Tag: Religion

Why is Jesus’ Kingdom So Valuable? | Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Treasure

Jesus’ Kingdom is the most valuable thing in the world and you should want to give up everything to follow Him. But why? What makes His Kingdom the most valuable thing in the world?

(1) Jesus’ Kingdom is valuable because those who are apart of it have a restored relationship with God and eternal life.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 13:47–50)

Jesus compares the fishermen picking out the bad fish with the angels work when Jesus returns. The angels will separate the evil from the righteous. The evil will face God’s punishment, while the righteous enjoy a restored relationship with the Father and eternal life.

Those who are apart of the kingdom, those who follow Jesus are no longer enemies of God. They enjoy a restored relationship with the Father because Jesus paid the price for their sins, taking the punishment they deserve.

How great is that? How valuable is that? It’s worth more than anything this world could ever provide.

(2) Jesus’ Kingdom is valuable because it will never fail us.

It’s the best investment we could ever make. It is guaranteed. It is no risk because Jesus follows through on His promises. He promises us eternal life. We get it. He promises us joy. We get it. He promises us acceptance. We get it.

On the other hand, the world promises us all kinds of things, but doesn’t come through. And if it does, it’s not lasting.

The World Promises Joy

You might find joy in a new car or home or phone. The joy, however, it provides is only momentary. It’s easily taken away. A car wreck. A dropped phone. A house fire.

The World Promises Satisfaction

You might find satisfaction in your job. What happens, however, if you are fired, disabled and can’t work, or if old age has caught up to you and you are forced to retire?

The World Promises Success, Fame, and Wealth

Take fame for instance. People chase fame all their lives, but it is fleeting and short lived. Think about all the sports stars, actors and actresses, and musicians who are now labeled “has beens.” They were famous for a while, but eventually grew too old or a new rising star stole the spotlight.

Fame is short lived. The same with success and wealth and whatever else the world promises.

The world is always going to fail us. Jesus, however, will never fail us. The kingdom will never fail us. It will be there for all eternity.

Conclusion

Jesus’ kingdom is valuable because:

  1. It provides us with a restored relationship with God and eternal life.
  2. It will never fail us.

With something so valuable, why would you ever want to go after anything else?

Questions for Reflection

  1. Can you think of other reasons Jesus’ Kingdom is the most valuable thing in the world?
  2. Do you believe Jesus’ Kingdom is the most valuable thing in the world?

Resources

Post adapted from my most recent sermon Why Should You Want to Follow Jesus?

Image

Why Should You Want to Give Up Everything and Follow Jesus? | Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals5 Comments

Treasure

Why should you want to give up everything and follow Jesus? Maybe you are struggling to answer that question. Captured by the world, you don’t know why you would want to give up everything to follow Jesus. You think to yourself,

“The world offers so much – wealth, status, acceptance, a good time, freedom. After all, isn’t following Jesus limiting? Isn’t it devoid of fun? Why would I ever want to follow Jesus?”

Why should you want to give up everything and follow Jesus?

Jesus’ answer comes in the form of two parables. The Parable of Hidden Treasure and the Parable of the Pearl of Great Value.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matt. 13:44-46 ESV)

In both parables, costly treasure is found. The first man finds it buried in the ground. The second while looking for pearls. After finding their treasure, both liquidate all they own to acquire it.

It would be like you selling your: Land, cattle, house, furniture, clothing, cars, electronics, etc. Everything you have, you sell. Sentimental value doesn’t matter. The treasure is worth a lifetime of memories.

Why were these men willing to go to such extremes?

They were willing to sell everything, even doing it with joy, because they realized what they were getting. They realized the value of the treasure.

The treasure in the parables relates to the Kingdom of heaven. Through His teaching, Jesus tells us the Kingdom is worth more than all we possess. It’s the single most valuable thing in the world. It’s worth any consequence or suffering we might face because nothing we could own would bring us more joy and satisfaction. It’s worth everything!

Conclusion

To answer our question: Why should we want to give up everything to follow Jesus? Because His kingdom is more valuable than anything the world can offer.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you believe Jesus’ Kingdom is more valuable than anything this world can offer?
  2. Are you willing to give up everything to follow Jesus?

Resources

Post adapted from my most recent sermon Why Should You Want to Follow Jesus?

Image

On the Disappearance of Theology

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral, Practical, QuotesLeave a comment

The Stats

What does it mean, for example, when 91 percent of evangelicals say that their beliefs are “very important” to them, when 93 percent say that they believe in divine judgment, when 96 percent say that they believe in miracles? It does not mean all that much.

Theology is Peripheral and Irrelevant

Even in churches that are active and among believers who are religiously observant, it is possible that theology (i.e., a set of beliefs that refers beyond the experiencing subject to the world “out there, “natural and supernatural) has become peripheral and remote.

Even “those who count themselves as believers, who subscribe to the tenets of a Church, and who attend services regularly, ” Bryan Wilson has observed, “nevertheless operate in a social space in which their beliefs about the supernatural are rendered in large part irrelevant.”

Wherever modernity has intruded upon the Church, there the social space even of believers who give assent to the full range of credal elements will be emptied of theology.

Even the beliefs of such individuals will have been pushed to the margins of life, the central and integrating role they once had commandeered by other interests.

Theology on the Periphery Can’t Define Evangelical Life

It is in this sense that it is proper to speak of the disappearance of theology. It is not that the elements of the evangelical credo have vanished; they have not. The fact that they are professed, however, does not necessarily mean that the structure of the historic Protestant faith is still intact.

The reason, quite simply, is that while these items of belief are professed, they are increasingly being removed from the center of evangelical life where they defined what that life was, and they are now being relegated to the periphery where their power to define what evangelical life should be is lost.

Practice Reveals What Polling Can’t

This is not the sort of shift that typical polling will discover, for these items of belief are seldom denied or qualified, but that does not mean that the shift has not occurred. It is evangelical practice rather than evangelical profession that reveals the change.

Questions for Reflection

  1. What do you think of the state of the church? Has care for theology been moved to the periphery?
  2. If theology is moved to the periphery, what affects will that have on the church?

Resources

David Wells, No Place for Truth Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?, 107-108. (NOTE: Paragraphs are Wells; headings are mine)

Image

Don’t Write the Bible Off

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Quotes3 Comments

Francis Schaeffer

I am convinced we don’t read the Bible because we think its irrelevant. We believe it doesn’t answer the questions we are asking.

Francis Schaeffer, arguable one of the 20th centuries greatest Christian philosophers, doesn’t agree. He believes the Bible is just as relevant today as when it was first written. At a turning point in his life, he turned to God’s Word and found it answered the questions he was asking. Questions his liberally minded church weren’t answering. Here is how his biographer puts it:

As he read [Greek philosophy] he had a growing sense that he was gaining more questions but no answers. This awareness was reinforced when he realized that he experienced a similar situation in his church, which he later realized was influenced by theological liberalism…What he was getting in his church was a constant questioning, but no answers to the issues of life…

Having tasted the thinking of the ancient Greeks, he thought it was only fair to read through the Bible, something he had never done. He ought to give it a last chance. So it was that, night by night, alongside his reading of Ovid he began reading the Bible from the beginning (as a book, he thought this was the way to do it). He began with Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” and read to the very end: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (KJV).

In his reading of the Bible he was surprised to find unfolding answers to the deep philosophical questions he had begun to ask. The dawning excitement would never leave him.

Schaeffer’s experience is proof the Bible answers the questions we’re asking. It’s relevant. It’s useful. It’s life changing.

At this time in Schaeffer’s life, he was ready to write the Bible off. That is, until he read it. I believe that’s why we don’t believe the Bible is relevant. Why we don’t believe it answers the questions we’re asking – we haven’t read it. If we had, we would come to a completely different conclusion.

If you think the Bible is irrelevant, I challenge you to read it. Don’t write it off without giving it an honest chance. Schaeffer didn’t, and he became one of Christianity’s greatest minds.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Have you read God’s Word cover to cover?
  2. How has God’s Word proven relevant in your life?

Resources

Quote from Francis Schaeffer: an Authentic Life, by Colin Duriez, pg 20-21.

Image

God Has A Trustworthy Plan

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

God's Plan

In Matthew 13:35, Matthew tells us Jesus reveals what “has been hidden since the foundation of the world” when He speaks to His disciples in parables. Matthew comment reveals that God’s has always had a plan. A plan that has been active since the world was created.

The Story of the Bible Reveals God’s Plan

The Bible makes God’s plan evident. From Creation to the Fall to Abraham to the Exodus and beyond, God has a plan. We see His plan worked out as prophecies are made and prophecies are fulfilled; promises are made and promises are fulfilled.

So we see that God has a plan. A plan that has existed since the beginning of the world.

The Creator’s Plan Doesn’t Fail

Not only does God have a plan, but God is the ruler of this world. He created it all. He rules it all. Since He is sovereign and the ruler over all, His plan doesn’t fail. Our plans might fail, but God’s plans don’t.

Our Plans Change But God’s Doesn’t

This last Monday, my wife planned to go to Wal-Mart and pick up a few things for the house. She got ready, she wrote out a list, she scheduled time to go, but it didn’t happen. Her plans changed because of something outside of her control. Our 3-month old didn’t cooperate. He was either crying, sleeping, needed to be changed, needed to be consoled, or needed to be feed. So she didn’t make it to Wal-Mart on Monday.

My wife’s plan changed because of something outside of her control but not so with God.

God’s plan doesn’t change because there is nothing outside of His control. God controls everything. He is sovereign. His plan never fail.

We Can Trust God’s Plan

So when Matthew tells us these Parables lay out God’s plan, we can trust that His plan will come to fruition. Our plans may fail and change but God’s doesn’t.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you trust God’s plan?

Resource

Post adapted from my most recent sermon: Why is Evil Allowed to Continue? 

Does the Gospel Put a Smile on Your Face?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals2 Comments

Rejoice

Does the gospel put a smile on your face? Does it cause you to leap for joy?

Rejoice because you are blessed

In Matthew 13:16-17, Jesus tells the Disciples they are blessed. They are blessed because they sit in unique place in history. They are able to see and hear what the Prophets and the Righteous people of old prophesied about and longed to see. As well as they are blessed because they actually see, hear, and understand.

Since they are blessed, they should rejoice. Rejoice that God has revealed Himself to them! Rejoice because they haven’t rejected Jesus but are following Him!

The same for us. We should rejoice because the Father has revealed Himself to us. We should rejoice because we haven’t rejected Jesus but are following Him. We should rejoice because we are blessed.

Do you rejoice?

When you think about your salvation, do you rejoice? Do your affections for Christ increase when you think about Jesus hanging on the cross taking the punishment you deserve? Does it make you want to leap for joy? Does it make you want to praise Jesus when you think about your salvation?

I will tell you right now friend. We are in a blessed position. If you heart is not stirred by the gospel, maybe you have lost your first love. Or maybe the the gospel hasn’t pierced your heart.

You see, those who are saved by Jesus are blessed and they should rejoice. If you are cold and apathetic to the things of God, maybe you don’t recognize the blessed state you are in.

How do you get there? How do you recognize the blessed state you are in?

I believe it is by meditating on the gospel. By realizing what Jesus has done for you. By realizing your privileged unique position.

So if your heart is cold, if you don’t get excited about these things, think on the gospel, read about the gospel, talk with others about the gospel.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you recognized how blessed you are to be saved by Jesus?
  2. Do you rejoice when you think about what Jesus has done for you?

Resources

Image

Post adapted from most recent sermon Why are their so many unbelievers?