Jim Wilson's Blog, page 28

Dealing with Opposition

“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9).

This sentence is a part of the qualifications of an elder in a church in a town in Crete. The elder is to encourage and refute. In order to do this properly, the elders must hold firmly to the message.

We find other qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:2, like "gentle" and "not quarrelsome." The reason I bring this up is the requirement to refute the opposition and yet not be quarrelsome. We see a statement in 2 Timothy 2:4 which confirms this teaching: "and the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him, he must gently instruct.”

There is increasing opposition today to sound doctrine and to Christians. Christians must refute those in opposition, but they must do it gently, kindly, and without quarreling.

 

Written May 1984.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the 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

A Word for Perfect Christians (aka Perfectionists)

This is written for Christians who are perfectionists and have lost their joy.

First, perfectionists are created. They do not get there by training. If they did, I should now be a perfectionist: I went to a college run by perfectionists, a military college—U.S. Naval Academy. The Academy had four years to make me a perfectionist and did not succeed. I was born something else.

Second, it is a good thing that God made perfectionists and many of them. As a result, all man-made erected things from houses to airplanes are put together right.

Third, problems occur. Students in university dorms are put together in the same room. One of them is a perfectionist. The other is a slob. Both of them were born that way. One of the two is unhappy. Which one?

Fourth, perfectionist standards are not virtues. Unfortunately, some perfectionists think they are.

Fifth, besides all of the good qualities of a perfectionist, there are difficulties that he is not aware of, or if he is he does not know how to handle them.

He has a different standard from God’s. It is not higher than God’s standard, but it is treated with more importance than God’s.

He works at meeting that standard. If he fails to meet it, he has no grace or forgiveness for it.

Sometimes he has no grace or forgiveness for the others who do not meet the standard. When that occurs, he gets impatient and angry with the other people. This is sin, but he might not recognize it and confess it because he has justified the anger.

When he himself falls short, he may fall into other habits like overeating, biting finger nails, or depression. (Of course, there are perfectionists who are balanced, godly Christians. I am not speaking of you.)

He has a tendency to be introspective. He finds that his imperfection is a “downer,” not an “upper.” His introspection is accusatory and condemning, not convicting. The accuser of the brothers is Satan (Revelation 12). Conviction that leads to forgiveness is from the Holy Spirit (John 16), When he introspects, he is feeding the accuser.

Some perfectionists become obsessive-compulsive in their behavior. It is difficult to recognize this as sin. Consequently, they do not confess it as sin and then are not forgiven for this sin. They are not living in the joy of their salvation because they are being disciplined by God. They adjust to all of this because it is their normal lifestyle.

There are several solutions to these difficulties.

1) Measure your feelings with the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:22-24).

Love: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13).

Joy: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Peace: “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17).

Patience: “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20).

Kindness: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Goodness: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness…. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness” (2 Peter 1:3, 5).

Self-Control: “And to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness” (2 Peter 1:6).

You will find out that when you are impatient you are also not kind, loving, joyful, or at peace. Confess it as sin.

2) Look at how your perfectionism affects those around you. Are you building them up in love?

3) You are not allowed to be a critical Christian. You are part of the body of Christ. Recognize that your standards are not virtues.

4) Take each one of your standards and put it next to one of God’s standards. Then choose to follow God’s standard, not yours. If you fail God’s standard, there is forgiveness (1 John 2:1).

If you fail your standard, there is no forgiveness, because you have no grace to give out. If you are obsessive compulsive and want to wash your hands, refuse to do it. If you want to clean your room, refuse to do it. Keep on refusing to do it. You might think you will die, but you will not die. It is not that important to God. Imagine (or actually go) to be a missionary to a tribe that washes once a week, or month, or year. The people stink, and their houses stink. You love for them has to be senior to your standards. And they have to know that you love them.

Now transfer this thinking to include your wife and children. You, as a Christian, may not be impatient. Your standards have to be subservient to God’s. It may be that you have to set aside your standards all together and substitute God’s standards. It will be a good trade.

 Written in 2016.

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

A Famine of the Word

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it’” (Amos 8:11-12).

I have no idea whether this prophecy has ever been fulfilled in any specific sense, i.e., time and place in history. It may have been fulfilled fifty years after Amos when the Northern Kingdom was destroyed.

The Southern Kingdom had two revivals, both related to reading the Scriptures. One under Josiah (1 Chronicles 34:14-33) and the other under Ezra (Nehemiah 8).

The famine today is not in the unavailability of Scripture. In Josiah’s day, there was only one copy, and it had not been looked at for several generations. We have the Scriptures, and we do not read them daily. There is spiritual decay in the land.

 

Written September 1988.

This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the To the 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

How I Love Thy Law, O Lord

 

How I love Thy law, O Lord

Daily joy its truths afford;

In its constant light I go,

Wise to conquer every foe.

 

Thy commandments in my heart

Truest wisdom can impart;

To mine eyes Thy precepts show

Wisdom more than sages know.

 

While my heart Thy word obeys,

I am kept from evil ways;

From Thy law, with Thee to guide,

I have never turned aside.

 

Sweeter are Thy words to me

Than all other good can be;

Safe I walk, Thy truth my light

Hating falsehood, loving right.

 

 

          - Jim Wilson, 2010

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

Honoring Parents

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

The basic unit of civilization is the family. Jesus’ statement, “Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst” describes a family. That is the basic assembly.

The family is the basic church. The father is the pastor.

We are to honor our parents. This is quoted in Ephesians 6:1-2. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise.” Honoring in this instance is obeying. There is a promise attached to it: you will live long on the earth.

We all have parents. They might not be Christians; they might not be alive; they might be divorced several times. They might not be good parents. We are to honor them, not because they are honorable, but because they are our parents. Respect has nothing to do with the person respected. He does not need to be respectable at all. Respect has to do with the respecter.

 

Written in 2015.

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

Not Intellect, but Obedience

"If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own" (John 7:17).

The golden rule for understanding spirituality is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience. If things are dark to me, then I may be sure there is something I will not do. Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance; spiritual darkness comes because [there is] something I do not intend to obey.

-       - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22).

 

Compiled August 1991.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the 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

Six Things the Lord Hates

“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Let's look at these things the Lord hates again.

Arrogance is number one on the list. God is concerned about highself-esteem. “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” (Romans 12:3).

Lying is numbers two and six. "A lying tongue" is speaking of a habitual liar. "A false witness" is perjury—lying under oath.

Murder of innocent people is number three. This murder is a special kind of murder, including abortion.

Premeditated evil is number four. Immediate, unpremeditated evil is number five.

Sowing discord among brothers is number seven. Although these are all very common today, it is the last I would like to draw to your attention. Stirring up dissension may be unintentional, or it may be the result of gossip. It is the cause of church splits, family fights, and unhappy communities. It is communication made up of lies, half-truths, and innuendoes, and it is communicated about people instead of to the people.

 

Written September 1994.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the 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

Meeting the Conditions for Harvest

There are promises in the Bible which are conditional. When we do not receive the thing promised we often come to false conclusions. It does not occur to us that we have not met the conditions of the promise. Yet this is the most obvious explanation.

For example, “For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:37,38). 

If we do not reap we conclude that we are sowers. This is a false conclusion. The Lord clearly said, “I sent you to reap.” If we were sowers we would also be reapers, as the following true statements from the Word indicate.

“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). We can add a legitimate extension to this: “He who sows nothing will also reap nothing.” If we reap nothing it is not because we are sowers but because we are not sowers. The harvest is in direct proportion to the amount sown.

The harvest is of the same kind as that sown. “For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:8).

The harvest depends on how we sow: “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! He that goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm 126: 5,6).

Of these passages in context only the first is talking about evangelism. The second is about giving money, the third on character, and the fourth probably is about sowing real seed. But in every case the harvest and the reaping are the normal consequences of sowing and the passage of time.

“A sower went out to sow” (Mark 4:3). Much of the seed fell on poor ground and never came to harvest, it is for one or more of the following reasons:

1)    We have sown and are now waiting with patience to the time of harvest.

2)    We have not sown.

3)    We have sown the wrong kind of seed.

4)    We have sown sparingly, and all of it fell on poor ground.

5)    We have sown, the harvest is ripe, and we refuse to reap.

The first is the only legitimate position; the rest are tragic.

Written in 2013.

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

The Cure for Loneliness

Everyone has experienced loneliness to some degree sometime in life. ad yet, for many, loneliness is not an occasional problem but a characteristic of their lives.

It begins early. As children, they are shuttled off to daycare centers. They don’t know if they are loved and accepted by their parents. The time that they do spend with their parents reinforces this impression.

As they grow, the need for love and affection doesn’t go away—it grows with them. The longer this need is unmet, the surer it is that they will seek to meet it elsewhere. One of the first places they go is to the opposite sex. This results in the loneliness of an unhappy marriage, or the loneliness of promiscuity.

When people are lonely, it is amazing what kind of company they will seek. For some, their companions are two-dimensional. Many seek a friend in the electric chatterbox or online. Some attempt to smoke their loneliness out by getting high…while others prefer the method of attempting to drown it in alcohol.

None of these options can be successful. This is because, ultimately, loneliness an only be removed by establishing a relationship with God the Father.

What does the Bible say on this subject? When someone becomes a Christian, he or she immediately enters into a relationship with the Father that swallows up loneliness. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:15-16).

Even the best human parents cannot meet all our needs. But the Father in heaven can help us build a truly satisfying relationship with him. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). He also promised, “‘If a man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this He meant the Spirit, whom whose who believed in Him were later to receive” (John 7:37-39). Jesus promises to give you His Spirit and lead you to His Father.

This is how you can receive this promise:

1) You must turn away from all your sin. You should have no regret about leaving your old life behind.

2) Acknowledge that Jesus Christ died and rose form the grave for you. When Jesus died, your old sinful nature was crucified with Him.

3) Give yourself to Him lock, stock, and barrel. This means giving all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.

4) Thank Him for accepting you into His life.

5) Begin to walk in the light of His lordship. Read your Bible. Pray constantly. Talk to others about your new life. Fellowship with other Christians regularly.

Jim Wilson

If you are a Christian and would like more help with overcoming loneliness, we recommend Elisabeth Elliot’s book The Path ofLoneliness.

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

Repentance for All

 

“‘What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?’ ‘The first,’ they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him’” (Matthew 21:28-32).

Jesus here is not teaching the merits of delayed obedience. He is teaching repentance for both the person who initially refused and the one who promised to obey. It seems to be easier, however, for those who know they are disobedient to repent than for those who have promised to obey. That is because of the relative worldly values of righteousness between Pharisees and prostitutes.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the To the 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.

Written October 1983.

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