COASTING INTO HEAVEN?

"Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'" (John 5:8, NKJ).
I once heard a parable that said the Christian journey is like driving in a car on the way to heaven. As I'm traveling along, I pick up a hitchhiker who ends up being Jesus. But as we journey on together, I'm still at the wheel and He's in the passenger seat. Now He offers to drive for me, but the car is new and I'm not sure about letting this 'stranger' take over. As a result, I'm almost run over by a semi-truck, and shooting across several lines of traffic, I end up in a ditch. 

Several more mishaps later, I find myself banged up, bewildered and exhausted. Then Jesus places a comforting hand on my shoulder and asks again, "Can I drive?" The parable ends with Jesus at the wheel and blissfully we coast into heaven.

But is that what the Christian journey is really like? Is this parable a safe description of the Living Way? Why not turn from this man-made parable to follow Jesus on the streets of Jerusalem and see how He delivers us from our sins. 

It was a quiet Sabbath afternoon when Jesus found a paralytic. He laid listlessly on a mat, a helpless cripple, waiting to be healed. "At certain seasons the waters of [Bethesda] were agitated, and it was commonly believed that this was the result of supernatural power, and that whoever first after the troubling of the pool stepped into the waters, would be healed of whatever disease he had. Hundreds of sufferers visited the place; but so great was the crowd when the water was troubled that they rushed forward, trampling underfoot men, women, and children, weaker than themselves. Many could not get near the pool. Many who had succeeded in reaching it died upon its brink. Shelters had been erected about the place, that the sick might be protected from the heat by day and the chilliness of the night. There were some who spent the night in these porches, creeping to the edge of the pool day after day, in the vain hope of relief" (Desire of Ages, pg. 201). The paralytic was one of them.

And he was the worst case that Jesus saw. For 38 years he had been crippled, largely due to his own lifestyle and poor decisions. Most people back then looked upon disease as a judgment of God, so he was more than just a common paralytic. He was considered a very great sinner. As you might expect, he was all alone, bearing his misery of both physical and spiritual disease. And yet, for 38 years, he hoped and prayed that he would find relief in the waters of Bethesda. But how could he reach the pool when he was paralyzed and he had no friend to help him? In spite of it all, he pressed on, trying his utmost to reach the water's edge. But it was always in vain. Someone stronger would always get there before him and he would somehow drag himself back to his shelter, undoubtedly in great despair. 

But one day, he looked into the eyes of Jesus and saw compassion written there. And then he heard a most amazing question. Jesus said, "Do you want to be made well?" Why would Jesus ask such a ludicrous question? It sounds so strange to ask a paralytic if he wanted to get better. But before Jesus can do anything for us, He must have our permission. He will not force His way into our lives. So He gently asked, "Do you want to be made well?"

That question immediately grabbed the attention of the paralytic. Perhaps he thought Jesus was offering to carry him to the water's edge. But he also knew how infrequently the waters of the pool were stirred. So he turned away, saying, "while I am coming, another steps down before me."

But his answer didn't stop Jesus. He simply said, "Rise, take up your bed and walk" (John 5:8). Now with just a word or a thought, Jesus might have said, "Be well" or "Be healed." And it could have happened in a moment or a blink of the eye. But Jesus does nothing without our cooperation. As Christ traveled from town to town, many never knew His healing power because they never exercised faith in Him. He could do nothing in Nazareth because they looked at him and saw only a man, the son of Joseph.  So the Savior did not heal the paralytic by some kind of cruise control--where Jesus did all the work and the man did nothing.

Jesus told the paralytic, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." Now the man might have reasoned, "If you will heal me, then I will get up." But he didn't. There was no struggle in his mind. He heard the words of Christ and immediately chose to act on them. He trusted in what Jesus would do. 

God's part in this miracle was infinitely greater than the paralytic's part. But Jesus would not do for the paralytic what God expected him to do. Jesus says, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15). But He won't do the choosing for us. We must make up our own mind to turn away from sin or to say no to temptation. And Jesus will not stand for us anymore than He could stand for the paralytic. No, we must choose for ourselves to do what God says, believing He will provide the power that brings us life and victory.

And that is what happened to the paralytic. His faith grabbed hold of the Savior's words. And he chose to do exactly what Jesus said. And as he made that choice, as he made an effort to rise up and walk, God poured life into every nerve and muscle. And that crippled man stood up on his own two feet! 

"Jesus had given him no assurance of divine help. The man might have stopped to doubt, and lost his one chance of healing. But he believed Christ's word, and in acting upon it he received strength" (Desire of Ages, pg. 203). God worked and man worked, and because they worked together, the paralytic was restored to perfect health. 

The same is true on our journey with Jesus. We can no more live a Christian life on our own than the paralytic could jump into the pool of Bethesda. We are paralyzed by the sin that lies deep in our hearts. It is an enslaving power! So we have no strength to be like Jesus or follow Him in the Living Way. We need to be healed just as much as the paralytic did. 

And Jesus is standing over us, telling us in the same way, "Rise up and follow Me. Don't wait for Me to do it for you. You must grab a hold of My Word in faith. You must believe that I make you whole. And then, move forward, doing exactly what I tell you to do. You must use your will to obey just as much as when you chose Me as Savior and Lord." And just like the paralytic, as you begin to move, as you decide to follow Jesus, He will give you His Holy Spirit and you'll have all the strength you need to obey. All His biddings will be your enablings. But you must do your part for God to do His.

"To make God's grace our own, we must act our part. The Lord does not propose to perform for us either the willing or the doing. His grace is given to work in us to will and to do [i.e. to choose and obey], but never as a substitute for our effort. Our souls are to be aroused to cooperate" (God's Amazing Grace, pg. 111). 

Temptations will come our way as we walk on this journey with Jesus, but we can resist every one; we can say 'no' whenever the devil comes knocking at our door. We can say as Jesus did, "Get thee behind me, Satan!"  For Christ has promised, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:8). Christ is ready to send his army of angels to fight the battle with you, to empower you to use the whole armor of God so that you may withstand every onslaught of the hosts of darkness. But He can't give you victory unless you're engaged in the battle. 

There's no 'cruise control' in the warfare between good and evil. Christ says, strap on your armor. Take the sword of the Spirit and move forward in My name, for I am with you. "I will never leave you or forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus wants us to know that we are in the fight together! 

"The work of gaining salvation is one of co-partnership, a joint operation [between you and Christ Jesus]" (Acts of the Apostles, pg. 482). We can't do it alone. But Jesus won't' do it by Himself. "God works and man works. Resistance of temptation must come from man, who must draw his power from God" (ibid). And as we work together, uniting our effort with Christ, we will have the victory. And we'll march into the heavenly city, not through cruise control or coasting in neutral, but controlled by the Holy Spirit and working in full cooperation with Him. 

GOD'S PART is to draw me by love and kindness (John 12:32). 
MY PART is to respond to His love and seek to know Him by Bible study and prayer (Matthew 11:28; John 5:39; Jeremiah 29:13).

GOD'S PART is to convict me of my sin (John 16:8)
MY PART is to admit I am a sinner in need of God's grace (Luke 18:13).

GOD'S PART is to give me the gift of repentance (Acts 5:31).
MY PART is to confess my sins, without blaming others (1 John 1:9).

GOD'S PART is to forgive me and cleanse me of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
MY PART is to accept His forgiveness and believe that I am clean and whole (John 20:31).

GOD'S PART is to give me power to obey and to keep His holy Law (Philippians 4:13).
MY PART is to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

GOD'S PART is to give me the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
MY PART is to bear fruit by putting God's Word into action (John 15:4,8).

GOD'S PART is to alert me when I am tempted so I can turn to Him for help (1 Corinthians 10:13).
MY PART is to submit to God and resist the devil through His power, thus gaining the victory (James 4:7,8).

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?

"To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood" (Revelation 1:5).

Every morning, I was dragged out of bed by the relentless song, "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning." It came from a mantel clock that my Aunt Ronnie gave to my sister and me. Aunt Ronnie had gone on a European tour and saw this lovely clock, hand-painted in Switzerland. It didn't have the usual clanging mechanism, so common in alarm clocks. Instead it played this little song.

For a long time, it worked pretty well. I woke up with a start every time it played. It wasn't a jarring sound; in fact, it sounded like an expensive music box. But it infiltrated the silence in our room and I immediately bounded out of bed to turn it off. Now somewhere along the way, I got used to the clock and it took me longer to drag myself out of bed. Eventually, I didn't respond at all. I slept right through the song and blissfully slept in when I should've been getting ready for school. So  naturally, my mom bought me a new alarm clock because I wasn't sensitive to the old one anymore.

I certainly don't want that to happen in my relationship with God! I want to remain sensitive, so I can hear Him plainly when He speaks to me. I don't want to go into some 'snooze' mode and turn off the Spirit's voice. I need to be awake to my real condition!

 The work of the Holy Spirit is to sound the alarm--to convict me of my sin and my desperate need of cleansing. In His still small voice, He points out my sin so I can turn to Jesus, where I  find reconciliation and victory. But I can silence His voice to my soul just as  easily as I can sleep through an alarm. I can become so de-sensitized to sin that I feel secure in Christ even though we may not be walking together anymore.

It could happen to me just as it once happened to King Saul. God had told him, "Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have" (1 Samuel 15:2). With 210,000 men, Saul bravely led the army and wiped out the Amalekites "from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt" (vs. 7). But he spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites, and the best of their herds. Really, he kept back everything that was good, being "unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless...they utterly destroyed" (vs. 9).  

What really amazes me  about this story is that Saul thought he was doing exactly what God said! Maybe because he did almost everything God said. And he didn't think it would matter if he wasn't so particular about every point in God's directions. Who knows how he justified this neglect in his own mind. But the reality is--one justification soon leads to another. And when Samuel the prophet failed to show up to offer sacrifice, Saul took matters into his own hands again and did it himself. 

When Samuel finally ended up on the scene, Saul approached him with incredible confidence--blinded confidence--and said, "Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord!" (1 Samuel 15:13) How could anyone be so blind? Were God's directions that unclear that Saul couldn't understand what was expected? God had spoken in the plainest way! It was so simple that even a five year old would have known what He meant.  God said, "Go, attack, and destroy everything." 3 simple things.

But pride blinded the king. "This victory over the Amalekites was the most brilliant victory that Saul had ever gained, and it served to rekindle the pride of heart that was his greatest peril. The divine edict devoting the enemies of God to utter destruction was but partially fulfilled. Ambitious to heighten the honor of his triumphal return by the presence of a royal captive, Saul ventured to imitate the customs of the nations around him and spared Agag, the fierce and warlike king of the Amalekites. The people reserved for themselves the finest of the flocks, herds, and beasts of burden, excusing their sin on the ground that the cattle were reserved to be offered as sacrifices to the Lord.  It was their purpose, however, to use these merely as a substitute, to save their own cattle." (Patriarchs and Prophets, pg. 629). So, pride on the part of the king and selfishness on the part of the soldiers led them to excuse or justify what they failed to do.

Excusing sin so blinded Saul that he could face a prophet, a messenger of God, and say without any qualms that he'd performed the commandment of the Lord! Incredible blindness! I wish I could have asked him, "What do you think sin is?" It's a question we really need to understand in our journey with Jesus, so we don't end up on the slippery slope that leads to destruction. Because the sad fact of this story is: Saul lost his salvation because he justified sin. One sin led to another and still another. Saul continually resisted the voice of God until he couldn't hear Him anymore! The alarm clock wasn't broken, but Saul was de-sensitized to it.

So it matters what I think sin is. What you think sin is. If our view of sin is skewed, then our whole view of salvation will be too. It will be distorted and have no saving value in our lives. It will change in our mind, at least, why Jesus died on Calvary's cross. It will determine why we even want Jesus in our lives. And it will greatly impact how we choose to live as a Christian. 

We're living in the end times when every wind of doctrine is blowing. Satan is working overtime to break down the pillars of Christianity that hold us to Jesus and keep us faithful to the end. The devil never comes out in the open for an all-out attack. He's never worked that way. Instead, he blends, ever so artfully, truth with error. He markets it through charismatic speakers, who often manipulate our emotions and captivate us with their smooth words or  funny jokes or  novel illustrations. It puts us off guard so we swallow whatever they say--hook, line and sinker--not merely the truth alone, but also the error. We take it all in.

Lately, the devil has been making great inroads into Christianity by redefining the key pillars of salvation. He uses our language--like spiritual, gospel, salvation, etc. He uses the same words, but they mean something far different than what we find in the Scriptures. Recently, I heard a well-known preacher do this in describing what sin is. He said, it's  merely a broken relationship with God--nothing more, nothing less. Now, I wouldn't object if he said this was one aspect of sin. But to limit it to merely a broken relationship is to minimize what it really is. Because if that's all it encompasses, then why did Jesus have to die? Couldn't He just come down to earth and show us how to restore our relationship? How to pray? How to have a vibrant devotional life? How to share our faith with others? Maybe if He just gave us a crash course on intimacy with God, we'd be okay and He wouldn't have to give His life to save us!

But what broke this relationship in the first place? To answer that, we need to examine another aspect of the sin problem. For if we go back far enough, we'll see that sin began in the war between Christ and Satan, in the Cosmic Conflict between good and evil.  Before Genesis 1 ever happened, Lucifer rebelled against God and His government. The Lord had given him the highest position of all the angels. He stood day and night in the very presence of God! No one was closer to the Father than Lucifer, except Christ Himself. The Bible says, Lucifer was the "seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty" (Ezekiel 28:12). He was perfect in every way. And yet, it wasn't enough for Lucifer! He wanted more! Not more of God's love and holiness, but more of His power! He wanted to sit on God's throne all by himself. So he said, "I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:!4). 

Later, when he brought his rebellion down to our planet, he deceived Eve with that same insidious poison--that she could be like God--not in terms of His character, but to have His power. Power for herself! And because he convinced her that God was somehow withholding something good from her, she believed what he said. And she took the forbidden fruit that God said not to touch and she ate it. She later gave some to Adam and he joined the rebellion. 

The story of man's fall in the garden points out only too well that sin is a God-defying attitude where we assert our independence and do what we want, irrespective of what God says. And this attitude is what we see throughout Scripture. As the Bible says, "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4, KJV). It means disregarding God's will and replacing it with what I want for myself. 

The history of Saul is only one example of the sinner choosing to be his or her own boss--or we might even say his or her own God. And this is what fractured or severed our relationship with Jesus. 

Sin is not simply a relational problem. It's not just that I fail to spend time with Jesus every day. It's not just that I don't love Him. It's an act of rebellion against the law of God. This law reveals who God is and what He expects from His children of grace. "God is love" (1 John 4:8). And that's exactly how His Law is summarized. This law couldn't be changed anymore than we could change God. So when man broke it--by disobeying God's commandment in the garden of Eden--man's relationship could only be restored through death. Because the terms of the broken law is that someone had to die. God says, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) And Jesus chose to do that for us. 

The death of Jesus on Calvary's cross draws me into a intimate relationship with Him. His love for me is displayed there because He took my punishment. He paid the price for my sins, for my rebellion against the God of heaven, for defying His Lordship in my life and breaking His Law of love. Without His death, I will remain dead in my sins. I will be lost without Christ's saving blood! 

And the blood of the cross speaks volumes to me about what I have done to my Savior! It shows me the utter ugliness of sin. It's not merely that we're not getting together every day. My sins are more personal that that! I am striking Jesus in the face when I insist on my own way, when I lose my temper, when I lie my way out of something that I messed up on, when I gossip about a neighbor. My sins crucified the Lord of Glory! THAT to me is the most graphic definition of what sin is.

But if I walk away from the cross and turn from the 10 Commandments (which God wrote with His own finger), how will I know what sin is? I can define it anyway that I want! But the life stories of people in the Bible give a much broader definition of the makeup of sin and what it does to my relationship with Jesus. It's not a simple one sentence definition. It's much broader than even what I'm sharing today. And unless I understand the full scope of what sin is, I can easily follow in the footsteps of people like Saul and think I'm obeying the commandment of the Lord when I'm really rebelling and sinning against Him.

So, if you're asking yourself, "What's wrong with that?"  I hope you'll remember Saul and my quiet alarm clock. Please go to Calvary if you want to see the nature of sin and what it really costs. And kneel before the cross, knowing that your sins put Jesus up there. If we keep looking at our Lord's bloody sacrifice, we'll see ourselves as we truly are and sin for what it really is. And as long as we don't resist, we'll be drawn to the blessed Savior. And His love will change our lives. 

My Prayer
Dear Father, please keep me more sensitive to Your Word. When Your Spirit speaks to my heart, help me to obey You quickly. Give me Your gift of repentance that I may turn from my sins. Open my eyes so I can see how ugly they truly are. Keep my heart tender so nothing will keep Me from following You. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.

WHY LIFE IS UNFAIR

When little children are caught in the cross-fire of a madman, our hearts are crushed and we cry out "Enough!" We've seen too much bloodshed on our streets. We've suffered too much pain and loss. Why should disease and death stalk us at every step? It seems like we're in the middle of a war! Actually, if we could look behind the scenes, we'd discover this is exactly where we are. We're entangled in a cosmic conflict, waged between the greatest superpowers of all time. And we are caught in the middle.

Where did this cosmic conflict get started?
"How are you fallen from _____, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!" (Isaiah 14:12)

The greatest mystery of the universe is how could sin begin in a perfect world? In heaven itself? The answer lies at the heart of the cosmic conflict.

Who is responsible for this war?
"You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you...You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, til _____ was found  in you" (Ezekiel 28:14,15).

God had poured His richest blessings upon the angel Lucifer. Wisdom, beauty, leadership, everything to make His angel perfect. Of all the angels, no one was closer to God. He stood in God's presence, leader of the heavenly hosts. But somehow this just wasn't enough. He wanted more, and because he couldn't have it, he initiated a rebellion that brought sin and sickness to our world. 

How did sin enter heaven?
"You were the seal of perfection, full of _____ and _____" (Ezekiel 28:12,13).
"Your heart was _____ up because of your beauty" (Ezekiel 28:17).
"You said in your heart, _____ will ascend into heaven...I will be like the _____  _____" (Isaiah 14:13,14).

We really can't explain it, but somehow Lucifer's thoughts turned from praising God to dwelling upon himself. Instead of thanking the Lord for His rich blessings, Lucifer thought God had nothing to do with his wisdom and beauty. His pride led to discontent and eventually to lusting for God's power and glory. The more he thought about it, the more he believed he should be in God's place. He should be ruler of heaven and earth.

What impact did Lucifer's sin have in heaven?
"And _____ broke out in heaven" (Revelation 12:7-9).

The seeds of rebellion that surfaced in Lucifer's mind eventually spread throughout heaven. Very deceitfully, he raised questions and doubts that turned 1/3 of the angels against God. At length, there was a show-down between Christ and Lucifer (who had now become "Satan," the enemy of God). The Bible also calls him a dragon. And "the dragon was cast out [of heaven] called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Revelation 12:9).

Why didn't God get rid of the devil and all his angels?
"The Lord is good to _____ and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9).
"For My _____ are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8).

God could have ended Satan's life on the spot. But His infinite love and wisdom knew that wasn't the right way. If He'd destroyed Satan right then, too many questions would have remained in the minds of the angels. They didn't fully understand the nature of Satan's rebellion or the extent of his charges against God. They needed more time to see for themselves what the devil was really like. God knew if he got rid of Satan, His angels might continue to serve Him, but it would be from fear rather than from love. So the Lord gave Satan time to reveal himself to all and for everyone to understand the nature of the cosmic conflict. Only then, could we make an intelligent choice in whom we should follow.

How did Satan involve us in the cosmic conflict?
"Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will _____ surely die!' For God knows in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like _____ , knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:1-6).

Satan brought his rebellion down to this earth. Disguising himself as a talking snake, he tempted Eve at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Previously, God had given clear instruction that Adam and Eve could eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden, except from this one. He further said, if they ate from this tree, they would die. But one day, Eve wandered from her husband's side and came face to face with the devil (in the form of a snake). He suggested that God was withholding something good from her by not allowing them to eat from this tree. He assured her that they wouldn't 'surely die,' a bold lie, and totally opposite to what God had told them. Whose word would she trust? Unfortunately, both Adam and Eve chose the serpent. Eve was deceived and believed Satan's lies. Adam understood what had happened, but could not bear the thought that he would be separated from his wife. So he too took the fruit and ate. How the devil must have laughed! His plan had worked. He now had this world under his thumb.

How did Adam and Eve's sin change their relationship with God?
"I heard Your voice in the garden and I was _____ because I was naked, and I hid myself" (Genesis 3:8-10).
"And you, who once were alienated and _____ in your mind by wicked works" (Colossians 1:21).

As soon as the guilty pair ate from the forbidden fruit, their hearts and minds were changed. Their eyes were opened, just as the serpent said, and they knew what evil was. For fear and guilt overwhelmed them and they ran from Jesus when they heard His voice in the garden. Immediately, their relationship was damaged. And so was their relationship with one another. When Jesus asked, "Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?" (Genesis 3:11), Adam didn't take responsibility for what he'd done. Instead he pointed to his wife and blamed it on her. And ultimately, he blamed God, for He was the One who gave Eve to him as a wife! "The woman," he said, "whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12). So, even their relationship with God was severed. And ever since that day, we have inherited the same problems. We are alienated from God because of sin. But we aren't abandoned by God. For Jesus "has reconciled [us] in the body of His flesh through death" that He might "present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight" (Colossians 1:22). 

How does Jesus warn us about the devil?
"He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from  his own resources, for he is a _____ and the father of it" (John 8:43,44).
"The _____ of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down" (Revelation 12:10).

The worst thing that can ever happen in a war is to convince the army that the enemy doesn't exist. But Jesus has warned us ahead of time. He has ripped the mask off the devil, the great deceiver, so that you and I will be on guard and not be fooled by any of his traps.

What does Satan use to try and deceive us?
"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders and with all unrighteous _____ among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:9,10).

Satan fights dirty. He will pull out every stop in order to deceive us and lure us into sin. He will use half-truths, misquoting the Bible, persecution, accusations, even miracles. Whatever it takes to break our hold on God or to mistrust what He says, Satan will do it. And he'll do it so imperceptibly sometimes, that we won't be even aware that we're falling into a trap. So Jesus says, Keep your eyes open. Watch out for his tactics and you will be safe.

BEWARE OF SATAN'S TRAPS

He deceives and persecutes God's people (Revelation 12:9,13)
He falsely accuses us before God (Revelation 12:10)
He is a murderer and a liar (John 8:44)
He misquotes the Bible (Matthew 4:5,6)
He brings disease and trials upon us (Job 2:7)
He makes war with God's people (Revelation 12:17)
He works miracles before our eyes (Revelation 16:13,14)
He will impersonate religious leaders (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)