The Perils Of Christianty

In the latest Beyond Today magazine, at least the last one that I got, Scott actually wrote an editorial that I thought was incredibly good. And I want to at least focus a little bit on the question that he posed, because he was pointing out there's a common phrase that not only we might use, but many churches might use.

And it says, what would Jesus do? Now, in many ways, you think about that and you think, well, that might be a good idea for people to think about what would Jesus do. And of course, I've seen that phrase for some years now, and I think you even sometimes see it on wristbands.

You know, they put it on stuff, they put it on shirts. And yet, I'd like for us to think about what's wrong with that thought. What's wrong with the thought? What would Jesus do? Does it not really allow us to determine what we think Jesus would do instead of really focusing on what did Jesus do? And of course, that was the point of what Scott was saying. You know, what did? Not just what do we think Jesus would do, because we might come up with a lot of wrong answers as far as what would Jesus do, because clearly what Jesus did is the perfect example for all of us.

So in many ways, it's good to think about what would Jesus do, but if we only interpret it as far as what I would do, and I think that's what Jesus would do, then that's kind of going askew from what we really need to focus on as far as what did Jesus do.

And then, as this brief editorial said, you know, maybe we should even look at not only what did He do, but what did He tell us to do? Do this! And that, of course, is what we do. We do follow His instructions regarding the New Testament Passover, regarding the taking of the bread and the wine, and we follow His instructions regarding the days of unleavened bread, and of course, the rest of the holy days throughout the year. And we follow His instructions as far as the type of care and concern, of course, that He had for all of mankind, but primarily, while He was here on earth, He was focused on this little group of men.

Little group of men and women, primarily the disciples said He had directly called, or the Father had drawn to Him, but He was teaching them, He was training them, He was clearly setting a perfect example for them. He was showing them that He was desirous of helping them. And even when He was going to leave, He says, I'm going to send you the help.

I'm going to send you the help that you will need to be victorious over sin, to be an overcomer, but to be the children of God. And that, of course, is a primary focus of what God is interested in, part of what we want to learn about our relationship with God and with Christ, but also with one another. Up in Kansas City yesterday, I know most of you were not in that area. At least a couple of you were. We're glad to have had at least some representation up there from the Fulton area. But I should explain the topic that's described in John 15, about all of us being branches that have to be attached to the vine.

You know, we have every reason to want to follow the perfect example that Jesus gave. And of course, in John 15, Jesus describes that He's the vine, and we're the branches. See, that's by God's creation. That's by His design. If we're going to be a part of the body of Christ, then we have to be attached to that vine. And He goes ahead to say, I want you... You know, He says, well, I guess I'd better read at least one of the verses here in John 15. In John 15, He says in verse 5, I'm the vine and you're the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them will bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing.

See, now there's a lot said by that, because we need to be attached to the vine. We need to be close to Jesus Christ. But He goes ahead and describes being abiding in Him, abiding in His words. So obviously, we have to study the Bible. We have to become more familiar with the Word of God. We have to make that word a part of our lives. And He even says, abide in His love. Abide in the type of love that the Father has and that the Father is, and that He and the Father live in, and that they project, and that they extend through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to children, to physical human beings, sons and daughters who are drawn by God to be a part of the body of Christ.

Now, in order to abide in the vine or being attached to the vine, He also tells us that, and this is part of what I covered yesterday, He says in order to abide in His love, then we have to obey His commands.

You know, that's something that many people would completely overlook. You know, they would just think I need to somehow love God. And that's good enough for them, or at least that's what they have concluded. But maybe in a very deceived state, maybe even very sincere, but sincerely wrong, and they don't realize that. But if we're going to abide in Him, then abiding in His love would be obeying His commands by truly loving the brethren, because that's what we're guided and directed to learn to love one another.

Jesus' focus on that in what we'll read here in John 15 a little bit later. And even by coming to love those who might even appear to be our enemies. Now, that's a very tall order and something that's hard to do. And yet, if we're attached to the vine, then we can do all of those things. We can achieve the impossible, in a sense.

So I want to continue to look at John 15 today, because Jesus begins John 15 with this explanation of the vine and the branches, and of how important it is for us to be focused on our relationship with God and our relationship with one another. But then He also goes ahead, and of course, He was so very concerned as we realize He was making these statements, and John recorded them. The only one of the Gospels or the disciples who wrote them down for us to know exactly what was He thinking? What was He doing? He was incredibly concerned about these disciples that He had been nurturing and that He had loved and that He had taught. And yet, He said, I know I'm going to be gone. I'm going to be gone very shortly here. And the next day, I'm going to be completely out of the picture, and then you are going to be on your own. Or, no, you're going to be by yourself with the help that I send to you, because that's what He is going to describe. In chapter 16 and in chapter 14, He said, I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. The Father will send you the Holy Spirit to be with you, to be a guide, to help you remember, to teach you to be a guide, and to actually lead you in overcoming, really. And so, does that say you've already fully overcome? No. You know, we're still in the process of overcoming. We're still in the process of learning what He says. But I want to focus on what Jesus says in the remainder of this chapter, chapter 15, because He goes ahead and explains some of the perils. The perils of Christianity. See, that's what He was telling the disciples. He says, I know you're looking into, and of course, Tom was covering a time after this, you know, after he had been put to death and was in the grave three days and three nights and rose from the dead, and then however often he wanted to or needed to, in any way, interact with the disciples, whether that was in Jerusalem or at the seashore, which clearly he did. You know, those are both correct. And yet, ultimately, you know, on the day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit would change things considerably. And so what we see is Jesus being very concerned, very concerned about each of the disciples. And so I mention this because He actually points out a number of perils of Christianity. Perils that Christians, people who are recipients of the Holy Spirit, people are going to run into these problems. And why does He do that? Well, He says, I want you to prepare.

I want you to be aware ahead of time of the possible perils that you can manage once you actually see them, or as you could maybe even avoid if you're aware of how it is that these things come about.

And He even points out, you know, how can we keep? Really, this is mentioned here in verse chapter 16, verse 1, I've said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. See, how can we keep from stumbling and truly trust that God is with us and that He will help us, that He will encourage us incredibly?

Now, in our latest E-News that I sent to you the other day, I guess on Thursday, if you've had time to look at it, you know that Mr. Kubik wrote about the trip traveling in Africa.

And of course, any time He's there and any time He sends things back and you're able to go through and look at the travel log, you see conditions that are pretty much inexplicable to us.

You know, we deal with the wealth of an incredibly blessed land.

We deal with incredible advantages as far as in physical stuff.

But He also pointed out, even in areas where incredible poverty is quite prevalent, the working of the Spirit of God, you know, He talked about the church being raised up there in Zambia. I don't see the name of it right here.

Minga, I believe, or something like that. They developed a church building so that they could actually come together. And of course, this is where the people He's making a contrast with the cathedral in Paris had burned down. He said the building is not what's important. What's really important is the grouping of Christians, the grouping of individuals who will come together to worship God, to sing praises to God, to honor God, to learn to love God and to love one another.

He also mentioned having met with Masaba Chiaiah, who is apparently a man who was able to travel throughout Zimbabwe. And again, I'm not real familiar with all of these countries or what may be going on there. I know many of them deal with incredible governmental problems and, you know, you never know who's in charge or what might happen. And yet He describes conditions there in Zimbabwe that, you know, you'd really hardly imagine that God would call people under those circumstances. And yet He does. He says conditions in Zimbabwe are as bad as they have previously been under Mugabe, under a former ruler here. There's a little fuel that costs $8 a gallon if you can get it at all. Waiting in line, that might be a mile long.

Our brethren are starving. The unemployment rate is 99% in the Gokhi area where our largest United Church of God congregation is found. Our two elders, Masaba and Michael, Makalar, Mokoradi, I guess, still traverse this country and visit and speak to our brethren on a regular basis, but it's getting harder and harder to do. We listened to His plight, and we're finding solutions for immediate and long-term problems, but we gave them money to immediately provide our starving people with bags of staple maize. And yet He describes that that just kind of seems to be a kind of a regular problem, a regular thing that they face as far as because of many other crisis situations they have there in that country. And of course, He asked us to please pray for our brethren and for the church there in Zimbabwe. You know, whenever, you know, I always read these reports, but I don't know if I'm always affected by it because I have something to eat. I can easily drive wherever I need to go. I can, you know, in a sense isolate myself from the needs of others. But I'd like for us to look here in John 15 to see what Jesus was concerned about for His disciples. See how it is that He loved the brethren.

He loved these initial brethren who were going to be leaders of the New Testament church.

He loved them in such an incredible way. Here in verse 12, He says, This is my commandment that you love one another is I loved you.

And so, you know, He said this is even beyond anything you might have thought of as far as loving one another.

No one has greater love than this than to lay down his life for his friends. See, now we can say, well, that must mean Jesus. Well, it does. But it also means that that's what we're to learn. And we've discussed this a little bit, even in sermons leading up to the Passover. We need to learn to be willing to lay down our lives. And in essence, maybe even more important than ultimately dying, obviously, as Jesus did, we need to be willing to lay down our lives, to be the type of compassionate, the type of loving, the type of caring, the type of warm people that God expects us to be. He says in verse 14, you're my friends.

If you do what I command you. And of course, He was telling the disciples, and He tells all of us that if we're going to be friends of Jesus, well, then we obviously need to follow what He says. I don't call you servants any longer because servants don't know what the Master is doing, but I've called you friends because I've made known to you everything that I've heard from the Father.

And then He points out to them, you know, often we read John 6 about God calling us and drawing us into the body. And yet here He says, you didn't choose me, I chose you. See, our calling from God is something that God provided. And He says, I have appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. I'm giving you these commands so that you can love one another. And so, the whole section about being attached to the vine is also defining how it is He wants us to love one another. But then He begins in verse 16 to point out the perils of Christianity. I mentioned some of the drastic situations there in Africa.

And of course, some of those could easily be described as perils. And yet, you know, I hope that we don't just read these and think, well, that must be for the disciples back then and don't realize, well, this is exactly what He was preparing us for even today. Because see, between now and the time Christ returns, you know, we're going to go through much more difficult times than we have already gone through. Now, we may think back and say, well, we've gone through some pretty rough times. We've had divisions. We've had problems that need to be resolved. And yet, I think you're going to find that things will be even worse according to what Jesus says. He says in verse 18, or excuse me, yeah, yeah, in verse 18, He begins this section, if the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. See, can we expect, I don't like people to hate me. That doesn't make me feel good. I like people who like me, or at least tolerate me. That's something I think all of us would like, or that we would want. But, of course, here he's describing if the world hates you, realize it hated me before it hated you.

That was kind of what, and I'm pretty sure Jesus realized, that's what I can expect. That's what I'm going to get. But that's not usually what we think of. Whenever we think of the type of interaction with others in verse 19, He explains about this, if you belong to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But because you don't belong to the world, you've been chosen out of the world. Therefore, the world will hate you. See, that's something that we run into to a limited degree with some of our publications, with some of our discussions, you know, as far as what do we teach, what do we preach, how can we preach it, do we just say stuff that's going to bring wrath upon us? Well, we have things that we could say, but whether that's the smartest thing to say, we have to make a decision about that. Those are things that, you know, corporately we have to think about as an organization. But see, it also applies, you know, to all of us. He says, I want you to remember in verse 20 the word that I said to you, and I think it's amazing to see, as Jesus mentions this statement more than once in this dissertation in chapter 13 to 17.

He said this around the foot-washing service. Servants are not greater than their master.

He said, I am willing to serve each of you as far as the people who were there with him.

I'm willing to do that out of love, out of care, out of concern. And He made the statement, servants are not greater than their masters, so you should follow my example. Here, He's saying this as far as if the world hates you. Realize that it hated me before it hated you.

But He says in verse 20, remember, I said servants are not greater than their masters. If they persecuted me, and certainly they did, not only ultimately to be put to death, but, you know, He was despised. He was looked down upon. He wasn't really even accepted.

By His hometown. You know, what did He even say? Well, the prophet is without honor in His hometown.

You know, He said even His brothers and sisters wouldn't even believe who He was. I mean, I can understand that'd be kind of hard to do. Ultimately, a number of them did. I mean, they would. You see later some of them being members of the Church of God. And realizing who we had grown up with in our hometown. But, see, the hometown didn't accept it.

And yet, He says if they persecuted me, they will persecute you. Persecution could be expected.

Now, we don't want to try to, you know, bring that upon ourselves unnecessarily, but if that's what it says, if they persecuted me, they'll persecute you.

If they kept my word, then they'll keep yours.

Well, He didn't receive a lot of accolades for what He had to say.

Of course, He often was explaining, I'm the Son of God. I'm here on a mission. I have a purpose in my life. And that is to relate to my Father at all times and be able then to deal with the rest of the people that I interact with, whether they're disciples or whether they are others.

Now, He actually goes on to explain here in verse 21, if they will do all these, but He actually explains why it is that some persecution, some hatred might be expected of Christians.

He says, but they will do these things on account of my name because they don't know Him who sent me. They don't know the Father.

See, this is quite revealing about the world we live in. You know, Satan, the God of this world, you know, I think all of us certainly know that and believe that. We can read that.

You can read Him not only being the God of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the ruler, you know, many different descriptions of how much He has deceived and affected the world.

And yet, Jesus was telling them if, you know, they actually knew the one who sent me, then they would try to be different.

In verse 22, if I had not come and spoken to them, then they would not have had sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

So He was actually pointing out that, well, once you start realizing what God expects, then He kind of holds us to a higher standard. He wants us to be able to recognize that.

Verse 23 says, whoever hates me, He hates the Father as well.

Now, of course, He dealt with a lot of people, especially even religious people.

The religious groupings of the Pharisees and others that He dealt with in the Jewish community that He grew up in, they thought they knew the Father. Or they thought they knew God.

They said, we're sons of Abraham. We worship the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

Jesus said they don't know Me, and they don't know My Father.

They have the genealogy, but they really need to identify with the Father by recognizing Me. That's why He's talking about this as far as I'm the vine and you're the branches.

He says in verse 24, if I have not done among them the works that no one else did, then they would not have sinned. But now they actually have sinned, and they have hated both Me and My Father.

Amazing that He would be telling the disciples, you know, this is what I'm going through. This is what you're going to face.

This is what you need to be prepared for.

And so He says in verse 25, it was to fulfill the Word that's written in the law, they hated Me without a cause. He clearly undeserved what the difficulty that He faced.

And yet again, brethren, those are the things that we have to think about in our Christian lives as well.

And, you know, we want, in a sense, to be prepared for that.

We want to be aware of it, be prepared for it, and we want to benefit from knowing what Jesus said.

Because He goes on to say here in chapter 16, I'm saying these things to you to keep you from stumbling, to keep you from falling by the wayside. They will put you out of the synagogue, indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you think they're doing God a favor.

You know, that's unfortunate, and of course, they were going to need to pull together, and yet He says they will do this because they have not known the Father or Me. But I'm saying these things to you in verse 4.

Again, He points out why it is or how it is that they would expect this. And of course, not too much longer in the next few days, Peter is going to be hiding and forsaking Jesus verbally, and all the rest of the disciples are going to be deserting Him as well.

They're going to be starting to face persecution and some hatred because they even associated with Jesus Christ.

That's what He says. You need to be prepared that you still need to be growing in my love. He says it doesn't change anything about what I say you should do.

You need to learn to do that in a way that is, in a sense, already cautioned, already aware, and then we need to be able to do that, not only, say, from the outside, but even from the inside. See, what did Jesus say here in Matthew 24?

In talking about the end of the age, a time that we know is closer than ever before, He told the disciples, again, kind of in a similar timeframe, close to the end of His life.

He says in verse 9 of Matthew 24, they will hand you over to be tortured and put to death, and you'll be hated by all nations because of My name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another.

Many false prophets will arise and lead people astray, and because of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. See, here He points out that we certainly want to be growing in the love of God for each other.

It appears to have problems from the outside and problems from within. We could read a number of verses that Paul wrote about problems that he faced.

He faced problems from many different governmental officials. He faced problems with the travels that he went through, from the punishment that he endured, but even difficulties among brethren. And so, he's pointing this out. Jesus is pointing this out. We don't want to allow that to hurt each other or to hurt us, but He says the answer to this is one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved in verse 13. And of course, He says the Gospel.

The Gospel of the Kingdom is what should be proclaimed throughout the world, and that's what we have a mission, a purpose, a direction to achieve.

I think it's important for us to be reminded even as we obey God, as we celebrate the festival, as we just have. We've celebrated the spring festival and learning to apply what God says.

And yet, we need to be reminded that there are perils to Christianity.

And of course, Jesus says endurance is a big part of what all of us need. And so, I want us to look back in Revelation because here in Revelation 2 and 3, you have messages to the churches. You have instruction that is, I think it's amazing because in chapter 2 and chapter 3 of Revelation, you have seven messages to different congregations or to different church settings. And of course, there are a lot of instruction there.

He doesn't really say to any of them, well, all of you are really perfect Christians, and you have nothing yet to overcome. He doesn't say that to anybody. He does give some encouragement.

He does give some correction, some direction. He does tell them some of the things they might have to endure, but he also points out that I'm going to reward you if you patiently endure.

Here in chapter 2, Revelation 2 is talking to the congregation or the church in Ephesus. He says in verse 2, I know your works. I know your toil. I know your patient endurance.

He says, I know that you can't tolerate evil doers. You have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not. You have found them to be false. I also know that you're enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name and that you have not grown weary.

I tie that together with what Jesus said in Matthew 24. He says, well, you have continued to grow and develop and bear fruit, and yet you don't need to be a disadvantage or stumbling block to one another. You need to be an encouragement. You need to be expressing love. Down in verse 9, again to another one of the churches here, this merna says, I know your affliction. I know your poverty even though you're rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they're Jews, and yet or not, they're of the synagogue of Satan. He says, I know the persecution you're receiving from others who think they're religious and yet or not. He goes on to say, don't fear what you're about to suffer. Beware the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you are beat tested.

Talks about a 10-day period of time you'll have affliction, but be faithful unto death, and I will give you this crown of life. He recognized the suffering that would, again, be following the pattern that Jesus had lived. And of course, this is a part of what Jesus was warning the disciples of back here in John 15 and in the first part of chapter 16. In verse 19, this is again to another one of the congregations to Thyatira in verse 19. I know your works, your love, your faith, your service, your patient endurance. See, that's what He expects of us. And of course, even down as you go on into chapter 3 to the church of Philadelphia, He says in verse 10, because you have kept My word of patient endurance.

I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. That would appear to be an allusion to what we are yet facing, what we know is going to come in our temptation.

And so, we have the benefit. We have the blessing of being able to look into the Word of God, to grow with an understanding of the Word of God. But see, more than that, we want to put into practice what we are learning. And so, here at the end of the spring holy days, we know that we're looking into an entire year of other festivals, the Day of Pentecost, and other holy days that are in the fall. We can look forward to those. We can anticipate those. But we also want to be aware of the warnings that Jesus gives and tells us that we need to be patiently enduring that we even need to be bearing with one another, and certainly He says we need to love one another.

You know, we all have to think about that. Do I actually do that or do I do or say things that might not fit that category? We could close here in the book of Galatians. You see, Paul gives in chapter 5 the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit of God. And of course, he points out how when we rely on the vine, when we rely on being attached to the vine, when we rely on knowing not only what the truth is but then actually doing what God tells us, well, then we bear the fruit of love and joy and peace.

But in verse 1 of chapter 6, he says, my friends, if anyone is detected in a fault, you who are spiritual, who have received the Spirit, should restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness.

Take care that you yourself are not tempted. See, none of us can afford to be looking down on others.

Verse 2, he says, bear one another's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

For if those who are nothing think they have something, then they deceive themselves. But all must test their own work. Then that work rather than their neighbor's work will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own load. And so here he mentions how that, you know, the congregation there in Galatia, they were struggling with some things. They had difficulty with some things, but they needed to be continuing to patiently endure and to bear with one another and to be able to express the love that God wishes for us to express for each other.

And see, that's not just what we say, but it is often what we do and how we are toward one another.

So, I just thought I would point that out. It's kind of at a conclusion here of our spring festival.

But clearly, Jesus was concerned for His disciples, and He is concerned for us. And even as I mentioned regarding our association around the world, the churches of the United Church of God in many continents, Australia, Africa, here, Canada, we all are going to be coming together next week in discussion of different things that need to be addressed from the standpoint of the church. We're trying to be preparing for whatever we may face in the future. And yet, in many ways, much of that depends on us simply drawing close to God. Us asking, as Jesus said, that as a branch that is attached to the vine, that we can actually then truly show the kind of love for one another that He expects. And so, that's what I wanted to present today. Certainly happy to see all of you. And we'll not see you here for a couple of weeks, but look forward to seeing you probably three weeks from now as the next time I'll be up here.