Like Him

To Be Like Him We Must Know Him

“Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.”

A great Christian hymn we sing often expressing our deep, enduring desire to be like Jesus. However, in my experience, few understand what it means to be like Christ or live life in such a way that they are more like Him today than they were yesterday. The fact is that many are not growing in the likeness of the Lord nor will they ever be able to because they really do not know Him.

Sure, we have passing familiarity with who He is but we do not “know” Him. It’s the difference between an acquaintance and a true friend. For far to many Jesus is just an acquaintance. Certainly all the nations of the earth have been blessed in Abraham (Genesis 18:18) through Jesus and the time has come that all know Him, from the least to the greatest (Hebrews 8:11). We know this is true because you cannot go anywhere in this world without encountering people who know the name of Jesus and who have some passing knowledge of Him.

But we will never be like Him until we come to know Him like Paul who wrote, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). Paul spent three years in Arabia garnering an intimate knowledge of Jesus (Galatians 1:17-18). Here are some things about Jesus that we need to know so that we can know Him like Paul did and be more like Him every day!

  1. Jesus ALWAYS did the things that pleased the Father (John 8:29). Can we say this? Can we say that we always do the things that are pleasing unto the Father? To many see the futility in the notion that this can be a reality so they choose to please themselves instead of God and are never comforted to the image of His dear Son (Romans 8:29).
  2. There was no guile found in His mouth (1 Peter 2:22). No deceit, no ugly retort to the mocking and criticism. How do we respond to others and their nastiness? Not like Christ? “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).
  3. He was perfect. Jesus said in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Many are quick to point out that the Greek word here means “complete” and not “perfect” in a sinless kind of way that we might think of God and perfection. To that my response is, “Yea, and?” Are we complete? 2 Timothy 3:17 says that the Word of God is able to make us perfect/complete.
  4. He was obedient. Philippians 2:8 says of Christ that, “being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. We too need to be obedient to the Father is we are going to be like His Son. The Hebrew writer said through His obedience Jesus became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:8-9). Have you been and are you obedient?
  5. He is faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24). As Christians faithfulness is based upon our continual walk in the footsteps of Jesus. His blood continues to cleanse our sins as we strive each day to be more like Him (1 John 1:7). It is a salvation issue (Revelation 2:10).

John, the beloved disciple of Jesus said “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4). Do you know Him well enough to be like Him? The refrain of our hymn says:

“Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.”

Will we let Him do this to us? Will we know Him so as to be like Him? Be obedient and be faithful!

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Rest

I Will Give You Rest

The world cannot understand Americans. Considering all of our society, Americans have the greatest prosperity and highest standard of living known in any sizable society on earth. In fact, history has never known a sizable nation that had our standard of living. Yet, depression is common in America. Among both young and the old, suicide is significant. Alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography, sexually transmitted disease, promiscuity, dysfunctional families, one parent families, rejection of commitment, dishonesty, and a lack of integrity and character are sources of major social problems.

How can a society with so much, experience so many serious problems? This is why many of the world’s societies cannot understand. In their societies, the majority live in poverty with minimal human rights and to them, the combination of prosperity and human rights produce a wonderful society. America has that combination. So, why do we not enjoy our wonderful existence? It is because these things do not eliminate stress. Our country uses alcohol, tobacco, drugs, sexual indulgences and other things in an attempt to escape stress. Family relationships fail to nurture and sustain healthy love and acceptance and therefore, this brings forth the stress of loneliness, rejection, and despair. Thus, many are in distress.

In the first century, Jesus once invited the burdened of Jewish society to come to him (Matthew 11:28–‐30). His guidance would unburden their lives. He was gentle and humble and through him they would find rest. Rest! What a wonderful word! What a beautiful concept! Rest is the opposite of stress. Stress is the enemy of rest and here Jesus produces rest in a burdened life by taking the burdens. Therefore, it is easier to serve Jesus than it is to be enslaved to burdens. And, if we as Christians wish to validate the gospel and capture the attention of the masses, all we need to do is to allow Jesus to give us rest for stressed out Christians cannot communicate the peace and healing of the gospel.

Jesus said, “I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Now, we know there is rest of salvation or justification. This is the rest of deliverance from the slavery and bondage of sin, the power of Christ to conquer the enslaving habits that damage the human body and destroy the human soul. It is the rest of conscience that comes to a person’s soul when he ceases his struggle in the wilderness of sin by obeying Him. But notice, Jesus mentions rest twice: “Ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29). This rest is not referring to a rest of inactivity. It is a rest of refreshment: a rest of refreshing one’s body, mind, and spirit. It is a rest that fits one for life: a rest that infuses a person with true purpose, meaning, and significance. It is a rest of encouragement and motivation of soul: a rest that stirs a person to live and undertake his God–‐ given task with enthusiasm and vigor and endurance.

Let me suggest to you that when you are stressed that you let your life demonstrate that Christ destroys stress. Second, never distress each other. Third, do not promote or endorse ungodliness because evil creates stress. Third, commit to honesty, integrity, and character and learn how to help each other with life’s burdens.

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Controversy

The reality of disputes among religious adherents is legend; there have always been disputes between honest people professing religion. The fact that there have been disputes and controversy over religious issues in no way justifies many such disputes; indeed, many religious disputes could be avoided if the individual who have such a dispute were clear about their convictions. Often disputes originate by a person who uses a straw man to bring up their disagreement. This is a tactic that often creates explosive confrontations because someone in the crowd takes an adverse position but will not acknowledge it openly, thus the straw man is presented and his position defended by the person who likes confrontation.

Open controversy will cause many people to stop serving the Lord and turn to more peaceful assemblies somewhere else. These people that will vacate a church where there is constant wrangling over every subject may be justified by leaving but they ought to seek out a sound church for worship.

No person ought to be so discouraged that they leave a church for an unsound church to worship because they are seeking an atmosphere free of controversy. The truth is, occasionally honest differences will arise between honest disputations, {Example:  Paul’s companions in the work of God – Philemon 24-25, “24 (and so do) Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow-workers. 25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.” ASV}. Of this number, John Mark did not travel with Paul on one of the journeys because of personal differences {i.e. Acts 15:37-40, “37 And Barnabas was minded to take with them John also, who was called Mark. 38 But Paul thought not good to take with them him who withdrew from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp contention, so that they parted asunder one from the other, and Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away unto Cyprus; 40 but Paul choose Silas, and went forth, being commended by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.” ASV] Whenever this condition surfaces, the better judgment of the elder will stop this before it becomes an open schism. Also examine the next paragraph closely for more on this theme.

One of the great problems exists when seemingly unsolvable disputes arise in a church where there are no elders. Many churches that are small and have no elders meet regularly to solve congregational matters in business meetings. These business meetings often become sessions of division and controversy. Since these adverse conditions are discouraging to some this matter may cause some to leave the church unannounced. There would normally be no controversy if only one person is involved as being difficult and advisable but often this person will have some influence over a few others in the congregation. Whenever a problem such as I have just described occurs, the church is divided in the business meeting as well as in the assembly. Whenever division of this nature occurs Paul’s statement to the church at Corinth over miraculous spiritual gifts and their creation of problems with members ought to be examined, cf. 1 Cor 14:37-40, “37 If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the Lord. 38 But if any man is ignorant, let him be ignorant. 39 Wherefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and forbid not speak with tongues. 40 But let all things be done decently and in order.” ASV

The most helpful quality that any Christian may contribute to “the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” [i.e. the roadmap to peace and unity – Ephesians 4:2-6] – “2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4(There is) one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. “ASV] is to be careful that those words that are used are words that will not create an opportunity for rebuttal. Sound teaching will usually eliminate schism in a congregation if the members really want to submit to one another and promote peace and unity as the Word of God requires of Christians in a congregation –  cf. Heb 13:17, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit (to them): for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this (were) unprofitable for you.” ASV – This instruction seems to work when the church has elders but is much more difficult to understand when everyone in a business meeting thinks himself to be elder material even though they are not qualified on scriptural grounds. In such a case where there are no elders problems seem to get worse whenever the problem is brought up in a business meeting.

Dear brethren, pray that more men in the church will work at qualifying themselves for the eldership. Qualified elders are the best group of men in the congregation to solve serious differences and rebellious people in the church. Without elders many congregations will eventually self-destruct, they will last for a while and finally destruct from within.

Pray for maturity {i.e. personal growth} cf. 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him (be) the glory both now and for ever. Amen.” AS

Pray for unity of the spirit in the bond of peace cf. Eph 4:3-4, “3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4(There is) one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;” ASV – For every male member of each congregation particularly on this behalf [i.e. that they will work at qualifying themselves for scriptural leadership roles] in the congregation.

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Singing with Harmony

Five Part Harmony

I was about six years old when I first heard of the words “soprano, alto, tenor and bass.”  At the old West Huntsville church building, a brother from Tennessee, A. J. Vetito, conducted the first of several singing schools at the church. By the end of that week, we all knew “do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti do.” We all could sing the scale and learned so many new songs. The singing at that congregation vastly improved in these annual schools.

I learned to listen to all the various parts and how they harmonized. There is nothing which sounds more beautiful to me than blending of voices in praising God.

In the sixth grade I began attending Christians schools. The first was in Athens, Alabama, and the second was in Huntsville. I am so thankful for the choruses at both of these schools where I grew in my appreciation for singing in worship. I owe to one of the choral directors, Wayne Hemingway, an even greater debt. He constantly emphasized understanding the words of songs and their meaning. In fact, before we learned a new song we would spend time discussing what we were trying to say to each other as we sang. He even did this for older songs and I soon learned that while I had known the music of those songs, I did not know the songs meaning!

You see, there is another aspect of singing harmoniously that has nothing to do with “do, re, and mi.” Look carefully at Ephesians 5:19. Our use of the music attached to psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is not emphasized. Paul said, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Look at it carefully. The emphasis is not on the melody made with the voice, but the melody made in the heart!

Now look at the passage again. The verse does not say making melody in your hearts (plural)! It is singular. In the Greek, the word “your” is plural (congregational), but the heart is singular. There is the harmony of every individual heart, as we sing with one heart to the Lord. In Colossians 3:16, the text speaks of hearts, but the emphasis in Ephesians is on the singular heart we bring before God.  God does not care how skilled you are in harmonizing “do, re, mi”! We do not just blend our voices, we blend our hearts.

Look at singing as it ascends to heaven and enters the throne room of heaven. Do we really think that God judges our singing based on four part harmony? The melody that sweetens heaven is that fifth part harmony when it comes from the one heart of His people. Let’s learn all we can about four part harmony, but may we never fail to place the right emphasis on the harmony of our souls as we worship our Maker!

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Evolution and Ethics

The Impact of Evolution on Ethics

The theory of organic evolution implies that the origin of man does not come from a creative process by a supernatural being (God), but from a naturalistic organic process that took place over an extremely long process of time. Hence, the teaching of organic evolution equates to a denial of a Supreme Being. Thus, we should understand in the very beginning that evolution itself has no impact upon true ethics—it is simply an unproven (and un-provable) theory—but its tremendous impact on the subject of ethics lies in the widespread influence of those who believe and teach it.

Of course, while it is rare for organic evolutionists to admit that their beliefs have any negative impact on society, the fact of the matter is that a belief in organic evolution produces a society that is not a pleasant one in which to live. Nevertheless, one aggressive atheist who is antagonistic towards creationism, religion, and a belief in God actually has told the truth relative to the matter. In 1976, Richard Dawkins first wrote the book, The Selfish Gene, in which he set forth within the realm of Neo-Darwinism his theory of genetic determinism, which is an extension of Darwin’s natural selection into the genetic realm. In his book, he writes, “You are nothing. You are here to propagate your selfish genes. There is no higher purpose in life…I am not advocating a morality based on evolution. I am saying how things have evolved. I am not saying how we humans morally ought to behave…. My own feeling is that a human society based simply on the gene’s law of universal ruthless selfishness would be a very nasty society in which to live…” (2-3). This last statement is absolutely correct; a society consistently operating upon the belief of organic evolution “would be a very nasty society in which to live.” Consider the implications of such a belief.

We generally view ethics as a system or code by which we determine attitudes or actions either to be right or wrong. Nevertheless (if humanity lived as if organic evolution were correct)—if there was no Supreme Being to whom we would show accountability through an objective, absolute standard of will (2 Tim. 3:16-17)—then humanity would exist in an environment where anyone may do anything he or she pleases! In the absence of God, everything is allowed and ethics ultimately becomes just a matter of one’s opinion.

Each and every individual only needs to base his or her decisions on what will satisfy his or her own selfish needs. Jean Paul Sartre, a French existential philosopher, wrote, “Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon either within or outside himself… Nor, on the other hand, if God does not exist, are we provided with any values or commands that could legitimize our behavior” (Existentialism and Humanism, 1961, 485). Thus, whatever one chooses to do is right. He later declared that we attach value to the choice itself so that “…we can never choose evil” (Existentialism, 1966, 279). Therefore, if evolution is true and if there is no God (or if humanity lives as if it were true), then it is impossible to formulate a system of ethics by which one objectively can differentiate between right and wrong!

Consider this observation from the autobiography of agnostic philosopher Bertrand Russell:

We feel that the man who brings widespread happiness at the expense of misery to himself is a better man than the man who brings unhappiness to others and happiness to himself. I do not know of any rational ground for this view, or, perhaps, for the somewhat more rational view that whatever the majority desires (called utilitarian hedonism) is preferable to what the minority desires. These are truly ethical problems, but I do not know of any way in which they can be solved except by politics or war. All I can find to say on this subject is that an ethical opinion can only be defended by an ethical axiom, but, if the axiom is not accepted, there is no way of reaching a rational conclusion (1969, p. 29).

In other words, with no way to reach a rational conclusion on what is ethical, humanity plumbs to depths of despair with such carnal and base philosophies arising as “might makes right,” and “the strong subjugate the weak.” Thus, we can see the impact that organic evolution has upon ethics—it creates a system driven by anarchy where “every man did that which is right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25).

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