Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

February 28, 2021

2/28/2021

Salt Can Never Lose Its Flavor

        You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot. Matt. 5:13, RSV.

    With verse 13 Jesus shifts from His exposition of Christian character to a short section on a Christian's influence.  But the two are closely related. After all, a Christian's influence depends upon character. Without a "Christian" character, there can be no "Christian" influence. The salt must be salty to be effective.

    Salt has many functions. Societies without refrigeration use it as a preservative. But in order to be effective, salt must penetrate the food. Salt left a fraction of an inch away from food can neither preserve nor flavor.

    Jesus describes Christians as "the salt of the earth." He has not commanded us to become salt, but has stated a fact--"You are the salt." Christians function as salt by intermingling with the surrounding culture. Only then can they carry out their God-given role of preserving and flavoring their society. Although Christians often do not realize it, their daily lives moderate the people and society around them as they live out the Beatitudes. They "flavor" the world through the little kindness they show, the humility they demonstrate, and so on. Even proud and hardened people often find it difficult not to respect true Christians, although they may not choose to emulate them. Thus one effect of Christian influence is to slow down the personal and social degeneracy Paul so aptly describes in Romans 1:18-32.

    Salt is salt! Salt is salty! Without saltiness it is not salt!
    How, therefore, can salt lose its saltiness? It can't. If it's not salty, it's not salt.
    "So what?" you may be asking at this point. "What does this mean for my life?"

    It means everything. Since Christians cannot choose not to be salt, the only thing that they can do is to elect not to function as salt, to reject the God-given role of salt.

    And how can I do that? By not being like Jesus, who lived and died for the good of others. By failing to mix with the world and contributing a preserving influence.

    With such choices individuals lose their saltiness. They are no longer salt (i.e., Christians). Such have become a part of the problem rather than the solution.

    The moral of the story is simple. It makes a difference what principles we accept in our lives and how we relate to people in daily life.

February 27, 2021

2/27/2021

Leaping for Joy in Hard Times

        Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matt. 5:10-12.

    With verses 10-12 we come to the last of Christ's eight blessings. It is also the longest, with verses 11 and 12 providing a commentary on verse 10.

    Christianity as Jesus presented it is something less than a peaceful picnic. Of all the world's great teachers, perhaps He is the most brutally honest. Again and again He emphasized the fact that His followers would be persecuted because they were like Him, because they would live according to principles diametrically opposed to those of the larger culture.

    Christianity has resulted in persecution in every area of Christians' lives: in the workplace because of such issues as unwillingness to promote a less than honest deal or to work on Sabbath; in families because of new priorities and allegiances; in social life because of new lifestyles.

    The plain fact is that true Christianity changes people. It makes them out of harmony with "normal" (spelled "sinful") human culture. The result is persecution.

    Some of that persecution is gentle and almost invisible (except to the recipient), such as failure to receive a raise or a promotion or being snubbed at a social event.

    Oftentimes it is brutal. The Roman emperor Nero, for example, wrapped believers in pitch and set them afire to serve as living torches to light his gardens. Others he sewed in animal skins, then set his hunting dogs upon them to tear them to shreds.

    The list of atrocities goes on and on. Even Jesus was not exempt. He died the excruciating and humiliating death of the cross.

    And the persecutions are not at an end yet. Revelation 13 has plenty to say on the topic. Persecution will continue to the end of time.

    But please note, the persecution that Jesus is speaking about is "for righteousness' sake." All persecution does not lead to blessing.

    But when people suffer for their fidelity to Christ, they should "leap for joy," for their "reward is great in heaven," Luke 6:23, RSV.

February 26, 2021

2/26/2021

Church Members Come in Two Flavors

        Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matt. 5:9.

    Being a church member is not the same as being a Christian. Some church members are nothing but trouble to their spouse, children, neighborhood, and congregation.

    The first warning sign of such people is their critical attitude and harsh manner. They always have something to say about what's wrong.

    Of course, they garb their nastiness in sanctity by saying that they are only out to correct the wrongs in the church or other people. While that motivation may be commendable, such people would do well to start cleaning up their warlike ways first and putting on the attributes of peacefulness.

    Peacemaking, we need to recognize, is more than merely not living in the realm of criticism and faultfinding. It has a positive, active aspect nicely set forth in the following prayer:

    "Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness. joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

    Church members come in two flavors: children of God and children of the devil. If I were the devil I would make certain to plant the latter in each congregation. Needless to say, it is only the peacemakers who fall in the first category.

    Peacemaking is a many-faceted activity. To be a peacemaker I need to evaluate every situation in the light of the gospel. I must ask, What are the implications of this action? After all, more individuals are involved than just me. How will what I do affect them? What effect will my actions have on the good name of Christ? or the church? or my community? A peacemaker walks in the light of the gospel message.

    There is a quip that goes:
                "To live with the saints in heaven is bliss and glory,
                But to live with the saints on earth is often another story."

    God is calling you today to make the church different from the world. He is summoning you as an individual to become a peacemaker in the likeness of Jesus.

February 25, 2021

2/25/2021

The Importance of Priorities

        Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Matt. 5:8.

    When guards led Sir Walter Raleigh to the execution block, his executioner asked him if his head lay right. Raleigh replied that "it matters little, my friend, how the head lies, providing the heart is right."

    In like manner, when I go to my physician to have an operation on my leg, the first thing my doctor does is to check my heart. After all, if my heart is not right, there is no use getting my leg fixed. Without a functional heart, the best leg in the world will do me no good.

    In the physical realm the heart is at the center of life. It is the pumping of that muscle that spreads life to the rest of the body.

    It is the same in the spiritual realm. The biblical emphasis is on the importance of having our hearts right with God.

    Jesus pronounces His blessing on those who are "pure in heart." Significantly, He does not commend those who are intellectual. He does not say, as some would, "Blessed are those who understand correct doctrine, for they shall see God." His focus is on the heart.

    Now, don't get me wrong. Correct doctrine is important, but it is not at the center of the matter. You can have a correct doctrinal understanding and be meaner than the devil. A person can be "straight" on doctrine, yet be a curse to the church and a false representative of the Lord in daily life, in the family, and workplace.

    In the Bible the heart stands for a person's whole inner state. The natural heart is self-centered and unclean (see Jer. 17:9), but Jesus calls for a transformed heart (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 5:17). That is crucial to Christian living, for "out of the heart come evil thoughts--murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" (Matt. 15:19, NIV).

    As in the physical realm, the core of Christian existence is the heart. A heart right with both God and other people sets the stage for both a correct understanding of doctrine and a correct expression of one's faith in daily living. Without a healthy spiritual heart, I am spiritually dead, no matter how well I understand theology or how much of the Bible I have committed to memory.

    It is the pure of heart who shall see God.

    Lord, help me today to get my priorities right. Help me today to surrender my heart to You. Help me today to start seeing You better.

February 24, 2021

2/24/2021

The Best Day to Become More Like Jesus

        Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matt. 5:7.

    Our Lord chose the sequence of the Beatitudes carefully to represent the order of salvation. Each beatitude follows logically from the previous one. Thus when I realize that I have no righteousness of my own and am truly poor in spirit, I mourn over my utter helplessness. I cry out for deliverance, and my understanding of my true state makes me genuinely meek rather than high and mighty. Having seen my desperate condition, I naturally hunger and thirst after God's forgiving and empowering righteousness.

    At that point the God of all mercies jumps in and accepts my repentance, declares me forgiven, and implants a new heart within me. I have been redeemed, saved by His mercy toward me. That is the promise of the first four beatitudes.

    The question then arises: How shall I respond? That is the topic of the "second table" of the Beatitudes. I will be merciful, pure in heart, a maker of peace, and patient when treated unjustly. In short, through God's power I will become more and more like Jesus.

    The fifth beatitude illustrates the shift from the Godward to the human-ward side of the Beatitudes nicely. I have just received the mercy of grace in the fourth one. And as I rise from my knees God sends me out to share that same mercy with my neighbor, my wife, my workmate. God wants me by His empowering grace to treat others as He has treated me. He desires that I will also be merciful when others fall short or have a need.

    And here we need to remember that being merciful is more than an attitude. It is also an action.

    A story tells of Jacob Bright coming home from town and finding a poor neighbor in great trouble. His horse had met with an accident and had to be killed. People were crowding around the man, saying how sorry they were. To one who kept on repeating this most loudly, Jacob said, "I am sorry $50. How much are you sorry?" He then passed around the hat to buy the man another horse.

    Mercy is outgoing love. But before love can be outgoing it must be out-looking. It implies a change of heart. As William Barclay puts is, "Mercy is the reverse of self-centeredness....It is the antithesis of selfishness."

    Today is the best day to begin being merciful in a fuller way. Why put it off? Why not do an unexpected kindness to your husband, wife, neighbor. Today, is the time to pass on God's mercy.

February 23, 2021

2/23/2021

The Gospel Unveiled

        Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matt. 5:6, RSV.

    With the fourth beatitude we have reached a major turning point. The first two exemplified a turning away from our human weakness and sin, while the third expressed the Christian's humility in light of that weakness. The fourth, by way of contrast, is a turning toward the positive aspect of Christianity. It is a hungering and thirsting to be right with God and to be like Him.

    Thus the Christian life is more than a mourning over past sins. It is also an intense desire for present and future righteousness.

    The fourth beatitude is one of the great promises of the Bible. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness "shall be filled" (KJV). It does not promise "may be" filled, but "shall be." That is the good news that stands at the focal point of the New Testament.

    Righteousness is a word with more than one meaning. In the fourth beatitude it implies both the lofty height of being right with God in relationship and of being like Him in character.

    Humans have failed dismally in both endeavors. Paul puts it succinctly when he notes that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Recognition of that fact in our personal journey is what poverty of spirit and mourning are all about. Those whom the Spirit leads will have a deep sense of unworthiness that they are powerless to do anything about. It is in the light of that utter hopelessness that Paul rejoiced that we "are justified [or counted righteous] by his grace as a gift" (verse 24, RSV).

    But the positioning of the fourth beatitude between those dealing with people's relationship to God (Matt. 5:3-5) and those highlighting their responsibility to other individuals indicates that righteousness in the Beatitudes is more than mere justification by faith. It also implies being right with God in character, as indicated by the fact that those who receive His justifying grace God then immediately sends out to serve the world by being merciful (verse 7).

    Thus being filled with righteousness relates to both justification and sanctification. The gospel of Christ not only saves us from the penalty of sin but also from its ruling power in our daily life. And in place of being a gossiper and hateful, God wants to make me a peacemaker (verse 9). In place of lust, He desires to infuse me with purity of heart (verse 8). God wants me to be like Him in character. As a result, the word "righteousness" in the fourth blessing spans both halves of the Beatitudes.

February 22, 2021

2/22/2021

Jesus Gets It Backward Again

        Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matt. 5:5.

    Jesus' teaching in the third beatitude once again stands over against the acceptable wisdom of our world. According to Him, it is not the pushy, the violent, the aggressive, or the selfish who inherit the earth. Rather, it is the meek--people who have seen their helplessness and poverty of spirit and have mourned over their shortcomings. Such individuals have little room for pride, but plenty of space for meekness.

    The Greek word for "meek" can also be translated as "gentle," "humble," "considerate," and "unassuming."

    We should not confuse meekness with weakness. The meek may have great authority and strength, but they choose not to use it for their own selfish ends. Humility and a genuine dependence of God always accompany the strength of the meek. Leon Morris suggests that "the strong who qualify for this blessing are the strong who decline to domineer."

    Jesus describes Himself as meek in Matthew 11:29. Although He had all power, He entered Jerusalem and went to the cross peacefully. That was the opposite of the Zealot party, who expected the Messiah to overthrow the Romans by force.

    Whether they be strong or weak, the meek are those who exhibit the virtues of humility and gentleness. For sinful humans, meekness flows out of the sense of helplessness and sin they feel when they attempt to live apart from the grace of God.

    It is such people who will inherit the earth.

    Earthly economics is based upon security and power. Unfortunately there is not an infinite amount of wealth. As a result, men and women everywhere struggle to obtain their share--or to put it more honestly, more than their share.

    We see the results of human selfishness and aggression everywhere. Nation strives against nation on the international scene, while individuals struggle for position on the corporate ladder.

    It hardly looks as though the meek will inherit much of anything worth having according to the world's standards. Jesus' final reward was a cross. And many of His faithful followers have endured persecution and lived in poverty.

    But the promise of the third beatitude and the whole of the New Testament is that a change is coming. The meek in God's upside-down kingdom will inherit the earth. And not merely this old beat-up one, but one not broken with sorrow, sickness, and death.

February 21, 2021

2/21/2021

Mourning Over Poverty

        Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matt. 5: 3, 4, NASB.

    At the very beginning of Jesus' profile of Christian characteristics is poverty of spirit. In the Old Testament poverty had spiritual overtones that Scripture identified with humble dependence upon God. Whereas the rich and self-sufficient tended to rely on their own strength, the poor could only look to the Lord for salvation and help in time of trouble.

    In the New Testament it is the "poor in spirit" who stand with the publican in Jesus' parable, crying in their humbleness, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13). The man felt the unbearable poverty of what he had to offer God. The New English Bible helps us grasp the meaning of the first beatitude, rendering it as "blest are those who know their need if God."

    John R. W. Stott writes that it was the "publicans and prostitutes, the rejects of human society, who knew they were so poor they could offer nothing and achieve nothing," who received the kingdom in the gospel story. "All they could do was to cry to God for mercy; and he heard their cry." "Theirs," promised Jesus, "is the kingdom of heaven."

    After recognizing one's helplessness and spiritual poverty, the next step is the sorrow of repentance, described in the second beatitude as mourning. It is one thing to acknowledge our spiritual poverty but quite another to mourn over it. "The mourning here brought to view is true heart sorrow for sin" (Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p.9).

    Thus the Christian life is not one of constant lighthearted joy and laughter, as some would have us believe. Christians weep over their shortcomings, the lacks in their lives that put Christ on the cross.

    The good news of the first two beatitudes is not only that Christ's followers inherit the kingdom but that they will also be comforted. That comfort comes in two flavors--present and future.

    On one level Christians are already comforted by forgiveness and assurance of salvation. But the best of all comfort is yet to come when Jesus arrives in the clouds of heaven to take His people home. At that time those who have died in Christ He will raise from death while "we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever" (1 Thess. 4:16, 17, TLB). Now there is true comfort!

February 20, 2021

2/20/2021

The Ideal Christian Character Profile

        And he came...and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people...who came to hear and to be healed of their diseases....And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Luke 6:17-20, RSV.

    Luke puts the Sermon on the Mount in context, with massive crowds thronging Jesus for healing and spiritual blessing. And here we discover a basic principle of His life and ministry. Jesus knew that hurting people do not hear well. Therefore, He did not separate the physical and the spiritual. First, He healed their bodies, and then He offered spiritual healing.

    In the Beatitudes the Lord provides His followers with the ideal Christian character. Unlike the gifts of the Spirit, of which some go to one person and others to another, each Christian will have all eight characteristics. Thus a follower of Christ is not either meek or pure in heart, but one who is both meek and pure in heart. The eight characteristics are to form the moral profile of every Christian. They are the essential traits of kingdom citizens.

    The second half of each beatitude describes the eight blessings that God desires to shower upon His people. Like the kingdom itself, the blessings are partly a present experience and partly future. Thus, for example, those comforted by the gospel message in their present daily life will find exceedingly more comfort at the Second Advent. The consummation of the kingdom will bring to fullness the present foretaste of each promised blessing.

    The simplest division of the Beatitudes is to separate them in the same manner as the two tables of the law. Thus we can see the first four as describing a Christian's relationship to God, while the second four focus on a person's attitude toward other people. Unlike some church people, Jesus never separated a healthy relationship with God from a wholesome one with people.

    The last thing to note about the Beatitudes is that they are progressive. Each characteristic leads to the next. As a result, those who recognize their spiritual poverty mourn over that fact, are humbled in the process, are led to hunger after righteousness, and after being filled are sent out into their communities to be merciful and pure in heart.

    Help me this day, Lord, to internalize more fully each of the characteristics You set forth in the Beatitudes. I crave Your blessing.

February 19, 2021

2/19/2021

The Upside-down Kingdom

        Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matt. 5:3, 4, NKJV.

    Not a good way to begin a sermon. The preacher hasn't got it figured out yet. He certainly isn't very astute politically or in tune with the times. Definitely He lacks the insight of a public-relations expert.

    After all, who wants to hear about poverty of spirit and mourning? To be "successful" a preacher needs to give people what they want, to present them with the words and ideas they desire to hear.

    And anyone who has been around for a while knows that people really tune in to such messages as "Blessed are the rich" or even "Blessed are the rich in spirit."

    Now, if Jesus really intends to draw a crowd, He will have to wise up to the ways of the world. With a message that begins with "Blessed are the poor in spirit" and "Blessed are those who mourn" He will never even get to first base with most people. Jesus will never achieve the kind of success that the larger culture will respect.

    But that's precisely where the rub comes between conventional values and Jesus. He is not concerned with the admiration of the world around Him. Rather He wants to be in tune with God.

    As a result, His message is the opposite of that of the larger culture. It is counter to the world's wisdom. In effect, the Beatitudes set the world's value system on its head. They turn it upside down.

    Jesus announced His kingdom as being radical from the beginning of His ministry. Thus its citizens would be radical also. That is the starting point of the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and the entire New Testament.

    "Blessed are the poor in spirit" and "those who mourn" are some of the world's most revolutionary statements. Yet they stand at the foundation of Jesus' message.

    And that message is for me personally. It is for you. We have to make a choice between Jesus and the world--between His values and the world's.

    Father God, why is it that the church in my community is so "normal"? Help me to become "abnormal" from the perspective of the world so that I might be among Your "blessed."