Renovation

Matt 9:14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." 18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live." 19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. 20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. 23 When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. 25 But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went out into all that land. 27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it." 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. 32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!" 34 But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons." 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

When John the Baptist’s disciples come to Jesus for instruction, they bring a question of doctrinal distinction. “Why do You and your disciples not fast?”

How closely must ALL be observing Jesus’ ministry and followers? While it had always been the manner of those in religious circles to observe OTHERS for their correct conduct before God, Jesus was ushering in something quite new. His ministry would take place internally. This would be the basis of the New Covenant. This would necessitate a new way of worship. But the new, in this case, has more to do with restoring things to the way they had been intended to be by God in the first place.

The trouble is once people get used to doing things a certain way they become brittle, hard-hearted, and stiff-necked. They become old wineskins, and there is no way to produce change in their hearts because they refuse to accept the unknown over the known, and they are burst by the process.

-Pastor Bill

Rejection

Matthew 9:1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." 3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"--then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. 9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. 10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." 14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Remember the “in crowd?” Were you part of it?

At my high school, the ‘in-crowd’ consisted of the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the sort-of preppies that hung around with them. Unless you were one of them, you could not be part of them.

But there were other ‘in-crowds’ of their own making, designed to deal with the ‘in-crowd’ they couldn’t be part of. These were the greasers - who were the guys in shop class, the hippies, and the geeks.

But what if you were none of these? What if none of the labels applied to you? Did they then? Do they now?

Jesus came to teach us there are no labels in the eyes of God, and that the only “in-crowd” is the crowd going in to heaven. For the crowd going to heaven there are no labels or affiliations other than “saved by grace.” There is no white, or black, or red, or yellow, or cool, or geek, or religious, or cool or even un-cool. None of that matters. It also doesn’t matter if you’ve been rejected as being, “not one of those.”

Our greatest example is Jesus being rejected as, “not one of those.” He was an outsider from the onset of His ministry life. He was rejected by those with commercial interests because He wasn’t commercial. He was rejected by the religious leaders because He wasn’t religious. He was rejected by those who were popular because He didn’t seek popularity. He only sought to do God’s will, and that led Him to be rejected by the whole world.

-Pastor Bill

The Other Side

Matthew 8:23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" 26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" 28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine." 32 And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. 33 Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

Have you ever wondered, “What’s on the other side?”

It’s a reasonable question to ask about the unknown – but remember, for Jesus, there is no unknown. He is going to the other side of the Sea of Galilee for a reason.

It’s the same reason He came down from the mountain in the first place; to oppose the works of Satan. On the other side of the Galilee, the works of Satan are more pronounced, because he is unopposed by humanity there. In fact, humanity plays along with and plays into his plans for destruction.

It is notable how difficult it is to get to the other side in the first place. It is VERY notable who Jesus took with Him. It was the guys He had called to Himself already – the first of those who would come to be known as His ‘disciples.’ And they were already demonstrating the human frailties and weaknesses which have in part become known as the reason they were called. (That Jesus may demonstrate His power through and over human frailty.)

And so the storm comes. (Did Jesus not expect it?) And what fear the disciples show. Are they not with The One Who has just taught them, and healed the leper who came to Him, and healed the servant of the centurion of paralysis and torment without being near him, and healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and healed the demon-possessed, and all those who were brought to Him? And it must have been some storm - after all – these are fisherman who have seen many storms on the Sea of Galilee.

There is something Jesus has to prove in the hearts of His followers, even before they can be of use to Him in ministry, and that is that He has power over EVERYTHING. Not just over ailments and maladies, and unfortunate circumstances – but over all things in all of creation.

It is one thing to be in the boat with a great healer. It is something quite more than that to be in the boat with The Creator. “Peace, be still!”

And so it was. Do you get the point?

-Pastor Bill

Power Over Nature

Matthew 8:1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. 14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. 16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."

How is it, exactly, that Jesus may bear our infirmities? (As prophesied by Isaiah about how we may recognize His ministry – The ministry of The Messiah.)

In the first case, we recognize God desires above all else His Messiah BE RECOGNIZED. And so Jesus comes with clearly identifiable markers that anyone and everyone may see for themselves.

If they choose to look.

It still remains a choice for man. There is no denying that. Even in the face of astounding teaching and preaching, there would be some, and perhaps many who would reject Jesus as God-In-Flesh, because Jesus commands a change of the course of life.

Satan does everything in his power to keep us right where we are.

But then there is sickness. And affliction. And it becomes patently obvious man has no answers. Who Alone could bear our afflictions?

One of the great clues we may receive comes from asking: Where does sickness and affliction come from in the first place? Why do people get sick? What is the root cause?

And we see that just as Jesus promises to bear our SIN by faith, we now see quite literally and physically that He bears our sicknesses in His Body. Who is this Who even has power over creation?

-Pastor Bill

Who is Jesus to You?

Matt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

There are few things that have done greater harm to The Church down through the centuries than hypocrisy.

The impact of hypocrisy is everywhere. It causes so much damage because it goes against the will of God. In fact, if we were to define hypocrisy, we might say it is the space, (or distance,) that exists between God’s will for man, and man’s willingness to perform God’s will. Another way to describe a hypocrite might be to say he is a “fake.”

Since following God is by faith, that which is fake within The Church does great harm because our faith is in The Genuine Truth of God in Christ, and anything fake reeks in a place where faith in Truth must not only exist, but also be exemplified.

It also does so much harm because human beings are wired to spot a hypocrite from a mile away. “The church,” it is said, “is filled with hypocrites.”

That might sting a lot more if it were not true for all of life. The reality is all of life is filled with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is MORE prevalent outside the church than it is within. But hypocrites always look elsewhere for hypocrisy rather than themselves, and so they readily see it within The Church, because The Church presents itself as an institution of sincerity.

The root cause of hypocrisy in The Church has to do with ‘Lordship,’ (which could also be attributed to a LACK of genuine faith. How ironic it is to think of living your life according to fake faith.) The question is, “Do you KNOW Jesus?”

All kinds of people believe in the literal existence of the Son of God, and that He came to earth. The Bible tells us quite frankly that Satan believes in Jesus. Obviously, believing in the literal existence of Jesus is not enough. Being ‘saved’ means making Jesus not only your Savior, but your LORD. IF He truly is your Lord, than you will do what He says, because that defines ‘Lordship.’ (There is great promised blessing in DOING what Jesus says, likened to living your life upon a strong, solid foundation.)

Jesus defines His followers as those who do what He commands. PERIOD. These are the only ones He “knows.” Merely claiming you have done whatever you have done, “in the name of Jesus,” does not impress Him at all. He hears his name on the lips of men all the time, most often as a form of profanity.

-Pastor Bill

Popularity

Matt 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

When you take a look around and see everyone going your way, you are on the wrong road.

True, Biblical, Christianity will ALWAYS be unpopular. This is what Jesus is saying. Rest assured your choice to follow Jesus will always keep you in the smallest of minorities.

This is what makes this “road” so narrow and difficult to follow. Since opinion polls have such a dramatic impact on the decisions we make, choosing to go against all available demographic data will never be an easy decision. It will make you an outsider, and it will affect your life greatly.

Why do most refuse TRUE Christianity? That’s easy. It’s because true Biblical Christianity calls for following Christ - while DOING the things He does. There is a cost involved, and the greatest part of that cost may be popularity.

The less radical version, (which we may call ‘professing’ Christianity,) calls for far less, and is much more popular. It simply calls for “following” Christ, without defining what “following Christ” even means.

And that’s the real problem with the popular version of being a “Christian.” It isn’t anything like Christ, (which is what being a Christian means in the first place.) People who think they are following Christ don’t even really know what Christ stands for. They probably haven’t been told, and they haven’t bothered to find out. Unfortunately, they may not even know they need to.

You are not a Christian by attending a church, even if the church is very large and very full, and even if the church has been THE de-facto “church” for hundreds of years.

You are not a Christian by being an American, even though that is a very popular thing to believe. (It CAN be popular to BELIEVE you are a Christian – it will never be popular to KNOW you are one.)

The only way you will ever KNOW you are a Christian is by making a difficult choice. (An unpopular choice, even to ourselves.) It is not easy to make the choice to deny the self. It is not easy to choose against feeding fleshy desires and sensual lusts. It is not easy to deny our rights to anything – let alone everything.

But this is what Jesus calls for. Abject poverty in the ways of the world. Extreme unpopularity. Being born again. Life in Christ. Knowing Christ, and desiring His will and not our own. It is choosing against this world, and choosing for the kingdom of heaven. And it is the greatest life known to man, even if unpopular.

-Pastor Bill

The Mirror of Life

Matt 7:1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

After teaching us of God’s perspective on our lives, Jesus goes on to show us ourselves for ourselves, in ways that even we ourselves cannot deny. (Unless we lie.)

Just as there is no denying what we see of ourselves in a mirror, there is also no denying what the mirror of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit reveal to us about ourselves.

Sometimes we may imagine what we may be looking like, but when confronted by the truth of the mirror we are left with the whole truth and nothing but the truth. God’s Word, and in this case Jesus’ teaching, provide that invaluable truth-service for our lives.

One of our greatest blind-spots is how judgmental we are about others, and how forgiving we are of ourselves. This kind of behavior cannot continue in the church, because it will not continue in the kingdom of heaven.

In order to discourage judgmental behavior or thinking, Jesus informs us we will ourselves be judged by the measure we employ to judge others. If we judge according to mercy, we will be judged in mercy. If we judge according to righteousness, we will be judged according to righteousness.

Since we ourselves are so patently and obviously unrighteous, Jesus is making it plain that He discourages such behavior in the strongest possible way. Treat people in the way you yourself to be treated. This is radical, life-changing, and eternal.

-Pastor Bill