Theology

Peace With Bad Doctrine is not a True Peace

Should We Disrupt the Peace of the Church in Order to Deal With A Doctrinal Issue?

You don’t have to be a church leader for very long before you realize that you get a whole lot more done when things are calm and peaceful, than when people are arguing and the church is in chaos. And it has been my experience that churches, for the most part, prefer for things to be peaceful and they strive for unity.

Recently, I have been reminded that it is the church leader’s responsibility to guard the doctrine of the church and to guide the church toward a clear understanding of why it is that the church believes what it does. Doctrines, Creeds, and Constitutions act as guard rails against disunity and conflict. They provide a space for the members of the church to express their faith in such a way that is agreed upon, and supported by the local church as a whole. Everyone is in agreement on what this church is, what it is to do, what members are to do, who is and who is not a member, leadership, etc.

So, what happens if things are calm, but there is a doctrinal issue that needs to be addressed? By dealing with the issue, it may cause conflict. But to ignore what you know to be false, in order to maintain peace is a false unity because it is not rooted in truth. The church cannot strive toward a common mission, if the mission is blurred and convoluted and the core beliefs are not supported. Doctrines, Creeds, and Constitutions actually provide a way for people of like mind to have unity. Baptists go to Baptist churches because they agree with Baptists thinking toward the Bible.

A Baptist should not go to a Methodist church and demand they do things “the Baptist way.” That assumes, of course, that people actually know what they believe. Southern Baptists have such an agreement called, The Baptist Faith and Message and many would specify which version they support (BFM 2000 for example). While SBC churches are autonomous, they have an agreed upon doctrinal statement that defines what it means to be Southern Baptist. Conflict within the SBC happens when individual churches or leaders step outside of those agreed upon beliefs and practices.

Guarding the agreed upon doctrinal beliefs and practices actually produces peace in the long run and the church accomplishes its’ biblical mandates. John Piper and NT Wright are both Christian men, pastors, authors, etc. but John Piper wrote a book addressing where he feels NT Wright is wrong on the issue of justification. So, in the opening chapters Piper addresses this issue of addressing wrong doctrine, and the cost of causing a disruption or potential disunity.

“The assumption of the entire New Testament is that we should strive for peace. Peace and unity in the body of Christ are exceedingly precious. ‘Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!’ (Psalm 133:1). ‘Seek peace and pursue it (1 Peter 3:11). ‘So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding’ (Romans 14:19). But just as clear is that we are to pursue peace by striving to come to agreement in the truth. ‘the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable’ (James 3:17). It is first pure. Peace is not a first thing. It is a derivative. It comes from a hearty agreement in truth.”[1]

Therefore, let us have sound doctrine, agreed upon practices, and peace in the body. But until we have clearly established the first two, we will not have the last.

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[1] John Piper, The Future of Justification, A Response to N.T. Wright (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Books, 2007) 30.

Commentaries

Gathering At The Lord’s Table, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Gathering At The Lord’s Table

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

The backdrop of today’s passage is the disorder of the Corinthian church. Paul is so concerned about several issues that have reached him from far away, that he sits down to address them in the epistle of 1 Corinthians.

A Church That Has Lost Its’ Way (vv. 17-22)

But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

The early church celebrated the Lord’s Supper around a meal, Jude even calls it a “love feast (Jude 12). At the meal it seems a possibility that one could over eat, or drink too much wine.

Also, the people seem to arrive in stages. Those who have the flexibility to leave their jobs early, or have jobs that don’t require them to clean up or change clothes arrive before those who cannot or need to clean up.[1]

The meal seems to be purchased from the common funds of the church, and those that arrive early are getting the choice parts of the meal, and those arriving later get the picked over portions, or no food at all.

Around this meal, there seems to be divisions among the church. You know you have a problem as a church when things are worse when you get together instead of better; Paul says, “it is not for the better but for the worse.”

Paul also says, “in the first place. . .”[2] He indicates that there are other issues, but disunity, cliques, and division in the church crowds out whatever else was on his mind. This issue was so consuming on Paul’s mind that he never moves on to “in the second place, third place, etc.” This topic that Paul writes the churches about was a deadly sin, and he knew it would destroy the church if not dealt with. Whenever they get together – the people are worse in spirit instead of better.

Paul even says that while they thought they were celebrating the Lord’s Supper in reality they were not, “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.” Is it possible to be so carried away by sin that a church can think they are doing some religious act, but in reality, it is not recognized by God?

Buttrick said, “The greatest sins have always been the abuse of the greatest blessings.”[3] One of the greatest gifts and blessing that the Lord has given to Christians is the local church. It is the fellowship that we share that gives the church strength. We destroy fellowship by not exercising love toward the neighbor.

But like spoiled children we (the church) just expect it to always be there, we see it as something not to be revered, but something to get something out of. If you don’t like this one, then just go down the street to another one.

The American church has wealthy churches, poor churches, cowboy churches, black churches, traditional churches, contemporary churches, not to mention denominations, Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, Pentecostal, etc. You name it, there is a church for all of our preferences. But in the city of Corinth – there was one Christian church and that was your only church. So you had wealthy people, poor people, slaves, different races, all gathered on an equal footing to worship, and to experience life together. [4]

There was a foundational teaching of the church that was being lost. Instead of the Lord’s Supper reminding them of Jesus’ sacrifice and ultimate mission for the church – it had become a fellowship meal with little fellowship and for some no meal. There was little love at the love feast. There were drunk people stagger about, people gorging themselves on the food, little groups forming that caused division, and poor people being embarrassed because they were hungry and had nothing to eat.

When the Church focuses on the wrong things, it enters into areas of danger. They had forgotten what the Lord’s Supper means and had turned the gathered church into something resembling the world around them.

So Paul says, “Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?” The purpose of the gathering of the church is not for them to eat and drink, they could do that at home, the purpose was to experience the Lord’s Supper together. How do you fix a church that has lost its’ way? How do you address a church that is focused only on themselves and their preferences?

A church that has disunity, a lack of concern for others (especially their own church members), and is given over to sin (gluttony, drunkenness) is open season for Satan. It is only a matter of time before its’ over. So Paul is greatly concerned, “I do not commend you.”

Paul then reminds them of what the Lord’s Supper means.

The Reminder of Why They Assemble (23-26)

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Paul begins his explanation with “that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread . . .” There was no further need to set the time he was talking about – it was the night when he was betrayed. He links their actions of division, greed, and uncaring for one another to Judas. “You guys remember when that guy Judas, betrayed Jesus?” Yeah, that night, Jesus took some bread . . .

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Paul includes “after supper” – which gives us a clue that the Lord’s Supper would traditionally be celebrated after a fellowship meal, or at least came after the meal when Jesus and the disciples first had the Lord’s Supper.[5] Jesus may also have taken the bread and passed it out and then some-time later passed the cup.[6] So, if it were traditionally celebrated after the meal – there are some who would be drunk during the sacrament.

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood” – Jesus is saying that there was an old covenant between God and His people, but now there is a new covenant. We see this foretold in Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

“Rather than giving the people laws and ceremonies they must obey, God will work a transformation of the heart of each believer.”[7] In John 3, Jesus has the conversation with Nicodemus and his needing to be born again.

Even though God’s people, in the marriage, broke the old covenant, “my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband” God is metaphorically taking them back to the exodus from Egypt and reestablishing a covenant, but this one will be different. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper at the Passover, which commemorated the Exodus (Exod. 12:14-27).

This new covenant, that involves a transformation of the heart, is established by a blood offering, Jesus says, “the new covenant in my blood.”[8] This blood will cover all sin, in fact, God will remember the sin no more.[9]

Ordinarily blood was shed to symbolize the bond between those who enter covenant.[10] The Old Testament Passover meal had the people wiping blood over the doorposts and eating a special meal — This new covenant involves only God’s blood, that is shed.

In verses 25-26 we see that the Lord’s Supper is a remembrance and proclamation, “in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are remembering a resurrected Lord, A God who shed His blood for us, but did not stay dead, and that same resurrected Lord will return.

In the Old Testament God encourages Israel to remember the sabbath day (Exodus 20:8), or to remember to keep the commandments (Numbers 15:39), and Moses in Deuteronomy encourages Israel to remember God, his deeds, the desert journey, how they were once slaves in Egypt – these memories will instruct them on how to treat the foreigners in their own communities.

These memories should correct behavior that goes outside of what they should have learned from the experiences.[11] When we remember Jesus, and how he laid down his life for us (specifically his body and blood), then that should have a corrective impact on our behavior toward other believers, the church, in our own sinful behavior, and the lost around us.

The proclamation of the Lord’s Supper is a way of preaching the gospel, to act it out. It is done again and again to proclaim our deliverance from sin, just like the Passover for the Jewish people was repeated to recall their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.[12]

It is the ministry of the church to proclaim the gospel to the unbelieving world. “When the world sees the church eating and drinking in order to remember the significance of Christ’s body and blood, the word of the gospel is made visible.”[13]

Therefore, we can pull three reasons why the church should regularly celebrate the Lord’s Supper;

1) It reminds us to look back to the redemptive historic work of Jesus and the cross; the once and for all sacrifice is the ransom for all who put their faith in Him; His body was broken for us, and His blood covers all our sin.

2) It draws us to worship the ever-present Lord; “the meal declares the sacrifice by which the covenant is entered.”[14] We are entering into a covenant with God, and we are entering this covenant together with other believers (in our church).

3) It encourages the church to look forward to the consummation of time, and the return of Jesus.[15] When Jesus returns the Lord’s Supper reminds us to be found faithful.

The Lord’s Supper is something that we participate in, it is an action that we do as believers. However, the Lord’s Supper reminds us to monitor our relationship with the Lord and how we approach Him in worship.

A Warning of Continued Undiscerning Behavior (vv. 27-34)

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.8 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.”

“an unworthy manner” – We know that some or many of the church at Corinth were partaking of the Lord’s Supper by being greedy, drunkenness, causing divisions among the brethren, etc. but these are not the only ways. Traditionally this has been interpreted to mean taking of the Lord’s Supper while having unconfessed sin. The period of examination is time to seek forgiveness of sin before you take of the Lord’s Supper.

But in this passage it seems to be even more specific than that. Paul seems to be indicating that when a person participates in the Lord’s Supper in such a way that failed to exhibit the unity of the church in Christ. The solution to this “unworthy” manner was to wait. Paul says, “wait for one another.” Take others into account. Consider your brothers and sisters in Christ while we gather together.

The Lord’s Supper is a time of self-reflection, Paul says to “Let a person examine himself.” During this time of examination, the person should search the Holy Spirit of personal sin, but the judgement mentioned here is the person who is not encouraging the unity of the church, and in that unity, the remembering and proclamation of Christ.

We should not focus so much on ourselves during the supper but on Christ and what He has done for all believers. The focus of this meal is not a time where we all “get right with the Lord” at the same time.[16] But if we truly discerned what we are like, then there would be no judgement.

When the Church does not exercise the Lord’s Supper properly, they are “guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” The Lord has given the church an ordinance that specifically teaches and shares the gospel to the world and reminds the church of the things we mentioned earlier – when that is corrupted it becomes just another meal – and if that’s the case then Paul says, “eat at home.”

Just like the Jewish people not performing the Passover correctly, they would forget about their days in slavery – now the church may forget the body and blood of Jesus and why it is so important.

They would be sinning against the hope of salvation.[17] The gathering church is a blessing given to Christians – together in unity they celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a message to the world of the gospel. When we don’t do this there is judgement. When we get this right, we accomplish Jesus’ desire for His church until He comes again.

With these things in mind – we will now celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

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[1] George Buttrick, The Interpreters Bible, Vol. 10 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abington Press, 1953) 131.

[2] Ordinal numbers indicating the order in a sequence.

[3] Buttrick, 131.

[4] https://drewboswell.com/touching-the-untouchables/

[5] Buttrick, 133.

[6] Ibid, 138.

[7] Fred M. Wood, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Jeremiah & Lamentations (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 2006) 262.

[8] “Not all the blood of beasts, On Jewish alters slain, Could give the guilty conscience peace, Or wash away our stain.” Isaac Watts, “Not All the Blood of Beasts.”

[9] J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary, Jeremiah & Lamentations (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 2002) 287.

[10] Clifton Allen, Gen Ed., The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 10 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Publishing, 1970) 358.

[11] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, K-Q (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 345. Memorial, Memory

[12] Allen, 359.

[13] Richard Pratt, Holman New Testament Commentary, 1 & 2 Corinthians (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 2000) 201.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Buttrick, 139.

[16] Pratt, 205.

[17] Ibid, 202.

What Do You See In Times of Difficulty? Numbers 13

About 350 years ago a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year they established a town site. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness. In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway?

Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great obstacles to get there. But in just a few years they were not able to see even five miles out of town. They had lost their pioneering vision.

This reminds us there are always two ways of looking at things: with the eye of faith or without the eye of faith. Tell me, when you face life’s problems, perplexities, trials, and tribulations do you look at things with the eye of faith? When tragedy strikes, or sickness, or death, or calamity, do you face these things with the eye of faith? When you look at the wicked world we live in, a world that we are to conquer in Christ’s name, do you get discouraged and say “What can I do?” When we look at your church and where God is directing you, do you see the Promised Land, or do you see insurmountable obstacles?

For two years Israel has been traveling through the wilderness. Now, at last, the people are perched on the southern edge of the Promised Land. How exciting that they are now on the verge of entering the land God had promised to Abraham so many years before.

In today’s text only two men (Caleb and Joshua) stood out as men of faith among the millions of Israelites that were brought out of Egypt. In the midst of cowardice and unfaithfulness, Caleb and Joshua took a whole-hearted stand for God’s Word. In this age of Christian luke warmness (Revelation 3:15-19), may we be whole-hearted Christians (Colossians 3:23 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”) The following four things are evidence of a whole-hearted Christianity. It’s a way of living that distinctly stands out among the vast crowds.

Whole-hearted Christians Go Ahead of Everyone Else (vv. 1-16)

¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” ³ So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. . . . ¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)

Why would God need the Israelites to send spies? Didn’t God know what was there, wasn’t He with His people? Why not just march in and conquer? After all, hadn’t God promised this land to them? It was a test. God wanted to test the Israelites to see if they truly depended on Him and His promises to them. He wanted them to have a full picture of what they were going against in God’s name.

Joshua and Caleb were not only willing to be leaders of Israel (Numbers 13:3), enjoying the privileges of prestige and power but he was also willing to go on the difficult and risky forty-day spy mission into enemy territory (Numbers 13:17). Today’s Christians practice “selective obedience” — obeying what is easy, and ignoring what is difficult and unpleasant.

These men were willing to do what was required to be a leader. They were willing to sacrifice and obey. Many Christians obey God’s command to gather together for Sunday worship but ignore the command to separate from worldliness, be witnesses of the Gospel, contend for the faith and serve the LORD whole-heartedly.

“Selective obedience” is disobedience. When we choose what to obey, we are effectively telling God that we are His masters and have the right to decide for ourselves. Such people do not understand the meaning of obedience.

These men were willing to make themselves vulnerable for the sake of others. This group of leaders when they left the Israelite camp had a huge metaphorical target painted on them. If they were to be found out as spies, they most certainly would have been killed.

If we are to reach our world for Christ, we must expose ourselves and let our guard down. While it is true that if we never share our faith, or serve our neighbor, or minister in Christ’s name we will never be embarrassed, or have a sore back, or have time away form our pleasures. This is however a life lived selfishly.

Luke 9:23-25 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

They were willing to lay down their own lives for the sake of others. Are you willing to lay down your life for the sake of others? Whole-hearted Christians look for opportunities to be vulnerable for the sale of Christ and are willing to lay down their safety, comfortableness, personal resources, and even their lives for the opportunity to serve Christ.

Whole-hearted Christians Follow God’s Directions (vv. 17-20)

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

God through Moses gives a plan for the spies to follow. He specifically gives them the route they are to follow and tells them what to look for. Moses let’s them know specific things that will be beneficial to their conquering the land.

Moses picks out one man from each of the twelve tribes. These twelve men act as a sort of commando group behind enemy lines: scouting the land; counting soldiers, horses, and chariots; checking out Canaan’s readiness for war; looking at city walls and gates. For forty days these men cautiously travel through the land watching, looking, counting, measuring, and taking notes.

Even before the report of the spies comes back, Moses is trying to discover the plan of attack, after all this was the Promised Land, and God has always been faithful. We see that these leaders follow this direction and it takes them a vineyard where they are able to carry off a huge cluster of grapes.

Whole-hearted Christians Bear the Burden of Proof In Their Lives (vv. 21-25)

²¹ So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. ²² They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. ²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

Their first discovery, the cluster of grapes, was so big that it took two men to carry its weight. Here was the proof that the land was truly “flowing with milk and honey.” At the end of forty days these leaders brought back their experiences and this cluster of grapes.

God brought back evidence that He is being faithful, yet again. Has God ever been faithful in your life? We, like these men, are to carry around with us the proof that God is faithful in all of His promises.

The second discovery is not as nice as the first: the descendants of Anak, or, as they are called elsewhere in Scripture, the Nephilim. The Nephilim are a race of giants, mighty men who inspire fear and dread in the hearts of lesser men (cf Gen 6:4; Deut 1:28).

Whole-hearted Christians Give Truthful Testimony of God’s Word (vv. 26-33)

²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” ³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Some Christians are willing to obey all of God’s commandments – as long as it does not cost them too much. They are willing to give or serve in any ministry as long as it does not demand too much sacrifice or effort. They are willing to separate from ungodliness and contend for the faith as long as it does not cost them the loss of friends. Caleb and Joshua were willing to honor God though they were outnumbered. They hold to God’s promises and give a faithful report against millions and even to the point of being stoned to death (Numbers 14:10).

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If you were part of Israel and were listening to the report of the spies, what would your reaction be? How would you look at the Promised Land after hearing the report of the spies. Numbers 13 relates for us two different ways of looking at the Promised Land.

I. The first way of looking at the Promised Land is the way of ten of the spies. These ten looked at the land and came to the conclusion it could not be conquered. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it” (Num 13:32). The land of Canaan was unusually fertile and was fought over by those tribes and nations looking for a homeland or a better homeland; so its ownership was constantly being contested. Also, the land of Canaan stood at the crossroads of Asia and Africa. Invading armies and traders from both continents passed through the land and also contested its ownership.

They also said “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are” (Num 13:31). The Canaanites were so big and so strong that next to them they felt like little bugs, they felt like grasshoppers next to giants (Num 13:33). Imagine this! For two years the Israelites had been traveling to reach the Promised Land. They had faced enemies, drought, hunger and they had spent long hours traveling through the wilderness. Their goal was the land of Canaan. Finally they were at its border. The spies went into the land. They found grapes of such enormous clusters they had to be carried on a pole by two men.

The Promised Land was even better than they had dreamed it would be. These spies did not have the eye or faith.

II. The second way of looking at the Promised Land was the way of Joshua and Caleb. They simply said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Num 13:30). These two did have the eye of faith. Ten of the twelve spies sent out by Moses to scout the Promise Land also spoke disheartening words at the critical hour; they spread gloomy tidings about the colossal power of the native people; they frightened the Israelites with their talk of giants and grasshoppers.

The real tragedy here is that majority of the spies were blind to the power of God. They forgot the miracles God had done. They did not view the Promised Land through the eye of faith. So they became scared and pessimistic and discouraged.

Joshua and Caleb, on the other hand, were optimists; they were full of courage. What makes some people courageous and others cowardly? Courage has to do with what we see. The ten spies saw the same thing with their physical eyes. The inhabitants of Canaan were heavily armed giants.

Joshua and Caleb saw them too, but they saw more; with their spiritual eyes they saw God. And that gave them courage. By looking at Canaan through the eye of faith they saw a land that their covenant God would give them just as He promised. With God they knew that nothing was impossible.

Like Israel it seems that there are impossible tasks in front of us some times. We have been called to possess and claim the earth in Christ’s name. What a big job! If we look at this challenge without the eye of faith, the world looks scary and our mission seems like an impossible venture.

We are called upon to bring the Gospel to our neighbors and communities. It is so easy to say, “It is impossible to do this Lord. There are so few of us and so many of them. Where will we get the money and the missionaries from?”

Faith says all things are possible with God. When we look at our seemingly impossible tasks with the eye of faith then the impossible become possible. The Bible says that all things and all people will someday bow down before God and His Christ – even giants and fortified cities.

I want you to notice what happens when God’s people take their eyes away from God and His power. Turning a blind eye to God results in unhappiness. For even happiness and security is a matter of what one sees.

The first three verses of Numbers 14 tells us what happens. The people did not look at the fortified cities and giants with the eye of faith. So they became scared and unhappy and actually wanted to go back to the slavery of Egypt. Their lack of faith made them so unhappy that they wept. They wept for the entire night. Without faith life becomes scary, threatening, frightening, and discouraging.

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For a number of years sociologists have been conducting tests to determine what makes people happy. They have finally concluded what we Christians have known since the days of Christ. We know that jobs, living conditions, sexual satisfaction, wealth, etc. have little to do with happiness. Professor Jonathan Freedman of Yale University concluded his study vaguely with this statement, “Happiness is in the head, not the wallet.” Happiness depends upon how one looks at things. Happiness depends upon the eye of faith.

Being a Christian doesn’t automatically bring happiness. Because you know as well as I do that there are many unhappy Christians. Yet, deep down within their hearts, Christians know the secret to happiness – a quiet trust and faith in Christ as Savior and Lord.

We have a choice. We can look at life, we can live life, with faith in the power of God and His Christ, or we can look at life and can live life without faith in the power of God. I urge you, like Joshua and Caleb, to live by faith. The first step on this road toward faith is to receive the free gift of forgiveness of your sins. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Consequences; Part Three – “Remembering Mistakes So That We Don’t Repeat Them”

When I was a kid I took several art classes but on one occasion I had the assignment to sketch with charcoal a basket with fruit in it. Every time I would sketch it, I would lean in and meticulously draw each and every detail that I saw, except at the end my drawings would always be skewed and disproportionate. So the instructor told me to try again, but every few moments lift my head and step back and look at the whole drawing, and take in the big picture. My problem was that I was not looking at the whole picture; I was only focusing on one section at the time.

This is why Lamentations was written. Every now and then we need to step back from life and look at all of life – remembering the past successes and defeats, and planning toward the future. If we only focus on here and now – this day, this moment then our view of life gets skewed and disproportionate. If we don’t remember life’s lessons, we repeat them again and again.

Review

Lamentations is a series of 5 poems written during the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and was read at the subsequent annual memorial of this event. The poem was written to give a voice to their suffering as it was happening, and as it was read during the years after, it would remind them of what their lives were like, as a people, when they had turned from God.

Lamentations 5

“5:1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. 3 We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. 4 We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. 5 Our pursuers are at our necks; we are weary; we are given no rest. 6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to get bread enough. 7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities. 8 Slaves rule over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand. 9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. 10 Our skin is hot as an oven with the burning heat of famine. 11 Women are raped in Zion, young women in the towns of Judah. 12 Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders. 13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill, and boys stagger under loads of wood. 14 The old men have left the city gate, the young men their music. 15 The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning. 16 The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned! 17 For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes have grown dim, 18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it. 19 But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. 20 Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days? 21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—22 unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us. (ESV)”

1. Question – Why?

Chapter 5 is a list of how bad things have become for God’s people. Instead of breaking down each one of the consequences of the people’s sin, we can readily see that this was a horrific time in their lives right now. They are in disgrace, they have become slaves, and that what was once theirs by birthright now has to be paid for.

Those who they turned to for help (instead of God) are now abusing them. They can’t rest because they are working all the time. There is constant danger where they live, and any signs of joy are gone. They are having to deal with the sins their fathers have done, and on top of that they add their own.

It’s important to understand from Lamentations that there are consequences from our rebellion and sin against God. The longer we rebel the more sever the consequences.

It is a prayer of the author to God, where he asks the question, why? Chapter 1 of Lamentation begins by asking “how?” – it was a word shouted at funerals, as if to mean, “how did this happen?” – so in chapter one the author cries out as if at a funeral, “how did this happen to God’s people?”

There is a recognition that is because of God’s people’s rebellion against God and for their own sin. Again in verse 16 if chapter 5 there is an admittance of their sin, “The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!”

But the questions changes from “how” to “why.” In God’s sovereignty he has brought judgment upon His people – all of the horrific items described were brought upon the people by God – this answers the “how” question. So now the author cries out, “why?”

To answer this we have to look at how they were living. We know their lives are miserable now, but had it always been that way? They were worshipping other gods, even sacrificing their children to these gods. They looked to other nations (Assyria and Egypt) for help instead of God.

The nation had corrupted the worship of God and even sacrificed to other gods in the temple. They had rejected the prophets, so that they were God’s people in name only. God’s people were doing what they thought best in their own eyes.

So, didn’t the people have a choice if they wanted to follow God or not? If they wanted to do their own thing – so what?

(A) The Christian’s Mission

Every moment that they were living for themselves they were dishonoring God, hurting themselves, and not sharing God’s plan with others. Genesis 12:2 “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

Does it really matter how we live if claim to be a follower of Christ? Lamentations serves as a reminder to the people and it was read every year to remind the people that this is what happens to those who turn from the Lord. Yes, how we live out our lives before God and men is very important. Sadly, it is only pain and suffering that often gets our attention. There are a lot of people out there that when we begin to share Christ with them, they point to some an obnoxious person or church that hurt them in some way.

(B) The Christian’s Relationship With God

Every moment that we do what we think is best in our own eyes, and turn from God and His ways, we dishonor Him, we hurt ourselves (sin has negative consequences) and we are not sharing God’s plan with others. Jesus says, John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

So is God some powerful being who says, “if you don’t worship me, I will destroy you!” – well we do see again and again in Scripture that God is jealous. Exodus 20:4-6 (the ten commandments) “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.” He is jealous for our love because of His love for us.

When a husband is jealous because his wife is showing another man attention that should be his – is that a wrong? If a child is jealous for a mother’s love when she shows more attention to other things instead of her child – is that wrong? When the Creator and sustainer of the universe, the God above all, and Holy One desires our attention and loving of Him – is that wrong? He loves us and desires a relationship with His creation.

Above all of this however, is the fact that only God is worthy to be praised. All other worship of other things is taking from His deserved glory.

(C) The Christian’s Well-Being

But other than our relationship with God, there is also how we relate to ourselves. God’s discipline allows us to be rid of things that are destructive. It is a painful process to get us to recognize that our sin is harmful – but we have to see it and admit this in our repenting of it or we won’t change.

So “why” are God’s people going through this horrific time in Lamentations? (1) God is a jealous God how demands holiness and fidelity in His children, (2) For their own sake, sin is destructive and out of love he disciplines us (3) So that we can actually carry out what He has called us to do in this life and not waste all of our time seeking after things that are worthless and destructive.

2. Question – Is There Hope For Me?

The book of Lamentations ends on a down note, and with another question, “21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—22 unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.”

In his prayer he asks for restoration and renewal. This was God’s only chosen people who were given a very special plan (to share God with all the nations) and it was through them that the Savior of the world would come. To be restored would be for their lives to get back onto this track, and for them to be renewed would be the resources, energy, and excitement to go about this mission once again.

In the ancient times every now and then a shepherd would have a lamb that tended to wander off. The danger was that not only could the wandering lamb be hurt, but the other lambs that may follow him as he wandered. So eventually the shepherd would break one of the lamb’s legs, wrap it, and then place the lamb on his shoulders and carry it around until the leg healed. When the lamb’s leg would eventually heal and it would stay close to the shepherd.

The author is not sure if things are finished. “Lord my life is a mess right now, and it is because of my sin. Will you make me useful to You again, unless I am just through?” So once we have sinned, and have brought consequences upon our lives and lives of others – is God finished with us?”

For Jeremiah and God’s people during the time when Lamentations was written, they don’t know because the rest of the Bible had not been written yet. God was exceedingly angry with them, but “His mercy endures forever, and his grace is renewed day-by-day.” Lamentations 3.

I came across this illustration some time ago, but do not remember it’s source. “One night at dinner a man, who had spent many summers in Maine, fascinated his companions by telling of his experiences in a little town named Flagstaff. The town was to be flooded, as part of a large lake for which a dam was being built. In the months before it was to be flooded, all improvements and repairs in the whole town were stopped. What was the use of painting a house if it were to be covered with water in six months? Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped out? So, week by week, the whole town became more and more bedraggled, more gone to seed, more woebegone. Then he added by way of explanation: “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.”

The Bible tells us again and again, that we have not traveled so far away from God, that He can not bring us back home. Even now if you are uncertain of the next step in your life, know that your loving Creator can turn whatever you have turned your life into away from Him into something beautiful. Have faith in your future (based on God’s promises), it will give you strength for today.

This is part three of a three part series.

Lamentations – Part One “When It Finally Catches Up With You”

Lamentations – Part Two “Consumed By Loss of a Relationship”