Jesus Christ Magnified

As a kid at church, I always enjoyed hearing the testimonies of people who had come to Christ.  It was an opportunity to know a fellow Christian better, hear the way God revealed Himself to them, and how God was working in their life currently.  There were many testimonies I heard which had a large emphasis on a life before Christ and various sinful activities they pursued.  It was rare for someone to open the Bible and read verses God had used to change their minds, Scripture that lead to the realisation of their sinfulness and need for salvation.  Had God's word always been proclaimed in those testimonies perhaps they would have been exponentially more spiritually fruitful!

An intriguing situation occurred in the book of Acts when seven Jewish men (sons of Sceva a Jewish leader of the priests) worked as traveling exorcists and took it upon themselves to command demons to depart in the name of Jesus whom Paul preached.  Acts 19:15-16 reads, "And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" ¹⁶ Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."  The evil spirit knew Jesus the Son of God and Paul His servant, but these sons of Sceva had no part in Christ's kingdom:  they simply applied a formulaic approach based on their observations of Paul.  Without the protection and power of Jesus Christ, these imposter exorcists were overcome and beaten up by the demon possessed man.  Rather than the demon leaving the man he possessed, the hireling exorcists ran naked from the house--their weakness, folly and unbelief exposed for all to see.

When the story spread through Ephesus, Acts 19:17-20 explained the massive impact it had on the hearers:  "This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. ¹⁸ And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹ Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed."  Fear fell on all those who heard of what happened, and the name of the LORD Jesus was magnified who has authority and power over all spirits.  Not once was Jesus beaten up or unable to cast out a demon with His word alone, for He is truly the LORD of all.  What is amazing is how Jewish and Gentile Christians came confessing their deeds, for they had been involved in occultic practices that employed demonic power.  Not only did they testify publicly their deeds but they brought their books containing their incantations and burned them.

The failure of the sons of Sceva to drive out the demon resulted in Christians fearing God and purging the church of sin when people confessed, repented of their sin and burned their books once and for all in public.  The power of sin that was strong in secret was overcome in public view by the fear of God.  The confessing of sin and burning of the magic books showed how "the word of the LORD grew mightily and prevailed."  Reading and studying God's word is vital for the Christian, and when we submit ourselves to God's word through faith and obedience great strides can be made in personal purity and being a godly witness.  It seems while Christians kept their secret books and the Scripture the power of God's word remained dormant in their lives, but when they confessed their demonic dabbling and destroyed their books, God's word grew mightily and prevailed.  May it be through our lives and testimony the name of the LORD Jesus is magnified, and by our confession of sin and reformation the word of the LORD will grow mightily and prevail.

A Cantankerous Christian?

In the C.S. Lewis book God In the Dock, he was asked if there are any "unmistakable outward signs in a person surrendered to God, and if that person could be cantankerous?  "Cantankerous" is defined as, "bad tempered, tending to argue or complain."  C.S. Lewis made good points in his answer:

"Take the case of a sour old maid, who is a Christian, but cantankerous.  On the other hand, take some pleasant and popular fellow, but who has never been to Church.  Who knows how much more cantankerous the old maid might be if she were not a Christian, and how much more likeable the nice fellow might be if he were a Christian?  You can't judge Christianity simply by comparing the product in those two people:  you would need to know what kind of raw material Christ was working on in both cases.

As an illustration, let us take a case of industrialism.  Let us take two factories: 

    - Factory A with poor and inadequate plant, and

    - Factory B with first-class modern plant. 

You can't judge by the outside.  You must consider the plant and methods by which they are run, and considering the plant at Factory A, it may be a wonder it does anything at all; and considering the new machinery at Factory B, it may be a wonder it doesn't do better." (Lewis, C. S., and Walter Hooper. God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014. page 49)

Judging others based upon appearances is sinful (John 7:24), and measuring ourselves by ourselves is unwise (2 Corinthians 10:12).  Only God knows the hearts of people and the "raw material" found there which requires much miraculous refinement.  Being saved by grace through faith is no excuse to neglect our own sanctification as Christians, for we should live to please God who gave all for us.  This involves us learning to submit to Christ's guidance, instruction and correction.  Reformation and refinement should not be something we look back as occurring primarily at our conversion but things that are taking place today because our fellowship with the holy God reveals our sin; we continue to fall short of God's glorious perfection.  It would be foolish to condemn Jesus Christ because of spiritually immature and sinning Christians, but it doesn't stop people from doing so.  Dear fellow believers, let's not provide easy excuses for people to ascribe folly to Christ our LORD because of our lack of love, grace, Christlikeness or cantankerousness--if that is indeed a word.

Settled Gladness

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"

Philippians 4:4

Paul exhorted and instructed Christians to rejoice in the LORD always, and this is significant seeing all he had suffered for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.  When Paul penned this letter he was a prisoner though he was innocent of all false accusations leveled against him.  The betrayal by false accusations of his fellow Jews, corrupt Roman governors, and constant persecution did nothing to quench the joy Paul had in Jesus.  Regardless of the circumstances of life, there is always great cause to rejoice in our LORD Jesus.

There is a positive optimism of youth that can be lost over time through disappointment, disillusionment and dashed expectations.  As people grow older, face chronic pain and process losing physical abilities, freedoms and mental acuity, attitudes and outlooks can become increasingly bitter.  This can be true concerning faithful Christians who become sour due to problems they observe in society, heresy creeping into the church, immaturity in fellow believers, or that the Rapture hasn't happened yet!  I find it delightful to see Christians who face difficult hardships and fierce opposition who, like Paul, rejoice in the LORD always with faces illuminated with joy in the LORD.  I find fellow believers like John Lennox inspirational, for when discussing matters of faith with skeptics hostile to Christ in a public forum, his visage shines with joy and peace like Moses whose face glowed from being in the presence of God.

Are you a Christian who is growing increasingly grumpy with the world and others?  Have you become more militant or bold to air grievances and complaints?  In 1 Peter 4, the apostle urged believers to arm themselves with a mind determined not to spend any more time pursuing lusts of the flesh but instead doing the will of God.  He said in 1 Peter 4:3, "For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries."  Following this logic, haven't we spent enough time looking for hope and encouragement in what is not Jesus?  We have spent enough time focusing on what is wrong in the church or wondering why people do not share our convictions:  how about looking to the LORD, rejoicing in fellowship with the few who attend church gatherings, and seek opportunities to encourage and edify one another in love?  Haven't we spent enough time being disillusioned by fickle folks when we should rejoice in God who is faithful and follow His example?

God's will is for us to rejoice in the LORD always, and may we grow in maturity, established by faith in Jesus, to have our attitude and outlook settled with gladness in God.  Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:10-11, "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹ To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."  How great is our glorious God and Saviour Jesus Christ who suffered for us for the joy that was before Him!  Unlike the Pharisees who disfigured their faces to show they were fasting, may our joyful countenance in the midst of trials, opposition, and even chronic pain bring Jesus honour and praise.  God knows what you are going through, and we can rejoice in our Saviour who is with us and loves us every step of the way.

Examination and Communion

Today I was drawn to the exhortation of Paul to the Corinthian believers that they examine themselves as they gathered together for the Lord's Supper, a feast which was supposed to illustrate the love of Christ and unity with one another.  Hearkening back to Jesus who distributed bread and wine to His disciples on the night He was betrayed that symbolised His broken body and blood that would be shed for them, this practice was incorporated into regular meals.  Paul rebuked the Corinthians because of their divisions, exclusion of others and excess in these gatherings where the poor went hungry and others were drunk!

He advised in 1 Corinthians 11:28, "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup."  Each person was instructed to examine himself to ensure each one was obedient to Jesus, united in the fear of God, to love one another and repent of sin.  Paul was not erecting an obstacle to fellowship with God or others:  sin is what does that!  Paul encouraged personal examination so people would be discerning of the LORD's body (the church) when they ate of the bread and drank of the cup--not to disqualify themselves due to sin they repented of.  At times in the history of the church well-meaning leaders have taken it upon themselves to examine others and deem them unworthy to partake of communion when there is no one righteous but Christ.  Each person is accountable before God, and thus each one of us in the church ought to examine ourselves.

To refuse to partake of communion because we have sinned is like not coming to Jesus Christ in repentance because we feel we ought to be punished for our sin.  Didn't Jesus provide atonement by His shed blood for the sin of the world in full?  Can we add to His sacrifice?  Is it our feelings of guilt and shame that tore the veil of the Holy of Holies from top to bottom?  To be sure, our sin is a hideous, horrendous thing:  should we add to our sin by resistance to repentance for sin and broken surrender to our Saviour, when He has died so we can live and have fellowship with God and one another today?  The self-examination Paul spoke of was intended to move sinners to repentance that preceded communion, not self-exclusion.  To put ourselves in a self-imposed spiritual "time out" because we have sinned does not seem to take 1 John 1:9 into account for the Christian:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

There is a person who receives communion who desires to be seen by other people to be receiving it, while another does not receive communion because they feel unworthy.  In a fleshly sense, this may be an honourable thing to do.  From a biblical perspective, however, we are all unworthy by the efforts of our flesh to be born again, to have fellowship with God, to be forgiven or receive communion.  In light of the New Covenant Jesus has established in His own blood, we are called to examine ourselves, to repent of sin, and eat of the bread and drink of the cup knowing we are partakers of the Gospel by God's grace.  Psalm 130:3-4 reads, "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴ But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared."  Praise the LORD for the new beginnings He provides day by day for the humble soul that repents of sin in the fear of God.