“When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: ‘How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased!'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
At first blush here, it feels a little odd that God would call Israel to taunt Babylon when they are brought low in judgment from the Lord. Isn’t that just cruel? Why kick someone when they are down? This Old Testament god here must be the vengeful, gleeful-in-wrath god we’ve always heard about from our critics. Read the rest…
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Here is a truth that the world doesn’t know and Jesus followers forget much too often and always at our peril: Our chief enemies in the battle to advance the Gospel are always ideas and never people. People are never our enemies. They are always, only, and ever creatures bearing the image of God and, prayerfully, future brothers and sisters in Christ. Our opponents are the ideas they carry and advance. It is ideas that undermine and tear down the Christian worldview. Ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have victims. We must be ruthless with ideas, but gentle and loving with people. This is a tough balance to achieve, but one we must if we are to boldly advance the Gospel as is our call.
“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Not everything that looks good is good. Consider a poison dart frog of the Amazon rainforests. They are beautiful, brightly colored little frogs. And yet, to touch them could be deadly. Just because Satan is evil, doesn’t mean he always or even often looks the part. Much more often he “disguises himself as an angel of light.” In other words, he looks like something that is good in order to lead us to something that is bad. Read the rest…
In this final part of the teaching series, A Word on Reality, we at last wrap up John’s masterful letter. In the end we find a strong reaffirmation of God’s testimony about Jesus and a final call to live comfortably within the borders of reality. It is only there that we will find the life for which we most long. Keep reading for more.
A Final Word on Reality
Well, we have finally reached the end of our journey through 1 John. And what a journey it has been! We have come a long way and have covered a lot of ground since the beginning of July. Some of it has been very encouraging and some has been pretty hard-hitting. What I have tried my best to do, though, throughout this series is to leave you with a clear outline of the boundaries of reality. Surely not all of this life is black and white, but life according to the law of the kingdom is a simple thing. It’s not easy, but it is simple: believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God and act in the light of that belief in every circumstance of your life. Piece of cake, right? Let’s be real here—that is, after all, what all of this has been about. Reality is rarely a breeze, but it is always right. And the call of not only this letter, but of our entire lives is to live in God’s reality, not the world’s fantasy. Before finishing out the letter this morning, let’s look back over where we’ve been so everything is fresh. Read the rest…
“…for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
But I thought honoring God was our chief concern! It is. And if something is honorable in the sight of God, but dishonorable in the sight of men, then we are just going to have to be dishonorable in the sight of men. But, neither is our goal to needlessly offend the people around us. One of the hallmarks of the earliest church is that they had favor with God, but also had the favor of all the people. Read the rest…
The Nexus 