Throughout this short letter, Paul speaks of God’s superabundant activities flowing from Himself to His people.  Such words as “rich, lavish, surpassing greatness, surpassing riches, unfathomable riches, surpasses knowledge and far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (1:7, 8, 18, 19; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16, 18, 19, 20) are employed in an attempt to capture the magnitude of God’s person and work to redeem His people from sin’s debt and to adopt them as sons.  All of this was written by Him into His story (1:4, 5, 9, 11, 21; 2:7, 10; 3:11).

Paul’s opening sentence reaches from verse 3 to verse 14.  Here is an avalanche of descriptive words that unveil what God did in the securing of His people for Himself.  Here we read of God as a tri-unity working (energy) to secure for Himself worshipping sons and daughters.  Our passage speaks of God the Father blessing (v. 3), choosing (v. 4) and adopting (vv. 5, 6) trespassers into His family.  We can equally note the activity of the Son to redeem slaves by forgiving debt by means of His own substitutionary and voluntary death (vv. 7, 8).  It is the Son who makes known to us the mystery of their eternal purpose (vv. 9, 10), how from rebellion, division, and damnation He brings peace, harmony, and life.  It is through Him and in Him all things created find the object that silences the rage from within and the loneliness that robs and destroys.  What is the outcome, the inheritance of His activity?  Through Him, the alienated are adopted, the rebel is restored, the indebted are pardoned and the forsaken are chosen.

None of this is left to the recipient.  The work, all of it in every area, is left to the free bestowal and lavish dispensing of His grace.  He seals His people with the Holy Spirit of promise.  This pledge, the seal, determines ownership and guarantees the outcome (vv. 13, 14).

God’s end game is that all things would be “to the praise of His glory” (vv. 6, 12, 14).  A means to that end, at least in Ephesians, is by the redeeming of His people from sin and the adopting of the same as sons and daughters.  These redeemed trespassers constitute His body, the Church.  It is this Church that now becomes the means whereby God is glorified by all things outside of Himself.  God did/does what no one else could do.  He redeemed those who trespassed against Him, and He was fully engaged, in His essence and economy, in and during the entire process.

In this initial assault on our sensibility, there are hints given as to the extremity of His activity.  Words such as bless assumes a state of being cursed; chosen assumes rejection, adoption presupposes abandonment, redemption takes for granted debt,  making known demands previous blindness, inheritance speaks to disenfranchised, sealing and pledge contrasts with uncertainty and ambiguity.

All of the negatives are descriptive of a previously existing condition.  There was nothing the cursed, rejected, abandoned, indebted, blind, disenfranchised and unstable could do to undo their preexisting condition.  It is only as the Trinitarian God freely bestows and lavishly dispenses His resources without condition that the abandoned can become sons through adoption.

Where does this lead us?  This leads us to the foot of His cross and to the glory of His throne.  There is only one response that is appropriate and it is one of humble adoration and praise.  We have no boast but the cross.  He is our life and our living.  What can we do but praise Him.  He is the substance from which life makes sense.  May we the redeemed gladly and openly declare our eternal indebtedness to the One whose essence and economy secures us from sin’s debt and adopts us as sons.

1. Paul’s first visit to Ephesus happened in Acts 18:18-21.

This is the first occurrence of the word in the New Testament.

2. In Paul’s absence, Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos (Acts 18:24-28).

When you read the narrative it is straightforward and clear.

3. Paul returned to Ephesus, taught the disciples and evangelized the unbelieving (Acts 19)

1. Taught on Spirit baptism (Acts 19:1-7)

2. Taught on the kingdom God for two years (Acts 19:8-10)

3. God performed extraordinary miracles through Paul (Acts 19:11-22)

4. Challenged the cult of Artemis of the Ephesians and experienced a violent mob (Acts 19:23-20:1 [perhaps this is what Paul alluded to when he wrote, “I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus {1 Cor. 15:32}]).

4. Paul returns to Ephesus and addresses the Elders of the local churches (Acts 20:17-21:1).

Paul wished to encourage the weak and to guard them against the savage wolves who would teach perverse things.

5. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8).

Remember the content of 1 Corinthians.  Problems exist inside the community of faith and the book/letter contains his response to their questions and problems.

6. Paul encouraged Timothy to remain on at Ephesus so that he might instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines (1 Tim. 1:3).

First and Second Timothy speak to the shepherd to protect the flock of God.  Both address the ideas of biblical structure and mission.  We must note the similarity between the charges given in Acts 20:17ff and what is found in 1 and 2 Timothy.

7. Paul also speaks well of Onesiphorus who aided Paul while imprisoned (2 Tim. 1:16-18) and Tychicus who was a co-laborer (2 Tim. 4:12).

Paul was often accompanied by co-workers who labored with him in the strengthening of existing churches and the establishing of new ones.

8. The apostle John also writes specifically to the church in Ephesus (Rev. 1:11; 2:1-7).  Their orthodoxy (i.e. right belief) was impeccable, but their orthoproxy (i.e. right behavior) was challenged.  It is here we read, “You have left your first love.”

The pastoral letters are written near the end of Paul’s life (AD 64).  Thirty years later John is encouraged by their theological purity and defense of the gospel, but warns and cautions against a theology that is devoid of Christ.  It is not enough for people to know what you are against; they must know what you are for.  People should know what we are for long before they come to understand what we are against.  Neither Paul nor John would argue against doctrinal purity.  Both have much to say as it relates to correct thinking, but both are equally passionate about correct fervor manifesting itself in correct behavior.  The question they would ask and we are confronted by is simply, “Do you love Jesus?”  “Is He first in your theology, your thinking and your life?”  That thought must dominate our doctrinal discussion, and from it must flow our “good works.”

Paul had told Timothy to stay and teach in Ephesus when Paul went to Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3). During the third journey, Paul had done the opposite, staying in Ephesus himself, and sending Timothy with Erastus to Macedonia (Acts 19:22). So First Timothy was written around 64-65 AD during a period of liberty after Paul’s Roman imprisonment of 61-63 AD. Paul said he was hoping to come to Timothy in Ephesus shortly, but may have to tarry long (1 Tim. 3:14-15). Timothy was in Ephesus where he received both 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy (1 Tim. 1:3, 2 Tim. 1:16-18, 4:14, 4:19, Acts 19:33, and 1 Tim. 1:20).

Second Timothy was apparently written from prison (2 Tim. 1:8) with Paul ready to die (2 Tim. 4:6-8), possibly about 66 AD. Yet he asks Timothy to come to him before winter (2 Tim. 4:9 and 21). Paul was probably martyred sometime around 67 AD.

The Book of Ephesians will open up to us the Word of God to the Church of God.  It is imperative that we have ears to hear.  Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to open our ears and eyes to the majesty of truth that we will encounter within the passages of holy write.

Prepared by Patrick J. Griffiths © 2009 – pastorpat@waukeshabible.org

http://www.faith.edu/seminary/faithpulpit.php?article=./faithpulpit/2001_03

http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2009/julaug/platformagnostic.html

There is an element of perplexity offered to us in the text.  Is it possible for those who have the inheritance to become disinherited?  Is it possible for those who are citizens of His kingdom to be expelled from its realm?  There is a weight to what faces us in this text that must not and cannot be negated.  Paul speaks to the Ephesians and reminds them that if in Adam behavior characterizes their lives then they are in real danger of losing their inheritance and becoming outcasts of His kingdom.

Let us attempt to put his charge in its literary context.  Paul speaks of those whom God as a Trinity secured to become sons and daughters by fully engaging all that He is in His essence and all He has at His disposal.  All the resources of God were deployed for the purpose of redeeming the sinner’s debt and adopting the orphaned.  Everything in chapters 1 through 3 speaks to the new man created when God acted.  It is from this tree that unity, purity and charity now flow.  In the absence of individual purity and charity, the unity secured by the cross is in jeopardy of failing.  This failure refers to its manifestation in the community of faith.  Nothing can ever undo what God did.  Yet it is possible to speak and live so poorly as to significant obscure the manifestation of the cross in one’s community of faith.

The characteristics of what all once were in Adam no longer identify those who are in Christ.  We are to parrot God, follow God, because we are His loved children.  He loves us and the consequence of this love is unmerited adoption.  What this looks like in His children is love.  He explains what this love looks like through two venues.  First, love is explained by the cross.  Second, love is explained by contrast.

Everything about the Christian life is a consequence of the cross.  The cross causes the relationship one has with God.  The consequences of that relationship is both verbal (i.e. what you say and how you speak) and visual (i.e. how you behave).  Because you are now in Christ and have become His body, everything about you has changed forever.  If this is true, how are we to take the charge and warning of Ephesians 5:1-6?

My understanding of this is progressing, but first there is the idea expressed in Galatians where one is “severed from Christ” (Gal. 5:4).  I believe this speaks of apostasy whereby initial faith is abandoned through a persistent verbal denial.  This person once professed Christ, but through open and continued verbal denial they have abandoned Christ and have thus fallen from grace and are severed from Christ.

The second idea is of one who through their actions openly and consistently shows their in Adam identity.  There are several passages that speak to this idea.  I will note only a handful.

First, some clarity can come from the parable of the wise man building his house on the rock (Please read Matt. 7:24-29).  What is of interest is to see the parallel between hearing and doing and building on the rock.  The unwise hear but fail to do and thus build their entire lives on nothing more stable than sand.  The issue is not on how well either one built, but on what they built.  It is only because of the rock that the one stood and the other failed.

Second, some clarity can come from the parable of the four soils (Please read Mark 4:1-20).  The first three soil types did not produce an enduring crop.  As a consequence they all failed.  It is only the fourth soil that produced an enduring crop.  In the absence of this notable and enduring fruit, there can be no certainty.

Third, some clarity can come from the illustration of the dog returning to its vomit (Please read 2 Pet. 2:20-22).  This question of endurance presented in Ephesians 5:1-6 is persistent.  Matthew, Mark and Peter speak to it.  Peter’s employs two ancient proverbs, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT”, and, “a sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”  In both cases the issue is one of nature.

It is neither fair nor right for us to be dismissive with the exhortation and warning found in Ephesians 5:1-6.  It would be tragic for anyone to discharge debase behavior by assuming the lavish nature of God’s grace.  When the grace of God is promoted as an opportunity for the flesh and rank lasciviousness, then Paul warns them of God’s wrath and disinheritance.  When grace is used as an excuse, then the danger of disbarring is real.  Yet the grace of God receives the prodigal (Luke 15), releases the defiled (John 8), and restores the rejected (Mark 1:40ff).  May we flee from the wrath to come, and may we find comfort and rest in the enormity of God’s immeasurable grace.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Ephesians.

The intent of this article is to show how what we once were in Adam we no longer are, but still have.  Paul’s point from the beginning of the letter all the way through chapter 3 is to note how those who were once in sin’s debt and alienated from God are now redeemed from sin and adopted into God’s family.  He is their Father and they are His children.

Paul is clear in verses 17 through 22 as to what this in Adam condition looks like both as a state and as a function.  I would like us to consider the graphic nature of Paul’s language in describing those apart from Christ.  There are several descriptive phrases that help us mark the unbelieving state and practice.

First, there is the futility of their mind (v. 17).  The word “futility” speaks to vanity, emptiness.  “The word contains the idea of aimlessness, the leading to no object or end.”[1] It is the same word used in Romans 8:20 (“For the creation was subjected to futility. . .”) and in 2 Peter 2:18 (“For speaking out arrogant words of vanity. . . ”).  There is emptiness to the conclusion drawn by those who do not and will not acknowledge God.  Because there is no fear of God within their thinking, they have no wisdom (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10).  This is the manner of life that characterizes the unbelieving.

Second, they are darkened in their understanding (v. 18a).  The emphasis is on the continuing condition.  This is the stated condition of all those who are without Christ.  Notice the following verses in their depiction of the state of the unbelieving.

“to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18).

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Rom. 1:21).

Apart from Christ their understanding is without light.

Third, they are excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them (v. 18b).  Like their darkness, so also their alienation.  Emphasis is placed on the continuing state or existence.  “It does not imply that they had at one time enjoyed that life; it means simply being aliens from it.”[2] It is the same word used in Ephesians 1:12 (“remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world”) and in Colossians 1:21 (“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds”).

Fourth, there is the hardness of their heart (v. 18c).  The hardening of heart is used throughout the New Testament to describe those who insensitive toward God.  The imagery is that of a callous.  “[It] signifies a thickening of the outward skin of any particular part, especially on the hands and feet, by repeated exercise or use, through which such parts are rendered insensible.”[3]

Fifth, they are calloused (v. 19a).  Here the idea of insensitivity is heightened.  This is the consequence of the hardness noted in verse 18.  Like the darkness and the alienation so also the insensitivity.  It is habitual and marks the state of the unbelieving.  “The translation ‘past feeling’ expresses the sense accurately.  The lack of moral feeling and discernment means that inability to exercise any restraint.”[4] This is why the following thought is true.

Sixth, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness (v. 19b).  This is the outcome of their calloused existence.  Their existence is marked by an “insatiable craving greed, consuming ambition, giving reign to appetites and desires which are against the laws of God and man.”[5] This idea finds fuller exposure in Romans 1.  They are neither master nor lord, but mere pawns to their fleshly appetites.  Theirs is a tragic existence whose end is marked by an eternal alienation from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Finally, they are being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit (v. 22).  Again, this statement marks the ongoing state of those who are apart from Christ.  “The whole character representing the former self was not only corrupt but growing ever more and more corrupt.  Every trait of the old man’s behavior is putrid, crumbling, or inflated like rotting waste or cadavers, stinking, ripe for being disposed of and forgotten.”[6]

The fruit produced by the unbelieving is a natural consequence of their in Adam standing.  They can do nothing less than this.  Yet those who are in Christ still sin.  This sin is a result of the old in Adam self.  But it is no longer the tree that it once was.  This tree has been given a fatal blow at Calvary.  It is no longer capable of producing, in quantity or kind, the toxic fruit of sin.  There is a new tree growing in the believing from the seed of God, and it is this tree of life that now produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit (1 John 3:9).

This is what the unbelieving are in Adam.  Paul is not describing the believing.  Friend, what great cause we have to celebrate all God as a Trinity did for His people.  Yet I believe we mishandle this idea significantly.  Herein is my struggle.  I cannot state it any more emphatically, no Christian can be described in the manner Paul describes the unbelieving.  Because you still have what you once were there is a struggle against the old self, but this old self and its vices do not identify the Christian.  It isn’t that they cannot; they simply do not.  This is not what they are.

It is said, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, chances are it’s a duck.”  Even if the duck behaves like a squirrel or a dog, it is still a duck.  Christians can never be anything other than what they are in Christ.  Because of their old self, the flesh, they still sin, but this sin does not make them anything more or less than what they are in Christ.  The reason why the unbelieving behave like unbelievers is because they are unbelievers.  This is what the Ephesian Gentiles once were but they no longer are.

Paul does note how we are to put off those expressions of our old self whether it is falsehood, anger, stealing, corrupt speech and all the rest (vv. 25-32).  But none of these acts can ever undo what God has done.  They cannot cause us to be hardened or insensitive to the Spirit’s work.  Such things as these do grieve the Holy Spirit because they will ultimately divide relationships within the body of Christ.  But they cannot alienate us from God for His people are in Christ.  This does not lessen the seriousness of the call to holiness, but it must put it in perspective.

For you and me to behave in a manner that is reflective of the old self is complete unbefitting of our identity in Christ.  We should and must flee from these things.  Let us not fear the outcome of our struggle against sin knowing that God has already won the victory.  The struggle against our old self is real, but so is the victory that is ours in Christ.  May this open our eyes to what we already have in Christ, and may we not waver in our pursuit of Him and our struggle against the old self.

[2] Rogers and Rogers, 441.

[3] Adam Clarke’s Commentary on Ephesians 4:18.

[4] Rogers and Rogers, 441.

[5] Rogers and Rogers, 442.

[6] Rogers and Rogers, 442.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Ephesians.

In order to treat this passage appropriately, it must be read in light of what was just stated in 1:3-14: God as a trinity in the totality of His essence and energy redeemed His people from sin’s debt by forgiving their sins and then adopted them as His sons and daughters.  All of this was freely bestowed and lavishly dispensed.

As those who are sons and daughters, Paul now prays for their continued growth in the knowledge of Him.  Just as God can bless because He is blessed, so can He now give knowledge of His glory because He is the Father of glory.

Whatever the weight of the information given in verses 3-14 it is now expressed along three distinct petitions.  The two ideas (vv. 3-14 and vv. 17-23) must be seen as complimentary and parallel.  First, Paul prays that his audience would know the person of Christ.  Christ as the agent through whom the Godhead works and reveals is central to the entire story.  Unless and until we grasp this, nothing else matters.  And when we do grasp this, nothing else matters.  It is impossible to overstate the issue.  If Jesus is not the centerpiece of one’s own personal story, then there is nothing but ultimate darkness and despair.  The story of God was written in such a way that it cannot make sense apart from Jesus Christ as the cornerstone on which the entire structure rests, or as the linchpin that keeps the wheels from falling off the axle of life.

The second petition Paul brings is for them to know the promise of the inheritance.  Again, this thought parallels that expressed in verses 11-14.  The big idea is the principle of “already-not yet.”  What we currently possess as the redeemed, adopted sons and daughters of God, is fully sufficient for now, and yet . . . there is more.  The very idea of inheritance speaks of something that is still yet future.  An inheritance is capable of being possessed in the present, but there is more.  An inheritance was once future.  For the believer the work of God planned in eternity past and begun in time still has a future installment.  There is more.  It is this future installment that provides hope in the moment.  It tells us that the best is yet to come.  In looking to the future, we cannot forget either the past or the present.  There is a real and tangible aspect of our present possession that speaks to the moment.  Yet it is the future inheritance that provides hope to those who live in the context of despair.  It is this future inheritance that provides healing to those who live with disease and addresses wholeness where there is only dysfunction.

Paul’s final request is for his audience to know the power of God.  It is this last request that puts all the rest in perspective.  It is only because of God’s immeasurable greatness of power working toward us who believe that we can know the person of Christ and the promise of the inheritance.  This immeasurable power is so vast that it raised Christ from the dead and placed all things created under His feet.  The word “immeasurable” speaks to our inability to measure or quantify just how vast the resources of God are which He has placed at our disposal so that we might know.

All this sits within His body, the Church.  It is in and through the Church that the risen and reigning Christ works to the community, the nation and the world.  The Church is the agent through which His kingdom will come on earth even as it is in heaven.

We see the visible church as a highly imperfect and at times dysfunctional entity, yet the church is His body in which and through which He is working reconciliation/peace.  It is from the peace secured by the cross that He now works peace to the world.

Oh the weight of such a task in the light of our glaring weakness!  Yet Paul celebrates the weakness because it is only as we are weak that we find the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe (2 Cor. 12:9).

May we pray with Pauline passion for His people, the body of Christ, His church.  May we see past our personal pettiness and petition Him with powerful utterances that reflect the very heart of God for us.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Ephesians.

(Psalm 107:29)

Have you ever felt as if you have no control over your life?  It is the kind of feeling you get that wakes you up in the middle of the night and refuses to let you sleep.  The emotion you experience is probably the same as one whose parachute is not opening even though every possible chord is pulled.  Regardless as to what you might think and what others might tell you, the ‘feeling’ you have is less than ideal and your emotional stability is shot.  When we find ourselves sucked into the vortex of the storm, what are we to do?

Why is God allowing us to experience a life out of control?  I believe there are at least four reasons why such times visit our lives.

• First, trials come to assure us that we are not in control (James 4:13, 14).

Because of depravity, we have this incredible capacity for unbridled arrogance.  For whatever reason, we actually believe the humanistic reports concerning our development and future.  Whenever we think we have “our act together,” God has a way of showing us just how fragile the best-laid plans are.

• Second, trials come to show us what is important (Acts 27:19).

• Third, trials come to magnify the sustaining grace of God (2 Cor. 12:9).

In the midst of our most difficult and sustained trial, God is ministering to us.  Your perseverance in the storm is a testimony to God’s relentless grace.

• Finally, trials come to declare the supremacy of God in all things (Job 40:6).

No event happens that He has not ordered.  Regardless as to how ‘nasty’ the event might be, God has so ordered providence so that you find yourself in the midst of His will.  This is what lends meaning to the most horrific act and smallest detail.  All things are rushing toward the ultimate goal of God being glorified (Philippians 2:10, 11; Romans 11:36).

In the midst of our sorrow, this can be a difficult pill to swallow. What is the alternative?  You and I are not victims of fate or evil men.  We are part of His loving and wise purpose.  We are objects loved.  Friend, we are not in control, God is.

My heart grieves for those whose situations and circumstances are less than ideal.  To see one drowning in the sea of emotional upheaval is heart wrenching.  You reach out and grab them with all your might, you make every effort to pray and to love, but in the midst of the storm, let us not abandon the boat of our theology.  Let us “Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”  Friend, do not let go.  Hold fast to sound words for grace and peace.  You are loved.  May grace continue to reign!

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in every thing, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

While teaching the teens in the earlier part of the year I spoke on “The Seven Laws of the Jungle.”  These “Laws” are dispensationally generic meaning regardless as to the dispensation they neither change nor become dated or irrelevant.  One of the seven is called, “The Law of Sowing and Reaping.”  In the providence of God this “Law” is no less true concerning giving.

At WBC we believe in what is called “Grace Giving.”  This means we believe God is big enough to supply the needs for the advancement of His ministry in us and through us.  We are equally convinced that God will use His people to meet the financial needs of the local church ministry.  Thus at WBC you will not hear perpetual pleas for financial assistance nor will guilt be used to motivate the people of God to give.  If somehow the corporate fellowship does not believe the ministries of WBC are worthy of continuation through financial giving, then they will come to an end.  God’s will, in some ways, can be determined by the availability or lack therein of financial backing.

Our passage before us gives the foundation for grace giving.

First, verse six gives us a timeless principle, “He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”  Whether we like it or not those who are generous with their finances will reap bountifully.  Generous does not mean foolish or careless, but it does mean, “bighearted, openhanded, and liberal (Proverbs 11:25).”  Whether the return is in this life or in the life that is to come is not stated, but there is a bountiful return on generous giving.

Second, verse seven provides three additional guidelines.  Our giving is deliberate (“as he has purposed in his heart”).  Our giving is voluntary (“not grudgingly or under compulsion”).  And our giving is agreeable (“cheerful giver”).  Grace giving gives because it has been the recipient of grace.  Grace forms the only legitimate motive for giving.  Grace giving declares that “He is enough in this life and in the life to come.”  Grace giving always sees the giver of the gifts greater than the gifts given.

Third, verse eight assures me that God will continue to meet all of my needs (Philippians 4:18, 19).  Because of God’s unconditional love for me I never have to fear of “outgiving” God.  I never have to give to God to get from God.  He already gave me His Son thus He will withhold nothing from me that I need (Romans 8:32). My motive for giving is always grace based and love motivated.  My giving simply says, “God I love you and you mean more to me than the gifts you give.”

Let us continue to prayerfully support His work through the gifts we enjoy as His children.  May you rejoice in what God is choosing to do in and through WBC to those around her.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Peter’s question in verse 21 is intriguing because it is either very sincere, innocent or it is deceptive and pharisaical.  Perhaps Peter thought he was already reasonably forgiving or he was maybe thinking of a situation where he was being “victimized” and wanted to know when he could “pull-the-plug” on another individual relationally.

Why did Peter say, “Up to seven times?”  Let us consider some historical insight.

“It was Rabbinic teaching that a man must forgive his brother three times.”  (Barclay, Matthew, 193).  The prophet Amos uses the formula, “For three transgressions and for four” which many have “deduced that God’s forgiveness extends to three offences and that he visits the sinner with punishment at the fourth.”  When Peter suggested “seven times,” he thought he was going very far.  He expected commendation by His Lord.

Our Lord’s response in verse twenty-two, however, declares to Peter that our forgiveness is to be limitless.  Our forgiveness is to be as big as God Himself.  It is as abundant and as inexhaustible as the provided resource.

Jesus follows up His statement with a story of two debtors.  It is a familiar scenario.  The first debtor had a debt he could not pay (v.24) and he made a promise he could not keep (v.26).  The king moved by compassion cancelled the debtor’s debt (v.27).  At this point, a second debtor is introduced.  The emphasis is not on the second debtor’s ability to pay his debt, but on the first debtor’s response to the second debtor.  The first debtor had a heart he could not fix (vv.28-30).

He treated the second debtor without compassion, without consideration and without charity.  The message of any parable is singular.  This parable is NOT teaching the reinstating of our sins by the Father.  That is not the point.  The point is, “Those who have been forgiven an insurmountable debt forgive unconditionally and immeasurably.”

I found the contrast between the two debts interesting.  “The 100 denarii (v.28) could be carried in one pocket.  The ten thousand-talent debt would take an army of about 8,600 carriers, each carrying a sack of sixpences 60lbs. in weight; and they would form, at a distance of a yard apart, a line five miles long.

The contrast between the debts is staggering.”  (Barclay, 194).  Today I heard our nation has a debt of 7 TRILLION dollars.  I cannot begin to imagine just how large 7 TRILLION dollars is.  Yet such a debt pales when compared to the sin debt I had before the Father.  Whether my debt was 1 TRILLION, 7 TRILLION OR 700 TRILLION would not matter one iota.  The size of the debt would in no way affect my ability to cancel it.  I had to have forgiveness.

Verse 27 uses two key words, “release,” and “forgive.”  The word “release” is a compound word meaning, “To free fully.”  The word, “forgive” means, “To forsake, or deny.”  Both words are graphic.  God has “fully freed” us from our sin debt.  Our sin has been left behind.

In Luke 7:42 and 43 Jesus once more refers to two debtors.  The word He uses for “forgive” is charizomai.  It is rooted in the word, charis (or grace).  Charizomai is the same word used in Ephesians 4:32.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Thus, to forgive is grace expressed. Friend, we are always the greater debtors.  I am freely to forgive just as I have been forgiven.  Some people wait to forgive until the offending party asks them for forgiveness.  How tragic.  If God treated us this way, we would all perish.  We are to forgive just as we have been forgiven.  How has God forgiven us?  He has forgiven us completely (Col. 2:13).  He has forgiven us unconditionally (1 John 2:1, 2).  He has forgiven us freely (Rom. 3:24).

We, of all people, should be quick to forgive those who have committed wrong against us.  Who is it that you simply cannot forgive?  If you step back and look at it from God’s perspective, you perhaps will see that you are the greater debtor.

A little boy was asked what forgiveness meant.  He responded with this answer, “It is the odor that flowers breathe when they are trampled upon.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

Perhaps one of the most painful experiences in life occurs when you are personally misrepresented or maliciously attacked through verbal assault.  Such things are sourced in either, the world, the flesh or the devil.  None of it is any good.  It will come through one of two channels either the saved or the unsaved.  Both are painful.  However to have the attack come from a brother or sister in Christ is self-destructive and bitter cannibalism.  Nowhere in the Scripture is such action justified.  I would like to answer two questions concerning personal slander.  First, what is slander?  And second, how are we to respond to slander?

First, what is slander? The English word comes from two Greek words.

The first is our English word “blasphemy.”

And the second is katalalia and means, “To speak against.”

Katalalia is found only twice in the NT (2 Cor. 12:20; 1 Peter 2:1).

2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

The noun form is used only once (Rom. 1:30).

Romans 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

The word “Blasphemy” is used throughout the NT (Matt. 15:19; Mk. 7:22; Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; 1 Tim. 6:4).

Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

To slander someone is to speak evil of them.  It is to denigrate their name.

Such actions originate in the dark heart of man.   Slander has no winner.

All suffer, all pay.  This is why Paul exhorts the slanderer to put off their evil speech.  All of us have, at some point in time, felt the sting of the serpent’s tail.  He delights in accusing the people of God (Rev. 12:10).  Gossip is slander.

To talk about someone behind their back is an artificial spirituality.

There is no fruit of the Spirit called “gossip.”  It is simply another work of the flesh.  May God break us over our evil heart and tongue.  May He give us a true heart of confession (1 John 1:9).

It is one thing to know what slander is, it is another thing to handle it “grace-fully.”  This leads us to our second question, “how are we to respond to slander?”

There are two verses that form for me my mainstay as it relates to this area.

The first is found in Ephesians 4:31 and 32.

The second is that of 1 Peter 2:21-25.

When I am the object of slander I can either let it go or become what I hate.

Ephesians 4:31 tells me to put it off.  In its place I am to be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving.  Such actions are beyond me to comply.  That is why it is a “fruit of the Spirit.”  I can’t, but Jesus can!  Slander has the inherent power of making the recipient bitter, hard, and resentful.  But we must let the offense go.  Our forgiveness of the slanderer is to be unconditional and Christ-like.  We must always see ourselves as the greater debtor (Matt. 18:21-35).

The second passage in 1 Peter 2:21-25 gives us the example of our Lord Himself.  Verse 23 has become a guideline and pattern for me.

“And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”

I do not have to answer the charges raised against me by the slanderer or maligning “brother.”  “If God is for us, who is against us? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Romans 8:31-34).  Can you not hear the ring of victory?

Oh what joy to rest in Him.  Nothing can touch you, nothing can bring you into bondage, . . . nothing.

Once the truth has set you free, you are free indeed (John 8:36)!

Continue to “dance in the ‘raign [rain + reign = raign]’ of grace.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

]]> http://www.reigninggrace.org/2009/09/being-%e2%80%98grace-full%e2%80%99-when-personally-slandered/feed/ 0 http://www.reigninggrace.org/2009/09/being-%e2%80%98grace-full%e2%80%99-when-personally-slandered/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReigningGrace/~3/mjvUw8jGYyc/ http://www.reigninggrace.org/2009/08/learning-to-see-jesus-christ-in-the-biblical-text-2/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:24:16 +0000 Pastor Pat http://www.reigninggrace.org/?p=450 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, but the fruit of the Spirit is . . .”

(Galatians 5:19-23)

The contrast could not be more dramatic.  Even the word used to describe the outworking of both is telling: “Deeds/Works” versus “Fruit.”  In the context of Galatians the irony of the setting should not escape us.  The deeds of the flesh are those activities produced by seeking to gain spirituality through a system of rules and regulations whereas the fruit of the Spirit are those activities produced by resting in His finished work.   Let us consider for just a moment the two lists.

The two groups are clearly marked.  The contrast is established through opposites.  For example, the opposite of love, joy, peace is immorality, impurity and sensuality.  The person who is filled with enmities, strife and jealousy is not exhibiting patience, kindness, and goodness.  Likewise, the drunkard and carouser do not have self-control.

Only law works whereas grace rests.  Because it is the fruit of the Spirit it is not something the believer can do.

The tragedy of this is in trying to produce the fruit of the Spirit.  Any attempt on our part to produce the fruit of the Spirit manufactures fake fruit which is, in reality, a work of the flesh.  Hence what we hope to do in producing spiritual fruit in the end turns against us and will stand as our accuser.  The emphasis is not on trying to produce spiritual fruit.  The quest or real struggle is to rest in Him believing He will complete the work He began.  We are to assume and rest in knowing fruit is being born by the Spirit in and through the life of His people.

The question needing to be addressed is what am I to do if I am seeing the works of the flesh being manifested in me?  Because I still have within me an “old nature” I am going to sin.  At some point in time you will, against your desires, exhibit “flesh.”  So what is a believer suppose to “do” with sin?  Several actions are stated in the Scripture.  Each one of the following is to be viewed as a Fruit of the Spirit.  No one apart from the inward working of the Holy Spirit can “do” these actions.  In the midst of my personal inabilities and spiritual failures I am to be resting in the confidence of His divine strength in performing that which He promised (Phil. 1:6; 2 Thess. 5:23, 24).

There are more expressions of fruit than I am listing, but these seven are characteristic of the kinds of actions He is producing in me and through me concerning my response to the “flesh.”

First, we will see the fruit of laying aside the deeds of darkness (Rom. 13:12).

Second, we will see the fruit of making no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Rom. 13:14).

Third, we will see the fruit of cleansing ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1).

Fourth, we will see the fruit of laying aside the old self (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9).

Fifth, we will see the fruit of considering the members of our earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, etc. (Col. 3:5; Rom. 8:13).

Sixth, we will see the fruit of abstaining from fleshly lusts which wage war against our soul (1 Peter 2:11).

Seventh, we will see the fruit of agreeing with God concerning the nature of our sin knowing He has is and always will be forgiving us (1 John 1:9).

• Please do not see the Fruit of the Spirit as a work to be performed or a standard to be attained.
• Keep your focus on the author and finisher of your faith.
• Believe that He has and will take care of your sin issue for you.
• Learn to celebrate all that you are in Him and He is for you.
• Learn to stop trying to do what has already been done.

Grace enables us to live within the family of our fellowship with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Truly, against such there is no law.  May grace continue to reign at WBC.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

because love covers a multitude of sins.”    (1 Peter 4:8)

I have already stated several times how one of my presuppositions in reading the Bible is, “I do not read the Bible to determine how to live, but rather to discovery what He is like.”  Does your perspective matter?  I believe so.  When my life becomes disjointed and I am consumed by the mundane and distracted by the unimportant I have to step back and get my focus back on Christ (Heb. 12:1, 2).  It is only when I see the centrality of Jesus Christ that life in all of its little pieces makes any sense (Col. 1:17).  In Jesus Christ we have the perfect display and embodiment of grace.  Jesus Christ is the proper name for grace.

It is for this reason I will often use the two words as synonyms.

Often as I read my Bible I put the words, “Jesus Christ” and/or “grace” in the place of “love.”  For example in our text before us if we changed the words it would read as follows, “Above all, keep fervent in your grace for one another, because grace covers a multitude of sins.”

Think also of First Corinthians 13: 4-13.

Grace is patient, Grace is kind and is not jealous; Grace does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; He does not seek His own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8 Grace never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.  9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.  12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.  13 But now faith, hope, Grace, abide these three; but the greatest of these is Grace.

Ephesians 4:32 tells us, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

The word “Forgiving” is from the same root as the word “grace.”

Think about it.  We are being exhorted to “grace each other, just as God in Christ also has graced you.”  If I am to grace others as I have been graced, it would dramatically change the way I deal with hurts, conflicts and relational idiosyncrasies (Matt. 18:21-35).   Part of our difficulty in living the grace life is that we do not understand just how deeply God has graced us.  We treat people the same way we think God is treating us.  We need to change our perspective.  How much has God graced you?  Think with me of the text found in Romans 8:31-39.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;  34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36 Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”  37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is grace.  God is for me.  God has given me all things in Him.

God has acquitted me of my guilty standing.  He will never leave me nor forsake me.  He will never cease loving me.  I have all this because of God gracing me.  When I put my life and all of its little pieces into the larger picture of His grace . . . I walk away knowing that I have been blessed beyond my ability to perform.  This is the perspective I am to have as I live relationally in a fallen world and strained fellowship.

May this truth permeate our thinking and may grace continue to reign.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.

In this short study, I would like us to consider the biblical warning to “watch out” and “beware.”  The word “watch out” is used three times in Mark’s Gospel (1:44; 8:15, 24).  It is only here where it is used with the force of an imperative.  Mark uses the word for “beware” fourteen times.  It is used with force in Mark 4:24; 12:38; 13:5, 9, 23, and 33.

The words “watch out” or “beware” call for a quick response.  They warn us of immediate or impending danger.  In the passage before us we are warned of three potential adversaries: hypocrisy in fake questions, hostility in false teachers, and hardness in fat hearts.

All three areas can cause the unaware to be positioned against God.  The first danger of hypocrisy is seen in the question asked by the religious establishment.  Their questioning attempted to cloak the deception of their hearts.  They did not ask to investigate, but to ensnare.  Their sole intent was to trap and destroy.  They had no desire to hear, examine, and grow through change.  Their minds were already made-up and their resolution was already against Him.

Honest dialogue and genuine interaction through asking and answering is always difficult to create, but a real delight to be a part of.  In the arena of inquiry, attitude is everything.  It is always easy for those who are in the power position to ask those who disagree with them to be open minded and to reconsider, but it is highly unlikely that those who are in the power position will be equally open and willing to change their position if the evidence shows them to be wrong.  The religious establishment was too entrenched for any real change to take place.  Unless and until the new birth takes place, they would resist Him to the cross.

As followers of Christ His people must be marked by sincere examination.  They must be perpetual students who are open and willing to grow through change.

The second danger of hostility is perhaps more abrupt and bare.  Jesus warns His disciples to “beware the leaven of the Pharisees.”  They were incapable of hiding their hostility.  Their hypocrisy was glaring and their true self was laid bare.  The Pharisees disregarded the Word of God and rejected the God of the Word.  Their hatred of Jesus was already declared in Mark 3:6.  Now Jesus warns His disciples against this public warfare.  What made their position so frightening?  They believed they were doing the work of God in their resistance of Jesus.  They believed their handling of the Word was honorable and necessary.  Yet their initial motives slowly choked out the Word and placed them in a position of hostility to God.

The third danger is that of hardness.  The disciples failed to see the necessary connection between the person and work of Jesus Christ.  What is of interest is to see the scope of our Lord’s audience.  There are the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Herodians.  In addition, there are the larger, fickle masses and finally the twelve.  It is only the disciples who are slapped with “hardness of heart.”  They had witnessed His miracles.  They were present.  They handled, heard, and saw His work that verified His person.  Yet they failed to make the obvious links.  Why did they fail in this?  Our Lord says it was because of their hardness of heart.  How many times do His present day disciples fail to make the necessary connections between His person and His work?  Could the root cause of this problem simply be a problem of the heart?

As we live life, it is possible to simply fail in seeing how our lives are a part of His story.  Although unintended, it is possible that our sincerity will fail and in its place will grow hypocrisy, hostility, and hardness.

Oh God our Father who governs and guides our universe, our galaxy, our world, our nation, our community, and our hearts, we look to you through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  He has made our position and our petition possible.  Holy Spirit, we look to you to keep us alert from such soul destroying adversities as hypocrisy, hostility, and hardness.

Most Holy God, place around us a hedge of protection.  Armor our hearts to resist the subtle stabs of our adversary the devil.  May we not bend nor bow to the world’s ideology, the devil’s enticement, and our fleshly appetites whose appeasement pulls us away and hardens our hearts against you.

We claim and opt to live in the victory secured for us by Christ.  He is our life and our sole hope and help.  We make no boast but what is revealed to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  May you awaken us from the sleep that kills.  We beseech you in the name of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.

I believe it is important to keep our Lord’s movements in mind when reading the various stories.  Jesus is in the Decapolis and is speaking to a predominately Gentile audience.  It is important to remember the continued conflict with the religious leaders and political authorities.  He has come to His own people first and then begins reaching out to the Gentile world.  In the world in which Jesus lived, everyone who is non-Jewish is Gentile.  Mark shows how Gentiles are included in the story of God.  Mark opens this idea with Jesus addressing the Pharisees on the topic of “clean versus unclean.”  He then heals a Canaanite woman’s daughter of a demon.  He continues His handling of the unclean Gentiles by healing a deaf and mute man.  To show equality among the Jews and Gentiles, He repeats His feeding miracles among a predominately Gentile audience. His actions do not negate Jewish primacy.  Jesus did not forget that it was to the Jew and through the Jew that God’s revelation and divine incarnation would take place.  Such action on His part reflects an impartial worldview.    In fact, His actions always reflect a Christian worldview.  Often I think as Christians we need to be reminded that a Christian worldview is a Christ worldview.  His worldview is to be reflected by and represented in our worldview.  It is not the other way around.  Sometimes I, we, confuse our nationalism, our patriotism, our tribal instinct, our religious experience for a biblical worldview.  What is His worldview?  What is a Christian worldview?

• First, it is marked by racial and geographical impartiality (v. 1).
• Second, it is marked by compassion for those who suffer (v. 2).
• Third, it is marked by the naturally impossible (vv. 3-7).
• Fourth, it is marked by lavish graciousness (vv. 8-9).

For just a moment let us consider these four ideas as they are present in our passage.  First, a Christ worldview is marked by racial and geographical impartiality (v. 1).  In the historical context in which this story unfolds, I do not believe we can overstate the bitter hatred between the Jewish community and everything non-Jewish.  This can be seen by noting several passages in the New Testament.  The original commission of the twelve disciples by Jesus marks a distinction between the lost sheep of the house of Israel and the Gentile people (Matt. 10:5, 6).

Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

When speaking to the Canaanite woman with the demonic daughter our Lord refers to the non-Jew as a “dog” (Mark 7:27).

Mark 7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

When Jesus sought to overthrow the racial and geographic bigotry of His audience, He told the unlikely (and shocking) story of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).

Luke 10:33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

Because of His association with the unclean and Gentiles He was accused by the religious establishment of being “a man who receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1, 2).

Luke 15:1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

When confronted by the religious establishment, He was accused of being a Samaritan and thus, “Having a demon” (John 8:48).

John 8:48 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

All of this clearly shows an inbred animosity existing between the Jew and the non-Jew.  Although God has a love for everyone, there is little question as to God’s command to terminate the people of Canaan in the Book of Joshua.  We would be wrong to assume the situation in the Middle East is simply one of misunderstanding.  Regardless as to the nation, if a nation seeks another nation’s destruction, then the attacked nation should do what is necessary to stop the aggression.    However, we would be wrong if we simply assumed that the land conquest in the Book of Joshua was because of ethnic reasons.  God’s love is impartial as it relates to racial or geographical qualifiers.

I will comment on this a little later, but the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) and of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19) were intentionally told to take current and prevailing opinions and drop them on their head.  It is not by accident we are told as “Christians” to “love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us” (Matt. 5:43).  Again, such radical ideology is still difficult to completely grasp.  Paul goes further and says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Rom. 12:14).  Before we are Americans, we are Christians; before we are Republican or Democrat, we are Christians; before we are Bible Church, we are Christians.  Being a follower of Christ dominates whatever else exists along ethnic or geographical lines.

Regardless as to whether or not a person is an American, ally or enemy; regardless as to what political party they are a part of, regardless as to whether or not they are socialists, communists, or a functional democracy, God is calling worshippers from all people groups, and we must pray for them and love them as God would.

Second, a Christ worldview is marked by compassion for those who suffer (v. 2).  We have developed a significant degree of suspicion as it relates to those who are in need.  As believers, it is biblical to honor those who work and bear their own burdens.  It is equally true that nothing we do this side of heaven will wipe out poverty (Mark 14:7).  There are those who will abuse Government programs and Christian charity, but this does not make it wrong to have compassion for those in genuine need wrong.

Our cynicism should not harden our hearts toward those in need.  Jesus saw those who were without food for three days, and He was moved with compassion.  Paul tells us we should be good to all men, especially those in the household of faith (Gal. 6:10).  We must not allow our compassion to be defined by race or region.  Many who suffer do so as a result of their poor choices.  Some, however, suffer for Providential reasons.  Regardless as to why, we cannot afford to become hardened toward the suffering of others.  As a community of faith, I take great delight in our collective generosity as it relates to our benevolent offering.  I also believe it is right for us to be involved in our community in the various services it provides for those in genuine need.  We must not allow the few who misuse the system to desensitize us toward those in real need.

Third, a Christ worldview is marked by the naturally impossible (vv. 3-7).  Although we live in a natural world, we are not bound by its components.  You might believe such thinking is irrational, but there is another dimension that exists beyond the power of the simple eye to perceive.  Our God, the God we individually and collectively profess, “Is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).  Our God is able to feed 5,000 plus people with five loaves and two small fish (Mark 6:34-44).  He is able to feed 4,000 people with seven loaves and a few small fish (Mark 8:1-9).  Our God is able to open deaf ears, loosen tied tongues, deliver the demon possessed, heal the lame, and cause the blind to see.  This is the story told and preserved for us as His people.  As Christians, as followers of the Christ, our hope lies forever and unchangingly in the person and work of a God who is able to do the unthinkable.  He can part seas, cause water to flow from rocks, walk on it when necessary, and cause it to rain with such force as to destroy that which He creates.

Because He is all-powerful, our God is able to enable us to love our enemies and be moved by those in need.  He is able to destroy our prejudices and make us just like Jesus.  Because He is able, He can make from both Jew and Gentile one new man (Eph. 2:11-22).  This is His mission; this is His goal.

Finally, a Christ worldview is marked by lavish graciousness (vv. 8-9).  The audience that was the recipients of His miracle did not deserve what they received.  In fact, just the opposite would have been true.  They deserved isolation, rejection, and condemnation.  But God is God and as such He is lavish in the dispensing of His gifts.  Not only was everyone fed, but they were satisfied.  And not only were they satisfied, but there was excess.  This lavish graciousness is also noted in our Lord’s words when He said, “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (Matt. 5:39-42).  What we do as Christians, individually and corporately, should be markedly different that what we might do as a nation.  It is impossible to be a Christian nation as it relates to a fallen world, but it is not impossible to be Christian in our response toward evil.

I cannot fully process the abundance of God’s grace, but I am glad for it.  In principle I can state these four thoughts and show the necessary connection between what is stated and the story before us.  I can even support it with other passages.  However, what I know in principle is still a genuine struggle in practice.  It is my prayer that I would not seek to fit God into my presuppositions or prejudices, but would rather see Him mold my will so that my worldview is thoroughly Christ-like.  May this be our collective prayer before the God whose grace is without partiality and always superabundantly dispensed.

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church site.