ProclaimtheTruth.net

I am nothing.  As much as this world tells me to build myself up, to hold onto whatever grain of pride I have in myself, I know I am nothing.  I am quick-tempered, eager to fight, steadfast in my pride.  It might be easier to say that I am merely prone to some bad habits, but the truth is that it is so much more than that.  I perhaps had an excuse as a non-Christian, when at least I could claim ignorance.  I can do that no longer.  I know the truth and I have tasted it.  And yet, I still struggle with so many aspects of my faith.  Yes, I have been granted victory over some key struggles with sin.  So much so, that I loathe the thought of them.  Still, I struggle with so many more.  This was once quite disheartening to me.  The idea that sin would have such a grip on me was a wall I could not climb.  It hung over me with a shadow looming larger than I could stand.  Now, however, I can see that wall and do battle with it.  Knowing that I am no longer a slave to it has set me free to war with sin.  Oh, it is hard, especially in our American culture.  But, there is power in Christ.

The purpose of my writing this is simply to share the struggles.  It seems quite often that Christians try to hide their struggles, so as not to come off as inauthentic or hypocritical.  I have done this myself many times.  That was even the temptation of late, as I have felt somewhat dry and disoriented in my faith.  However, I am striving to be real in my faith and to recognize that many others have the same struggles.  The Christian walk is not one of ease and it is not for the faint at heart.  We are called to take up our cross and follow Christ into a life in which He Himself said that the world will hate us because it first hated Him.  If you find yourself struggling in your faith, don’t hide, but continue to fight, continue to seek Christ, continue to read the Word.  And on the other side of this season of struggle, you will be stronger for it.  May God bless you.

As you can tell by the date of my last post, I have not been able to write much of late. Work has been busy, which means I am both short of time and unfortunately, many times too worn out to sit down and write. I am hopeful to get going again soon, but not sure when.

When I was in my early twenties, I found myself in a place of turmoil. My religious beliefs were no longer valid. They could not sustain me. Since I was merely religious and had not yet experienced true salvation, I was trusting in a false belief system that could not help me. Because of this reality, I was being tempted by Satan to abandoned Christianity altogether. One of the lies I began to buy into was the lie that said to me, “Christianity is not true. Look at all the strife and all of the denominations. Such a confused system of beliefs cannot be true.” For a season, I struggled with this question. This was resolved the moment I became truly saved and saw the light. However, the question lingers for those on the outside and so I want to approach this question, but from a different angle. I want to ask the question, when do Christians “go to the mat” for truth?

Here is my purpose: If we can say that there are truths in the Bible that are universally true and that cannot be compromised, then we must resolve that those truths require us to fight the good fight. We must fight that fight in love, but we must fight nonetheless to reserve, to conserve, and to proclaim that very truth. The natural result is that feelings will get hurt and that unsaved people will look on with the support of Satan to question this strife within visible Christianity. And yet, what else should we expect? True Christianity is always in a struggle with the false version being peddled by false converts. It is always the lie that is closest to the truth that is most difficult to contend with. And so, true Christians are always left with the task of proclaiming a truth that the world hates and that false Christians will chastise and diagnose as being hateful. The enormous irony is that true Christians are often ostracized as some strange religious sect despite preaching truth, while false Christians are living a lie and celebrated.

Because Christianity has been, and will continue to be invaded by tares (false Christians), we must understand that this is a battle we will always have to fight. And yet, it is not easy. It is not easy calling out friends and family, and other supposed Christians when they are preaching a false gospel. So, the question remains: when do we go to the mat and when do we remain silent? That is not an easy question to answer because the danger is always present that we become divisive in the name of truth. We have to be delicate and balanced. We have to go to the mat in love. We have to proclaim the truth, but try to do so in as winsome a way as possible. We will offend people because of the gospel, but we have to try to not be offensive in the way we do it. To my regret, I have not always done this correctly. All Christians will fail at this from time to time. But, it must be always on our mind as we seek to be salt and light.

I submit to you that any time truth is at stake in general, and the gospel in particular, we must go to the mat as if our very life depended on it. We must resolve in our minds that no matter whom we offend and no matter what the consequences, we will proclaim the truth. And we must do this while in the Word, while in prayer, and with love for the unregenerate in our hearts. And when we fail to do this in the right way – in a winsome way, in a loving way – we must repent and start anew. We must love the unregenerate even when the unregenerate hates us. It is a tall order to take up our cross and follow Jesus, but it is what we are called to do. So, we must go to the mat for truth. That is a given. And we must do it whenever truth is at stake. The question now before us is what truths in the Bible are so clearly evident, so obvious, and so crucial that we do not compromise them? That is a more difficult question and one I would like to spend some time discussing. I am going to spend a few weeks considering that question and will write again on it in the future.

I want to be clear about something before you read the below poem.  The true church can be found in America, but there are many impostors out there as well.  So many of our churches are lost and seeking American materialism over Christ.  We must preach the gospel to them in love.  We must also be truthful and not mistake the church for all of the buildings we see.  If a church is not gospel-centered, does not preach the Word, and in the end, is just as worldly as the local bar and grill, then it is not THE CHURCH.  It is a group of lost people that need to hear the gospel.  This poem is about the American church as a whole.  Rest assured, there are pockets of the true church doing amazing work in America.  And yet, we must realize now that America is now truly a missions field.  The overwhelming majority of Americans are unsaved.

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The American Church

Your Church was founded under the thumb of death’s solemn roar

Our church in America slumbers in the dark like never before

Your Church was built by martyrs persecuted in the dead of winter

Our American church is built by the deep pockets of greedy sinners

Your Church moves with grace and truth, not confined by walls

In America, we build huge palaces that look like shopping malls

Your Church moves with love to every forbidden and dangerous land

We in America take missions trips for only as long as we can stand

Your Church loves and obeys You, Your commands, seeks Your face

Yet in America, of You we can only find a mere fraction of a trace

Your Church consists of sinners who are “humble and contrite in spirit”

America seeks her best life now, seeking heaven through her own merit

Your Church sometimes stumbles, but repents and seeks You anew

This American imposter takes a mulligan and keeps You just out of view

Your Church preaches the gospel about Sinners in the Hands of an angry God

American Churches pervert Your love while evil observes to applaud

Your Church awaits her Bridegroom and with Him will conquer all

America will hear “I never knew you” and, “You did not follow my law.”

By Brian Dufala

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This poem can be redistributed and shared without hesitation, so long as proper credit is given for the work and so long as there is no charge for distributing, except to cover costs associated with distribution.

John 1:10-13:  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

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Let’s look first at verse 10, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”  We see here again the reference to Christ as the creator, a clear indication of his deity.  And despite his coming to earth, only a small few came to believe in him during his time on earth.  We can go even a step further.  In verse 11, it tells us, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”  This is a clear reference to Jesus coming to the Jews, of whom, he was not only a Jew, but as it turns out, it was YHWH himself visiting his people.  I believe you have to look at it in both contexts.  This was perhaps not as obvious at the time, but nonetheless true.

Thankfully, our merciful God had a plan that included redemption, which we find in verses 12 and 13, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”  We can become children of God!  What can we say to this, but wow?!  If we see ourselves rightly, we should understand that there is nothing in us deserving of such honor, and yet the God of the world came to earth as a lowly baby, lived a humble life marching towards a death on a cross, so that he could redeem us.  That’s love!

John is nearly finished with his introduction to the gospel he is pinning and has set the framework for the presentation he will make.  He has made clear references to to the deity of Christ and the redemptive plan of salvation found in him. And importantly in this verse, he has provided what has been a hallmark of Christianity that Jesus himself spoke of, that a person must be born again; hence, where we get the term ‘born again Christian.’ There is even a clear reference to the nature of this spiritual birth in the phrase, “born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”  This birth is supernatural.

As we continue to read John, we will find the beginnings of what are later determined as Biblical doctrines.  Watch for them along the way.

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Walking through the Bible is a verse by verse study of the Bible. A small segment of verses will be looked at each time and a brief, but relevant study of the text will be conducted.

John 1:6-9:  There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

Here we have the account by John (the Apostle), of John the Baptist.  John provides a rather short intro to John the Baptist, so let’s look at a parallel account in Matthew 3:1-3:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” (A reference to a prophesy in Isaiah 40:3)

In Matthew, we are told of the prophetic nature of John the Baptist and that he was called for this very purpose.  This is extremely important to understand.  John was called by God to announce the coming of the messiah and to identify him.  He was called to do a tremendous thing.  Can you imagine to have such a calling?  Not only are you humbled by the calling itself, but you are also humbled by the reality that your role is so shortly lived.  He was a key figure in the early stages of these unfolding events and then as we will find, he was gone.  While that may not sound immediately heartwarming to you, it actually gives me a sense of awe and thankfulness.  God has a plan for every believer.  It may be a small part.  It may not.  But there is a plan for us that God is in control of throughout time.  We hear so much in our day about finding purpose, but this is not about that.  So much of the talk about purpose and God’s plan is truly man-centered.  John the Baptist was not man-centered.  He spent much of his life in the wilderness and when he finally becomes a public figure, the only glory he gets is later when in the story we find out he is beheaded. 

We are called to conform our lives to the light, to Jesus.  And yes God has a plan to use us.  And even if that plan means a life of ridicule and possibly persecution, we should be thankful for it!

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Walking through the Bible is a verse by verse study of the Bible. A small segment of verses will be looked at each time and a brief, but relevant study of the text will be conducted.

It has been a long week at work, so no posts this week.  However, I’ll Be Honest posted the following interview by Paul Washer on his sermon that has been dubbed the “Shocking Youth Message” sermon and I simply had to share.  I listened to this sermon a while back and it absolutely opened my eyes and it is great to see Paul Washer explain the context of the message.  I also included the video of the message below the interview video.  This is a great message for anyone who calls them self a Christian, especially youth.  It will challenge you to find out if you are truly saved or just playing religion.

About a month ago I posted two videos from a new video series on Romans that I am working on.  I wanted to provide a quick update on that project.  First, I got permission to use the ESV for the entire series.  That was great news!  Other than that, I will be working on the scripts for the next several videos.  After that, I simply have to settle on some video editing software, which I think I have.  However, just waiting for it to be in the budget.   Once I have everything together, I am going to go back and touch up the first two episodes before completing the next.  Given all of that, it will be a while before any new videos are out.

The first two videos are re-posted below:

I was listenning to a Paul Washer sermon the other day (you can watch it below) and he said something to the effect of: The day Jesus comes back you will know everything there is to know about eschatology (the end times), but throughout all of eternity you will be searching the depths of the gospel.

That is an interesting statement.  And after much thought, I have to say he is right.  Eschatology (the study of end times) attracts a large audience of people.  And yet, the reality of the end times is that they signify an end.  They are a set of events, though confusing at times and fearful at others, that will simply be a part of history.  They are important and they signal a pending judgment for mankind and hope for God’s elect.  However, I am not sure there is any real infinite knowledge in the end times.  As much as they will require awe from all that watch, we will quickly understand and quickly see what side we are on.  However, the depths of the gospel are unfathomable and an eternity will not find us reaching those depths.  It is difficult to even speak in a way that gives justice to the wonders of the cross.

As a Christian, as a person who claims to follow Christ, I cannot but scratch the surface of the proverbial iceberg that is the gospel.  Paul Washer is pointing to something here that all true Christians understand.  At the cross, we find not only our salvation, but we find the very essence of God.  We find His justice, His truth, His love, His power, and we find hope.  And as much as we see the mirror of our own sinfulness, we see the love of God in His forgiveness of those very sins through the death of Christ. I mentioned to a friend recently how much I love to hear about the cross and the gospel and how it just excites me — revs me up!  It would seem that is because we will be spending an eternity talking about that very thing and searching its’ riches.

Here is the sermon:

John 1:5:  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

This verse concludes the initial intro to the Gospel of John.  These first five verses fit quite nicely together, setting up the rest of the chapter.  All five deal greatly with the deity of Christ, but also with role of Christ as the true light.  And yet, as I alluded to in my prior post, this verse now tells us that the “darkness has not understood” the light.  I think there are a couple of interpretations here and at this point, I cannot be dogmatic.  The two main options are the one above where the darkness did not understand or comprehend.  However, some interpretations use the word “overcome.”  This would seem to mean something else entirely.  So, let’s look at the actual Greek word:

Katalambano

Clearly, this is a much more versatile word that we are used to dealing with.  It is used in Mark 9:18 to describe a demon “seizing” a person.  It is used in Romans 9:30 in saying regarding the gentiles that they have “attained” righteousness.  I am by far and away a novice when it comes to Greek, but I rather think the first interpretation does more justice to what is being communicated.  It fits into the other verses that we have already discussed and makes sense.  Jesus comes into the world as the one true light, but is rejected because so many did not comprehend the truth.  And in fact, I rather like the overarching definition of laying hold of.  You might say that we did not lay hold of the truth (the light).

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Walking through the Bible is a verse by verse study of the Bible. A small segment of verses will be looked at each time and a brief, but relevant study of the text will be conducted.