Sin

Don’t Bear False Witness

Posted on by Jesse Walker

Many years ago, Jesus was asked, what is the greatest commandment. To which he replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:30.

The Greek word for love that Jesus used is well known in the verb form of AGAPE. It is a love that is based upon choice. The child of God is to freely choose to love God and to love others. They are to delight in God’s holiness. And that love is to spread outward to others. Christians are to seek the best for others. Which means, we must be able to see the best in them.

We are living in times that can make this incredibly challenging. With the growth of social media and the usage of smart phones. Did you know in a study done in 2021, that 46% of American’s reported that they spend 5-6 hours a day on their phones.  And for most it’s not just playing Candy Crush. Do you realize, for many that’s more time than they spend with their significant other. They hold their phone more than they hold their spouse. They talk to their phone more than they do their mate. Can you see where that is a problem?

As more and more Christians spend long hours online, they are easily caught up in today’s political wars. It would do Christians good to remember what the 9th Commandment says in Exodus 20:16: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  When you log online, and say something about others, are you spreading gossip? Can you be sure when you click the “like” button that it’s a true statement? When you share it, are you sharing the truth? Or is it partial truth? Is it just a little white lie? Is that okay with you? I urge you to be incredibly careful. Ask yourself honestly, how much of the news do you know to be true. I mean you heard it yourself, you seen it yourself. Were you present when what your posting, re-posting, sharing, commenting on, was said or done?  Here’s an eye opener for you, (not really) you probably already know this, or should know this, all news agencies/outlets are formed to make money. Here’s a fact you should know too, controversial news makes more money. Controversial news posted online gets more clicks. Sells more adds. You get the picture. You’re not going to stand before God and say, but Fox news said, ABC news said. Jesus is going to say, I said do not commit slander. Next time you go to send out that email, to retweet that comment, you might want to listen to the word of God. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”

But Lord when did I commit slander. When was I a false witness. When you reposted that article without researching thoroughly the facts. When you posted that nasty tweet about some politician you disagree with. When you sent out that email trail to all your friends making fun of someone’s disability.  The rest of the story in Deuteronomy 19, is let it be done unto you about what you were hoping was done to the other person. In other words, may others tell stories about you. May they try and tear down your reputation. May they make fun of you. May you be stalked and sought out because of what your tongue so loosely spoke, or fingers so easily typed. Ouch!

What do you think God will do to those who are spreading misinformation? Is he going to wink at our failures? Is he going to give us a pass because we were so compassionate about our side of the story? Be careful, the Apostle Paul was full of conviction when he was having Christians killed. His conscience was clean. But he was dead wrong. And if he hadn’t met God, and repented of his sins, he would be rotting in hell.

But Jesus, what is the greatest commandment. “Love”.   You mean it hasn’t changed in 2023.  Come on Jesus, surely you know our times are different. These are drastic times that call for drastic actions. Yes, my child, you are correct. You should love even more. You should care even deeper. And remember, the greatest of these is love.

If you haven’t heard it yet today, may I be the first, I love you as a child of God is to love. I care about you. I want the best for you. Why? Because I love God, and he has told me to love my neighbor. How can I say no to that? Reminds me of Joseph in Genesis 39:9, “My master (meaning her husband) has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”  The next time you’re tempted to spread that loosely typed article or make that ugly comment, ask yourself, is this done out of love? If not, how can you do such a thing and sin against God. And this is Jesse Walker with the Glenwood Church of Christ.

The Will of Man

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Those who abuse the will of man by being self-willed are counted among the unjust (2 Peter 2:4-11).  Such persons are unyielding, persistent, and exaggerate one’s own worth in an overbearing manner.  They adhere to a course in spite of reason, argument, or persuasion, and are commanding and domineering.  They easily violate biblical regulations concerning judgmental pursuits (Rom. 14) and may threaten others in pursuit of fulfilling self-will.  Listed below are some of the potential effects of being self-willed.

 

  1. Personal relationships may be strained if not damaged.
  2. Others may be encouraged to be unyielding toward such a person.
  3. Others may be encouraged to retaliate against another.
  4. Personal influence may become more limited.
  5. One may become a law-breaker in other matters.
  6. Respect from others may be lost.
  7. Peace may be threatened in the home and in the church.
  8. Potential progress in various contexts may be impaired.
  9. Christian cooperation and fellowship may be challenged.
  10. Genuine spiritual growth in others may be impaired.
  11. The leadership of a congregation may be undermined.
  12. One is disqualified from serving as an elder in the church.
  13. One may tear down the progress of another.
  14. A congregation may be misdirected.
  15. A congregation may develop competing factions.
  16. The Christian spirit of God’s people may be quieted.
  17. Dreams and visions may be destroyed.
  18. One may be viewed more so as a radical rather than sensible.
  19. The future of a congregation may be radically affected.
  20. One may lose his soul.

 

In view of the potential devastation that may result from the free exercise of self-will, may each of us be gently guided away from such an attitude and be guided more toward a cooperative spirit as we labor together in the context of Christian fellowship.

Promises of God – He will fight for you!

Posted on by Bob Mathews

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14).

In the book of Exodus, there is an amazing situation that comes about when you get to chapter 14. This is a moment, early in the outset of the people of Israel, when they have fled Egypt and headed for the wilderness. Even having been “let go” by Pharaoh (Ex. 13:17), his hardened heart led him to chase after the Israelites with an army. You can probably imagine how terrifying it might be for people who where servants, having nothing, to see the Egyptians rising up and giving chase. However, in that moment of panic God was there for them. He not only protected them with the pillar of cloud (Ex. 14:19), but He also gave them a way to safety (Ex. 14:16).

Just as God fought for the Israelites when they were stuck between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, God has fought for you through Jesus. He fought and defeated the power of sin in your life. This means  you can do the right thing even when it’s difficult. Even the apostle Paul said that he had a hard time doing the right thing because his selfish desires kept urging him to do something else. Everyone who wants to please God faces this problem. However, Jesus went up against all of your selfishness and temptations. He fought the battle to clear the way for you to do all the right things. The wonderful fact is that He won that fight.

Moses told the Israelites, “You shall hold your peace.” That’s true for you. You can stand firm because Jesus has already won your battle. Does that mean you just hang around, doing nothing? No, you can determine to stay strong, stay close to Him, and keep believing that He’s already won.

You are not alone. God has always been there for you. God has been fighting for you from the beginning. He was willing to give up His Son in that fight for you. He wants to be there for you and give you peace, but He can’t force it upon you. If you want true peace and safety no matter what gets thrown your way, then draw near to God.

Promises of God – A Promise that ALL will be Blessed

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Genesis 12:1-3 says, “1Now the Lord said to Abram, Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you: 2And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

God had a plan for a man named Abram. God knew that Abram would believe Him, and that Abram would live out his faith through his actions. Because of His plan, God promised Abram that the world would be blessed because of him. God blessed the world through Abram in two ways.

First, Abraham (the name God gave Abram) became the prime example for everyone who would ever put their faith in God. His descendants were honored and proud to be called the “children of Abraham” (maybe too much so). However, Paul said that anyone who has Abraham’s kind of faith is a child of Abraham. “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29).

Second, is the greatest blessing God gave through Abraham. Jesus is what God was really getting at with the promise. Jesus was a descendent of Abraham. God redeemed all of the sin in our lives through Jesus, a descendant of the man whose greatest claim to fame was the simple fact that “he believed in the Lord” (Gen. 15:6).

Why is such a blessing needed? Romans 3:23 states the reason very simply and directly. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We all have done things that go against what God teaches. This sin separates us from Him. The blessing through Abraham is one that gives us all a chance to get back into a right relationship with God.

This promise was given to Abraham and through him to us, but as was said earlier, it was all part of God’s plan from the beginning because He knew we were going to need it. Ephesians 1:3-7 says, “3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He (God) chose us in Him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

Through Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, God has given us the ability to come back to Him, to be His children. He made a promise and kept it so that each of us could be blessed, even at the cost of His own Son. Now it is our turn to choose whether to believe and follow Him like Abraham did or to continue living our lives however we want and remain lost to God. What side of the promise do you want to be on?

Taking Offense

Posted on by Bob Mathews

It seems many are searching today for an unoffensive religion. One that is all inclusive, non-confrontational, and non-judgmental. Jesus is recast into a mold of complete gentleness and acceptance. Preaching is simply “feel good,” designed to satisfy what people want to hear. Paul warned Timothy of this even back when the church wasn’t far from inception;

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

However, the Author of true Christianity was one who offended many people. Jesus offended the residents of his hometown Nazareth by his wisdom and miracles. “And they took offense at him” (Matt. 13:57). Jesus’ exposure of false religious traditions certainly did not please people. The disciples, apparently concerned about Jesus’ popularity, came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” (Matt. 15:12). And even Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question would have many calling Him insensitive or intolerant. He says, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matt. 15:13-14)

Again, in Luke 11 Jesus doesn’t hold back to save the feelings of the Pharisees (Read Luke 11:37-44). After Jesus had denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, an expert in the Law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also” (Luke 11:45). And when we continue reading we see that Jesus does not try to save their feelings either. Jesus, knowing the hearts of men, boldly accused the Jewish leaders of being “sons of hell,” “whitewashed tombs,” and a “brood of vipers” (Matt. 23:15, 27, 33).

Don’t mistake forgiveness for tolerance. Jesus is one who will forgive our sins and trespasses but He will not tolerate them.

The Christian life will not be void of confrontation and judgment calls. Being faithful to the Lord may bring you difficulty in the classroom, at work, at home, and maybe even in the church (see Matt. 10:17-39)! Instead of looking to win popularity contests or being people pleasers, let us set our sights on pleasing the Father. Because if there is any offense we should really concern ourselves with it should be that of offending our heavenly Father, the only one who can destroy both body and soul.

Don’t let tolerance for evil cast you away from what is truly good. Don’t let worrying about being offensive to some stop you from standing up to confess Christ. Christ is here for you not for sin.

Abortion is WRONG (psychologically) – 2

Posted on by Bob Mathews

We previously noted that abortion is wrong because of the painful and long-term PSYCHOLOGICAL effect it can have upon the woman involved.  With that in mind, consider the issue of GUILT. Guilt has a normal and healthy function within the human heart. (We are speaking of actual guilt, in contrast to false guilt feelings – another very important thing to understand, but not here.) A rightly functioning conscience will blow the whistle when violated. Sometimes conscience will prevent one from aborting.
But too often, that is not the case.

Consider the person who made such a drastic choice, and continues to live with guilt and remorse because of it. There may have been no guilt during the actual event, but now there has been time to think, regret, grieve. The pain and permanence of that decision hover overhead like a dark cloud.  Nobody mentioned the emotional overload that can follow. What can be said or done about that?

The most important thing to know is that one can be FORGIVEN. The apostle Paul assures that all transgressions (sins) are forgiven in Christ – Colossians 2:13. It has been said that, if Jesus’ death on the cross did not cleanse all sin, then it did not cleanse one sin. Think on that. And that includes the “unforgivable.” The need for forgiveness is very real in every human heart. The certainty of forgiveness is equally real. Nothing addresses guilt and self-hate as does the amazing grace of God in Christ. If I turn my wrong turns over to Him, He will forgive me and help me to forgive myself.

Being forgiven is not the same as being healed…I won’t FEEL forgiven but I still AM forgiven.

That brings up the second aspect of psychological abortion-recovery. Being forgiven is not the same as being healed. I may have trouble forgiving myself!  Sin has consequences. King David of the Bible committed grievous sinS, and thought the whole episode to be a done deal. But the harvest he reaped was very bitter for a very long time. He buried four sons because of those sinful choices! The 32nd Psalm reveals David’s anguish of heart and loss of health during the time he refused to come to terms with his wrongfulness. Post-abortion emotional suffering can have the same effects or worse.

The good news is that the king came to terms with his wrongness toward both God and man – Psalms 32 & 51. And, the even better news is that the Lord fully forgave David and later used him mightily in His kingdom plans. After dying 1,o00 times because of his short-sighted decisions, David found life again in the God of beginning-again!

Where the wandering and painful path of my grieving intersects the Interstate of God’s forgiveness, healing begins. And it does so from the outside in! That is, emotional healing starts with knowing the eternal forgiving love of God for me – I John 4:10. As I lay claim to (believe) that, emotional healing begins on the inside of me.  Now, it may take time. Relapses into doubt and regret may occur. I won’t FEEL forgiven but I still AM forgiven. The feeling will follow the fact, as railroad cars follow the engine.

These words are no bandaid. The post-abortion bleeding heart needs a tourniquet. In all this about one of the heart’s most wearisome burdens, I thought it critical to spotlight a very present hope for those who hurt over the past. If this is you or someone you can perhaps help, memorize the truth of Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

robert

Abortion is WRONG – #1

Posted on by Bob Mathews

Following Sunday’s talk about unborn life, a couple of you inquired about my skipping the slide enumerating the many aspects of abortion’s wrongness.  Keep in mind that  we are talking about the legalized extermination of 60,000,000+ unborn lives!  People!  Think about the myriad of ways that kind of destruction can affect a participant, or, for that matter, an entire culture.  (By comparison, we are rightly horrified and nauseated by the slaughter of 4-6 million innocent Jews by Nazi Germany.  Now, you and I are discussing 60 million+ abortions to this point in the U.S., and the slaughter of 46 million EVERY YEAR throughout the world!)

Under the following heading, I outline some of the ways in which abortion on demand is so very wrong. (Of course, that, labeling a thing as “wrong” is automatically a red flag in our times.)  Well, Jesus warned us to expect that and more – John 3:19,20.  See what you think.

Abortion on demand is WRONG:

Theologically  –  because it militates against the very power and purpose of God Who is the Creator and Giver of every life.  It is wrong in how it treats the God Who is doing the making and shaping work of Psalm 139.  Abortion is theologically wrong.

We are talking about the legalized extermination of 60,000,000+ unborn lives!

Morally –  because it jettisons both Scripture and good conscience in exchange for a quick fix.  “Moral” relates to “right and wrong.”  But we increasingly don’t care about that – Isaiah 5:20.  We just want a quick fix for our temporary problem.  Its all about ME:  my situation, dilemma, family embarrassment, financial circumstance, ambitions, MY LIFE, on and on.  Situation ethics always makes it about how I FEEL, not what is right and wrong.   Hey, have I ever wondered how abortion FEELS to that little unborn one?  The very fact of life-taking is enough for God to judge us.  Add to that the suffering and pain inflicted upon the defenseless.  How can we THINK of it, much less go through with it?  Google “fetal pain,” and, along with that, view the results of various abortion procedures.  Do that for yourself.  Quick fix, my eye!  Why, we give more dignity and protection to sea turtle eggs!  Abortion is morally wrong.

Psychologically  –  because it can trigger immense emotional trauma within the lives of those who have made the choice.  Abortion is not just a physical thing, such as sneezing.  There is an EMOTIONAL side to it.  In the nation of Finland, suicide occurs three times as often among women who have aborted.  What do you make of that?  And, look into post-abortion depression.  With that, look at post traumatic stress syndrome and notice the similarity in effects.  Did you know that those who have had abortions are more likely to be under psychiatric treatment, experience adverse personality changes, admit to usage of alcohol or tranquilizers, and have greater social isolation?  And does it not break your heart when a woman still sobs every year when the “birthday” of her aborted child rolls around?  This is a side effect which Planned Parenthood and abortionists (and most public school “family life” curricula) dare not mention.  Why not?  Abortion is psychologically wrong.

There is more to all this.

robert