Romans 13:13 and 1 Peter 4:3 it is associated with illicit
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Thus this is a serious sin. As Alexander said, "Error is often plausibly dressed in the outer garb of truth."
10. Envyings. This Greek word means resentment at the excellence or good fortune of another, a jealous spirit. We may envy someone his beautiful voice, his great wealth, his superior position, or his athletic attainments. Or we may begrudge a girl her beauty, a person his position in public office. Envy has been the downfall of many a Christian. Normally, there can be no envy that does not involve covetousness.
11. Drunkenness. This Greek word means overindulgence in alcohol. Alcohol may be used for medicine, but it can also become a terrible drug. The way it is used in our world is probably one of the great evils of our day. It is a self-inflicted impediment that springs from "a man taking a drink, a drink taking a drink, and drink taking the man." Distilled liquors as we have them today were unknown in Bible times. This modern use of alcohol is far more dangerous than the use of wine, which was also condemned when taken to excess. Teetotalism or nonteetotalism cannot be proven from Scriptures. Whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
12. Carousings. In the Greek this means "orgies." In Romans 13:13 and 1 Peter 4:3 it is associated with illicit sex, drunkenness, and other evils in which no Christian should indulge.
There may be someone reading this who has been guilty of one, or even all of the sins listed here. Does this mean you can never enter the kingdom of Heaven; that the door is forever closed to you? Certainly not. The Bible says that by repentance and faith anyone can be forgiven (1 John 1:9).
However, Galatians 5:21 constitutes the most serious warning to those who may think they can sin that grace may abound. The apostle sternly says, "Those who practice such things [i.e. those things just enumerated] shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
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Where Did Pain Begin?
Could God have created a world without suffering?
Yes, He could, and He did. In millenniums past there was a time when the universe and its undiscovered galaxies were in a state of complete harmony with their Maker. It was an existence beyond the comprehension of our finite minds; we cannot imagine a world that is older than we can even think and which existed without a hint of the suffering to come. However, into this Paradise came Satan, probably the most misunderstood person in the universe. Before Satan there was no sin, and before sin there was no pain.
Who is Satan? He is underestimated and frequently caricatured. Some think he is only a spiritual force, others have imagined him as a goblin or dismissed him as a myth. Today, however, when Satan worship is increasing at an alarming rate, we had better be aware of him, his origin, his aims, his abilities, and his limitations.
Satan was once a dazzling creature. The prophet Ezekiel called him "the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty" (28:12). This incredible person was once one of the "sons of God" (Job 38:7 NASB).
Lucifer (meaning "morning star" in Hebrew) was an angel created to glorify God, but this was not the role he wanted. His heart's desire was to be the chief authority; he wanted to sit on God's throne and rule the universe. Isaiah 14:12-14 tells us: "How you have fallen from heaven, 0 morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
When Lucifer asserted his desire to be more than God, a great revolution took place in the universe. Many angels
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joined with Lucifer and became his rebel army. Evidently when God judged Lucifer's crimes, God changed his name to Satan, the Evil One, and sentenced him to eternal exile.
Satan didn't lose any of his beguiling ways when he became the fallen prince. He took his charm, his subtleties, and his clever plots to use on us. When he made his decision to battle God to the death, he took his band of rebel angels with him as his combat soldier. The battlefield is known as earth.
Before the great polluter spread his poison throughout this new territory, God chose to beautify this planet with light and darkness, seas and skies, land and vegetation, sun, moon and stars, air, and land animals.
In a time when we are concerned about our polluted earth, can you imagine what Paradise was like? Every flower that grew was perfect; no blight was on them. The fertilizers and bug sprays we keep in our garden shed were not needed. Visualize a fruit tree laden with juicy apples or pears, without a bug in any piece. Imagine the sky so clear you could see every galaxy and constellation. No trash, no unpleasant odors, no litter. The lakes would have waters so clear you could see the color of every fish. God designed this glorious earth garden for His perfect children. When Adam and Eve were created they brought human beauty into this world of perfection.
God wanted someone with whom He could have fellowship. So He created Adam and Eve. No couple since then has had the ideal union that those two lovers had.
In the middle of the garden were two special trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Lord God told the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Monsignor Knox translates it even more emphatically: "Thy doom is death!"
A river flowed out of Eden, dividing into four rivers, two of which were the Tigris and the Euphrates. So the
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Garden of Eden was somewhere in present-day Iraq. . . . It became God's daily practice to walk with man in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). What an idyllic existence! How could anyone want more? And yet the first couple did.
God gave Adam and Eve more than beauty and a perfect environment. He gave them one of the most precious things man can have. Freedom. John Milton said, "When God gave Adam reason, He gave him freedom to choose. . .otherwise, he would have been a mere artificial Adam, such as an Adam in the puppet shows." Adam and Eve could have been created to walk where God directed them, speak the words God gave them-just mere puppets. However, God gave them, just as He has given us, freedom to choose.
Satan entered the garden in the form of a serpent. We can only speculate how this happened, but we do know that he had been on the prowl, searching for ways to destroy God ever since the time of his banishment from Heaven. And here was his opportunity to hurt two who were dear to the heart of God. He started in the same subtle way he uses today.
He cast doubt on what God had said. He worked on Eve first when he said, "Did God really say. . .?" (Genesis 3:l). The next strategy Satan used was an appeal to the ego. He told Eve she wouldn't die when she ate of that certain tree, she would simply be like God. So Eve took the fatal bite and passed some over to Adam, and he ate. This is called the Fall of man, and it has been a long way down ever since. God said to Adam, "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:ll). Adam answered by saying, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it" (Genesis 3:12).
Ever since, man has been passing the blame. A boy sins, his parents are blamed. A person is murdered, his environment is blamed. Someone cheats, the system is
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blamed. Passing the blame is as old as the Garden of Eden.
Even worse, man keeps asking, How can a just and loving God allow so much suffering in the world-natural disasters-man's inhumanity to man? Somehow, like Adam, man tries to blame God.
Who's On Trial?
I n past generations it was thought that mankind was on trial before a holy God. Now it seems that the reverse is true; people imagine God on trial for all the terrible things that happen. . . . It is human to question, "Where is God when. . . ?" and you can finish the sentence with your own cry.
When Jesus Christ was on the cross, His blood draining the life from His body, He knew what it was like to be alone, questioning God when He was wracked with pain. But His pain was the suffering of the sins of the ages, the greatest darkness of the soul ever known to man.
Why did Jesus suffer? For you. For me. That we might have life eternal and His peace in the midst of storms.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).
Suffering has no meaning unless we can believe that God understands our pain and can heal it. In the suffering of Jesus we have that assurance!
Sin in Eve y Sickness
Some people see sin in every sickness. They make their friends miserable by probing for hidden sins whenever suffering enters their lives. Although there may be some truth in their questioning, it also could be a cruel response to another's time of pain. They are like Job's so-called
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friends who pointed out all of his wrongs. Job called them
"miserable comforters."
A child was dying of leukemia, and all hope had been abandoned. Her parents received a call from a woman who said she was a "healer." Grasping for any way to help their daughter or prolong her life, they asked the woman to come to their home. When she arrived, she asked a few questions, looked briefly at the weak, bedridden child, and then pronounced, "There's something wrong here. I detect sin in this house." The little girl heard these words and began to cry, "Make her leave, make her leave."
It is unkind to attribute every accident, every illness and sorrow to God's punishment for wrong behavior. It is appalling how many Christians approach suffering friends with that principle. They visit first with words of comfort, and then leave a load of guilt behind ("What could you have done to deserve this?") or pious advice ("Perhaps you need to pray harder").
Suffering people can be tormented with questions of guilt; however, if all suffering is punishment for sin, then God's signals must be mixed, for accidents occur at random and disease strikes without any relationship to a person's moral or immoral life-style.
God's teaching doesn't attribute all suffering to sin or punishment for human mistakes. I have no right to tell a suffering person that it is because he sinned that his child died, or that he has cancer, or that his house burned.
In John 9, the followers of Jesus pointed to a man born blind and asked, "Who sinned, this man or his parents?" Jesus told them that neither the man nor his parents sinned, "But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." The disciples wanted to look back, to probe into the behavior of the blind man or his parents, but Jesus pointed them to the future and the hope that even suffering can be used to glorify God.
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Avoiding Temptation
There are some temptations from which we should flee and others which we must endure and conquer. However, good advice is to avoid temptation whenever possible. Our rule of life should be not to see how near we can live to the world and still keep the name of Christian, but on the contrary, to keep just as far away as possible. . . .We are not to see how much we can tamper and meddle with the things of the world, but to see how far away we can keep from those things which would be displeasing to God. If the will is kept firm, God comes to the rescue. He grants grace to do His bidding and to overcome temptation. We fail to overcome temptation when we forget to trust the Lord or when we are too lazy or too proud to call on His strength. Oscar Wilde was right when he said that the easiest way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. The natural, easy, pleasing way is self-indulgence and moral softness. The hard way is self-denial and self-discipline, which, incidentally, is commanded in the Word of God. We have too many soft Christians today!
One of the best ways to overcome temptation is to keep busy for the Lord. Find something to do for Him. Seek to serve Him. Once you are willing, He will open innumerable doors of service for you.
One good rule to follow is: Any pleasure which tends to make us more companionable with unbelievers and less sociable with believers is to be avoided.
In fact, avoidance of danger when it comes to temptation is a principle in itself.
W h e n a spacecraft returns from its orbital flight, there is a blackout period of about four minutes when all communications are broken. This is due to the intense heat generated by the spacecraft's reentry into the earth's atmosphere.
The Bible teaches that man is in a period of spiritual blackout.
Spiritually, he is blind. "We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men" (Isaiah 59:lO). "The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Spiritually, man is also deaf. "They have ears to hear, and hear not" (Ezekiel 12:2). Jesus went so far as to say:
"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31).
Spiritually, man is even dead. "Who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:l).
All of this means that the communication between God and man is broken. There is a wonderful world of joy, light, harmony, peace, and satisfaction to which millions of persons are blind and deaf, and even dead. They long for
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serenity, they search for happiness, but they seem never to find it.
Many give up the search and surrender to pessimism. Often their despondency leads to a frantic round of cocktail parties where vast amounts of alcohol are imbibed. Sometimes it leads them to narcotics. It is all part of man's desperate search to find an escape from the cold realities of a sin-blighted existence. All the while God is there speaking and beckoning. The television set may be sitting in your room cold, dark, and lifeless, but this is not the fault of the television industry. They are sending forth programs from many transmitters, and their sending stations are in perfect order. But you must turn the dials of your set; you must tune in on the right channel. God is sending forth His message of love, but you must tune in. You must be willing to listen and to receive His message and then to obey it.
Many persons want to hear what God says just out of curiosity. They want to analyze and dissect it in their own test tubes. To these persons God may remain the great cosmic silence "out there somewhere." He communicates to those who are willing to hear and receive Him and willing to obey Him. Jesus said that we must become humble as little children, and God has most often revealed Himself to the meek and humble-to a shepherd boy like David, to a rough desert man like John the Baptist, to shepherds watching their flocks, to a girl named Mary.
How does God speak? How can a blind man see? How can a deaf man hear?
From the beginning God spoke to man. Adam heard the voice of the Lord in the Garden of Eden. Adam had two sons, Cain and Abel, and God spoke to them. Cain spurned that which was revealed to him, but Abel was obedient to the word of God. Abel's response showed that a man tainted and handicapped by sin could respond to God's overtures. Thus in the very beginning God began by revelation to build a bridge between Himself and man.
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God reveals Himself in nature. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard" (Psalm 19:l-3). There is a language in nature that speaks of the existence of God. It is the language of order, beauty, perfection, and intelligence. Some time ago a scientist told me that when he gave serious thought to the majestic order of the universe and its obedience to unchanging law, he could not help but believe in God. He had become aware that God was speaking through nature.
God speaks in the certainty and regularity of the seasons; in the precision of the movements of the sun, the moon, and the stars; in the regular coming of night and day; in the balance between man's consumption of lifegiving oxygen and its production by the plant life of the earth; and even in the cry of a newborn child with its ever new demonstration of the miracle of life.
God has revealed Himself also in the conscience. Conscience has been described as the light of the soul. What causes this warning light to go on inside me when I do wrong?
Conscience is our gentlest counselor and teacher, our most faithful friend, and sometimes our worst enemy. There are no punishments or rewards comparable to those of the conscience. The Scripture says: "Man's conscience is the lamp of the eternal" (Proverbs 20:27 Moffatt). In other words, conscience is God's lamp within man's breast. In his Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant said there were just two things that filled him with awe-the starry heavens and conscience in the breast of man. The conscience in
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its varying degrees of sensitivity bears a witness to God. Its very existence within us is a reflection of God in the soul of man. Without conscience we would be like mdderless ships at sea and like guided missiles without a guidance system.
God has revealed Himself also through the Scriptures. God has two textbooks, one the textbook of nature and the other the textbook of revelation. The laws of God revealed in the textbook of nature have never changed; they are what they were since the beginning. They tell us of God's mighty power and majesty.
In the textbook of revelation, the Bible, God has spoken verbally; and this spoken word has survived every scratch of human pen. It has withstood the assaults of skeptics, agnostics, and atheists. It has never bowed its head before its discoveries of science. It remains supreme in its revelation of redemption. The more the archaeologist digs and the more the scientist discovers, the greater the confirmation of the truth of the Bible.
The writers of the Bible claim repeatedly that God gave them their material. Two thousand times in the Old Testament they said that God spoke. In the first five books we find such expressions as these:
"The Lord God called unto Adam and said" "The Lord said unto Noah "God spake unto Israel" "These are the words which the Lord hath commanded" "God said" "The Lord spake saying" "The Lord commanded" "The word of the Lord"
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Over and over the Old Testament prophets used such expressions as these:
"Hear the word of the Lord" "Saith the Lord" "I heard the voice of the Lord saying" "The word of the Lord came unto me" "Whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak "I have put my words into thy mouth "The Word of the Lord came unto me saying"
Either God did speak to these men as they wrote by inspiration, or they were the most consistent liars the earth ever saw. To tell more than two thousand lies on one subject seems incredible, and more than two thousand times the writers of the Bible said that God spoke these words! Either He did just that, or they lied. If they were mistaken in this emphasis, why should we honor their witness at any point?
Jesus quoted frequently from the Old Testament. He never once indicated that He doubted the Scriptures. The Apostles quoted the Scriptures often. The Apostle Paul said: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16). The Apostle Peter said: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21).
Thus God speaks to man through the Scriptures. This is why it is so important to read the Bible for yourself. So many take the Bible secondhand, and they have only a caricature of what the Bible says, only vague ideas about its teachings.
Finally, God speaks in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. "God. . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by
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his Son" (Hebrews 1:1,2). The idea that God would someday visit this planet is an ancient truth that is no doubt an oral remnant of the original revelation God gave to Adam of a promised salvation (Genesis 3:15). We find crude references to it in most other religions of the world, indicating that man at some time had heard or sensed that God would visit the earth. However, it was not until the "fullness of the time" when all the conditions were right, when all the prophetic considerations were fulfilled, that God "sent forth his Son, made of a woman" (Galatians 4:4).
Every hope we have of God, every prospect we have of eternal life, every anticipation we have of Heaven, every possibility we have of a new social order-all must be linked to Jesus Christ. It is as we come to Jesus Christ that the unknown becomes known; and not only that, but as we come to Jesus Christ, we experience God Himself. Our limited darkened lives receive the light of the eternal presence of God, and we see that there is another world beyond the confusion, limitation, and frustration of this world.
A Scarlet Thread
II Without shedding of blood is no remission," declares the Word of God. There is a scarlet thread of blood from Genesis to Revelation, for God taught man from the very beginning that the only approach to God was by the blood.
Any man who accepts the Bible as the Word of God must come to the conclusion that Christianity is a religion of atonement. Its redemption feature distinguishes Christianity from any and all other religions. If you separate this distinctive religious doctrine from its creed, this supreme religion is brought down to the level of many other prevailing religious systems. Christianity is not merely a system of ethics. It is the story of redemption through Jesus Christ.
Let us make a hasty sketch of this doctrine of blood
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which is taught in the Word of God. Even in the Garden of Eden we see it. Adam and Eve had sinned. God had said, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." They believed Satan's lie rather than God's truth. They ate. Thus they died. Immediately they saw themselves naked. They were afraid. Instead of becoming gods, as Satan had told them, they found that in actuality they had broken God's law and were now naked, alone and fearful. They ran into the bushes to hide, but they were still afraid. They gathered huge fig leaves, sewed them together, and made themselves aprons to cover their nakedness.
Often in the cool of the day God would come to walk with Adam and Eve. This time they hid from His presence. God called to Adam and said to him, "Where art thou?" and Adam said, "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." Immediately the earth, the serpent, the man and the woman were cursed.
God is a holy God! He is purer than to behold evil and cannot behold iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13). He went into the forest and the Scripture says in Genesis 321, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them." Thus blood was shed for the first time. God was teaching man in the very beginning that the only way he could possibly approach a holy God was through shed blood.
Adam and Eve were sinners; thus they begat sinners: Cain and Abel. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).
Cain and Abel were reared together; they lived together; they had the same advantage, the same environment, the same heredity. Cain decided to be a farmer. Abel became a rancher. The time of the year came when they were to bring their first fruits to God. Cain had worked hard to make the first fruits of his crop as attractive as possible. Abel went out into the herd, slew a lamb, and
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brought it to God as a sacrifice. God had already taught them that the only way they could approach Him was by blood. Cain had ignored it. He came in his own way. He brought the fruit of the ground. Though he had labored long and hard, yet his righteousness was counted as filthy rags. It must be God's way or not at all. God rejected it! Abel's sacrifice was accepted. He probably did not work as hard as Cain, but his sacrifice was blood. He had come in obedience and God accepted his sacrifice.
There are thousands of people today that are coming to God on the merits of their own works. Either they are sewing on fig leaves or bringing the fruits of their own labors. But God sees through the fig leaves and denounces their works. Salvation is by blood, and by blood alone! Man has no merit or work that God can accept.
The first thing Noah did after leaving the ark was to offer a sacrifice: "Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Genesis 8:20). Noah, too, walked the highway of blood.
In every house of Egypt the firstborn would be smitten by the destroying angel who, at midnight, would pass through the land. God said, "The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." This story of the Passover is well known to us all. The Egyptians and the Israelites in many cases dwelt near each other, and so a sign must be set on the door of every Israelitish house that the destroying angel might not enter there to slay.
The sign was the blood of a lamb slain by the father of the family. It was to be sprinkled on the doorpost. It was to be an assurance by which the Israelite might have entire confidence concerning the safety of his family. The blood was to be a token of redemption. The death of the lamb was to be considered as taking the place of the death
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which each man had deserved by sin. That night in Egypt they were busy buying and selling, eating and drinking, living delicately and boasting about their power and wisdom. The devil had lulled thousands to sleep by the business and enjoyment of the day. Hundreds had not believed the Word of God. They were not prepared. The blood was not sprinkled! God had said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you," not "when I see your good works," not "when I see your good intentions or motives." The only thing that counted that night was whether the blood was sprinkled on the doorpost or not!
It is recorded that on the Passover night there was an old gray-haired man who lived in the house of his firstborn son, and he himself was the firstborn son of his father. His son also had a firstborn son. Thus there were three firstborn sons in the house, all of whom must die if the destroying angel entered the house. The old man lying on his bed, sick, but he heard with interest everything his son told him about God's command to Moses. Toward evening he was often restless as he thought of their danger, and he said, "My son, are you sure that you have done everything that has been prescribed?" His answer was:
"Yes, Father, everything." For a moment he was satisfied. Then he asked again, "Are you sure? Has the blood been sprinkled on the door?" Again the answer was, "Yes, Father, everything has been done according to the command." The nearer it came to midnight, the more restless he became. Finally, he cried, "My son, carry me out if you please, that I may myself see it, and then I can rest." The son carried his father to a place where he could see the blood on the sideposts and the lintel. "Now I am satisfied," he cried. "Thank God! Now I know that I am safe!"
In the awful day of judgment when you stand alone before God, the only thing that will count is the blood of the Crucified One. Has it been sprinkled by faith on your heart's door? Soon the death angel will be passing by. Be sure the blood is there.
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Results of the Atonement
First: It redeems-1 Peter 1:18-19: "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
Second: It brings us nigh-Ephesians 2:13: "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
Third: It makes peace-Colossians 1:20: "And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven."
Fourth: It justifies-Romans 5:9: "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
Fifth: It cleanses-1 John 1:7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
The Beginning of Sorrows
S o Jesus sat down with them and began to teach these things. His answer, recorded in Matthew 24:3-37, offers a dramatic portrait of the last days of planet Earth. Here Jesus revealed the fate of Jerusalem, which was carried out to the letter when it was sacked and burned by the legions of Emperor Titus in A.D. 70. Jesus spoke of the coming of a godless, secular society, and He spoke of the dangers of the heresies conceived by false teachers who would try to pervert the simple message of truth Christ came to deliver. He said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many" (Matthew 24:4-5 NKJV).
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The rest of the passage, which speaks to the troubles of our own times, reads as follows: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."
Gethsemnrle means /'oil press.', ~ o s t of us are familiar with olive oil as an ingredient in salads or cooking. In Palestine it was, and is, a valued staple. The Mount of Olives is frequently mentioned in the New Testament and is intimately connected with the devotional life of Jesus. It was on the Mount of Olives that He often sat with His disciples, telling them of events yet to come. And it was to the Mount of Olives that He retired each evening for prayer and rest, after the weary work of the day.
The oldest olive trees in Palestine today are those which are enclosed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Visitors to Jerusalem today can look at them, but they can't get close enough to touch them. Too many curious people have tried to deface those ancient, gnarled trees as they sought a special souvenir from the Holy Land.
When olives are harvested, they are squeezed, pressed, and pulverized under an enormous revolving stone which mashes the fruit to pulp and recovers the valuable oil. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the wheel of humiliation, defeat, and eventually death would grind Jesus to the point of His greatest personal agony. Emotional torment is many times more difficult to bear than physical torment. At Gethsemane, the place of the press, the mental anguish was so intense that Jesus pleaded with His Holy Father for release. But only if it was the Father's will.
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How we need friends in time of testing! Jesus demonstrated His humanity when He asked His disciples to stay with Him. He wanted and needed them in His time of greatest trial. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, to the point of death; stay here and keep watch with me" (Matthew 26:38). Jesus moved a short distance from His friends, the ones who confidently said they would follow Him, the ones who said they would never deny Him, and He fell on the ground to pray. It couldn't have been too long before His heavy-lidded friends dozed off. The sleepy disciples who had said they would do anything for Him couldn't even sit up and console Him.
As Jesus prayed, His agony was great, "and being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44). Does that seem impossible? Medical dictionaries describe this condition as "chromidrosis," a state in which intense emotional stress may actually cause the blood vessels to expand so much that they break where they come in contact with the sweat glands. Personally, I cannot begin to comprehend such overpowering emotion.
Jesus prayed three times, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).
Was there a way out? Could Jesus be delivered from the horrors of such a death-at least for a time? Jesus did not take delight in His approaching crucifixion; He loved life on this earth. He enjoyed the pleasures of walking with His disciples, holding children on His knees, attending a wedding, eating with friends, riding in a boat, or working in the temple at Passover time. To Jesus, death was the enemy. When He prayed, "If it is possible," He wanted to confirm once again if His imminent death were truly the Father's will. Was there some other way?
But what did He mean by His plea to "let this cup pass from me"?
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In the Scriptures, "cup" is used figuratively to describe either God's blessing (Psalm 23:5) or God's wrath (Psalm 75:8). Since Jesus would not have prayed for God's blessing to be taken from Him, it is obvious that His use of "cup" here speaks of the divine wrath that Christ would suffer at the Cross as He bore the sins of mankind upon Himself.
How unthinkable it seems to us for Jesus, who knew no sin, to have to bear the sin and guilt of all men. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Was there no other way of accomplishing the will of the Father without drinking that cup of wrath?
This was the question Jesus was asking-and in complete obedience to the Father's sovereign will Jesus voluntarily accepted the answer. No, there was no other way for a just and loving God to deal with our sins.
Sin must be punished; if God were simply to forgive our sins without judging them, then there would be no justice, no accountability for wrongdoing, and God is not truly holy and just. And if God were simply to judge us for our sins as we deserve to be judged, then there would be no hope of eternal life and salvation for any of us-for
"all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). His love would have failed to provide a way for our salvation.
The cross was the only way to resolve this awesome dilemma. The conflict of the ages was about to reach its climax. On one hand, our sins were about to be placed on Christ, the sinless One. He would be "clothed" in our sins like a filthy, tattered old garment, and on the cross those sins would be judged-your sins, my sins. He would be the final atoning sacrifice for sin. On the other hand, however, Christ's perfect righteousness would be given to us, like a spotless, gleaming set of new clothes. Sin was therefore judged, and God's justice was satisfied. The door of forgiveness and salvation was opened, and God's love was satisfied. "God made him who had no sin to be sin
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for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Even as Jesus, in His humanity, struggled within Himself over this awesome predicament, He finally prayed, "Thy will be done." This was not a prayer spoken with a sigh of resignation, but with a strong voice of complete trust. Jesus knew this meant total and absolute surrender to the will of the Father and to the needs of others. Yet, there is a mystery here that we cannot fully understand. Jesus surely experienced the overwhelming awareness of His inevitable sacrifice for the sins of the world. He knew this was His primary mission on earth, for He had said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
The Garden of Gethsemane is the place where Jesus was revealed to be a true man. He was face-to-face with the choice between obedience or disobedience. He was not a robot programmed to obey God automatically. He can sympathize with our weaknesses, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Satan tempted Jesus all through His ministry, but the temptations in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry can scarcely compare to those in the garden. After three years of selfless giving and the stress of that final week, Jesus was never more vulnerable than at this moment of time.
Some skeptics have said that Jesus' suffering in Gethsemane was a sign of weakness. They point out that many martyrs, for instance, died without the intense emotional wrestling of Jesus.
But it is one thing to die for a cause, or to die for country or for another person. It is quite another to die for an entire world, all the accumulated sins of generations past and generations to come. Jesus was to become guilty of murder,
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adultery, cheating, lying, and all other evil human behavior. It's more than our finite minds can ever comprehend.
The Full Armor
Paul, referring to the conflict with "the spiritual forces of evil," wrote, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13).
Here are five points to use as a checklist in determining the strength of your "full armor." Write them down, refer to them daily, and act upon them.
First, we must make sure of our relationship to God. As Amos the prophet saw the day of judgment fast approaching for Israel, he warned the people to prepare to meet God (Amos 4:12). The word "preparedness" should be a key word for everyone.
WALK WITH GOD
Second, we should learn how to walk with God in our daily life. Abraham walked with God and was called a friend of God (Isaiah 4123; James 2:23). Walk with God as Noah did; when the flood came, Noah was saved. Walk with God as Moses did in the solitude of the desert; when the hour of judgment fell upon Egypt, Moses was prepared to lead his people to victory. Walk with God as David did as a shepherd boy; when he was called to rule his people he was prepared for the task of kingship. Daniel and his three young friends walked with God in Babylon, and when trouble came, God was beside themwhether it was in the lions' den or in the fiery furnace.
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WORK WITH THE WORD
Third, we need to fortify ourselves with the Word of God. Begin reading, studying, and memorizing Scripture as never before. Paul says, "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist" (Ephesians 6:14). The truth is the Word of God. He also says, "Take the. . .sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (verse 17). We are to be girded and undergirded with the Word. To achieve this, we must read it, assimilate it, feed on it. We must let it be our staff and strength. It is quick and powerful-the bulwark of the soul.
PRACTICE WITH PRAYER
Fourth, we need to fortify ourselves with prayer. The Bible, referring to "the evil day," says, "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests" (Ephesians 6:18). If we are to stand uncompromisingly for Christ when a national crisis comes, we must rediscover the power of prayer. Jesus taught us that we should
"always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:l). The early church knew the value and necessity of prayer. Earnest, fervent prayer preceded every major triumph. Prayer preceded Pentecost.
PRACTICE THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST
Fifth, we must fortify ourselves by realizing the nearness of the Lord at all times. Spurgeon once said, "There have never been fifteen minutes in my life when I did not sense the presence of Christ." I regret I cannot say that. We must learn again to practice the presence of Christ, not only in days of testing and suffering, but always.
The Inwurd/ournq
T h e inward journey is that lifelong pilgrimage of spiritual growth and maturity. Too often we see conversion as the end rather than the beginning of life's struggle to know God and to do His will. For example, going forward in a crusade or church to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the first step of the long inward journey. The study of God's Word, the practice of prayer, wide reading of Christian books and articles, memorization of Scripture, poetry, and hymns, gathering together in Christian community, participation in small nurture groups, building intimate and honest Christian friendships-all of these activities are necessary to grow in Christian faith. Yet too often we just assume that people understand and practice these disciplines on their own.
The Outwdrd Journq
T h e outward journey is an expression that I think originated with Elizabeth O'Connor, the historian of the Church of the Savior in Washington. To grow on an inward journey, the journey to know God, is not enough.
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We are also called to follow Christ onto our streets and into our neighborhoods. We are called to serve Christ in bringing His message of redemption to the world. The outward journey, that journey which takes us beyond our own small world to the world in need, is the inevitable outworking of a genuine inward journey. The cross points in two directions-toward God and toward my neighbors.
The Church of the Savior requires that each member be actively working in an outreach project-whether evangelism through a coffee house, a retreat ministry, rebuilding houses or feeding the poor, caring for orphans, widows, and transients, being involved in the primary concerns of education, public housing or environment. Sometimes we act as though attending church on Sunday morning and putting an offering in the basket are all that God requires of us. We make the faith seem undemanding. And we forget Jesus standing before the rich young man saying,
"sell everything you have and give to the poor. . . . Then come, follow me" (Mark 10:21).
Vulnerability
Perhaps you have read the words 1 have written. . .about Satan's way of deceiving, such as through false teachings or through his appeal to our lusts and our pride. Possibly, however, you have said to yourself, "This is all very interesting, but Satan could never deceive me. I'm not a member of some false religion. I'm not involved in any sinful lifestyle." The Bible warns us, however, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Corinthians 10:12). Satan never gives up in his efforts to deceive.
First, we must admit to ourselves that Christians, too, are vulnerable to deception.
The Scriptures are filled with wonderful promises: "Do not be afraid, little flock. . . .My grace is sufficient. . . .You have overcome the evil one" (Luke 12:32; 2 Corinthians
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12:9; 1 John 2:13). We must remember these promises and believe them. But we must also remember God's warnings. Jesus Himself said that in the last days "false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect-if that were possible" (Mark 13:22). Paul wrote, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy" (Colossians 223). Jesus warned us, "Watch out that you are not deceived" (Luke 213). God will complete in us what He has begun, and yet we must be on our guard against deception.
Second, we are vulnerable at the point of authority figures.
We Christians sit in pews facing the front of the church. We listen-and then we get up and leave. How often do we pause to think about what was said? Do we ask questions of those who address us? Most of the authority figures in our lives can be trusted. And that means that there is all the more reason for us to ask questions. A trustworthy authority figure welcomes our honest questions and will answer them frankly. A cult figure is not interested in questions; he wants loyalty. A cult figure doesn't want to give us options; he wants power over our lives.
Of course, the basic test of the Spirit in an authority figure is clearly stated in the Scriptures: "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God" (1 John 4:2-3). Unfortunately, however, this test alone may not prove adequate, for many-in fact most-cult leaders would acknowledge Jesus in just such a way before going on to replace His authority over us with their own authority.
Victims are often from religious homes and churches in which people are not instructed to question authority figures nor taught to make decisions on their own. When the rider who deceives rides into town, we need to ask him who he really is and what he really wants from us. In all likeli-
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hood we will quickly detect why he must not be trustedwhy he is a false messiah who would lead us to our deaths.
Third, we are vulnerable at the point of money. It is common for false religious leaders to be very secretive about the finances of their organization. Unfortunately, when legitimate Christian organizations and churches refuse to be completely open about finances they are conditioning people to accept unquestioningly the contention of the cult leader that he is not accountable to anyone for his financial dealings. What is the least attended meeting of the church year? The annual business meeting, of course. Too often even those who attend rush superficially through the budget with little understanding of what it says or means. Yet the annual budget is one document that enumerates our priorities. Without understanding the budget, we don't understand who we are or what we are doing. Worse, by not understanding or questioning the budget, we are setting each other up for a leader who doesn't want us to know where the dollars are going. If you give to any Christian charity (including the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) and you don't insist on an understandable financial accounting of your gift, you are in danger of falling prey to the horseman who deceives.
Fourth, we are vulnerable at the point of time. Too many of us are so busy that we stumble about in a daze, exhausted, too tired to think, let alone to question. False religious leaders keep their members busy. Exhaustion sets in. Deception follows. At the heart of the Christian calendar is a day of rest. And at the heart of that Sabbath day is God's understanding of His creation. Unless we maintain our physical strength, we will lose our spiritual and psychological stamina as well. At the heart of brainwashing is exhaustion. The rider on the white horse loves to see us too tired to resist. That makes his deception all the easier.
Fifth, we are vulnerable at the point of human relationships.
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False religious leaders separate family from family and friends from friends. They know that when we are lonely and cut off from each other, we cannot share our questions or raise the issues that would set us free. Modern culture, with its sound and fury (even sometimes within the church), doesn't really honor friendship or the time and energy it takes to maintain those intimate ties with a husband or a wife, a friend or a colleague. So, become active. Commit yourself to a small circle of friends. Honor and build friendship whatever the cost.
Wet Blanket vs. Dry Christian By retreating and avoiding sin, you will in reality be advancing in your Christian experience. To yield to temptation is to ensure its recurrence. When we presumptuously put ourselves in the way of temptation, we deserve to fall. If we parlay with sin, we will surrender. Remember, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Never act upon a wrong desire. It will always lead to sin. To maintain the right, however, strengthens you for the future. "The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger" (Job 17:19).
Never feel ill at ease or embarrassed when you have to refuse to do certain things or to go into certain places when the crowd does so. Don't be afraid to say "no." One of the most important lessons we can learn is how to say
"no." Doing so will intensify our determination to witness for Christ. Close your mind to temptation. Ask for God's grace to turn from it. Remember, it is better to be a so called "wet blanket" than a "dry Christianu-one who is not separated from the ungodly to the Lord and whose life is therefore "like the heath in the desert" and like "the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not
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inhabited" (Jeremiah 17:5-6).
We must "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3-4). If hard experiences come and indications of the enemy at work are seen, do not give up the fight, but by His grace endure hardness and "strength with His strength oppose." Prepare for the stumbling blocks which may appear in your path. Your ability to resist temptation will depend to a great extent upon your spiritual attitude when sin presents its ugly head. The problems you face will test your faith and will make you stronger. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing" (James 1:2-4).
Tiny Blades of Opportunity
T h e Bible reminds us further that our days are as grass (Psalm 103:15). They are filled with tiny golden minutes with eternity in them. We are exhorted to redeem the time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). As C. T. Studd, the famous Cambridge cricketer and missionary pioneer, wrote while still a student at Cambridge,
Only one life, 'twill soon be past; Only what's done for Christ will last.
Life is a glorious opportunity if it is used to condition us for eternity. If we fail in this, though we succeed in everything else, our life will have been a failure. There is no escape for the man who squanders his opportunity to prepare to meet God.
Our lives are also immortal. God made man different from the other creatures. He made him in His own image, a living soul. When this body dies and our earthly exis-
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tence is terminated, the soul or spirit lives on forever. One hundred years from this day you will be more alive than you are at this moment. The Bible teaches that life does not end at the cemetery. There is a future life with God for those who put their trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. There is also a future Hell of separation from God toward which all are going who have refused, rejected, or neglected to receive His Son, Jesus Christ.
Victor Hugo once said, "I feel in myself the future life." Cyrus the Great is reported to have declared, "I cannot imagine that the soul lives only while it remains in this mortal body." Nothing but our hope in Christ will take the sting out of death and throw a rainbow of hope around the clouds of the future life. Our anchor is in Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.
Lips vs. Lives
Preaching is not the only way we declare the Gospel of Christ. Our lives also should be witnesses to others of the reality of Christ. Those who have affected me most profoundly in my life have not necessarily been great or eloquent preachers, but men and women of God whose lives were marked by holiness and Christ-likeness. The Gospel must be communicated not only by our lips but by our lives. This is a visual proof that the message we preach actually can change lives.
Our world today is looking for men and women with integrity, for communicators who back up their ministry with their lives. Our preaching emerges out of what we are. We are called to be a holy people-separated from the moral evils of the world. The Bible commands, "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation" (1 Peter 1:15). The apostle John wrote,
"Love not the world neither the things that are in the
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world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:15-17).
How TO BE BORN AGAIN
How to Become Born Again
First, realize that you are a sinner in ~ o d ' s eyes. YOU may not consider yourself a bad person, because you know you have lived a fairly decent life. On the other hand, you may be carrying a burden of guilt over some sins committed in the past. Whatever your background, the Bible tells us "there is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10 KJV). We have all broken the Law of God, and we all deserve nothing but God's judgment and wrath.
Second, realize that God loves you and sent His Son to die for you. You deserve to die for your sins, but Christ died in your place. "For Christ also died for sins once and for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). That is the wonder of the Gospel-that God loves us! He loves you, in spite of the fact you are a sinner.
Third, repent of your sins. Repentance comes from a Greek word meaning "a change of mind." It means that I admit I am a sinner, and that I feel sorry for the fact I have sinned. But repentance also means I actually turn my back on my sins-I reject them-and determine by God's grace to live as He wants me to live. Jesus said, "unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3).
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Repentance involves a willingness to leave sin behind, and turn my life over to Jesus Christ as Lord of my life. We see ourselves as God sees us and we pray, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" (Luke 18:13).
Fourth, come by faith and trust to Christ. Salvation, the Bible tells us, is a free gift. God has done everything possible to make salvation available to us, but we must respond and make that gift our own. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
Feet First, Not Head First
During recent years, I have seen a number of intellectuals respond to the Gospel. Many of them have tried to come head first, and it will not work! There must be a response of the whole man-intellect, will, and emotions-to the saving initiative of God.
Head, Heart, Will
I n John there is a description of the hundreds of people who were following Jesus early in His ministry. The Bible says that "many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them" (John 2:23-24) because He knew the hearts of all men. Why would Jesus not commit Himself to them? He knew that they believed with their heads and not with their hearts.
There is a vast difference between intellectual belief and the total conversion that saves the soul. To be sure, there must be a change in our thinking and intellectual acceptance of Christ.
There are thousands of people who have had some form of emotional experience that they refer to as conver-
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sion but who have never been truly converted to Christ. Christ demands a change in the way you live-and if your life does not conform to your experience, then you have every reason to doubt your experience! Certainly there will be a change in the elements that make up emotion when you come to Christ-hate and love will be involved, because you will begin to hate sin and love righteousness. Your affections will undergo a revolutionary change. Your devotion to Him will know no bounds. Your love for Him cannot be described.
But even if you have an intellectual acceptance of Christ, and an emotional experience-that still is not enough. There must be the conversion of the will! There must be that determination to obey and follow Christ. Your will must be bent to the will of God. Self must be nailed to the cross. . . .Our main desire must be to please Him. It is a total commitment.
In conversion as you stand at the foot of the cross, the Holy Spirit makes you realize that you are a sinner. He directs your faith to the Christ who died in your place. You must open your heart and let Him come in. At that precise moment the Holy Spirit performs the miracle of the new birth. You actually become a new moral creature. There comes the implantation of the divine nature. You become a partaker of God's own life. Jesus Christ, through the Spirit of God, takes up residence in your heart.
Conversion is so simple that the smallest child can be converted, but it is also so profound that theologians throughout history have pondered the depth of its meaning. God has made the way of salvation so plain that "the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein" (Isaiah 35:8). No person will ever be barred from the kingdom of God because he did not have the capacity to understand. The rich and the poor, the sophisticated and the simpleall can be converted.
To sum it up, conversion simply means "to change." When a person is converted he may continue to love
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objects which he loved before, but there will be a change of reasons for loving them. A converted person may forsake former objects of affection. He may even withdraw from his previous companions, not because he dislikes them, for many of them will be decent and amiable, but because there is more attraction for him in the fellowship of other Christians of like mind.
The converted person will love the good he once hated, and hate the sin he once loved. There will even be a change of heart about God. Where he once may have been careless about God, living in constant fear, dread, and antagonism to God, he now finds himself in a state of complete reverence, confidence, obedience, and devotion. There will be a reverential fear of God, a constant gratitude to God, a dependence upon God, and a new loyalty to Him. Before conversion there may have been gratification of the flesh. Cultural and intellectual pursuits or the making of money may have been of first and supreme importance. Now, righteousness and holiness of heart, and living the Christian life will be placed above all other concerns, for pleasing Christ will be the only goal of real importance. In other words, conversion means a complete change in the life of an individual.
Dynamics of the New Man
I n the third century, Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage, wrote to his friend Donatus: "It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians. . . and I am one of them."
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If you have repented of your sins and have received Christ as Savior, then you, too, are one of them.
FORGIVEN AND JUSTIFIED
The moment you were converted to Christ, several dramatic things happened, whether you were aware of them or not. First, your sin was forgiven. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14). "Your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake" (1 John 2:12). Throughout the New Testament we are told that the one who receives Christ as Savior also receives immediately, as a gift from God, the forgiveness of sin. The Bible says: "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). The only reason our sins can be forgiven is, of course, because Jesus Christ paid the full penalty for our sins on the cross. He was "delivered for our offenses" (Romans 4:25).
Second, the new man is adopted. "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:5). The moment we receive Christ as Savior, we receive the divine nature of the sons of God. We are now placed in the position of a joint heir with Jesus Christ. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children" (Ephesians 1:5). We have now all the rights of a son. All things in the Kingdom are now ours to enjoy.
Third, the new man is indwelt by the Spirit of God. Before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus Christ said: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the
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Spirit of truth. . .ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16,17). During His lifetime on earth, Christ's presence could be experienced only by a small group of men at any given time. Now Christ dwells through the Spirit in the hearts of all those who have received Him as Savior. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans: "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Romans 8:9). Later he wrote to the Corinthians: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16).
The Holy Spirit is given to every believer-not for a limited time but forever. Were He to leave us for one moment, we would be in deep trouble.
Fourth, the new man has the possibility of victory over temptation and sin. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The Bible teaches that the new man is to "abhor that which is evil" (Romans 12:9) and to "put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts" (Ephesians 4:22). We are told also to "make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14).
New Man, Not PerjGect
There is one problem that Christians face immediately upon conversion. Some people get the idea that they become perfect right away, and then they find themselves tempted, in conflict, and even on occasion yielding to temptation. Many of them become filled with confusion,
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frustration, and discouragement. They say the Christian life is not what they thought it was going to be. The Bible does teach that we can become mature, but that does not mean that we are ever flawless. Ernest F. Kevan says: "The perfect Christian is the one who, having a sense of his own failure to attain, is minded to press toward the mark (Philippians 3:14).
The Bible teaches: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would" (Galatians 5:17). It teaches that there is a spiritual conflict in the heart of every true believer. It is true that the Christian possesses a new nature, but the old nature is still there. It is now up to us, day by day, to yield to the reign and control of the new nature, which is dominated by Christ. Because we are a new creation for whom all old things have passed away and all things have become new, we no longer practice sin.
We may fall into sin, but we hate it. The new nature commits no sin; but when the Christian sins, it is because the old nature has been yielded to for a moment. And when the Christian sins, he is miserable until the sin is confessed and fellowship with God is restored. This is the difference between the believer and the unbeliever. The unbeliever makes sin a practice, and the believer does not make a practice of sin. He abhors it and rather than live in the former lawlessness, he seeks to abide by the commands of God. Thus Paul says: "Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:4). It means that we are to be submissive to the new nature, to the Holy Spirit who indwells us. "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13).
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The World Upside Down
The people who followed Jesus were unique in their generation. They turned the world upside down because their hearts had been turned right side up. The world has never been the same. History took a sharp turn for the better. People began to behave like human beings. Dignity, nobility, and honor followed in the wake of Christianity. Art, music, and science-sparked by this new interpretation of life's meaning-began to progress and develop. Mankind began at long last to resemble again the "image of God" in which he was created. Society began to feel the impact of the Christian influence. Injustice, inhumanity, and intolerance were dislodged by the tidal wave of spiritual power which was released by Christ. As F. W. Boreham once said, "The Carpenter of Nazareth has encouraged the goldsmiths of the ages." Virtually every significant social movement in Western Civilization-from the abolition of slavery to child labor laws-owes its origin to the influence of Jesus Christ.
Centuries have rolled by since that initial surge of spiritual life. The stream of Christianity has flowed unceasingly, sometimes at flood tide but more often at ebb tide.
At times the church has been gloriously renewed and used of God. Emboldened by the Holy Spirit, and stirred by the truth of the Word of God, men and women throughout the centuries have continued to turn the world upside down for Christ. At other times, however, man-made tributaries have flowed into it, polluting and adulterating it. Deism, Pantheism, and, of late, Humanism and blatant Naturalism have flowed like muddy currents into the mainstream of Christian thought, so that the world has had difficulty in distinguishing the real from the false. In some parts of the world armies have fought and killed supposedly in the name of Christ-and yet by their actions showing they understood little of His spirit of forgiveness and love.
Yes, Christians are imperfect, and some who have