Jim Wilson's Blog, page 12

The Quantity of God's Grace

“From the fullness of his grace we have all received oneblessing after another” (John 1:16).

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6).

“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many diedby the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift thatcame by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! …. Forif, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, howmuch more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of thegift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ…. The lawwas added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, graceincreased all the more” (Romans 5:15, 17, 20).

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that inall things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in everygood work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

“And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out toyou, because of the surpassing grace God has given you” (2 Corinthians 9:14).

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for mypower is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladlyabout my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians12:9).

“In him we have redemption through his blood, theforgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians1:7).

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly,along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14).

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternalglory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restoreyou and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10).

This grace has been given to me in many ways:

•           My birth

•           Saving mylife at two years old (from scarlet fever, diphtheria, and smallpox)

•           My familyin growing up

•           ReceivingChrist at 20 years old

•           Saving mylife at 22 (mine explosion)

•           My wife andmy marriage of 58 years

•           My childrenand grandchildren and their husbands and wives, and my great-grandchildren

•           Saving mylife at 77 years with quadruple-bypass surgery

•           The graceof preaching Christ for 70 years

•           A multitudeof friends in Christ

•           Manyinstructors within and outside the faith

•           Commongrace

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledgeof God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2).

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Rewards & Obedience

There are rewards in heaven.Should they be a motivation to obey God?

If they were the lonemotivation, the obedience might not be real. And of course that would be knownby God.

If these rewards areconnected with our love for God and love for others, they are  apromise given by God and should be rejoiced in. Here are a few of the promisedrewards:

“He who receives you receivesme, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives aprophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone whoreceives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteousman's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of theselittle ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainlynot lose his reward” (Matthew 10:40-42).

“Those who are wise willshine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many torighteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Revival & Riot

In October of my sophomore year atthe Naval Academy, I passed from death to life. I had just turned twenty yearsold. Eighteen months later, my life began to have an effect on my classmatesand those both junior and senior to me. This continued for the next seven yearswhile I was on active duty in the Navy and ever since in civilian life.

During my seventy-three years as aChristian, I have seen men turn to Christ and experience the joy of havingtheir sins forgiven. I have also seen the harassment they get because of JesusChrist. Some of them came through the persecution, and some of them caved.

What happened in the cities in theBook of Acts happens to every new Christian. It is “revival and riot” on anindividual level all over the world. Jesus prepared us for this beforehand.

“All this I have told you so that youwill not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time iscoming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I havetold you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.I did not tell you this at first because I was with you” (John 16:1-4).  

“Blessed are you when people insultyou, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the sameway they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

“If the world hates you, keep in mindthat it hated me first” (John 15:18).

Paul said it, too. “In fact, everyonewho wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy3:12).

And Peter… “Dear friends, do not besurprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strangewere happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings ofChrist, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you areinsulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit ofglory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer orthief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if yousuffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear thatname” (1 Peter 4:12-16).  

Because of this truth many Christiansdo not want to live godly lives. They know that they will suffer persecution.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Only Two Types of People

Here are a few observations from my time doing personalevangelism.

Mormons are not Mormons; they are just natural men.

Muslims are not Muslims; they are just natural men.

Atheists are not atheists; they are just natural men.

And many “Christians” are not Christians; they are naturalmen.

There are only two types of people in the world:

1. Forgiven people.

2. Unforgiven people.

1. People who are going to heaven.

2. People who are going to hell.

1. People who are saints.

2. People who are sinners.

 

1. People who are spiritual.

2. People who are natural.

 

1. People who are dead to sin.

2. People who are dead in sin.

 

1. People who are slaves of God.

2. People who are slaves of sin.

 

Here are a few characteristics of the natural man:

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the thingsthat come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannotunderstand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1Corinthians 2:14).

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you wouldlove me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’sdesires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, forthere is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for heis a liar and the father of lies’” (John 8:42-44).

 

The Mormon wants to ask you the question, “Is Joseph Smith atrue prophet?”

The Muslim wants to ask the question about Muhammad.

The atheist wants to ask the question about “No God.”

 

They are non-questions, but if asked, the answer is a simple“No” without ever looking at their “evidence.”

 

At Lystra, Paul did not study Lycaonian or Zeus theology.

At Ephesus, Paul did not study Diana.

At Philippi, he did not debate the Romans.

At Athens, he did preach on the “Unknown God,” but did notdebate the others.

At Corinth, he preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

 

We have a specific, positive, loving, gospel message fornatural men, men who are slaves of sin and afraid to die.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The Most High God

There is a name for God in the Bible that is used somesurprising times. It is apparently used in the heavenly places before Godrevealed His name Yahweh to Moses. The name is the Most High God.

Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, said to Mary, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call himJesus. He will be great and will be called the Son ofthe Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; hiskingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33).

John the Baptist was called “a prophet of theMost High” (Luke 1:76). 

In Mark 5, the demon-possessed man calledJesus the Son of the Most High God. “When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ranand fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted atthe top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most HighGod? In God’s name don’t torture me!’” (Mark 5:6-7). The Gerasenes demanded toknow who He was. Gabriel knew He was the Son of the Highest.

My favorite is in Psalm 91:1: “Whoever dwellsin the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadowof the Almighty.”

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Pre-Deployment Advice for Military Couples

“What advice can you give for Christian military couplespreparing for deployment? What are the most needed things for them to focus onwhile the husband is deployed?”

Here are five things to focus on, in order of priority.

1.    The husband and wife should be in the Word daily,perhaps on the same texts. Write down your blessings from the texts.

2.    The husband and wife must keep short accountswith the Lord and with each other (confession of sin).

3.    Even if mail or email is not able to go outdaily, the husband must write to his wife daily—even if it is just twosentences. Send the messages when you can. (If you are in a position to callher, do that when you can.) Do not write about the danger. The wife should writeall kinds of news about herself and the kids. Do not write about problems, exceptto ask for decisions, wisdom, and prayer.

4.    Husbands should regularly write separate notesto each of the children. This is very important, regardless how young thechildren are.

5.    Husbands should be a witness in life and word tothe officers and men and open to counsel men with family problems. The wifeshould be a witness to other military wives and be open to counseling them.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Taking Men Alive

byDoug Wilson

From Hammer Magazine Vol. III No. I, Winter 1984

Webster’sdefines the verb astonish as to fill with sudden wonder or surprise. Itsroots in the Latin are very close to our expression thunderstruck. Astonishment, of course, is that state of beingamazed or thoroughly surprised.

InLuke chapter 5, an incident occurred which filled certain fishermen withastonishment. They were astonished because of a powerful miracle, and yet thereis more significance to the miracle than a mere display of power.

InLuke 5:1-11, Jesus was preaching to crowds beside the Lake of Gennesaret.Jesus apparently found it difficult to preach with the crowd pressing Him, soHe climbed into a boat belonging to Simon, sat down, and taught from there.

Whenthe lesson was ended, He told Simon to put into deep water and let down thenets for a catch. Simon responded that they had already worked all night withno result. Daylight was a poor time for fishing, and, apparently, the nets werealready washed. Nevertheless, he agreed to do what Jesus said.

Whenthe fishermen obeyed, their nets became so full that they began to tear. Whenthey were brought into the boats, water threatened to come over the gunwalesand sink them.

NowSimon Peter had already seen some of Jesus’ powerful miracles and had alreadybeen willing to follow Him—to a certain extent. And yet this miracle, for somereason, is a major turning point in Simon’s choice of careers. This miracleaffected Simon deeply. He fell down (in a boat already about to sink) and criedout, “Go away from me, Lord; I am asinful man!” In other words, this miracle did not strike Simon as a simpleact of power. His confession of his sinful state shows that it had an entirelydifferent significance for him.

Someonewho could control the fish in the sea was obviously more than a mere man. Simonfell to his knees before someone he called Lord.But the Lord of the lake, the Lord of nature, has a right to be Lord over thosewho live by the lake and those who fish in it. Jesus had already called Simonto follow Him another time, and Simon had—up to a point. But when he followedHim after this incident, nothing was ever the same.

Noticethat Simon wanted Jesus to leave him because he, Simon, did not deserve to bewith Jesus. He was a sinful man. In order to follow Christ, something mustfirst be done about the sin. Simon was more than aware of the problem.

Jesusreassured him, and He revealed the point of the miracle. It was a teachingmiracle, a parable acted out. Jesus said, “Don’tbe afraid; from now on you will catch men.” A fuller rendering from theGreek would be, “You will take men alive.”

Jesuscalled Simon to a life of evangelism. In His earlier call, He had promised tomake them fishers of men. Here He said men will be taken alive. It is in thislatter instance that He shows He has the power to issue such a call. Jesus wasinvolved in fishing for men. Simon fished for fish. Jesus, by this miracle,demonstrated His authority in both realms. Someone who can command fish intonets is certainly able to make fishers of men. Simon knew this but consideredhimself unworthy. Jesus was able to reassure him; He is able to supply the menjust as He supplied the fish. The evangelism will not depend on Simon’s worth,but on Jesus’ authority.

Whatwas the reaction of the fishermen to this display of authority and power? Weare told that Simon, his companions, and James and John, were all astonished. This astonishment wasprofound and life-changing. They pulled their boats on shore, left everything,and followed Jesus.

Inthe three years that followed, much instruction was given, and many lessonswere learned. The period was one of apprenticeship and had all the successesand failures that characterize it. The entire time, Jesus was overseeing them. Thepromise to Simon that he would be a fisher of men was not fulfilled until thesermon in Jerusalemat Pentecost. There the Holy Spirit was given, the gospel proclaimed by Simon,and 3,000 souls were added to the church. The church’s small boat was full,with water coming over the gunwales.

Beforethat fulfillment occurred, the fishermen/disciples were given a reminder of thepowerful call they were given at the beginning.

Afterthe resurrection, the disciples were overjoyed but still disoriented. Theystill didn’t know what it all meant. Jesushad appeared to them several times, and they knew He was alive. But what didthat life mean? The crucifixion and resurrection had shattered thepresuppositions they had acquired over the last three years. What were they nowsupposed to do?

Itis in this condition that we find these fishermen/disciples on the shores ofthe Sea of Galilee. In John 21:1-14, Jesus repeats the miracle. Simon, Thomas,Nathanael, James, John, and two other disciples were at the Sea of Galilee. Simonannounced that he was going to fish, and the others went with him. The decisionwas perhaps for financial reasons or, perhaps, for lack of anything better todo. Whatever the reason, they spent the night on the water with the same resultas before. As morning broke, Jesus called to them from the shore and asked ifthey had any fish. They replied in the negative (Jesus was about 100 yardsaway, and they did not recognize Him). Jesus then told them to lower their netson the right side of the boat. They obeyed, and again their nets were filled.

Johnrealized who it was and said so to Peter. In Luke 5, Simon had said, “Depart from me.” Here he jumped intothe water to rejoin the Lord.

Whenthey got to shore, they discovered that Jesus had already been fishing and withsome success. He had His fish on the fire and invited them to bring some oftheir fish and join Him. They did so, with some mental reservations. Theydidn’t dare ask Him who He was; they knew it was the Lord. And yet, thequestion, “Who are you?” occurred to them. The resurrection body of the Lordwas different enough to cause some questioning, though the questions wereeasily answered.

InLuke 5, Simon and the others were effectively called. In John 21, that callingwas reaffirmed. The power and authority that only began to be revealed at thebeginning of the Lord’s ministry were not fully manifest. The Lord was stillable to perform a fishing miracle, but in this instance did it after themiracle of the resurrection. The Lord of fallen nature was now also the Lord ofresurrection life.

Yetfrom the call in Luke 5 to the second call in John 21, the Lord’s purpose wasunchanged. The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost. There arestill many who need to be found that way; the Lord is still in the business oftraining fishers of men.

MayGod grant us the sense of astonishmentthat motivated the Galilean fishermen to begin taking men alive.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

No Darkness at All

There are many favorite verses of mine in the Scriptures.Here are a few of them:

“This is themessage which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light andin Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

“But if we walk inthe light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and theblood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

“The god of thisage has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light ofthe gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do notpreach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants forJesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made hislight shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory ofGod in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).

“In the sight ofGod, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifyingbefore Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep thiscommand without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, theKing of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives inunapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor andmight forever. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:13-16).

“Now to the Kingeternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever andever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17).

“When Jesus spokeagain to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows mewill never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12).

This is our proclamation: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

More Numerous

There are a great number of parallel events in the twotestaments. As I was reading my Bible one morning, I noticed the events inExodus 1 and Acts 2-6.  

“But the Israelites were fruitful and multipliedgreatly and became exceedingly numerous so that the land was filledwith them” (v. 7).

“Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will becomeeven more numerous” (v. 10).

“But the more they were oppressed, the more they multipliedand spread” (v. 12).

“God was kind to the midwives and the people increasedand became even more numerous” (v. 20).

“About three thousand were added to their number that day”(Acts 2:41).

“And the Lord added to their number dailythose who were being saved” (v. 47).

“But many who heard the message believed, and the numbergrew to about five thousand” (Acts 4:3).

“Nevertheless, more and more men and women believedin the Lord and were added to their number” (Acts 5:14).

“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples inJerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests becameobedient to the faith” (Acts 5:7).

There were three common causes for this multiplication:

·      God was for them.

·      The Enemy was against them.

·      The people obeyed God, not the Enemy.

“The midwives, however, feared God and did not dowhat the king of Egypt had told them to do” (Exodus 1:17).

“Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight toobey you rather than God” and “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 4:19 and5:29).

The same three things are true today. God is for us, theEnemy is against us, and we must obey God rather than men. We will then become morenumerous!

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Resolved

One of my favorite paragraphs in the New Testament is:

“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came toyou, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you thetestimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you exceptJesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear andtrembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might notrest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

Notice the word resolved. The KJV says determined.The definition is “to fix conclusively, decidedly, and authoritatively.”

What was this resolve? “To know nothing while I was with youexcept Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Apparently, Paul was not into smalltalk and inane conversations.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships