Preaching to Myself

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mattrose
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by mattrose » Thu May 01, 2014 3:27 pm

I think I'm going to full come out of the closet in this sermon

I am an open theist.

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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by mattrose » Sat May 10, 2014 2:53 pm

GOD NEVER FAILS

This is the 11th and final week of a series of sermons

The title of the series has been “God is Love”

That statement comes from 1 John 4:8&16

It’s an important statement… maybe one of the most important statements in all of Scripture.

It is a simple yet profound statement
… but it is also somewhat ambiguous to people today

After all, the word “LOVE” is used in a lot of different ways these days:

We use the same word to describe our FEELINGS for God, family, friends, romantic interests, sports teams, celebrities & food

And we don’t even question whether or not the word has much to do with FEELINGS at all.

So it’s not really enough to simply state that God is love. We must also determine what LOVE is, biblical speaking.

And that’s why, in this series, we connected 1 John 4:8&16 to 1st Corinthians 13… the famous ‘love chapter,’ for here we find the biblical meaning of love fleshed out and described with quite of a bit of detail.
Most of us are familiar with the text from weddings

Love is patient… Love is kind… Love is not jealous…

The premise of this series has been that we can actually do good theology by connecting 1 John 4:8&16 to 1 Corinthians 13.

So each week we’ve looked at 1 or 2 of the statements in 1 Corinthians 13, but substituting the word GOD in for the word LOVE. I’ve also provided some fresh wording based on my study of the Greek words involved. And we ended up with a refreshing view of God.

God is patient
God is kind
God is not jealous
God does not boast
and is not arrogant
God is not shaming
or stubborn
God does not lash out
or keep record of wrongs
God does not rejoice at evil,
but with the truth
God puts up with an awful lot
and keeps on loving
God prefers to partner
and has a positive outlook

And that leaves us with the last phrase of the section
God never fails
God never fails

Now you can take that statement in a couple of different ways. The Greek word is PIPTO and it can mean either:

To fall to the ground (as in… die)
or
To fail (as in… to lose)

Let’s talk about each possible meaning for a moment

God never falls/dies
The idea, here, is that God is immortal. He is the 1 being who is inherently everlasting. This fact is confirmed in 1st Timothy 6:15-16: “God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal.”

Now, at first, that might seem confusing. If God is the only one who is immortal… why do Christians always talk about living forever?

We believe that eternal life is a gift that Christians receive by the grace of God! Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We BECOME immortal by receiving this gift. Immortality is, for us, a gift… an inheritance… the result of eating the fruit that only God provides… the result of drinking the water that only Jesus gives.
We seek immortality, but we depend on God and His grace to get it. Our immortality is dependent on Him. But God’s immortality is dependent on no one.

God is the very source of life. Life is not something He has to obtain. God never falls to the ground. He doesn’t even grow weary or weak. As it says in Isaiah 40:28 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary.”

Of course, when God became flesh in Jesus Christ, it created a unique being. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. God never gets weary, but humans get tired every day. God cannot die. But we can’t help but die.

Jesus, being fully man, died on the cross.

Jesus, being fully God, rose from the dead

And part of the Gospel… part of the good news… is that if we stay connected to Jesus Christ… we get to share in his glory and immortality.

To put it more simply, there’s only 1 human being that is capable of living forever: Jesus Christ. If we connect to Jesus, hold on to Jesus, and keep holding on to Jesus… we’ll share in that capability.

So “God never falls” teaches us that the Greeks were wrong when they said each of us has an immortal soul. God alone is immortal. We depend on Him for eternity.
God never fails
The Greek words can also be translated “never fails” and that is, in fact, how many of the versions translate 1st Corinthians 13:8. Love never fails. So, for our purposes, God never fails. That sounds right.

Then again, the devil is in the details.

The Bible clearly states that God desires all people to be saved. And any close observer should be able to recognize that it doesn’t seem like a lot of people actually get saved. So haven’t God’s desires failed to come to pass?

Perhaps the majority of Christians, in fact, claim that the majority of human beings will end up in hell experiencing everlasting misery. It would be easy to argue, given that scenario, that God has failed to bring about what He set out to accomplish with creation.

So there’s a tension between this idea that God never fails and the idea that the majority of people will end up in hell. How is that winning? Something’s gotta give!

It’s a real tension… we can’t resolve it easily.

We can’t resolve this tension by claiming that God doesn’t REALLY want to save all people. Some theologians have tried to re-interpret clear verses and insist that God only loves SOME people and only ever intended to save that special group. That’s a bogus view.

We also can’t resolve the tension by confidently claiming that God will, ultimately, save ALL people. Some theologians have emphasized verses that sound positive about God’s ultimate victory at the neglect of verses that suggest many people will perish. They envision endless opportunities to repent AFTER judgment day and are confident that, eventually, everyone will get into the good side of eternity. But there are too many passages of Scripture that don’t speak so confidently about the fate of the wicked.

So HOW CAN WE resolve the tension?

I suggest we keep a few things in mind here

ONE I don’t think we should be so confident that the majority of human beings will end up in hell. That may or may not be the case. God is the ultimate judge and He’s the only one that knows hearts. I know people can only be saved by Jesus Christ, but I don’t feel I have the right to venture to guess just what percentage of people Jesus saves.

TWO I don’t think we should be so confident that there will be no opportunity to repent after Judgment Day. One of the biggest surprises I’ve encountered in recent years is the realization that there really isn’t a good biblical case to be made against the idea of the possibility of post-mortem repentance. One verse that is used a lot is Hebrews 9:27 which says “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,” but that doesn’t really address the issue!
THREE God does desire to save every individual PERSON… but persons, by definition, are free creatures. Even if God graces them with the opportunity to be saved, some won’t take that opportunity for a variety of reasons. And there’s no guarantee that they’d ever come to Christ no matter how many opportunities they’re given. Sometimes people become harder and harder in their heart, in spite of love being shown to them.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I’ve always been flabbergasted by what I see when my wife watches the show Hoarders. It’s a show about people who keep everything, usually resulting in their loved ones being pushed out in favor of junk.

But what amazes me is not so much that that can happen to someone, but the fact that once they are brought face to face with the reality and gravity of the situation… even after they are confronted by their family and consulted with by trained psychologists… they quite frequently STILL choose their garbage heap over a change in the direction of their life.

I think what our phrase teaches us is that God will never stop reaching out to lost people. I don’t think God flips a switch when someone dies and goes from loving them to hating them. I think God is love. God continues to love people, even in hell. If nobody ever exits hell to enter heaven, in my opinion, it won’t be because God’s arms are no longer open for embrace… it’ll be because the doors of hell are locked from the inside.
Some might choose to remain in rebellion… they might refuse to change course. And the fire will consume them. They’ll perish.

Maybe GOD WINS simply means that His KINGDOM is the one that will remain, and all other kingdoms and the citizens of all other kingdoms simply will not last.

But, we have to admit, there’s a lot we don’t know. The Bible is not primarily a book meant to answer all our questions. It’s a book to direct us to the ultimately answer: Jesus Christ.

However this tension resolves itself, I think, in the end, we’ll be able to see that God hasn’t failed. God wins.

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mattrose
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by mattrose » Thu May 15, 2014 2:09 am

This sermon series is now over. The audio for the entire series may be found at
http://observer.com/2014/05/daily-show- ... z31hb4ySXE

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the series. I felt it was a worthwhile time of exploratory theology.

I will be starting a series on Daniel next. It should take 10 weeks.

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Homer
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by Homer » Thu May 15, 2014 9:33 am

Hi Matt,

You wrote:
The Bible clearly states that God desires all people to be saved. And any close observer should be able to recognize that it doesn’t seem like a lot of people actually get saved. So haven’t God’s desires failed to come to pass?
This seems to be a "slam dunk" regarding God's will but as you say others disagree:
We can’t resolve this tension by claiming that God doesn’t REALLY want to save all people. Some theologians have tried to re-interpret clear verses and insist that God only loves SOME people and only ever intended to save that special group. That’s a bogus view.
But what if God knows "all" will never, of their free will, accept Him and His desire is actually fulfilled in making the offer?

I was taken back a bit the other day when reading about the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2, and Peter's statement that the scripture was fulfilled regarding the Holy Spirit being poured out on "all" flesh. It would seem in this case obvious to not mean all, or even a majority. Perhaps "all" was not understood in the same way we understand it. There seem to be many similar uses of "all" in the scriptures, such as "all manner" or "all kinds". I am decidedly not a Calvinist but must concede they do have a point.

I would be interested in seeing how, from scripture, it can be proven that it is God's determined will to save everyone. Perhaps another thread is needed for this.

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mattrose
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by mattrose » Thu May 15, 2014 3:04 pm

Hey Homer!
Homer wrote:But what if God knows "all" will never, of their free will, accept Him and His desire is actually fulfilled in making the offer?
I wouldn't say his DESIRE is fulfilled in making the offer. But I would say his obligation is fulfilled.
I am decidedly not a Calvinist but must concede they do have a point.
I wouldn't say that's a calvinist point. I would say that's a point that pretty much everyone recognizes and Calvinists just like to apply it in situations non-calvinists don't agree with.
I would be interested in seeing how, from scripture, it can be proven that it is God's determined will to save everyone. Perhaps another thread is needed for this.
I guess I think that is pretty impossible to miss in Scripture in general. It is not, in other words, a belief that rests on 1 or 2 proof texts.

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Homer
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by Homer » Thu May 15, 2014 4:19 pm

Hi Matt,

My point re "determined will" is that God will make it happen, i.e. irresistible grace for everyone, as opposed to desired will..

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mattrose
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by mattrose » Thu May 15, 2014 4:33 pm

Homer wrote:Hi Matt,

My point re "determined will" is that God will make it happen, i.e. irresistible grace for everyone, as opposed to desired will..
Ah, I see. In that case, I don't think such a case could be made from Scripture at all. We're likely in agreement about that. God has not determined that all will be saved. He desires that they be so.

I don't there are TOO MANY people that combine calvinism and universalism in such a way as to connect irresistible grace to the ultimate salvation of all people. I would say, though, that some of the 'eventual restoration' authors I've read do seem to be carrying ex-calvinist baggage with them.

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Homer
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by Homer » Thu May 15, 2014 9:11 pm

Matt,

You wrote:
I would say, though, that some of the 'eventual restoration' authors I've read do seem to be carrying ex-calvinist baggage with them.
Do you know anything about the Primitive Baptist Univeralists? As I have read they are staunch Calvinists and no-heller universalists.

From Wikipedia:
Baptist minister and historian Bill Leonard has characterized PBU beliefs as the result of "press[ing] ... Calvinism to the ... conclusion that Christ's redemption is so powerful that all will be redeemed." According to Leonard, PBUs believe "It's hell enough down here."
Apparently they differ from other Primitive Baptists (Calvinist) on hell and split away about 100 years ago.

nancyer

Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by nancyer » Wed Jun 18, 2014 2:16 pm

Excellent points! I will be thinking on these things for days, maybe longer. Especially the difference between Kind and Nice. I have noticed people who use the word nice far too often. It's almost as annoying as "You know". And I've always instilled in my children (19 & 14) to be nice. I'll be changing that to "be kind".

I also love the defining of ENVY with JEALOUSY. The term Jealous God always bothered me. People used it as an excuse not to believe in God. I wasn't able to explain it well, I thank you for the clarification.

I haven't been on this site for some time but will be a regular visitor once again. My computer time is rather limited these days but I will be checking in for regular doses of insight and wisdom which seems to be quite abundant here.

Thank you.

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mattrose
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Re: Preaching to Myself

Post by mattrose » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:15 pm

Thanks for the feedback ya'll :)

My current series is on Daniel. We're past the half-way point
http://www.lockportwesleyan.com/apps/podcast/

Yesterday I preached on chapter 7-12 on the theme of the Christian relationship to worldly kingdoms/nations

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