Truth In Tension
Truth In Tension
“…balance in life is achieved as we hold truth in tension.”
Scripture – Acts 17:16-34
1 Cor. 9: 19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
WE DO NOT COME TO GOD ON OUR TERMS
- | Can't we talk about something besides religion for a change? |
Salvation is not a negotiable matter where you come to an understanding with God. There are those who want to play “if-then” games with God. If He will display himself sufficiently then they will turn to Him. Doesn’t work because grace is not appropriated by negotiation it is free and abundant as we admit our spiritual bankruptcy. Others
come to God at a loss or in despair because of their particular set of circumstances. Being sorry about the state that we are in with the hope that God will straighten those out is really not what it is all about. Many times people come to God and walk away empty handed because spiritual victory must be preceded by repentance.
- Repentance must be a part of that experience. Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
2KI 16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, "I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me." [8] And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. [9] The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death.
2KI 16:10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. [11] So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. [12] When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it. [13] He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar. [14] The bronze altar that stood before the LORD he brought from the front of the temple--from between the new altar and the temple of the LORD--and put it on the north side of the new altar.
2KI 16:15 King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: "On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance." [16] And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.
2KI 16:17 King Ahaz took away the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base. [18] He took away the Sabbath canopy that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the LORD, in deference to the king of Assyria.
- If my conscience is not bothered then I must be okay. 1 Cor. 4:1 ¶ So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
- Commitment is called for. Any soluble relationship is based on the principle of commitment. It is more important than any other single factor. It is the cornerstone of salvation, marriage any relational success. If people are committed to make something work than they can do that with style. Some people believe the cornerstone to be compatibility. It falls far short of the other. I know of happily married incompatible people because they work to make their relationship and I know of other very compatible divorced people . The kind of thing that we pray for in new people who visit our church is commitment. Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God‑ this is your spiritual act of worship.
- Do you know where great commitment comes from or at least what stimulates it? Great vision. Without it the “people perish” This place reeks of great vision. Where the vision is mediocre, the commitment is the same.
THE GOSPEL IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS
- If anything, it calls us to lay down our rights.
......when people move to a new community, they choose a church on the basis of what it does for them rather than what they can do for it. This is the result of our contemporary focus on self‑fulfilment and happiness at any cost. Doctrinal lines have become so blurred that few people choose a church anymore for it's biblical teaching or theological soundness.
This consumer mentality also prompts people to change churches where they can have better children's programs, more appealing music, larger facilities, more convenient parking, more exciting preaching, or more energetic services.
In the church, the consumer mentality is like changing supermarkets or gas stations; the simply moves down the street to the next church of his or her choice.
This consumer mentality sometimes causes people to change churches to dodge responsibilities. They do not want to teach Sunday School. They want nothing to do with teenagers. Or they do not want to "baby‑sit" in the nursery. They simply want a church which provides inspiration and encouragement for themselves.
Such consumers view the church as a means to achieve their goals of bliss and respectability. They may even feel uncomfortable with the biblical language of sin and salvation. All of this is a subtle secular subversion taking place inside those who claim to be serious followers of the Lord Jesus.
The most pressing question for followers of the consumer mentality is, "What has the church done for me lately?
- It is a call to a greater cause
I Wonder
You know, Lord, How I serve You
with great emotional fervor in the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for You at a Women's Club.
You know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study.
But how would I react, I wonder,
if You pointed to a basin of water
and asked me to wash the callused feet
of a bent and wrinkled old woman
day after day, month after month,
in a room where nobody saw and nobody knew?
THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE
The world is a better place because Michelangelo didn't say, "I don't do ceilings."
The world is a better place because a German monk named Martin Luther didn't say, "I don't do doors."
The world is a better place because an Oxford Don named John Wesley didn't say, "I don't do fields."
The world is a better place because Moses didn't say, "I don't do rivers."
The world is a better place because Noah didn't say, "I don't do arks."
The world is a better place because Jeremiah didn't say, "I don't do weeping."
The world is a better place because Amos didn't say, "I don't do speeches."
The world is a better place because Rahab didn't say, "I don't do carpets."
The world is a better place because Ruth didn't say, "I don't do mothers‑in‑law."
The world is a better place because David didn't say, "I don't do giants."
The world is a better place because Peter didn't say, "I don't do Gentiles."
The world is a better place because Mary didn't say, "I don't do virgin births."
The world is a better place because Mary Magdalene didn't say, "I don't do feet."
The world is a better place because John didn't say, "I don't do deserts."
The world is a better place because Paul didn't say, "I don't do letters."
The world is a better place because Jesus didn't say, I don't do crosses."
With the gift of anticipation we will risk our faith.
THERE IS NOTHING "IN IT" FOR YOU THAT WOULD APPEAL TO THE NATURAL HUMAN SIDE OF YOU.
- What the gospel offers is something that appeals to your spiritual nature. Things that money can never purchase. It beckons to that part of us that is most nobly expressed when we are giving rather than receiving.
- Our restlessness in life is many times a quest to meet a spiritual need that we identify in material terms.
- The pathway to spiritual life is marked with many disappointing discoveries. Where we think the answer to be we find only more questions.
- When we recognize that our greatest longing is a spiritual one then we know where to search to meet the need.