Monday, March 25, 2013

Relevant Teaching??

1Thessalonians 2:13 -  For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

Seems like relevance is a word being used the past couple weeks at church. I've mentioned time and again about how the Bible is relevant to today. Only thing is, it's not my quote! For those who know and take the time to know the Bible, we know relevance is everywhere. Our pastor, Terry Fischer at The Church in Wisconsin, said this one Sunday: I want to preach a very relevant subject...so I'm going to use the Bible! Oh, yes!

If we want to know what truth is we need to know God and we can find evidence of Him from Genesis to Revelation. From In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) to He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (Revelation 22:20-21).

I wrote the other day about Jesus being His own testimony...in the Word as the Word. The One who created the heavens and the earth, who came down from His throne and stepped into sinful mankind's world to show us who He was (and is and is to be) and that He would so lovingly redeem us if we would only believe, humbling Himself by becoming obedient to death--even death on a cross--enduring beatings, mocking, being spit upon, and piercing, all without complaint, without even one word to justify Himself...because He was not only the Son of God but God.

What's the relevance? That He, Jesus Christ, is the only true Way to salvation, righteousness, reconciliation once again with God our Father and the surety of eternal life. Oh, the relevance in that!

As Pastor Terry mentioned a couple Sundays ago, while the world was about their daily lives, doing what people do, Noah was about the only thing that, even if he didn't understand the why about what he was doing, he did anyway, in pure faith...he built an ark. Noah, like Jesus, was jeered by the multitude. Relevant? In today's world, yes. Anyone who wants to share the truth of Jesus and the Word of God gets jeered, or worse, persecuted. It is no longer politically correct to mention God's name in public or to see the signs of our faith.

These people are not focused on what God says, and will be like all those people clamoring to enter the ark when the rains come someday. They'll be pounding on the door for entry into security, hoping to be removed from their own torment just like those people while Noah and his family were in the safety of the ark.

Another blog awhile back was about the ark and the door. Jesus is that door. He is the safety we can cling to if we keep our hearts, eyes and minds focused on Him. He is at the doors to so many souls. He's knocking that they might receive Him. Receive Him that the security of eternal life would be so real and there will be no furnace of fire where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, or the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night...(Matthew 13:42, Revelation 14:11a). Imagine these people who did not listen to Noah, who mocked him as he built this huge boat, as he talked about the rain and flood to come.

Today this same story is relevant because it prophesies what it will be like in the last days when those who have heard Jesus knocking at their hearts but did not open their hearts to receive Him. What's the knocking? It's those preaching, teaching or discussing the message that seems like foolishness. Where is this God spoken of? How can we believe in something we can't see? Believing and receiving are action words. There is something you must first do in order to "get it."

John 12:48 - He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.





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