Harmony #60: “The Lord’s Prayer” (Luke 11:1-13; Matthew 6:9-15, 7:7-11; Mark 11:25)

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, may your name be hallowed/ honored;  may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  

 Give us today the bread (of life?), and forgive us our transgressions/debts, for we also forgive everyone who has transgressions/debts against us. And do not lead us into trials, but deliver us from the evil one. 

 “Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.”

Jesus offered this prayer to his disciples as sort of a model. There’s nothing magical in the recitation of it, but in it we see foundational principles in how to pray, and why.

Our Father In Heaven…

“Our Father” starts us off with good theology. God is not a deistic God, aloof and uncaring. God is not a pantheistic God that is just part of nature. God is not the Force. God is personal,[1]relational, immediate, accessible. With this opening, we not only acknowledge God, we exercise faith that God will, indeed, relate to us as a perfectly good and loving Father relates to His children.

“Our Father” reminds us that he’s our father. Not just mine; ours. We cannot forget when we pray this that we are raised from death into new life in a family, a Christian community. In this, we are recognizing that while God is for us, He is for all of us. I cannot be content to simply think of God in terms of “me and God.” It’s “us and God.”

“This at once takes away hatred, quells pride, casts out envy and brings in the mother of all good things, charity…It shows [the equality of] the king and the poor person in all those matters that are most indispensible and of greatest weight.” - Chrysostom

“Our Father” reminds us of our status as Christians. It reminds us whose we are. We are meant to  approach God as a child approaches her father. 

 Galatians 4:6 “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father!’” 

Romans 8:15, 16 “You received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

Think of “Abba” as the word children say before they can fully pronounce the word.[2] It’s the best expression of a deep, gut-level, unrestrained cry of joy when daddy walks into the room; it’s the instinctive wail of his title when a child in pain believes only daddy will make it better. It’s a word that is used only in a relationship of safety, trust, and love.

“Our Father” reminds us that God cares for us. God will guide and discipline us for our growth into maturity, but he does so because of His love. So just in this opening, we establish a theology of God, our status with Him, and our place within the Christian community.

May Your Name Be Hallowed/Honored…

“Hallowed be your name” is a plea, not a statement of fact. It’s saying, “Please, make your name revered or holy.” It’s asking for God to start the process in a world full of people – including the one praying – who takes the name of Jesus too casually. It’s asking that God’s character and nature be recognized as great by all who dismiss, insult or ignore it. This should humble us, because that includes us.[3]

It’s also a plea of both humility and hope. “Help me not to take your name lightly. Help me to appreciate the majesty of God. May the entirety of my life reflect that great weight and value I give to you; with your help, all I think, say and do will offer an accurate representation of you. ”   

“The prayer to hallow God’s name corresponds with what Jesus has previously taught: ‘Let you light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven…’ In effect he is saying, ‘Enable us to live so purely that through us all may glorify you’ It points us again to mature self-control, that we may present to all a life so irreprehensible that every one of those who observe may offer to the Lord the praise due him for this.” - Chrysostom

May Your Kingdom Come, May Your Will be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven

This is another phrase of hope and humility. Robert Law writes,

"Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting [our] will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done.”

Whenever we pray for justice, mercy, hope, and love, truth, and holiness, we are praying with hope that we will see these heavenly realities part now what we will see fully in the life to come.

It’s humbling in that we are asking God to reign in our lives in ways He does not now - emotions, desires, thoughts and commitments.

We want His desire to be our desires; His will to be our will; His loves to be our loves; His holiness to be ours. It’s also a reminder that, at the end of the day, we want God’s will to be done, not ours.

It’s not always easy to tell if we are within God’s will, or if we are selfishly motivated. It’s not possible for us to see all that God sees, so in many situations our best prayer is one where we ask God for life to unfold in a way that makes complete sense to us – but it might not be in the will of a God who has faultless wisdom, love and power. Even Jesus prayed:

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22)

This is another part of praying in God’s name. Praying in his name means praying in tune with God’s nature and character, and therefore praying for something to happen as God would have it happen.

In prayer we call on him to work out his purpose, not simply to gratify our whims.   (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary[4])

It’s also challenging. This part of the prayer reminds us that others are praying this too. If we are excited to see God’s will for ourselves or the earth accomplished through the Holy Spirit and the people of God – well then, people of God, buckle up. What if I am the thing God uses in answer to someone else’s prayer?

• When the poor pray for finances, will I be willing to help?

• When the lonely pray for a friend, am I available?

• When the desperate pray for help, am I ready?

Give Us Today The Bread (of life) …

Literally, “that which is sufficient for our life.”  In ancient literature, this word is only found in the Bible and only twice, so there is uncertainty about how to translate it. It almost looks like Jesus coined a new word to make his point. It can convey everything from bread today, to bread tomorrow, to the bread of heaven that will sustain us for eternity.[5] Jerome called it “bread that is above all substances and surpasses all creatures.”[6]

This is a prayer about trusting God to provide what we need. We can take for granted that we can take care of ourselves. If that fails, our family, church or government will provide. This part of the prayer reminds us that our blessings find their source in him. For that reason, we thank God ultimately for supplying for our needs. It’s a constant reminder that life is saturated with the presence and work of God, and even in our greatest accomplishments or in the most generous deeds of others it is God who sustains and provides.

 There is a future hope here as well. We are trusting that God will sustain us into and through eternity, which will require the true “bread of life,” Jesus Christ.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Jesus, in John 6:51

And Forgive Us Our Transgressions/Debts, For We Also Forgive Everyone Who Has Transgressions/Debts Against Us.

Apollonius of Tyana was a Greek philosopher, a contemporary of Jesus whom a number of scholars have compared with Jesus. They shouldn’t. He once prayed, “Give me that which is my due—pay me, ye gods, the debts ye owe to me.” This is not the prayer of one who understands Jesus or the Christian faith.

Here is the first acknowledgment: We have all sinned, broken God’s law and harmed ourselves and others as we have stepped out of the path of Life. We are in desperate need of someone to free us from the wages of sin. This is a plea for God, in His mercy, to cover the cost of our sins and repair that which has been broken by us or in us.

The second acknowledgment is that we must forgive those who sin against us. This is much tougher than praying that God forgives us of our sins. We must forgive those who have sinned against us: our spouse, our parents, cruel people at work or school. This list includes users and abusers, manipulators and liars. We all have sinned; we all are in desperate needs of God’s forgiveness. We want God to forgive us; as representatives bearing His name, we must offer forgiveness as well.

This portion of the prayer is what Augustine called “a terrible petition.” If we pray these words this while harboring unforgiveness, we are actually asking God not to forgive us. We would be saying, “I haven’t forgiven my friend/spouse/neighbor yet, so please don’t forgive me.” John and Charles Wesley wrote of this passage that, if we pray this while harboring unforgiveness, it is as if we were saying, “Do not forgive us at all…We pray that you will keep our sins in remembrance, and that your wrath may abide upon us.”

Scripture teaches that God forgives even when we don’t deserve it (Isaiah 43-44 is a powerful passage on this note). I don’t think this is a demand that we perfectly remember all the ways we need to extend forgiveness, because we aren’t perfect. I think this is about a crucial spiritual marker of an ongoing commitment to purposeful and sincere forgiveness, which will say something about the sincerity of our ongoing surrender and discipleship.

“God sees His own image reflected in His forgiving children; to ask God for what we ourselves refuse to men, is to insult Him.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

We must be committed to being deliberately and habitually forgiving.[7] 

And here I must note something. So far, this prayer is full of excellent requests: “Make you Kingdom come alive in me; provide for my physical and spiritual needs every day.” But here it’s different: here we are asking God to mirror our commitment to life in the Kingdom. Some commentators call this a ‘covenantal’ part of the prayer. I’d like to suggest that this is the line in the prayer that does two things:

• Reminds us we aren't passive participants in the Kingdom

• Highlights the heart of the Kingdom: forgiveness

We’ve been asking so far for God to give us incredible gifts: He hallows his name; He brings His Kingdom into reality in our hearts; He nourishes us with what we need for this life and the next.  So, what do we do with all this provision He has provided?  It turns out that God is equipping us to do the thing that is central to the character and nature of God: forgive. As Chrysostom noted,

“Nothing makes us so like God as our readiness to forgive the wicked and the wrongdoer.”

And do not lead us into trials,[8] but deliver us from the evil one.

• Trial: “trouble sent by God and serving to test or prove one's faith, holiness, character.” 

• Temptation: “an enticement to sin, arising from outward circumstances, within, or from Satan” (Luke 8:13; 1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:12; 1 Timothy 6:9; Luke 4:13).[9]

The commentaries I have been reading note that “lead us not into temptation” is better understood as “lead us not into trials/testing.” Wuest’s Translation says:

“Do not bring us into the place of testing where the circumstances in which we are tested lead us on to the place where we are solicited to do evil.”

So this is once again humble and hopeful. It’s humbling in that we acknowledge we are people in need of the refining result that trials can bring. This prayer asks for us to be able to mature without trials (wouldn’t that be great???). Please, dear God, if at all possible, let this cup pass from me. Jesus prayed it; we can too.  But if a trial is what it takes, keep us from giving into the temptation from the Evil One (Luke 4:13; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8) and from from the lusts within ourselves that undermine us (James 1:14; 4:1-4). It’s a prayer to save us from moral failure within and the ravages of moral evil all around.[10]

It is so easy for a maturing test to push us away from God instead of toward God. Deliver us, Lord, from the Evil One, who would turn what you plan to use to bring us spiritual life into something that brings spiritual death.

But there is the hopeful reminder in this request: we know that God is a Deliverer. The Old Testament shows us that, time after time, God faithfully guides his people through trials and delivers his people from the snares of sin and power of temptation.

For Yours Is The Kingdom, And The Power, And The Glory Forever, Amen.

This phrase is not in the earliest manuscripts, but it was written in the margins beside this prayer so often that the early church added it relatively quickly – think of it as a doxology, a short closing song. After focusing on our needs, our troubles, our frailty, we return to the glory of God.  N.T. Wright says,

“If the church isn't prepared to subvert the kingdoms of the world with the kingdom of God, the only honest thing would be to give up praying this prayer altogether, especially its final doxology.”

All kingdoms answer to God. All power comes from God. All glory belongs to God. In a world where kingdoms rise and fall, and power corrupts, and glory is tarnished and fleeting, it’s a reminder that God is uncorrupted, lasting, powerful and good, and true glory is found only in him.

* * * * * * * * * *

So, “Lord, help us to: Never forget your holiness and majesty; pray for your will and reign, not ours; trust for daily and eternal provision; constantly forgive others; mature through trials without giving in to evil.” 

That’s a lot. It’s a high bar. I’ve said several times that it’s hopeful and humbling. Here’s where I add, “This sounds almost impossible.” But…Jesus isn’t done with this teaching. I believe the next thing he says addresses that fact that when God calls us, God equips us. Don’t think of what I am about to read as the next ‘episode.’ This all flows together. 

Luke 11:10-13; Matthew 7:7-11

“So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 

What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? Or if he asks for bread, will give him a stone? 

If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the good gift of the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! 

There it is. The solution. The equipment for the life to which we have been called. The Spirit of God himself resides within us. God has not left us to our own devices to live the way he has designed us to live. He is personally helping us flourish as image bearers of God, as children of God, as ambassadors for God.

________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] http://www.biblesociety.org.au/news/god-is-a-person-but-what-does-this-mean

[2] I first heard this point made by Tim Keller in a sermon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqxXABgRhVo

[3] I pulled some ideas about the radical nature of the Lord’s Prayer from this excellent article: “The Lord’s Prayer Advert Has Been Banned For Being Offensive - Which It Is.” http://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/the_lords_prayer_advert_has_been_banned_for_being_offensive_which_it_is\

[4] “The prayer of Gethsemane—“If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done,” should teach what prayer in the name and spirit of Christ means.” (Ellicot’s Commentary)

“ ’In My name’ corresponds to “according to My character” and thus is parallel to other texts that require us to leave room for God’s will to overrule ours.” (The Apologetics Study Bible)

[5] From Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: “The form of the word admits of the meanings, (1) bread sufficient for the day now coming; (2) sufficient for the morrow; (3) sufficient for existence; (4) over and above material substance… I find myself constrained to say that the last meaning seems to me the truest. Let us remember: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4… I think, to see that He meant His disciples… we mean not common food, but the “Bread from heaven, which giveth life unto the world.”

[6] I believe all the quotes from the early church fathers comes from the commentary in the series Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture.

[7] “The parables of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:41) and of the Unforgiving Creditor whose own debt had been forgiven (Matthew 18:23-35) were but expansions of the thought which we find in its germ in this clause of the Lord’s Prayer.” (Elliot’s Commentary For English Readers)

[8] I lean toward “trials” as being the best way to translate the word. However, Tertullian (an early church father) represented what it looks like to read it as “temptations.” He reads Jesus as saying, “Do not allow us to be led by the Tempter.”

[9] Both these words use the same root word; translations will differ on the usage at times. (http://biblehub.com/greek/3986.htm). 

[10] How does God  answer this prayer and deliver us? His Word. (Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 6:20-24); Prayer (Matthew 26:41; Luke 22:40); The Armor of God (Ephesians 6); Wise Boundaries (1 Corinthians 7:5; Proverbs 5-7); Resistance and flight (1 Timothy 6; James 4:7; Matthew 18:8-9; Proverbs 1:10-15; Genesis 39:7-10; Daniel 1:8).

Harmony #8: "Out With The Old, In With The New: Part 2" (John 2:13-22)

If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us. So, what tangible Kingdom attributes should we be zealous to put in the courtyard of our church and our lives so that the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives?

Sweep out Stinginess and replace it with Generosity – giving to those in need[1]

• “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”  2 Corinthians 9:11

•  “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”  1 John 3:17

• “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  Hebrews 13:1

A generous community is a healthy community. The book of Acts records of the early church that “they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” This was one of a number of things recorded in Acts that led to them “enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”[2]  Turns out generosity is a great witnessing tool. God’s people have a Great Commission: go everywhere, preaching the gospel and making disciples. Things like generosity cultivate the soil in which the seeds of the gospel will be planted. It helps to break up the hard ground in the hearts of souls of people.

Sweep out Harshness and replace it with Gentleness – keeping strength under control[3]

• Ephesians 4:1–3  “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness...”

• 1 Timothy 6:11–12  “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”

• 1 Peter 3:14–16  “Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

 Gentleness is not weakness. Gentle people are those with the ability to do harm who are careful not to do harm. You have to train dogs about the power of their own bite so they know how to be gentle. Kids have to learn it at an early age so siblings and pets don’t get hurt. Gentleness occurs when those who could hurt others, don’t.

• “I could say this and leave no tip and let that waiter know just how bad of an experience this was.” Be gentle.

• “I could gossip and throw him under the bus.” Be gentle.

• “I could take that past failure of my friend or spouse or parent or that person across the room right now and use it against them for a long, long time.” Be gentle.

Sweep out Self-indulgence and replace it with Self-control – not being ruled by our appetites[4]

• “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  1 Corinthians 9:24-27

• “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Galatians 5:13-16

God gave us appetites and the proper fulfillment of them. If we are hungry; there’s food. If we want companionship, there are people. If we want order, there’s organization. If we want family, there’s marriage and sex. If we want independence (or agency) and there’s free will. If we want to learn, there’s knowledge. Appetites (or desires) are not necessarily the problem. What these verses highlight are two ways appetites and desire can go wrong:

• They could knock us out of the race (compromise our witness)

• They could cause us to bite and devour others to get what we want

When things other then Jesus begin to order or control our lives, we will live in such a way that we will begin to bite and devour others to get what we want.

• Our desire for companionship becomes manipulative control of those around so we get all our needs met on our terms. Those around us become the sacrifice as we consume people to fill that void within us.

• Our desire for order becomes a coercive demanding that people and things be just like we like them all the time, with the attached message that those not as orderly are not just physically deficient, but probably morally deficient in some way. And when disorder strikes, those around us become the sacrifice as we lash out at those who messed up our world.

• Our desire for family becomes our desire for the perfect, ideal family, which becomes a fixation on everybody being perfect – well, everybody being what I want them to be. And when Billy doesn’t act or dress just right, or your spouse falls short…look out. They are about to become the sacrifice.

• Our desire for agency becomes an excuse for indulgence and rebellion at all authority. “Nobody can tell me what to do.” Anytime there is a sense that we might be responsible to something or someone bigger than ourselves we reject it, because nobody is bigger than ourselves. When this happens, community gets sacrificed – and that includes the relationships with the people in it.

 The opposite of being ruled by our desires is self-control, which is surrendering our desires to God’s desires. “Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[5] This Paul calls “walking in the Spirit.” We talk about living a Spirit-led life, one in which the gifts and the fruit build up the body of Christ and serve as a witness to God’s transformative power at work in us. What does this look like? Serving one another in love. 

Sweep out Self-Sufficiency and replace it with Prayer,[6] pouring out our soul to the Lord (Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1:15)

• “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. “  Matthew 26:41

•  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

I don’t know if ‘self-sufficiency’ is the best word, but here’s what I’m getting at: Prayer reminds us that we need help. We are not good at being autonomous. We lack the ability to be righteous and holy on our own. We thrive in the service of a King who is ‘far beyond what we ask or think,’[7] and without this King reigning in our lives, we’re in trouble (as are the people around us).

• We resist temptation, but we also recognize the need for Holy Spirit power in that resistance, and we ask for and remind ourselves of that through prayer.

• If we think we can be good or righteous through our own will, we will either be proud (“I nailed it and all these losers around me haven’t figured it out yet”) or ashamed (“I am the loser. I just can’t get it right!”), so we pray for God’s power to bring about righteousness in us that we simply can’t do on our own.

• I realized a while ago I often said, “I’ve been thinking and praying about this,” and I wasn’t trying to be dishonest, but it turned out I was just thinking. Why? Because of course I could figure it out. I didn’t need God’s input. Ummmmm…

 Prayer is, among other things, a constant acknowledgment that I can’t do this by myself. It’s an act of surrender in which we take the ball and put it in God’s court – which is where it was always meant to be.

Sweep out “Right”ness and replace it with Righteousness – doing that which God would approve[8]

• “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God…”1 John 3:10.

• “Then Peter said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.’” Acts 10:34-35.

I am defining “right”ness as, “But it’s my right!” But doing what we have the right to do can sometimes be very different from doing what is righteous. Paul as clear: even when things are permissible, they are not always beneficial.[9] I have the right to say almost anything I want here in our country, but not all of it would be righteous; so, as a child of God, I can’t exercise that right like others can, at least not in good conscience.  I have a right to hoard my money; I have a right to gamble it all away. I have a right to drive around town with offensive bumper stickers.  I have a right to go all kinds of places online.

But, as a follower of Jesus, my rights exist in service to the righteousness to which I am called. Righteousness is “right living” in the eyes of God, and living righteously is not just a necessary goal for the individual health of Christians, it’s an act of love for others. How can I love you well? Do what God tells me is the right thing to do.

Sweep out lords and replace them with servants – looking to serve rather than be served

• "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins… As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." 1 Peter 4:8-10 

• Philippians 2:3  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

• Luke 22:26-27   “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

 So this comes back to the question of power. God gives us power in order to help us serve more effectively. In the corporate world, those with power are often those for whom others work. The more people you lead, the more people work for you, and the more important you are.

Not so in the church. The more people you lead, the more people you serve. The more power you have, the more you are called to be broken and spilled out for others, not them for you.

Sweep out unrighteous Judgment and replace it with Nurture – caring for those who are hurting or broken[10]

• Romans 14:19  “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

• 1 Thessalonians 5:14  “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

• “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

I’ve recently head the analogy of a garden to describe our lives. I like it.  Comparing people with plants and farms is good biblical territory. J So, what do we do if we want a garden to flourish? WE TAKE CARE OF IT. I don’t angrily pound plants into the ground because they have bugs on them. I don’t withhold water because I’m mad the beans aren’t a tall as they should be. I don't ignore weeds that are overwhelming my plants because I figure the plants should be dealing with their own problems. I fertilize, weed, prune, water, dust for bugs.  I take care of my garden because fruit follows nurture.

You want to see Holy Spirit fruit in your life? Nurture yourself in the Word, in prayer, surrounded by God’s people. You want to see fruit in the people around you? The Holy Spirit is doing Holy Spirit work, but we are on a co-mission with God. . Nurture them.

Sweep out Timidity and replace it with Boldness – fearlessly doing and saying what is righteous[11]

• 2 Corinthians 3:12  “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

• 1 Thessalonians 2:2  “But thought we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi…we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

• Philippians 1:14  “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

 Bold is not brash, pushy or obnoxious. It’s just confident and unashamed in spite of whatever difficulties result. And notice the passage from Philippians: because of my chains, most have become confident. Apparently, persecution clarifies for people that it is time to go big or go home.

Church: we need to ‘go big’ all the time. By that I mean unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  Some of you get the opportunity sitting around a dinner table or a family reunion; for some of you, it’s every day at work. Some of you might take it to a larger scale. Wherever we are, unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ; it is the power of God unto salvation.[12]

Help us, Lord, to play our part in this church becoming increasingly a holy community of love, truth, prayer, worship, repentance, forgiveness, justice and mercy – a place for people of all neighborhoods and nations, a place where the grace of Jesus’ saving atonement is central, a place where God’s name is honored in our words and actions and God’s presence is experienced as transformative, saving, and healing. May zeal for the integrity of your house, guided by your Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, consume us.[13]

____________________________________________________________________________________

[1]  “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”  Proverbs 21:13

“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.”  Proverbs 28:27

 “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”  Luke 6:30

[2] Acts 2:42-47

[3] 2 Timothy 2:24–25  “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”  

Titus 3:1-2  “Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.”

[4] “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.”  Proverbs 16:32

“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.”  Proverbs 25:2

[5] Galatians 5:13

[6] “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

[7] Ephesians 3:20

[8] “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3.

“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” 1 John 2:29.

[9] 1 Corinthians 6:12

[10] James 2:14-17   “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

[11] Proverbs 28:1  “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are like a lion.”

[12] Romans 1:16

[13] Colin Smith, https://openthebible.org/sermon/zeal-for-gods-house/

Approach God Boldly (1 John 3:18-24)

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

By this we shall know that we are of the truth.

 Our obedience will reassure our hearts whenever our hearts condemn us. Because God is greater than our heart, we therefore (in the consciousness that we are of the truth) shall calm our hearts before God, however much our heart may accuse us.[1] (Remember that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything including everything in our hearts). 

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and can approach him with boldness; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 

 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us. (1 John 3:18-24) 

****************

This is a notoriously confusing passage of Scripture when it comes to understanding a) how and why our hearts condemn us (false guilt or real guilt), b) what it means that God is bigger than our hearts (should this worry us or comfort us?), and c) what it means that we can ask for anything and get it. So, here we go.  

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. By this[2] we shall know that we are of the truth, and our obedience will reassure our hearts[3] before him whenever our hearts condemn us.[4] Because God is greater than our hearts[5], we therefore (in the consciousness that we are of the truth) shall calm our hearts before God, however much our heart may accuse us. (Remember that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything, including our hearts)[6]. 

When John wrote earlier (2:28-4:6) about how we can be confident, he said to "continue in Jesus" and "do what is right" (2:29; 3:7, 10), which is shown primarily by our love for others. Now he addresses what to do when our hearts (conscience) condemn us.  There are at least two possibilities for what John means.[7]  

#1. We could read this as our conscience is highlighting our genuinely wrong actions or inactions.[8] If that’s the case, our commitment to (not our perfection of) living in obedience to God’s truth is meant to reassure us. 

“A Christian’s heart burdened with a sense of its own unworthiness forms an unfavourable opinion of the state of the soul, pronounces against its salvation. If we are conscious of practically loving the brethren, we can [see] this as evidence of the contrary, and give the heart ground to change its opinion, and to reassure itself.”[9]

This usage suggests our hearts are telling us we did something wrong, but the pattern of our life (not all the particulars), is intended to reassure us of our commitment (not our perfection).

#2. Other commentaries see it as closer to the idea of us beating ourselves up unfairly when we fail. Self-condemnation can be brutal. If that is the case, then John is talking about that insidious voice of despair and condemnation that keeps whispering, “God doesn’t want you. You failed again. You just aren’t good enough to deserve love or respect. Why keep trying? Maybe you should quit.”  Even though imperfection is to be expected on this side of heaven, it’s easy to run with the fact that we have fallen short of it and run ourselves into the ground. 

Either way, we must remember that God knows everything.

Because God is superior to our consciences in being omniscient, we may (when our love is sincere and fruitful), persuade our consciences before Him to acquit us. Our consciences through imperfect knowledge may be either too strict[10] or too easy[11] with us: God cannot be either, for He knows and weighs all… He is a more perfect judge than our heart can be.[12]

When John writes that God knows our hearts, he doesn’t just mean the good parts even we don’t see. He means even the bad parts we don’t see. I mean, our proper sense of guilt and/or our self-condemnation probably only scratches the surface. 

I believe John intends it to be both sobering and comforting in that the worst that is in us is known to God, and still He cares for us and loves us as His children. Our discovery has been an open secret to Him all along. But God sees more: God sees into depths even we have not dared to explore. 

I was talking with a guy who works in surgery, and he was telling me how people under certain kinds of anesthesiology will act out in a way that shows the real them. It’s like the drugs take away all the veils, and the real them emerges. They may swear like sailors, or flirt with the nurses, or just be chill.  ‘The deep’ emerges. 

I came out of the anesthesia of knee surgery once fighting with everyone. They had to restrain me. When they told me, the doctor said, “Have you been under stress?” Yep. That’s apparently a typical response. I have never been in a fight in my life, but something violent was nesting inside of me.

Perhaps it is that kind of image John is tapping into when he reminds us that God knows everything about our hearts - and he still loves us and calls us His child. We beat ourselves up for the failures that lie on the surface; God sees what is deep down in his soul and does not beat us up for it. He works to clean us up as an act of love, not condemnation.[13] He bore upon himself the weight of our condemnation so we don’t have to.

As the guys at Southside Rabbi pointed out in their last episode,[14] Jesus experienced what we experience in life, but there is one thing he experienced that his followers will never have to: the wrath of God falling on a person for their sin.[15] We partly know ourselves and loathe ourselves; God fully knows us and fully loves us.

“He knows all things; on the one hand the light and grace against which we have sinned, on the other the reality of our repentance and our love. It was to this infallible omniscience that S. Peter appealed, in humble distrust of his own feeling and judgment; ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love you’ (John 21:17).[16]

I think this translation from the Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges captures all of this discussion well. 

‘By loving our brethren in deed and truth we come to know that we are God’s children and have His presence within us, and are enabled to meet the disquieting charges of conscience. For, if conscience condemns us, its verdict is neither infallible nor final. We may still appeal to the omniscient God, whose love implanted within us is a sign that we are not condemned and rejected by Him.’

* * * * * 

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and can approach him with boldness; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 

This is the goal: to approach the throne of God with boldness. When we believe we are under the cloud of condemnation from ourselves or from God, we will not be bold. We will want to hide.

 As a kid, I remember that when I disobeyed my parents, I would hide. When my disobedience was known and dealt with, I didn’t. In fact, it was often freeing. A weight was gone. I think this might be the idea. 

What if we lived every moment in the freedom of knowing that nothing is hidden from God? There is no reason to try to hide something on the way to the cross. There is no reason not to be honest about our sins as a child of God. God already knows. He still loves us.  

How is it possible that we can approach God with this kind of boldness? 

• First, believing in Jesus Christ, that the death of God incarnate has saved us from the punishment we deserve, and that by committing our lives to him we can have eternal life that begins now and carries on (John 3:16-18). This is characterized by becoming more and more like Jesus.

• Second, committing to keeping his commands: Love God and love others. Love is the expression of true faith.[17] This is not about perfection; it’s about direction. What is our trajectory?

• Third, if our hearts (rightly) bring us godly sorrow or (unfairly) condemn us, we remember that God knows even worse things about us than we do; He anticipated it; He took care of it; He loves us more strongly than we can imagine. 

Now, he’s going to deal with us as a loving Father, which means a) there might be practical consequences we can’t avoid, and b) he’s going to love us too much to let us stay untransformed in that sin. But we didn’t surprise him. We didn’t suddenly go, “God, I don’t think you know this about me, but…” Nope. He brought us into His family knowing we would be at this point before we did. Be bold before God.

Now, about that “getting what you want.” 

This isn’t a formula for God becoming a cosmic Pez dispenser for our every whim. John is clear: if our will aligns with God’s will, when we ask what we will we are asking God to do what He already wills.  

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5)

"Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).

So, let’s say we are at a place where we approach God boldly. And let’s say we request something that is just not what God has in mind. We know what follows thanks to the disciples. Mark records the following story (Mark 10: 35-45).

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.  They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”  “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  

“We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.  

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Okay, kudos to the disciples for boldness. Notice Jesus doesn’t smack them down. He patiently explains that (like so many things we pray) they have no idea what they are asking. There is lot that will happen on the way to fulfilling that prayer request that is beyond their ability to know. As one country song notes, sometimes we should thank God for unanswered prayer. More importantly, that request did not align with God’s will.  

And then he teaches them how to ask for something in his will: Don’t ask for power and prestige in the eyes of people. Ask to be a servant. Ask how you might give your life for others. THAT’S a prayer that’s always in God’s will. This is the secret to powerful prayer: praying what is in God’s will to grant.

“To keep His commandments is to abide in Him. It is to live in close, vital intimacy with the Savior. When we are thus in fellowship with Him, we make His will our own will. By the Holy Spirit, He fills us with the knowledge of His will. In such a condition, we would not ask for anything outside the will of God. When we ask according to His will, we receive from Him the things we ask for.”[18] 

* * * * *  

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us. (1 John 3:18-24)

While the Jewish community tended to think of the presence of the  Spirit as rare; Christians began teaching that God gave his Spirit as an indwelling presence to all of his children (Acts 2.17–18; Romans 5:5; 8:14-16).[19] Whereas before, God’s people would have asked the Holy Spirit to show up, now they simply thanked him for being present within them.  

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave [us] the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”

Ephesians 1:13-14  “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of [God’s own] possession, to the praise of His glory.”

 John 14:15-18 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

Romans 8:15-16  “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

 Acts 5:32 “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."[20] 

Meanwhile the Old Testament told us what the Spirit of God would do (and this brings us back to what John has been writing about for this entire chapter):

"And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:27)

Bede paraphrases with a phrase I really like: “Let God be a home to thee, and be thou a home of God.”[21]

 That’s a fine goal for 2021.

__________________________________________________________________________

[1] Translation suggested by Meyer’s NT Commentary

[2] “The construction and punctuation of what follows is doubtful; also the reading in the first and second clauses of 1 John 3:20. Certainty is not attainable, and to give all possible variations of reading and rendering would take up too much space. The conclusions adopted here are given as good and tenable, but not as demonstrably right.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Theology) 

[3] kardía – heart; "the affective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference (volitional desire, choice); "desire-producer that makes us tick" i.e our "desire-decisions" that establish who we really are. (HELPS Word Studies)

[4] “Accuse us with unfavorable prejudice.” (Vincent’s Word Studies)

[5] “A more perfect judge of our hearts than we are.”  (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[6] See 1 Chronicles 28:9. “He knows all things; on the one hand the light and grace against which we have sinned, on the other the reality of our repentance and our love. It was to this infallible omniscience that S. Peter appealed, in humble distrust of his own feeling and judgment; ‘Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee’ (John 21:17). It is the reality and activity of our love (1 John 3:18-19) which gives us assurance under the accusations of conscience.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)  “God is greater than our heart. It is asked whether this means that he is more merciful or more rigorous. Neither the one nor the other. It means that, although our conscience is not infallible, God is. Our hearts may be deceived; he cannot be. He knoweth all things. An awful thought for the impenitent, a blessed and encouraging thought for the penitent, He knows our sins; but he also knows our temptations, our struggles, our sorrow, and our love. 1 John 3:20”  (Pulpit Commentary)

[7] “The old controversy is, whether God is called greater than our heart as forgiving or as judging; the former is the view of Thomas Angl., Luther, Bengel, Morus, Russmeyer, Spener, Noesselt, Steinhofer, Rickli, Baumgarten-Crusius, Sander, Besser, Düsterdieck, Erdmann, Myrberg, Ewald, Brückner, Braune, etc.; the latter is the view of Calvin, Beza, Socinus, Grotius, a Lapide, Castalio, Hornejus, Estius, Calovius, Semler, Lücke, Neander, Gerlach, de Wette, Ebrard, etc.”  (Meyer’s NT Commentary)

[8] If that’s the case “condemnation” is another way of saying “godly sorrow that leads to repentance.” (2 Corinthians 7:10) The only other time this word is used outside of this passage is by Paul in Galatians 2, where he “condemns” Peter in Antioch because of something Peter did wrong. This is a different word than we Paul uses in Romans when he talks about “no condemnation” for those in Christ (Romans 8:1). That has to do with the results of doing something wrong, not if someone did something wrong or not.

[9] Quoted in Cambridge Bible Commentary

[10] The danger of Option B. It is sooo easy to see ourselves more severely than we should.

[11] The danger of Option A. It is sooo easy to give ourselves a pass and see ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3). 

[12] Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges 

[13] Good insights from the Expositor’s Greek New Testament reflected in this section.

[14] Season 2 Episode 12: “Floyd, Chauvin, and the War On Empathy.”

[15] 2 Corinthians 5 - 19 It is central to our good news that God was in the Anointed making things right between Himself and the world. This means He does not hold their sins against them….21 He orchestrated this: the Anointed One, who had never experienced sin, became sin for us so that in Him we might embody the very righteousness of God.”

[16] Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges

[17] HT Believer’s Bible Commentary

[18] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[19] NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[20] I understand this to mean that the act of obedience which inaugurates the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is surrendering our lives to the lordship of Jesus and acknowledging the saving nature of his death on the cross (salvation); this verse and others seem to at least suggest that the expression of the Holy Spirit’s power (not presence!) and the abundance of fruit in our lives is in some sense associated with our commitment to obedience.

[21] The sign what we have arrived at this divine housing arrangement is a commitment to obedience (1 John 1:6, 1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:6-7; 1 John 3:9). And that obedience is made possible by the Holy Spirit, the ‘life’ of God dwelling in us, His children.

Keeping Yourselves In The Love Of God (Jude 1:14-19)

Jude’s been warning about false teachers and describing how to recognize them. Here is his summary – and the turn toward a hope-filled ending to a letter that has been pretty sobering so far. 

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others with empty words[1] for their own advantage.[2]

 We are getting to a summary: notice Jude’s reference again to both words and acts that characterize false teachers.

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

 So, we have been in the “last times” for 2,000 years, and all this time we have had to resist being divided in the church by those in the church whose words and action do not reflect the indwelling and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  

20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in the object of your most holy faith[3] and praying in the Holy Spirit,21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

 Here’s the turn: after a letter filled with dire warning about the disease in their midst, Jude offers the cure. 

·      We use different, holy words -  truth that build on the foundation of Jesus.

·      We follow different, holy paths -  righteousness that unite us.

·      We have a different, holy hope – the mercy of Christ stretching into eternity

How to keep yourself in God’s love. 

In this passage, Jude is not telling the believers that they have to keep themselves saved. He begins and ends this letter with a reminder that God is our keeper: 

“Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus the Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus the Christ.” (Jude 1:1)[4] 

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy…” (Jude 1:24)

A translator named Wuest translates verse 21 a follows: "With watchful care keep yourselves within the sphere of God's love." In other words, Jude seems to be saying, "keep yourself in the place where you experience in this life the blessing that God's love brings." I’ve talked before about we invest sweat equity so that we experience the fullness of life in the Kingdom. I think this is the idea here. William MacDonald writes, 

"The love of God can be compared to sunshine. The sun is always shining. But when something comes between us and the sun, we are no longer in the sunshine." [5]

It’s as if we have our own cloud generating machine. Calvin is famous for saying that the human heart is a “perpetual idol factory.” Maybe we leave perpetual chem trails too. The sun won’t stop shining, but we can put something between us and it’s warmth and light. If you have ever flown when it’s cloudy, it’s the difference between life under the cloud cover vs. breaking into the sunlight that was always there. 

So, how do we experience the fullness of blessings in the sphere of the warmth of the love of God? How do we stay in the sunlight of the Son? We walk in obedience to His revealed will. The writers of Scripture tell us this over and over again. 

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3 

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) 

"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me… and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." (John 14:21) 

"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10)

 When we remain obedient, we not only demonstrate our love for God, we abide in the love of God. We live in the love of God, and God discloses or reveals himself to us. I don’t think this means the kind of revelation Paul had on the road to Damascus, because Paul was not living in obedience to God. I think it means we begin to understand the heart of God when we order our lives in alignment with the heart of God. 

• My wife and I didn’t understand the joy of tithing until we started to tithe. It was counterintuitive to think that giving  away money that was already tight was going to feel like abundant life, and yet it does. Now we understand more why God loves generosity, and why he wants His children to be generous. 

• “Do not forsake gathering together.” The more I have watched and experienced that in this church both in person and virtually, the more I understand why it’s so important to God for His children to do life together even when it’s really hard. When honesty, transparency, truth, boldness, love, grace, repentance, forgiveness, humility, and service all “click”, it brings tears to my eyes. I remember how Ted would tear up when talk about how much he loved the church. I thought at the time, “I mean, I love the church and all, but you are really emotional.” Now I get it. God is disclosing his heart to me through obedience.  

•  Jesus said the following in Matthew 5: 44-48 -  “Love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner.  It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher…” What happens if I do that???? God discloses Himself to me. I begin to understand his heart for the fallen, broken people for whom He gave his life. 

Obedience clears the cloud cover so we live in the full warmth and light of the “sunshine” of His love.

1. Build your foundation in/on the object of your faith. I’m not going to go into detail on this point this morning. We spent 8 weeks last fall going through our statement of faith, which began by focusing on the object of our faith: the triune God –Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I encourage you to revisit that.

 I will note this: Jude is pointing us toward the object of our faith, not our feelings of faith. We often hear conversation about how strong our faith is, or how to build our faith, and it’s often us-centered. By that, I mean it focuses on how we can alter ourselves to have more faith. Jude is pointing us toward the object of our faith. If I am understanding his point correctly, strong faith follows from appreciating the strength of the One in whom we have put our faith.

I was working on a house this week with someone else’s ladder. I’ll be honest - I wasn’t sure about this ladder. It was really light-weight, and well traveled. Plus, when I leaned it against the house, I was on a hill, so one side of the top didn’t even touch the house when I started up. My faith was not strong. The good news – it was fine. However, trying to “drum up” faith in that ladder would have been a little foolish. It just wasn’t the kind of ladder that deserved too much faith. However, I’ve used ladders I could barely move because they were built so solidly. I put them on level ground. My faith was strong. My anxiety was low. It’s a whole different experience.  

This is why, when we struggle of feel spiritually faint, we always look to Jesus. The more we see Him for who He is, the more our faith grows. 

2. Pray with the help of the Holy Spirit. The false teachers “follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit,” which suggests to me a contrast in the next paragraph: Don’t be like that. Pray with and for holy instincts guided by the Holy Spirit. (By the way, this language in Jude is different from other places where the Bible mentions praying in a prayer language. Think of Jude’s discussion here as being about prayer as a fruit of the Spirit rather than a gift of the Spirit. Two different discussions).  

“Only inasmuch as you know that God is your Father can you pray with intimacy rather than with religious ritual. Part of what it means to pray in the Spirit, therefore, is to pray with the help of the Holy Spirit who is constantly reminding you of your position as heir of God. You’re God’s child and, as such, you’re a co-heir with Christ. You can pray with the power of a child of God to a perfect Father.” – Alan Wright 

“To pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, and worship in the Spirit (‘in Spirit and in truth,’ John 4:24) is to come before the Lord according to His appointed means—that is through the One whom the Spirit magnifies, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:26-27), depending on His revealed Word and pleading as a lesser creature to our glorious Creator.” (Michael Milton, “What Is Praying In The Spirit?” christianity.com) 

“By a principle of grace derived from him, and by his enlightening, quickening, sanctifying, and comforting influences, showing you what blessings you may and ought to pray for, inspiring you with sincere and fervent desires after those blessings, and enabling you to offer these desires to God in faith, with gratitude for the blessings which you have already received.” – Benson Commentary 

“‘Praying in the Holy Ghost’-that is to say, prayer which is not mere utterance of my own petulant desires which a great deal of our ‘ prayer’ is, but which is breathed into us by that Divine Spirit that will brood over our chaos, and bring order out of confusion, and light and beauty out of darkness, and weltering sea.” – MacLaren’s Expositions

It’s prayer…

·      confident in my identity as a child approaching a perfect Father

·      focused on Jesus

·      inspired to pray for what God desires rather than what I want

·      remembering that the one whose Spirit moved over the chaos of Genesis 1 will move over the chaos of this world and bring light, beauty and life.

3. Wait/look for the fulfillment of the mercy of Jesus Christ. This is a future of eternal life, not eternal death.  

·      "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."– 1 John 5:11

·      " He who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."– John 5:24

·      “We rest in this hope we’ve been given—the hope that we will live forever with our God—the hope that He proclaimed ages and ages ago (even before time began).” Titus 1:1-2 

Keep yourself in God’s love – clear the cloud cover so that you can live in the unwavering light and warmth of God’s love, mercy and salvation.  

Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. 

Pray in tune with the heart of God, and walk in the path of righteousness revealed in 

Scripture with the help of the inspiration and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.

Never forget the New Heaven and Earth that awaits those who are covered in His mercy.

THREE QUESTIONS

1. So, God keeps us in His love even as we keep ourselves in God’s love. Hmmm. It seems like we could become overly passive or overly driven if we embrace one side without the other. Talk about living in this tension.

2. The idea that obedience keeps us in the love of God can sound like legalism. How do we offer obedience as an act of loving worship without being caught up in thinking we are earning God’s love or salvation? .

3. In a practical sense, how might “praying in the Spirit” as described here change how you approach prayer? If you are already taking this approach, how have you noticed it reorienting your life or your walk with God?
   _________________________________________________________________________

[1] This parallels a passage in 2 Peter: “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness…” (2:18).” 

[2] Like the false teachers in the Corinthian church who called themselves “super-apostles” and were just ridiculously full of themselves (2 Corinthians 11:5; 12:11; 3:1; 10:13-18; 11:12,18; 4:5; 5:12; 11:20). 

[3] “Both the adjective and the verb show that πίστις is here meant not in a subjective (the demeanour of faith…) but in an objective sense (… “appropriated by them indeed as their personal possession, yet according to its contents…” - Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

[4] " Holy Father, keep them in Your name...” (John 17:11)

[5] Thanks to David Curtis, at bereanbiblechurch.org, for a helpful article.

A Sunday Of Prayer And Worship

Abraham Lincoln issued a Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day, issued March 30, 1863. The context is the middle of the Civil War, so some of the language reflects specifically the challenges of that situation. However, the content is applicable to us still today.

….Whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is Lord: And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisement in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness…

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be hard on high and answered with blessing no less than the pardon of our national sins and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

This will be a morning of musical worship interspersed with prayer for our nation, followed by communion. I didn’t know who will be elected on the 8th, so this is not a partisan response. I’ve just been thinking that we as a church need a time of refocusing on Christ, gathering together in unity as we pray for the peace of our nation and remember our Savior’s love for the world. 

•Prayer for Political Leaders 

1 Timothy 2:1-4 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

• Prayer for Military/Law Enforcement

Psalms 18:31-36 “For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?—the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.”

• Prayer For Families/Youth 

Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

• Prayer For The Marginalized and Downtrodden 

Psalm 146:5-7 “But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God. He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners.”

•Prayer For Peace and Justice 

Proverbs 21:15 “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.”

Psalm 106:3 “How blessed are those who keep justice, Who practice righteousness at all times!”

• Prayer For The Mission of the Church 

Romans 10: 13-14 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

• Prayer For The Health of the Church 

Acts 2: 41-47  “So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added.  They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles.  All who believed were together and held everything in common, and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need. Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts,  praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.

CLOSING PRAYER

Show us your mercy, O Lord;

And grant us your salvation.

Clothe your ministers with righteousness;

Let your people sing with joy.

Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;

For only in you can we live in safety.

Lord, keep this nation under your care;

And guide us in the way of justice and truth.

Let your way be known upon earth;

Your saving health among all nations.

Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;

Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

Create in us clean hearts, O God;

And sustain us by your Holy Spirit. 

--- Book of Common Prayer 1979

Walking In War (Ephesians 6:10-20)

"Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground."

Here we see individual responsibility in the midst of corporate unity. This is not like spiritual gifts or the “Five Fold Office” mentioned earlier in Ephesians where God gave “some” to be apostles, evangelists, etc. This is a clear call to all of us.

"Yes, stand—truth banded around your waist, righteousness as your chest plate, and feet protected so you are steadied by and ready to proclaim the good news of peace with God. Don’t forget to raise the shield of faith above all else, so you will be able to extinguish flaming spears hurled at you from the wicked one. Take also the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray always. Pray in the Spirit. Pray about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, pray on behalf of God’s people. Keep on praying feverishly, and be on the lookout until evil has been stayed. And please pray for me. Pray that truth will be with me before I even open my mouth. Ask the Spirit to guide me while I boldly defend the mystery that is the good news— for which I am an ambassador in chains—so pray that I can bravely pronounce the truth, as I should do."

 In Romans 13: 12-14, Paul writes, "Put on the armor of light… clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." He was expanding on the words of Isaiah:

• “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash round his waist.” Isaiah 11:5

• “For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head” (Isaiah 59:17).

Paul talked other places about the nature of our fight. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. We destroy arguments…and take every thought captive.” (2 Corinthians 10:3- 5).

 Let’s be clear: God makes the armor. We ask for it, and He gives it, not because we are awesome, but because He is. Then we have to put it on.  Paul says, “It’s time to move. Put on that which God offers you for your good and His glory.”

__________________________________________________________________

• Put on: The Belt of Truth (aletheia, reality as opposed to illusion).

• Stand For: The truth that God is real; Jesus was God in the Flesh; his life, death and resurrection bring us salvation, forgiveness and hope. If this is not true, “we are of all people most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19)

• Stand Against: The error that Christianity is wishful thinking (“I want it to be true!”), merely human thoughts (“The Bible just shows us how people thought about God”), or only one way of many equally effective ways.

• Put on: The Breastplate of Righteousness    (dikaiosune, right standing with God)

• Stand For: The truth that it is only through Jesus Christ that we are absolved from the penalty of sin, freed from the power of sin, and guarded while in the presence of sin.

• Stand Against: The error that we are born good (“I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way”), or that we can become righteous through our works .

• Put on: The Shoes of Peace (eirene, peace with God; tranquility in salvation)

• Stand For: The truth there is spiritual peace with God through our commitment to and ongoing life with Jesus Christ. This is not the same as saying that if you are a Christian, there will be peaceful coexistence of others on earth, or that you will always feel interior peace. This is a claim about a truth that is greater than our circumstances or our feelings. Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.”

• Stand Against: The error of false saviors (spiritual or material) and fleeting peace, which is usually some form of indulgence or avoidance. If something calms the chaos in our life no matter how little and how temporary, we tend to overindulge. Money? Sex? Being noticed and admired? Food? Vacations? Or if something brings anything unsettling, we avoid. People who annoy us…situations that aren’t just to our liking…a controlled environment (diet, exercise, social groups)

• Put on: The Shield of Faith (pistis; “Trusting, holding to, and acting on what one has good reason to believe is true in the face of difficulties.” – Tim McGrew)

• Stand For: The truth that there is wisdom in an ongoing trust in and response to God. A belief that the Bible matches the world.  We often think of faith as just trust in God. I think we have to include trust in God’s revelation. The Bible tells us that we are to be faithful in little things if we expect to be trusted in big things (Luke 16:10). But if the Bible is wrong, then God has not been faithful in little things. If you don’t understand the little things in the Bible, press in to them. Read. Study. Pray. Ask qualified, godly people for advice. Trusting that the biggest things are true in Christianity will trickle down; trusting that the smallest things in Christianity are true will build up.

• Stand Against: The error that we should trust in Idols (self, hidden knowledge, politicians, the economy, health, pop psychology, etc).

• Put on: The Helmet of salvation (soterios; saving)

• Stand For: The truth of God's promises of eternal salvation and ongoing sanctification in Jesus Christ. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind… “ (Romans 12:2)   “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5) “…be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

• Stand Against: The error of gaining salvation from anything other than Christ, or evolving spiritually by thinking positively

• Put on: The Sword of the Spirit (The Bible) 

• Stand for: The truth of the power, trustworthiness and sufficiency of God's Word to tell us what we need to know about Christ and His plan for the world.     

• Stand Against: The error of giving anything else equal weight in your spiritual formation; trusting outside sources or inner revelation over clear Biblical truth.

Note: In Bible times, there was no stainless steel. A sword unused became rusty, dull, and pitted. Swords were kept clean by frequent use or by honing them against a stone (the Rock of Ages) or another soldier’s sword. “Iron sharpeneth iron” (Proverbs 27:17)

• Put on: Prayer (proseuchomai; literally, to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes. “They Kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)  “Whatsoever you ask in my name…” (John 14:13) Accordingly, praying is closely inter-connected with pístis ("faith") in the NT. – (biblehub.com). In fact ,James 5 talks about the prayer of faith (“

• Stand For: The truth that prayer is powerful and necessary. We are told to constantly pray (1 Thessalonians 5:16) “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)

• Stand Against: the error that prayer manipulates God or that prayer is unnecessary. God is not a machine. He’s not programmed in such a way that we can manipulate Him. God will answer prayer how he chooses to answer prayer. The prayers of the righteous are powerful, but not coercive. On the other hand, prayer is clearly not irrelevant. Part of being faithful is praying faithfully, and in the end praying what Jesus prayed: “Not my will, but yours be done.”

A final thought involving shields: We often read this individually: “You, Anthony! Stand!” But this letter was written to the churches in Ephesus. It’s a group command. Everyone then who saw the Roman army knew how this principle worked (see the cover of your bulletin). Now, in order for the group to stand, individuals need to stand to. It doesn’t absolve us. But it reminds us again of the importance of unifying around Christ, then standing against everything that comes against us – together.