Greek word is a familiar word, Hupotasso. Some of you have heard that before, hupotasso. Comes from two words, hupo, means under. Tasso means to line up. It means to line up under. It was used in a military sense to arrange troops in formation under a leader. When it was used in a non-military sense, it meant a voluntary attitude of cooperation. It was even translated to help carry a burden. So then the basic role of citizens, including Christian citizens, is to help carry the burden of government by submitting to it. So in a nutshell, believers are not to be subversive, not to be rebellious, not to be troublemakers. But in fact, model citizens. Now why was this important? Why did Paul include this? Because at the time he wrote, and it would get far worse from this point forward-- but at the time Paul wrote, Christians were already being viewed very suspiciously in the Roman Empire. And that is because their conduct was so different. They had their own private meetings. That is, they got together for fellowship. They did not worship the Roman emperor as Lord. And so their actions were already being scrutinized. So Paul thought it was important that they be seen as good citizens without compromising their faith. Now here's what you need to know besides what I told you about the background of their government. What you need to know when Paul said, "let every soul be subject to governing authorities" you need to know who was the governing authority at the time in Rome when he wrote this. It was a Caesar by the name of-- anybody know? Nero. Caesar Nero. Infamous. Caesar Nero would be the very Caesar who took Paul's head off his body. He will be the one responsible, eventually, for Paul's death. Paul, that guy, writes about that guy saying, let every soul be subject to governing authorities. Now we believe Paul wrote the book of Romans around AD 58. Which means within six years, by AD 64, an event will happen during that year, which some of you know your history. You know about the Great Fire of Rome. There was a fire that broke out in AD 64 In Rome that decimated a lot of the city. Decimated the Palatine Hill, a lot of the buildings. It just destroyed a lot of that great city. The rumor was, the belief was, and it was spreading across Rome, that the fire was set by none other than Caesar Nero. That he started it. Well, when that was becoming public knowledge, Caesar Nero was thinking quick and he thought, I got to find a scapegoat. I've got to blame this on somebody. So who did he blame? Christians. He said, it's those Christians. They lit the fire. Now him saying that perpetrated a series of persecutions that were unbelievable. There's even a story that halfway through his reign, Caesar Nero got the idea that he was a great chariot racer. He wasn't. But he thought he was. So he had a track built in Rome where he could race his chariot. And he liked it so much, he wanted to do it not just during the day, but at night. The only problem is Thomas Edison wasn't around to invent a light bulb for him. So there were no electric lights, there was no Benjamin Franklin with a kite. So to fix the problem so he could raise his chariot at night on that newly constructed track, he ordered his army to round up Christians, impale them on poles or tie them to poles, cover them with pitch and light them a blaze to light up his racetrack at night. That's the Caesar in power when Paul says let every soul be subject to governing authorities, which means we have a problem. The problem is, what do you do when the world you live in is filled with Caesar Nero's or Adolf Hitler's, or Bashar al-Assad's or Soleimani's or whatever. What do you do? Hold that thought. I'm going to get back to that thought. That's our basic role with government. Be subject. Let me move on now to the second of the five elements. And that is the rule of government. Let's see how far reaching Paul says this authority goes. Look at verse 1 again, but the second sentence in that verse. For there is no authority except from whom? God. God. And the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Wow. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. It's a very difficult statement. It's difficult. But Paul begins where you ought to begin, and that is with the sovereignty of God. Here's his point, power has only one source, and that source is God. No matter how well, no matter how poorly that power is used, all power comes from God. If you have trouble with that, you need to understand Jesus had no trouble with that. Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, the very man who would demand the execution of Jesus on the cross. And at one point, as they were meeting together, Pilate questioned him and Jesus gave no answer. Had nothing at all to say to him. So Pilate said to Jesus, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you and the power to release you? Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given to you from above. Did you hear his answer? Pilate, the only reason you have power is my Father in heaven put you in power. That's Jesus saying that to the guy who's going to send him to death. Here's another example. Pharaoh. Was he a tyrant in the Old Testament? Yeah. He butchered God's people, persecuted God's people. But in Exodus chapter 9 verse 16, the Lord said to Pharaoh, "for this reason, I have raised you up that I might show my power in you." who raised him up? God raised him up. Here's a third example, Nebuchadnezzar. The self-serving arrogant ruler of Babylon. Had a dream, Daniel came in to interpret the dream. Daniel said to that King the most high rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he chooses. That's divine sovereignty. That is power. Now eventually, Nebuchadnezzar will come to understand that. He didn't believe that at this point. But he will, as you know the story. Now, the function of human government began after the flood. You could go all the way back to Genesis chapter 9 and human government was given by God, established by God, as a part of what theologians call common grace. Have you ever heard that term, common grace? Well, common grace means is the benefits or blessings given from God, apart from salvation, for common man. That's not restricted to just believers. That's saving grace. But opposed to saving grace there is common grace, where God commonly blesses people in this world. Everything from the air we breathe to the beauty of nature. Jesus said the sun shines on the just and on the unjust, that's common grace. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, that is common grace. Government is in that category of common grace. Part of the way God restrains evil in a fallen world is through laws, police forces, judicial systems, that write and rewrite and enforce laws and even armies. Why armies? Because so much evil is irrational and can only be deterred by force. Now ordained by God, but all of them imperfect. You will not find a perfect form of government, and certainly there is no such thing as a Christian government or a Christian nation, at least yet. There will be in the millennial kingdom, but not now. That is the rule of government. So we have our role with government. We have the rule of government. Let me give you a third element. And that is the reason for government. Why does it exist? What's the purpose of a government? Well, verse 3 through 5 gives you the answer. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do it as good and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. By the way, that word sword has a specific reference to capital punishment. It is the sort of execution in its context and in its linguistic roots. For he is God's minister, and Avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. So this is the reason for government. There is a twofold reason Paul says government exists. Paul says government is to be God's servant on earth for two reasons, to protect and to punish. To protect the community and to punish the criminal. But did you notice the word Paul gives to government officials? He uses it three times, minister. Now this is a different twist. When is the last time you got pulled over by a police officer, roll down your window and thought, there's a minister of God. Hi, Reverend. The word he uses for minister, by the way is the word, diáconos. Diáconos is the Greek word where we get our word deacon. A word that Paul uses for servants in the church. What he means, by using this term three times in this passage, is this. Governing authorities occupy a divinely appointed office. Which means it's a shame when we have an attitude that is angry and belligerent. When instead we should thank them for enforcing the law. I have a very different attitude than I used to have with police officers. I'll remark on that in a moment. But I now make it my point, whenever I see a police officer, somebody in government, to thank them for their service. To thank them. Thank them that they're in harm's way. Even when they pull me over and they write me a ticket. And yes, your pastor has gotten tickets. But so have you. And I always make it a point to thank them. It's not easy. I don't like it. I'm not happy, but I do it. Now when I grew up, I had a very uneasy relationship with law enforcement. Picture a young unsaved California kid who liked motorcycles and he had two. I had two neighbors, they were both brothers, the Latist brothers. Both of more CHP, California Highway Patrol. They in particular did not like motorcycles and young boys riding them, of which I was one of my brother was the other. So they'd pull us over a lot, and hassle us a lot. And so they didn't like me and I was not particularly fond of them. And then a little bit later, I got a driver's license for a car. As I was getting that, I was driving on the San Bernardino Freeway. I got pulled over by a police officer. I rolled down my window, he said, your offense is you are impeding traffic. Now you may have never heard that before, and perhaps this only happens in California. But I said, what does that mean? He said, you're going too slow. I said it probably only happens in California. So I said, officer, I was doing the speed limit. He said, I don't care. The whole flow of traffic is going at this speed. If you get in this lane and you slow down, you are impeding traffic and that is a moving violation. I said, sir I promise you I will never let that happen again. So because of that, because of my early altercations with the law, whenever I see a police officer now, you know what I do? I white knuckle the steering wheel. I just kind of panic. It's just sort of a reaction. And I automatically look down at what? The speedometer. And if I'm going 75 I go, oh-uh. If I'm going 45 I say praise God, there's a servant of the Lord. So the purpose of the government is to protect and to punish. That takes us now to the fourth element that forms our relationship to human government. And that is the response to government. Now we already know what he said, the basic response is to be. And that is to be subject to line up under that authority. But he kind of fleshes that out into a twofold response, verse 6 and 7. For because of this, you also pay taxes. For they are God's ministers. Think of that IRS now as God's ministers. Boy, you know, that's a stretch. But it's in the word, so I'm going to go with it. For they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Boy, that's an understatement. That's all they think about is how to get my taxes. Rendered therefore to all their due. Taxes to whom taxes are due. Customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. We are to have a twofold response. Number one, government should be supported, that's where you pay your taxes. Number two, government should be respected. Honor to whom honor, fear to whom fear. Listen, Christian brother, Christian sister, in the very least, you and I need to be very careful how we speak about government authorities and political figures. You may disagree with them. But you are bound by scripture to honor and pray for them. And if you talk about them, I hope most of your words are talking to God about them. That you're praying for them. When Paul wrote to Timothy in First Timothy he said this. Now keep in mind, again, who's the Caesar on the throne in Rome? Nero. Paul says this to Timothy. I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession, and Thanksgiving, be made for all people. For kings, and all who are in authority, think Caesar Nero. that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all the godliness and holiness. In these verses he mentions taxation. Now tax supports the function of government. Even though some of our tax money may go for bad causes. You can't say, well, I'm not going to pay taxes if they're going to use my taxes for that. Oh, yeah, you will. Because they bear a sword for that. However, you may complain about whatever taxes you have to pay. I just want to again, remind you of the taxation in the first century in Israel. They had a system of taxation called tax farming. What that meant is the Roman government gave the tax collector status to the highest bidder. You bought the position. Whoever paid the most for it was granted the position. Rome assessed a region for its taxation. They didn't care how much you as the tax collector collected, as long as they got what they assessed. You could get twice as much if you wanted to, if you could. And you could pocket the rest. So with this kind of a system, it was open for incredible abuse. One Roman writer even said, only once in his life, and it was in Athens, did he ever see a monument to an honest tax collector. Because they were so rare. What kind of taxes did they pay? Let me tell you about it. Every citizen paid what it's called the poll tax. The poll tax. P-O-L-L. Every male aged 14 to age 65, every female aged 12 to age 65, paid a poll tax. What's a poll tax? It's being taxed on breathing air. For being alive, age 12 or 14 to age 65, you paid the poll tax. That's just for you living. On top of that, there was the income tax, a flat 10% rate. On top of that were taxes for roads and harbors. On top of that were import taxes. On top of that-- we're not done yet, was it the ground tax. One tenth of all the grain or the proceeds of the grain, one tenth of all of it went to Rome. One fifth of all of the wine or proceeds went to Rome. Then there was the fish tax. The fish tax, you were taxed on how many nets you would throw out into the lake or into the sea. You were then taxed on every single fish that your net caught. On top of that, there was called the cart tax. If you had a cart, you were taxed on the number of wheels you had on your cart. So the wheelbarrow was your friend. If you can get by putting everything in a one-wheel vehicle, great. If you require four wheels to distribute weight, you'll be taxed for it. So people lived under this oppressive taxation by an oppressive government, OK. Into that world was born Jesus Christ. The Messiah. As soon as he came people thought-- most people thought he was a political messiah. They wanted him to take political sides. The Jewish belief is that the Messiah will be a political ruler who will give them freedom from the oppressive yoke of Rome. But then Jesus spoke and he lived. And he made no call for a political insurrection. He never tried to win a culture war. He never tried to overturn the tax code. He never really even addressed social issues. And there were plenty of them to go around like slavery, like bad treatment of orphans, bad treatment of widows. Was he aware of those things, yes. Did they break his heart, yes. He knew the great needs, but he did not come to enact a social revolution. He came for a spiritual revolution. He came to save people. Because he knew if a person is saved, that saved person changes their lifestyle. And so if you want to change a country, get a person saved, get that family saved, get that community saved. And that will spill out into a whole different way of life. That's what he did. People were not happy with him doing that. They still wanted him to take political sides. So you had one group and another group to try to get him to be a political figure. There were the Pharisees. The Pharisees hated the Romans. The Pharisees didn't want to pay taxes. On the other hand, there were a group called the Herodians. Remember them in the New Testament? They were Judea's who believed in the loyalty to the family of Herod and the Roman government. Believe you should pay taxes. The Pharisees and the Herodians hated each other. Until the day they didn't. Because they both hated Jesus, they tried to trap Jesus. And they asked him a question. Master, Jesus, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? You know why they ask him that question? They wanted to start a rebellion. A riot. A revolution. They wanted Jesus to take political sides. Oh, there's another group. Besides the Pharisees and the Herodians, there was a volatile group known as the Zealots. You remember reading about them in your New Testament? Zealots were Jewish nationalists. They refused, absolutely, to pay taxes. And a group of them staged terrorist attacks. Mideast terrorism is not new. There were a group of these Zealots called Sicarii. They were dagger carriers. And they staged terrorist attacks to kill the Roman oppressors. But get this, their rebellion was all based on scripture. They would often quote the text out of Deuteronomy 17, you shall not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. So you got Pharisees and Herodians and Zealots and Sicarii, and all trying to get Jesus into their little political thing. So they say, master, can you pay taxes to Caesar or not? Don't you love Jesus' answer, Matthew 22-21. He said, give me a coin. Held it up. He said, whose mug is on this coin? Whose face is-- whose inscription is on there? He said, Caesar's. Put it down. And he said, then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God. That ended their argument. He said yeah, pay your taxes. But give to God what belongs to God. So back to Romans 13. God is honored when his earthly representatives are seen as stabilizers in society. Not rebels. The central issue here is basic. A good Christian is a good citizen. Not only because there are laws that impose that on him. But he says in verse 5, for conscience sake, for a clear conscience. Speaking of a clear conscience, I've always loved the story about the guy who had a guilty conscience. So he wrote the IRS. The letter said dear sirs, I cannot sleep. Last year when I filed my income tax return, I deliberately misrepresented my income. Now I can't sleep. So enclosed is a check for $150. Well, that's pretty cool. He came clean. But he ended by saying, if I still can't sleep, I'll send you the rest. Yeah, let me just give you enough payment to ease my guilty conscience. If that doesn't work, I'll pay you what I really owe you. By the way, according to Forbes magazine, 7 million Americans fail to file their income tax returns every year. That's 5%. And you can try to justify that. Well, they would spend it on things I don't agree with. So what? Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Render to God what belongs to God. The point of Romans 13 is God is the ultimate authority. And if the ultimate authority says submit to intermediate authorities, guess what? Then you line up under them. Now this brings up an issue, and I told you I'd get back to this. Is there ever a time-- is there ever a time for civil disobedience? I'm glad you asked. That brings us to our fifth element that forms our relationship to human government. I call this the rival against government. I'm going to play off a word in verse 5, it's the word conscience. Notice verse 5. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. Let me explain that quickly. The context is that God has given us a conscience. A conscientious recognition that government is God given. So by submitting to authority, that gives us a clear conscience, generally. But what about when it doesn't? What about when the government violates God's law and we know that, and now we have an uneasy conscience. What if the government is violating clear scriptural principles and your conscience is violated? Paul said, I always live to have a clear conscience before God and men. But what if the state passes laws or policies that oppose God given laws? Let me make it more complicated. Picture yourself, put yourself in these shoes. You are living in 1850s America. You live in the south. You happen to be the owner of a quite large plantation and you have working on your plantation a number of people that are slaves. You have become a Christian and you're starting see a moral problem with this. This is wrong. Humans shouldn't be owned and treated this way. I feel uneasy about this. Yet, this keeps the economy going. It feeds my family. But then you read in the newspaper that your area, the South, is waging a war on the north to secede from the Union. What do you do? Do you stay in the South? Do you run across that line to the north? It's a moral dilemma. What do you do with that? Or let me move you ahead a little bit. You're a politician in 1930s Germany. Everybody's so excited about this new ruler, this fúhrer. Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich. It seems so promising. Adolf Hitler gets a hold of you and offers you a high ranking position in his Third Reich. But you come to realize that he has an incredible antipathy to the Jewish people. And you come to realize this is wrong, morally. What he says about them, what he says he's planning for them. But as a believer, you remember Romans chapter 13, be subject to governing authorities. And maybe you even justify it by saying, well, Daniel was able to work in a very ungodly political environment. So was Joseph with Pharaoh for that matter. So is there ever a time when believers obligation to civil authority is negated? Yes. Yes. Yes. And here's the rule. Here's the principle. We submit to the government up to the point when obeying the government means disobeying God. When the government says, don't do this and God says do it, you do it and disobey the government. If the government says the opposite, to violate a clear command of God, you obey God. Are there scriptural examples of this? Tons of them. I'll spare you. I'll give you only five or six. Number one, Pharaoh. He was in charge. He was of the powers that be. He gave a law. He ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all the newborn baby boys who were Hebrews. What did they do? They said no. They refused to obey. Exodus chapter one, but the midwives feared God and did not do as the King of Egypt commanded. That's civil disobedience. Second example, Nebuchadnezzar ordered Daniel and all of his Jewish recruits to eat the delicacies from his table. Daniel was a kosher Jewish boy. Daniel, chapter one, but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the King's delicacies or the wine which he offered. Civil disobedience. Third example, the same King Nebuchadnezzar commanded an image to be built, a golden image. Commanded everybody in the realm to bow down before that image. There were three Hebrew workers on his staff. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego-- we know them by their Babylonian names, or Hebrew names, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They said no way Jose. They refused to do it and took the consequence of death, if that was the case. In Daniel chapter 3 they said, we do not serve your gods nor worship the golden image. Fast forward a few years to a new King in Babylon named Darius. Darius made a decree that for a month, for 30 days, no one could pray to any other God except himself, the Babylonian God. Daniel refused to do it. And in Daniel chapter 6, he opened his windows toward Jerusalem. So he's inviting eyes to come in and like, see what I'm doing? I can't do it. Watch. He opened the windows toward Jerusalem, knelt down on his knees three times that day, prayed and gave thanks before God. Almost cost him his life. Here's another one, a fifth one, the Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the powers that be in Jerusalem, mandated a law. Passed a law that you could not speak the name of Jesus publicly anymore in that city. Peter and John found out and said, pft with that. I'm going to go out right now and preach the gospel. So they went out and did it. They get arrested. The powers that be said, why are you doing this? We gave an order. We gave a command. It's a law. I love their answer, act chapter five, we must obey God rather than men. That is civil disobedience. Because to obey man would be to disobey God, and they said, we'd rather offend you and take the consequences than offend God. There are other examples we could point to. We could look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer who violated laws that Nazi Germany passed. He was killed for it. We could talk about William Wilberforce taking the laws in Great Britain of slavery to overturn them in the parliament. But Eric will talk about that next week. But you and I are confronted with issues today. Laws on same sex marriage, laws on abortion. We are confronted with a society that says this is OK. And we go, no it's not. Here's the rule, and we close with this. Here's the rule. A Christian is to be a good citizen until being a good citizen means being a bad Christian. That's the rule. That could sum all of what we said up. A Christian is to be a good citizen until being a good citizen means being a bad Christian. In closing, we could discuss all day the idea of our relationship with government and what about this and what about that. But there is a bigger issue. We're talking about what should I render to Caesar? You know Jesus said. Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but what else did he say? Render to God what belongs to God. So a coin may have the image of Caesar stamped on it. You have the image of God stamped on you. You're made in the image of God. God wants you. You should surrender your life to Him. That's what God wants. That's where we begin. That's where we should all begin, in subjection and submission to the one who has stamped his image on us as a special creation. My earnest hope and prayer. Beyond being a good citizen for y'all, beyond did you keep the speed limit on the way home from church, my big issue is have you rendered to God what belongs to him? You. Father, we close with this incredibly profound thought that you created us so we are yours by that fact. But then you sent Jesus to buy us back to you. We call that redemption. And if we are believers, we are yours by creation and by redemption. You own us. We are your slaves. We are your servants. You are our master. And what benevolent relationship that is, though we are your slaves, to be your slave really is to be Royalty, is to be a King or a Queen. And so my prayers for those who have yet to surrender their life to Jesus is that on this day and going forward, they would give you control over their lives.