Ministering to people as Jesus did

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Introduction:

New Testament scholar Merrill Tenney wrote the following statement about The Gospel of Luke's presentation of Jesus Christ: "The material of Luke is organized around the central concept of Jesus as a member of humanity who lived a perfect and representative life of the Son of Man through the Holy Spirit." Jesus' ministry to people during His days on this earth is most clearly presented in the Gospel of Luke. This central idea of His ministry to people is extended by the Holy Spirit both spiritually and logically through His church. In John 17:22 Jesus prayed: "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one." We then see this statement in 1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it." The Apostle John writes in 1 John 2:6 "the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." Perhaps the most remarkable statement is found in 1 John 4:17 "By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world."

Therefore what we are looking at in today's post has as much to do with the Christian's ministry to people as it does Jesus' ministry, because by extension through the Holy Spirit's agency, disciples of Jesus are ministering as Jesus' hands and feet to people. We want to explore what it means to minister to people as Jesus did.

Point of application: As we consider specifically the Gospel of Luke, we want to see how Jesus ministered to people, and what we in turn can learn and apply in our own contacts with people. Our point of application for today will be: Ministering like Jesus Christ is the only way to effectively minister to people. In scanning the Gospel of Luke, we find at least three details that highlight how Jesus ministered to people:

Personal Conversations.

Jesus is found talking to all kinds of people, in all kinds of ways through out the Gospel of Luke. Only Luke records a young Jesus holding a conversation with the teachers of the Law in the temple in Luke 2:46-47. Jesus called his disciples personally in Luke 5:1-11 and engaged a tax collector named Matthew in Luke 5:27-32, who would become his disciple and author of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus did not restrict himself to certain classes or groups. He dealt with: 

1. lepers (Lk 5:12-16)

2. paralytics (Lk 5:17-26)

3. a centurion (Lk 7:1-10)

4. widows (Lk 7:11-17)

5. sinful women (Lk 7:36-50)

6. mothers (Lk 8:19-21)

7. children (Lk 8:40-56)

8. large crowds (Lk 9:10-17)

9. individuals (Lk 9:18-21)

10. angry people (Lk 9:51-56)

11. Godly women (Lk 10:38-42)

12. rejected people like Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9)

13. religious hypocrites (Lk 20:34-38)

14. traitors (Lk 22:47-49)

15. politicians (Lk 23:1-7)

16. a dying criminal (Lk 23:43) 

17. His followers (Lk 24:46-49)

Nearly twenty different kinds of conversations with all kinds of people are recorded in Luke. Jesus ministered by way of conversations.  As believers, our daily interactions with people gives occasion for us to communicate Jesus' love and presence. As we have noted already: Ministering like Jesus Christ is the only way to effectively minister to people. But notice also how Jesus ministered to people, not only by way of personal conversations, but also...

Parables about people.

In scanning through Luke's Gospel, one can count at least 28 parables. Of those 28 parables told by Jesus, at least 19 of them are about people. Jesus' parables about people dealt with such characters as:

1. good Samaritans (Lk 10:30-37)

2. rich fools (Lk 12:16-21)

3. faithful servants (Lk 12:35-40)

4. Kings (Lk 14:25-33)

5. Rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31)

note: I take this to be a true account told in a parabolic fashion

6. an unworthy slave (Lk 17:7-10)

7. prayerful widow (Lk 18:1-8)

8. Pharisee and tax collector (Lk 18:9-14)

More could be mentioned, however the sample just given illustrates how much Jesus not only talked to people, but thought about people. We to need to be about the business of thinking about and praying for people, just as Jesus did. So in ministering like Jesus, we can see He engaged in personal conversations and told parables about people, but notice lastly....

Purpose of His mission. Luke 19:10

Luke 19:10 states - "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke spells out in his main verse of his Gospel the purpose for why Jesus came: to save lost people. In the preceeding context of Luke 19:1-9, we can see the three-fold outline of Luke 19:10 applied to Jesus' engagement with Zacchaeus:

The Son of man came...Luke 19:1-5

To seek........Luke 19:6-8

and to save that which was lost Luke 19:9

Why we as Christians are here on this earth? We are to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth until Jesus comes. (Mt 24:14; 28:18-20) We are His royal ambassadors to a lost and dying world. (2 Corinthians 5:15-21) As author and pastor John Piper has often said: missions exists because worship doesn't. 

Closing thoughts:

Today's post featured a flyover of Luke's Gospel with the intent to understand how Jesus ministered to people. Our main point of application was: Ministering like Jesus Christ is the only way to effectively minister to people. We saw this specifically in three ways: Jesus' personal conversations, parables and purpose for His mission. We discovered that as we engage with people in daily conversations, share stories and remember our main purpose for being here, we too can by the power of the Holy Spirit minister to people like Jesus did. 

On-Target Christian Parenting - Colossians 3:20-21

Colossians 3:20-21 "Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasingto the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart."

Note: The reader is invited to look at a differently worded version of this post at the other blogsite: http://biblicalexegete.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/looking-at-on-target-christian-parenting-in-colossians-320-21/

Introduction:
I wanted to begin today's post with a text I received this week from a Godly man:
"We know Satan wants us to fail as fathers. In particular, I think he wants our boys. There are several reasons for this. First, Satan is like a shrewd financial investor seeking a huge return for his effort. He seeks the biggest bang for his spiritual destruction buck. Young men represent a golden opportunity for him if they can be led astray. Young men can do a lot of damage physically, financially, relationally and socially -when they are not serving the Lord. 

Second, Satan not only reaps immediate dividends from his investment in young men, he yields exponential long-term results. When Satan reviews his investment portfolio, he reveals the compounding problems he can create when men have lost their way. The history books are littered with men who had explosive, multi-generational negative impact, from the absentee father to the crooked executive to the ruthless dictator. Take down one man and you often get several generations afterward.

Finally, Satan destroys godly womanhood through the men. We are unwittingly dragging generations of women through the filth of our selfish passions and absence of leadership. Destruction of fatherhood gets calateral damage: the demolition of the Godly woman. 

So if you are a father of sons, you are one of satan's prime targets. Let us commit as men to stand in the gap for our boys. Let us pray for them, engage them, rebuke them, encourage them and inspire them to follow the Lord."

That text confirmed to me the direction I knew I was going to be heading this week in both these blog posts. Undoubtedly the book of Colossians urges readers to understand and apply the truth of: "Jesus is enough". Whenever husbands love their wives as Christ loves the church, she will desire to fulfill the command given to her to submit to his role as her covering or head. How a husband treats his wife will govern how she responds, and the manner in which she reacts to his leadership in the home. Today's post is aimed at identifying on-target parenting.

Point of Application:
So how can you know when your parenting is on target? The main point of application for today's post will propose the following answer: When your parenting is aimed at Jesus Christ, you will have all you need to thrive.


Normally in sermons or discussions on passages like Colossians 3:20-21, people like to point out the significance of the need for children to obey their parents. Undoubtedly this observation is true, however it does not cover all that is being communicated in the passage. 

In Ephesians 6:4 we note similar wording to Colossians 3:21: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Whenever we consider the things a father could do to disrupt the harmony in the home, Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:19,21 spell out the following things that a father ought not to do, followed by what he must do.

WHAT A FATHER SHOULD NEVER DO IN PARENTING

Ephesians 6:4 "Father, do not provoke your children to anger...". (NASB) The phrase translated "do not provoke your children to anger" speaks of not doing something that would intentionally incite a person to be frustrated or to be moved to outburst and retribution. The command here in Ephesians 6:4 is warning fathers to not engage in a parenting style that could intentionally irritate their children and create within them a resentment. Such activity speaks of a father whose parenting style and interraction with their child produces rebellion rather than right behavior.

The parallel worded passage of Colossians 3:21 reads in the NASB "Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart." A child who is "expasperated" by their dad represents a high tension spring just waiting to "let loose" by the slightest irriation. 

Perhaps we could say that in viewing both Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21 together, both respectively warn against beginning to provoke the child, lest it leads to an all-out war later on down the road!

If fathers are to expect their children to submit to their authority or if they expect to produce children who will heed and respect them, they must parent in such a way as not to knowingly frustrate their child. Not only can such outcomes result from willful, intentional acts of bad parenting, but also in the opposite extreme of neglecting to set boundaries. (see Proverbs 13:24)

WHAT A FATHER SHOULD DO IN PARENTING
In as much as Paul issues for these negative admonitions to fathers to "not provoke their children to anger" in Ephesians 6:4 and "to not exasperate their children" in Colossians 3:21, what then ought Godly father be aiming to do? Certainly there are sins to avoid in these texts, however, what kind of parenting ought a father being exercising toward their children as seen in these texts? I find it interesting that in the positive commands given to the children to "obey their parents", the reasoning for doing so points to the Heavenly Father. Why is this significant? Whatever the Heavenly Father does and Who He is ought to provide the standard for earthly fathers.

Jesus speaks of the correlation between earthly fathers and the Heavenly Father in Luke 11:11-13 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

Being that the Heavenly Father loves his redeemed people and provided all that is necessary for their salvation; obedience and submission ought to be a no-brainer. Why wouldn't a son or a daughter love a father who is nothing but loving, nurturing and caring? Thus by implication and based upon the character of the Heavenly Father, earthly fathers ought to love their children with the love of God through and through. (see the Father's character in James 1:17 & Matthew 6:25-33) They will know when to lovingly apply the firm hand of discipline and when to show the proper measure of patient and mercy.

Closing thoughts:

Today we considered on-target Christian parenting. Our main point of application was: When your parenting is aimed at Jesus Christ, you will have all you need to thrive.

On-Target Christian Marriages - Colossians 3:18-19

Colossians 3:18-21 "Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 

Introduction:

The aim of Paul's letter to the Colossians is to communicate that Jesus is enough. We have been looking at Colossians off and on these past couple of months and have noted such important subjects as spiritual maturity, sharing in Christ's ministry in the local church, the importance of believer's baptism and giving it all to Jesus. In today's post we will be looking at what I'm calling: "On-Target Christian Marriages".

Point of Application:

When the bullseye of your marriage is Jesus Christ, you've got all that you need to thrive amidst a culture that is increasingly hostile towards marriage. Understand though that in aiming at that bullseye, the enemy of your soul will be aiming at you! Still, keep your aim, since the Target of faith is also the Author of it! Thus our point of application for today's message will be: When your marriage is aimed at Jesus Christ, the marriage will have all that it needs to thrive. To flesh out what Paul is writing here in Colossians 3:18-19, we can note two primary thoughts:

1. God's design of marriage

2. God's designation for men in marriage

God has designed marriage around Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:18-21

Marriage was not derived from man, but from God. In the garden of Eden God presented Adam his wife in Genesis 2:22-25. Why is it that God instituted marriage? So that there could be a human relationship that could express something about and find its most complete expression in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:25-27 states - "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." 

In the heart and mind of God the Father, we see ample testimony from scripture that He already had individuals marked out whom he would call and convict to compose the bride, the church. (Ephesians 1:3-11) That bride would be gathered over the centuries by the Holy Spirit, one person at a time, in order to complete what God had ordained for the pleasure of His Son. As Jesus came to this world to die for sinners, He came to pay the price for His church. (Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 4:10)  

Why is marriage and family so huge in the Bible? Because something is communicated about the Person of the Son in relationship to His bride the church. The Christian family's target must be Christ because God designed the family around Him. Christian counselor Jay Adams notes the following three differences that mark Christian marriages and families from other types of families:

1. Christians admit their sins.
2. Christians know what do to about their sins by using the scriptures to deal with them.
3. Christians progress (more and more) out of their sins and (more and more) into righteousness.1

So what is an on target marriage? Our main point of application for answering that question has been: When your marriage is aimed at Jesus Christ, the marriage will have all that it needs to thrive. God has designed marriage to be around Jesus Christ, but notice another reason why the target of the Christian family must be Jesus Christ....

God desginated the man to lead his family like Jesus Christ.

One thing that sticks out in the major New Testament passages on marriage is how much depends on the role of the man. When you look at the commands of Colossians 3:18-21, every single one requires a Christ-centered husband or father to facilitate the opportunities for wives to willingly submit and children to lovingly obey. Consider each of the commands in Colossians, and how they are conditioned upon the man's level of Christ-likeness in the family.

1. What a husband must never do Colossians 3:19. 

When wives are told to submit to their husbands, that is a voluntary submission. What will be the one way to ruin the communication and companionship in your marriage? When you deal with your wife in such a manner as to degrade her. By focusing on what not to do first, we can then see more easily what must be done in facilitating marriages that are targeted toward Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Colossians 3:19 "Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them." That word translated "embitter" speaks of harboring resentment, growing harsh and getting down right verbally abusive. Men, you and I need to be careful how we treat our wives! 

As one wise Sunday School teacher told me one time - the wife is like a rose, whose petals of life require tender loving care, respect and dignity. Each time we say a harsh word or mistreat them, we pluck off a petal. Over time if a man continues to act like an oaf, he will end up with a wife whose petals are gone, and is nothing but a stem full of thorns. 1 Peter 3:7 "You husbands in the same way, live withyour wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." Men, if you and I are not careful, our very prayer lives can be affected by how we treat our wives! There are undoubtedly warnings to heed. But now see what every husband must do as God's designated man to lead his family like Jesus....

2. What every husband must do. Colossians 3:18-19

What will ensure that the submission is done out of delight rather than simple duty. Plain and simple: when the husband is loving his wife as Jesus loves His church. Four times we read in the parallel Ephesians 5:22-33 passage that the husband is to love His wife. He is to love her sacrificially (Ephesians 5:25); spiritually (5:26-27); unselfishly (5:28) and sweetly (5:29). If a husband is loving his wife like Jesus Christ, then her role of submission will be a delight, not a drugery. 

Colossians 3:18 tells the wife to simply submit to her husband "as is fitting in the Lord." The husband is to be the type of man that will advocate activities and decisions within the home that are "fitting in the Lord." The only line drawn by scripture concerning how far a wife is to go in her acts of submission is one: Christ. 

Husbands, you and I ought to be the ones that encourage our families to go to church, reach out in love for Jesus' sake and lead our wives in prayer and children in family devotions. To be "fitting in the Lord" means "whatever alligns to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 5:33 states: "Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband." Husband, if you want respect, then you must love your wives as Christ loves His church. That is how it works. Consider the words of 1 Peter 3:8-9 "To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, andhumble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing."

Closing thoughts:

Thus our point of application for today's message was: When your marriage is aimed at Jesus Christ, the marriage will have all that it needs to thrive. To flesh out what Paul wrote in Colossians 3:18-19, we noted two primary thoughts:

1. God's design of marriage 

2. God's designation for men in marriage 2

Endnotes:
1. Jay E. Adams. Christian Living in the Home. Page 12. P & R Publishing.

2. God has so designed marriage around His Son, being that it most completely reflects the Son's relationship with His church, for Whom He came to pay the purchase price. In all reality marriage is but a shadow of the Son's mission to die and raise from the dead for sinners, especially His people. (1 Timothy 4:10). We also noticed too that God has designated men to lead their families like Jesus Christ. We saw what men ought not to do toward their wives. Then we observed from the commands given by both Apostles Peter and Paul that husbands are to love their wives sacrifically, spiritually, unselfishly and sweetly. 

How Scripture is its own best interpreter

Colossians 3:18-19 "Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them."

Ephesians 5:22-25 "Wives, be subject to your own husbands,as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her."

In today's post I wanted the reader to see a tried and true principle of Bible study in action - namely, that the Bible is its own best intepreter. Called by the older title: "analogy of faith", the principle essentially teaches that when reading any Biblical text, seek out other passages that speak on that same topic and which provide fuller and clearer information. A shorter way of stating this principle is: "use easier to understand scripture to shed light on harder to understand scripture."

As the student of scripture regularly applies this principle, whole worlds of understanding begin to come forth. A great example is found in two sections of scripture from two New Testament books that were written by the same author, around the same time and about the same set of topics. 

The Apostle Paul had ended up under house arrest in Rome and spent the better part of two years preaching the Gospel from his rented quarters, chained to a Roman Soldier. During that time he ended up writing a total of four "prison letters" (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon). Two of those letters, Ephesians and Colossians, end in a remarkably similar manner and contain near the same wording. Such similarities are explained by the fact that Paul was the author, he was writing both roughly at the same time and was addressing identical topics at the end of each letter. 

The above verses represent portions of the two sections of Ephesians and Colossians that we will be looking at in this post: Ephesians 5:22-6:18 and Colossians 3:18-4:6. The aim is to simply demonstrate to the reader how the Ephesians texts sheds light and provides commentary upon the Colossians letter. Hopefully by the end of this post, the reader will conclude that indeed, scripture is its own best interpreter by comparing scripture with scripture (again, also called the analogy of faith). 

1. Colossians 3:18  Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the 

Lord.

Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, be subject to your own husbands,as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

So in looking at this first section, we can see the command given to wives in Colossians 3:18. The command is simple and straight forward. However we then ask the question: in what manner is the wife to submit? Colossians 3:18 gives a boundary: "as is fitting in the Lord". So clearly to voluntarily submit would be done except in cases where the wife is expected to do something that is not honoring to Christ. However more light is needed, and that is where Ephesians 5:22-24 comes in to give specific instruction by way of analogy. Paul employs the imagery of Christ's relationship to his church. In reading through the Ephesians passage, one sees the logic of mutual submission - namely that if a husband is loving his wife as Christ loves the church, then why wouldn't any wife not want to find the security, the protection and encouragement that comes to voluntarily yielding oneself to her husband. The more husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church, the more such submission will make sense. In all reality then, the "ball of burden" is clearly in the husband's court to make sure he loves his wife!

Now as the reader can see, Ephesians 5:22-24 shed immense light on Colossians 3:18. We won't comment on the remaining parallel sections of Ephesians and Colossians like we did above. However I will simply list those parallel sections by verse reference only and then close with some final remarks.

2. Colossians 3:19 & Ephesians 2:24-33

3. Colossians 3:20 and Ephesians 6:1-3

4. Colossians 3:21 and Ephesians 6:4

5. Colossians 3:22-25 and Ephesians 6:5-8

6. Colossians 4:1 and Ephesians 6:9

7. Colossians 4:2-4 and Ephesians 6:10-18

Closing thoughts

We aimed today to demonstrate the principle of "analogy of faith" or "comparing scripture with scripture". We utilized Ephesians 5:22-6:18 and Colossians 3:18-4:6 to demonstrate the fact that scripture is its own best interpreter. When comparing scripture with other scripture, the reader needs to be sure that both passages (or additional ones) are speaking about the same subject and that the additional passage's context is considered. Such a Bible study tool can prove invaluable when attempting to understand God's Word. 

Meet God, the Eternal Creator

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

The Bible contains over 783,000 words, has 1189 chapters, making up 66 books that were written by 40 authors over a period of 1500 years. What or Who is the featured Person of the Bible? God the Creator, Redeemer and King. Genesis 1:1 sets the tone for the Bible in revealing to us God's power, creativity, intelligence and glory. Notice the following thoughts from Genesis 1:1 -

1. One God. 

We see this spelled out in the singular title "God". Not many gods, but One God. This is the most fundamental assertion of scripture, that there is only One God and no other. (Isaiah 43:10-11) God's name in the Hebrew of this verse comes from a root meaning "Mighty One". Further study reveals that the name translated "God" is what we can refer to as a "plural of majesty", meaning that God is majestic and most glorious, worthy of worship. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) This Singular God exists as Three Persons: The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 2; Proverbs 30:4; John 1:1; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

In the New Testament, Jesus Himself, God in human flesh, stated that loving the Lord God is the greatest of all the commandments. (Mark 12:30). Salvation is defined as believing in the One God and His Son Whom He sent to be a man who lived, died and raised from the dead. (John 5:24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

2. This One God is Eternal. 

When you see that phrase "in the beginning", the verses is indicating what God created first - time. He is the Lord of time, which means that He is eternal. God is described in the scriptures as inhabiting eternity and having no beginning nor ending. (Isaiah 43:13; 57:15) 

3. This One Eternal God created time, space and matter, and is thus the Eternal Creator. 

Notice what Genesis 1:1 says next: "created the heavens and the earth." Space and matter round out this most basic description of the visible universe. God "created", meaning He made the visible Heavens and earth out of nothing. The fact that He stretched out the heavens is recorded nearly 20 times in the scriptures and describes quite accurately what is the observable, ever expanding universe. (see Psalm 33) 

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 explains the above truth of Genesis 1:1 in the following way in its article on "God":

"There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe."

Closing thoughts:

We aimed today to meet God in Genesis 1:1. In surveying the passage and discovered its rich truths, we can offer the following summary: The One Eternal God is the Creator God. To God be the glory!

Adrian Rogers Illustrates the Spirit-filled Christian life

Ephesians 5:18 "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit."

I recently read the following illustration on the Spirit-filled life from Adrian Rogers' book: "What every Christian ought to know". I felt it so clearly explained the significance of being Spirit-filled that I had to share it in a post. Thus I give you Adrian Roger's following illustration of the Spirit-filled life:

"I want you to imagine a man who has bought, for the first time in his life, a brand-new automobile. He's never driven before, never had an automobile, and what he does not understand is that it has an engine in it.

He is proud of his car. He invites his friends over and shows them how beautiful the paint job is, how soft the seats are. And he says, 'See how nice this is, what a sleek automobile this is.' But everywhere he goes, he has to push it. Sometimes when he is going downhill, he can get in it and coast, but that doesn't excite him too much because he knows every hill that he coasts down he's got to push that thing up the next hill.

While he's proud of his automobile and in some ways grateful that he has it, in other ways he secretly wishes he didn't have it. Rather than being a blessing to him, it became a burden to him. Rather than carrying him, he has to push it.

And then someone says, 'I want to show you something. See that thing. That's called an ignition key. Put it right in there and turn it. Vroom! 'What's that?' 'That's a thing called an engine. Now take that lever right there and put it where it says 'D' and then press that pedal,' and that automobile begins to surge forth with power. 'Hey', he says, 'This is wonderful, this is glorious, this is amazing. Why didn't somebody tell me before? Why didn't somebody show me about this before?'

You say, "That's fooolish. Nobody could be that dumb.' You're right, unless it is a Christian who does not understand the power of the Holy Spirit of God. 

Many Christians don't understand that when they got saved, God put an engine in their salvation. I don't mean to speak disrespectfully about the Holy Spirit by calling Him and engine, but He is the dynamism, the power of our Christian life. Many people are somewhat proud of their Chrisitianity, but it's almost a burden to them. Rather than it carrying them, they are pushing it. And they're just grinding out this matter of being a Christian because they have not made the discovery of the wonderful Spirit-filled life. Ephesians 5:18 has a command of God: "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit."

When you are filled with the Spirit, it will turn the drugery to dynamism. Rather than making your Christianity a burden, it will become an overpowering blessing to you."

The Spirit-filled Christian life in summary

Ephesians 5:18 "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit"


For today's post I wanted to lay out in short order some of the major New Testament passages that speak on the subject of the Spirit-filled Christian life. The Book of Acts certainly gives us concrete illustrations of such (such as Peter, Paul and Barnabas), however we also need explanations and clarifications of such events and experiences, which is why we turn to the Epistles.

1. Romans 8:5  "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."

In Romans 8:1-5 the Apostle Paul lays out a full description of the Spirit-filled life with regards to how it operates  - namely by the law or power of the Spirit.  Much like an aircraft "operates" by the law of lift in counteracting the "law of gravity", the Spirit-filled Christian relies upon the indwelling Spirit to influence him or her to govern their drives, emotional life and thought lives by the Spirit's work of filling and leading them.

2. 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?"

The distinctions made between "carnal" and "spiritual" should not be taken too sharply to refer to two classifcations of Christians, but rather two ways in which Christians can operate.  All Christians have the indwelling Holy Spirit and all Christians have the new nature. However some Christians choose to rely upon their soulish realm of mind, emotions and will in living their lives, rather than the Holy Spirit inside their human spirit.  The terms "spiritual" and "carnal" define the source from whence the Christian is operating or being influenced. The goal of the Spirit-filled life is always to submit one's soulish realm under the influence of the Holy Spirit in the human spirit. Remember - the Spirit-filled life is not a matter of you getting more of the Spirit, but rather Him having more of you.

3. Galatians 5:16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh."

Paul here is explaining the Spirit-filled life in another fashion as that which defines the Christian's manner of living or walking. It is in this chapter of Galatians we see both the primary moral emphasis of the Spirit filled life (Galatians 5:22-24, 26) and the supernatural aspect undergirding the moral fruit (Galatians 5:25). 

4. Ephesians 5:18 "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit."  

This passage is the clearest one in all the New Testament that demonstrates the obligation every Christian has to be Spirit-filled.  Here we see the heart of this teaching - namely being under the influence and control of the Spirit. In context we see how the filling of the Holy Spirit is to be a constant and repeatable experience of the Christian, whereby they consciously submit themselves to the Spirit's leading through the scriptures.  Ephesians 6 of course lays out the practical outcomes of the filling of the Spirit in the realm of marriage, raising children, employment and spiritual warfare. 

5. Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

This passage functions as a parallel to Ephesians 5:18 and ties together the Holy Spirit's ministry inside the Christian's human spirit to the Holy Spirit's ministry to the Christian through the scriptures.  It is a manifest impossibility to be Spirit-filled apart from exposure, study and submission to the Word of God.  Being that Paul wrote Ephesians and Colossians at almost the same time, we can see why his remarks are so closely related.  

6. 2 Peter 1:4-5a "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence...."

Though we may not necessarily see the term "filling in this passage", yet this is Peter's way of describing the same reality.  Both the primary moral dimension of the Holy Spirit's filling and ministry and its attendant supernatural aspect is described fully here in 2 Peter 1.  

Years ago author Jack Taylor described the Spirit-filled life as the "much more life".  As Peter dsecribes the Spirit-filled Christian in these verses, he is speaking of someone who sees the need to "add" onto their faith.  

Closing thoughts
The hope is that the reader has gotten initiated to this very important and often neglected area of the Spirit-filled Christian life.  The reader is encouraged to look at the passages in today's post to bring into sharper understand this crucial truth for Christian living - the Spirit-filled life. 

Come and listen to today's podast - Defining God's Marriage Standard

Genesis 2:22-25 "The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."

Today the Growing Christian Resources Podcast, a podcast related to this blogsite, is featuring an episode entitled: "Defining God's Marriage Standard". I invite readers of this blog to go the following link and listen in on the program: http://gcrpodcast.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/podcast-episode-4-defining-gods-marriage-standard/

Keys to Christian Fulfillment - Thankfulness

Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

For the past couple of days we have been exploring the keys to fulfilled Christianity. The main point of application that we have been using in tying together the last two posts has been: The keys to fulfilled Christianity are Christ's Lordship, the Holy Spirit, the scriptures and thankfulness. Thus far we have considered how Christ's Lordship, the Spirit-filled life and committing scripture to memory provide the necessary elements for true spiritual fulfillment. In today's post we will conclude this series by focusing on one final key to Christian fulfillment - thankfulness.

Key #4 to Christian fulfillment: Thankfulness
I find it interesting that as Paul closes out Colossians 3, he mentions thankfulness twice. Notice the contexts in which we find this vital expression. In Colossians 3:16 we see thankfulness as a vital part of the corporate life of the local body of saints. When a church is exercising thankfulness, rather than grumbling, there will be a church that consistently experiences fulfillment. But then notice where else we find thankfulness - in activities outside the local church. In Colossians 3:17 Paul expands the Christian's life of thanksgiving to include "all things" do in the name of Jesus. Why? Because the greatest way in which we can be effective Christian witnesses is when we are demonstrating our fulfillment in Jesus Christ. 

Why is it that Paul mentions thankfulness twice? Could it be because we live in a thankless world that refuses to acknowledge the Creator of this universe who sent His co-equal Son to live, die, raise from the dead and ascend on behalf of it, and especially those who by grace through faith believe on Him? Romans 1:21 notes: "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

Giving thanks like Jesus
When we give thanks as followers of Jesus Christ, we are directly positioning ourselves to glean from the sufficiency that is only found in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we find that in scanning through the four Gospels, Jesus Himself was often found giving thanks:

Matthew 15:36 "and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people."


Matthew 26:27 "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you."
Mark 8:6 "And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people."

Mark 14:23 "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it."

Luke 22:17 "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves."
Luke 22:19 "And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

John 6:11 "Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted."

John 6:23 "There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks."

Giving thanks is the outcome of surrender to Christ's Lordship, being Spirit-filled and filled with the Word
As you journey throughout the rest of the New Testament, wherever emphasis is placed upon Christ's Lordship, the Spirit-filled life or taking in the scriptures - there you will find some reference to being thankful. For example, 1 Timothy 2:1 states - "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men." Or consider what we read in Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Other scriptures too speak on the importance of thanksgiving as marking those who are surrendered to Christ's Lordship, filled with the Spirit and filled with the Word. (1 Corinthians 10:31) If you want to ensure that you are in the known will of God and are experiencing fulfillment, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 gives the clearest instruction: "in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Closing thoughts:
These past several days have been devoted to better understanding what it means to be a fulfilled Christian. Our main point of application has been: The keys to fulfilled Christianity are Christ's Lordship, the Holy Spirit, the scriptures and thankfulness. We saw that when Jesus Christ's Lordship is more visibly influencing how we live, peace is more readily accessible. As we aim to obediently heed the Spirit of God in the scriptures, we will be those filled or under His influence and taking in the scriptures for our nourishment. Then the overflow of these first three keys should be thanksgiving, which in itself feeds back into the desire to be surrendered to Christ's Lordship, Spirit and Word filled. These four keys together are what constitute being a fulfilled Christian.  

Keys to Fulfilled Christianity - Spirit filled and Bible filled

Ephesians 5:18-19 - "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord."

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

Introduction & Review:

Unless you and I are finding our fulfillment in Jesus Christ, we won't experience nor retain fulfillment. With that said, Colossians 3:15-17 gives us the specific keys to fulfilled Christianity. Another epistle written at the same time as Colossians, Ephesians, as similar statements in Ephesians 5:18-21 that we find here in Colossians 3:15-17, therefore we will include Paul's remarks from that epistle in this post.  In yesterday's post we looked at the first key: Christ's Lordship. Whenever you and I are yielded to His Lordship, there will be peace. Frankly this is the only way in which we can fulfill the command of Colossians 3:15 - "Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart".

Point of Application: So what are the keys to fulfilled Christianity? To answer that question we will spell it out in the point of application for today's post: The keys to fulfilled Christianity are Christ's Lordship, the Holy Spirit, the scriptures and thankfulness. We looked at the first key: Christ's Lordship and in today's post I want us to consider two more keys: The Spirit filled life and the Bible-filled life.

Key #2 to the fulfilled Christian life - Spirit filled
You may have noticed in the opening verses of today's post that both Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18-19 are worded very similarly. Why is that? Because both were composed at roughly the same time and location (Paul's Roman imprisonment, under house arrest). The Holy Spirit of course comes to indwell the believer at salvation as promised by Jesus in passages such as John 14:17, 15:26 and 16:12-15. Further study reveals that the Holy Spirit indwells Christians individually (1 Corinthians 3:16) and corporately as His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:22) The indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit entails Him shedding light upon the scriptures (1 Corinthians 2:10-13; 1 John 2:20,27), an act which is also called "illumination". Included in the Spirit's indwelling work is that of reminding the believer of their adoption as a son or daughter of God. (Romans 8:16).  To say that the Holy Spirit indwells me means I enjoy the permanency of salvation is promised by Jesus, rooted in the Father's choosing and affirmed to me by the Spirit Himself in the scriptures.

Indwelling is a one time act that occurs at salvation. As a Christian, I will get all of the Holy Spirit I am ever going to get. He is after all infinite by His shared Deity with the Father and Son, and you cannot add nor subtract from Someone who is by nature infinite. However, when we speak of the Spirit-filled life, the issue becomes "how much of me does the Holy Spirit have"? The Spirit-filled life entails being controlled by the Spirit, rather than the sinful flesh. (Galatians 5:16-18). This battle between the will of one's flesh or sinful, ungoverned desires and the Spirit must be fought by every believer, everyday. (Romans 8:1-5). Either we are going to be full of the Spirit or full of ourselves, resulting in confusion and inability to find fulfillment in Jesus Christ. (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-4). To be filled by the Holy Spirit means to be under His influence and thus is a repeated, commanded experience every Christian must undergo if they are to achieve fulfillment. 

Whenever we heed the command of Paul to be "filled with the Holy Spirit", we will be able to have that music of the soul, that song of salvation that accompanies vibrant Christianity. The Holy Spirit does not desire merely to be a guest in town, but the Sherriff of our hearts. When you read the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, you understand why the fulfilled Christian life requires the filling of the Spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." So we have seen that the Spirit-filled life is required for fulfillment in the Christian life, however let us consider one more key for today, namely...

Key #3 to the fulfilled Christian life - Bible filled
Colossians 3:16 states "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." Now as we noted already, this verse and the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit are worded very similarly. Consequently we can say further that to the degree we fill ourselves with the Word will determine how much we are able to be Spirit-filled. 

There is no doubt that the number one way to fill yourself with the Word is to commit it to memory. Joshua 1:8 commands us to "meditate on the Book of the Law" day and night. Psalm 119:11 urges the reader to "hide the Word" in their heart that sin may not result. Whenever the Word of God is dwelling in me richly, it is because I have taken in the words of God as residents of my soul. To take in the scriptures yields the same results as being Spirit-filled, which is why both go hand in hand.

Perhaps an illustration is in order. This past year my wife purchased for me a bag of my favorite coffee: Jamaican Blue. Now this is no ordinary coffee. As the story goes, it grows on one side of a mountain in Jamaica that is only accessible by donkey. Its price is only exceeded by its taste. Whenever we brew a pot of that coffee, the scent wafts its way throughout the house.  That scent carries with it influence, flavor and the potential for an eye-opening experience in a cup. Now by this point what would be the logical step be for me after that coffee pot has concluded its brewing of that luxurious black gold? To take it in of course. 

See, the scent and the process of ingesting the physical coffee go hand in hand. To not drink the coffee would be unthinkable, and yet we do that to our Bibles all the time. We claim we want God's mind, and yet we fail to open up the very book which is the "mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). 

Closing thoughts:
For today I would like to close with a quote from Charles Stanley's Book "The Wonderful Spirit-filled Life". In that book, Dr. Stanley ties together the necessity of the Spirit-filled life and spending time in the scripture as keys to a fulfilled Christianity: "If you can read this book and are not reading your Bible, you will never experience the Spirit-filled life with any consistency. Your Christian experience will for the most part be a subjective search for truth within the limited realm of your thoughts. Your conscience will never be a totally reliable guide since you are not renewing it to the truth of the Holy Spirit. And the peace of God will elude you. The Bible is the Holy Spirit's most objective way of communicating with His people." Dr. Stanley then closes with this thought: "If you want to know what the Holy Spirit thinks about something, read the Bible." 

More tomorrow....