The way to find rest

Posted on January 18, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28, NASB)

Come

The command to come implies movement, you cannot stay where you are. If you are in need of rest you must move, you cannot stay still. It will not get better without action on your part. But that action needs to move you in closer proximity to Jesus.

To me

To Jesus and to Jesus alone. Jesus is the only place to find lasting rest.

All

No-one is excluded from this promise. Anyone can come.

Who are weary and heavy-laden

Who is not weary and heavy laden? Many of us work hard at maintaining the illusion that we have it all together, but let’s be honest. We don’t have it all together.

Too much of life is outside our control. We may influence, but we cannot control what goes on around us. We get tired from the burdens that we find ourselves carrying.

And I will give you rest.

We can find rest by coming to Jesus with our burdens. The last lines of the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” provide some insight as to what we can expect from Jesus:

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

No qualifications

Notice that the the only qualification that is required to obtain rest from Jesus is to come. All we have to do is show up and the rest ours. Why then do we seem to always come to Jesus as a last resort after trying all the other stuff we “know” that we should do?

Just come!

C. S. Lewis on responding to pain

Posted on January 2, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 5 Comments

In his introduction to The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis writes this on what he had learned about responding to pain:

” . . . when pain is to be borne, a little courage helps more than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.”

John reminds us in 1 John 4:19 that we love as a result of God loving us. In other words, we can be used as conduits to allow others to experience God’s love. We can offer something better than sympathy to someone who is hurting.

Perhaps this will provide motivation to listen a little more and care a little more than we otherwise might.

Righteousness, self control and the judgment to come

Posted on December 31, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

Perhaps it is true that the church has been out of balance in the preaching of “hellfire and judgment” to an unhealthy degree. There may still be some churches that struggle with this but I think that more have swung the pendulum the other way and do not talk about Hell at all. They do this because talk of judgment and damnation are not attractive to those who might be visiting or only nominally attend. They prefer to emphasize the love of God.

I have not read the book Love Wins, by Rob Bell. But from the reactions to the book, I gather that Mr. Bell has softened the teaching on Hell to the point where many have accused Mr. Bell of being a universalist, one who believes that all people go to Heaven.

The problem with avoiding or negating teaching about Hell and punishment is that we then become negligent in our duty as Christians to make disciples. Right discipleship is to be based on truth and should include all the truth of Scripture. So while we need to use wisdom in how we present the reality of Hell and judgment, we cannot negate or avoid the clear teaching of Scripture on the subject.

The Apostle Paul does not seem to have been reluctant to mention the idea of judgment. When he was presenting the case for Christ before Felix, Paul spoke about “righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come.” (Acts 24:25) Paul was clear that there is a consequence to not accepting the provision of Jesus Christ to deal with our sin.

The author of Hebrews writes:

“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:26–31, NASB)

The reality of judgment should motivate us to be more open about what we believe. It should be a motivation for the spread of the Gospel. Walk into any public place in America and stop and realize that many (perhaps a majority) of those who are around you are likely to face that judgment if someone does not intervene in their lives. This should be a sobering realization and should spur us to action.

As Paul reminds us in Romans 10:17, “faith comes by hearing.” But for someone to hear, it is necessary for someone like you and I to speak the words of Christ.

May we resolve to be bolder in our witness for Jesus Christ in 2013?

There are consequences if we do not. If what the Bible teaches about our final destiny is true, Jesus Christ is not a nice-to-have, like a bigger television. Jesus Christ is a need-to-have like air, water and food.

It’s not about do’s and don’ts

Posted on December 21, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

“Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22, NASB)

The negative command is to flee youthful lusts, but Paul goes on to give a positive one. Youthful lusts are to be replaced by the pursuit of righteousness, faith, love and peace. The negative command cannot be successfully accomplished unless the positive one is employed.

Too often we think of the Christian life in terms of the things we will not do. When this mindset is operational it is easy to become upset at the world all around us who is doing those very things. It is too easy to decry the degradation in the surrounding culture and long for the good old days where such behavior was not tolerated.

Instead of focusing on the negative, Paul gives us something to pursue. Rather than suppressing passions, Paul gives a worthy object for our passions.

Righteousness

When I see the word righteousness, I think of right standing before God. The beginning of this process is when we acknowledge our unrighteousness and accept God’s provision of Jesus as the means of our inheriting righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). At the moment we accept God’s provision, we are declared righteous.

There is also an ongoing component to righteousness. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that we have to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Elsewhere, Paul uses the analogy of clothing when he tells us to “put off” the old self (Eph. 4:22, Col. 2:11, Col 3:9). The follow-up is to put on the new man and live in obedience to God.

It took a long time for me to understand that this is more than adherence to a list of do’s and don’ts. To really pursue righteousness is to cultivate a deeper relationship with God through the reading of Scripture, prayer and fellowship with other believers. As I deepen in my relationship with God, it becomes less and less about external behavior and more and more about what motivates me and where my desires will lead. Righteousness is all about letting God be in control.

Faith

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we enter into a relationship with God through faith. Yet that faith can and should grow. On multiple occasions, Jesus challenged his followers because of their “little faith.” The implication is that Jesus’ follower should move beyond the little faith stage to a robust, mature faith.

I am challenged by those who seem to be gifted with great faith. Seeing those, I realize that I have so much room to grow in my own faith.

Love

Jesus told us that the two great commands are to love God and to love our neighbor. I cannot claim to be proficient at either of these and have much room for growth. I suspect that none of us can claim to have fulfilled either command to perfection. To pursue love, selfless love, is a worthy occupation.

Peace

In human terms we think of peace as the absence of conflict. Yet this is not true peace. As Jesus points out in the Sermon on the Mount, hate is the root of murder and to hate is to commit murder without actually killing my adversary.

True peace is not only what happens on the outside. True peace must take place in our thoughts and emotions. Paul gives us indication of how true peace starts in Romans 5:1, it starts with “having been justified by faith.” This faith brings peace with God which can then begin to produce peace with ourselves and with others.

Conclusion

The Christian life should be so much more than following a list of do’s and don’ts. It should be so much more than a set of passionless rituals. A real walk with God should engage our mind and emotions in a pursuit of the things of God.