“It is the highest and holiest of the paradoxes that the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be for ever paying it. He will be for ever giving back what he cannot give back, and cannot be expected to give back. He will be always throwing things away into a bottomless pit of unfathomable thanks.” —G.K. Chesterton
“No Christian and, indeed, no historian could accept the epigram which defines religion as ‘what a man does with his solitude.’ It was one of the Wesleys, I think, who said that the New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion. We are forbidden to neglect the assembling of ourselves together. Christianity is already institutional in the earliest of its documents. The Church is the Bride of Christ. We are members of one another. … We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and privacy, and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” —C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
“One will wickedly say, ‘If I am a child of God, I may live as I like.’ That is damnable doctrine. Another will say, ‘If I am a child of God, I shall not want to live as I like, but as God likes, and I shall be led by the grace of God into the path of holiness, and through divine grace I shall persevere in that way of holiness right to the end.’ That is quite another doctrine, and it is the true teaching of the Word of God.” —Charles Spurgeon
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
As we rejoin our series asking, “Is that in the Bible?” we have come to statement #16—The lion will lay down with the lamb.
Is that in the Bible?No!
You may be surprised by that because it is one of those phrases repeated so often that people assume it has to be in the Scripture. Even those who don’t have a religious persuasion for their life still accept this phrase as meaning world peace, where former adversaries now live together in harmony.
There are some verses in the prophesies of Isaiah from which this phrase may have originated, like Isaiah 11:6. On the 8th anniversary of the modern independence of the nation of Israel (in April 1956), the British parliament presented a bronze Menorah to the Israeli Knesset. Benno Elkan designed this beautiful piece, modeled after the lampstand in the Holy Place of the Temple. On one of the branches, Benno portrays the prophet Isaiah, and at his feet are images of a lion, a wolf, a lamb, and a small child.
But in the images on this menorah, based on so many Kingdom-anticipating passages throughout the Old Testament, is the hope for which we long. Peace is coming. It is peace purchased by the Prince of Peace and it is a peace that only He can establish and maintain.
To see the peace that will exist in God’s kingdom, we must look back to the beginning of Time. The Book of Isaiah has been called “the Bible within the Bible.” Partly because it is near the middle of the Bible, but partly because its 66 chapters (like the 66 books of the Bible) trace the perfection of God that was marred by sin, the ravages of sin, the redemption that comes only through the Messiah, and His eternal kingdom of peace that is for all who put their faith in Jesus. So today I want us to look at the first book of the Bible, the “Bible within the Bible,” and the last book of the Bible.
God created perfection in the Earth. Part of His plan included man and animals as herbivores (Genesis 1:29-30). At least one of God’s animals could talk (Genesis 3:1). Given the fact that neither Adam nor Eve were distressed by a talking snake, perhaps there was a way for man and animals to navigate their differences.
This encounter with the devil led to sin, which also opened the door for further pain and hardship—self-awareness that brought embarrassment, pain in childbirth, difficulty farming the land, and removal from the Garden of Eden (3:16-19).
Sin continued to ravage (Genesis 6:6). At the time of the Flood, it appears men and animals were still herbivores (vv. 20-21), but that changes after the Flood (9:1-6).
Sin ravages and destroys and enslaves people in their ungodly passions. God does forgive, but many times the consequences of sin still remain—as we witness in our world today.
Remember that after Adam and Eve sinned, they were aware of their nakedness. Their attempt to cover themselves was with what they had dominion over: fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). The very first animal sacrifice was performed by God Himself—an innocent calf or lamb had to shed its blood so that God could cover the shame of sin (v. 21).
Sinful man tries to copy what God did without calling on God Himself, and God sees it for what it is: a sham (Isaiah 65:1-7; Revelation 7:9-10).
Only Jesus can bridge the gulf between sinful man and righteous God (Isaiah 11:1-9; Revelation 5:1-6; 11-13).
“[Jesus] endured death as a lamb; He devoured it as a lion.” —Augustine
(see John 1:29; Revelation 1:18)
We get a small glimpse of the eternal kingdom during the Millennial Reign (Isaiah 65:17-25), but the eternal kingdom is the Reality for the saints of God forever (Isaiah 35:8-10; Revelation 21:1-8, 22:1-5)!
The next time you hear someone long for the day when “the lion will lay down with the lamb,” remind them that the Lion and the Lamb are one in the same. Jesus is BOTH our sacrificial Lamb that died in our place to pay the penalty of our sin AND He is the Lion that devoured death once for all!
There is an eternal Kingdom where peace and joy and wholeness are indescribable and unending. But we only get into this Kingdom by the blood of the Lamb and the power of the Lion!
Check out the previous statement we have discussed in this series by clicking here.
There’s nothing wrong with getting godly advice from someone, and there’s nothing wrong with sharing godly wisdom with others. Let’s just make sure that we’re not putting godly people above God Himself.
“If sin came to you openly proclaiming itself as sin, you would fight against it; but it is very cunning and deceitful and it gradually petrifies the heart and especially the heart of those who think that they will never provoke God by their sin. Pride has already begun to work in them; and where pride can work, every other sin finds elbow-room.” —Charles Spurgeon
The Eiffel Tower may be one of the most iconic symbols of architecture. In this post, we learn that its creator “Gustave Eiffel, a French engineer, looked not to classical architecture or ancient ruins but to the human body—specifically, the thigh bone.”
“He that hath slight thoughts of sin, never had great thoughts of God.” —John Owen
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Think back to some of the hard times you’ve been through. Do those times conjure up fond memories and a longing to return to yesteryear? Of course not! Most people do their best to forget these moments as quickly as possible, but a mature leader recognizes the value of the suffering they’ve endured. Join us for today’s episode as we discuss how your most painful moments have the potential to be your biggest opportunities for growth.
[0:00] Introduction
[0:16] During this episode you might be saying, “I don’t want to go there!”
[2:03] Growth comes from switching from, “How do I get out of this?” to “What can I get out of this?”
[3:08] Why do we avoid that painful lessons that could help us grow?
[4:53] Greg shares about a learning experience from his football career.
[6:13] My rough season led to a book called When Sheep Bite.
[8:15] We have to practice learning in difficult seasons.
[10:00] Pain can show us what needs to be changed to realize growth opportunities.
[13:02] Greg asks me what is one thing that held me back from learning from adversity.
[14:55] Greg shares what held him back earlier in his leadership journey.
[16:52] I have learned an important first response in difficult times.
[18:53] Sometimes we need an outside mentor to help us see where we’re struggling.
[22:00] “Your hardest times often lead to some of your greatest moments.”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Last week I reminded you about the greeting in the early church. One saint would say to another, “He is risen!” and the other person would respond, “He is risen indeed!”
That word “indeed” is important. In Greek, the word is ontōs—in point of fact, as opposed to what is pretended or fictitious. Our English dictionary says something similar, but adds something I think is memorable: in fact; in reality; in truth—used for emphasis, to confirm and amplify a previous statement.
The word ontōs is only used a few times in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah, God speaks to His people, calling them to return to Him. The people respond, “We will come to You. Indeed the world is deception; indeed You are our salvation” (see Jeremiah 3:22-23).
In the New Testament, Paul said that if the law could have saved us, there would have been no reason for Jesus to die on a Cross and be resurrected back to life—Galatians 3:21-22. When He died for our sins, the Roman centurion overseeing His crucifixion recognized that Jesus was indeed the righteous Savior (Luke 23:47; Matthew 27:54). Jesus said of Himself that He came to give freedom indeed (John 8:36).
When we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior, we are indeed saved from the death penalty that our sins deserve. We are justified through our faith in our crucified and risen Savior. We are now free indeed to participate in the eternal life Jesus gave us!
The Bible uses three pictures of the life we are now free to enjoy. Since we camped out in the Book of Ephesians last week, let’s return there to see these three pictures—
(1) The Building of the Lord—Ephesians 2:19-22
We have to stay on the foundation of Jesus, if we want to build something lasting (Matthew 7:24, 26). This means we have to submit to sanctification process of the Holy Spirit (or as I like to say this word: “saint-ification”). When guests come over, you dust and vacuum. If you don’t clean again, dust will accumulate. Jesus isn’t a one-time or occasional Guest, but He wants to abide in us (Revelation 3:20).
(2) The Body of Christ—Ephesians 4:3-6, 12-13, 16
Look a the phrases “…make every effort … works of service … become mature….” These are all ongoing processes which we need for healthy growth (Hebrews 5:12-13). As our physical bodies age, we lose 3-5% of our body’s muscle mass every year unless we are actively working to add muscle. Body building requires (a) protein intake, (b) exercise, (c) rest and recovery—God’s Word applied and resting in the work of the Holy Spirit.
(3) The Bride of Jesus—Ephesians 5:25-28, 33
We don’t want to be like this out-of-touch husband, whose wife said to him on their 40th anniversary, “I remember on our wedding day how you told me you loved me. How come you never say that any more.” The husband replied: “If anything changed, I would have let you know.” We need to be continually falling in love with our Bridegroom! Listen to how Jesus addressed these saints at Ephesus. He tells them they have persevered through the difficult times (Revelation 2:1-3), yet they have forsaken the most important thing: their first love (v. 4). If we’ve done this, we need to remember, repent, and return to Jesus (v. 5).
If we’re not maturing, we’re declining.
If we are only going through the motions, where is the satisfaction? Where is the freedom indeed?
Listen to these tough—but needed—words from John Piper:
“The problem with the church today is not that there are too many people who are passionately in love with heaven. The problem is not that professing Christians are retreating from the world, spending half their days reading Scripture and the other half singing about their pleasures in God all the while indifferent to the needs of the world. The problem is that professing Christians are spending ten minutes reading Scripture and then half their day making money and the other half enjoying and repairing what they spend it on. It is not heavenly-mindedness that hinders love. It is worldly-mindedness that hinders love, even when it is disguised by a religious routine on the weekend.”
Continuing to mature in our faith makes the Building more beautiful, the the Body healthier, and the Marriage more fulfilling! Let’s keep maturing so that we honor Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
How’s your EQ? We spend a lot of time (maybe too much time) on IQ, but how high is your emotional quotient? Leaders need this self-awareness, and it starts with humility.
“Sin is the most expensive thing in the universe. If it is forgiven sin, it costs God His only Son. If it is unforgiven sin, it costs the sinner his soul an eternity in hell.” —Charles Finney
J. Warner Wallace writes, “What sets Christianity apart from every other theistic worldview is its foundation in history. Many belief systems offer beautiful wisdom and moral guidance—collections of proverbs that inspire and instruct—but they don’t rest on claims that can be examined or tested. … Christianity is different. It rises or falls on a historical event—the resurrection of Jesus.”
“The Love of God is kinder than the measure of man’s mind.” —A.W.Tozer
“If you are worried about the people outside [the Body of Christ], the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ’s body, the organism through which He works. Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man’s fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.” —C.S. Lewis
Fight The New Drug writes, “Research links porn use to changes in brain circuitry, lower relationship satisfaction, increased loneliness, and shifting sexual expectations.” Check out 17 reasons to not watch pornography.
“But if we are describing, for the moment, the atmosphere of what is generous and popular and even picturesque, any knowledge of human nature will tell us that no sufferings of the sons of men, or even of the servants of God, strike the same note as the notion of the Master suffering instead of his servants. … No mysterious monarch, hidden in his starry pavilion at the base of the cosmic campaign, is in the least like that celestial chivalry of the Captain who carries His five wounds in the front of battle.” —G.K. Chesterton
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
I was asked to share one of the funniest things I’ve seen in church. I didn’t exactly “see” this one, but it still ranks as one of the funniest things I have ever experienced!
In all seriousness, we often are looking for “a sign” to help us confirm the direction God may be leading us. I would invite you to check out my post and video Knowing God’s Will, especially if you are contemplating God’s direction for you.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Fifty-eight years ago this weekend, on April 4, 1968, just after 6pm on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was cut down by an assassin’s bullet. A powerful voice in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans was silenced, and yet his legacy still lives on more than a half-century later.
A couple of days ago, we remembered another historic death: the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. But unlike Dr. King, today we also celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!
Does it matter that Jesus was raised back to life? If Dr. King’s legacy can still live on in the life of his followers, even though his body is in the grave, couldn’t the same thing happen for the followers of Jesus of Nazareth? The answer, quite simply, is “No!” This is because Jesus claimed that His kingdom was an eternal Kingdom, and that He came to bring people eternal life (John 3:16). If the Founder of this Kingdom could be held in the grave, what would His followers have to look forward to? Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19.
(I’m not going to take the time to go through all the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus here, but I would encourage you to check out our series A.L.I.V.E.
We have named this series after a statement from Jesus, “I will build My Church.” He made this statement before His death and before His resurrection, which tells us that He knew the outcome before those events even occurred.
Look how Paul concludes that the resurrection of Jesus is what gives meaning to the terms “saints” and “Church” in Ephesians 1:15-23. Our faith in what Jesus did for us on the Cross—namely, paying the penalty for our sins—is what justifies us, allowing us to be called saints (2:4-5). Notice how saints are to now live (2:6-10).
Look at those two phrases: “saved…not by works” and “created…to do good works.” As my friend T.M. Moore noted, “We are not saved by good works, but we’re not truly saved without them.” Good works is what characterized the earthly ministry of Jesus (Acts 10:38), and good works are what His saints are now freed and empowered to do (Romans 7:4; 1 Peter 2:12).
Paul goes on to say that saints are who make up the Church of Jesus (Ephesians 2:14-22). The Church is not a building, but saints following the example of Jesus to make the Kingdom of God known in the world (Acts 4:32-35).
A hundred years later, Aristides wrote a letter to Emperor Hadrian about these saints (who were now known as Christians):
“They help those who offend them, making friends of them; do good to their enemies. They don’t adore idols; they are kind, good, modest, sincere, they love one another; don’t despise widows; protect the orphans; those who have much give without grumbling, to those in need. When they meet strangers, they invite them to their homes with joy, for they recognize them as true brothers, not natural but spiritual. When a poor man dies, if they become aware, they contribute according to their means for his funeral; if they come to know that some people are persecuted or sent to prison or condemned for the sake of Christ’s name, they put their alms together and send them to those in need. If they can do it, they try to obtain their release. When a slave or a beggar is in need of help, they fast two or three days, and give him the food they had prepared for themselves, because they think that he too should be joyful, as he has been called to be joyful like themselves.”
Jesus is the eternally-living Founder of His Church, and those who have had their sins forgiven by their faith in His death and resurrection are the living stones of His Church (1 Peter 2:5).
Coming to the Cross makes us saints. Making the Savior known by the way we live makes us the Church.
We can’t do this unless Jesus is alive and actively empowering us (Matthew 28:18-20).
Let me reiterate what my friend wrote, because this is how saints should live: “We are not saved by good works, but we’re not truly saved without them.”
The resurrection of Jesus makes it possible for us to not only be delivered from trying to earn our salvation by doing good works, but to be empowered to do good works so that we compel others want to know Jesus for themselves.
As the saints go, so goes the Church.
Check out all of the messages in this series “I will build My Church” by clicking here.
Before having that difficult conversation, make sure that person you are going to speak to knows two things: (1) God loves them, and (2) You love them. Here’s a great example of how this is done.
A very interesting post on the history of the Shroud of Turin, including some of the most recent scientific studies.
“Many read the Bible the way a mouse tries to remove the cheese from a trap… trying not to get caught.” —Søren Kierkegaard
Is there any historical evidence to the claim that Easter is based on pagan deities or pagan practices? John Stonestreet discusses the lack of solid connections to these claims.
“Today…the church is becoming more of a consumer than a steward. This means we want the church to give us friends, marry us, provide financial help, give us counseling, get us to heaven, help us when our house is flooded, give us good music, and fix our teenagers. All of this while we sit and take it in. Exodus 35 speaks to this. To be clear, when we give our offering, we’re not giving to the Lord something He doesn’t already have a right to. We are just taking our hands off that which already belongs to Him.” —Tim Dilena
One generation after the apostle Paul wrote his stern letters to the saints at Corinth, T.M. Moore explains how we get a glimpse of how that church heeded his words in the letters from Clement.
Dr. Glenn Sunshine and John Stonestreet explain, “Thomas Jefferson is rightly called a hypocrite. In the Declaration of Independence, he wrote the famous lines: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ And yet, Jefferson was among America’s founders who owned slaves.” Check out this insight into Jefferson.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
A lot of people have offered a lot of opinions on Jesus of Nazareth—He was a good Man, a moral teacher, a great Example. All of those are true, and yet all of them have hidden in them an unspoken belief: Jesus was a good Man but He was not God.
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis said this, “Let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. … A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great man or a moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the devil of hell.”
Let’s look at the words Jesus Himself spoke; specifically, what He said about the culmination of His purpose on earth. Quite simply stated, Jesus said He came to die.
Just to keep it simple, let’s confine our evidence to the dialogue of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
In Matthew 17, Matthew records a scene where three of Jesus’ disciples are eyewitnesses to a conversation Jesus has with Moses and Elijah. They see Jesus shining as brightly as the Sun, and they hear a Voice from Heaven affirming the deity of Jesus that causes these men to collapse to the ground in fear. Immediately following this, Jesus tells them that He is going to be killed (Matthew 17:22-23).
Does Jesus have a martyr’s complex? Psychologists say this is when someone is so self-sacrificial that they hurt themselves to benefit others, but their motive is to seek out the praise or recognition from those they are helping. It’s true that Jesus helped others, but He deflected praise away from Himself. Jesus had a different motivation (Matthew 26:2, 52-56). He was crucified for our benefit (Matthew 27:46, 50; Isaiah 53:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Remember that Jesus said He knew that the prophecies were going to be fulfilled. Like the prophecy describing crucifixion before crucifixion was even invented (Isaiah 53:5). He predicted His resurrection too in Matthew 20:17-19!
Not only did Jesus say He would be resurrected, but He said He would return with rewards and punishment (Matthew 25:34, 41).
Lots of people have been madmen. But Jesus doesn’t fit this description.
Lots of people have had a martyr’s complex. But Jesus wasn’t seeking glory for Himself, but glory for His Father and eternal life for us.
Lots of people have made outlandish predictions, and some of them have come true. Lots of people have had a messiah complex. But no one has ever claimed He was sent from God to die, lived a perfect life, died precisely as predicted in centuries-old prophecies, and was raised back to life again! The crucifixion of Jesus on an old rugged Cross is proof positive that He is the Messiah He says He is.
Let’s return to C.S. Lewis: “You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool…or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”
We have a choice: Accept Him as Lord and then follow His words and example, or try to make our own way through life, which is the same thing as calling Jesus “a madman or something worse.”
The so-called “overnight success” almost always is the result of a very long road. The difficult times are teaching you lessons that you can learn in no other way—hang in there and keep on learning. Success is coming!
Craig T. Owens 