Pastoral Ponderings ~ Standing by Faith in Mercy and Grace

          I do not believe in using Mosaic Theology, which means taking many bits of scripture[1] and combining them together into a picture God never revealed (usually contradicting God’s revealed word). However, I do believe that God’s book interprets itself, so there are many times when our understanding of one piece of revelation increases as we shine it through the lens of another passage of scripture.

          This happened for me this morning. A couple of passages I had already been meditating upon came together with a third scripture in a way that called for a strong and faith-filled response. I believe this bigger picture is consistent with what is said in each of the three parts.

Praying according to the riches of God’s glory

          The first passage that has been my focus for a couple of weeks is a central part of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. The way Paul prayed, and the things he prayed for, where, “according to the riches of his glory.”[2]If all my praying is according to the riches of God’s glory, instead of according to anything I see with my eyes, believe with my mind, or feel in my soul, the things I ask for will be impossibly bigger than me. God is still able to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,” [3] so, when I pray based on the riches of God’s glory, I will pray for things my sarky self cannot even imagine.

          When I consider what we pray for according to the riches of God’s glory, I discover that Paul’s praying focused on these things: strength, our inner being, heart fellowship with Christ, and both the comprehension and experience of the love of Christ.[4]

          This means that, if we are going to pray that God “may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit,”[5] and we ask for this strength according to the riches of God’s glory, we are going to ask for strength we cannot even imagine in ourselves. We are going to ask for strength in the church that so many negative experiences would argue against, because our prayers are not according to experience, but according to the riches of God’s glory.

          When we pray according to the riches of God’s glory, our prayers for strength “in your inner being”[6] will not be in support of all the wrong beliefs and self-protection we see inside. Instead, we will pray that every promise for peace, rest, and freedom, in our Lord Jesus Christ will be fulfilled in our innermost being no matter how many layers of sin and self-protection must be blown to smithereens in the process.

          When we pray according to the riches of God’s glory “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,”[7]we ask God for the experience of fellowship with Jesus Christ in our hearts that far surpasses any experience of superficial fellowship we have ever known. We will pray for the faith that believes God for every description of fellowship with Jesus Christ, and keep praying according to the riches of God’s glory in giving us this heart-experience of Christ.

          When we pray that we “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth” of “the love of Christ,” and that we would “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,”[8]we do not pray God-limiting prayers based on heartbreaking experiences. Rather, we look at the riches of God’s glory in loving us, and pray accordingly. We ask for the fullest possible experience of the love of Christ, both in comprehending its infinite and eternal immensity, and in knowing this love personally in a way that far surpasses the limitations of knowledge.

         

Praying out of the mercy and grace of God

          Since it is Paul who told the Ephesian Church what he was praying for them, I found it particularly helpful what he said in his testimony. His initial experience of God was, “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”[9] From the very beginning of Paul’s relationship with God, everything was about “mercy” and “grace.”

          Mercy is withholding from us the judgment we deserve. When Paul referred to his past life of sin, he called himself, “the foremost” of sinners.[10]He described himself as, “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.”[11] When he discovered God’s hand upon him to save him from his sin, and then appoint him as an apostle in leadership of the church, he could see how God’s mercy withheld from him the incredible judgment he deserved.

          Grace is giving us blessing we do not deserve. Paul did not deserve to be saved. He did not deserve to be an apostle. He did not deserve to lead the church he had persecuted, or bear the name of the one he had blasphemed, or walk in fellowship with the Savior he had opposed. Nothing he had was deserved.

          When I connect these two things, that Paul’s whole life was about mercy and grace, and when he prayed it was according to the riches of God’s glory, I can see how prayer rises up to expect things from the riches of God’s glory for the very reason that we are not going to pray according to what we deserve, and we are not going to pray according to what we don’t deserve. God’s mercy calls us to look at the riches of God’s glory and pray in direct contradiction of whatever our sins and trespasses deserve, and God’s grace calls us to look up at the riches of God’s glory and pray for wonderful things we could never deserve.

          God’s mercy and grace are already according to the riches of his glory, so they add to the witnesses that encourage us to pray according to these riches, and to hold nothing back in our praying because we think we deserve less, or we can’t believe we could have more. The measure is the riches of God’s glory, and anyone who has felt the mercy and grace of God will pray accordingly.

The armor of God that answers our prayers for strength

          When we pray “to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”[12]along with all the corresponding requests for the inner-being experience of fellowship with Christ, immersed in the comprehension and experience of his love, we discover that God has a gift that comes out of the riches of his glory. It is called, “the whole armor of God.”[13]

          It is no accident that Paul’s teaching on the whole armor of God comes at the end of his letter in which he has prayed for the church “according to the riches of his glory.” The church is the “one new man”[14] that is also “a holy temple in the Lord… being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”[15]When Paul prayed for the church, he was praying for them as one body of believers, a group of people in which God lived by his Spirit.

          Paul also knew that the church was already under immense assault from false teachers presenting a different Jesus, and a different gospel. He knew that the world was inviting believers back to the pleasures of sin. And he knew that the arch enemy of the church, “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world,”[16] was unrelenting in his work to “steal and kill and destroy.”[17]

          In view of all this, both our identity as the church in Jesus Christ, and the constant attack of the devil with all his schemes, Paul not only described the whole armor of God, but he presented it to us in this letter. If we were to take the time to elaborate on each piece of this armor, we would find in the book of Ephesians the wonderful gifts of doctrine and exhortation that show us why and how to live out each portion of our protection.

          What I want to focus on in this post is that we must see the whole armor of God through the double lens of praying according to the riches of God’s glory, and praying out of an expression of God’s mercy and grace. Instead of limiting our prayers to what we see in the mirror, expecting so little because of how little we see in ourselves (or how much of ourselves we see in ourselves), we raise our prayers up to what we see in the riches of God’s glory.

          Instead of limiting our prayers to what we think we deserve because of how we are doing, or what we think we could never deserve because of how we are doing, we pray out of God’s mercy and grace. We deny what our sins and failures tell us we deserve, and we ask for things we could never deserve, because everything about our relationship with God is mercy and grace from beginning to end.

          When we add the whole armor of God to the picture, we EXPECT to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might,”[18] because we are coming to him in his mercy and grace and expecting from him what is according to the riches of his glory. We do not expect to fall just because of what we are like (that would be a denial of God’s mercy), and we do not expect little of God because of how little we are doing (which would be a denial of God’s grace). Rather, we pray for things that the riches of God’s glory would freely give us in mercy and grace.

          We must look at the whole armor of God as the gracious provision of mercy and grace to people who would never be treated as their sins deserve. In other words, when we know that EVERYTHING in our lives is based on mercy and grace, pouring out from the riches of God’s glory, we must absolutely expect to be a church that puts on the whole armor of God and takes our stand against the red dragon himself, all “rulers… authorities… cosmic powers over this present darkness… spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,” included.[19]

Protected in our practice of prayer

          As I write this, I am preparing for our church’s prayer meeting this evening, very conscious of our enemy’s efforts to shut down prayer by any means possible. I seek to encourage us all to have such a grasp of the riches of God’s glory, flowing freely into our lives in mercy and grace, and giving us the whole armor of God in which to live as the one new man in Jesus Christ, fully protected from all “the schemes of the devil.”[20] When we are “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication,”[21] we can be sure to see answers to our prayers that match what God’s glorious word has told us to expect.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] The word “scripture” refers to the written words of God’s book. It is a beautiful word to get to know as we stand in awe that God would communicate his infinite and eternal thoughts into words the human mind can understand and comprehend.

[2] Ephesians 3:16

[3] Ephesians 3:20

[4] Ephesians 3:14-19 is Paul’s prayer, with 3:20-21 his benediction.

[5] Ephesians 3:16

[6] Ephesians 3:16

[7] Ephesians 3:17

[8] Ephesians 3:18-19

[9] I Timothy 1:13-14

[10] I Timothy 1:15

[11] I Timothy 1:13

[12] Ephesians 3:16

[13] The whole armor of God is described in glorious detail in Ephesians 6:10-20, with the specific phrase in verses 11, and 13.

[14] Ephesians 2:15

[15] Ephesians 2:21-22

[16] Revelation 12:9

[17] John 10:10

[18] Ephesians 6:10

[19] Ephesians 6:12

[20] Ephesians 6:11

[21] Ephesians 6:18

Considerations ~ Trading our Bad News for Good

The gospel of Jesus Christ, the greatest news the world has ever heard, absolutely DENIES everything we have done to be righteous and good in our own sight, and calls us to DENY completely all our trust in ourselves that we are righteous and good (Luke 9:23). It also offers us the full righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, and calls us to RECEIVE it as a free gift, no good works involved (Romans 5:17; 6:23).

The gospel of Jesus Christ is bad news to anyone who wants to pave the way to heaven with their own works of righteousness. Its message to every “good” person is: IMPOSSIBLE!!!

However, to all who will cry out to the only true God, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13), there is the free gift of justification. We receive the mercy that withholds the judgment we deserve, and we receive the grace that pours into our hearts the faith and love we do not deserve (I Timothy 1:13-14).

The bottom line is that, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). The one who exalts himself/herself now, pretentiously telling God they are already too good to need the Savior he provided, will be humbled in the end with the hopelessness of Jesus’ glorious righteousness putting their pitiful attempt at goodness to utter and eternal shame.

On the other hand, the one who humbles himself/herself now, repenting of their sin, admitting their need for Jesus Christ, calling out to him, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30), will be lifted up from their sinful condition, and exalted to the place of sonship where they all, men and women alike, receive the full rights of sons (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:4-7).

The gospel’s denial of all our prideful attempts at good behavior is the best news any of us could hear because, once the gospel convinces us of the utterly hopeless condition that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), it can then grant us the wonderful gift of God’s grace that we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

In the end, when Jesus returns, all people will be divided into two groups. It will not be those who are good being rewarded while those who are bad are condemned. It will be those who trusted in their own goodness being condemned as the sinners they really are, and those who trusted in Jesus Christ being rewarded with “the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (I Peter 1:9).

         

It is no wonder that God’s word graciously proclaims, “‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2). Since Jesus has not yet returned, and you are still alive to read this, consider that it is God giving you one more invitation to reject your own righteousness/goodness as a “polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6), and to receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith in his name (Romans 4:5; Philippians 3:9). 

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

Songs For the Journey ~ "I Want to be Like Jesus"

I know that it is God's purpose and plan to make a people in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). This means he is presently working to transform us "into the same image" as Jesus Christ "from one degree of glory to another" (II Corinthians 3:18). 

While God will carry this work on to completion by his own initiative and effort (Philippians 1:6), he also works in us to give us the hunger and thirst to experience such righteousness as his grace provides (Matthew 5:6). 

This song is a sing-along expression of this desire to be like Jesus. No matter how much God must change us to make us like his Son (he knows this better than we could ever imagine), we can join his work by praying for the greatest experience of his work every day of our lives.

One day, we will be just like Jesus when we see him as he is (I John 3:2). In the meantime, we can pray for today's "degree of glory" to be fulfilled in our lives as fully as possible in our Lord Jesus Christ.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

Considerations ~ I Believe the Bible

I believe the Bible to be the written word of God because it is the only document in the world that completely explains every aspect of life without any contradiction within itself, or with anything in the world in which we live.

God chose to present his book to us through forty different men, breathed-out over a period of fifteen centuries, so that its cohesiveness could be explained only by divine authorship.

In this book, God told us of things that happened prior to the writing of the book, things that have consistently been validated by archeology and scientific testing. He also told us of things that would happen after the writing of his book, things that are also consistently validated by the witness of history.

Throughout the pages of this book are so many examples of prophecy proclaimed, and later fulfilled, that the intricacies and complexities of the descriptions leave no doubt that the same person spoke to the prophets as commanded the prophecies into their fulfillment.

In the present time alone, so many things are taking place as described in this book that was completed over nineteen centuries ago, that we not only see the foreknowledge of the author in seeing what would happen in the coming time, but the unarguable evidence of his ability to carry on to completion the good work he started in his church.

Because of this book’s perfection of thought, and its description of life in complete conformity to all we witness in the world around us, and its revelation of a Savior who “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25), the only fitting response to such a book is to “draw near to God through him,” meaning, to draw near to the God who wrote the book through faith in his Son, our Lord Jesus the Christ.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

Pastoral Ponderings ~ Removing Our Limits on the Limitless God

          For a couple of days I have been overwhelmed with the encouragement God is giving me from Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21. It began with the reminder that Paul prayed, “according to the riches of his glory” (vs 16). I suddenly realized that there are many ways we limit God in our praying because we do not look at the riches of his glory, but at sight-based experiences that argue against him. Clearly, God is at work to change our minds.

          As I have pondered why there is so little prayer in the church at all, let alone so little prayer that rises up to, “according to the riches of his glory,” I realize that one of the monstrous sight-based enemies of our prayers is past experience. When negative experiences have not been touched by the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they stand like pawns of the evil one, constantly arguing against the revelation of God’s word.

          The problem is that our experiences are sight-based. They are things we have experienced in life, along with all the corresponding negative thoughts and beliefs woven through those memories. We deny what God reveals in his word because something we have gone through, something we have seen with our own eyes, declares that God cannot be trusted.

          What stands out is that we can immediately turn from sight-based thinking to faith-based praying even for the help we need to get over the wrong beliefs associated with traumatic experiences. We can come into God’s word, even as broken and wounded children (God loves to come close to the broken and contrite heart, don’t you know[1]), and meditate on the riches of his glory. Every day, something will stand out to us about God and his glory that will give our faith exactly what it needs to pray accordingly.

          If any of us are not consistently praying “according to the riches of his glory,” what stands in the way? What thoughts come to mind when you read a Scripture of glorious promises and conclude not to pray according to what it reveals? When you think of God as a glorious Father who hears and answers the prayers of his children, what face comes to mind to deny such glorious truth?

          I am constantly reminded that God’s children do not walk by sight, but by faith.[2] Dwelling on past experiences make us sight-based, while dwelling on what is revealed in Scripture makes us faith based. After all, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”[3] When all we hear is what our old experiences tell us, we will continue walking by sight, and will never have the faith to believe God would do for us what is “according to the riches of his glory.”

          On the other hand, when we continually meditate on the word of Christ, the Scriptures, we hear the revelation of truth that builds up our faith. We grow in our faith that we can pray for things that are specifically revealed in Scripture.

          This morning, my meditation on these things brought me to consider how Paul’s past experiences filled him with prayers that were “according to the riches of his glory.” Paul’s past experience was that, “formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.”[4] If life with God truly was about good works, Paul had no hope.

          However, it was also Paul’s past experience that, “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”[5] Not only did Paul have a past of which he had much reason for guilt, shame, and fear, he also had a past in which the mercy and grace of God overflowed into his life.

          Paul knew that, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” and his testimony was that, of all the descriptions of living in sin, “I am the foremost.”[6] In other words, when he prayed “according to the riches of his glory,” it was an expression of a man who was once the foremost of sinners, but now a Christian, and an apostle among Christians, because Jesus came into the world to save him.

          Paul’s prayer were not limited by his sinful past, or by anyone’s sins against him, for the simple reason that his identity was now that of a man who was saved. He had “received mercy,” not the condemnation he deserved. He had experienced the grace of God overflowing into his life, giving him faith and love in Jesus Christ, things he could not have found on his own, and could not have earned through his attempts at good works.

          Paul’s testimony (and it is much richer and fuller than a short post could express), is that we pray “according to the riches of his glory,” not according to the painful experiences of our pasts. We do not need to wait until we “get over” our pasts, or take some long journey to freedom and maturity. We can pray about the condition of our souls, no matter how traumatized and messed-up we are, according to the riches of God’s glory and grace.

          One reason God’s word calls us to meet together as the church in devotion to prayer is because we often need the faith of other believers to help us in what we pray. I have regularly seen what happens when a group of people comes together after a long and tiring day, in the midst of a schedule that barely leaves time to think, let alone pray, and then start praying out of the thoughts and feelings that trouble their souls.

          Soon someone has prayed out of a Scripture the Spirit had reminded them about that week, and other people feel their faith rising up because of what they had heard of Jesus’ word. It seems as though heads clear of sarky (fleshly) negativity, and faith rises up to greet the smiling face of our heavenly Father. As faith rises up to see God as he is, we discover that there is a richness in his glory that spurs us on to pray things we hadn’t even imagined only hours, or minutes, earlier. What no one may have imagined praying on their own, takes flight in the prayers of the body of Christ.

          The conclusion for me today is simple: no matter what thoughts or feelings or beliefs are going through my head, I can turn my attention to revelations of the riches of God’s glory, and pray accordingly. God is not only honored when we pray according to what he is like (rather than the lies of past experiences), but he can now answer prayers we have only prayed because we focused on the riches of his glory. As we pray what is according to his good, acceptable, and perfect will,[7] he will most certainly answer our prayers.[8]

          It is no wonder Paul concluded what he prayed for “according to the riches of his glory,” with the beautiful expression:

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.^[9]  

          Now, that being true, let us pray accordingly.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

           

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[1] Psalm 34:18; 51:17; Isaiah 57:15

[2] II Corinthians 5:7

[3] Romans 10:17

[4] I Timothy 1:13

[5] I Timothy 1:13-14

[6] I Timothy 1:15

[7] Romans 12:2

[8] Luke 11:9-13; John 15:23; James 1:5

[9] Ephesians 3:20-21

Pastoral Pings ~ The Fellowship of the Christ-Centered and Spirit-Filled

          Let’s begin with an illustration. The life of our body requires attachment to our head, and breathing in oxygenated air. Without attachment to our head, the body has no control-center telling it what to do to live. Without oxygenated air, the body cannot do what the brain would direct. We need both the connection to the head, and the breathing in of oxygenated air, to enable us to live.

          In our eternal life, we must center on Christ the way our bodies are centered on our heads, and we must be filled with the Spirit in the way our bodies breathe in the air. Our blood stream is like our physical life, or our soul life. Without our attachment to Christ as our head, there is no means of directing our hearts how to pump blood throughout our lives. Without the Holy Spirit, we are dead in our trespasses and sins.[1] There is no oxygen going through our bloodstream. We are the zombies that are so popular these days.

          Eternal life is cohesive. Every part of what we have in salvation sticks and holds together as a unit. As we can look at the colors of the spectrum of light, knowing that all the colors are necessary to enjoy the cohesiveness of a bright, sunny day, so we can look at individual aspects of our new life while remembering that every part belongs to the whole.

          This morning this was emphasized in the necessity of being both Christ-centered and Spirit-filled at the same time, all the time. We can look at both of these individually, seeking to understand how each focus helps us in our relationship with God, but we can never think of having one without the other.  

          Christ-centered refers to a life that centers on Jesus Christ instead of the world, the flesh, or the devil. We do not see ourselves as the center of the universe, or of our daily lives; we see Jesus Christ as Lord, and every part of life only making sense, and only rising to its true potential, under his lordship.

          Spirit-filled identifies the necessity of being filled with Jesus’ Spirit rather than full of ourselves. It does not mean that we are not ourselves as the people God created, but that we know we do not become fully ourselves when we are full of ourselves, so to speak. It is when we are full of the Holy Spirit that we become what God created in his own image and likeness.

          The Fellowship of the Christ-centered and Spirit-filled speaks of the necessity of coming together with the rest of the body of Christ to live in the Christ-centered and Spirit-filled way. We cannot be truly Christ-centered without being part of the body of Christ that is attached to him as our head. We cannot be fully filled with the Spirit without being part of the body of Christ the Spirit is filling. Everything individual is found and understood only in the cohesiveness of the body of Christ that is Christ-centered and Spirit-filled.

          This means that we cannot be people-centered in our fellowship. A people-centered church is a contradiction. The church is a fellowship of people who are Christ-centered, all united in a faith in Christ that binds us together in him. As the best way to care for children is to be a home that centers on the leadership of the parents[2] rather than the immature and selfish whims of the children, so the best way to care for people in the church is to focus on Christ who is our head. Jesus will lead us in how to care for one another.

          This also means that we cannot be self-filled in our fellowship. Yes, we are to be fully engaged in the fellowship, enjoying every part of what we have in each other as the household of God. However, the fruit of joy only grows in the hearts of God’s people, and in the fellowship of the assemblies, when the churches deny themselves, their dependence on the selfish flesh (or sark), and are filled with the Holy Spirit instead. As we are filled with the Spirit, we find ourselves fully alive in God’s Son, fully aware of the goodness and grace of God, fully satisfied and joyful in him.

          A people-centered, self-filled congregation is not only going to destroy itself from within, but it is also going to be a miserable place to be. If everyone looks at everyone else as a necessary means-to-an-end, no one will ever be satisfied because no one else is cooperating in making our own selves happy.

          I have seen this with our daycare children when they all have their own idea of what game to play. They can only envision being happy if all the other kids want to play their game. The problem is, that all of them want all the others to stop wanting whatever game suggestion they have presented, and only want what they themselves desire. They are not happy little children when they think their way is the only way, and must convince everyone else to do things that one way.

          In the church, our true selves come alive in Christ when we deny our sarky selves, our selfish flesh. We come alive to our true selves when we are centered on Christ, seeking our ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction from him instead of each other. When Jesus’ Spirit also fills us as we center on Christ, we come to know what it means to have fellowship with our heavenly Father as his beloved children. In such Christ-centered and Spirit-filled fellowship, all the beloved children feel loved by one another as well.

          While there is lots that could be said about sharing in the fellowship of the Christ-centered and Spirit-filled church, I hope you will consider how necessary it is to hunger and thirst for both of these in our own individual lives as members of the body of Christ, and whatever expressions of the body of Christ we are part of. If we will begin by praying that God would make this real in us and our churches, we will see whatever he is working in us to will and to work these things that are his good  pleasure, and will know how to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.[3] The only thing left will be to join God in whatever he is doing.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] Ephesians 2:1-3

[2] This relationship is beautifully pictured in Ephesians 5:15-6:4 (Yes, the Spirit-filled life of the church in vss 15-21 is necessary as the framework in which husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church, and wives submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ. Many marriages struggle to live by the pattern for marriage because the church they are in is not living by the pattern for the church).

[3] Philippians 2:12-13

Pastoral Pings ~ The Father’s Gift to His Dying Son

          This morning, I was fascinated by the rich and amazing conversation between a dying sinner and a dying Savior.

          When Jesus was crucified, two criminals were also crucified, one on each side of him.[1] At first they both joined in the mocking against him, challenging him to prove he was the Son of God by coming down from the cross, and releasing them as well.[2]

          However, one of the criminals had a significant change of heart, and, after a while, presented a request to Jesus. He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”[3]

          So, let’s get this straight: Jesus was dying by crucifixion, and this convicted criminal was dying by crucifixion, but the dying criminal asked Jesus to remember him whenever it would be that Jesus came into his kingdom. This meant that he believed Jesus did have a kingdom, that he would come into his kingdom after his death, and that dead criminals might have opportunity to be part of whatever amazing thing Jesus could do for him.

          Jesus’ reply to the criminal was, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”[4] In spite of what all the Romans and Religians had declared in nailing Jesus to the cross, and in spite of the fact that Jesus was dying, he declared that the thing he was about to say was the one thing that was true.

          Jesus then announced that he would do far more than the dying criminal could have asked or imagined.[5] The man asked Jesus to remember him; Jesus said the man would be with him. The criminal wanted this whenever Jesus would come into his kingdom; Jesus would give it to him that very day. This would be far beyond remembering; it would be a forgiven sinner joining his Savior in Paradise.

          What stood out to me so strongly this morning was that this was not only a wonderful gift to a dying man, that he could experience salvation right on the doorstep of eternity. It was also an amazing gift from God the Father to God the Son.

          You see, Jesus had said that he did nothing by himself, but only what he saw his Father doing.[6] This meant that, even as Jesus was suffering for the sins of his people, becoming a curse for us who were under the curse of death, he recognized that his Father was then and there blessing him with a BROTHER!!! Right there, in front of that whole crowd of animosity, Jesus was not ashamed to call this man his brother.[7] Jesus statement to the man was one thing to the man, but to every onlooker it was a declaration of, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”[8]

          Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners![9] He was now laying down his life as the atonement and propitiation for our sins. He was in the midst of suffering death, the curse of sin. And, in the midst of his work to save sinners, the Father blessed him with this wonderful gift, the saving of a sinner!!!

          What this did for me was raise my heart in another expression of praise that, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”[10]It belongs to the Triune God now; it belongs to them forever; and it belonged to them even while Jesus was in the midst of securing our salvation through his death. Even then, God ruled from his throne and snatched a sinner from the certain condemnation for his sin.

          While so many ominous things are going on in our world, all consistent with what God said would happen as the world, the flesh, and the devil, escalate their wicked pursuits, God continues to declare to us that, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”[11]And, to encourage us in this, especially when Satan’s work on earth is so prominent, he gives us the picture of the great multitude in heaven on one side, and a poor, dying criminal on the other.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27

[2] Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32

[3] Luke 23:42

[4] Luke 23:43

[5] Ephesians 3:20-21

[6] John 5:19

[7] Hebrews 2:11

[8] Hebrews 2:13

[9] I Timothy 1:15

[10] Revelation 7:10

[11] I John 3:8

Pastoral Ponderings ~ God’s Protection For His One Church

          As I was praying for the spiritual protection of my church, a few Scriptures came together as in answer to my prayer. First, I was drawn to the way Jesus prayed for his church in relation to spiritual protection. He prayed,

15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (John 17)

          This shows that Jesus wanted his church to be in the world (though not of the world^[1]). He has a purpose for us to be in the world, since he has commissioned the church to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”^[2] However, since our going into the world means going into Satan’s domain,^[3] we can expect to come under attack from all his forces. Their aim is to stop God from receiving glory through the salvation of lost souls. Our aim is to give God glory by bringing people into the salvation given to us in Jesus’ name.

          With this in mind, that we are sent out into the world with a mission of making disciples, we see that Jesus’ prayer is that the Father keep us from the evil one. We need protection from the evil one. We need God’s protection, not something we need to do ourselves, since we are like sheep who are so easily lost and distracted from the way of our Master. Jesus’ prayer for this protection means that this is God’s will, and that the prayer will be answered.

          What God has given us, in answer to this prayer, is “the whole armor of God.”^[4] If we “take up the whole armor of God,” we will “be able to withstand in the evil day.”^[5] This is a PROMISE!!!

An Answered Prayer For the One New Man

          This brings me back to this core issue, that the whole armor of God is given to the “one new man”^[6] that is the church. This means that, when the church is told to put on the whole armor of God, we must take the one suit of armor and put it on the one new man. In other words, we cannot view this as a whole bunch of individual soldiers putting on their own individual suit of armor, and each one taking their own individual stand, no matter what their spiritual condition.

          Rather, when we see ourselves as members of this one new man, and it is this one new man who puts on the whole armor of God, we can then come together as the church inside this suit of armor. We can build up each other with the life and ministry of the church, so we are all surrounding the church with the whole armor of God, helping the strong and weak alike to experience protection from the evil one.

          By the time we get to putting on the whole armor of God, we must see ourselves as Paul has already described the church as this one new man. He wrote,

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.^[7]

          Notice that the leaders equipping “the saints for the work of ministry,” is to the end that we are “building up the body of Christ.” We not seeking to have a whole bunch of individuals who have “faith” and “knowledge of the Son of God,” but we are working together to “attain the UNITY of the faith,” and “the UNITY… of the knowledge of the Son of God.”

          When Paul adds that this cooperative fellowship of ministry is so that “we all attain… to mature manhood,” the “manhood” he has in mind is not the manhood of the men in the church, but the corporate manhood of the “one new man” he has already identified.^[8] The same is true of the next phrase, “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” This is talking about the church maturing in our one new manhood, growing according to the “measure” that is Jesus Christ himself, satisfied with nothing except one day arriving at the “stature” of what God considers to be “the fullness” of Christ.

          Continuing through this passage with the aim of picturing whom it is that puts on the whole armor of God, Paul then describes the church seeking to “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Again, we are not to see this as a whole bunch of individuals all seeking to be like Jesus (although the “one new man” reality of the body of Christ obviously requires the full participation of each member of the body!). Rather, the unified body of Christ is growing up together “into him who is the head.”

Complete protection for one body

          Paul makes much of the “one body of Christ” imagery of the church. In Romans he writes,

“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”^[9]

When we think of what is attached to our own heads, we have a body with many members that are one body. When we think of how we are attached to Christ, it is as “one body in Christ.” This is why Paul clarifies that “individually” we are “members one of another.” The way we think of ourselves is as part of one another, uniting together to make the body of Christ what it is.

          In I Corinthians, Paul writes,

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”^[10]

          The church is to think of itself as one body with many members, not many members working together in individual pursuit of fulfillment in Christ. The reason we are to think of ourselves this way, and to do everything “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,”^[11] is because “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” All over the world, when people come to faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, and they confess that faith through baptism, they are “all baptized into one body.” Simple as that.

          We ARE the one body of Christ because we were baptized INTO this one body of Christ at our conversion. There are no exceptions to this. There is no going off into the forest and having our own “church” experience with Christ, since the word “church” means an assembly of people. Everything about this, speaking of us as the church, as the body of Christ, as the one new man, all call us to see ourselves as one cohesive whole, not a whole bunch of individuals.

          Paul adds that, “all were made to drink of one Spirit,” to indicate that this one body of Christ is united in the Spirit. It is “the unity of the Spirit,” because our baptism into the body of Christ brings us all into the same life of the Holy Spirit. This is why we do not pursue private, customized, experiences of the Holy Spirit that are for our own personal benefit. Instead, we come together to be filled with the Spirit as the one body of Christ.[12]

          Returning to Ephesians 4, Paul continues weaving the body-of-Christ imagery through all his instructions. When we see the church as growing up “in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” it will look like “the whole body, joined and held together by every join with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” The “whole body” is working together as one body, with all the members of the body doing their part, as they are gifted to do. This makes the “body” grow up. This means that all the work of ministry in the body “builds itself up in love.” It does not describe it as though we all build up our own selves, but that the body builds up “itself,” the one body of Christ, the one new man. We build up the body as the one new man growing to mature manhood.

          By the time we get to Paul’s exhortation, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might,”^[13]we are to see only one picture: the one new man, with everyone working together in ministry that builds up this one new man to mature manhood, all being strong in the Lord as his one body. The one body of Christ finds strength in “the strength of his might.” We do this as we all work together, each part doing their part for the whole body.

         

God’s Answer to Jesus’ Prayer

          How, then, will God answer Jesus’ prayer, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one”?^[14] By drawing “them” into the fullness of his life in the one body of Christ,^[15] where this “one new man” puts on “the whole armor of God,” so that this one new man “may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” When we, as this one new man, “take up the whole armor of God” around our united fellowship as the one body of Christ, we will be “able to withstand in the evil day.”

          Often when I hear brothers or sisters lamenting the struggles in their walk with God, it sounds to me like the problem is that they see their walk with God as primarily them and Jesus. It always makes me wonder what would happen if they saw their walk with God as participation in this one new man who walks with God. If they would give themselves, including whatever is their true soul-condition, to the life of the body of Christ, joining with others to put the whole armor of God around the one body of Christ, I believe they would see God’s help and protection in the fellowship of the church that they would not experience when trying to do things independent of the body of Christ.

          While there is no such thing as a perfect assembly of believers, we can put this into practice by starting with our church family as we are, joining whatever prayer meetings are available, sharing how we are doing in our relationship with God personally, and praying about how our relationship with the church can grow into one-new-man status. As we make every effort to pursue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and to unite in putting on the whole armor of God, it will not take long to see how God is protecting us from the evil one as this one new man abides inside the whole armor of God.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] John 17:14 ~ “they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

[2] Matthew 28:19-20

[3] Ephesians 2:1-3 describes Satan’s influence on unbelievers.

[4] Ephesians 6:11, Ephesians 6:10-20 as the context.

[5] Ephesians 6:13

[6] Ephesians 2:15

[7] Ephesians 4:11-16

[8] Ephesians 2:15

[9] Romans 12:4-5

[10] I Corinthians 12:12-13

[11] Ephesians 4:3

[12] Ephesians 5:18

[13] Ephesians 6:10

[14] John 17:15

[15] I should clarify that, when I speak of the one body of Christ, I in no way limit our thoughts to what so many of us know as the life of the institutional church under some banner of denominational or independent distinction. While we all will fellowship primarily with a local assembly of believers, the one new man does not live within the bounds of buildings, or denominations, or institutions, or society’s acts, or any other manmade methods of trying to be the church. No matter what else we do to fellowship with God’s people, we must think of ourselves as members of one body of Christ, open to relating to every believer we meet with the same earnestness to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Yes, there is much more that could be said about this. However, for the moment, I encourage us all to be diligent to put no trust in our manmade boundaries, but to seek the fullness, and the freedom, of church life in the Holy Spirit.