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Thinking About Suffering

Not long ago I was asked to teach a Sunday school class. The assigned topic was suffering. I had to admit to my friends that although as a pastor I had spent much time with people who were suffering, I have had little personal experience with suffering. At this point, my Parkinson’s symptoms are not as severe as they might be. My past injuries and surgeries do not compare with the serious health problems others have experienced. I am a novice when it  comes to suffering, so I was not teaching from my own experience.

Suffering is part of the human condition. That is why the apostle Peter wrote his first letter. He wrote, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1Peter 1:6). He also said, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). In fact, every chapter in 1 Peter has a reference to suffering or persecution. He wrote to prepare the Lord’s people to face suffering with courage and hope.

There are various ways to think about suffering. Escapism and denial are one way. Some preachers want you to believe that suffering is never God’s will and that healing is always God’s will. Just say the word, name it and claim it, and instantly be free of sickness or trouble. If deliverance doesn’t happen, it is because the sufferer does not have enough faith to be healed. This flatly contradicts 1 Peter which says that suffering is sometimes the will of God for a believer (1 Peter 4:19).

Suffering is inevitable because we live in a world that is broken. Innocent people suffer because of wars, accidents, injustice, disease, natural disasters, and other tragedies. I was living in Oklahoma City thirty years ago when the Murrah Federal Building was bombed by domestic terrorists. 168 people lost their lives, 19 of them little children. Hundreds more were injured. What are we to think of events like this? Jesus told his followers that tragedies happen in our world but victims should not be thought of as greater sinners than anyone else (Luke 13:2-5).

In some parts of the world believers are being persecuted and martyred because they are Christians. I am humbly grateful that I live in a nation where we are still free to express our faith. I fear that we may become so used to our comforts and freedom, that we have no theology of suffering. We American believers have much to learn from fellow-Christians in places like North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

God has a purpose in our sufferings. 1 Peter 1:7 says that one purpose is to refine our faith. James 1:2-5 says that suffering tests our faith and produces maturity, if we respond with perseverance. We should never doubt the goodness of God. He does have a good purpose in whatever he allows to reach us (Romans 8:28).

Many New Testament passages tell how the church’s sufferings identify us with Jesus. When Peter tells us to follow in the steps of Jesus (1 Peter 2:21), he was talking about following in the way of suffering. “Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13).

One of the sacred responsibilities of being a local church pastor is accompanying God’s people as they experience suffering. I have witnessed great fortitude and courage in the face of overwhelming pain and sorrow in ordinary folks who had entrusted their lives to Jesus. I hope my presence and prayers reminded them of the compassion of Jesus. I also hope that when I am called to suffer, that I may do so with the same faith that I saw in them.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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I Believe

Global positioning systems have all but replaced printed maps. We like the convenience and improved accuracy of GPS when we travel, in spite of the sacrifice of our personal privacy. (I still like to take along my battered road atlas when I take a cross country trip in my car.) The atlas and the GPS are ways for me to believe that I am going in the right direction.

For the early Christians, creedal formulations were a way to stay on course theologically. Average people did not possess copies of scripture. They were rare and expensive. Believers committed portions of scripture to memory along with concise statements of belief. They were like GPS, guides to faith.

Christian truth was learned and reinforced by rote memorization, much like schoolchildren learning the multiplication tables. The early Christian creeds were confessions of faith which were learned in preparation for the baptism of converts. Some of them may have been sung as hymns of worship in Christian gatherings.

An example of a creed that is found in the Bible is 1 Timothy 3:16. Paul is quoting  a liturgical statement that is poetic in structure. It was most likely in use in the churches before he wrote the letter to Timothy. It is speaking of Jesus when it says: “He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.”

To say that Jesus “was believed on in the world” was a statement of hope and optimism. Because the good news of Jesus was “preached among the nations,” there were many people in those nations who said “I believe!” It was a confident summary of the results of missionary work. God will ensure the success of the proclamation of the gospel.

This creedal statement agrees with what Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom will preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Perhaps this is why the Apostles’ Creed is globally the most widely-accepted statement of faith. It begins with the words, “I believe.” All over the world there are people who recite these words with conviction to affirm their belief in Jesus Christ.

                                                   The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (universal) church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Creed begins with the words “I believe” and concludes with the word “Amen,” which means “I agree!” Do you believe? Do you agree?

Pastor Randy Faulkner

A NOTE TO READERS; This entry is the last of seventeen posts on the subject of the Apostles’ Creed. If you care to read the other articles, scroll back to the month of March. Feel free to share these blog posts as a witness to others.

 

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The Life Everlasting

The Apostles’ Creed has been the theme of this blog for many weeks. It is a concise statement of some of the foundational beliefs of Christians. The grand finale of the creed is the statement, “I believe in the life everlasting. Amen!”

“Amen” indeed. “Let it be.” “I agree with these truths.” The life everlasting is described in the book of Revelation in visions, symbols, and metaphors that depict heaven as exhilarating and adventurous. Revelation 21 uses word pictures to describe a massive cosmic remodeling, a renovation of heaven and earth that will make it fit to be the eternal dwelling of God and his people. The old universe will be reconstructed and God is going to make everything new.

John the apostle wrote, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away'” (Revelation 21:1, 3-4).

I suggest that sometime today you take your Bible and read Revelation 21 with this phrase in mind: “I believe in the life everlasting.” There you will read about the new heaven and earth as a place for us to live close to God. John wrote Revelation as an exile on an island penal colony called Patmos. He was far from home, surrounded by the sea. In the ancient world the sea represented danger, distance and separation. Maybe that is why he was inspired to write that in the new heaven and earth “there was no longer any sea.”

This home with God is called the New Jerusalem, a vast city teeming with life and pulsing with meaningful activity in the service of our Creator. You may remember how Jesus wept over the old Jerusalem because of her sin and disobedience. She rejected the prophets and persecuted the apostles and crucified the Lord Jesus. The old Jerusalem will be replaced by the new one, described as “a bride beautifully dressed for her husband,” the holy city of the future.

This heavenly home will be free of tears, death, crying and pain. There will be a new order, a higher order of life that is not possible now because of human sin. Evil is in our world because there is an enemy on the loose in our world. He knows he has but a short time. Jesus, through his death on the cross, defeated the devil to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15). Revelation tells how Satan will be judged and death will die.

“The spring of the water of life” is for those who are spiritually thirsty. God will satisfy their thirst. This is offered “without cost,” freely. Those who believe in Jesus are called “those who overcome,” and God’s sons and daughters. They will “inherit” eternal life, eternal satisfaction. Their names are “written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

I read about a hymnwriter named Natalie Sleeth. She wrote “Hymn of Promise,” with this message: “In our death, a resurrection / at the last, a victory / unrevealed until its season / something God alone can see.”

She wrote the hymn for her husband as he was dying. From the date of diagnosis of a malignancy to death were just twenty-one days. She presented it to him just before he died.

She herself had battled an illness which ultimately took her life. Before she died she wrote a statement to her young grandchildren in which she told how she began to realize that she was growing older and her body was beginning to wear out. She talked to God about the situation and asked him to help her.

She said God answered her and said, “My child, when I made the world and filled it with people, I had a plan. I wanted my people to have life for as long as they could, but not forever because then my world would be too full with no room for anybody. I planned it so that when it was time to leave the earth, my people would come to live with me in heaven where there is no pain or sickness or anything bad.”

Natalie was claiming one of the central truths of the Christian faith: “I believe in the life everlasting.”

Amen.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Resurrection Day!

“I believe in the resurrection of the body.”

This phrase from the Apostles’ Creed is a statement of faith. It is a central claim of Christianity. It is based upon the promises of the Bible and upon the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In his great treatise on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul said that if the dead do not rise, then Christ did not rise from the dead. Then he stated bluntly, if Christ did not rise, the Christian faith is a fallacy, an exercise in futility, and those who promote it are false witnesses (vv. 13-15). In the words of Paul Little, “If Christ did not rise, the Christian church is just an interesting museum piece, nothing more.”

Well, then, did Jesus really rise from the dead? Paul lists a number, hundreds actually, of people who saw Jesus alive in a physical body after he had been killed and buried. They included Peter, the other apostles, James, a crowd of five hundred, and Paul himself (vv. 3-8). These witnesses to Christ’s resurrection spread the word at great cost to themselves. In spite of persecution, suffering and martyrdom, they had the hope of the resurrection and eternal life and they kept telling the message wherever they went.

This message gave rise to the church which is founded upon their testimony. In fact, the resurrection of Jesus is the only way to account for the expansion and influence of Christianity in the world. The promise of the resurrection of the body is part of the Christian gospel by which we are saved and on which we take our stand (vv. 1-2).

The resurrection is connected to a belief in a meaningful afterlife in the presence of God. The ancient Greeks believed in an afterlife, but it was uncertain, dim, and vague. They had no certainty of a bodily resurrection. When the philosopher Socrates lay down to die, he was asked, “Shall we rise again?” He answered, “I hope so, but no one can know.”

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul answers that question with strong faith. He asks his readers to think deeply about the implications of the resurrection.

Think about those believers who have already died (v. 18). He says they are “asleep in Christ.” This phrase implies safety, comfort, and security. But if there is no resurrection, they have no continuing identity, no safety; they have “perished.” There is no salvation for them on the other side of death. There is no hope of eternal life.

Think of yourself. Paul says if this earthly life is all there is, you are to be “pitied” (v. 19). This is because the Christian message is false if there is no resurrection. You have gullibly embraced a fairy tale. It is nothing but a cruel joke. It leads to the ultimate disappointment.

Above all, think of Jesus. Paul asserts, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v.20). Jesus arose in a physical body; physical, yet more than physical. It was immortal. “Firstfruits” were the first portion of a harvest brought as a thanksgiving offering to the Lord by the Jewish people. The analogy is this: Jesus’ own resurrection is the first part of a great harvest of people who will also be raised from the dead in new physical bodies, immortal, never to die again!

When we say, “I believe in the resurrection of the body,” we are trusting in the promise of Jesus who said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). We are affirming our faith in the one who said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He (or she) who believes in me will live, even though he (or she) dies” (John 11:25).

Our physical bodies wear out. We can eat all the high fiber bran muffins we want, but we know that our bodies will not last forever. They will fall apart in the end, and will return to the dust. But the good news of the resurrection is that if we trust in the resurrected Christ, we will inherit new bodies that will be suited for eternity, just as our earthly bodies are suited for time.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Release from Guilt

“I believe in the forgiveness of sins.”

This statement, near the end of the Apostles’ Creed, is a joyful declaration of release from the guilt of sin. It assumes that God is a forgiving God who delights in showing mercy. It is the worshipful expression of our deepest faith and eternal gratitude.

Martin Luther was the father of the Protestant Reformation. Before that, he had been a priest who had spent years studying theology. He was devout, brilliant — and miserable. He was deeply troubled by a sense of his guilt before a holy God. He was haunted by the thought that his sins were not forgiven. He made a pilgrimage to Rome seeking answers. But he returned to Germany more troubled than before.

As a university professor of theology, he studied and taught Paul’s letter to the Romans. He encountered Romans 1:17, “The righteous will live by faith.” This eventually led him to the conviction that people are saved by faith in Christ alone and not by good works. His conversion was a profound release from feelings of guilt and an understanding of the freedom of grace.

It is not surprising that Luther stated that the phrase in the Apostles’ Creed that was most important to him was the phrase, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” He wrote, “If that is not true, what does it matter whether God is almighty or Jesus Christ was born, died and rose again? It is because these things have a bearing on my forgiveness that they are important to me.”

The author of Psalm 130 would agree. He knew how it felt to reach the depth of despair. “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy” (vv. 1-2). Verse 3 says that he had reached bottom because of his sins which were too numerous to count. The psalmist is expressing the futility, despair, and guilt that Martin Luther described.

You may know the feeling. Guilt is pervasive. Sometimes it is false guilt which cripples people psychologically. Sometimes it is true moral guilt which has resulted from awareness of a moral failing. When we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that God has written on our hearts a sense of right and wrong (Romans 2:15). We know we haven’t always lived up to our own standards, much less God’s (James 2:10). The Bible calls this sin. Every one of us has broken God’s law (Romans 3:23).

The psalmist asks, “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” (v.3). Who could survive the scrutiny of God’s judgment? Who could be righteous enough to deserve a place in his presence? The writer is helpless. We all are helpless. We need God’s forgiveness because of our sinfulness and our inability to do anything about it.

What hope do we have for forgiveness? The good news is in words addressed to God: “But with you there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared” (v. 4). “Fear” is reverential awe and worship. One of the reasons we worship God is because he makes a habit of forgiving sins. He is eager to forgive. He loves to forgive.

In the vocabulary of the Bible, forgiveness means to be set free, loosed, liberated. It means to be set free from guilt and from sin’s penalty. This is possible because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He purchased redemption with his blood. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Those who are in Christ are forgiven. Have you, like the psalm writer, admitted your sinfulness and helplessness to God? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ and asked for forgiveness? God loves to forgive. That is why he sent his Son the Redeemer. He is a God of unfailing love and full redemption (Psalm 130:7).

The Bible illustrates forgiveness in various ways. God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). God puts our sins behind his back (Isaiah 38:17). God blots out our sins like a cloud (Isaiah 44:22). God forgets our sins and remembers them no more (Jeremiah 31:34). God buries our sins in the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).

That is why Martin Luther said his favorite part of the Apostles’ Creed was “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” It is the reason for everything else in the creed. Forgiveness is the very point at which all the profound theology expressed in the creed touches our lives.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Have You Ever Met a Saint?

“I believe in the communion of saints.”

This statement in the Apostles’ Creed affirms the existence of a fellowship, a partnership, a community of people set apart to God. Who are these people called “saints?”

In the common understanding, saints are thought of as exceptional, extraordinary spiritual heroes of the past. “Too good for the rest of us,” they are separate or aloof from ordinary people. They may have been recognized as unusually holy by a religious order. The word is sometimes used of the spirits of those who have died who are honored as examples to the living.

The way the New Testament uses the word is of believers in Jesus who have been made holy in the sight of God by his grace. They called are God’s people.

The communion of saints is not a collection of stained glass heroes from ancient history. They are not marble statues adorned with halos. In the Bible they are real people, with the same successes and failures, the same strengths and weaknesses, as the rest of us.

For example, the Corinthian Christians were called saints (1 Corinthians 1:1-3). But they were far from exemplary Christians. Paul’s letters to them were written to correct a long list of sins, faults, misunderstandings and conflicts in the church. Yet they were, Paul told them, saints in the sight of God. Saints are sinners who have been declared righteous by God’s grace.

The famous Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte was approached one day by a church member who told him, “Dr. Whyte, I just love being in your presence. You are so saintly!” He looked at her with a serious expression and replied, “Madam, if you could look into my soul, what you would see would make you want to spit in my face!” He had a profound sense of his own unworthiness. The word “saintly” should not be applied the way the woman was using it.

When I think of “the communion of saints,” I think of Hebrews 12:23. “You have come . . . to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven . . . to the spirits of righteous men made perfect.” These beautiful words describe some of the privileges of sainthood.

The true church is mentioned. This is the universal Body of Christ on earth. The names of those who are in Christ are inscribed permanently in heaven. Their names are recorded in heaven but they are not there yet. They are the redeemed all over the world from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 12:9). These are the saints on earth with whom we have communion.

Then the verse looks heavenward to “the spirits of righteous men (and women) made perfect.” These are the saints who are already with the Lord. They are believers who have died. They are with Christ awaiting their resurrection bodies. They are said to be righteous. According to the Bible, the only way to be made righteous is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In his hymn “The Church’s One Foundation,” Samuel Stone wrote: “Yet she on earth hath union with God the three in one, / And mystic sweet communion with those whose race is run. / O happy ones, and holy, God grant us grace that we, like them, the meek and lowly / may dwell on high with thee.”

Here are biblical reasons to declare our belief in the communion of saints. All who are cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 12:24), are declared righteous by God’s grace. Some saints are still here on earth as part of the true church. Others have died in faith and have gone to be with Christ.

A group of schoolchildren were touring an Orthodox church. They saw icons and statues. One of the children asked, “Who are the people in those paintings on the wall?” The priest answered kindly, “They are saints. Can you tell me what a saint is?” A child piped up, “Someone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.”

The child was right. One becomes a saint not by being canonized, but by being in Christ. Have you ever met a saint? I know many of them personally.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Catholic with a Small “c”

The phrase, “I believe in the holy catholic church” in the Apostles’ Creed has raised more questions than any other part of the creed. This troubles some people because they think it has something to do with the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant pastors find themselves explaining to parishioners that the word “catholic” simply means “universal.”

When we say, “I believe in the holy catholic church,” we are affirming our belief in the worldwide family of God, all Christian believers everywhere. Jesus left us with the commission to make disciples in every part of the world. He said that “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47).

Those who believe in Jesus as savior become a part of a new humanity called the church universal. This is what the New Testament calls “the Body of Christ” (Ephesians 1:22-23). This term is used 13 times in the New Testament, always in the singular, never plural. There is one Body of Christ and Jesus is its head. It is not a denomination. It is not a local assembly. It is the universal and spiritual Body of Christ.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he is teaching about the universal, or “catholic” church.  Ephesians does not give instructions about local church order or polity. In Ephesians, rather, the emphasis is on the Body of Christ of which Jesus is the head. The terms “church” and “Body” are used interchangeably. Christ is said to fill the church with himself just as he fills the whole universe (Ephesians 4:10).

This is not to diminish the Bible’s teachings about the importance of local churches. Every believer should be an active participant in a local assembly. It is in the fellowship of local assemblies that we are taught the scriptures, pray for one another, serve our communities, unite in worship, and support worldwide missionary advancement. Each local church, if it is faithful to the gospel, is an outpost of the church universal, the Body of Christ.

Maxie Dunham wrote, “There is no Christianity apart from the church. This is true because there is no such thing as solitary Christianity. Although our Christian faith and experience must be personal, they can never be private.” I think he is right. Jesus loves his church, he promised to build his church, and he is present whenever his church is gathered in his name.

The word “church” comes from the Old English, related to the Scottish word kirk, or German kirche. These are derived from the ancient Greek word kuriake, which means “belonging to the Lord.” A Greek word translated “church” in our English Bibles is ekklesia, which means a “called out assembly.” That is precisely what Paul has in mind: a group of people called out from the world and belonging to the Lord.

We may stumble over the word “holy” in the statement, “I believe in the holy catholic church.” This is because we who are in the church know how unholy we can be at times. Saints are not always saintly. The people of God are not always godly. That is why we are taught to regularly confess our sins to God.

The church can only be called holy because Jesus Christ is holy. The church is made up of unholy sinners who, by God’s grace, have been reckoned as righteous through the merit and sacrifice of Jesus who died for our sins. Thus the church is holy in the sight of God because we are “in Christ,” clothed in his righteousness. Bumper sticker theology puts it this way: “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven.”

We have no right to despise or neglect the local church. This is because it represents the universal church. Anyone who turns away from the church turns away from Christ’s Body. Loyalty to Jesus includes being loyal to the physical, visible expression of his universal Body on earth.

Will you join me in affirming, “I believe in the holy catholic church?” If you do, I expect Jesus will want to see you with his people in church on Sunday.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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God Behind the Scenes

The Holy Spirit is the silent partner in the Trinity. He does his work behind the scenes. The Spirit is, Jesus said, like the wind, invisible, yet powerful. We see the effects of his ministry, but we do not see him.

Any interest in the Holy Spirit is a good thing because of the worldliness and weakness of the church in our day. Many of us are dissatisfied with the condition of our spiritual lives. We hunger for a deeper and fuller experience of God’s Spirit working through us. Many of us pray for revival in our churches and in our nation.

If we say, as the Apostles’ Creed does, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” we are not merely reciting an abstract theory of theology. We are talking about what happens when God goes to work in the lives of people like us, when he makes himself known in the life of his church.

I have observed this in a large church in Seoul, South Korea, as I joined a gathering of over a thousand worshippers who met at five o’clock in the morning to pray for spiritual awakening in their nation. I experienced the same thing at Ambaricho Mountain in Ethiopia where over fifty thousand Christians met for an all-day prayer gathering. They were there to pray for the progress of the gospel in their land and for spiritual renewal in their lives.

These devoted followers of Jesus in Asia and Africa had a spiritual urgency that we desperately need here in America. They believe in the Holy Spirit and they are hungry for his fullness. In the words of Ray Stedman, “Ministries that genuinely touch the world can be traced to the movement of the Holy Spirit. This is a truth that seems lost to today’s church.”

Paul brings this to our attention in 2 Corinthians 3. He mentions the Holy Spirit seven times in that passage. He practically shouts, “I believe in the Holy Spirit!” He wants us to recognize the necessity of the role of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives.

In 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 he wrote, “Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us ministers of a new covenant — not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

The Holy Spirit may be invisible, doing his work behind the scenes, but he is the Spirit of God. He is eternal. He has been at work in this world since the creation. Jesus said he has been sent from God to help, encourage, and strengthen believers (John 16:7; 14:17, 26). It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to live for Christ. “Our competence comes from God.” “The Spirit gives life.”

William Temple illustrated it this way: “It is no use giving me a Shakespearean play like Hamlet or King Lear and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it. I cannot. And it is no good showing me the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it. I cannot. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like that! And if the Spirit of Jesus could come and live in me, then I could live a life like that!

That is what Paul was writing about in 2 Corinthians 3. It is not possible to live up to the holy standard of God’s law (the letter). We could die trying but we are simply not competent to do so. That is why Jesus has given us the promised New Covenant and the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is his life in us that gives us the ability to live for him.

John Stott had a thriving ministry as a pastor in London for over 25 years. His church, All Souls, was packed every Sunday with young professional people and students. Someone asked him, “John, what do you think of as you walk to the pulpit, knowing that a thousand people will be hanging on your words?” He replied, “As I make my journey to the pulpit, I just say over and over again, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit.'”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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He Will Come Again

“He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”

This phrase from the Apostles’ Creed reminds us that Jesus promised to return and that God the Father has committed all judgment to him. Unfortunately, this teaching is sadly neglected in churches today.

I have been retired from pastoral ministry since 2018. I have attended worship services every Sunday since that time. I cannot remember hearing a single sermon on the second coming of Christ. Research in the religious life of America bears this out. People in the pews are not hearing as much as they used to about the “blessed hope” of the Lord’s return. They are uninformed about this precious truth. Ignorance of this subject led Paul to write about the coming of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 4.

When he wrote about the “coming” of Jesus Christ, Paul used a word (parousia) which meant showing up in person. It was a word that might have been used of the arrival of friends from a journey, their personal presence. The apostles Peter and Paul used the word ten times in their writings to refer to the Lord’s second coming.

In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul describes some spectacular supernatural events that will accompany Christ’s coming. First, the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, or “loud command” (v.16). Most likely this refers to his call to the believing dead to rise in new bodies suited for eternity.

The archangel will speak. The only archangel named in the Bible is Michael, the defender of Israel. His voice will be a shout of victory over the devil and his dominion. This is a reminder of the role of angels in the events described in the book of the Revelation. The archangel’s announcement will mark the beginning of the end for Satan.

The trumpet of God will sound. Paul’s Jewish readers would think of the blowing of the ram’s horn (shofar) for the feast of trumpets. Paul’s Gentile readers would probably associate this with an army bugle call to close ranks and march into battle.

Of course all this represents a disruption in the status quo of history. This reminds us that all things are not going to continue as they have been indefinitely. Jesus’ second coming will be a supernatural intervention. Paul goes on to boldly describe it in terms that are nothing short of miraculous.

The miracle of resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:14-15)

“Those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” are the Christian dead. Their bodies, not their souls, are asleep, awaiting the awakening called the resurrection. For believers, death is not unconsciousness. The “dead in Christ” are as alive as he is. “Asleep” is a word picture to illustrate the temporary nature of death for their physical bodies.

At the resurrection, the bodies of those who are in Christ will be reconstituted. Their new bodies will be joined to their spirits, already with the Lord. They will “rise first” (v.16), before the living believers ascend. Then together, the living and the resurrected believers will be transformed and will be taken to be with the Lord forever.

The miracle of the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

“Rapture” is a word used to refer to the snatching away of all of God’s people worldwide “to meet the Lord in the air.” Jesus taught that no one knows when this will occur. Paul’s attitude (“we”) was one of expectancy and we should also live in anticipation of the sudden appearance of “the Lord himself” (v. 16).

Who will be “caught up,” or raptured? The context tells us that it is those who are “in Christ,” living and dead. Throughout the New Testament they are referred to as spiritually chosen in Christ, new creations in Christ, crucified and raised with Christ, seated in the heavenlies in Christ, complete in Christ, baptized into Christ, abiding in Christ and sanctified in Christ.

What will happen at the rapture? The apostle John answers, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2).”

The miracle of reunion ( 1 Thessalonians 4:17)

“Together” is a beautiful word. It implies the gathering of God’s people in the presence of Jesus and the complete absence of the sins, ignorance, and misunderstandings that spoil our relationships here on earth. There and then we will know and be known with clarity, joy and perfect harmony. If family reunions are good here on earth,  how much better will they be in heaven?

Are you ready for all this? Do you love the thought of Jesus’ return? Do you pray the way we are taught  to pray in the New Testament: “Come, Lord Jesus, come?” Can you speak the words of the Apostles’ Creed with certainty: “I believe that he will come again to judge the living and the dead”?

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

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He Ascended

“He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

This statement from the Apostles’ Creed repeats a truth that is taught in several New Testament passages. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus’ disciples watched in awe as he was taken up to disappear into the clouds. Angels told them that he would come again from heaven in a similar way (Acts 1:11).

Peter wrote that Jesus “has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand — with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” ( 1 Peter 3:23). Paul wrote that Jesus, the one who descended, “is the very one who ascended higher than the heavens” (Ephesians 4:10). God “seated him at his own right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:20-21).

What is Jesus doing in heaven now? He is sharing in the rule of Almighty God over the universe. He has the title “Lord” which indicates his fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 110 which says that a descendant of King David will rule from God’s right hand. This present rule is in anticipation of his future coming to earth to rule his visible kingdom.

He is also preparing a place for his people in a heavenly home he calls “my Father’s house” (John 14:2-3). He told his disciples that he would be going away to get a place ready for them. He promised to come back and take them there personally. This is very good news for all who believe in Jesus.

In addition, the Lord Jesus is interceding for believers as our great high priest (Hebrews 4:14-5:10). The Jews in the Old Testament had priests who were authorized under the law to represent them before God. They offered sacrifices and prayed for the people that their sins might be forgiven. Today Jesus is the only priest anyone needs to stand in for them before a holy God. His death on the cross atoned for sinners. He is the only mediator between God and humanity.

He is praying for his people and his prayers are effective. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that though he experienced temptation and the sufferings of the human condition, he was without sin. Raymond Brown wrote, “No one on earth, before or since, has been through such spiritual desolation and human anguish. For this reason he can help us in our moments of temptation.” As our perfect representative, he is our sympathetic advocate.

Therefore, we are invited to “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We are promised mercy to cover the sins of yesterday, and grace to meet the needs of today.

My wife and I were having a conversation with a friend who is not yet a Christian. “Why do I need an intermediary between me and God?” she asked. “Because God is holy and we are sinners,” I answered. We went on to explain how Jesus’ sacrifice and present ministry at God’s right hand make believers acceptable to God by grace.

This is what we mean when we join the confession, “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner