Saturday, February 24, 2018

Genesis 39:14-20: Potiphar's Wife [#metoo]

Presented to Warehouse 614 pm service, February 25, 2018

…She called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” [#metoo]
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. [Genesis 39:14-20]

Joseph, the 'slave' in this story was actually a powerful man.[1] He was in charge of all of the properties, possessions, wealth, and the whole estate of the captain of Pharaoh's guards. Women in Egypt of the Pharaohs had a lot less power than do women of today.[2] Potiphar's wife spoke out about this powerful man in her husband's employ taking advantage of her: there was no guarantee her husband would believe her over his right hand man. You can see she even needed the support of his staff to back her up. She confided in them that this servant of her husband's was here to make sport of them. She took a chance, she spoke up, and Joseph lost his job without warning and wound up in prison. There was no trial, you wouldn't want to disgrace Potiphar's wife any further. Even her identity is forever protected. Her name is never mentioned in the official record. She is protected.
Recently in Ontario the leader of the Opposition Party was accused of similar things by two anonymous people from years gone by and he lost his job and was condemned by the PM, the Premier, his own party and others in a matter of hours. Over night he lost his job and his reputation. His accusers are protected; they went to the media; they didn't face him. He didn't get a trial. He has affidavits and evidence that even seem to clear his name. One day he seemed poised to be the next ruler of this province and the next, with reputation besmirched, his staff turned on him (even as those reporting to Joseph seem to have abandoned him) and now who knows what his future holds.

I know a teacher who was exonerated of similar accusations made by students. He never taught again. He couldn't deal with the emotional toll that took. Unsubstantiated harassment charges have even struck closer to home causing even more emotional hurt and chaos.

Joseph we know was innocent but he went to jail.
As well as false accusations from others, there are real abuses that real people do suffer at the hands of people in authority over them which is why we have things like #metoo. I am a part of an hierarchical organization and have certainly been privy to stories of apparent abuses of power. Power, however, be it the power of a teacher, a politician, an employer or a high-ranking employee, may indeed be tenuous.[3] No matter how secure we may feel, doing the work of God or the work of man, we are indeed vulnerable.

We can be vulnerable to well-meaning social movements that quickly become like the French Revolution's guillotine which even took the head of the head of the revolution. We can be vulnerable to circumstance or vindictive people. We can feel completely secure in our job and our life; we can feel we are completely safe and secure, in charge of all of the business operations of a powerful person or a company or a ministry; we can even be poised to become premier of a country's largest province... and then we aren't.

(One minute you're on top of the world and the next thing you know, you're non-stop to nowhere - FP)

Our Lord and Saviour was executed for treason. That trial seemed trumped up and certainly didn’t last very long. He went from being accused to being arrested, to being condemned, and then to die in no time at all.

Today is the second Sunday of Lent. Do we know what Lent is all about? Why do many Christians observe lent? It is to get us ready for Easter and Good Friday: the death and resurrection of our Lord. Lent is an opportunity for repentance, prayer and fasting. It reminds us of the forty days Jesus spent fasting in preparation for entering into ministry. Traditionally people give up eating meat (other than fish) on Fridays and some people will also give up chocolate or something else for Lent.

This year Lent began on Valentine’s Day. This Valentine’s Day at a Kiwanis luncheon, Susan and I were seated next to a Roman Catholic friend, He did order the fish and he didn’t have the chocolate even on Valentine’s Day. Lent is a time to make ourselves ready for Easter through repentance, prayer, and fasting.

I think that a key way to prepare ourselves for worship of the Lord through Lent is to realize that indeed God is in control of our lives. In the lectionary for today there are readings from Genesis 17 where God reminds Abraham that YHWH is the one who is going to bless Abraham. Abraham won’t achieve things, God will provide them. We can’t achieve things, the LORD will provide. And Romans 4:13-25 speaks about the faith of Abraham and God’s faithfulness. This is important. Salvation comes from Christ alone. There is nothing we can to do to achieve it. Our perceived security through wealth, position, intelligence, or integrity is a lie. We cannot be self-sufficient.

·        1 Samuel 17:47 "...it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle belongs to the Lord..."
·        Ecclesiastes 9:11 “…The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned…”
·        Zechariah 4:6 “…This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.”
·        Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
·        2 Corinthians 12:9-10: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
·        Deuteronomy 8:10-18a: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 
·        Proverbs 16:18: Pride comes before a fall

Joseph, whom we read about in Genesis 39, had a significant amount of power placed in his hands – maybe for the second time in his life, if we count the sway he had over his dad in childhood. I don’t know if he had become or was at risk of becoming proud due to his position and status and favour or whatever else. I do believe, however, that these accusations from Potiphar’s wife which precipitated his time in jail must have hurt him a lot. He must have realized just how vulnerable he was. He must have realized that it is not by his might that he survives but purely by the grace of God. Job 34:14-15: “If God were to withdraw his Spirit, all life would disappear and mankind would turn again to dust.”

And so it is with us today. It is in moments of insecurity that we turn to the Lord for security. It is when we are broken that He can make us whole. It is when we are fallen that He may lift us up. A verse that I often turn to when I am reminded of my vulnerability is from 1 Samuel 17:47 "...it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle belongs to the Lord..."

This week Billy Graham was ‘Promoted to Glory’. He always put the gospel in its most basic form. We need salvation. There is trouble everywhere. The Clash sounds that in this life there will be trouble and as we stay there may be double. Matthew 6:33, God knows what we need; God will be with us in our troubles and as we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness all we need will be added unto us.

Psalm 46:10: God: “be still and know that I am God.” Lent is a time to be still and focus on God rather than on ourselves. It is reminiscent of Jesus’ time in the desert and can remind us of Joseph’s time on his way to prison before he is lifted up.  So today I encourage us not to rely on our positions, our strength, our skills, our talents, our smarts, our looks, or anything else – just like with Joseph in Genesis 39, they can all disappear in a moment but let us instead look to our Saviour for our Salvation. For salvation comes from Christ alone.

Let us pray.
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[1] Cf. Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), 610
[2] Cf. John H. Sailhamer. The, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Genesis/Exposition of Genesis/VI. The Account of Jacob (37:1-49:33)/E. Joseph in the House of Potiphar (39:1-23), Book Version: 4.0.2 : 7-20 This story about Joseph reverses a well-known plot in the patriarchal narratives.
[3] Cf. Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), 612.

Genesis 39:14-20: Potiphar's Wife [#metoo] (short version)

Presented to 614 Warehouse am service, February 25, 2018 

…She called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” [#metoo]
When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. [Genesis 39:14-20]

Joseph, the 'slave' in this story was actually a powerful man. He was in charge of all of the properties, possessions, wealth, and the whole estate of the captain of Pharaoh's guards. Women in Egypt of the Pharaohs had a lot less power than do women of today. Potiphar's wife spoke out about this powerful man in her husband's employ taking advantage of her: there was no guarantee her husband would believe her over his right hand man. You can see she even needed the support of his staff to back her up. She confided in them that this servant of her husband's was here to make sport of them. She took a chance, she spoke up, and Joseph lost his job without warning and wound up in prison. There was no trial, you wouldn't want to disgrace Potiphar's wife any further. Even her identity is forever protected. Her name is never mentioned in the official record. She is protected.  

Recently in Ontario the leader of the Opposition Party was accused of similar things by two anonymous people from years gone by and he lost his job and was condemned by the PM, the Premier, his own party and others in a matter of hours. Over night he lost his job and his reputation. His accusers are protected; they went to the media; they didn't face him. He didn't get a trial. He has affidavits and evidence that even seem to clear his name. One day he seemed poised to be the next ruler of this province and the next, with reputation besmirched, his staff turned on him (even as those reporting to Joseph seem to have abandoned him) and he now he is trying to get his job back and who knows what his future holds.

Joseph we know was innocent but he went to jail.  

As well as false accusations from others, there are real abuses that real people do suffer at the hands of people in authority over them which is why we have things like #metoo. I am a part of an hierarchical organization and have certainly been privy to stories of apparent abuses of power. Power, however, be it the power of a teacher, a politician, an employer or a high-ranking employee, may indeed be tenuous. No matter how secure we may feel, doing the work of God or the work of man, we are indeed vulnerable. We can feel completely secure in our job and our life; we can feel we are completely safe and secure, in charge of all of the business operations of a powerful person or a company or a ministry; we can even poised to become premier of a country's largest province... and then we aren't.

Our Lord and Saviour was executed for treason  Today is the second Sunday of Lent. Do we know what Lent is about? Why do many Christians observe lent? It is to get us ready for Easter and Good Friday: the death and resurrection of our Lord. Lent is an opportunity for repentance, prayer and fasting. It reminds us of the forty days Jesus spent fasting in preparation for ministry. Traditionally people give up eating meat (other than fish) on Fridays and some people will also give up chocolate or something else for Lent.

I think that a key way to prepare ourselves for worship of the Lord through Lent is to realize that indeed God is in control of our lives. In the lectionary for today there are readings from Genesis 17 where God reminds Abraham that YHWH is the one who is going to bless Abraham. Abraham won’t achieve things, God will provide them. We can’t achieve things, the LORD will provide. And Romans 4:13-25 speaks about the faith of Abraham and God’s faithfulness. This is important. Salvation comes from Christ alone. There is nothing we can to do to achieve it. Our perceived security through wealth, position, intelligence, or integrity is a lie. We cannot be self-sufficient. Proverbs 16:18: Pride comes before a fall

Joseph, had a significant amount of power – I don’t know if he was at risk of becoming proud. I do believe, however, that these accusations from Potiphar’s wife which precipitated his time in jail must have hurt him a lot. He must have realized just how vulnerable he was. He must have realized that it is not by his might that he survives but purely by the grace of God. Job 34:14-15: “If God were to withdraw his Spirit, all life would disappear and mankind would turn again to dust.”

And so it is with us today. It is in moments of insecurity that we turn to the Lord for security. It is when we are broken that He can make us whole. It is when we are fallen that He may lift us up

This week Billy Graham was ‘Promoted to Glory’. He always put the gospel in its most basic form. We need salvation.  Psalm 46:10: God: “be still and know that I am God.” Lent is a time to be still and focus on God rather than on ourselves. It is reminiscent of Jesus’ time in the desert and can remind us of Joseph’s time on his way to prison.  So today I encourage us not to rely on our positions, our strength, our skills, our talents, our smarts, our looks, or anything else – just like with Joseph in Genesis 39, they can all disappear in a moment but let us instead look to our Saviour for our Salvation. For salvation comes from Christ alone.


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Saturday, February 10, 2018

Romans 10:9&13: Say it! Know it! Do it!

Presented to Warehouse Mission 614 am service, 11 February 2018, Based on a sermon presented originally to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 11 September 2011 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Click here to read the full length sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/romans-109-say-it-know-it-do-it.html


Today we are speaking about Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” These 3 points are the basics of the whole Christian faith (cf. TSA doc. 7).

1)      Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth. (v.9)            Say it.
2)      Believe in your heart in His resurrection. (v.9)           Know it.
3)      Call on the name of the Lord. (v.13)                            Do it.

1) Say it! Romans 10:9: “…confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord…’
This is important. Whenever I hear this verse I immediately think of Peter, the rock upon which Christ was to build His church. We know this story, right? Jesus tells Peter that he is going to use him to help build his church. This is the point where Jesus gives him the name ‘Peter’ as a nickname – that wasn’t his given name; Simon was his given name – Peter means ‘Rock’ or even ‘Rocky’. Simon ‘Rocky-Peter’ here is to be one of Christ’s main ‘go to’ people after His resurrection and we remember the story about how Jesus told Rocky-Peter that he would deny him 3 times before the cock crows twice and then shortly after Peter’s saying ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’; shortly after Peter’s third denial that he even knows Jesus; the rooster crows and Peter is devastated

Point #1: Say it! Simon Peter had his chance to confess Jesus as Lord but he declined it. Now, if the story had ended there it would be sad indeed but John 21:15ff, records Simon Peter’s restoration, as Rocky, as Peter. The Resurrected Lord asks him 3 times to feed his sheep and he agrees to it. Near the conclusion of the book of John, Jesus then blows on Peter -and the other disciples- giving him the Holy Spirit. Luke picks up the story of Rocky-Peter in the book of Acts where Rocky-Peter is there at Pentecost, taking the lead as the Holy Spirit like a starting pistol sends the disciples and more out to proclaim salvation to the world. Acts 2, after they share the gospel in many different languages as the Spirit enables them, the Lord adds to their number daily those being saved Point 1, Romans 10:9, for us today, Say it!

2) Know it! Believe in your heart in His resurrection.
It is great and it is very important to proclaim the gospel but that is not the end of it. Speaking is one thing and believing is quite another. If you have any doubt about that, think about the general reputation (accurate or not) of our elected politicians – speaking is one thing, believing what you say is quite another. Paul is quite concerned about people who are quite happy to say what needs to be said – the Pharisees, as a group, did believe in the resurrection in general and as a group were quite evangelistic! But believing in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection is quite a different matter though. And the Apostle Paul - who was a Pharisee - celebrated the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead but sadly many Israelites and even Pharisees did not. It pained Paul that people who were zealous for God’s Law were indeed missing out on the benefits of the culmination of the Law, Jesus, the one whom the Law points towards. Salvation is about:

1) Say it! - Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth.     
2) Know it! - Believe in your heart in His resurrection.
3) Do it! Call on the name of the Lord.

3) Do it! Call on the Name of the Lord.
This is important. Saying it is good. Knowing it is better. Doing it is imperative (This fact is also implied in v. 9). The scriptures speak about this quite a bit  I believe that Matthew actually paints this picture quite vividly. In Chapter 25:31ff is recorded the parable of the sheep and the goats. In that parable you have two groups of nations. Both groups – the sheep and the goats – 1) say and 2) know that Jesus is Lord. But it is only the sheep that do anything about it. As a result, only the sheep are saved. The goats that didn’t do anything go off to where there is a weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 7:21 is quite clear on this matter: it is recorded that the Lord says “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven”: Say it! Know it! Do it!

This is important. Christianity isn’t some academic pursuit. Christianity isn’t some code. Christianity isn’t some rules and regulations. Christianity isn’t some club. Christianity isn’t some principles to live our life by. Christianity is a relationship with the risen Christ. Jesus Christ raised from the grave and he promises that, Romans 10:13 “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He loves us and he wishes that none would perish. And Salvation in our text today is as easy as 1, 2, and 3. It is my prayer today that every one of us here will:

1) Say it! - Confess Jesus as Lord with our mouths.     
2) Know it! - Believe in our hearts in His resurrection.
3) Do it! – That we would call upon the name of the Lord.

Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Matthew 11:30: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7, "...How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:9a, say it: confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Romans 10:9b, know it: believe in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection. And above all else, Romans 10:13, do it: call upon the name of the Lord and then even we will be saved. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Let it be. Let us pray



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Thursday, February 8, 2018

Devotion 3.18/119: Romans 15:16 Good Home

Presented to River Street Cafe, 09 February 218

Read Romans 15:14-22

As our friends or colleagues are speaking about life, do we tell them what we have heard from God and what we have read in the Bible? When someone shares their struggles with us, do we share with them the strength to persevere that is offered through Jesus Christ? 
  
Salvation is like this: imagine a friend is living on the street – some here have been there. Our friend is very poor and suffering from various illnesses, struggles and the most painful of lives thinking he is alone. Now, imagine that you know his father. Imagine you know that his father wants your friend to come home and live with him because his father is very well off and in his father’s house there are many rooms (John 14:2). Imagine you also know his father’s first born son. Imagine that the older son, knowing his homeless brother is sick and dying, told you to invite his brother home and imagine you don’t and your friend dies alone and sick. Imagine you don’t share this information because you are afraid. Imagine you don’t share this information because you are ashamed. Imagine if every time you see your friend it becomes more and more difficult to share the good news of his father who loves him because you are too embarrassed to admit you hadn’t told him sooner. Imagine if he suffers and dies and you don’t remind him on every possible occasion that there is another way: he can turn to his father and live out his days in the comfort of his father’s love. If that happens, what kind of friend are you? What kind of a friend am I?

Today and from this day forward let us point our friends to the Good News that they can live out the sorrows, joys, tragedies and triumphs in the full comfort and support of our father’s house.

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Friday, February 2, 2018

Romans 7:15 - 8:2: Holiness Odyssey (shorter version)

Abridged version presented originally to Warehouse Mission 614 am service, 04 February 2018.

Click here to read to full version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2018/02/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html 

To read a 2019 version presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, click here:  https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/05/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html

In Romans 7, in part, Paul is talking about how each of us reacts when we do know that there are things we should or should not do but we feel this strange compulsion to do them anyway. Paul knows that sometimes even when we do understand that there are some things that are not beneficial for us we still do them. Romans 7:18b-19: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Any of us ever been there?

This is an old problem. People smarter than me have wrestled with this one for a long time. Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff). The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

I don't know if anyone has ever read Homer - he wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad is about the Greek and Trojan War and the Odyssey is about the warrior Odysseus' journey home. During his journey home, the main character Odysseus is warned about the Sirens. In Greek mythology, Sirens are creatures with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. (Sometimes they are portrayed as mermaids.) They live on islands and with their irresistible song lure mariners to their destruction as they crash on the rocks near their island. The mariners know they shouldn't steer their ships to their death but once they hear the Siren's songs they seemingly can't help themselves. This is similar to what Paul is saying.Romans 7:18b-19, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” So what can we do?

What can we do when desire to the destruction of sin is pulling upon us like a giant magnet pulling us ever so slowly towards it? Sometimes we grab hold of iron rules or laws all the tighter. Sometimes we try really hard, so hard to avoid a temptation to sin that that all we think about is that sin. Whether we are trying to stop lying, lusting, or smoking crack cocaine; the more we think about ways to avoid it, the more we wind up pondering ways to imbibe it. Soon our every thought is consumed with that sin that we are trying to flee. It is everywhere! …and then it has us.

Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff). The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”
  
There is a secret weapon for seeing sin defeated though. Now I am not saying that if you are a Christian you will never sin but here is the path to freedom, should we choose to take it. Paul says, Romans 7:24-8:2:

7:24 …Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, [He] delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death...

The one who can deliver us from all of this is Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God Himself will transform us. Instead of wrestling with our sins, we can know that Jesus has defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb. We can seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and then God will add to us everything else we need.

We've all heard the analogy about how one spots a counterfeit bill. It is not by studying fake money, it is by studying the real thing. Likewise we do not avoid sin by focussing on sin, rather we avoid sin by focussing on God. They say that as a husband and wife are a long time in a good marriage they become more like each other and maybe even finish each others sentences. Likewise as we spend more time with God, we find that we know what He is saying and He can finish our sentences.

I truly believe with everything in me that there in nothing that you or I or anyone else can do to defeat sin, only Jesus has done that. But we can experience a life free of sin. As we spend more and more time with Jesus, we will naturally sin less and less for we will become be more and more like Him. As we pray and read our Bible, as we sing our songs, as we come to Church, as we serve God by serving others in Jesus' Name, as we tell others about the Gospel of Salvation we will be transformed into the very likeness of God Himself! Focus on God and His holiness and that will be reflected in our life! And this, I think, is good news for everyone of us today! What can we do to defeat sin? Nothing, Jesus has already done that! What can we do to experience our life free from  sin and instead living out the joy of Salvation with our Lord and Saviour? Spend time with the Lord. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and holiness and everything else will be added unto us!

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’


[1] F.F. Bruce, The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Tyndale NTC (Leicester, UK: IV Press, 1985),146.
[2] Cf. NT Wright, Romans for Everyone Part 1: Chapters 1-8 (Louisville, US: WKJ, 2004),122-123. 
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Romans 7&8: Holiness Odyssey.

Presented to Warehouse Mission 614 afternoon service, 04 February 2018 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Click here to read an abridged version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2018/02/romans-715-82-holiness-odyssey-shorter.html

To read a 2019 version presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, click herehttps://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/05/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html
    
The Christian life is an interesting one. Earlier in Romans Paul spoke about the hedonist that gets run over by sin in Chapter 1:18-2:16 and the rigid Law bound person in Chapter 2:17-29.  Paul is now talking about how each of us reacts when we do know that there are things we should or should not do but we feel this strange compulsion to do them anyway. Paul knows that sometimes even when we do understand that there are some things that are not beneficial for us we still do them. Has anyone ever been there? Paul says, Romans 7:18b-19: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Any of us ever been there?

This is an old problem. People smarter than me have wrestled with this one for a long time. Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff).[1] The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

I don't know if anyone has ever read Homer - he wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad is about the Greek and Trojan War and the Odyssey is about the warrior Odysseus' journey home. During his journey home, the main character Odysseus is warned about the Sirens. In Greek mythology, Sirens are creatures with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. (Sometimes they are portrayed as mermaids.) They live on islands and with their irresistible song lure mariners to their destruction as they crash on the rocks near their island. The mariners know they shouldn't steer their ships to their death but once they hear the Siren's songs they seemingly can't help themselves.

This reminds me of the dilemma before us today - and particularly of struggles with addiction. In our time with The Salvation Army, relating to addiction, we have had many friends some as young as elementary school age who have been tempted by this Siren song to a slide into destruction and many of my friends from my time at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary wound up there, in part, because they succumbed to addictions’ Siren song; for them addictions' Siren song ended in the song of sirens coming to take them away.

The Siren's song is not only calling us to addiction, it can call us to any sin - in the full range from licentiousness to legalism - to which we are susceptible. Romans 7:18b-19, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” So what can we do? What can we do when we are trapped by licentiousness, legalism, struggles, temptation… sin?

Paul talks about the Law being good ropes to tie us up as Odysseus to the mast of his ship but not so good that we no longer have that struggle, that compulsion within us, so that we may even in our tied up state find some way steer our life out of the ocean of salvation and crash our lives on the rocks on sin.[2] So what can we do? What can we do?

What can we do when desire to the destruction of sin is pulling harder and harder upon us, like a giant magnet moving us ever so slowly towards it. Sometimes we grab hold of rules or laws all the tighter and even make more for ourselves. Sometimes we try really hard, so hard to avoid an addiction or a sin that that all we think about is that sin. Whether we are trying to stop lying, lusting, or smoking crack cocaine; the more we think about ways to avoid it, the more we wind up pondering ways to imbibe it. Soon our every thought is consumed with that sin that we are trying to flee. It is everywhere! It is even in our very flesh…and then it has us.

Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff).[3] The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

There is a secret weapon we Christians have for seeing sin defeated even as it is in our flesh. Now I am not saying that if you are a Christian you will never have given into sin. but there is the path to freedom, should we choose to take it. Paul says, Romans 7:24-8:5:

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, [He] delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death...5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

The one who can deliver us from all of this is Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God Himself will transform us. Instead of wrestling with our sins, we can know that Jesus has defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb. We can seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and then God will add to us everything else we need.

We've all heard the analogy about how one spots a counterfeit bill. It is not by studying fake money, it is by studying the real thing. Likewise we do not avoid sin by focussing on sin, rather we avoid sin by focussing on God. They say that as a husband and wife are a long time in a good marriage they become more like each other and maybe even finish each others sentences. Likewise as we spend more time with God, we find that we know what He is saying and He can finish our sentences.

I truly believe with everything in me that there is nothing that you or I or anyone else can do to defeat sin, only Jesus has done that. But we can experience a life free of sin. As we spend more and more time with Jesus, we will naturally sin less and less for we will become be more and more like Him. As we pray and read our Bible, as we sing our songs, as we come to Church, as we serve God by serving others in Jesus' Name, as we tell others about the Gospel of Salvation we will be transformed into the very likeness of God Himself! As we spend time with the Lord we will be transformed into His likeness. As we seek first the Kingdom of God and His holiness, everything else will be added unto us!

Let us pray. This prayer for us from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you (us) through and through. May your (our) whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’

So then, let us remember when we leave here and are faced with temptations to sin from even the devil himself, to remain in the Spirit and sin and the devil will flee us -God will take care of him! Amen!
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[1] F.F. Bruce, The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Tyndale NTC (Leicester, UK: IV Press, 1985),146.
[2] Cf. NT Wright, Romans for Everyone Part 1: Chapters 1-8 (Louisville, US: WKJ, 2004),122-123. He uses a great analogy relating to a neighbour installing a good alarm system in one's house to explain how the Law is indeed good.
[3] F.F. Bruce, The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Tyndale NTC (Leicester, UK: IV Press, 1985),146.
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