Monday Morning Reflections

Church family,
     Our 2015 missions conference has come to an end. As I was reflecting on it this morning, I find it interesting how all the details worked out, despite the the cancellation of one of our main speakers due to illness, and moving the conference one week later.  The change in date allowed Torli Crua to extend his stay in Liberia a few days, and allowed us to hear a challenging Sunday morning message from Andy Spohrer of WorldVenture. We were worried that the "Fisherman's Festival" in town might have diminished our attendance, but overall I think the turnout was better than we could have hoped for! It was also great to meet Joel Furrow of the Root Cellar in Lewiston, who shared about the ministry among the largely immigrant community in his Lewiston neighborhood. The concert and update from Fay Murphy was an excellent start to the conference on Friday night.
     One reminder that Andy gave us on Sunday was to be prayerfully considering how we can reach out to the massive influx of summer visitors and seasonal workers that drive past our front door as they visit the region.  Missions starts at home. Our mission includes being a witnesses to the people we meet and rub shoulders with in our day to day lives. Besides the year round residents, we do have workers that come into the area from around the world. Will they hear the gospel while they are here?

    I hope we were all challenged about ministry, and about our part in God's mission, starting in Boothbay, to Portland, Lewiston, and Boston, and to the ends of the earth!
your brother and co-worker,
Pastor Steve

P.S. Your comments and reflections on the conference or on our mission in general are invited in the comments section below.

Light in the World - I Corinthians 6:1-11

A Light in the World

I Corinthians 6:1-11

Introduction:  One of the challenges any church faces in any age, is living out our mission to point people to Jesus.  If we exist to “know God and to make Him know,”  if we are to be “a lighthouse of God’s grace and truth,” if we desire to “proclaim the riches of His grace to the world,” our testimony in the community had better be consistent.  This week the students at NEBC looked at the pastoral epistles, and one of the things we highlighted was the list of characteristics required of elders and deacons in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Two of those characteristics are very relevant here with respect to the church, and the testimony of every one of us: we should seek to be “above reproach,” and we should “have a good reputation with those outside…” This week we look again back nearly 2 millennia at the situation in the church in Corinth, and some of their actions which were causing their testimony to suffer. 

Paul is still treating in this part of the letter the matters that had been reported to him about the church. The issue then and there is clear enough, believers were dealing with disputes between themselves before the pagan courts, rather than seeking to resolve these conflicts from within the church. The principle goes much further than going to court, it speaks to the importance of our witness and the testimony of our church in the community. Whether the issue is complaining about our spouse before an unbelieving friend or co-worker, or grumbling about some issue in the church before an unbelieving spouse, we are essentially asking someone who does not know God to judge between believers. If we bring matters or disputes in the church up for discussion at the Y or at the supermarket, what does that say to the unbelievers who may be hearing? In every case that decision will detract from the testimony of the church. Because we are saved by grace and have a part in God’s kingdom both now and in the future, we have what we need to work out our differences and to live in peace with one another. So…

The Big Idea: It is pretty clear: Peace in the body brings glory to God. Make peace!

I. THE WORLD IS WATCHING—If we are Kingdom citizens, we should be able to resolve our problems without involving unbelievers. If we fail to do this our witness as a body is compromised (1-6).  Whether we like it or not, the world is watching. What difference does our faith make in our relationship with fellow believers?

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?  ² Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?  ³ Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!  ⁴ So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?  ⁵ I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ⁶ but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? (I Corinthians 6:1-6).

       First of all we have to look back at what was happening there and then (1).  What was the situation that Paul heard about in the church in Corinth that was so important that he felt obliged to address it in this letter?  6:1 tells us of “grievances” between believers being brought before the “unrighteous,” i.e. the pagan judges of the city.  Paul expresses shock, “…does he dare go to law…”? It is as though he is says, “What were you thinking? How could you possibly do such a thing?” To Paul it is outrageous that such steps were taken.

I think we must be living in one of the societies most prone to litigation in the world.  A couple of weeks back I saw the story of a JetBlue pilot who apparently had a mental breakdown during a flight and ran down the aisle ranting and frightening the passengers about imminent disaster, he was suing the airline for allowing him to fly! They should have known better!  OK, I don’t know all the facts, but take some personal responsibility for your actions!  That’s a bit like the burglar breaking into your house and then suing you because he gets bit by your dog!  Of course we all know the famous story of the lady who bought a McDonalds coffee, spilled it on herself, and then sued because she got burned!  As a reminder of that one virtually every cup of coffee you buy today will have a warning, “contents very hot!” No kidding, I didn’t buy an ice coffee!  Someone should serve tepid coffee and write on the cup, “contents are lukewarm, so feel free to spill it on yourself!” Well, in Corinth, it was part of the culture for people to resolve issues between them by going before a tribunal at the bema in the center of the market place to resolve their disputes.  Apparently two Christians, probably two well off leaders in the church, brought their case before the pagan judges in Corinth, and news of this got back to Paul.  Paul is expressing outrage, shock that they would do such a thing, “What? How dare you take a family matter before the world!”  Listen, we may not like it but we cannot avoid it: the world is watching! What do they see when they look at the church? What do they hear?  Do they see a family of Christ followers who love and seek to obey God, and who love one another?  Do they see a group of people who are different, who are forgiving because they are forgiven, who are gracious because they have experienced grace, who love because they’ve been loved?

Problems will come up between us, it is nothing new. You remember in Acts 6 when the Hellenistic Jewish believers felt their widows were being overlooked in the distribution of food. What did the church do?  They addressed the problem internally, the apostles directed the Greek speaking Jews to select seven spiritually qualified men from among them to address the problem.  Possibly that was the origin of the office of “deacon” (the verb diakoneo “to serve [tables]” from the same root as the noun [diakonos]“deacon” is used in that context). It would have been disastrous to the witness of the young church for them have turned to the Sanhedrin to resolve the dispute, or worse yet to the Roman authorities!   In First Corinthians, the issue then and there was going to law before unbelievers. I don’t think that happens very much in evangelical churches. Occasionally we see situations when, despite our best efforts, we have to go to court, for example when children have to be protected. Our motive should never be to “get the most we can” out of a situation, and it should never be entered into lightly. And every effort at mediation and “peace making” from within the church should be taken first.  But the principle here goes beyond the idea of formal lawsuits.

Much more common than actually “going to court,” is how easily we put fellow believers “on trial” by bringing our complaints about them to someone outside the church, or someone that does not know the Lord. Listen: anytime we bring our complaints or grumblings about the church before unbelievers, neighbors, co-workers, friends, we violate the same principle. Remember, peace in the body brings glory to God. So make peace!

 Our position in Christ qualifies us to resolve our problems (2,3). Paul appeals to God’s plan, which includes us in His kingdom program: “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?  ³ Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!” If we are going to reign with Christ, and it seems that is what Paul is saying here, should we not be able to work out the problems that come up between us? Isn’t there someone that we can turn to in the church to act as mediator and peacemaker?

       If we are more than qualified to handle “family matters” internally why would we involve others (4-6)? The world is watching! How we handle disputes and disagreements and problems among us will say a lot to them about the reality of what we claim to have in Christ. How we relate to one another in our marriage, how we deal with our children, how we approach disagreements between brothers and sisters in the church, all of that says something to those around us. Remember, peace in the body brings glory to God. Make peace!

II. In terms of importance, OUR WITNESS TRUMPS OUR WANTS: Are your rights more important to you than your mission (7-11)?

⁷ To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?  ⁸ But you yourselves wrong and defraud- even your own brothers!  ⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (I Corinthians 6:7-11).

     Attitude of Christians (7-8).  This is where it gets difficult. Paul says that “winning” is not the most important thing, even if you are right. It would be better to surrender your “rights” for the sake of your witness. You want to win so badly, but…

⁷ To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?  ⁸ But you yourselves wrong and defraud- even your own brothers!

Think about it, Jesus voluntarily laid down His rights, the eternal Son took a human nature and came to give His life for us. He was holy, righteous, without sin, yet he was mocked and beaten, scourged, and nailed to a Cross. Innocent, He died for the guilty.  Paul told the Philippians, “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus… He emptied himself…” Jesus voluntarily surrendered his rights, and humbled himself, so that we could be lifted up!  Shouldn’t we want to think more like Him? Attitudes determine actions. It starts in the heart and mind, and leads to the actions we take, or not. First, is the dispute something you can let go of? If not, then take to the church, or to a trusted, mature Christian, and ask for help in resolving the problem.  When Paul asks here, “…why not rather be wronged…” he is not saying that we should not seek to resolve problems, that we should just let people do whatever they want to us! He is saying, that it would be better to take the loss than to take your problem with a fellow Christian before unbelievers.  Got problems? Is “winning” really that important? God knows the truth and He knows your heart!  Remember, peace in the body brings glory to Him. So be a peacemaker!

     Character of Christians (read 9-11).  Paul sets up a contrast between the unredeemed sinners in the world, and the Corinthians, who now have a new life in Christ,

⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

The list here of people who won’t inherit the Kingdom is very parallel to what we see in Galatians 5:19-21, where Paul talks about the “works of the flesh,”

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,  ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,  ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

“…and such were some of you…” Paul is saying to remember where you’ve come from, remember what you’ve been saved from! “B.C.”, “before Christ,” you were dead spiritually, in bondage to sin and to Satan, but you’ve been set free! You are different because you are already part of the “New Creation” (2 Cor 5:17) and you are an heir with Christ and are destined to have a role in the Kingdom!  Why should you bring complaints about a fellow blood bought believer before the world?   You are essentially asking them to “judge” a fellow believer, and to affirm your rights.  You were like them, you were one of them, but now, by God’s grace, you are His! In Christ, we are different.

·        You were washed… We were sinners, depraved, spiritually dead, “unclean” because of our iniquities, and we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, cleansed of the guilt of our sin. The point is not that we don’t sin (you know better!) but because Jesus paid the price we no longer carry the guilt of our sin.

·        You were sanctified… “Set apart” positionally, because we are His. That means that we are in the world, but we belong to God, we are citizens of Heaven, and our names are written in the book of life.  There is also a progressive sense to sanctification, we are being changed, becoming more and more like Him.

·        You were justified… A legal term, this is one of the key doctrines we see in Romans and in Galatians.  By it Paul means that we are declared righteous, by grace through faith.  The righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to our account.

Because we are kingdom citizens, already partakers of the preliminary blessings of the Kingdom, we would be fools to ask unbelievers to resolve our disputes.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Got peace? Peace in the body brings glory to God. So strive to make peace!

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?  There is no doubt that all of us will have disputes at one time or another with other believers. The first thing we should do is appeal to the offender to try to look to the Lord with you to resolve the matter.  If they are unwilling or if that doesn’t move the situation toward resolution, seek someone in the church that has knowledge in that area.  A mediator, a peacemaker. Is there a dispute with your spouse that seems to be spiraling out of control? Seek Christian counselling, there is always hope.  Has a Christian businessman or professional wronged you? If you can’t resolve the matter, ask your pastor or an elder for advice and direction. We are citizens of heaven, children of the king!  We are not only talking about lawsuits and going to court here.  If we bring “complaints” about our believing spouse before our unbelieving friends or relatives, we violate this principle and bring disrepute on the Lord. If we grumble about someone in the church to an unbeliever, we violate this principle. Remember who you are! Remember who’s you are! Remember your calling.  Jesus is the Light of the World. We are called to be conduits of that light as we live out our part in His story.   Think about that,   AMEN.

Sin, Saints, and Sanctification: Time for Tough love! I Corinthians 5:1-13

Sin, Saints, and Sanctification

(or, “When is it time for tough love?”)

I Corinthians 5:1-13

Introduction: One of the new “core values” that seem to be promoted by the media and that have largely been embraced by our culture, is being “tolerant and inclusive.”  Like most words, these have a breadth of meaning and can be applied in different ways. In the dictionary meaning of the terms I doubt any of us would want to be categorized as “intolerant” and “exclusive”!  The problem is that those terms are typically used today from within the context of a worldview that denies absolute truth and gauges morality on the basis of what is “acceptable” or at least “tolerable” in the world around us.  We want to reach out, and befriend the unsaved people around us. We can’t expect them to reform their behavior and to act “Christian”!  The way they are acting is exactly because they desperately need Jesus!  Of course we want to speak up for righteousness, especially when human life, or human rights or dignity is at stake. So even though we do not accept immoral behavior as ok, we are not “affirming” with respect to sinful behavior, we still choose to hate the sin, but to love the sinner.  Or at least we should.  That is not the main point that Paul is dealing with in I Corinthians 5.  The question here is immorality in the church, the behavior of a “so-called brother.”  One manifestation of the prideful thinking that had infested the minds of the Corinthians was that apparently they had become puffed up about how tolerant and inclusive they were, even accepting a brother that was engaged in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother—something that went beyond even what the pagan Corinthian culture deemed acceptable!

The Big Idea: Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

I. Mourning our Sin: We should hate sin because it detracts from God glory (1-2a).

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.  ² And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?

            Remember that Paul is writing a letter to the Corinthians, to a church that he had founded and knew well, and in the first six chapters he is responding to the news that had gotten back to him about problems in the church.  After appealing to the Corinthians as brothers in Christ and admonishing them as their “spiritual father,” after calling them to task for their prideful attitudes and divisive spirit, Paul turns to a specific example of that arrogance.  They had become “prideful” of their “tolerant and inclusive” attitude toward sin!  Paul approaches  the subject expressing his shock and disappointment, “It is actually reported…” It’s as though he is saying, “This is how far it’s gotten, this is how ‘off base’ you are in your Christian conduct! It has come to this…”  Not only were the Corinthians tolerating sin, they were tolerating and even boasting about “…immorality of such a kind as is not even tolerated among the pagans…” They were going far beyond what their pagan culture would be willing to put up with!

 

            What is the sin they were tolerating? The language is very emphatic, the term “immorality” is repeated in the context, “…there is immorality among you, immorality of such a kind…” The word “immorality” is from the Greek term porneia, the same word from which we get the English word “pornography.” The word was used very broadly for any sexual sin, from Paul’s perspective any sexual practice outside of God’s design for sex in the marriage relationship.  So Paul is saying, “Not only have you tolerated a perversion of God’s design for sexuality, you have actually allowed it to get to this point…!”

Notice also that Paul is not discussing “how bad it is out there, in the world.” He isn’t talking about the general spiritual corruption and moral climate in Corinth.  He said, “…there is sexual immorality among you…” He is talking about the church—the assembly of believers—the body of Christ!  Our outrage toward immorality “in the world” is something that we are often very ready to express. And it is distressing to see the casual attitudes toward sex and the de-valuing of marriage, or the re-defining of marriage in society today. But that isn’t what has Paul upset here, that isn’t what he is addressing at all.  He is talking about the church, about what we tolerate in our midst.  Healthy, functional, Christianity recognizes that there are absolutes of right and wrong. We don’t define morality in terms of what is culturally acceptable and what is politically correct.  What is HIS design, in this case, His design for sexuality? It is a gift he has given us that is to be exercised exclusively within the context of a marriage relationship. Anything that detracts from that or seeks exceptions to that is porneia, and puts our pleasure over God’s reputation and His glory. Our desire in the church should be to please God, to live within the boundaries he has given us, for our good and for His glory.

Isn’t it a shame when we hear of the fall into sin of someone in the church?  Especially high profile cases seem to give cause to the world to point at one more “hypocrite” being exposed.  Usually it is sex or money. Paul said the Corinthians were tolerating, and even prideful about their “accepting and affirming” attitudes toward a sexual practice that even the Corinthian cultural found unacceptable and wrong: an incestuous relationship between a man and his step mother.  Remember the reputation of the City of Corinth—things were so bad there that there was actually a verb in the Greek language, “to Corinthianize” that referred to sexual immorality. “A Corinthian girl” was another term for a prostitute. And in the midst of such proverbial licentiousness the Church of God in that city was tolerating sexual sin in its midst that would have been deemed offensive and intolerable by the pagan population of the city!  We don’t know their motivation. Perhaps they thought this was a question of Christian liberty, that believers are not under the Law. Paul addresses that question in Romans when he asks, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!”  Perhaps they thought this was the loving thing to do. If you knew that someone was speeding toward a washed out bridge, would the loving thing be to let them go without warning them? Of course not. Whatever the motivation Paul’s language says unambiguously that that this overt sin cannot be simply be tolerated in the church. The loving thing to do is never to simply close our eyes to sinful behavior among believers. We have to care enough to confront.

Paul says, “…And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?” Mourn? If we love God, and desire his name to be lifted up, sin in the church should break our hearts because it breaks His, it should cause us to mourn because it grieves Him.  The closer we come to God, the more we see ourselves through the lens of His word, the more we will be grieved by our sin and long for holiness. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:14-19,

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,  ¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  ¹⁶ since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."  ¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,  ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,  ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

There are absolutes of right and wrong. Sin is nothing to brag about! As believers, what grieves God should grieve us. If we are motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

II. Method for dealing with sin: Church discipline is God’s means for protecting the witness and purity of the church (2b-5).

Let him who has done this be removed from among you.  ³ For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.  ⁴ When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,  ⁵ you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 

        Jesus himself gave his disciples a pattern for dealing with any “offense” in the church in Matthew 18:15-17. 

¹⁵ "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

We don’t know for sure if any of those principles had been applied in this situation in Corinth. It may be that something “broke down” in the process when it came time to “bring it the church.” That was the result anyway, it was known in the church, news of what was going on had reached Paul, but rather than confronting the sin it was being tolerated, they were even boastful about their ability to tolerate sin.

     

        Rather than “tolerance and inclusion” within the church, immoral behavior is to be confronted, and if the person remains unrepentant he is to be “removed from among you…” To use a later term, he is to be “excommunicated.”  V.5 restates with a little more detail, “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Notice that the goal is repentance and restoration, “that his spirit may be saved…” In a sense, as someone is put out of the church, if it is biblical discipline and done in the right spirit, the church is “binding on earth what has already been bound in heaven,” he is open to whatever chastening God will allow in his life, always for his ultimate good. Hopefully that is our heart, the good of the offending brother, as well as the reputation of God and His church. Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

III. Motivation for confronting sin: Sin is a contagious disease, and an offense to God, a great price was paid for our redemption (6-8).

⁶ Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?  ⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  ⁸ Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth…

       Leaven spreads through the lump – This image of “leaven” is used elsewhere in the New Testament, often representing sin. Paul’s point here is that once some leaven gets into a lump of dough, it spreads through the whole thing.  The point is that we are called to be holy because we belong to Christ. If we tolerate sin, it will become tolerable, then acceptable, then normal, and soon we hear, “Well everyone else is doing it!”  There is an old proverb that says, “If you let a camel stick his nose in the tent his body will soon follow!” It might seem like small compromises are harmless enough. We need to be on guard when society challenges the absolute truth of the Word, and we begin to feel less offended by our sin. If it grieves God, it should grieve us.

 “…You really are unleavened…” (now act like it!)

This is a striking statement, it seems to be an indicative statement of our standing, our position in Christ, i.e. we are holy, and the implied imperative is, “Now act like it!”

The price has been paid – Christ our Passover has been sacrificed… Why? Even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! Of course the language goes back to Exodus, the Passover lamb was sacrificed, sparing the life of the first born of the Jews in Egypt.  Subsequently they were delivered from bondage through the sea. The price has been paid for our redemption, as Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

IV. Mission and Morality (9-13).

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-  ¹⁰ not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.  ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler- not even to eat with such a one.  ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?  ¹³ God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."

        Paul wrote an earlier letter that had been misunderstood. He had said not to associate with sinners, but he wasn’t talking about the world!  We are here to reach out, and by every means possible to point them to Jesus.  “God judges those outside…” (v.13a)!  We are to build relationships with our unsaved neighbors and seek to point them to the Cross, and the Gospel of God’s amazing grace! If we thought we could avoid “sinners” outside of the church, we’d have to “go out of the world”!  That is exactly why God has us in the world, to point fallen humans to Him! 

         He was talking about the church, someone who claims to be a brother, “Purge the evil person from among you”!  The issue is not separation from the world – We can’t expect the world to act Christian – you are not saved by morality – we are called to engage the world with the Gospel. We are called to watch out for each other, and to hold each other accountable.  And if someone refuses to respond, we need to follow the steps outlined in Matthew 18… go with a brother… most situations can be resolved at this point… take it to the church… (I think this may be the point that the elders become involved)…  The glory of God is at stake.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Motivated by a desire for God’s glory and by our love for one another, we should care enough to confront sin (with the goal of restoration).

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Do you see that Paul is saying we are not to separate ourselves from the world, we are to be “in the world, but not of the world”?  Jesus is the Light of the world and we are called to be light in the world!  Some of the “religious leaders” of Jesus’ day judged him for being a “friend of sinners.” Do we want to follow their example, or do we want to follow His example? We don’t “accept” sin as ok, but we view it as a reminder of how desperately they need to know Jesus!

But when it comes to the church, to believers, we are called to be different, to be holy, to hate our sin because God hates it. That means desiring to be more like Jesus in my own life. It also means loving each other enough to confront sin and to call people to faith.  God’s reputation is what is at stake, may He be glorified!     Think about that.   AMEN.

Easter Means Hope! I Corinthians 15:20-26

Easter 2015: The Resurrection of Jesus Means our Hope is Certain!

I Corinthians 15:20-26

 Introduction: We sing on Resurrection Sunday about the empty tomb and Jesus’ victory over death, but in truth that historical event is the anchor of our faith every day!  Skeptics might say that we are basing our hope on mere stories, not on facts.  Ignatius of Antioch, who according to tradition was a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote some letters while being carried to Rome as a prisoner, expecting to be thrown to the lions.  He was killed for his faith around A.D. 107. In one of those letters, written on that final trip to Rome, he spoke directly to the historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus, and what that meant to him as a Christ follower.  This is part of what he said...

If you come across somebody who says that Jesus Christ never lived, or that He is just an idea, or a concept, or a myth, shut your ears to him.

            Jesus Christ was born into a human family, a descendent of David.  His mother was Mary. He was persecuted under Pontius Pilate, a fact testified to us by some who are now in Heaven, and some who are still alive on earth.  How can this be a phantom, or an illusion, or a myth?  These are facts of history!

            It is also a fact that he rose from the dead (or rather that his Father raised him up).  And that is the most important fact of all, because his promise is that the Father will also raise us up, if we believe in Him.  So if Christ Jesus is not alive, neither shall we be.  There is nothing left for us to hope for if he is just an idea or a fantasy.

            In any case, if he only appeared to rise from the dead —why should I be in chains for this “myth”?  Why should I die to support an illusion?  I am prepared to die for him, the true and real Son of God.  But no one is prepared to die for a shadow.

The truth of Easter is what gives true Hope!    That is Paul’s argument in I Corinthians 15 as well so we are jumping ahead in our study of I Corinthians to look at a portion of this chapter, where the apostle Paul presents his most extensive and in depth discussion of this doctrine and its implications for the Christian life. Our hope is based on history and anchored in the faith that God will bring His story to pass as He has promised. Paul begins this chapter by talking about the historical witness to the resurrection of Jesus (1-11). The Corinthians believed this, but they were apparently struggling with the idea of a future resurrection for believers.    Paul makes the point in 15:12-20 that if we deny the resurrection of believers we are denying the resurrection of Jesus, and if Jesus is not raised, then we have no hope, we are still in our sins, we are of all humans the most pitiable.  The passage we’ll look at today, starting in I Corinthians 15:20, says that that “hypothetical” is dead because Jesus is NOT dead, the tomb is empty, He is alive!

       “But in fact Christ has been raised…” Paul wants the Corinthians to see the connection between what they have believed, the resurrection of Jesus, and what they must understand, that Jesus’ resurrection means we too will be raised to life, and we can live victoriously today, in this life.  The big idea that I want to emphasize in this passage was stated better than I could possibly say it by Erich Sauer, in his book, The Triumph of the Crucified…

The Big Idea: The present age is Eastertime! It began with the resurrection of the Redeemer, and will culminate in the resurrection of the redeemed and the restoration of all things. Between is the spiritual resurrection of all who have been called into new life through faith in Christ. So we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter we look toward the last Easter! (Adapted from a quote from Erich Sauer, Triumph of the Crucified.)

I. The Resurrection of the Redeemer (20,21). The tomb is empty, He is alive!

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead…

        Paul begins this paragraph answering the hypothetical questions he asked in the preceding context (15:12-19). IF Christ is not raised, IF the resurrection never happened and tomb wasn’t empty our faith would be useless, we would still be dead in our sins.  IF!  But, as 15:1-11 shows emphatically, He is alive!  “But now Christ HAS BEEN raised from the dead…” The ESV translates, “BUT IN FACT Christ has been raised…” That is Paul’s point here, the resurrection is a fact of history, as Ignatius proclaimed in His letter.  The eyewitnesses in the Biblical record, and also those from the end of the apostolic era like Ignatius, men who spoke to the eyewitnesses of the resurrection, all of this testimony is compelling evidence that would present convincing testimony in a court of law. That is the point that Paul was making in the opening of I Corinthians 15.  Read through the first 11 verses and consider the compelling eyewitness testimony toward which he is pointing. Remember the apostles in the days before the resurrection. They were scattered when Jesus was arrested in the Garden. Peter three times denied that he even knew Jesus. And then after the resurrection these same men stood before the crowds and the authorities and preached boldly that He is Lord, and that He had risen from the dead.  When arrested, threatened, and beaten, they said they could not stop preaching what they knew to be true. They were eyewitnesses! How do you explain that transformation?  The only reasonable explanation is that they spoke what they knew to be true, they had seen the resurrected Jesus!  As Ignatius said, “These are facts of history!”  

      Notice I Corinthians 15:6, “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep…” Do you see what Paul is saying? I am a witness, as are the other apostles, but there are also hundreds of others who saw the resurrected Jesus. As he is writing this letter he says, some have died, but most were still alive. “If you need to be convinced talk to them, ask them if this is true!” 

            Notice too that Paul is also pointing out the humanity of Jesus, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead...” (I Cor 15:21).  We need balance in our understanding of who Jesus is. The Eternal Word, God the Son, did not just appear to be human.  He actually took upon himself a human nature. Why? As Adam sinned and brought all humanity under the curse, so also Jesus, would not sin, he said “NO!” to the tempter and "YES!" to God, so that all who trust in Him have forgiveness and new life.  We talk about the incarnation during the Christmas season but it is a doctrine that should overwhelm us every day – such grace, such love, for God to become a man, knowing exactly what would happen, what had to happen for the Father’s plan to be fulfilled. And he did it!

      “…the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…” (I Cor 15:20,23). In the Old Testament, the first part of the harvest, called the firstfruits,  was set apart and given as an offering to the Lord.  It was part of the harvest and connected with it in that sense, it guaranteed that the rest of the harvest would follow.  Jesus’ resurrection is connected here with the future resurrection of believers. As certainly as Jesus was raised from the dead, so also the rest of the harvest will follow.  That is talking about us, and every other person through history who has trusted in Him!

       “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead…”      It doesn’t take the most astute observer to recognize that all is not right in the world. We pick up the newspaper and immediately we read about the chaos and suffering in so many places and so many lives. Just looking at our prayer list reminds us that hurting people are all around us—and believers in Jesus are by no means exempt from that.  It all started with Adam and Eve. Paul said in Romans, “By one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and death spread to all men because all have sinned…”  It didn’t start that way. God created the universe and called it “good.” Humans were uniquely made in the image of God, the pinnacle of God’s good creation. Adam sinned, and the consequences of his fall have been passed down through the ages to every human.  This is part of the reason it was necessary for Jesus to come in human flesh. Eternal God took upon himself a human nature so that he could be our substitute. Tested and tempted, yet without sin, He bore our sins in His body on the Cross.  But Jesus did not stay dead, the tomb could not hold him, he rose again!  The resurrection of the Redeemer, the firstfruits of the resurrection harvest, is the basis of our hope as we live in that victory now, and look ahead to the resurrection of the REDEEMED…

II. The Resurrection of the Redeemed (22,23). In Christ we will be made alive!

²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 

For as in Adam all die… Adam sinned as the representative head of the human race, and all of his progeny after him by birth and by choice are sinners. That includes us. There is none righteous, no not one. There are none that seek after God. As we recently were reminded in our Sunday School class on doctrine: all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is a problem, a problem that we could not solve on our own. In Adam all die. The wages of sin is death.

            The Bible does say elsewhere that every human will be raised from the grave, some to life, and some to judgment. Jesus said in John 5:28-29, 

²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice  ²⁹ and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment…

 So there is a sense in which all will experience A resurrection of some sort. Paul here is focusing on the first resurrection, the “resurrection of life.” Adam brought death to every human being; Jesus brings life, and the resurrection of life, to all who are His, all who believe.  That is good news.  It means we are included in his story if we know Him.  The present age is Eastertime! It began with the resurrection of the Redeemer, and will culminate in the resurrection of the redeemed and the restoration of all things... So we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter we look toward the last Easter!

III. The Restoration of all Things (24-26). The Gaither song says, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone…”

²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.  ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

       God’s creation was all good in the beginning – human rebellion brought sin and death. Finally the day will come when sin will be no more, and the rule of God will restore Creation to what it was designed to be. When you read about the Garden of Eden before the Fall, and then turn to the end of the Book of Revelation, you can’t miss the idea that God will bring his design for creation to pass.

     There is a sense in which the kingdom is already present, and yet we await the day when God’s rule will be established over all – a day when God himself will wipe away our tears – and there will be no more sin, no more sorrow – no more death!  We live, now, in anticipation of the fulfillment of that promise. Dallas Willard said,

Those who have apprenticed themselves to Jesus learn an undying life with a future as good and as large as God himself. The experiences we have of this life as his co-conspirators now fill us with anticipation of a future so full of beauty and goodness we can hardly imagine… (The Divine Conspiracy, p.375).

That day is still future, but it is not in doubt! As surely as the tomb is empty our hope is sure in Jesus.  “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God…” (Gal 2:20).  He’s alive! So in the power of the first Easter, His resurrection, we go to meet the last Easter, the sure promise of our resurrection.

What is God saying to me in this passage? The present age is Eastertime! It began with the resurrection of the Redeemer, and will culminate in the resurrection of the redeemed and the restoration of all things. In between is the spiritual resurrection of all who have been called into new life in Christ. So we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter we look toward the last Easter!

What would God have me to do in this passage? Have you personally responded to the truth that Jesus is alive?  The truth that He conquered death in His resurrection leaves no doubt that he is who he claimed to be, and it assures us that He can do what He promised to do.  Paul invites us in Romans 10:9,10 to respond, “Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.” There are no questions, no doubts, no “ifs” in that statement. That is God’s promise to you this morning.

       Perhaps you have believed and received the gift of salvation, and yet the truth is that you are so overwhelmed by the trials in your life or in the lives of those around you that you feel hope-less.  It is true that as we read in Romans 8:22 “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” But Easter points through the darkness and pain, through the veil of tears, to the end of this story: Because He lives, we will live also! That is not wishful thinking; it is a promise, from God himself. Paul reflected that hope when he wrote, “The suffering of this present age is not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us.”  The present age began with the resurrection of the Redeemer, and it will end in the resurrection of the redeemed… in the power of the first Easter, we go to meet the last Easter.  Listen: if you have trusted in Jesus, the same power that raised Him from the dead is at work in you!  “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you…” (Romans 8:11).   That is your sure hope if you know Him!  Think about that! Christ is risen!  AMEN. 

Pastors Annual Report Preview

Pastor’s Annual Report – April 2015

       We have officially been a part of the Boothbay Baptist Church family for five years, and we are blessed to be a part of this body!  We are not a perfect church, we sometimes disagree, but we love God and we love each other and together we acknowledge Him as the Head of the church. We exist to “…know God and to make Him known…”  As we look ahead to the future we need to be intentional in keeping that mission before us and constantly evaluating how we can more effectively carry out that calling.   Our current preaching series in I Corinthians will lead us through various aspects the struggles of the somewhat dysfunctional church in Corinth. I believe that God has included this in our Bible so that we can learn from their struggles to more honestly evaluate ourselves and to grow into the healthy body that He desires us to be.  At the heart that implies loving Him above all, desiring His glory, and working together as the family that He intends us to be.  

       We are blessed to have a very high involvement of our membership in some aspect of ministry in our church.  Either officially or unofficially, virtually all of our members, and a number of our non-member regular attenders are using their gifts to encourage, strengthen, and edify the church, and to help us as we reach out to our community in Jesus name with the Good News.  I am especially thankful for those who are engaged in ministry to our children, including nursery, pre-K, Sunday School classes, Children’s Church, World of Life Olympians, Vacation Bible School, and teen ministries.  These all are opportunities and responsibilities that the Lord has entrusted to us and we have a great group of volunteers who are using their gifts in these areas.  The need for more help, especially a man to help with the teens, is something we need to continue to pray about.  Could it be that the Lord is nudging you in this direction?

       One area that I hope we’ll be able to discuss further as a church family is the question of our times of corporate prayer.  There is no question we value prayer and understand the importance of praying together.  The issue that I would like to discuss is why our corporate times of prayer are getting so little participation.  I am speaking especially about Wednesday night prayer meeting and our Sunday AM prayer time at 8:30.  Has the format of these meeting not met your hopes and expectations? Is there something we are not doing that you would like to see?  Or, could it be, that the time has come to “shake things up” by doing away with the weekly “prayer meeting” and perhaps emphasizing small groups more (and encouraging a regular prayer time in all of those groups).  If we did this, we could perhaps schedule an occasional, say once a month (or bi-monthly, or even quarterly) “concert of prayer” where we could come together as a church and devote ourselves to praying together.  We are a family, we love God and love one another, so let’s talk about this at our meeting and see how we can enhance the fundamentally important ministry of praying together.

I continue to enjoy preaching, counselling, and sharing in the shepherding ministry of our body.  I believe God is at work in our church, and He will use us together as we yield ourselves to Him.

Your co-workers in Christ,

Pastor Steve and Mary Ann Nash