To this day, whenever someone even softly asks the question "what time is it?" my initial response (always internally, sometimes verbally) is "GAME TIME!", and in my studies this morning I'm reminded that we should carry this attitude with us into the Christian life, with a twist: our response to "what time is it?" should be "WAR TIME".
Here's the first passage: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (ESV)
"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete."
What power in the Word of God.
Ladies and gentlemen, in case you didn't know this already, we are in a battle. A spiritual battle. Every day we're faced with choices- am I going to glorify God and exalt Him in this task/decision/conversation/etc? Or am I going to please the flesh and live for myself? Whether it be schoolwork, time management, relationships, work, the fight for joy, etc., we must not take this battle lightly. Why not, you ask?
Because the devil doesn't take it lightly. 1 Peter 5:8 says "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Paul calls us to put on the "whole armor of God" to resist the devil's schemes and advances (Ephesians 6:11). He is stoked to get at us and tear us apart. It's a testament to the immeasurable greatness of Christ in our lives that we are NOT bombarded every second with the devil's schemes (Piper). Think you can resist them on your own? Think again. One of the best, if not the greatest, way the devil fights us is by disunifying us. Yup- I just said "disunifying", which is not being recognized as a word by blogger (and probably isn't).
Paul stresses the importance of unity in the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12... yet we seem "whatever" towards it. The devil loves to use deceit, also- check out this passage in 2 Corinthians 11 (verses 3 and 4):
"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough."
Does this not describe the Church today, especially in America? The idea of "another Jesus" might sound outrageous to you, but how many of us have minimized Jesus to fit into our own little box? John Wagler of Commonwealth Chapel loves talking about this, and it's also found in the book "Radical" by David Platt. We take the Jesus described in the Bible and try to figure Him out and understand Him per our own terms. Don't like that part about Jesus? Don't think about it or worry about it.
Want to read about the real Jesus? Here are just a few passages to check out:
Philippians 2:5-11; 3:21
Colossians 1:15-21
Revelations 19:11-16
Yup. That's the Jesus Christ the Messiah we're called to exalt and live for. Why should we live for Him? Because He is WORTHY of being lived for and worshiped. If He never did anything for us He would still be worthy of worship, just because of who He is.
Paul describes the Corinthian church in these terms: "...if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus other than the one we proclaimed... you put up with it readily enough." He's saying, 'come on, guys- there is NO FIGHT in you. You don't test the words to see if they're true... you just go with them because they sound good.' When we listen to people, even the greatest of speakers, preachers, pastors, etc., we should pray for discerning ears and hearts. Acts speaks highly of the Bereans in 17:10-12, saying that they "received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." They didn't just take Paul at his word, but tested it against the Scriptures to make certain it was true.
I pray that you will take any words that I write here on this blog and test them against the Scriptures, because I am far from faultless in my writing (much less my speaking, teaching, etc). My prayer is always that the Lord would write through me and that those who read it would have open hearts and minds to see what He has to say to them.
Going back to the first passage, recognize that we cannot fight this battle with the flesh, because it's not of the flesh. We need to equip ourselves with the "divine power" spoken of in verse 4. If you were going to fight as a gladiator in the Coliseum at Rome, wouldn't you want only the best armor and weapons before you go to battle? In the same way, we need to be equipping ourselves with spiritual weapons of warfare that are readily available: growing in the Lord through studying, memorizing, treasuring and praying through His Word, being discipled and discipling, fellowshipping with other believers, and loving God and loving others, among other things...
So, in summary, we're in a battle. The Corinthian church was described as "[putting] up with" the false teaching "readily enough", and I fear that we as a Church today are doing the same thing. We're not discerning the Truth but accepting what we hear as truth (if we like it) and then minimizing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to a finite "Jesus" that we can comprehend. We need to recognize the battle, recognize that "apart from Jesus, we can do nothing", equip ourselves by investing in Him, and then fight the good fight in His strength so that He alone gets the glory.
What time is it? War time. Are you pumped and ready to fight for the glory of Christ in your life? Regardless if you are or not, the devil is more than ready to fight against it. Let's battle because He is worthy.
1 Peter 4:11
Luke
No comments:
Post a Comment