In the Genesis account of mankind’s fall into sin, the first thing Adam and Eve did after eating of the forbidden fruit was to cover up their shame by making clothes from sewn-together fig leaves. Who were they most ashamed of being seen by in their nakedness? It had to be God. After all, it was against Him that their treachery had been perpetrated. Making clothing was their futile way of piecing together a righteousness of their own so they could present themselves to God and be accepted by Him. How ridiculous since God can see through to the heart! Nevertheless, ever since, we have been busy about the business of patching together a righteousness of our own and presenting it to God in order to curry His favor. We do so, hoping to mask our unworthiness, hoping that God won’t notice our flaws, which of course is futile; but moreover, we use our self-made righteousness as a weapon against God, asserting a sense of entitlement as we flaunt our good works, as if to say to God, “Look at the wonderful things I’ve done – you owe me!” This kind of self-righteousness is deadly because it smacks of the outward trappings of religion without a heart relationship to God. Religion without relationship is relentless and oppressive in its demands but furthermore, is ultimately a dead end street leading nowhere. What we need most is a righteousness that comes to us from outside ourselves, given to us freely by God as a gift. To find out more about this free gift, listen to today’s audio file based on a portion of a story told by Jesus in Luke 15:25-32.
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The message for February 28th, based on the epistle lesson of the day recorded in Philippians 3:17 – 4:1, is about standing firm in the Lord as we face the pressures of daily life in this world. As believers we have dual citizenship, both in this world and the next. But our predominant citizenship is in heaven. We are called to live today with our eternal home in view. Nevertheless, there is the ever present tendency to settle for the temporal pleasures of this life and to succumb to the earthly temptations of this world, as if this is all there is. This section of Paul’s letter to the Philippians ends with Chapter 4:1, where he says, “Therefore, … that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!” In effect Paul is saying, “Don’t be sidetracked. Don’t cave in to the pressure.” Don’t lose your perspective and see your lives wasted. Remember who you are, why you’re here, and where you’re going.”
How do we stand firm in the Lord? Our text offers three suggestions: 1) Know Who You’ll Run With; 2) Know Who You’ll Run From; and 3) Know Who You’ll Run To. I invite you to listen in for a more thorough explanation.
The sermon text for Sunday, February 21st, the first Sunday in Lent is recorded in Luke 4:1-13, the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness by Satan. In this cosmic conflict, Satan’s goal was to sidetrack Jesus from fulfilling His redemptive purpose by enticing Him to exert His independence from God the Father and be His own kind of Messiah. Satan sets before Jesus three temptations as “spiritual shortcuts” to seduce Jesus into believing that He could compromise with Satan and still get the job done. Thankfully, Jesus saw through Satan’s ruse and followed the path that the Father had laid before Him. In each of the three temptations, Jesus was able to overcome Satan by standing on the Word of God – “It is written ….”
Satan couldn’t defeat Jesus, who ultimately went to the cross and rose again from the dead for our salvation. Satan is now, therefore, a defeated foe, but his goal is to hinder the extension of Christ’s rule and reign in human hearts. He tempts us with subtle shortcuts in our spiritual lives too, so that we’ll remain distracted from our true purpose of extending God’s Kingdom throughout the world. Satan won’t tempt us to turn “stones into bread” like he did with Jesus, but he will entice us to sell out to the almighty dollar. He won’t ask us overtly to bow and worship him, but he will charm us into putting things like our careers, our social status, our possessions, or even our families ahead of God. He may deceive us to substitute various kinds of experiences, even spiritual experiences, for a deeper walk with God in His Word.
Satan is subtle, and in our diverse and complex society his methods are sometimes masked. Now, perhaps more than ever, as the lines between right and wrong, good and evil seem increasingly blurred, it’s important for us as followers of Christ intent on doing God’s will, to be those who can ward off Satan’s ways with the same words Jesus used – “It is written.” I invite you to listen to the audio file of today’s message for further insight into this important passage of Scripture.