Revealing the Cross of Christ

Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,  explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ." (Acts 17:2-3 NKJV)

    I intended to begin writing about 1 Thessalonians today, but realized that to do so I needed to begin in Acts, Chapter 17, where the contentious planting of the church in Thessalonika is fully described. If you Google "missionary" you’ll find more resources, ideas and information than you can possibly sift through in a lifetime. What endless Google results make seem complicated is really very simple. I often describe myself to people as a missionary. They typically ask, Missionary to where? I usually just name the place where I am standing. Missionaries are missionaries wherever they are. Paul had three mission centric resources when he entered the capital city of Macedonia, and these resources remain available to all missionaries today. 

   Verse 1 says -- Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica… In any work we begin for God, it is critical to remain sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. God often pre-softens stony hearts to be receptive to the Gospel as He did for Paul’s work here. Paul’s discernment carried him through many places before he arrived at the specific place where God had a plan in place. It is easy to convince ourselves we can decide what God wants done and where He wants it done without ever asking Him for input, and  thereby miss the blessing He has planned. When we do this we end up with our ministry to which we attach His name. Paul wisely kept walking until the Lord revealed the spot where He wanted to establish a new church.  

   

   Paul reasoned with them from the scriptures. Paul’s scriptures weren’t  our scriptures. He had only what we call the Old Testament. For him it was the Only Testament. Could you sit and reason with someone, could you make reasonable representations that Jesus was the Messiah from the Old Testament alone? Many people we encounter have no idea that the Old Testament is about Jesus. From shadows and types like Boaz in the Book of Ruth who was Ruth’s kinsman redeemer as a type for Christ, our Kinsman redeemer, to the specific details of the birth, life, death and resurrection found in the Psalms and Isaiah, the Old Testament points to Jesus. We are equipped with the Old Testament scriptures Paul had, plus so much more. Have you equipped yourself to reason with others from the scriptures?

   In Philippians 4:16 we read -- For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Paul didn’t just go, He was sent - both by God and by the church in Philippi. The success of any missionary is greatly increased with sufficient funding and prayer support from sending believers. Many are called to Christ’s Gospel mission, but more are called to support with prayers and funding. Do you support missionaries with prayers and funding? Ask God to reveal a missionary for you to support and begin sending monthly financial help. Even small support can produce huge Gospel results in the distant reaches of the Earth. If you can’t be a go-er, become a sender.

  If you are following the leading of the Holy Spirit, you have been strategically placed by God in a Gospel opportunity. Paul got busy in Thessalonica -- explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ." Today, to whom are you explaining and demonstrating that Jesus is the Christ? Or, have you abandoned God’s mission for one more of your own design and liking? 

    

Copyright 2014 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to  http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com 

Hurricane Sandy, Limited Menus, and a No Substitutions Please Gospel....

 

   Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:2-4 NKJV)  
   
         I prefer restaurants that have limited menus. If you give me six items to choose from, I can easily choose. If you give me a six page menu with great color photos, I am never certain what I am going to order until I hear myself say it....and then I still wonder if I should have enjoyed my second or third choice instead (or also). Often those expansive menus explicitly instruct -- No Substitutions!  Life often provides circumstances where we have few choices. When Hurricane Sandy came by yesterday, I had no choices. The government ordered us to stay inside our home until the storm passed. Others were ordered from their homes into shelters. The government provided orders. No Substitutions! 

 

   In John chapter six, Jesus taught at the synagogue at Capernaum -- I am the bread of life...... and ......This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever. When we hear the Gospel of Jesus, we are left with a limited menu. We can ignore the Gospel and live our lives as we please, letting our flesh or the world dominate our decisions. We can even choose to submit to the forces of evil and intentionally worship Satan. Some do. Most don't make such a blatant choice, but are seduced by flesh attractions that don't bear the name of Satan but are derived by his plans and spirit. Of course we can and should choose to live by faith and yield our hearts to the Lord and be saved from the consequence of our sin. What makes God's limited but saving Truth so hard to accept? Maybe it's the attraction of our other options...

 

   The world's menu and Satan's menu are very flexible. They allow any choice and any substitution -- even partial faith in Jesus. Satan preaches daily that we can have Jesus and our second and third choices too. He loves leading Christians back to the law of Moses because in so doing he enacts today's verse -- ...you have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 
 
       The Lord's menu is limited to one choice -- being saved by faith alone -- No Substitutions! None are available because none are necessary. It's a limited menu with unlimited benefits. Eat the Bread of Life and drink the Living Water and you'll never be thirsty or hungry again. God wrote -- For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
 

   We are complex beings, and we often try to choose Jesus and then substitute many things which are not on the Lord's menu instead of simply  receiving our righteousness from Christ by faith alone. Paul is emphatically exhorting us here that if we look to any other menu for any substitution as a part of our hope for salvation, we have abandoned the righteousness we have received by faith in and through the death of Jesus on the cross. We cannot have both. No Substitutions! John Calvin wrote -- The legalists among the Galatians wanted them to think that they could have both Jesus and a law-relationship with God. Paul tells them that this is not an option open to them - the system of grace and the system of law are incompatible. Whoever wants to have a half-Christ loses the whole.

 

    Have you come fully to Christ by faith alone? Have you added anything to the Gospel? Are there efforts you make in the name of Jesus which you think help secure your salvation? Are you working for or are you resting in your salvation in Jesus?
 
     Throw off every heavy yoke. Throw off sin and receive by faith alone by the gift of God -- the righteousness of Christ. Throw off Satan and look to Jesus. Throw off the burden of self righteousness and receive the Lord by faith. Throw off accomplishment and accumulation and pick up the Lord's peace. Throw off work (less Martha) and pick up worship (more Mary). Trust Jesus and be saved. Find rest for your soul.

 

   Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Copyright 2012 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. Maybe quoted in whole or in part if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com