ResponsiveReiding

Video for this sermon can be found here: https://youtu.be/NxrrbwuLdFA

Something Jim mentioned in his sermon last week reminded me of a conversation I was involved in a number of years ago. It was at one of our Pastor’s fellowships. We were discussing the Sermon on the Mount. One of the men, a dear brother, a solid brother whom I love, made this statement: “If I am on my deathbed, and you are called to minister to me, one passage I do not want you to read to me is the Sermon on the Mount. It is nothing but unobtainable law. I would feel utterly condemned.”

We spent quite a bit of time that day discussing his view. And I spent a lot of time trying to convince him he had a very wrong understanding of this passage. 

As has already been mentioned, the Sermon on the Mount – as it is most often called, covers all of chapters 5,6 & 7.

It is the longest unbroken and sustained account of Jesus’ public teaching we have. While it was first and foremost to the Disciples, we see that there was a large crowd gathered who listened in.

In the process, it covers the essentials of the Biblical Christian life and outlook. I think it is defensible to say that virtually all of what Jesus taught can be tied in some way to what is given here. It is startlingly complete.

And while some like my friend see it more as an ethical manifesto, as though if one were to obey it perfectly, that would make them acceptable in God’s eyes; that of course is no more true than obeying the 10 Commandments will serve to justify you before God. In fact, in its ethical implications, parts of it are so much more exacting than the 10 Commandments, it would be much harder to fulfill this, than them! That was in fact my friend’s point. He knew he couldn’t measure up. It held no “Gospel” for him.

We must never forget that Justification – right standing with God – comes only one way, through the Cross of Christ. Every genuine Christian has come to know this. Knowing our lost condition and coming to God for mercy on the basis of Jesus having suffered in our place on Calvary.

But once having come to Christ, we are not now just set adrift and left to our own imaginations in terms of what the Christian and the Christian life ought to look like. This sermon sets all of that in quite comprehensive order. And far from condemning, it is an eye opening look into the wonders of what it means to be a citizen in the Kingdom of Christ.

It is familiar – especially the beatitudes even to many outside Christianity. And herein is a danger: Things which are too familiar to us seldom get a second or deeper look. And I think that is especially true too of this second portion assigned to me today.

Let’s take a step back and frame the larger picture before we tackle the 4 verses right here.

Over the years I have studied this portion, I have come to see it in 10 parts. I thought Jim’s shorter breakdown last week was exceedingly helpful.

He said that in this sermon: “we see the new heart of his people refracted through many angles – relating to the world, to the law, to the Father, to one another, to false teachers, and to coming judgement.”

I couldn’t agree more.

But let me toss this out there too. I’ll be referring back to the first part which has already been ably preached on by Jim last week, and set today’s focus on part 2. But as I said, to give you a broad overview – I want to suggest one way of understanding it that I hope is helpful. Viewed this way, contained in it are the incredible rights and privileges which belong only to those who are found in Christ by faith.

Keep in mind, this sermon is first and foremost, all about Christ’s Kingdom.

1 – 5:1-12 / Give us a portrait of the CITIZENS of the Kingdom / That all in Christ are conceived of as a “Blessed” people. Irrespective of any external circumstances.

And this would have been in direct conflict with the Pharisee’s teaching of Jesus’ day, even as it is for many today. Blessedness, being in God’s favor is often assumed to be located in joy and comfort in our circumstances. If things are good – I’m blessed. If things aren’t so good, something’s wrong and I need to get back to being blessed.

Jesus tips that notion on its head.

He does that here in His teaching, but He demonstrated it elsewhere too.

Do you remember the account in John 9 where coming upon a man who was born blind, the Disciples asked Jesus who sinned so bad that this was the situation? Was this guy just a wretched sinner even in the womb? Especially evil? Or was it because his parents were so bad – that is why he was born that way?

The implication being, if such was his lot, some sort of special sinfulness must be attached to it. After all, righteous people get blessed, and sinners get cursed – right? That is what the Pharisees taught.

And Jesus takes them up short and says no – that isn’t what is going on here. This man is here, in this condition, at this place and time, so that in healing him, I can display my power and the glory of God!

They didn’t know what to do with that. Many of us don’t either.

2 – 5:13-16 / The ROLE of the Citizens of the Kingdom in this World / Salt & Light.

3 – 5:17-48 / The CHARACTER of the Kingdom and its Citizens / Clothed in and manifesting the Righteousness of God in Christ.

Christ fulfilled the Requirements, Prophecies and Penalties of the Law for us, and counts that righteousness as belonging to all who believe in Him.

4 – 6:1-24 / The LIFE of the Citizens of the Kingdom – SERVICE / Living all of life as unto the Father.

5 – 6:25-34 / The SUFFICIENCY of the Kingdom / The privilege of living above paralyzing ANXIETY.

6 – 7:1-5 / The HUMILITY of the Kingdom / Living UNCRITICALLY, brother with brother. Comrades in the battle against sin.

7 – 7:6 / The OTHERNESS of the Kingdom / Freedom from this present world’s system of values due to the Kingdom’s PRECIOUSNESS and CONTRARINESS.

8 – 7:7-12 / The SUPREME right and privilege of the Kingdom / Direct access to the Father in prayer.

9 – 7:13 & 14 / The single ENTRANCE to the Kingdom / Entering in  -The Narrow Way and Gate. Though Christ alone.

10 – 7:15-27 / The INTEGRITY of the Kingdom / Those in it are both hearers and doers of Jesus’ will as Lord.

But my assignment today is to cover Matt. 5:13-16:

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Two similes Jesus uses to describe the Role of The Citizens of the Kingdom in this present World: Salt and Light.

Now a common error in looking at this portion is in divorcing it from the first part – the beatitudes. We must see the relationship between the 2 to grasp what is really going on here.

So the question is: In what way are Believers Salt & Light in the World? What does being salt & light mean? To which a multitude of good answers have been given, but not necessarily in relation to the preceding portion – which is the proper lead-in to this.

One way to go about answering what Jesus means here by Salt & Light is to look at how the Scripture itself refers to salt and light – which it does a lot – in different contexts.

Let’s stick with salt for a minute.

Salt is used in the Bible as a symbol of permanence – so God commanded it be included with every sacrifice to show the permanent and lasting nature of His covenant with His people. (Lev. 2:13; Numb. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5 etc.)

It was often included in contracts of all sorts for the same reason.

After conquering in battle, the lands conquered were to be sprinkled with salt to show the conquest was irreversible. (Judges 9:45)

We have instances of how it is used to purify things. (2 Kings 2:20; Ezek. 16:4)

And the meaning most commonly associated with this passage is that salt acts as a preservative. So the application typically is that Christians in the world, act a preservative against the advance of sin in culture.

And while all of those have their place, and are reasonable, the fact is the quality of salt that is appealed to in the text is not its preserving ability, but its – “taste”.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste

Jesus is concerned that the salt, that we, as God’s people in the world, as citizens of His kingdom, not lose our savoriness – our taste.

Which of course begs the question – who is it that is bothered if we become “tasteless” so to speak? And the answer can only be – God Himself.

Calvin takes a similar approach noting that people still lost in their sins are “tasteless” to God, and that through the Gospel we make them so that God can “relish” in them. The Gospel makes them savory to God. Even as it does us. (See: Calvin’s commentary on this portion)

The imagery is somewhat similar to Jesus’ words to the Church in Laodicea in Rev. 3. There, the Church was neither cold and refreshing, nor hot and soothing, but lukewarm. And it made Him nauseous.

Salt losing its saltiness is parallel. You put the salt on food to make it savory – but if it has lost that quality – then it is good for nothing. You might as well toss it out and use it just to help harden mushy ground. But eating it is out of the question.

The Christian’s role in the World is to live in such a way as to be pleasingly palatable to Him. And it is in remaining pleasingly palatable to Him that we have our greatest impact on The World, The Culture, and Society as well. This is how and where we shine as lights. Our aim is to please Him. And the by-product is an effect on the World. But in the first place, our aim is not to impact the World – but to please Him.

And this pleasing Him, is to be done obviously – which is what He means by stating that our role is also – to be light.

To be out in the open so that He is revealed to the World as He is – as our King.

Christians living large (as they say).

It is reminiscent of 1 Peter 2:9 

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

To make Him known, in His person and work; in His goodness, grace and glory.

So then, what are these good works He speaks of which light up the world and bring others to glorify our Father who is in Heaven?

And this is what takes us back to what Jim preached last week. This is where we need to read this section in context, and not single it out.

In short: It is to consciously live as the blessed people we are in Christ.

To live as “blessed” in Him. 

Not fearful people.

Not joyless people.

Not grim people.

Not perpetually agitated people.

Not full of anxiety.

Not angry.

Not hopeless.

Not combative.

Not obnoxious.

Not striving after power, pleasure and position.

BLESSED!

It goes back to the world-tilting picture Jesus painted for us in the beatitudes – in His snapshot of the Citizens of the Kingdom. For it defies all worldly and even religious logic.

We can ask: Can one truly be blessed, privileged and joyful when –

Unsuccessful and obscure? Poor in spirit.

Suffering from grief?

Blessed when humble and non-self-promoting – Non-aggressive?

Blessed when constantly battling and wounded by our sin?

Unwilling to crush our enemies? But suing for peace instead.

Wide-eyed and not worldly wise?

Conciliatory instead of confrontational?

When suffering for doing what is right and good?

YES! If we are Christ’s – and are in His Kingdom! When you know your purpose and reward is in Heaven and His kingdom and not here.

Can a person have a sense of being “PRIVILEGED” and still…

Not have wonderful feelings about self?

When suffering heartache and grief?

When not being self-assertive and self-promoting

Yes! Yes! a Thousand times yes!

In fact nothing is more unpalatable to God than a people who claim to be His, but who do not live in the reality that we are supremely and eternally blessed in Christ.

When we do not live this way, when this mindset does not dominate us, all we have left is to complain about the world. To put a fine point on it – contrary to the ways of some – there is no spiritual gift of complaint.

Complaining, miserable, agitated, fearful, pugnacious “Blessed” people is a contradiction in terms. It mixes our supposed Gospel blessedness with the bitterness of the world and we lose our saltiness. We lose our savor to our Father.  

Salt as you know, never actually loses its saltiness. But, when it is mixed with something else – when it is adulterated – then, it loses its effectiveness.

Christians can easily become like 10 of the 12 spies Moses sent over into the Promised land in Numb. 13. You’ll recall that God had promised them the land, but 10 came back with all kinds of negatives. It will be too hard! The people there are giants! It’s too dangerous, – undoable.

Only 2 – Joshua and Caleb said – hey! Let’s go! They believed God had given them the land and so if God promised it, they must be able.

But the opinion and attitude of the 10 prevailed, with the result of 40 years wandering in the desert and not partaking of the good of the land God had promised them.

They had lost their saltiness through unbelief.

Why is does this make us so tasteless to Him?

Because it is the opposite of living “by faith.”

Hebrews 11:6

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

It is to live as though all He is, all He has done for us, all that He has promised us, is of no joy or comfort to our souls. As though we didn’t really believe it. As though it makes no real difference.

How then can we in any way be light to this fallen, broken, lost world, if we live as though we are as miserable and hopeless as they are without Christ?

That is tastelessness.

We claim to believe the good news of the Gospel, but adulterate it – mix it with the doubts, fears and values of the world’s mindset, and so the good news loses its power in our own lives, and gives no light to the world.

It robs the world of the light of the truth about the God who has redeemed us from our sins by His mercy and grace – of a true testimony about Him. How He has granted us His indwelling Spirit; promised us the resurrection from the dead; given access to His throne in prayer; prepared and preserved His Word for us; granted us the fellowship of the saints as part of His very own household; made us adopted sons and daughters of His very own; and stored up for us an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” for us.

The Puritan Richard Baxter remarked that for many, serving Christ had become an exercise in “joyless submission.” He went on to remind us:

All Christ’s ways of mercy tend to and end in the saints’ joys. He wept, sorrowed, suffered, that they might rejoice; he send[s] the Spirit to be their comforter; he multiplie[s] promises, he discovers their future happiness; that their “joy may be full:” he abound[s] to them in the mercies of all sorts; he make[s] them lie down in green pastures, and lead[s] them by the still waters; yea, open[s] to them the fountain of living waters; that their joy may be full: that they may thirst no more; and that it may spring up in them to everlasting life. Richard Baxter and William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 22 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 66.

Ultimately, this is an issue of faith. And without faith it is impossible to please God. Such faith requires that we embrace His gifts and promises to us as having such value and reality, that they outweigh the very real pains, struggles, confusions, sorrows and difficulties and disappointments of this life: 

2 Cor. 4:16-18

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Now don’t get me wrong – this is not an automatic thing. Our sin natures still draw us to suspect God and gravitate toward not keeping our hearts and minds anchored in His goodness and grace. In our fallenness, this proves to be a perpetual battle.

Martin Lloyd-Jones in his powerful book: Spiritual Depression It’s Causes and Cures – takes a page from how the Psalmist deals with himself in a time of darkness.

We have already seen that the essence of the treatment according to the Psalmist is that we must really face ourselves. In other words we must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ourselves to talk to us. We must take ourselves in hand, we must address ourselves as the Psalmist addressed himself and his soul, and ask the question: ‘Why art thou cast down? why art thou disquieted within me?’—You have no right to be like this. Why are you depressed and cast down? He faces himself and talks to himself, he argues With himself and brings himself back to the position of faith. He exhorts himself to have faith in God, and then he is in a condition to pray to God. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016).

When we read the newspapers, watch the news, read and talk to people online – look at the world and its condition, and then fail to go back to God’s Word, remember our blessedness in Christ and remind ourselves over and over of His sovereign care, inviolable promises, gifts of grace, indwelling presence, providential provisions and eternal, wise and perfect love toward us – and talk to ourselves and one another about our blessedness – we lose our saltiness. And we shine no light into the world.

In fact, we tell the world that all that God is, has said and has done – means nothing. We’re just as bad off, just a miserable as if we had never heard or believed the Gospel at all.

We bear false witness against Him.

Let me quote Baxter once again:

“It is only a life of faith, that will be a life of holy, heavenly delight: exercise yourselves, therefore, in believing contemplations of the things unseen.’—It must not be now and then a glance of the eye of the soul towards God, or a seldom salutation, which you would give a stranger; but a walking with him, and frequent addresses of the soul unto him, which must help you to the delights which believers find in their communion with him.” Richard Baxter and William Orme, The Practical Works of the Rev. Richard Baxter, vol. 2 (London: James Duncan, 1830), 417–418.

But Christian – we ARE blessed! We are!

We are the salt of the earth, savory to our God, and light to the world – when we know and live in our blessedness in Him.

We are blessed because of what we KNOW

In my lifetime I cannot remember when truth was so hard to come by.

News outlets off all sorts seem to pander to spoken or unspoken ideologies – and report as truth whatever accords with what they want it to be.

In the midst of the Covid-19 event, conflicting experts and conspiracy theorists abound.

Truth it seems is completely left up to individual feelings, opinions and whatever narrative one chooses to adopt.

But for the Believer, we still have the Bible in our hands. A means to weigh and measure the eternal truths which one day will prove to be those that really matter.

So we know the truth about who and what we are, where we came from, why we are here, where all of human history is headed, how to understand pain and suffering and where all things will end.

We know this universe and everything in it was created by our almighty triune God;

That He made humankind in His own image, to be suited above all other creatures to know, reflect and enjoy Him;

That the problem with the world is sin – humankind’s rebellion against God – and our attempt to become our own gods by determining for ourselves what is right and wrong and living to please ourselves;

And that plunged into that darkness, nevertheless God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through faith in the substitutionary death of His own Son, Jesus the Christ on the cross of Calvary – and that John 1:10-13 

John 1:10–13 ESV

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

We know all this. And live in the truth. And we are blessed!

We are blessed because of what we KNOW

We are blessed because of what HAS BEEN DONE for us

That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

That He fulfilled all of the righteousness of God perfectly – so that those who believe might have that righteousness applied to their account – as though we had lived perfectly before God.

And that this Jesus then died for us on the Cross, having our guilt and sin applied to Him – so that those who believe would have all of our sin paid for, and might be reconciled to the Father and stand before Him absolutely guiltless.

We are blessed because of what we KNOW

We are blessed because of what HAS BEEN DONE for us

We are blessed because of what IS BEING DONE for us

We are blessed because of what has been PROMISED to us

Hear this all together in the words of dear John Flavel –

The Whole Works of the Reverend John Flavel, Volumes 1-6 Sermon VII: Of the Solemn Consecration of the Mediator (John 17:19)

And he would never have been the son of man, but to make you the sons and daughters of God. God would not have come down in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the habit of a man, but to raise up sinful man unto the likeness of God. All the miracles he wrought were for you, to confirm your faith. When he raised up Lazarus, John 11:42. “Because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they might believe that thou hadst sent me.” While he lived on earth, he lived as one wholly set apart for us: and when he died, he died for us, Gal. 3:13. “he was made a curse for us.” When he hanged on that cursed tree, he hanged there in our room, and did but fill our place. When he was buried, he was buried for us: for the end of it was, to perfume our graves, against we come to lie down in them. And when he rose again, it was, as the apostle saith, “for our justification,” Rom. 4:25. When he ascended into glory, he protested it was about our business, that he went to prepare places for us: and if it had not been so, he would have told us, John 14:25. And now he is there, it is for us that he there lives; for he “ever lives to “make intercession for us,” Heb. 7:25. And when he shall return again to judge the world, he will come for us too. “He comes (whenever it be) to be glorified in his saints, and admired in them that believe,” 2 Thess. 1:10. He comes to gather his saints home to himself, that where he is, there they all may be in soul and body with him for ever. Thus you see how, as his consecration for us doth speak him set apart for our use; so he did wholly bestow himself, time, life, death, and all upon us; living and dying for no other end, but to accomplish this great work of salvation for us.

If you are not a Christian here today – this blessedness in the midst of this sin-sick world belongs to all who come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. To all who acknowledge their sinfulness and rebellion against His right to rule you as His own. And who embrace Jesus’ death on the Cross as Him bearing the just wrath of God against you. Who trust His death in your place as the means whereby you can be reconciled to the Father – and made a new creature in all this blessedness.

Won’t you come to Him today? Won’t you confess your sin to Him right where you are? Plead with Him to have mercy on you, forgive you and make you new? Won’t you trust Jesus? He promises to refuse none who come to Him that way.

And Christian – won’t you take a fresh look at your blessedness in Christ today? For it is only as we live in the light of all that we know, all that has been done for us, is being done for us this very moment and of the promises which are about to be fulfilled – that we are truly savory to our King – and beam the light of His glory in the world.

O happy soul that lives on high

While men lie grov’lling here

His hopes are fixed above the sky,

And faith forbids his fear.

His conscience knows no secret stings,

While peace and joy combine

To form a life whose holy springs

Are hidden and divine.

He waits in secret on his God,

His God in secret sees;

Let earth be all in arms abroad,

He dwells in heav’nly peace.

His pleasures rise from things unseen,

Beyond this world and time;

Where neither eyes nor ears have been,

Nor thoughts of sinners climb.

He wants no pomp nor royal throne

To raise his figure here;

Content and pleased to live unknown,

Till Christ, his life, appear.

He looks to heav’n’s eternal hill

To meet that glorious day;

But patient waits his Savior’s will

To fetch his soul away.

Isaac Watts.

Just in case you forgot your high school Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the ancient king of Ephyra – known better as Corinth. A devious sort of fellow, he eventually ticked off Zeus to the point that he was consigned to Tartarus. Guilty of even there of more chicanery, for his hubris and sense of great cleverness, he was eventually sentenced to an eternity of futility. Each day his task was to roll a massive boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down. Over and over and over. And that has become the very picture of futile efforts.

King Solomon mused often on futility. Most notably in Ecclesiastes. But in Proverbs 19:19 he cites a specific kind of futility.Proverbs 19:19 ​Proverbs 19:19 ESV “A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.”

This is the futility of moral reform, apart from the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the individual. Something we might label the “Law of Sin’s Gravity.” No matter how often or how high you lift the unregenerate person up by external means we will always roll back toward our fallen nature. It’s not that the individual, or even society doesn’t find some temporary benefit from such effort. Indeed, we do. And in times of great revivals of true religion, the external effect on a great many may bring wonderful changes in a society for generations. But like Sisyphus and his boulder, the progress is temporary at best. Sin’s influence in the soul is such that it naturally rolls back down hill.

Jesus addressed the same principle in His parable of Luke 11. (NIV84) — 24 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”

It perfectly encapsulates a stunning reality regarding His own influence in His generation. In John 2, early in His ministry He went to the Temple and chased out the money-changers. But in within 3 years of the very Son of God teaching, preaching and declaring the Kingdom among His own people – by the end of His ministry in Matt. 21 – He has to do it all over again. The “house” had been swept clean and put in order” – but no new spirit had come in to displace the first. And so it was Israel was not only not better for the wear, it was actually in worse shape. The first time, they merely objected to Him. Now, they would conspire and murder the King of Glory.

Even in the hands of the very Son of God, no external influence to change will produce any lasting good effect.

Step in and make good for the wicked deeds of a person constitutionally given over to anger, and you will have to do it again and again and again. You will simply be a moral Sisyphus. Even if you do it in the name of the Church or the Gospel.

Now does that mean we shouldn’t even try to do good in society? Of course not. Christians above all should be those given to doing good to those around us, and seeking to convince others of what is best for human flourishing. We want to bless those we come in contact with. But we must be realistic too. “Christianizing” society with moral reforms and political movements which are not informed and sustained by transformed natures are not an answer. We must put our greatest efforts toward that which alone can bring about true and lasting change in people, even as we know that this world as we know it must eventually fall under God’s judgment. That trajectory cannot be stopped.

It is why the “great commission” is: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV84)

Discipleship, not demonstrations. Preaching, not politics. Teaching, not societal terra-forming. Christ, not “Christianization.” Transformation, not mere moral reformation. Soul-engagement, not social engagement. Power over sin and self, not power over people.

This, is the crying need of the hour. And what must be the single focus of Christ’s Church.

What are to say about Ravi Zacharias?

The news has been widespread, disturbing, disheartening and tragic.

A rather full investigation has substantiated that Christian apologist and author Ravi Zacharias was guilty of having systematically and over a period of many years, sexually abused numerous women, and carried on illicit affairs with some, romantically, emotionally and physically. It is a grotesque story in every sense of the word.

And we need to reckon with the reality of it all.

To their credit, the leadership at RZIM has made their investigation available to all who will go to their website and access it. I’ve done so. And it is heartbreaking, infuriating and leaves you feeling very dirty.

But what are we to do with all of this? We can’t deny it. We dare not whitewash it. Ephesians 5:11 exhorts us not just to have nothing to do with the works of darkness, but to expose them. To bring them into the light so that they can be dealt with rightly. All of this is so very devastating to those he abused, his family, the ministry he founded and to the Church and cause of Christ. But we cannot hide from it. Prayers and provisions must be made for all who have been affected.

But it leaves us with the task of trying to put it all into some sort of context – and to forge a path forward.

I pray this short missive might help some in that regard.  

Several years ago I had the opportunity to preach through the book of Proverbs. And one of the chief recuring themes in the book is the nature of how chosen courses of actions, lead to certain results. The wise person asks “where will what I am contemplating take me ultimately?” In contrast the “simple” man only asks “what will this mean for me right now?” And as well as Solomon knew and articulated that dynamic, his life bears tragic testimony to a failure to employ it.

The Wise (the truly wise. Not those who just know wisdom, but live wisely) think beyond the immediate. They are continually asking: What will this course of action bring in the LONG TERM?

True wisdom asks itself questions –

What will the outcome of this spoken word be – not just in this moment, but in the days or weeks ahead?

          What path does this attitude take me down?

          What will result from this act of disobedience, or revenge, or selfishness?

          What will be the end of this affair?

What will the impact of my actions be on others? Wife, Husband, kids, co-workers, neighbors, The Church & the cause of Christ?

Like faith, wisdom has a forward look.

So for all of Solomon’s brilliance, his store of propositional wisdom, he lived, and apparently died – like a fool. He “knew” full well walking contrary to God’s ways brings: ruin; unfulfilled craving; shame and disgrace; being overthrown by sin; darkness; strife; lack; emptiness; destruction; harm and disaster.

But still, he persisted. And what we have in the record of Solomon’s life is the stuff of the deepest of tragedies. The stuff of Ravi Zacharias as well.

Solomon was a man uniquely anointed by God for his role as the King of Israel, and divinely endowed with wisdom that is so profound, his name has become proverbial in connection with wisdom. Celebrated even in Scripture for his wisdom and noted for his famous prayer for it in 1 Kings 3.

And would to God that were the whole of the story.

It is so sad to read later: 1 Kings 11:2–8 …”Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

Alexander Whyte wrote: “The books of Solomon so-called—the Proverbs, the Ecclesiastes, and the Song—had a great struggle to get a footing inside the Old Testament. Each one of Solomon’s books had its own difficulty to those who sifted out and sealed up the Hebrew Bible. There was something in all the books that were in any way associated with Solomon’s name that made the Hebrew Fathers doubt their fitness for a place in Holy Scripture. There is one fatal want in them all. There is no repentance anywhere in Solomon. There is no paschal lamb, or young pigeon, or bitter herb among all the beasts, and birds, and hyssop-plants of which Solomon spoke and sang so much. There is no day of atonement, or so much as one of the many ordained sacrifices for sin, in any of Solomon’s real or imputed writings. Both the sense of truth and the instinct of verisimilitude kept back all those who ever assumed Solomon’s name from ever putting a penitential psalm, or a proverb of true repentance, in Solomon’s mouth. The historical sense, as we call it, was already too strong for that even in the deathbed moralisings and soliloquisings that have come down to us under Solomon’s name. There is no thirty-second, or fifty-first, or hundred and thirtieth Psalm of David in all the volume of ‘Psalms of Solomon’ that were composed in the century before Christ. No; there is no real repentance, real or assumed, anywhere in Solomon. There is remorse in plenty, and weariness of life, and discontent, and disgust, and self-contempt, bitterer to drink than blood. There is plenty of the sorrow that worketh death; but there is not one syllable of the repentance to salvation not to be repented of.”

As much as he would pour into his sons in Proverbs and elsewhere, as much as he was anointed by God for this amazing ministry, in the end – his own wisdom stopped short of Christ – and spelled his destruction.

Doesn’t this echo the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21–23“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Or Paul in Philippians 3:18–21“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

You see, it isn’t how one begins life, but how we end it in Christ.

If we are not aiming at eternity – nothing gained here matters one bit.

Those who do not aim at entering Heaven intentionally, won’t get there.

What a picture then of Christ in contrast to Solomon.

One finished crushed by his own sins – The other crushed for ours.

Solomon ended at the altar of false gods with his many wives.

Christ was the Lamb sacrificed on God’s altar to purchase Believers as His sole wife.

Solomon gave his all to what he could experience in his body for a few decades.

Christ gave His body and his blood that He might experience the glories of God with us for eternity.

Solomon was dressed in finery and lies corrupt in his grave.

Christ took on the form of a servant and rose from the grave, victor over sin and death.

Solomon lived in a palace that took twice as long to build as the Temple of God.

Christ had nowhere to lay His head for several years and has spent 2000 building a Temple of living stones that will stand forever and ever.

Solomon’s wisdom was solitary without the will or the courage to live in it unto God and ended in shame and disaster.

Christ Jesus had a wisdom that embraced the whole truth, and was welded to the will and courage to endure the cross and win a glorious eternity for all who put their faith in Him.

Solomon died worse than he began.

Christ lived ever increasingly manifesting the glory of the Living God in unfathomable mercy and grace which culminated in His death, burial and resurrection.

Solomon, for the immediate and temporary joy set before him, ruined his life, his kingdom his family and his soul.

Christ Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

As Spurgeon once preached: “Jesus lived entirely for other people; he had never a thought about himself. Solomon was, to a great extent, wise unto himself, rich unto himself, strong unto himself; and you see in those great palaces, and in all their arrangements, that he seeks his own pleasure, honour, and emolument; and, alas! that seeking of pleasure leads him into sin, that sin into a still greater one. Solomon, wonderful as he is, only compels you to admire him for his greatness, but you do not admire him for his goodness. You see nothing that makes you love him, you rather tremble before him than feel gladdened by him.”

So it is Jesus could remark about the wonder of the Queen of Sheba traveling “from the ends of the earth” to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but “behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Indeed – The very Wisdom of God has walked among us – and redeemed us from sin through His blood.

And in like fashion, the recent revelations of the long-term, systematic sexual indulgence and abuse of others at the hands of Ravi Zacharias paints an equally bleak picture of this manifestly gifted man.

Called by God, gifted by God, used by God – but apparently ending in shame, disgrace and ruin.

We need to be clear: No one can state with absolute certainty whether or not Solomon or Ravi was truly saved.

Only the Lord knows that for certain.

But it is the very uncertainty of it – or in my estimation the un-likelihood of their being saved – that leaves us scratching our heads either way.

Many want to hold out the hope that a profession of faith at some point in a person’s life closes the case, for Solomon, Ravi, or anyone else.

But unfortunately, that is more the stuff of believing that people are saved by the mere repetition of certain words or a prayer – kind of a magic or superstitious approach to salvation, rather than by a life transformed by the Spirit and evidencing the life of Christ in some way.

Did Solomon, in spite of this great fall repent of his sin, and it is simply not recorded for us?

I would like to think so. I HOPE so.

But the fact that is it left in doubt and becomes a very poignant warning.

And as we have seen thus far in Ravi’s case – we have no reference to repentance at the end – even when he knew he was dying of terminal cancer.

Can one be genuinely saved, and end their life in ruin, given over to idolatry and sensual bondage? The Scripture will give no such assurance.

Sadly, alarmingly, Ravi’s true and final end is left in question.

And no one ought to comfort themselves by thinking they can live a profligate life, but cling to the hope of salvation just because they prayed a prayer, made a profession of faith, have been gifted or even used by God in powerful ways.

As Jesus reminds us: Matthew 10:22 it is “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

So we are left with a couple of very nagging questions:

1.  How could Ravi have been used by God in this way, and still ended as he did – possibly lost?

2. And, does his end (if indeed it was all tragic) negate the usefulness of what the Spirit said and did through him?

Let’s try to dispatch the 2^nd question first so we can spend the bulk of our time on the 1^st one.

2. Does Ravi’s end negate the usefulness of what the Spirit did through him?

No.

The truth isn’t any less the truth because it was spoken through Balaam’s donkey in Numbers 22.

Saul’s prophesying by the Spirit in 1 Samuel 6 was no less true prophesying because he died in sin and disgrace.

Caiaphas’ prophesy that it was expedient that one man die for the nation in John 11 – was still genuine even though the text says he didn’t do this by his own accord.

None of those touched by Judas’ ministry when he was sent out by Jesus with the 12 and the 70 to “heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons” were not truly touched or blessed by God.  

None of these things are dependent upon the spirituality of the individual, but on the power of God and His Word.

This is why Jesus can warn that some will come to Him in the last day claiming to have prophesied, cast out demons and done “many mighty works” in His name. And yet they are not His.  

It is a strange but necessary reality to digest, lest we are led astray by mere giftedness and not by the truth of God’s Word.

So, how could Ravi have been used by God in this way, and still ended as he did – possibly lost?

I think the answer may lay in Jesus’ parable of the soils in Matt. 13.

There we read of the Word of God, the Gospel, planted into people. Those people are compared to 4 kinds of soil. Some have hardened hearts like footpaths. Some are shallow. Some are like ground infested with thorns and weeds. And some are good soil.

And if I had my guess, it is into the 3^rd category that Ravi falls.

The Word had had an impact. It had produced a genuine result of sorts. There was evidence of life to a certain extent at least striving to live at first, but never arriving at fruitfulness. Seed but no fertilized egg.

Calvin called this: “temporary faith, being a sort of vegetation of the seed”.

It is the Christianity of one who says “I CAN serve two master at once, no matter what Jesus says.” I can love sensuality and pursue the pleasures of sin in this life AND have Christ – no conflict – just dual tracks – dual majors.

It’s a lie.

The end result is without question: The vegetative life that has come through the impact of the Word will eventually be choked out. The light and the food necessary to sustain spiritual life will be cut off, because other things replace it.

Maybe that is someone reading this today as well.

You’ve imagined this double track – this dual focus in life is a sustainable reality.

But it will not survive. It will not remain. One must die. And it will.

Which will you give yourself to?

The fruit spoken of in this text is the fruit of the Spirit. Repentance towards God, faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, holiness of life and character, prayerfulness, humility, charity, spiritual-mindedness—these are the only satisfactory proofs that the seed of God’s word is doing its proper work in our souls. Without such proofs, our religion is vain, however high our profession. It is no better than sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Christ has said, “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit.” (John 15:16.)

There is no part of the whole parable more important than this. We must never be content with a barren orthodoxy, and a cold maintenance of correct theological views. We must not be satisfied with clear knowledge, warm feelings, and a decent profession. We dare not rely on our giftedness. We must see to it that the Gospel we profess to love, produces positive “fruit” in our hearts and lives. This is real Christianity. Those words of St. James should often ring in our ears, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22.)

I don’t know where Ravi Zacharias is today. And that ought to terrify you as it does me. To have preached, taught and wrote such valuable and useful things for Christ’s Church globally – and to end seemingly unrepentant, in disgrace, and having harmed so many.

What ought we to say about Ravi Zacharias?

God, grant me repentance, before it is too late.

One reason why I believe Donald Trump lost the Election: And it’s NOT political.

In Isaiah 55, when God addresses His people over how they have vainly sought fulfillment from the material world, He also extends a word of comfort to them regarding how willing He is to forgive and receive them should they repent. To find their delight in Him. And He won’t reject them if they do: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

And, we might rightly add, His priorities are not our priorities either – unless we have gotten them from Him in His Word. In fact, so much of what it means to grow in Christ is to begin to set aside our personal priorities in life, to learn and enter into His priorities. And it is in this regard that I am convinced of at least one reason why Donald Trump lost this recent election.

Let me state it this way: It was more important to God, that the current cadre of false prophets who are so influential in American evangelicalism today – be exposed for the liars and frauds that they are – than that Donald Trump occupy the White House.

For the spiritual exigencies far outweigh both the political and social exigencies.

It is the rampant abuse of the Church at the hands of this wave of false prophets and prophecies that is far more eternally critical than any social or political issue.

Nations rise and fall. Political movements come and go. Social trends ebb and flow. And none of them are as important as people’s souls, and walking with Christ in fidelity. And at no time in my lifetime has the heinous and dangerous confounding of Americanism and Christianity hit such a fevered pitch. So it is by God’s grace in the outcome of this last election, the Church is given a pivotal moment to be called back to Scriptural fidelity to Christ and His priorities in the Gospel, and away from the black hole of thinking the spiritual corruption of sin – of which our broken political and social conditions are but symptoms – can be met by any other means than the transformation of men and women’s souls through the preaching of the Gospel, bringing all to the obedience of Christ.  

I believe this electoral disaster is God’s grace writ large – to bring the Church back to being the Church, and not a political tool to be wielded at the hands of unregenerate power mongers. Whatever good they may possibly do.

That said, and so as to get to the key issue here – let me move on to expose the prophetic snare that has cruelly entrapped so many in the Church today.

Lutheran Pastor Steven Kozar set about to do something I was looking at doing, but did not have the wherewithal to put together as he has. It is this compendium of video clips of all the so-called “prophets” who declared – as “the Word of the Lord” mind you, that Donald Trump would be elected for his second term.

The shamefulness of it all is almost too much to bear.

Pastor Kozar’s video can be found here – https://youtu.be/yTfBBySxCX4 and it is worth the viewing.

Why is it worth the viewing? That is the point of this opinion piece. And note, this is purely my opinion, NOT some word from the Lord. Although I believe God’s Word addresses the core issue very clearly and pointedly in passages like Jeremiah 14:13-16 / “Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ” And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.”

The context there is that God had pronounced judgment upon Judah for its sins, and that Babylon would come and devastate it. But there were a whole crew of “prophets” who told the people it would never come to pass. That they were God’s people, they had the Temple, and God would not judge them that way. Though their wickedness went unabated. So the “prophets” “prophesied.” And God said in no uncertain terms that the problem with their prophecies was that they were deceptions, and inventions of their own minds. They weren’t the Word of God at all.

Which brings us to the video I have referenced, and to a broader, more pervasive and perhaps even more problematic issue in the evangelical Church in America today: The increasing trend of people saying “God told me,” “I dreamed”, “I feel” and other such expressions – as though they are truly speaking God’s Word. And it is a dreadful lie. It is a dangerous lie. And for some, it is even a damnable lie. Feelings, impressions, dreams and what-all are not the Word of the Lord. The Bible is.

That is not to say God cannot and does not at times make impressions upon us by the Spirit. I would pray that it be a constant experience for all those in Christ that the Spirit reminds us of, refreshes our souls in and reimpresses upon our hearts and minds the truths, principles and implications of His true Word. Especially at critical moments. Which always leads back to His Word rightly interpreted and understood. There is no question He does that supernaturally all the time. The best part being we can go back to His Word to clarify and verify it all. My warning here is about extra-Biblical revelation, or misconstrued, twisted and misapplied Scripture. The likes of which has become rampant in the Church.

And there is no more blatant example before us right now than this entire “prophetic” debacle surrounding the 2020 Presidential election.  

The Spirit emphasizing His eternal truths and their implications upon us directly is not one and the same thing as saying “God said” or “God told me” or “God showed me.” And stating it as something God said. For if it is “God’s Word” then it is infallible, and binding upon all Christians everywhere and at all times to believe. And to not believe it is a sin. And if you are going to make statements so binding upon others that not to believe you is a sin – you had better be right. Otherwise, it is blasphemy, plain and simple.

So it is with those in the videos. They are saying they had declared God’s Word.

No they haven’t.

They were not just wrong, they lied.

They lied because they said unequivocally that they had proclaimed God’s Word when it wasn’t God’s Word. For it had been God’s Word – it WOULD have come to pass.

Beloved, let me say without fencing, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE LIKES OF: Sid Roth, Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Chuck Pierce, Dutch Sheets, Kevin Zadai, Tracy Cooke, Hank Kunneman, Greg Locke, Marcus Rogers, Chris Reed, Jeremiah Johnson, Sadhu Selvaraj, Albert Milton, Robin Bullock, Steve Shultz, Bill Johnson (of Bethel Church), Lance Wallnau, Kat Kerr, Richard Lorenzo Jr., Robby Dawkins, Mario Murillo, and others who – declared and decreed that Donald Trump would be re-elected. And not because they were wrong about that – but because they lied in saying God said these things – when He manifestly did not.

They made God the liar. They blasphemed Him. Do not be party to such people and practices. For your soul’s sake – close your ears, hearts and minds to these deceivers.

Isaiah 8:20 – “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

The Angel spoke in Joseph’s dream

Wed Mary without fear

The child alive within her now

Is God – to man drawn near

“Immanuel”, The Prophet wrote

God with us – is His name

From birth to all eternity

From age to age the same

God with us – in every sorrow

No stranger to our grief

Beside His broken hearted ones

His presence, our relief

God with us – in temptation’s hour

Not absent in that trial

Unfazed by sins revealed in us

However deep and vile

God with us – in our loneliness

How much He walked alone

Abandoned by His family

And those He called His own

God with us – in our weaknesses

Conversant with each flaw

Our every breach of holiness

He met. Fulfilled the Law

God with us – in our sinfulness

Though none of it His own

But wearing all our guilt and shame

Still bears us to His throne

God with us – in our faithlessness

Our doubts – no hind’ring pow’r

The Lord in all omnipotence

Does more than match the hour

God with us – in our foolishness

His counsel set aside

He’s still the very Word of God

In mercy still abides

God with us – when we’re terrified

He rules o’er every storm

And walks upon life’s raging seas

In majesty of form 

God with us – in confusion’s cloud

When sunlight’s hid from view

The light of God’s own radiance

In Him shines fully through

God with us – on the hardest road

God with us – in our ease

God with us – when the evil one

Attacks. He never flees

“Immanuel”, the Prophet wrote

No title. No mere name

The  wonder of our God with us

And thus conqu’ring, He will reign

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

With this 175th installment of Through the Word – the end of this year is upon us. Christmas is only a few days away. 2021 right after. And I am preparing to leave for a 2 month sabbatical in Texas. It has been one wild ride of a year.

The complications and impact of Covid-19 remain with us. Though by God’s good grace, some light is shining at the end of that tunnel. My wife and I both recovered, but many are still afflicted, and even some we know have lost their lives to it. And in 18 years of marriage I have never seen my wife more ill. It’s been a rough time.

Our nation has been more polarized than at any time in my remembrance. And the last election cycle proved to be more chaotic, divisive and filled with suspicion, animosity and rancor than any in my lifetime.

I’m Reid Ferguson – and you are listening to the final episode of Through the Word in 2020 for this year. I can’t very well call it that in 2021, can I?

There is no question most of us are ready for this year to end. Revelation 15 pictures some of what will be the end of this present age. It’s pretty bracing. Nahum 1:2-Habakkuk 1:4 speak to the end of Israel’s chastisements, judgments on pagan nations and the hope of the new Heaven and New Earth. John 18:19-24 finds Jesus standing before Caiaphas with the end of His earthly life but hours away, and the end of the entire Judaic system on the horizon. And in the midst of it all is Psalm 146 with its laser-light cutting through everything to give us clear vision for the present and the future. How incredibly timely.

It begins with its emphatic exhortation not to fail to praise our God in it all – as long as we live. As long as we have being. Irrespective of anything else going on around us.

And then it reminds us not to put any trust at all in princes – political leaders. They are all but fallen men and women. The best of them. And in time the plans of everyone of them will perish. Nothing they can do is forever.

Our eyes are then redirected to the real hope – the Lord our God. The one who created it all – including you, me and those still far gone in their iniquity.

Don’t forget – He has set us free from our sin and condemnation. He lifts us up in our heaviest times. He loves His righteous ones – righteous with the righteousness of Jesus. He watches over us in our sojourning here. Reminding us this isn’t home. And He upholds all those with no other visible means of support. We are held.

And He will bring all the ways of the wicked to ruin. He WILL reign forever. He is our God to all generations.

So – Praise the Lord!

That said, this will be the last installment for this year. I hope to return in March of 2021 with a revamped podcast. Changing frequency, perhaps adding some guest interviews, and some longer commentary on a host of things from a Biblical perspective.

At least that’s the plan. I’ve long since learned that God’s providence always limits our options. But if He allows, that’s the way we’ll go. Time will tell, but stay tuned.

It has been a very high privilege for me to share something with you most days over these past months.

From Sky and I, have the very Merriest of Christmases with all of its 2020 oddness.

And keep your eyes fixed in our true hope as you look to the new year in Him.

He reigns now, and will reign forever.

Good willing, we’ll be back in March.