The 11th Commandment

John 13:34-35

(34) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
(35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

In the early days of Christianity, a deadly sickness broke out in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. The sickness spread so easily that being in the same room with one of the sick meant you too would probably become ill, touching a victim meant almost certain death. Everyone in Alexandria was so afraid of the sickness that if someone in their house showed even the slightest signs of the sickness, they threw them out on the street to die – they didn’t even bury the dead for fear that they too would contract the disease.

But when a Christian became sick, the other Christians in the city would come and visit and care for their brother or sister who was sick. No Christian died without a fellow Christian being by their side caring for them. Even though the Christians knew that because they were in contact with those who were sick, that they too would most likely become sick, they continued to care for their sick and dying. So well did the Christians in Alexandria care for each other that outside the city were all the dead were being thrown, not one dead Christian could be found, for their fellow Christians took care of them even in their death, burying them, exposing themselves to the disease, rather than just throwing them in with the piles of other human corpses.

All the non-Christians in the city who had seen what these “Christians” were doing started asking each other – “What is the meaning of this?”

The answer went throughout all of Egypt, “They are of the Religion of Jesus of Nazareth, for these Christians love each other”

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The love that the Christians in Alexandria had so many years ago – that is the love that Christ commands us to have – and by it, the world will know that we follow Christ.

This is the clearest way to know whether you are a disciple of Christ – if you love as He loved. Are you in Christ this morning? Do you love your Christian brothers and sisters as Christ loved you? Think on that as we look more closely at this new command together.

Jesus says, that this is a new commandment – that it is not the same as what had been given in the law before He came. But is it really all that different?

We know the ten commandments:

I am the Lord thy God and you shall not have other gods besides me.

You shall not make for yourself any graven images.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Honor your Father and Mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet.

And the greatest commandment, what is that?

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)

And the second?

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39)

But, on the night Jesus has His last supper with the disciples, as a parents on their death bead gives their last words to their children, He gives them this new commandment – a commandment that is different in at least three ways from the Old Testament law.

It is different in degree, different in motive, and different in example.

It is different in degree – we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, but we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ as Christ loved us – which is way more than any of us love ourselves. The love of Christ surpasses all knowledge – it is a love that is so great that we cannot even comprehend it. It is a love that suffers everything for the sake of the one it loves. It is a love that dies, that the beloved might live.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

It is different in motive – the command in the Old Testament is backed by the statement, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exo. 20:2). Israelites were to follow the commandments of God because God had freed them from bondage in Egypt, but we are to follow this new command because Christ has redeemed us from eternal punishment in hell. The salvation granted to the people of Israel at the Red Sea did not continue after they died, it was a temporal salvation – but the salvation that Christ has brought us is eternal. Nothing can separate us from the love of God for we have been saved by Christ, once for all time.

It is different in example – the commandment in the Old Testament told us to look at how we love ourselves as the example of how we should love our neighbor, but this new command tells us to look Christ as the example of how to love our brothers and sisters.

There is no longer any excuse, for the example of Christ is clear – there is no room for, “But so and so is so hard to love!” or, “They don’t love me back, so why should I continue to love them?”.

Romans 5:6-10

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Before I close I want to show you a simple application from Scripture. It happened the same night that Jesus gave this command, but is not mentioned in the Gospel of John. Turn with me to Matthew 26 verses 21 and 22.

Matthew 26:21-22
And as they were eating, he said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me."
And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, "Is it I, Lord?"

They thought they were all brothers in that room that night. No one pointed a finger at anyone, but automatically assumed that it must be themselves because they believed with all their heart that one of the other twelve would never do such a thing.

No one suggested, “Ah, it must be Peter, he’s always been hot headed and not thinking about what he does before he does it.” Or “It must be Judas, he’s always been a little sneaky with the money bag, in fact, I think I saw him stealing money out of it the other day!”

No, there was none of that.

There was only, “It couldn’t be me - could it? Could it be? Surely it is not me - Lord, is it?”

They expected evil more from themselves than from others. They believed the word of Christ, that one of them would betray Him, and so, one by one, they asked, “Lord, is it I?”

Then Judas, trying to keep up his deception says almost exactly the same thing, but exchanges the word “Lord” for Rabbi or Teacher – giving himself away as the betrayer and hypocrite –for the word “Lord” he could not bear to say can only be said in truth of Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3).

But even after all this – the disciples still suspected no one. Even after Jesus ordered Judas “to do what he was going to do quickly” they did not know.

Being with Jesus they had learned to love one another. And soon the whole world would “recognize that they had been with Jesus”.

So where are you this morning? How’s your love? Do you love your brothers and sisters as Christ loved you?

This is the love that the Spirit of Christ grants all those who believe, to those who are His own:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.

At the beginning of Chapter 13, there is a perfect summation to all of this – a summation of the example of Christ that He is calling us to follow:

“Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)

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What exactly was the Reformation?

Why did Luther challenge the church? And why did his challenge succeed philosophically and politically? I mean, the Puritans' motives are somewhat easier to siphon out. But even if you limit the Reformation just to Luther, who can say why it happened or what it was?

Was it about "freedom to study the Bible and take its authority first?" (a la "know the truth, and the truth shall set you free"). Well, yes; and no. Luther wanted everyone to read the scriptures, certainly. But the spirit of the Reformation is in its essence revolution and not anarchy. Luther didn't want the removal of ecclessiastical authority, he wanted its replacement. Luther, again, opposed many doctrines (see: the deutero-canon) that had been decided by church councils a thousand years before. In many ways, Luther wanted to replace the Pope, arbitrarily deciding the truth about Christianity.

Was the Reformation primarily an attack on corruption and self-serving church primacy? Well, kind of ... ? Initially, he did not want to change the hierarchy of the church. As he became angrier and angrier, he increasingly directed his invective against Popes, Cardinals, authorities, etc. and fought the concept that Salvation was not available outside of the Pope's blessing (quite in contrast to the policies of the Puritans, who executed members of rival denomenations, such as the Quakers). But was the Reformation really about exclusivity or corruption? Probably not. The Catholic church no longer claims exclusivity, but that has hardly served to end the feud. Recent scandals aside, the Catholic church is hardly more corrupt than any Protestant branch, but I haven't yet heard of any Protestant denomenation seeking to be re-introduced into the Catholic fold.

Another dynamic that I've heard mentioned in my various readings is that of the conflict between the more ancient, more scholarly and less populist orders and the rising trend of the "Mendicants". In some ways, Luther is both a manifestation of and reaction to the Mendicant orders. To plumb the murky depths of this issue, I would need to hold my breath for too long. Therefore, suffice to say that while conflict between the orders and their philosophies might have played a part, it could not have been the central issue, as it rarely played out upon strict sectarian lines.

What about political expression? There is certainly some truth to the statement that the Reformation rose out of Northern Europe's desire for independence. The Lutheran church is certainly a German church. The Reformation could not have succeeded except as a power play between two equal opponents (see John Huss), and those princes who defended him would probably not have done so if they had not increasingly resented Roman influence on their nascent sense of national identity. There is also something very nationalistic about the translation of a German Bible. But at most, this could only constitute the enabling factor, the historical component of a philosophical movement. I don't think anyone approaching the Reformation as a Christian would argue with that.

Probably the main factor that a hard-core Calvinist / Puritan / Reformed / Evangelical / Conservative /etc. theologian is going to point to is the concept of justification by faith through grace. Certainly an interesting point. I think this post is long enough already, so I won't go into a lengthy discussion of this issue -- but I will finish with a story related to it.

What Luther considered the crowning achievment of his theological career was a series of literary discourses he engaged in with the still-Catholic scholar Desiderius Erasmus on the determination of the will. Luther himself, in these discourses, claimed that the sum total of the Reformation and all that he had done boiled down not to papal authority or anything else, but to this: he believed that man had no free will.

A) Is that Biblical?
B) How Biblical?
C) Is that important?
D) Is that what Christ taught?
E) Is that what Christ prioritized?

P.S. Don't hate me. If it wasn't for my incendiary posts, there wouldn't have been any action on this blog for a month and a half. And besides, this is important stuff for us to think about; it has a lot of implications for the church today. Well, kind of.

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Catholic v. Protestant

What are the Reformers and Puritans encouraging us to do? Christ corrected the Pharisees for spending all their time on side issues, and neglecting the real issue: "Come back when you have learned the meaning of this: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice". How is a slavish devotion to outward, intellectual conformity with one corner of Christianity's version of doctrine any different than imposing byzantine and draconian sabbath laws?

In the center is the religion Christ preached: simple, yet revolutionary; incendiary, and yet based in basic love for God and others; the religion of the sermon on the mount, the religion of the cross.

At one end is the syncretism and corruption of the Roman Catholic, tying the church too close to the world. At the other end is the bare religiosity of the Puritans, so intellectual and impersonal that there is room for the practicioner to be completely evil and yet still fill all its requirements.

In Jesus' time there were two parties that represented these concepts as well: The Pharisees and Sadducees. The Sadducees were corrupt, used the power of the church for their own ends, and would do anything to hold on to that power. The Pharisees were a reaction, seeking to purify the nation (by their standards), trying to find God in complicated lists of rules and doctrines.

Jesus rebuked them both, and demonstrated the correct path. Unfortunately, it is narrow and there are few who find it.

Really, I am not advocating an absence of beliefs or knowledge. It's just that I'm advocating a different set of beliefs, or at least a different priority of beliefs. When you hear from the pulpit that you probably aren't a Christian if you don't jibe with their interpretation of a few particularly contentious passages about women, or that you're probably not a Christian if you have ongoing psychological problems, it's a far cry from "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" or "As I have loved you, so love one another."

I think it's really easy on this blog to talk past each other. Without context, a lot of times we'll miss what the other person is saying. I can tell you, I did arrive at these conclusions by studying the Bible. They are beliefs. But two people can approach the same Bible with different perspectives, and come out with different priorities and beliefs. I'm not advocating an absence of knowledge, I'm advocating the knowledge that is found only in the foolishness of God, that is an embarrassment to the world. I'm advocating the things about Christianity that I think are important, not just to me but to Christ, who is the representation of God to us. No one has seen the Father, but the Son has revealed Him. Etc.

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What do you believe?!

Shouldn't faith be a bit more than group-think? It's so riddled with hypocrisy, it stops making sense with a fierce velocity. In light of conflicting claims, most of which have similar feet of clay, how can we think that choosing one equally valid and invalid type of Christianity over another is pivotal. Do you really think that Christ is going to quiz you on the minutiae of theological effluvia? I'm not Catholic, but balance is so dramatically crucial. The true essence of Christianity is found in St. Francis before it is found in Jonathan Edwards. The courage of God is found in Thomas More, more than it is found in Martin Luther. I believe that actions speak louder than words.

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Do you believe?

“So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” (John 11:3)

"Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."

Put yourself in their shoes. “You and your brothers and sisters know Jesus really well – He comes over to stay at your house whenever He is in town. And now one of your brothers is sick. What would you be thinking?”

“Jesus should know, He should be here. We shouldn’t have to tell Him about this! Where is He?”

If something bad was happening to your brothers or sisters, to your children, how far would you go in order to make that problem go away? Would you put yourself in harm’s way? Would you die in order to save them?

You would do anything it took, wouldn’t you? Why? Because you love them!

When Mary and Martha sent the message to Jesus, they didn’t say, “Our brother Lazarus is sick”. Why did they phrase their message as they did? - it’s almost like that when they sent someone to tell Jesus they wanted to know what Jesus was thinking, as if to ask,

“You do love him right? And yet, he is sick – you could make him better with a touch, with one little command, and yet the one you love is still sick, almost to the point of death!”

We see this thought expressed by both Martha and Mary in verse 21 and 32 – after Lazarus had died when Jesus goes to meet them in Bethany.

Saying, “"Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

These words are so full of emotion – so full of grief ! Jesus, if only You were there – it would not have happened like this! Where were You?? You said that it would not end in death – but my brother is dead!!

When something bad happens to you – what is your first reaction? What is my first reaction? Are we not like Mary and Martha – “Lord, You love me – why is this happening? Are you aware of what is going on here? Can’t you see that I am in pain!?”

But we see that the reaction of Jesus to the news that Lazarus was sick is quite different than the way we would react.

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.”

(John 11:5-6)

That doesn’t make sense – “Jesus loved them, and so He waited two days before going to them.”

Why did Jesus wait? – why did He wait two full days before going to see Mary and Martha? Why did He wait, when He could have prevented all of this?

Did He do it without purpose – did He put them through this pain and suffering for no apparent reason? No!

He did not go to them because He loved them.

To us it does not make sense.

We hate suffering, and will do anything to prevent it and protect those we love from it.

And yet to Jesus, it makes perfect sense.

He says to His disciples, right before they start the journey to see, the now dead Lazarus:

“I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe;”
(John 11:15)

As I was thinking and meditating over this passage – how far I am from the perspective that Jesus has! Have I ever been glad that something painful occurred, in the midst of that painful experience? Here Jesus is, one of His closest friends has died, and the sisters, who are very close to Him are broken with grief over the death of their brother – and yet He says, “I am glad, for your sakes”

When the winds of trials and the storms of suffering are upon me,

am I glad? Can I truthfully say, “I am glad”?

“When I’m carrying Tia into SOS, blood all over, and scared that he might not make it to see tomorrow – do I say, “I am glad”?”

“When I’m in the bathroom barfing my guts out, wishing I would pass out so I could have some peace, do I say, “I’m glad”?”

I don’t want us to miss this – Right after Jesus arrived in Bethany, and He speaks to Martha, He said something to her – let’s read it starting in verse 21:

“Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."

(John 11:21-27)

This I believe shows us something beautiful – this shows us why Jesus was glad that He was not there to heal Lazarus. It was not because He wished his friends to be sad – or because He wanted them to suffer. Rather it was for this – it was for the answer to this question:

“Do you believe?”

In life or death – there is only ONE that has any worth. If I live or if I die, I do not care – only do not take this ONE from me. As the psalmist says:

“Certainly spending just one day in your temple courts is better than spending a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather stand at the entrance to the temple of my God than live in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is our sovereign protector.
The LORD bestows favor and honor; he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. O LORD who rules over all, how blessed are those who trust in you!”

(Psalms 84:10-12)

“Do you believe?”

This is the love of Christ. Not that everything will be perfect in our lives.

Being loved by Christ doesn’t mean you get some certificate of exemption from ever being sick ever again or some guarantee that you will never have another problem in this life!

Rather – if Christ loves you – it means that He will do all things so that you will believe. He will cause the sun to stand still, He will part the sea, He will cause a shadow to go backwards ten steps – He will do everything it takes – He will allow you to get sick – He will allow someone close to you to fall – He will allow someone you love to die – He will make you wander in the wilderness for 40 years, He will allow you to deny Him – He will do it – He will do it for His own name-sake – that you would believe.

This is His love – that He will do all – whatever it takes - with the final result – that you say with Martha, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."

But what kind of love is this? It seems so harsh. But is it really? What is true love – a thing that allows you to do whatever you want – or a person who guides you, knowing what is best for you, and making sure that whatever is best comes about – even though in the process pain and suffering come – this love looks to the outcome and wills the suffering and the pain, so that the one it loves can be perfect and pure.

Is it harsh – it is love? Is love “glad” when we suffer?

“Well,” you might say, “Jesus knew what was going to happen, that’s why He was glad – He wasn’t sad – because He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.”

After Jesus arrives in Bethany – something amazing happens.

Let’s look back at the text:

· Jesus waits two days until He goes to Bethany, knowing that Lazarus has died

· His disciples question Him – reminding Him that the Jews had just tried to stone Him in Jerusalem, and now He was going back again?

· Then Jesus arrives in Bethany when Lazarus has been in the grave for four days.

What happens next is something that I cannot comprehend.

Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was [129] troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. (John 11:32-35)

Jesus – who knows all things, who knew the outcome of this event – who knew that Lazarus would rise from the dead – wept.

He wept.

He did not call them foolish. He did not call them faithless. He did not say, “Cheer up, it’s going to be alright! Didn’t you hear what I said? I’m going to raise Lazarus from the dead!”

Jesus did not rebuke them.

Jesus cried softly. He wept.

He was intensely moved – groaning in spirit. Seeing the trouble of His friends. Mary, Martha – feeling their loss – seeing how sin had corrupted the world, filling the world with unbelief. For Jesus loved them – and it pained Him to see them in this state and yet, He was glad that it was this way – for it would result in the salvation of those He loved, it would result in belief.

His tears and His groaning expressed how much He loved the ones who were suffering because of Lazarus’s death.

What love is this – that The Savior of the world would cry, because the ones He loves are hurting.

“Your love oh Lord reaches to the heavens

Your faithfulness stretches to the sky

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountain

And Your justice flows like the oceans tides”

Our redeemer is not far away – He is here with us, and He knows our pain.

If you have ever wondered if Christ loves you – look around – where are you? What has occurred in your life – how is it that you came to be sitting in your chair listening to His Word this morning? How is that possible? There are millions who have never heard – and yet you, you this morning you are here. Do you still wonder if He loves you?

When the people watching saw Jesus cry they said, “See how He loved him!”
(John 11:36)

Just with that one small act, Jesus caught the attention of everyone around Him – He cried a few tears and they said, “Wow, Jesus must have really loved Lazarus.”

But I tell you, Jesus does not only weep for those He loves. There is no greater love than this – that a man lay down his life for his friends. He did not just shed a tear for those He loves, but He shed His blood – the ultimate price, He paid, for those He loved.

THERE IS ONLY ONE QUESTION THAT SUMS UP ALL OF

THESE THINGS: DO YOU BELIEVE?

DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE?

When things are going right, do you believe? Sure, that is easy.

But what about when everything is going wrong, do you believe?

When you enter into the fiery trial – do not be afraid – for the One who loves you could put out the flames in an instant – He could send more than twelve legions of angels to rescue you. But what is this – are you still burning in the flames? Are you not protected from the heat?

Have you cried out to Him, “Lord! The one whom you love is suffering!”

And yet the only reply is a soft, “This suffering will not lead to death, but to God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

And so then, in your pain and suffering – you quietly pray, “Lord, I believe”

And a peace that passes all understanding will be with you – for though you still suffer, yet, you know He is there, and He loves you.

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Violent Faith

I'm reading Under the Banner of Heaven, finally. I really wish that I could have been involved in the discussion for this one. It is making me think a lot about faith and knowledge and etc. Jon Krakauer, and probably 90% of non-evangelical intellectuals, would probably lump us in the same category, in the end, as the FLDS ... in fact he basically says so at several points; he's using this story to talk about fundamentalism in general.

What is his definition, really? It seems like: relying on a combination of "spiritual intuition" and literal intepretation of "holy texts" over and above common sense (or rather, the prevailing attitude of the society at large) and the laws and norms of the government.

How do we know what we know? What separates us from the FLDS's and Islams of the world?

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Interesting Article on Bible Translation

Here's an interesting article from a blog I read


http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2006/04/neither-hand-nor-foot.html

I posted some thoughts which you can check out on the comments section of the page.

-Nathan

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"Only the Father Knows..."

Another "what I'm reading" excerpt:

"Christ had to submit to knowing dependently and to knowing partially. He had to learn to boey without knowing all the facts and to believe without being in possession of full information. He had to forego the comfort which omniscience would sometimes have brought. This, surely, was a potent factor in the dereliction (Mk 15:34). The assurance of the Father's love, the sense of his own sonship and the certainty of his victory were all eclipsed, and he had to complete his obedience as the one who walked in darkness, knowing only that he was sin and that he was banished to the outer darkness. He suffers as the one who does not have all the answers and who in his extremity has to ask, Why? The ignorance is not mere appearing. It is reality."

From The Person of Christ by Donald Macleod.

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My Feet Hurt

They do. I've been standing for hours on end at work.

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The Difference Between Apostate and Apostle

In Matthew 26:17-35 we see the respective stories of Judas and Peter before Jesus' crucifixion. In v.21 Jesus prophesies that one of the twelve will betray him and "they were very sorrowful," each asking "Is it I?"

Jesus responds: "The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!" (v.24). Judas then asks if it is he, and Jesus affirms that he has spoken truly. Jesus' betrayal had been planned and predicted by God, yet Judas will be woefully guilty and "it would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

Then in v.31 we see Jesus tell the disciples that they will all fall away. Peter swears he will die before he betrays his Lord (and all the disciples said the same). We all know what happened.

I see very little intrinsic difference between Judas and Peter. Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied him at his hour of greatest need. The heart of each man was inclined to deny the one whom they had forsaken all to follow. It's a single, obvious and awful difference between the two: sovereign grace. Judas went his own way, fully culpable. But God granted that Peter would return and feed the flock of Christ.

Honestly, this terrifies me, knowing that (apart from God's gracious action) my heart would fall so quickly and deeply and fully into sin. Myself, I am Judas. Only the Lord draws me, like Peter, back to himself. Hold me there, gracious Lord!

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Get in the Game

I'm not saying that a true picture of God is not important. What I am saying is this: that being well-versed in Christian doctrine is valueless; only love for the true God (and for others) is. To the extent that doctrine assists you in loving God and others, it is valuable. But it is not valuable for its own sake.

The question is: which is highest? The system of beliefs which forms Christianity, or the God who placed them in the world to point us to Him? Understanding "justification by faith" is far less important than being justified. Understanding the nature of sanctification is far less important than being sanctified. Understanding predestination is far less important than "assuring yourself of His calling and choosing you."

Here's how I would put it: doctrine is the rules of Baseball. Not knowing the rules would make it impossible to play. Knowing the minutiae of the rules might help you to gain an edge; but God isn't looking for referees. He's looking for players. And if you are a player, studying the history and technicalities of Baseball would only be of value to you as far as it improved your game. Run as if to win.

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Something Resembling a (short) Argument

You cannot disconnect true theology and true love, and, in fact, proper theology must inform proper love and not vice versa.

Look at Deuteronomy 6:4-5: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Love is certainly more than simply correct theology; but it is certainly not less. Correct theology must inform adequate love.

See also 1 John 3:23: "And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us."

John, like Moses in the Shema above, places belief in the true Son of God, Jesus Christ, prior to love of the brothers.

Only love with truth is true love.

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My Problem with Machen

This is important, I think. I read a little bit about Machen, and I think he's saying this: "Doctrine is the message of the New Testament". As the founder of the Orthodox Presbyterian Denomenation, when he says "preaching doctrine", he probably means "Promoting strict adherence to reformed theology".

Now, the principal issues he fought for (for instance, attacking the idea that Paul basically invented a different Christianity than Jesus, based on Greek thought) are not ones I would disagree with him on. But when he says, "Doctrine is the message of the New Testament", I think he's missing the point. Yes, 1 Corinthians 13 is in the middle of a polemic. But what is the polemic saying? "We are all members of one body, and each is important." "Don't say to the foot, 'I don't need you.' " The message of 1 Corinthians 13, while itself perhaps part of a polemic, is clear: doctrine, discipline, and many other areas that feet or hands or eyes will focus on, are a means and not an end. Can speaking in tongues of men and angels aid us in loving others? Certainly. But mistaking it for more than what it is would be a grave error.

Paul answers the question, "What's most important?" right there in the passage: love. You can have all the doctrine you want, and without love you are a clanging gong or a crashing cymbal, it is utterly worthless. Jesus polemicized a great deal as well, but what was his main thrust against the Pharisees? "Come back when you have learned the meaning of this: I desire mercy and not sacrifice".

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What I'm Reading

This is from The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez. He quotes John Chrysostom, who says:
"Many who have gone from monastic retreat to the active life of the priest or the bishop are completely unable to face the difficulties of their new situation."

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Quote for thought - J. Gresham Machen

"Men tell us that our preaching should be positive and not negative, that we can preach the truth without attacking error. But if we follow that advice we shall have to close our Bible and desert its teachings. The New Testament is a polemic book almost from beginning to end. Some years ago I was in a company of teachers of the Bible in the colleges and other educational institutions of America. One of the most eminent theological professors in the country made an address. In it he admitted that there are unfortunate controversies about doctrine in the Epistles of Paul; but, said he in effect, the real essence of Paul's teaching is found in the hymn to Christian love in the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians; and we can avoid controversy today, if we will only devote the chief attention to that inspiring hymn. In reply, I am bound to say that the example was singularly ill-chosen. That hymn to Christian love is in the midst of a great polemic passage; it would never have been written if Paul had been opposed to controversy with error in the Church. It was because his soul was stirred within him by a wrong use of the spiritual gifts that he was able to write that glorious hymn. So it is always in the Church. Every really great Christian utterance, it may almost be said, is born in controversy. It is when men have felt compelled to take a stand against error that they have risen to the really great heights in the celebration of truth."

- J. Gresham Machen, "Christian Scholarship and the Defense of the Faith"

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Better Khmer Bibles Blog

Just FYI - I started up a blog for Khmer Bible translation issues.

You kinda need to know Khmer, but you can check it out ;)

Better Khmer Bibles Blog: The Purpose

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Church vs. Para-church

Not exactly what I've been reading, but I've been taking a missions class and this week was all about why we should have a 'para-church'. I'm always a little skeptical of anything so self-serving (the organization that puts on the class is itself a para-church organization, etc.) but I figured I might as well outline what they said.

The premise is that throughout the history of the church, and even prior to that in the context of Judaism, there have been nurturing structures and mobilizing structures. Some examples: synagogue/"khevra" (apparently the Pharisees were a "khevra", an organization that went about promoting their brand of purity to Jews in the diaspora), church of Antioch/Paul and company, Parish/Monastic orders, etc.

One big thing I hadn't really thought about that they brought up had to do with the history of mission in the Protestant church. Now, Luther thought the whole idea of an elective "second tier" of the church was a bad idea. He hated the monastic orders and was probably the origin of the modern idea that "the church ought to do all the work". He believed in reaching peoples outside of Christianity but felt that it was a job for the church. Calvin apparently felt similarly.

The result was that between 1521 and 1792 there were no Protestant missions. The only exception to this was the work of the Moravian group, which was essentially a para-church organization. During this time the Catholic church expanded around the globe, and we can still see the result of their work.

I'm not sure why they don't count the missionary endeavors of John Eliot and David Brainerd, because they talked about them in other sections. Maybe they are speaking primarily of European efforts.

In any case, the official beginning of Protestant Missions was in 1792 ... in which year William Carey started a para-church organization to help him go to India.

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What have you been reading?

I thought it would be nice for each of us to post a quote from a book we are currently reading. And as we change books or come across something that impacted us, we can post it for everyone to read.

I posted one below from John Owen.

-Nathan

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Quote for Thought - John Owen

"The choicest believers, who are assuredly freed from the condemning power of sin, ought yet to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin...Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world." - John Owen from "Temptation and Sin"

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Too Much Information

You know that verse, Jeremaiah 29:11? "I know the plans, etc." Have you ever read that verse in context? I did, today. The context is a lot of prophecy and condemnation related to the recently-exiled Jewish nation. My question is: who stumbled along this passage and decided that it was more important than the entire rest of the book? The Bible contains a lot of information. Way too much to digest in a single reading. Way too much to really understand in a lifetime. Many people will take a scientific approach to the Bible: with the right tools, the right processes, it is impossible to fail, you will discern the truth.

The problem is, somebody somewhere has to come along and say, "this is important and this is not." This pins our formerly scientific process on a person. A fallible person. Every shattered piece of the Church Universal has a few verses or concepts that it latches onto and a few which (if they were honest) undermine the conclusion they've come to.

Here's what I want to know! What's important to God.

STOP. I don't want to know what you think is important to God. Look at Jesus! Jesus is the revelation of God's character. He is the way we understand God. What was important to Him? Do we even pay attention?

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sbbic.org

I just opened a new web site
http://www.sbbic.org

There is nothing really there right now, and really isn't all that useful unless you know Khmer, but I thought I would put it up here anyway. I put up a Khmer Unicode dictionary, which so far as I know doesn't exist anywhere else. It is a pretty small dictionary, only about 500 words and phrases though - and most of the terms are Christian terms, being as they were taken from some of my translation work on various Christian books (mostly just for my own learning, since I am not at the level of producing something that is really useable). But it is a start.

But yeah, hopefully it will take off, and be used by those wanting to provide better books in Cambodia and in the process create a large, and usable two-way dictionary.

:)

- Special thanks to Todd Kastle for hosting yet another site -

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"Take heed to yourselves"

Regurgitating some of Richard Baxtor:

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

Some think that when someone exhorts another, they become their ruler. Some think that because Paul said these things to the elders at the city of Ephesus, that he was ruling strongly over them. But I hope as I exhort you now, that you will not think me your ruler, for there is only One Lord – Jesus Christ – rather know that I am the same as you, as you are the same as those you lead, or will be leading. We all deal with the same sin, we all need to grow closer to Christ by His grace. But we are to be leaders – you have been called out to lead others as I have been called. In a few months, if you are not already, you will be leading others. And as leaders we have greater work to do they those under us, we have greater difficulties to overcome, and therefore we have need to be warned and awakened, as well as instructed as much or more so than those we lead. I would desire that we could meet more than just the few times that we will be meeting, for there is a need – and we learn of this need from what Paul said to the Ephesian elders, a short sermon, but one that we have difficulty putting into practice.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

I want to focus on one thing in this verse and that is this: what is it to pay careful attention to ourselves?

It means to make sure that the work of saving grace is really in your souls. Pay careful attention to yourselves, lest you find that you are lacking that saving grace of God which you offer to others; lest while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Savior, in your own heart you ignore Him and neglect the Salvation that He brings. Pay careful attention to yourselves, lest you die in your sin, at the same time you are calling others to be saved from their sin; lest you starve, while you prepare food for others. Many have warned others of hell while they were on their way to that terrible place of suffering. Many preachers are in hell, who have called on their people to follow Jesus and escape it. Can anyone truly think that God will save someone just because they share the Gospel with other people, while they themselves refuse that Gospel? Or that God will save someone for telling truths that they themselves ignore and abuse?

Many people who make clothes wear rags while they are making really expensive clothes for other people. Many cooks do not take a taste of the delicious and expensive food that they have made for other people. Believe this: God never saved any man for being a church leader – God never saved any man even for being an talented leader – but God saves men who are justified, sanctified and therefore faithful to their Master’s work. Pay careful attention to yourselves first, that what you are what you are telling your people to be, and that you believe what you are telling your people to believe. That you believe with all your heart in the Savior that you offer to your people.

When Christ commanded you to love your neighbor as yourself He implied that you should love yourselves, and not hate and destroy yourself and them.

It is a fearful thing to be an unsaved person – but even more, an unsaved Christian leader. Does it make you tremble when you open your Bible, lest you should read a sentence of your own condemnation? When you speak against sin, you are aggravating your own! When you tell your people of the greatness of Christ and His riches and His grace, you are telling of your own sin in rejecting Him and your own unhappiness because you lack Him. What can you do in calling men to follow Christ, in taking them from the world and into a life of faith and holiness. If you speak of hell, you are speaking of your own inheritance – if you describe the joys of heaven you are speaking of your own sadness, for you will never see heaven. What can you really say that is not against your own soul? What a miserable life – that you should study and preach against yourself and spend your time in condemning yourself! A graceless church leader is one of the most unhappy people on earth! And yet it seems such a person does not know of his unhappiness. For he thinks he has the gold of saving grace, Christian jewels and thinks he is rich, when in fact he is poor. He thinks he needs nothing, when actually he is poor, miserable, blind and naked. He knows the Bible, he knows how to lead in the church, he doesn’t commit openly evil sins, he tells other people when they are wrong, he worships God and sings with a loud voice, and teaches others of God and how wonderful God is – oh how miserable thing this is – to die of starvation when the Bread of Life is in our hands, while we offer the bread to others and call them to eat! If such a person would listen to me, and look to his heart, if He think God will hear his prayer if he “is comfortable with evil in his heart” – or if there is any benefit on the last day to say, “Lord, Lord, we have prophesied in your name,” for that man will then here these terrible words, “Depart from me, I do not know you!” What benefit will it be to Judas on the judgment day, to remember that he preached with the other apostles, or that he sat with Christ, and was called “Friend” by Christ? Do not wait, if you are not yet saved – make a full and free confession of your sin and cry out to God that He would have mercy on your soul and believe in Him, the only one who can truly save.

It is the normal danger and disaster of the Church that so many become leaders before they are Christians – who are given a mark of approval by men before they are given the mark of approval by God. We must therefore pay careful attention to ourselves – are you truly saved? “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
(Philippians 2:12b-13 ESV)

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

Again, what does it mean to pay careful attention to yourselves? Do not be content with only being a Christian, only barely escaping the wrath of God, but make sure and keep your spiritual body healthy. When you teach others, first teach yourself. Even if you did this for your own sake, it would be valuable, but actually this is for the sake of those under you, for the sake of the Church, for when your minds are cleaned and focused on heavenly things, those who are listening to you will listen and desire the things that they hear you talk about. And I admit I must speak from my own experience, that when I let my heart grow cold, my preaching is cold. When my heart is confused, my preaching is confused. And I also observe in those listening when I am cold in my spirit, they start becoming cold also. We are the nurses of Christ’s little children. If we feed on spiritually unwholesome food, either with errors or useless controversies, our hearers will become spiritually weak and sickly. But, when our hearts are overflowing with love, with joy – when we are full of faith and enthusiasm – how much good it does those who are under our care! Therefore pay careful attention to yourselves, pay careful attention to your hearts and keep them warm with much secret prayer, and with meditation on the Word of God. Watch yourselves, for your sake, and also for the sake of others.

Pay very careful attention to yourselves, lest your example contradict your teaching, lest you destroy what you say by the way you live. What value is there if you build up your people for an hour one day a week with your words, but then the rest of the time, spend in tearing whatever you said down, because your life does not follow your words. This is how men come to believe that the Word of God is a useless thing, and that Christians are only full of Words that they themselves do not believe. When you call your people to be humble, do you think that they will humble themselves more than you? If you call your people to spend their time well, do you think they will spend it more wisely than you? When you tell them to flee from sin, do you think that they will flee it more than you? You must first learn what you are going to teach, if you value the success of your position. If you value the souls that God has placed in your charge, you will pay very careful attention to yourselves and live according to the things you teach.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)

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Not Only Kind

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(1 John 4:16 ESV)

I think many times when suffering comes our way, we scream out to God, “WHY?! What did I do?” But we forget – I forget that God is not just kind. For it is through suffering that we learn that God is not only kind to us. Yes, God is not only kind, rather He is love. For a god that is only kind would give drugs to a drug addict because it would make the addict happy in the moment, not willing to bring the suffering and pain required to remove the addiction from the addict in order to give him a life free from drugs. Kindness is unwilling to go all the way, unwilling to do that which is required to bring ultimate good to the recipient. But God is a God that loves us and so sometimes He wills us to go through difficulties and suffering not for the sake of suffering but for our own sake, as one withholding drugs from an addict, causing momentary suffering in order that the addict might be free from the addiction and live a full and free life. And so it is with us, we are addicted to this world, a world that in the end leads to death, and so God, our Father works to wean us off this world, causing us momentary affliction, that we might, in the end, have a life that is full, wholly satisfied and pure, not bound in slavery to sin, but filled with love for the One who loved us enough to cause our suffering for our ultimate good – everlasting life in the presence of the source of all good, God Himself. He is truly love.

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What is wrong?

John ch.3 describes two kinds of people. Those who live in darkness because they don't want their deeds exposed, and those who come into the light to show that they are God's people. Hence we use the phrase "in the light". Often this phrase denotes a kind of openness that can be very freeing but requires great risk and often results in humiliation.

Here's what happens:

We make a contract with the state of affairs. This is: narrowing the path excludes almost everyone. Some of whom aren't really that bad. A lot of people will feel uncomfortable, at least at first. Uncomfortable = smaller churches. Smaller churches = appearance of failure. So, we know that the narrow path is where we ought to be headed, but we make a pact with reality. "I'll just do what works". Everyone retreats a little bit. Church is a little less threatening; and if it is threatening, it's the kind of "intellectual threat" that doesn't require you to talk about yourself, just your beliefs. Slowly you give up on drawing people into the light, and accept the darkness.

Why? Because it's not your job. Your job is to provide a service. People join your church, and donate to it, and pay your salary because they want a service. In most cases you have no other reason to be in the community you're in, except to provide that service. Maybe you move your family to a new city and church, because it's a better job. They don't bring you in to shepherd God's people. They bring you in to do a job. Your responsibility is not to draw people into the light, closer to God; it's to grow the church. Or ... to teach. Or ... to be "successful". The darkness closes in.

Because indoctrination is easier than transformation. Because small talk is safer than friendship. Because systematic theology is more interesting than "Love God with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."

You betray the ones you claim to be helping. Because it's your job. So, the question is, who do you work for?

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Pastoral Migration

I recently had the opportunity to write a paper about Paul's theology of Pastoral Leadership from 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. I will not bore everyone with the paper itself, but rather a thought that came to me during its writing.

My paper was centered on the necessity of the pastor to defend the protect and promote truth, to develop strong leadership, etc. However my question was not really centered on any of those things.

Why is it that Pastors move from church to church so often in our modern era?

The reason usually given has something to due with being called, etc. I do not want to discredit that because I do not know the heart or what God has done in their lives. However, there are usually a lot of coincidences that go along with the calling. I.E. more responsibility or a bigger salary, flexibility, etc. In reality for this discussion those things don't matter. The main question for me is when you are called to a church can you be called somewhere else?

As far as I am concerned there really is no precedent in the Bible for someone to leave a church as a pastor to go to another church somewhere else. When you think of Titus you think of him ministering in Crete, Timothy is usually associated with the church in Ephesus, some think Epaphroditus was the pastor of Philippians (see 2:25-30). There is no mention of their moving from church to church to accept a new "pastorate". So why do pastors move from congregation to congregation so frequently? Why is the average stay of a pastor less than 4 years?

I think some church denominations like this. The PC(usa) will not let someone be a Sr. Pastor of a church that they grew up in or attended (although they can be an associate). This denomination likes moving people around when there is openings or needs in other areas. It seems as if a person is familiar with a congregation that is a bad thing... When someone applies for ordination they must accept an internship at a church other than their own. Usually the denomination will also make sure that if you came from a liberal church you go to a conservative or a big church to a small one and vice versa.

Are we really called to be this "iternarant"?

The shape of the church has changed in the modern era. People move around, they bounce from church to church, they need to think of taking care of their family. A lot of this probably has to do with worldlyness creeping into our thinking and our church life. Look at how churches are structured, more often than not they resemble a corporation. With that, there is head hunting and different "packages" that are presented to pastors... greener pastures.

I was approached at one point by a pastor in San Jose who told me to keep my options open. This was after a discussion where he alluded to possibilites in the future. I told him that I felt called to the students that I was currently ministering too. It is true that more money, a 401k, better benefits, etc. are inticing.

You see churches in the early NT time taking care of their Pastor's needs. So are our needs being met. The reality is that more money is inticing, but I right now in my life I am doing ok... in reality I could probably get by making less. In the future this may change. When I start having kids I will probably need to make more. But that will be the responsibility of my church to step up.

This led me to two conclusions...

1. If you were called to a specific church at one point and they are taking care of the needs of your family then you shouldn't leave. The world and the idea of making more and climbing the coporate ladder has already creeped too far into the modern church. If someone feels called to a different church then that is between them and God. But, they should first examine if there aren't any ulterior motives.

2. If a church is not meeting the needs of you and your family... then you should first let that be known then if it is unresolved then you should move on. The church should be responsible to take care of their pastor. However, one should exaine if they are living above their means. Often those in church ministry live pretty good lives. I admire people who sell everything they have to fund their ministries or mission. I admire those who live that "war-time" lifestyle. It definitley is not easy to do in a land of flat panel lcd monitors, ipods and faster cars.

I guess I just do not think pastors should move around as much as they do in the modern age.

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Jumbled thoughts from a year ago

We are far away from where we should be - we continue to follow the ones who are in front of us, knowing good and well in our minds that the path they follow leads to death. But our hearts, but my heart rebells against the truth. We know, and yet we continue, we still walk in the path of our old man. What is keeping us from doing the things we know we should? Why are some outside the faith even more disciplined than we, who are in the faith are? Whouls we not be known for our discipline? Our lives should follow after our beliefs, yet our beliefs never seem to be strong enough to perfect our lives - for we are but flesh, weak, and unable to cleanse ourselves from the wickedness inside our souls. Nothing is easier to know than this: men are wicked. Yet nothing is harder to accept, for why would a wicked heart admit to such a thing? The point of belief never comes until a man realises he is wicked. We say we are good but there is no one good but God. We say we are not murderers - we say Hitler was wicked, but we fail to see in ourselves the very same things that made that man so wicked - we decieve ourselves. God is a the God who saves and man is a race that needs a Savior.

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Christmas, where have you gone?

Where has it gone
The feeling inside I used to have
Every Christmas so fond
Seems just like a normal day
Nothing's changed, nothings new

Presents await but there's nothing to anticipate
Not like before, when it felt new
Now it's like nothing, feelings are weak

Have I lost you?
Why doesn't it feel like Christmas
Open my eyes, my thoughts
Finding clarity in a haze

Christmas is not a feeling, a soft warm phrase
For this day, the Christ has come
How could I forget and replace?
You are the One that brings all things
Good and holy, righteous and true
So remind me this season
Not to look for a feeling inside
But to look to You my one and only
Savior, God, and King

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"High-tech US embassy set to open"

We so easily fool ourselves into thinking we have accomplished something great, when in reality, we have done little or nothing at all.

This from an article in the Phnom Penh Post:

"The new US embassy on Street 96 near Wat Phnom. Former US Ambassador Charles A Ray claims credit for the survival of [a] tree, which architects wanted removed."

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The Mysterious Food and the Harvest

We move now from the Samaritan woman – who has gone back into town telling people about Jesus – to a private conversation between Jesus and His disciples. The disciples had gone into town in order to buy food and now are asking Jesus to eat – they had seen that Jesus was tired, and they are concerned for His well-being. But

(v32) He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

So Jesus introduces this Mysterious Food – and let’s look at two aspects of this food

I. The Source of this Foood
II. The Superiority of this Food

I. The Source of this Food

We see in verse 33 the disciples are a bit confused about this statement that Jesus makes – for as you remember, Samaritans and Jews didn’t get along well, and they were thinking – no one here would have given Him anything to eat, would they? They saw that Jesus no longer needed their food, but they couldn’t figure out why.

The disciples, as is normal for all of us, were thinking first about the physical, temporal things – but Jesus was speaking of this mysterious food that they have yet to learn about.

Where does this food come from? Where does it not come from?

(v32) He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

This food does not come from the world – the world doesn’t even know about it– nor can the world provide it.

(v34) Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work."

Jesus’ food has its source, not in the things of this earth, but rather in doing the will and accomplishing the work of the One who sent Him – it is a food that comes from God – the source of all good things.

Jesus has been sent, though the Son of God, He has been sent, humbling Himself, becoming a servant, doing the will and accomplishing the work of God the Father, the One who sent Him.

So what was the will of God? What was this work of God that Jesus was accomplishing?

John 6:38-39
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

The will of God was that Jesus save those whom God had given to Jesus – and the work of God, the work that God had already done was appoint those who were given to Jesus – appointing them unto salvation (1 Thess. 5:9) – and Jesus was accomplishing that work – finishing that work by saving those given to Him by God through His life and death and resurrection.

This is the food of Jesus – The life-blood, the thing that kept Jesus going, the reason Jesus woke up every morning – The food of Jesus: to do the will and accomplish the work of God – for in doing this, He is revitalized by God.

Men live to eat and drink – read and study, to work or play – some even live to pray and minister – but not Jesus.

And this moves us into our next thought.

II. The Superiority of this Food

If someone really smart or someone skilled in something says, “I do it this way” normally we try to do as they do, because it’s a better way – they know more than we do, so we follow.

And so I present to you this morning – Jesus Christ, the Man-God, all-knowing, all-powerful saying, “MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE”

We work and grow tired – we labor and want a vacation – but Jesus, who at the beginning of this story was wearied by His journey, stopping by a well to rest – He works, ministering to the Samaritan woman and now refuses the nourishment that His disciples offer Him, because He is refreshed and renewed.

This food that Jesus has is better than ours – for we eat and then grow hungry, and if we don’t eat we become weary, we live limited, and wanting – but this food overcomes all this – this food is better than any other food –

"Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary."
(Isaiah 40:30-31)

This food is superior simply in the fact that it is from God – it is food for those who God has sent, and in doing the will and work of God – in expending their lives for God, this work becomes true food, true strength and true renewal of body and spirit. You will know if you are doing the work of God if you are fed by it – “when toiling in the fields of heaven one needs no other refreshment.”

TRANSITION:

"Do you not say, `There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.
(John 4:35)

As I was studying this past week and I came to this point in the text – Jesus flips right from talking about food to talking about the harvest – and I kept asking myself, “Why does Jesus talk about these things together, without really any transition? He talking, and He goes food food food, harvest!”

But I think there is a very good reason, and sheds even more light onto this lesson that Jesus was teaching to His disciples. So let’s look into this:

Jesus had just finished speaking with the Samaritan woman when the disciples came up – then she goes into town and starts telling people about Jesus – and while the woman is doing this, Jesus is speaking to His disciples – but what of the people that the woman has been talking to – what are they doing? They are on their way to see Jesus – and they come up to Him later on in this chapter, in verse 40 – so picture this in your mind: as Jesus is explaining to His disciples that, rather than their food being the most important thing, there is something superior to the food they are offering, then Jesus says – “You say there is about four months until harvest, but I say – Take a look right now! The fields are ready for harvest right now!” The disciples might have wondered what Jesus meant, because there truly were still four months until harvest, although the farmer’s fields had been planted, they were still green and not ready to be harvested. But in a few moments, if the disciples had not understood what Jesus said they would have – for right when Jesus finishes speaking the group of Samaritans that had been told of Jesus by the woman arrive to speak with Jesus, they were the field that was ready for harvesting – this was the work that Jesus came to do, to save men, this is the food that He was talking about – Jesus was here to do the will and accomplish the work of God and here were some of those appointed unto salvation by God, ready to be harvested, ready to be saved.

Now let’s look at three things in regard to this heavenly harvest

I. The Reward of the harvest

II. The Rejoicing in the harvest

III. The Reminder during the harvest

I. The Reward of the Harvest

Jesus was gladly willing to forfeit earthly food in order to work in this harvest – because in working this harvest there was greater reward!

Jesus was already received wages, benefits from working in the field of Samaria – He was receiving joy, that would last forever, and was gathering fruit for life eternal, meaning that people were being saved.

This is the lesson – it is better to give than to receive – because God is a rewarder of those who serve Him, of those who earnestly seek Him

And Jesus was receiving this reward but He is not the only one rejoicing over the harvest.

II. The Rejoicing in the Harvest

There are two parties involved - the ones who sowed the seed and the ones who reaped the fruit.

Jesus didn’t have to explain who the messiah was to the Samaritan woman, she knew about Him already.

And so Jesus says: "in this case the saying is true, `One sows and another reaps.'
(John 4:37)

The harvest that was taking place in Samaria was taking place based on the prior work of God’s servants. Others had sown seed and had not seen the results, but now the result of that sowing was coming in, through Jesus and both Jesus and those who had sown the seeds can rejoice together – for all their labor has resulted in salvation.

III. The Reminder During the Harvest

Then Jesus directs His attention to His disciples and in this I believe Jesus is referring to ministry that He had sent the disciples to do, either baptizing, or possibly when He had sent them to go into different cities and preach the good news:

(v38) Jesus says that He sent His disciples to reap that for which they had not labored – others have labored and you [the disciples] have entered their labor – “Their labor”, the word labor here tells of a toil to the point of exhaustion, long pains, troubles.

The disciples were probably elated that their going out had resulted in so much fruit, as are everyone when they lead a soul to the Lord, but Jesus here is reminding them, that they are reaping from a field in which they have not toiled long in, that they have not troubled and pained long years in that field. It is a call to humility, lest we boast and think our ways are higher than others, as Paul re-states:

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."
(1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

In the harvest, be reminded – you were sent, and praise God for the growth.

And then The Living Example of the Harvest

(v39-42) From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all the things that I have done." So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."
(John 4:39-42)

What a joyful thing to see such a harvest – and in such an unlikely field, beginning with such an unlikely sinner.

I want to close with this last thought.

As I was reading this passage, I was thinking about my own ministry. I am living in Cambodia – and how different this nation is than the nation of Israel during the time of Jesus.

Jesus tells His disciples: "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor."
(John 4:38)

Israel had thousands of years of priming for the Gospel, the whole nation was waiting for the Messiah. So much labor had gone into that country, the seed had been laid, and now was the time for its reaping – and what a harvest there was! The first proclamation of the Gospel after Jesus ascending into heaven resulted in about 3,000 souls coming to Christ!

But what of here in Cambodia? A lot of times I feel like I am working with no result. I can count on one hand the people who have come to Christ, in whose lives I have been an influence. I labor, plant seeds, but rarely see any come into fruition.

But as we think of this whole passage:
The food of Jesus, coming from God, that is better than the food of this world

And then of the harvest – the great reward from it and the rejoicing of both the sower and reaper together, the reminder of humility – the encouragement for me, the message I want to give you is this:

"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”
(John 4:34)

The food is not in the result – for we are not sent out for results. In looking to result we will fall from exhaustion. Rather the food is in doing the will and accomplishing the work of the One who sent us.

Do not make your food the results of your labor – rather let it be in obeying your Lord and Master – it is in this that we are fed, that we find our encouragement, that we are serving God – and that He has sent us out to do His will and accomplish His work.

So go, and let us be refreshed in the labors our Master has called us to do.

"For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God--his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. "For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip; "The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies; "For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever."

(2 Samuel 22:30-51)

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