2 Timothy 3 - 2011.04.30

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

“Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth…But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” - II Tim. 3:7, 14-15

It is the tragic vanity of the mind of man (in the generic sense) that we know everything—or soon will. And, that we are in control of our own destiny. Certainly when one visits a great library, or now the internet, what man knows something about is in fact quite overwhelming. Spend enough time in the library, however, and you will discover that what man was “sure of” yesterday is often no longer accurate.

Simply observing history one will discover that much of what we “know” we don’t know enough about. We now know, for example, how to start nuclear fission, but we do not know enough about how to stop it. We can predict where an earthquake may occur, but we do not know if, or when it will happen, and are powerless to forestall it if we did. We may anticipate a tsunami, but are powerless to control it, as is the case with much of nature. We know how to make mighty machines that take advantage of our ability to develop and control available resources of energy, but we cannot generate the raw material ourselves. We can build wind generators, but cannot create the wind to power them. We can produce mighty engines of war and destruction, but have no solution for the problem of war itself, despite millennia of trying to find one. These are admittedly few, feeble and random examples, but they illustrate the point.

Jesus put it simply, but sharply, when He said, “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell where it comes from, nor where it goes [John 3:8].” And again He said, “When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? [Luke 12:55].” In short, we may take advantage of the wind, but can neither create it nor control it. And so it is with much of what man has learned over the millennia of his existence.

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. For all our vaunted knowledge in science and philosophy, we do not know where we came from, why we are here nor where we are going. Speculation abounds, but truth is wanting with respect to the great issues of being. And, a “sea of primordial scum” hardly affords a satisfying answer. We know much about the tree of life, but nothing about its roots—apart from revelation. Dig though we may, and speculate as we will, we cannot go back to the beginning and will never by “learning” discover our roots. And our most sophisticated telescopes have not yet and never will give us glimpse of the future. If we are going to know anything in these areas, Someone is going to have to tell us—and we are going to have to listen.

Order does not come from chaos. We have seen whole cities reduced to rubble by fire, wind and earthquake. We have never seen one put together by the same process. All that we study in our quest for knowledge and for answers should make us aware of this truth: there must be a magnificent Mind and a mighty Hand at work to account for it all. Iif we are to know who He is, He must make Himself known. And He has. In His word. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork [Ps. 19:1].” But it is the scriptures that give us His portrait, and His Son who reveals His person. The Savior said, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,” and again, “I and my Father are one.” He certified His wisdom and His truth by His resurrection from the dead, and this He has preserved and communicated in His word.

If man in general goes on his way in ignorance of that which matters most, whether by chance or by choice, individual men, confronted with this Truth in the “holy scriptures,” can discover that which is the most important knowledge of all, and be equipped for that glorious “salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” It is my sincere hope and prayer that you are one of them.

I have more understanding than all my teachers:

for thy testimonies are my meditation.

I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

Psalm 119:99-100

"Pastor" Frasier

2 Timothy 2 - 2011.04.23

DON’T QUIT!

“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” —II Tim. 2:11-13

The opening words of this chapter are, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” The apostle’s words suggest compassion and concern. His tender words, “my son,” indicate Paul’s affection for his young protege and convert, and the following phrase hints at his concern that Timothy persevere in the faith even though under the pressure of some form of opposition.

There is a lesson here for both fathers in the literal sense, and those who are spiritual “fathers” to others in the faith. It behooves us to treat our “children” with love and tenderness on the one hand, and with firmness suited to their perseverance on the other. Our nugget sums up what is at stake.

Foundational to the whole of Christian experience is the believer’s union with Christ. “If we be dead with Him…” Dying with Christ is the prerequisite to eternal life. This “dying” is not a state that can be “earned,” as by good works or religious activity, e.g., but is the result of simply trusting Him who died for us and rose again. Writing to the Romans the apostle associates it with believer’s baptism, which is the public expression of personal faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death [Rom. 6:3]?” Faith marks the true believer as united with Him, in fact, in both His death and His resurrection, thus affording from the beginning both the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection [Rom. 6:5].” Many other things follow from this doctrine, but in our text the focus is simply upon the believer’s eternal hope, “we shall also live with Him.”

For many, as perhaps for Timothy when this was written, that faith-union with Christ can bring on the experience of hostility and/or persecution. Suffering, especially when is the direct result of being a Christian can bring doubt, and doubt tempts to unbelief. Thus the apostle encourages his spiritual charge, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” The inference seems to be that there is a special reward for faith that perseveres under fire.

The importance of persevering in faith is further underscored in the next clause, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.” This was addressed by the Savior when sending forth His disciples as recorded in Matthew 10. Warning them of the possibility of opposition He declared, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword [Mt. 10:32-34].”

The tragic possibility is indicated in the trend suggested by the apostle here: professed faith threatened by difficulty, generating doubt; doubt turning to denial and resulting in unbelief. The end result is spiritual disaster, because God is faithful and consistent with Himself. A faith that collapses under pressure is not saving faith at all.

In our present situation, suffering for our faith is not commonplace, and the challenge to faith may come from another direction. But the principle is ever the same. Faith is ordered to persevere. And those who purpose to follow Christ will be given grace to do so. Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. It cost the Son of God everything, including indescribable humiliation and suffering. And He declared, “He that taketh not his cross and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me [Mt. 10:38].”

These are sobering thoughts, but there is a bright side. God abides faithful. “He cannot deny Himself.” That means, He always tells the truth, and His word can be trusted. Under pressure, let us simply trust Him more. “IF we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.” That’s what matters, that’s what counts—for all eternity!

This Easter weekend take another look at the cross; that is what faith, and faithfulness is all about. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

For a faith that perseveres,

"Pastor" Frasier

2 Timothy 1 - 2011.04.16

THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” — II Tim. 1:8-10

This is a powerful passage in which the apostle Paul, seeking to encourage his younger associate, summarizes the essence of the gospel. It can serve the same purpose for any true believer in any generation and in any circumstance. From my perspective, it may best be addressed by moving through it in reverse.

The essence of the gospel, “made manifest” through the incarnation and earthly ministry of “our Saviour Jesus Christ,” is summed up in just two particulars: the conquest of death, and the revelation of “life and immortality.” Death (in the final, spiritual and eternal sense) is the enemy Christ came to conquer, and that He alone could vanquish. It is the inevitable destiny of every man without God.

We think backward about life. When a child is born, we say he/she is beginning to live. The tragic fact is, the child is beginning to die. When the child is born, the cup of life is full; we have no idea how full, but all its “life” is there. Every day that child lives, he is one day closer to death. Hence, the child is really not “living,” but dying. And the greater tragedy is that this is not merely physically true, but eternally so. And it is life’s only certainty! “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment [Heb. 9:27].” This is the grim foe Christ came to overthrow and to replace with “life and immortality;” that is, eternal life. Those who obtain it are the only ones who are really living, for they shall never die! (See John 11:26). That is, in essence, the glory of the gospel.

The second thing of note is the gift of the gospel. This “life and immortality,” replacing sin and death in the believer, is “given us in Christ Jesus.” “In Christ” is a cardinal phrase in the presentation of the gospel. Everything that relates to eternal life is “in Christ,” and the believer, the real Christian is viewed as “in Christ Jesus.” Reciprocally, Christ is in us: “Christ in you, the hope of glory [Col. 1:27].” It is a relationship enjoyed as a gift from God.

What is even more remarkable, this gift was “given us…before the world began.” It is as secure as God’s eternal decree. It never ceases to amaze me that God had the “Life Net” in place before Adam ever transgressed. It was not accomplished in history; it was only “made manifest;” it was accomplished in eternity past, hence there has never been a time when those destined for death could not obtain life. Such is the scope of God’s marvelous grace.

Then there is the ground of this gift of “life and immortality.” It is, as every saved soul must know, “not according to our works.” That means it is not the result of “good works,” or religious ritual. I has nothing to do with personal merit, which means the worst as well as the “best” of men have an equal opportunity to enjoy this gift of eternal life. On the contrary, it springs from the heart of God, “his own purpose and grace,” and since God “so loved the world,” and Christ is “…the propitiation… for the sins of the whole world [I John 2:2],” the remedy for the dreadful disease of sin and death is available to all. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved [Rom. 10:13].”

Finally, there is set before us here the goal of this glorious salvation. God has “saved us and called us with an holy calling.” The significance of this phrase is that the divine purpose in our salvation is the cultivation of holiness in us. Scripture everywhere confirms this. He saves us just as we are, immersed in sin and unrighteousness, but it is not His design to leave us ‘just as we are.’ The divine purpose, as far as it respects us, is to transform us into likeness to Christ. We are “called to be saints” (Rom. 1:6-7; I Cor. 1:2). He has “called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light,” (I Pet. 2:9) and “unto glory and virtue.” (II Pet. 1:3). Hence, “…as He which has called [us] is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of [life].” (I Pet. 1:15).

How glorious is this Gospel in its power, privilege and purpose! Let us, indeed, not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, but honor and magnify His name and illustrate His grace and His glory daily in our walk before ‘the watching world.’

For the manifestation of “Christ in you”,

"Pastor" Frasier

1 Timothy 6 - 2011.04.09

THE PURSUIT OF GRACE

“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” — Tim. 6:11, 12

“There is nothing new under the sun.” A few days ago I happened across a program on “christian” television wherein the speaker promised a series of messages on how to become prosperous, offering the premise that God intends for His people to become materially well to do. The context of our “nugget” for today teaches the exact opposite, agreeing with the doctrine of Christ that riches are deceitful, and tend to undermine or at least hinder spiritual progress (see v.5-10, 17-19 and, e.g., Lk. 18:24).

When writing to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul counseled, “Put off…the old man” and “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (See Eph. 4:21-24) It is that same emphasis which is given here. The “man of God” is a sinner saved by grace. When that transformation takes place, the believer is to “flee” some things (in this case the pursuit of “gain”) and to “follow after” that which makes for true spiritual riches. The grace of God, then, is not grounds for the pursuit of material health and wealth, but for that which facilitates spiritual growth.

The Christian who would be a man (or woman) of God is to follow after righteousness. Righteousness is simply the manner of life which makes for “good works” from God’s perspective. As we have noted often before, we are not saved by good works, but “unto good works [Eph. 2:10].” We do not work for salvation, but from salvation; not in order to become righteous, but because in Christ we are righteous. And that righteousness will be made evident in our obedience to His commandments.

He is to pursue godliness. We have before defined this a Christlikeness. He could say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” We should aspire to be able to say, as it were, ‘If you want to know what God is like, watch me.’ As presumptuous as that may seem at first, it is exactly how the apostle Paul exhorted the Corinthians when he said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ [I Cor. 11:1].”

Then, “faith.” That is, perseverance of trust in God. And “love”; of God, family, friends, fellow believers—and even one’s enemies.

“Patience.” That is, stedfast endurance. The “man of God” should maintain his walk with God whether his outward circumstances are prosperous or strenuous.

“Meekness.” That is a quiet disposition characterized by genuine humility. It is implied in the apostle’s instruction earlier in the chapter regarding how those Christians who were slaves should relate to their masters. For us it applies to how we react to our lot in life and those who are our superiors in human affairs.

These are qualities that mark those who understand the significance of God’s grace. They will come as no surprise to anyone who has a working acquaintance with New Testament teaching. Let not familiarity breed contempt; too much of present day Christianity reveals us as having reversed the order. We are committed more to “feathering our nest” and “making it” in this present world than to furthering our faith, and the testimony of Christ suffers for it before the ‘watching world.’

The solemnity of the issue is evident in Paul’s added exhortation to Timothy, “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ [v. 13,14].” Though “this commandment” is urged upon a young preacher, it is applicable to all who have been called by God’s grace into a living relationship with “the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.”

We have seen a fresh illustration only this week (as this is being written), in the devastation resulting from the earthquake in Japan, how quickly everything in this life, including life itself, can be swept away without warning in a moment of time. Let us not devote ourselves to living for the present, but for those things which will endure for eternity.

For values that will last,

"Pastor" Frasier

1 Timothy 5 - 2011.04.02

THE PERCEPTION OF GRACE

“Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.” — 1 Tim. 5:24-25

Our “nugget” brings to mind another important text: “…the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart [I Sam 16:7b].”

One of the incomprehensible things about the “God of all grace,” is the fact that He knows the end from the beginning, and He knows us from the inside out. “Nothing is hid from the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: [Isa. 46:9-10].”

There is no way that our minds, which are prisoners of time and sequence, can grasp this quality of omniscience. But, it accounts for for the scope of our nugget for today. There are, our text affirms, public sins and privates ones. There are those actions that are obvious to everyone who sees us, and there are the private ones that no one knows—but ourselves and God. David identified them as “secret faults” and “presumptuous sins,” when he discerningly prayed, “Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression [Psalm 19:12-13].” The Lord looks on the heart.

Not only does the Lord look on the heart, but He holds us accountable for the sins that are past. This is confirmed in a striking text that affirms what we noted above regarding God’s omniscience: “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past [Eccl. 3:15].” There is, indeed, ‘no place to hide’ from the eye of the Lord. “…ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out [Num. 32:23].” There is no ‘hidden agenda” with a righteous God.

Our text for today does not stop with the negative, however. The Spirit of God remarks through the inspired apostle that the same divine insight applies to good works as well as to evil. Men are not saved by good works, and we do not “gain merit” with God by good behavior. Nevertheless, in His magnanimity God takes good behavior into account,

and it matters not whether our “good works” are public or private, lauded or overlooked by men. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do [Heb. 4:12-13].” God has perceived all and taken all into account since before the world began.

God “will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God [Rom. 2:6-10].” How He will work all this out may be beyond our comprehension, be what is certain is this: no sin will be overlooked; and no good work (with “good” measured by God’s standard) will go unrewarded.

Should you be living under the illusion that “nobody knows” your secret conduct, think again. And thank God that there is “forgiveness of sins” available to all who will repent of their transgressions and seek God’s forgiveness. That is why the Savior came. And if perhance you have labored to do that which is right and good, but feel all has been to no avail and gone unnoticed, be assured; God knows and He will appropriately reward your deeds. Only remember that it is “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he [saves] us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life [Titus 3:5-7].”

The worst of men are not beyond the reach of God’s grace, and the best of men are not good enough to save themselves!

For a real change of heart,

"Pastor" Frasier