Now More Than Ever

John Mellancamp has a song called Now More Than Ever, and it is also a phrase we have been hearing in commercials of late. “Now, more than ever you need financial security, health care, home insurance, etc.” I’m left wondering, “Why now?” We read daily of fraud, political unrest, leader unreliability and infidelity, domestic violence, crime, and more negative news. In this context, now, more than ever, Christians need to be the light that they should be.

Time and again in God’s word, we see times when His people needed to rise to the occasion more than ever – people like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and others. It is the immediate present, however, in which we feel the most urgency, and we see the need of now, more than ever. How can I make an impact, though, against such an overwhelming amount of wrongness in this world?

In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls those who follow Him the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He likens them to a city on a hill and a lamp to guide those around us. We have a tendency to resist making waves. We want to fly under the radar, but Jesus asks what good we are if we are salt that has lost its flavor. The world will never know any other way if we are hiding our lights among the bushes.

Galatians 6:10 encourages us to do good before all, and Philippians 2:14-15 calls on us to live blamelessly, living as lights to those around us. We have multiple opportunities every day to reflect holiness and godliness. We have to be willing to share God’s goodness with those around us if we want to help the world to be a better place. Right now, murder, violence, abuse, and fraud are typical. Now, more than ever, we have the power to help these things become untypical.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Seeing Without Perceiving; Hearing Without Understanding

There are certain drawing that look like one thing to some and something else to others. (Think of the duck/rabbit picture or the old woman/young woman picture.) The same applies to scripture. I may see one side; you might see another. I fear, however, that sometimes we only see or hear what we want to hear. When it comes to God’s word, there is only one side – God’s. We may point our fingers at those outside the church as viewing God’s this word, but God’s people, historically and today, are in danger of doing the same thing.

Misunderstanding Among God’s Elect

Isaiah 6:10 records God giving Isaiah his mission, and Gad warns that His word would shut the eyes and the ears of the people. In Isaiah 1:16-19, the prophet calls the people to repentance and obedience, and Isaiah 55:6-7 implores those separated from God to return to Him, seeking pardon and forgiveness. Unfortunately, as God warned in chapter 6, the people would hear but not listen. Verse 9 warns Isaiah’s intended audience would see and hear him without comprehension because their hearts are closed. Isaiah 55:10-11, though, proclaims that God’s word will never return to Him without accomplishment.

Moving from one prophet to another, Jeremiah 5:1 records God challenging Jeremiah to seek Jerusalem for anyone who cares about justice and truth. Verse 3 has Jeremiah responding to this by calling the people hardened against God’s word. They have turned away from their Lord, but Jeremiah 5:6-19 warns God’s people will be judged by that word they rejected. As they turned to serve strange gods, so would they be made to serve strange people. Jeremiah 5:20-21 then warns against hearing and seeing God’s words without understanding and applying.

Finally, during the captivity in Ezekiel 12:1-2, God says His prophet is dwelling in a rebellious house that consists of people with eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear. Ezekiel 33:23-28 records the attitude God’s people had, assuming their inheritance of the land of Judah and Israel as a given, but God says He will pull the land from these that reject His word. In Ezekiel 33:30-32, the people come to hear God’s word from the right source, but they fail to apply those words they hear. They sit and listen but do nothing.

Personal Applications

It’s easy to see these failings in coworkers and friends. It’s easy to judge others without judging ourselves. Matthew 13:10 has the apostles asking about Jesus’ habit of teaching parables, and, in His answer, Jesus uses language similar to those prophets of the Old Testament. Those crowds around Him sees without seeing and hears without hearing. Those people claiming to be religious, interested in the words of God, would see and hear what they wanted. They would be entertained by the words but fail to apply. The same can be true of us today.

In Acts 7:57, Stephen is accusing the Jewish leadership of killing God’s messengers time and again. The result of his accusations is his subsequent stoning. In contrast, Peter and the apostles make similar accusations in Acts 2, but verse 37 records a far different response. These opened their hearts to accept God’s word. One would have expected Peter’s and Stephen’s results to be reversed. Hebrews 6:4-6 contains a warning for those who have accepted Christ at one point only to later close their eyes and their ears.

Late in Jesus ministry, in John 6, many leave Him when He stops preaching the things they want to hear. He asks the twelve if they too will abandon Him, and Peter responds that they have no place to go. They recognize Jesus as the source of eternal life. James 1:21-22 encourages us to receive God’s word in meekness, but James goes on to say that we should not only be hearers of that word. We should do it, lest we delude ourselves by only seeing and hearing those things we desire. He says we should humble ourselves before the word, be receptive of the word, and then apply it.

lesson by Tim Smelser

How Many Commandments Are There?

Recently, I was looking at a website with a section called A Crash Course in Jewish History, and one quote from an article on the Ten Commandments caught my eye: “Because we don’t have the temple, 369 of the 613 commandments are no longer applicable today.” By the First Century, the law of Moses had been so analyzed that scholars could enumerate 613 separate laws – 365 negative/248 positive. In Matthew 22, one comes to Jesus and asks which is the greatest on these laws. In verse 37, Jesus answers with two commandments: to love God and to love our neighbors.

In Deuteronomy 4:2 begins by calling on the people of Israel to neither add to or subtract from the commandments, and, when we reach chapter 6, we come to the verse Jesus quotes regarding our love of God. Moses goes on from this command to love God to instruct the children of Israel to know the word of God as they know themselves. It can be an imposing thing to know so many laws, and I think many New Testament Christians look at the Bible the same way – as a list of do’s and don’ts. How many commandments are there that we have to keep?

Narrowing the List

In Psalm 15, David asks who will dwell with the Lord, and he reduces the law of Moses to eleven principles.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;

who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD;

who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

Even in these, we might find gray areas or have a hard time remembering all eleven principles. Isaiah 33:15 narrows this list down to five items – one who walks and speaks uprightly, rejects oppression, avoids bribes, does not listen to words of violence, avoids looking at evil. Taking things farther, in Micah 6:6-8, the prophet speaks of three things God looks for in His followers: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God.

After going from 613 to eleven to six to three, Isaiah 56:1 reduces the requirements to two basic principles. He calls on God’s people to keep justice and to do righteousness. Amos 5:4-6 calls on God’s people to seek Him, and Habakkuk 2:4 says the righteous shall live by faith. All of these come back to the same general ideas of righteousness, holiness, honesty, justice, and love. These are characteristics that are neither easy to follow, nor are they always encouraged.

The Foundation of God’s Law

I don’t think God looked at His law as 613 commandments. What He wanted and still wants from His people is holiness and uprightness. When Jesus answers the question of the greatest law in Matthew 22, He is telling His listeners to love God more than anything and to treat others the way you want to be treated. Love others even if they do not love you. Remember the Ten Commandments? The first four cover man’s relationship with God, and the rest relate to man’s relationship with his fellow man.

James 1:21 calls on us to put away wickedness and to receive God’s word into our souls, and James 2:22 tells us our faith must be living and active. Back in James 2:8, the author calls loving your neighbor as the royal law. We should respect the authority of God’s word and follow His pattern, but, in our daily lives, it can be as simple as putting God first and loving our fellow persons as ourselves. Instead of focusing on the checklist, we should be focusing on our God and those lives we touch every day.

by Tim Smelser

Who Will This Child Be?

Repeatedly, God’s people in the Old Testament are admonished to teach their children and their grandchildren. Each newborn child brings new hopes and opportunities to the life of their parents, and we wonder, “Who will this child be?” In Luke 1, the priest Zechariah is expecting a son, and this child is born in verse 57. The tradition would have been to name the child after the father, but both Elizabeth and Zechariah insist his name will be John. After seeing the signs surrounding the birth of John, the people wonder, in verse 66, “Who will this child be?”

The Unguided Child

We wish for our children to be better than ourselves, and we should realize that our choices impact that outcome. What kind of children do we desire? How can we impact the direction they go as they mature? What spiritual goals do we have for our children. Proverbs 22:6 discusses the importance of working with our children early, laying a foundation for their life later. Solomon encourages to take a hands-on approach with our children, and Proverbs 29:15 warns that a child left untended will bring shame to his or her family. Also, chapter 22:15 encourages us to correct our children when they behave foolishly.

I Corinthians 15:33 warns about the people we spend time with, and the same warning applies to our children. We should be encouraging our children to surround themselves with good influences and spiritual friends. I Peter 3:3-4 calls on us to focus on inward beauty over outward beauty. What if we teach our children that fashion is more important than modesty or goodness? What if we teach them to prioritize the secular over the spiritual? Matthew 6:33 records Jesus teaching to seek God’s kingdom first, placing our worldly concerns in God’s hands.

At God’s bidding, the high priest Eli has to reprimand his sons for their sins in serving God and their example to the people. King Rehoboam governs foolishly because he ignores the advice of his father’s advisors and listens to his foolish friends. Salomé inflames Herod to sin because of her immodesty. Paul criticizes Demos for loving the things of this world. These individuals put the world before God, are uncontrolled, are immodest.

The Nurture and Admonition of the Lord

Proverbs 20:7 blesses the children of one who walks in integrity. Ephesians 6:4 calls on fathers to nurture and train their children in the ways of the Lord – not always what is most enjoyable, but what is needed. Deuteronomy 6:4 records Moses instructing the people to make God’s word a daily part of family life, and Luke 4:16, the gospel writer reveals the child Jesus had been customarily taken to worship by His family.

Proverbs 13:20 says wise companions bring wisdom, and III John verse 4 expresses John’s joy in seeing his spiritual children walking in truth. We take pride in much that our children do, but character is what we should be able to take the most pride in. Our families should also be prayerful, James 5:16 encouraging us to pray earnestly. Think of Samuel, Timothy, John and Jesus, David and Jonathan, Barnabas, and Paul – the examples they serve in the scriptures. These once had parents who brought them up and influenced who they would be.

Our choices have an impact in determining who our child will be. Our children have more than an earthly father and mother. They have a Father in Heaven who also looks down upon them. What relationship do you and I have with God? What do our children see in our walk as children of God? If we want out children to reflect godly qualities as they grow, we should first be reflecting these qualities in our own lives.

lesson by Tim Smelser

A Royal Priesthood

Peter uses a passage from Exodus 19 in I Peter 2:9, directly quoting God speaking to His people through Moses. Peter reminds us that we had no true identity prior to obtaining mercy, but now we are His people. now we are His priests. In the Old Testament, a priest was one who performed sacrificial and mediator duties. In Latin, a priest is one who “builds bridges.” A priest crosses the divide between the mortal and the divine.

These duties go back to the days of Cain and Able in Genesis 4. Also Noah, after disembarking from the ark, offers sacrifices to God – as do Abraham, Job, and other Old Testament figures. Numerous individuals are engaged in priestly service in the Old Testament prior to the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai. With the establishment of the Levitical priesthood comes an established covenant relationship.

Holy and Anointed

The Levitical priests oversaw the daily offerings and sacrifices, and God emphasizes their holiness when making the offerings. They maintained the lamp, the alter fires, and the incense. They maintained the sanctity of the people, keeping the covenant, knowing the covenant, and teaching the covenant. They were to maintain their own purity in their service of God. They were set apart for service unto God most high.

Exodus 29:7-9 describes the anointing of Aaron and this priesthood. No other was to use it or duplicate it in Exodus 30:31. Exodus 40:14 continues this anointing for Aaron’s sons. This holy oil is used again in I Kings 19:16 when the prophet Elijah is instructed to anoint kings and prophets. Kings, prophets, and priests were all sanctified by this holy oil – all those who served God as mediator between Him and His people.

Exodus 7:16 records God calling His people from Egypt so they may serve Him, and Numbers 3-4 records the census of the Levites. Time and again, reference is made of the Levites serving in the tabernacle. In the New Testament, in Hebrews 9:1, these duties are revisited. Throughout history, God expects sacrificial service from those ordained in His service. These roles had nothing to do with helping “me.” Rather, the focus was and is on serving others and serving Gods.

An Imperfect Priesthood

There were shortcomings, however. In Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu are struck down for insufficient service. I Samuel 2:12 records the failings of the High Priest Eli’s sons. In II Kings 23, we read of priests offering children in sacrifice to Molech, and Malachi 1:6 has God scorning the priests who fail to honor Him properly and fail His name. Though the priests were outwardly sanctified, human failings could still bring down these separated servants of God.

A Perfect Priest and King

Psalm 110, however, speaks of a king higher than David, and this king would also be a priest in a manner similar to Melchizedek. Also, Zechariah 6:9-13 contains prophecy of a priest who would sit on His throne, a Branch that would promote peace through His roles as priest and king. This is a unique pairing of roles, for, in the Old Testament, the offices of priest and king were strictly separated.

In Luke 1, Zechariah the priest (a coincidence of names that is probably no coincidence), is serving before the alter of incense. There, Zechariah learns that his son will be the forerunner to the Messiah, and we can read of the ministry of this son in John 1. Those listening ask John if he is the one to come, and John answers that He prepares the way.

Hebrews 7 draws a distinction between the priesthood of Aaron’s sons, Melchizedek, and Jesus. The Hebrew writer argues that Jesus’ priesthood is established by an oath and that it is an eternal priesthood. Hebrews 4:14-16 describes the High Priest of Jesus as one who shares our humanity, and Hebrews 2:14-17 calls Him our brother. He is better mediator of abetter covenant enacted upon better promises. He intercedes on our behalf, and He is God’s obedient servant as seen in Hebrews 5:7-9. His service is obedient and sacrificial.

A Nation of Priests

Returning to I Peter 2, we are a spiritual house, a priesthood given over to spiritual sacrifices. Philippians 2:5 calls on us to have the mind of Christ. As Christ’s service was obedient and sacrificial as a priest of God, we are to likewise serve. We are priests serving under a great High Priest and King. Our mindset is not centered on “me” any more than Christ’s. He gave Himself on our behalves, and we should be sacrificially giving ourselves over to Him. We can be a beacon hope for one another and for the world, serving in God’s house as priests.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Observing the Cross

In our service, are we participants or spectators? We don’t typically say, “We saw a good service this morning?” We can understand and apply the lessons of the Bible if we actively engage in our service, but in this lesson, we’re going to look at some individuals who did not engage with Jesus. They merely spectated.

Matthew 27:35-36 records some who, in the midst of the crucifixion, sat down, cast lots for Jesus’ garments, and simply watched Him. We read of the crowds surrounding the crucifixion, the leaders involved in the trial and accusations, the women gathering around the cross, the scattering apostles, and the soldiers attacking Jesus. What do these people see in Jesus? What do we see?

What Did They See?

What do the soldiers see? Matthew 27:27-31 describes some of the cruelties Jesus endured prior to His execution. What do those soldiers see during these indignities? They see a spectacle they enjoyed. These cruelties were not unique to Jesus. To them, He is just another prisoner, and they took joy in their job. They care nothing for Jesus’ identity, His claims, or the charges surrounding Him. They are merely caught up in their jobs.

What do the religious and governmental leaders see? We know Jesus had some supporters among the leaders, but even those often held their peace, for the majority of their peers are set against the Christ. Most of those religious and political leaders see victory in Jesus’ death. They continuously plotted His death while He was teaching and preaching, seeing Jesus as a threat to their positions and their way of life.

What do the criminals see? One sees a miscarriage of justice while one sees a figure to mock. In Luke 23:39, one figure hanging on the crosses joins in the jeers against Him. He takes up the chant persisted by the crowds. “Save yourself.” In contrast, the other recognizes that they will die alongside Him – them deserving, Him undeserving. This second thief started out mocking Jesus, but, while they are on those crosses, this thief sees Christ as something different.

What do the apostles see? Matthew 26:55 tells how the disciples flee. Some observe from a distance. Some hide behind locked doors. What do they see? They see their hopes crumble. In Luke 24:18, we see how despondent two of Jesus’ disciples are in their conversation. For them, their work for the past three years has become pointless. All of their work is for nothing.

What do the women see? Matthew 27:55 describes those women who had received kindness from Jesus, and they, in turn, had shown hospitality to Him. They had helped feed Him and His disciples, giving them room and board. When Jesus dies, these women see the death of a friend.

What do We See?

What do we see in the death of Jesus? Do we focus on the violence? Do we see it as an excuse for racial hatred – showing no interest in emulating Christ but rather feeding a grudge? Do we simply see an interesting point of Roman history? Do we see a mere man who dies for His principles? What do we see when we are faced with Jesus and the cross?

• We should see the wickedness of man. Acts 2:22-23 describes how hatred and sin put Jesus on the cross, and our animosity, rebellion, and sin did just as much to crucify Him as those shouting, “Crucify Him!”
• We should see the inadequacy of the Old Law. Hebrews 10:1-4 describes the impossibility of animal sacrifices truly atoning for sin. It took a perfect sacrifice to fulfill the requirements of sin.
• We should see the seriousness of sin. Isaiah 59:1-2 describes the separation sin creates between us and God. It creates a rift the took Jesus’ sacrifice to bridge.
• We should see the majesty of God’s justice. Romans 3:23 describes that all fall short of God’s glory, but the point comes in verses 24-26, showing that God through Christ justifies us in mercy. He pays the penalty for sin.
• We should see the extent of God’s love. John 3:16, I John 4:8-10, Romans 5:10 – these verses and more describe the love God has in His sacrifice for us and the love that should be reflected in our lives.
• We should see the trauma of conversion. In Romans 6:6, Paul describes our life-changing conversion as a crucifixion. We put our sinful self to death the same way Christ was put to death. We should see more than in Christ’s death than an act that occurred to someone else.

Those baptized to Christ are baptized into His death, being raised to walk in newness of life. When we look at the cross, we should see the dedication and commitment it takes to be a follower of Christ. It is more than a name we wear on Sundays. It is more than a label. It is a transformation to a new being, set apart and sanctified by the sacrifice of Jesus on that cross.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Known By Your Enemies

I am a movie buff. I enjoy movies that make me think, that entertain me, that inspire me, or that simply make me laugh. Recently, I got around to watching a 2005 movie called Kingdom of Heaven. In it, a Muslim prince named Nasir parts with a Christian knight by saying, “Your quality will be known among your enemies, before ever you meet them.”

What does it mean to have an enemy? Enemies oppose one’s values, one’s beliefs, or one’s very existence. Enemies can be the result of certain stands on issues, because of political or military loyalties, or for numerous more personal or for more insignificant reasons. We may have enemies of which we are unaware, or we may ourselves feel opposed to one unaware of our own feelings. Enmity happens. What, then, as Christians should we do about it?

Christian Enmity

Are we authorized by scripture to have enemies, though? The word enemy is used over 300 times in the New American Standard translation of the Bible. Most are assurance of God for protection from enemies. Some are appeals to God for that protection, and a few discuss our handling of personal enemies. In Matthew 10:22, Jesus begins discussing the fact that there will be those who oppose the apostles’ efforts. They will set themselves against the apostles and even hate them. While we should not seek to create enemies (Romans 12:18), being a disciple of Christ will result in those who oppose us.

With this in mind, how are we to conduct ourselves around those who oppose our beliefs, our values, or even our existence. Luke 6:35 calls on us to do good toward those who might be enemies, and Romans 12:20 calls on us to be charitable toward those set against us. We are not instructed to treat an enemy differently than a friend. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus calls on us to control our anger in Matthew 5:22. He goes on to instruct those around Him to avoid retaliation (Matthew 5:39) and to go as far as caring for and praying for those who are hostile toward us (Matthew 5: 43-48). It’s easy to love a friend and hate an enemy, but Jesus challenges us to love both. We should not mistreat those who mistreat us. There should be no distinction in conduct between how we treat those who stand with us versus those who stand against us.

Conclusion

We do need the courage to stand for our faith and our God. We need faith in God’s protection, and we need the strength of character to demonstrate love to those who oppose us. We need to treat them with kindness and mercy as Christ has treated us – going as far as dying on our behalf even when we were set at enmity against Him according to Romans 5:8-10. Paul never cast stones back upon those who sought to kill him. Stephen did not fight the Pharisees stoning him. Jesus did not destroy those who crucified Him. Rather, He asked for their forgiveness. We should be as merciful to those who mistreat us.

lesson by Brad Rosene

The Bondage of Sin

In John 8, Jesus proclaims His deity multiple times, and in the midst of His declaring that He is the I AM, he calls on his audience to accept the truth that will make them free. In response, those around respond that they have never been in bondage as sons of Abraham. This is a confounding answer, for their forefathers had indeed been in captivity under the Egyptians, under Assyrians, and under the Babylonians. In this lesson, we’re going to look at these times of bondage for Israel and what we can learn from these periods of history.

God’s People in Bondage
In Exodus 6, God tells Moses to go to Egypt and redeem the Israelites. God says they will become His people, and He will be their God. Deuteronomy 7:17, some forty years after the Exodus commences, Moses calls upon the people to remember their deliverance from Egypt by God’s outstretched arm. In Deuteronomy 2:29 and 11:2, Moses again calls upon them to remember God’s power in His deliverance.

Generations pass. The period of the judges comes and goes. The monarchy is established, and the kingdom divides between northern and southern kingdoms. Hosea 8:13 records God saying the people of the north would return to Egypt. He does not mean literal Egypt, but they would return to the dangers of captivity. In Hosea 11:5, the prophet reveals Assyria to be the new captors. Contemporary to Hosea, to Amos 4:1 begins describing the terrors of this captivity, God giving them over to a people cruel and merciless because they have forsaken Him.

Amos 2 foreshadows another captivity. Verse 4 speaks of the transgressions of the southern kingdom of Judah, and Amos anticipates the bondage under Babylon. During the life of Jeremiah, the temple would be destroyed, the city burned, and the majority of the population carried away. The kingdom of Judah would never completely recover from the damages caused by Babylon.

Captivity Under Sin
What can these stories of bondage and captivity mean for us as New Testament Christians? After converting the sorcerer Simon, Paul in Acts 8:22-23 accuses him of being in bondage to sin. Discussing his inner conflict in Romans 7:14, Paul describes himself sold as a slave to sin, and Romans 6:6 and 16-17 speaks of sin in terms of slavery as does Galatians 5:1. Sin is spiritual captivity. Living in such a state puts us in the same situation as those Israelites being carried off to Assyria by fishhooks.

Longing for Slavery
In Numbers 11:4, the people of Israel remember their days in Egypt fondly. They long for the relative luxuries they had when they were in bondage to Pharaoh. They view their captivity as a form of good old days. Also, in Numbers 14, as the spies return from Canaan, the congregation of Israel weep against Moses, wishing they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. They even plan to return to Egypt. As terrible as their bondage was, when times were difficult, they sought to return.

Likewise, at the end of the Babylonian captivity, some were content to stay in the land of their conquerors. We shake our heads in disbelief at their resistance to God’s redemption while we do the very same thing. The bondage of sin can look very attractive at times, and we can turn back to sin as the Israelites wished to return to Egypt. We must understand the wretchedness of bondage to sin. I John 1:8 warns us against taking sin lightly, and Romans 6:23 spells out the consequences of sin. Like Israel should have come out of captivity, never looking back, we should come out of sin to never return.

God stretches out His arm to redeem us and pull us from slavery. We can accept that saving grace to live free from the chains of sin.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Extent of Our Faith

In our society, we are discouraged from being extremists – spiritually, politically, morally. It is uncomfortable at times to take things to extremes. We want to be moderate in our application of philosophies and ideologies. To what extent do we take our commitment to God? Are we moderates or extremists with our views of our Savior and His word? When we examine Christ’s own teachings, it’s evident He leaves no room for middle ground when it comes to accepting or rejecting Him.

The Extent of Jesus’ Deity
In Christ’s time as well as our own, some view Christ as a philosopher, a Son of God as we are sons of God, a spiritual leader, or as God in flesh. Luke 4:16 records Jesus return to Nazareth during His ministry. As he reads a Messianic prophecy from Isaiah, He clearly indicates that this prophecy points to Him. He Claims to be the Messiah. In John 8, Jesus draws a line between belief in Him and condemnation, and, in verse 58, Jesus equates Himself with Jehovah. He calls Himself I AM. John 10:30 has Jesus saying He and God are one and the same.

Jesus, in His ministry, takes an extreme position. He claims to be the way to Heaven. He claims to be deity. The Jews of the New Testament know what He means. They take up stones to kill Him. Jesus never backs down from His claims. He is either a fraud or He is what He claims. We cannot be moderate in our acceptance of Jesus’ teachings. With such claims, we are forced to either completely accept or completely reject Him.

The Extent of Accepting the Bible
Do we view the Bible as folklore? Do we view parts of the Bible as inspired while other parts are secular? Do we want to pick and choose from the Bible, only applying those parts with which we agree? In II John verse 9, John writes there is no flexibility with God’s word. He claims it is impossible to reach God while modifying His word. The gospel of John 12:48 records Jesus claiming that rejecting Him will result in judgment by the word delivered by God through Him.

In Acts 2:4, we see the apostles filled with the Holy Spirit, and they begin to speak as inspired by God. Jesus promises this event in John 14:25, saying they will be inspired to recall all that He has taught them. Paul acknowledges this inspiration in Galatians 1:6-12. The writers of the New Testament do not view their work moderately. They claim it is of God, and Peter claims the words of the Old Testament are of God. We cannot claim to be following Christ while only accepting a portion of His message.

The Extent of Our Service
There is no such thing as a part-time Christian. I cannot treat my identity casually. It is always a part of me, whether I am at church or not. In Matthew 12:30, Jesus challenges His audience, claiming those who are not working for Him are working against Him. Chapter 6:24 calls upon us to choose who we will serve, this world or God. In Matthew 19:16, Jesus tells a young man to keep the commandments and to give up his possessions to achieve treasure in Heaven. We cannot serve both God and worldly interests.

We cannot be devoted to God once a week and then devoted to self the rest of the week. To what extent does Jesus go in His service and ministry? To what extent do the apostles go in their service? We must be willing to go to the same extent. Jesus was not moderate in His sacrifices for us. The apostles were not moderate in their efforts to spread His word. We have challenges we have to overcome if we are going to serve Christ as He expects. It takes focus and determination, but we can follow our Savior to the extent He expects.

lesson by Tim Smelser