A Challenge to Church Musicians and Worship Leaders

When Solomon was setting up the temple and arranging the kingdom according to his father David's admonishment he was to establish the following:

1Chronicles 23:5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the LORD with musical instruments, "which I made," said David, "for giving praise."

 

These instruments David made; why did he make them?

Notice what the musicians were charged with.

 

I have heard many worship conference instructors talk of how the glory of God overwhelmed the priests of Solomon's Temple during its dedication.  Somehow I have never heard one of them hit on this very specific purpose identified in Chronicles. Praise is the purpose, praise matters!

Praise takes our spiritual eyes off of us and places them upon God who is able and willing!

 

God has used praise throughout human history to ignite faith in the hearts of those who belong to Him.

Introduction to Partnering with Harvest Church part three

We began focusing our attention on the concept of:

 Fellowship in the Gospel (Philippians 1:5)

The first area (as well as the most important) that our fellowship must be based on is that of believing, understanding, and trusting in the biblical Gospel, both as the means of initially saving us, as well as keeping us and empowering us to live the Christian life. Paul calls it a matter of first importance (I Corinthians 15:3).

The reason this is of first importance is that the Gospel is not a religion—(one of many ways that men have created to approach God). The gospel is a revelation of God and comes from God Himself—God created it! It actually existed in eternity past before the world was created.

Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

No one could ever have come up with the Gospel for it is contrary to everything religion teaches. Therefore, being instructed continually in the Gospel is essential for both individual Christian growth as well as our fruitfulness as a church. This is how Paul communicated its importance to Philippians.

Philippians 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,

These were a people already born again through the power of the gospel and recognized as the church at Philippi. But here they are told to strive together with one mind and stand fast in one spirit for the faith of the gospel.
Many religious people today treat the Gospel as if it is good advice instead of good news. Think about what passes for the Gospel today; a better life, health and wealth, a means of dealing with our loneliness and hurt and rejection. But the gospel is not good advice but good news—the grand, great, merry news that God in Christ has done all that will ever need to be done to deliver sinners from the power of sin, death, and eternal separation from God. And only the Gospel has delivering and saving power because all human beings are hopelessly bound to the power of sin.

So we should ask ourselves this question. Have we been treating the gospel as good advice or as good news?

If it is good news it permeates our lives and transforms the way we think about everyday things. It delivers us from the power of sin and places us in the kingdom of God’s dear Son Jesus Christ. In other words it places us under the dominion and rule of Christ.

Some hear the term dominion and rule and may wince at the thought of it. If, all the gospel is to you is good advice sprinkled with moral objectives, then it is understandable that you would wince.


Tim Atchley

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Introduction to Partnering with Harvest Part two

As we go forward as a fellowship, we have considered what we believe being a partner in the gospel is and how it will be our means for knowing who is looking to be disciple and trained here at Harvest Church. We believe that if this commitment to the gospel is in each of us it will inevitably produce believers who love their Savior, are committed to loving one another, and have a deep longing to reach their generation with the good news of Jesus Christ. It will impact the way we raise families, engage the market place and will dramatically impact the way we view our local communities, our nation and our world.

The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives through the gospel will transform us into the very image of Christ and His desires and purpose will more and more become our own. This involves soul work. What we believe about our relationship with Christ and one another is vital.

3John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

The work of soul prosperity starts and ends with the gospel. But it is not merely hearing it preached that produces this soul prosperity so vital to our joy and journey with God. It involves receiving it, agreeing with it, and walking in it.

So it is our desire that those who feel that God is joining them to this body of believers become active partners with us in four areas:

1. Fellowship in and around the Gospel
2. Fellowship of participating in the life of the community through the power of the Spirit
3. Fellowship of living fruitful lives of service by sharing in his sufferings
4. Fellowship of sharing in the mission of extending the Gospel in our city, region, and throughout the world

To sum up what it is we are about, “Harvest is a Gospel-driven (centered) community of fully devoted followers of Jesus on mission together.”

Simply stated, we are:

Message centered
People centered
Discipleship centered
Mission centered


Tim Atchley

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Part One

SESSION ONE
INTRODUCTION TO BECOMING PARTNERS IN HIS KINGDOM AT HARVEST
The purpose of this “Partnership” instruction is to bring an understanding of the vision and values that guide us as a local church as well as to clarify what we, as a pastoral team, expect of all those who become committed and actively involved at Harvest as Partners. It will also help you know what to expect from our pastoral team. Hopefully it will inspire you and build your faith regarding the opportunity and privilege it can be to be joined to a fellowship of believers centered in the gospel of Christ.
As an eldership Team here at Harvest Church we are deeply committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been our primary goal to make certain we are all well established in the gospel, and as a result, are enabled through our faith in the gospel to enjoy fellowship with one another on a much deeper level and accomplish the purpose we are all called to in the gospel.
A fellowship not driven by the gospel is destined to disruption and chaos due to being tossed to and fro. It will be swept up in whatever is popular in the culture or on the Christian book shelf at a given moment. Being committed to the gospel rescues us from chasing after fads that tax the time, energy, and resources of the saints and usually end up alienating anyone who isn’t on board with the latest greatest thing. For this reason we are looking for those who want to partner with us in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This teaching material is loosely based on Paul's letter to the Philippians. We have chosen Philippians for the simple reason that it was a model church for all the other churches that Paul had founded. In fact, our calling “members” Partners is based on a statement of Paul regarding the Philippians in Philippians 1:5 “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
What is interesting about the word partner in Philippians 1:5 is the Greek word Koinonia and it is found three other times in this letter (Philippians 2:1, 3:10, 4:14). In a sense, most of the material in this letter is gathered around the four uses of this word (translated by the English words, partner, participation, fellowship, and share). These are all very active words and help us to understand what was expected of those who were part of the local church in Philippi.
So you will hear us promoting the idea of believers partnering with us as opposed to using the term membership. We use the term partner purposely because we believe the term member, while biblical, has passive connotations in our culture.
For instance: I have a Sam's Club Member card in my wallet, even though I have not used it in a great while. My visits there were to get in and get out with no one getting hurt and to get what I went after. In like fashion, many today regard themselves as members of a local church, but are only passively involved on the basis of what is in it for them. Their involvement may begin and end with an occasional Sunday attendance. That defines a church attender but not a partner.
In the first church they too enjoyed the preaching of the apostles and took advantage of the instruction it gave them for living. But they also participated in other areas of Christian community and purpose. Their being a part was not about choosing a favorite preacher, worship team or style of service. They had a purpose greater than themselves! They were, loving God, loving each other, and loving their neighbors!
Tim Atchley
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Knowing God's Glory Part Four

He has showered us with His love and forgiveness through Christ and we need to thank Him for His faithfulness and His grace!

Someone might say, I do not feel like I know it well enough, or perhaps they would say my emotions are not in it so it would not be genuine to speak anything to God concerning this.

Remember faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Making a declaration involves mere agreement with the truth revealed in Scripture, it does not require that our emotions are all caught up in it. Emotions will catch up in their own good time, sometimes we do obedience simply because it is right to do so.

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:15-23 NKJV)

So let's lift up our voices together to close this morning. Let's render unto God the thanksgiving and praise He is justly due!

Thank You Lord God, and all glory and honor be Yours for including us in the company of who You wish to show Yourself to be good, gracious and merciful to.

Through the face of Christ we behold Your glory! Truly there is no God like You! You alone are God and You alone are good!

We humbly acknowledge Father that we are Yours only by the working of Your mighty power which You released through Jesus on the cross and by raising Him from the dead.

We declare today that all praise belongs to You the Creator of all things and the to Jesus the Author and the Finisher of our salvation.

We praise You for the miracle that our salvation is and the mercy we have received from You because You chose to love us.Tim Atchley

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Knowing God's Glory Part Three

Many have imagined that by turning to the Law of God they might somehow affect acceptance through an adherence to it. But to the credit of God’s glory we read further and discover,

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

As far as I can tell here we are not going to get connected to His glory through the means of the Law. What we will come to see is just how sinful we are. We become knowledgeable of our own sin through the Law.

But remember the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

So if the Law cannot help us realize the glory of God that righteousness is applied to what shall we do?

Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This is where the whole expression of God’s glory in the face of Christ is revealed! It is revealed through Jesus perfect obedience being imputed through faith as He perfects those who through faith come to Him. Jesus reveals the glory of God to us by enabling us to become the very righteousness of God through faith in Him.

2Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

That is a perfect example of the glory of God being revealed in the face of Jesus Christ! But for us to see it we must come to grips with the working of His grace in us.

The Scripture describes this work of glory further,

Romans 3:24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

It is to God’s glory when it is all of Him and not of us. It is to His glory when we realize we brought nothing to the table!

When we get all worked up about miracles it is because something had become impossible humanly speaking and God did something supernatural to remedy the situation. We have no problem giving praise to God for such acts on His part on our behalf. In fact we love to have as many miracle stories as we can. But the greatest glory is realized in the work of salvation when it is understood that it is purely the work of God and not our work.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

God declared to Moses, I will be good, gracious and merciful to whom I wish. This means we are His because of His desire for us and His calling us to Himself.

It is to His great glory that He determines these things in His Sovereignty and makes this possible through Jesus Christ.

In the face of Christ we see His Glory!

So how do we apply this?



Tim Atchley

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Knowing God's Glory Part Two

Exodus 34:5 Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation."

Now here is where the concept of understanding His glory gets really good!

Notice this statement from God concerning Himself involves both descriptions of His person and His activity. Revealed for us here is both His motivation that flows out of who He is and the behavior that results from it. Because He is a God who is merciful, gracious and long suffering, abounding in goodness and truth and keeping mercy for thousands, He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin but refuses to clear the guilty!

There is a ton of tremendously deep and rich theology in this and we will not have the time to explore all of it today. But I hope to whet your appetite for it today.

In the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology it speaks of how the word glory as it appears in the New Testament is the Greek word doxa.

In general terms it is used to describe giving honor, recognition or acclaim in vocalized reverence from the creature to the Creator and Judge. In other words giving glory involves lifting up our voices in recognition of who God is with holy reverence for Him. This giving Him glory in this manner is seen in Revelation as practiced by the angels of heaven.

Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

But when this word doxa is applied to God it denotes His majesty as seen in Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things.

This application addresses His majesty in that it reveals that God is far superior to anything created and therefore there is nothing on earth His equal. Thus the making of these false images is completely against His glory seeing that He is far greater than anything created! So doxa when applied to God is the recognition of majesty and greatness.

The word doxa also deals with God’s perfection, especially in relation to His righteousness.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We might ask, what does sin have to do with the glory of God? Sin is anti-righteousness.

In this sense God’s glory is attached to righteousness. It is this part of His glory I want to finish out our time reflecting on. Remember we read how His glory is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ?

James refers to Jesus as the Lord of Glory in James 2:1

That means that Jesus governs the very glory of God! That makes Jesus the governor of the very righteousness of God!

Now in consideration of righteousness and the condition of men and women without Christ the Bible goes on to say,

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none who understands; there’s none who seek after God. 12 They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

As we can see this is a condition that no man can save himself from. If the God of heaven declares you unrighteous and says this is the truth about your condition to whom can you turn to nullify His testimony?

God is both the Creator and the Judge there is not another. The verdict is already in on mankind, they are guilty before God.



Tim Atchley

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Knowing God's Glory Part One

A Kindergarten teacher told all her class to draw a picture of what was important to them. In the back of the room Johnny began to labor over his drawing. He was really into it too. Everybody else after a short while had finished their pictures and handed them in, but not Johnny. He was still working feverishly on it. The teacher graciously walked to where Johnny was and put her arm around his shoulder and said, “Johnny what are you drawing?” Johnny never looked up he just kept intensely working at his picture. He said, “God.” “But Johnny,” the teacher said gently, “no one knows what God looks like.” Johnny answered, “They will when I’m done.”

Little Johnny was convinced he knew what God would look like?

Revival preacher Leonard Ravenhill tells of a humorous experience that occurred years ago as he walked by a Sunday school classroom filled with little children, five or six years of age. They were sitting on chairs of such a height that their feet dangled above the floor. Just as the preacher passed they began to sing the words of the much-loved hymn entitled At Calvary. They sang the words, "Years I spent in vanity and pride!"

Like Ravenhill many of us are likely humored at the thought of small kids singing about spending years in vanity and pride. What can such inexperience know about years of vanity and pride?

When it comes to knowing God personal experiences can leave us mistaken about His nature and character. It is not that difficult to misread God based on circumstances and consequences etc.

The kindergarten teacher was only partially right in a sense, but she left out the man who lived who knew what God looked like. Her statement was more in keeping with what God said to Moses on Mount Sinai when Moses asked to see His glory.

Exodus 33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." 21 And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."

God knew how difficult it would be for us as human beings to capture an accurate glimpse of Him and understand it so He offered a solution.

John 1 tells us,
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:14-18 NKJV)

We also read in,

2Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In this one passage alone we discover that God, in His great mercy, put the light of the knowledge of His glory in our hearts.

He revealed this glory in the face of Jesus Christ. So now we find that when it comes to the very glory of God we must look unto Jesus to truly understand it and appreciate it correctly. John testified that we they beheld His glory when they encountered Jesus.

What is glory? Moses asked God in Exodus 33:18 "Please, show me Your glory."

How did God respond?

Exodus 33:19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

In response to the glory question God makes a declaration about Himself. Now the question we should ask is, “Do we see this declaration at work when Jesus shows up on the scene?” After all it says we beheld His glory in the face of Christ.

The answer would be yes!

Jesus demonstrated the goodness of God towards those who were humble of heart and needy, and the willingness of God to meet them where they were at. Jesus would say things such as, “if you have seen me you have already seen the Father.”

Jesus showed compassion to people that caused the merely religious of his day to cringe. He demonstrated the very nature of God that is gracious to whomever He wishes to be gracious to and showing compassion on whoever He wishes as well.

A great example is the woman caught in adultery, the thief on the cross, the prostitute who washed His feet with her tears, Zaccheus a tax collector, ten lepers needing healing, a man born blind from birth and on and on we could tell of this nature of God on display through Jesus Christ.

Jesus also proclaimed the Father to His generation. To proclaim the name is not merely speaking a name out loud, it also involves a demonstration of the nature of the one being proclaimed. There is generally a specific aspect of that person’s nature and character declared and demonstrated as a result of the proclamation.

Jesus would often say, “I speak what I hear the Father speak and I do what I see the Father doing.”

So what was the specific proclamation made to Moses regarding the glory of God?



Tim Atchley

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Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

This past Friday my lovely wife took a short trip with a friend to Atlanta. I was left at home of course with my puppy to keep me company. Although my sons were in and out and my daughter and her husband came over to stay the night with my grand daughter I could not help but miss my wife. I knew she needed the time away and was genuinely happy for her. But I have discovered over the years my sleep just is not the same without her by my side. We have become incredibly close over the course of our marriage.

I guess it is safe to say with the greatest of sincerity that I deeply love my wife and do not enjoy being apart from her for any length of time. I have friends in ministry who seem to love to travel. For me a ministry trip is a genuine sacrifice seeing I no of no other place than I would rather be than at home with my wife. This has guarded me over the years from making any trips other than what I know to be the Lord's leading.

I guess I should be thanking Jesus for joining me to such a delightful, beautiful and enjoyable woman with whom I am my most comfortable. She truly is my best friend in the world. I am truly a blessed man. So glad she is back home again by my side, man did I ever miss her while she was away.


Tim Atchley

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Worthy of Praise Part Three

The Bible declares,

Psalms 93
1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. 3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, The floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. 4 The LORD on high is mightier Than the noise of many waters, Than the mighty waves of the sea. 5 Your testimonies are very sure; Holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, forever.

Psalms 145
1 I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. 5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works. 6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, And I will declare Your greatness. 7 They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, And shall sing of Your righteousness. 8 The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. 9 The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. 10 All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, 12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. 14 The LORD upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. 18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. 20 The LORD preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.

J.I Packer says this about the majesty of God.
“The word majesty, when we apply it to a discussion of God's character, is always a declaration of His greatness as well as an invitation to worship.”

In a passage that I personally dearly love for how amazingly it captures the essence of the greatness and supremacy of Christ we discover Majesty has been ascribed to our Savior Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 1
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"? 6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." 7 And of the angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire." 8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." 10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail." 13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

When it comes to realizing how great the grace of God is towards us we cannot afford to neglect to develop our understanding of His greatness so that we can know that when He determines to grant to us His kindness and mercy no man can interfere!

This is what makes the declaration of Romans 8 so incredible!
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It is this kind of knowing God in the truth of His own declaration of Himself and His abilities that we find strength to conquer, and overcome what appears to be impossible situations!

A God this amazing and great loves us so completely in His own Son! If this kind of God be for us, who can be against us?!

Tim Atchley
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Worthy of Praise Part Two

In England, whenever there is an official gathering to which the Queen is to attend. When she, known as her majesty, enters the room all heads are turned to her and all eyes are fixed upon her and she is recognized as the head of the nation in that moment. There is no one more important in that room at that moment. She has the high position.

It is a weak human example for establishing an understanding of the majesty of God for us but for practical purposes will have to assist us in realizing how much greater God is than we are.

There is a story told of an old missionary woman near death in Dick Eastman’s book a Celebration of Praise.

As the elderly missionary lay motionless on her deathbed her nine children gathered solemnly around her. Her life had been a long and beautiful example of dedication and sacrifice. All of her children followed in her footsteps and served in some aspect of missionary service.
Before a new day dawned the saintly warrior would be with Jesus, and everyone present knew death was moments away. Suddenly, one of the children thought she heard her mother speak. It was unusual it seemed like days since she spoke. Motioning to the eldest son, the younger sister said, 'I think Mother is trying to say something."
Her brother was certain it was but a groan, perhaps an indication that death had finally arrived. But a few seconds passed and it seemed that she again wanted to speak. This time what appeared to be a forced groan was clearly loud enough to be heard. Still, none could recognize what she wanted to say.
The eldest son put his ear close to his mother’s lips and said, "Mother, please tell us what is it you want"
The dying saint struggled as she reached within for all the strength that remained. This time a clear word was heard; the single word—"Bring." There was no doubt about what she said.
The son leaned closer and spoke. "Mother," he said softly, "tell us what it is you wish. You name it, and we will bring it to you."
The missionary's body seemed to quiver as she reached within for greater strength. "Bring," she cried out with authority.
Again the eldest son, longing to satisfy his dying mother's wish, responded, "Whatever it is you wish, Mother, just tell us. If we can possibly bring it to you, we will"
Almost interrupting the son, the mother cried even louder—"Bring!"
By now, the son seemed agitated, and responded firmly, "Mother, just tell us what it is you want and we will bring it"
Suddenly, a remarkable thing happened. The saint seemed to burst forth with supernatural energy. Rising on her bed, an impossibility in her condition, she stretched a hand toward heaven and boldly exclaimed— "Bring... forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all!"
With those words, the missionary fell backward on her pillow and died. She ended her earthly experience honoring the majesty of God.

To honor the majesty of God one must understand the difference between God’s greatness and the greatness of man. There simply is no comparison to be found between the two when rightly understood. God is actually that much greater than humanity.

It has been said that if Christians lose their sense of the greatness of God and thereby remove themselves from the recognition of His majesty they risk constructing an image of God that cannot rescue in the most difficult of situations. They end up with a God who is weak and anemic incapable of saving whom He wills and has become dependent on the aid of men. Martin Luther rebuked Erasmus the Monk by saying, “Your thoughts of God are too human!" What can be said of us regarding our thoughts of God?

Whenever we speak of God’s majesty we are talking about His divine splendor and supremacy as it relates to His ruling over the entire universe. His supreme authority! His greatness!



Tim Atchley

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He is Worthy! Part One

How many here would testify that they want to know God more?

Is there an accurate way of doing so without risking creating an image of God to our own liking that is not consistent with who He truly is?

I mean if we reject the notion of going to a source of authoritative testimony concerning who He is and what He is like we might construct our own idea of God and what He is like and be found serving a God we created for ourselves that is not consistent with His own testimony about Himself.

Have you ever had someone speak to you about another person as though they knew about them but yet had never met them personally and were only speaking from what they had heard through others?

Have you ever thought you knew someone only to be surprised by some event that revealed something entirely different than what you thought you knew about them?

There is the person they told us they were but then there was the person their actions revealed they were and the two were not the same. Ordinarily you cannot go by a person’s own testimony of one’s self since human beings tend to skew the facts to help themselves look better than they truly are. Self-testimony for this reason is considered highly unreliable at best.

To this reality the Bible says,

Proverbs 27:2 Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.

This is very wise counsel as it pertains to human beings. But the Scripture says something different about the testimony of God.

Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man that He should lie, Nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

How many would like to know God accurately according to what He says about Himself?

Well to achieve that we must allow the Scripture to reveal to us the character and nature of God and not insist He be a certain way for us to like Him or want to call Him God.

We begin with the idea that there is only one absolutely perfect person in all of eternity. God alone holds that title of being absolutely perfect in every way imaginable.

This automatically places Him high above all things created!

This puts God in such an exalted position that when He is known to be present all attention should be focused upon Him alone.


Tim Atchley

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More of my new office space

Tim Atchley

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Setting up my new office at home!

Tim Atchley

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Gaining Ground in Grace Part four

So, if we find we are struggling with the humility issue we should first acknowledge our lack of humility to Him, we should then ask Him to grant us revelation understanding of the truth of our situation, and when we see things as He sees them, we need to run to Him and ask for His help in enabling us to do the thing He says we need to do about it.

Humility leads us to a place of obedience to His will for us and that is where the greater grace is most realized. What we might have thought before was impossible is now the most reasonable thing we could have ever imagined due to the working of His greater grace!

No matter what it is you are going through right now, turn to God give Him your cares for He cares for you. Humility will lead us to pray even more when times are tough and much suffering is occurring.

We need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that He might exalt us in due time. Only He knows when that is, all we need to know is that He is with us and He is for us, and if God be for us who can be against us!

Psalms 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.

We need to pray!

We need to turn to the only One who can help us in our time of need in a very concerted and deliberate manner.

We need solutions and answers.

We need strength and endurance!


Tim Atchley

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Gaining Ground in Grace Part Three

So what should we do?

1Peter 5
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever an d ever. Amen.

Why is getting this turning to God thing so important?

Because we have an adversary! We have an enemy! He is looking for those who are not steadfast in the faith so he might devour them.

Everyone in this life suffers on some level.

Job said, “A man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Sin and Satan make sure that there is plenty of suffering to go around.

Christians are not protected against suffering either. This cuts to an entitlement attitude in Christianity.

God does not owe us a perfectly convenient life absent of all suffering. He is not obligated to guarantee we get the perfect family we dreamed up with no problems along the way. He is not obligated to give us the perfect job according to what would be most convenient to us according to our own wisdom.

If we allow ourselves to think that such is true we will inevitably become bitter with God and angry that things have not worked out as we think that they should, and instead of hearts of humility that turn to God, we will find ourselves resisting God and running into the arms of the world and Satan.

But when we walk in true humility we resist the devil and take our stand steadfast in the faith!

Notice what Peter said, “Knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

In other words you and I are not the first people to suffer and we will not be the last and the thing we are going through is not unique to just us as though we were the only ones to ever experience it.

With so many Christians throughout the world suffering why wouldn’t God go ahead and end all suffering for them?

May the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

What sets us apart from this world is the manner by which we endure hardship and suffering as compared to those without faith. Our resolve to trust God and our ability to walk in humility before Him receiving the grace He gives us to do so, serves as an amazing testimony to those outside the faith.

Not only that but it further establishes us and perfects us in our being more like Christ. God is to be our only source. He is enough for those who th rough humility have learned to turn to Him in all things.



Tim Atchley

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Gaining Ground in Grace Part Two

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Obviously no matter what type of grace it is we need it will not be realized without our knowing it is God we need to turn to for our help.

Are there any examples of practical indications of walking in humility before God?

James 4
1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Here we discover there are people walking in a way that demonstrates the opposite of humility before God. Pride in mankind is a primary source of all kinds of problems. Pride is the opposite of humility.

Here humility is expressed when someone is not a friend of the world. We cannot recognize how little the world has to offer us without humility of heart. It is humility that causes us to look to God for answers and wisdom. His ways and knowledge is often contrary to what the world offers.

Here humility is expressed when someone is not looking to please themselves but are free to do for others. Being others minded and willing to serve without thinking you now owed for it is a clear expression of humility.

Here humility is expressed when someone resists the devil and turns to God for help. It leads us to the source of our strength in battle.

Here humility is expressed in a desire to draw near to God. It recognizes the importance of relationship with God and leads us to desire Him even more.

According to the Holy Ghost people with this type of attitude will experience the reality of closeness with God and a greater grace!

In speaking to a people who were suffering and struggling, the Apostle Peter moved by the Holy Ghost said things to the church he was writing to that sound very much like what James was saying to a completely different group of believers. I want us to look at it because it also addresses the entitlement attitude and speaks of the benefit of humility in a slightly different way.

Peter begins by addressing the elders of the church.

1Peter 5
1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

In addressing the elders he is saying they need to have an attitude of humility that enables them to serve the body of Christ for the right reasons. This kind of service is what Christ desires for His church. But then Peter goes on to address the younger people in the church and the church as a whole. He is dealing with how they need to relate one to another as a community of believers.

1Peter 5
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

It might be that if you are experiencing resistance in your life that it is not all the devil’s work. It may be due to your own lack of humility that much of the resistance is being felt. If you are ignoring the counsel elders give you and treat them with contempt, if you dishonor parents, and if you disregard the ones God has placed in your life you should not expect God to open doors for you. Instead you should expect God to be shutting them. You may mistakenly say it is the devil when it is quite possibly God resisting you.

God wants us to be dependent upon Him and He desires that we come to Him with anything and everything that troubles us. It is also His desire that we appreciate and respect the people He has placed in our lives to help us grow spiritually and live effectively.



Tim Atchley

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The Transitions of Life

As I sit in what after twenty seven years has become a quiet house with my wife nearby. I contemplate the joy of seeing her occasionally looking up from her iPad where she is watching an art instruction video to muse with me over a thought. I am a man marching towards 50 years of age with an empty nest, a beautiful wife, a grandson right next door still close by and a brand new grand daughter. She is just six weeks old now and I can't wait to get the chance to take her for ice cream and do the whole Pop-pop routine with her where I get to spoil her in a good sense.

My fluffy little puppy named Rambo is by my side and I have a new office space I get to retire to in order to study and work with my wife's new art room next door to it. Never had anything like this before but I think I can get used to it.

Of course it has been a busy difficult journey to this place of an empty nest. I had to do a little construction work in my son in law and daughters new home. She needed a laundry and pantry space. It is quite a sight to see grandson laying on his stomach in the grass at the edge of their front yard kicking his feet and saying Pop pop.

I got to hang a little bell at knee height on the large maple in our front yard for the grandchildren to ring and play with when in the yard. I enjoy the things that make for memories. Of course kudos to my lovely wife Sheila for the idea in the first place.

I guess when the seasons of life enter major transition we can choose to allow it to rock our worlds or to drive us to God, to one another even more and to realize that God has wonderful plans for us that adjust right along with us. I know my wife and I plan to enjoy this new season and to grow old together gracefully should the Lord tarry His return.

The long and short, I am a blessed man, grateful to my Savior, thanking God for the grace that moves me into each new season of life and looking forward to what He has planned!


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Gaining Ground in Grace Part One

The huge royal navy ship, HMS Ambition, ploughed effortlessly through the stormy seas. The captain proudly looked out from the cabin to the waters ahead.

Suddenly he saw a light in the distance. The ship was heading directly towards it. Then through the morse code came a message, "Change your course by 20 degrees or you will crash into us".

The captain turned up his nose and said to his staff,"Who does this ship think they are, this is the HMS Ambition, no one asks us to change course, send back a message asking them to change course by 20 degrees."

Obediently the message boy tapped out the morse code message as ordered. However the same message was received as before, that they had to change course or they would collide.

The captain grew enraged and tapped out the next message himself..."This is Captain Proudhead , I order you to change course immediately".

The return message was interpreted as ...."This is ordinary seaman Bloggs, I repeat my request for you to change course or you will crash into us!"

The captain was now fuming , "What! Ordinary seaman ordering me to move. This cannot be!"

He banged out his next message.."THIS IS HMS AMBITION, THE QUEEN'S OWN SHIP. SHE TURNS FOR NOBODY. CHANGE YOUR COURSE NOW!"

After a while the final message came through...

"This is a LIGHTHOUSE..please change course now or you will crash into us!" (Rich Mullins)

Proverbs 3:34 Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.

There is no arguing that there is a particular favor that God gives to the humble. His compassion is ignited by genuine need that is recognized through humility by the one who has the need. But what if I cannot recognize the need and act as though I am owed something by God as opposed to looking for His mercy?

According to Scripture He gives His grace to the humble.

We are living in a generation that thinks they are owed certain things no matter what they act like or how unthankful they might be. It has created no small amount of problems for society at large, the family, and for the church as well.

When families suffer the church that cares for those families feels the impact of that suffering.

This ideology of being owed something just for existing is hellish at its root and it is opposite humility. It is a worldly attitude at it's root and it does not open our hearts to the grace and mercy of God. God owes no man anything, but He is gracious to those who are humble.

As Christians we are supposed to be growing in knowing the difference between the life and wisdom of God and the death and nonsense of worldly living and wisdom. This is why Scripture teaches us to not adopt worldly attitudes in life but to rather look to God for the right way to think and act, and for the right attitudes to walk in.

There are two attitude enemies when it comes to a greater realization of grace.

1) I earned it by how hard I have worked for it.
2) Because I am a human being equal with all other human beings I am owed it.

Grace is never earned because humility is not a work, it is an attitude.

Having a humble heart towards God does not obligate Him to us, instead it opens up our hearts to realize the love He has for us and just how willing He is to help us according to His great wisdom and purpose for us.

Fact is we desperately need His grace all the time if we are to endure and succeed in the Christian life.

So does Scripture say anything about how grace is gained and if more grace is available to us?


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The Message of the Cross

Our main passage today is: 1Corinthians 1:17 – 26

(NKJV) 1Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

1) CONTEXT MATTERS vs17 – Paul’s context involves four things

1a) Know What Your Role Does Not Involve - Paul did not launch out aimlessly to make his mark on the world and he was not going to be moved by the folks who wanted him to do something other than what he was supposed to be doing. He had a clear goal that was rooted in an understanding of his role in God’s kingdom. He knew what Christ did not send him to do. “Christ did not send me to baptize”

Sometimes a disruption occurs in churches when someone who does not know their place engages in taking up things that do not belong to them. They can do this out of insecurity which cultivates a need to be recognized or needed in way they feel is more significant. It can be targeted at a ministry, it can involve an offense belonging to someone else and they come in acting like a hero, or it can involve a wrong attitude towards men in authority out of a desire to be in authority themselves – after all leaders put their pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. Those functioning outside their roles can become engaged in conversations and actions that wind up distracting them from their specific purpose and potentially hindering others who are trying to carry out what God has given them to do.

Question: Do you know what Christ has not sent you to do?

1b) Know What Your Role Involves – Paul knew what he was supposed to do and who had sent him. “Christ sent me to preach the gospel”
(NKJV) 1Corinthians 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

Often knowing what not to do is conditioned by knowing exactly what to do. It is obvious that Paul knew he was supposed to be preaching the gospel. He was not called to politic within the church and become its most popular leader in high demand. He was about preaching the gospel. He took this responsibility seriously because he firmly believed that Christ sent him to do just that. Had you come out to hear Paul speak you would have heard the gospel preached with great clarity and simplicity.

Why? That is what Christ sent him to do.

Question: Do you know what Christ has sent you to do?

1c) How Not to Do It – There are right ways and there are wrong ways. Paul knew how to avoid the wrong way. “not with wisdom of words”

Paul did not wish to complicate the matter of the gospel. It is not your ordinary debatable argument as if men can be won on the basis of reasoning with them. That would make salvation our work as opposed to God’s work and those most exercised in the power of reasoning would be regarded as the greatest evangelists. It is not through persuasive argument that men believe, it is through the work of the Holy Spirit and the only way to discern He is at work is to keep it simple because where faith is alive it does not require much.

Question: Do you believe someone’s salvation depends on how great a case you can make about it?

1d) Why to Avoid Doing It Wrong – Paul understood how important doing it right was because he knew what the outcome would be if he did it wrong. “lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect”

Major Question: What does it mean to say, “lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect?”

The cross is God’s means of a supernatural provision of payment for sin. It is the testimony of the cross of Christ that says to men of faith that what is required by God as payment for sin cannot be met in any man other than His own Son. To begin to realize that only God’s Son was sufficient for this is to recognize that our sin was that far reaching, that deep, that impossible to erase by our own efforts or sacrifices no matter how great our efforts may be viewed to be by us or others.

It is the effect of the cross of Christ to bring us to the very end of ourselves and rid us from thinking there is any hope in securing the righteousness required by God, or to secure His affections and favor by what we can do or bring.

The cross identifies the Savior of men with the death of men. Just by the fact that Jesus died there is a declaration made by that act that we are dead in our sins. If we lose this effect of the cross we also lose the hope of life itself. We are approaching Easter that time each year that the resurrection of Christ is celebrated throughout the Christian world. If the reality of death is not sufficiently grasped then the beauty of resurrection and the great hope it offers would be wasted on such a heart.

So much is attached to the effectiveness of the cross. This is conveyed by Paul to Timothy.

(NKJV) 2Timothy 2:11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.

It is the ugliness of sin and the darkness of death communicated by the cross of Christ that the makes bright the hope of resurrection in Christ! It strips us bare of any thought of our own goodness and declares us truly dead in our sins and trespasses. It also speaks of the great lengths God was willing to go to in order to save those that He has chosen to be His.

(NKJV) Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The cross is the manifestation of God’s love for the elect and it flies in the face of the principalities that rebelled in heaven. They being enemies will never know reconciliation we having been enemies are reconciled to God through the work of Christ on the cross. Without the cross there is no grace and without grace there is no salvation. This is the effectiveness of the cross of Christ.

Question: What does the cross of Christ communicate to you?

2) THE IMPACT OF THE MESSAGE – TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE AND TWO VERY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

Perspective One/Type One - “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing”

History has had much to say with regard to the human will, the human spirit, and the ability of man to accomplish great things. Even God acknowledged the ability of man in the Bible in Genesis. At the Tower of Babel God said let us go down and confound their language lest they do this thing.

Do what thing? Be as God by ascending to the heavens and demonstrating the will of man and the power of man. Men would like to think they are able to do what God can. There is a great desire to be His equal. This is reflected in Greek Mythology and in many of the doctrines of other religions throughout the world. It was this deception that was at the heart of the lie that Satan used to deceive Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. Ever since that sin entered humanity we have all been affected by the reasoning behind it. The deception is that as long as we know what is good and what is evil we will be able to restrain ourselves and achieve perfection. The great deception is to think we possess the ability to achieve righteousness as an act of our will through making right choices based on the knowledge of good and evil. This is where we get our default dependence on rules.

The struggles of mankind are the same throughout time they are just packaged a little differently with each new generation that arrives. In an age where human wisdom and accomplishment means everything it is understandable that a message that strips men of their own efforts might be considered as being foolish.

The message of the cross says man is utterly incapable of bringing anything to God in the work of salvation and righteousness because man is devoid of having anything worthy of the grace of God.

This is offensive and makes no sense to a natural man or a self-righteous man as we will see later in the passage when it differentiates the Jew from the Greek.

Perspective Two/Type Two - considers the message of the cross to be the very power of God. Those that are being saved share this perspective.

We know God is at work in someone who does not reject the message of the cross. This is a sure sign they are being given revelation of the Holy Spirit. This is our key to true discernment regarding where God is at work.

People can become passionate about many things. They are especially passionate about what they feel they are accomplishing or what at least makes perfect sense to them. So when we speak of the message of the cross we are not talking about what you or I sacrifice in life and call it bearing our cross for Jesus. Nor are we speaking of something logical to the natural man’s mind.

This is only received as good news to those who have ears to hear. But to those who just cannot fathom the idea of having nothing to bring to God, or for those who do not think they have to worry about eternity it is nonsense. This is why God also chose the kind of method He wanted to use to message out.

3) BEWARE THE IDOL OF RELEVANCE

“it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe”

Here we discover that preaching this message is something to be esteemed. It is to be esteemed because God takes pleasure in it. This tells me there is a different reason behind preaching this message than just the mere communication of it.

Preaching it pleases God. It is God’s way! His way is always relevant!

God has chosen to take something as simplistic as preaching the gospel to identify those that He has chosen to be His.

This means preaching and teaching will never be outdated or antiquated in any way. This means it is still a vital and important part of our lives and most needed. God has His reason for wanting to administer the truth in this manner.

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God”

God has chosen something that confronts the arrogance of man. He has a chosen a simple message. Notice there is no condition of result placed on this method. It simply shows us that this method and message reveals the truth about where people are at in their hearts.

4) Same Message Given to Two Kinds of People Revealing Two Different Responses

“but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,”

The Jews – a chosen people now set in their ways and practices to such a degree they think they have a right to expect a sign according to their liking. They do not realize that any sign given to an unbelieving heart will mean nothing. Even the miraculous is wasted on unbelief.

It says Christ crucified is a stumbling block. Perhaps part of that stumbling lies in what Paul revealed in Galatians.

(NKJV) Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),

Imagine being raised a Jewish child and being told all your life that you a part of a chosen people of God and therefore not under a curse but a blessing but now you are being told that you are under a curse as a sinner unless you believe in Christ and that is because Christ took the curse for you. You would struggle with that knowledge unless God drew you in and through the work of the Holy Spirit He granted you spiritual insight and faith. That is what vs 24 is telling us:

“but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

The Greeks – a people were a people who arrogantly saw themselves as highly educated and therefore more cultured and refined than the rest of the world. They desire to be convinced by profound arguments of irrefutable fact that registers with their way of thinking. They considered themselves to be forward thinking people.

It says Christ crucified is foolishness to the Greeks. Their thinking may be in part due to the idea that they must be reconciled to the knowledge of needing someone to die in their place due to their sin. But add to that the understanding of their culture that all who hang on a cross are criminals deserving death due to insurrection or crimes worthy of death and forward thinking people would struggle with such knowledge unless they were given insight by the Holy Ghost.

Both Jews and Greeks share something in common in that both lack belief. Notice though that the terms are the same for both Jew and Greek.

“but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

God is not partial to one race of people over another. But one thing that keeps recurring as a theme in these passages is the idea that only those called of God will understand and believe. This makes the gospel message without partiality and relevant for every race on earth.

5) The Great Equalizer of Men

“but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

The only way someone struggles with the gospel is they lack belief, and the only way they lack belief is that they have not been chosen.

Belief is the key and the root of it begins with God. The fruit of it is manifested in men but its origins rest with God.

If someone does not respond to the preaching of the gospel it is because they do not believe. If they do respond it will be because they believe and that will all be according to the work of God in them.

One thing we can know for certain is that those who truly believe are saved and have no problem with the idea that salvation is to the credit of Christ alone and that Jesus is the very wisdom of God and the power of God! That is what we see testified to here in this passage.

So in closing we should conclude that:

1) Getting the message right does not improve our chances of seeing more professions of faith, but it will weed out those who are called and those who are not.

2) Keeping the message simple enables us to avoid interfering with the work of the Holy Ghost by letting the cross maintain its effectiveness.

3) The right gospel message is a great discernment tool.

4) God is not partial to one race over another so neither should we be. There is nothing special about a birthright anymore unless it is to say one has been born again in Christ.

5) No one on earth is capable of bringing anything to God in order to merit His attention. We are all on an equal playing field, we stand on common ground.

6) The only thing separating us from those that are lost is the mercy of God we have received.

7) Testifying to Christ being the wisdom of God meaning there was no better way to bring about salvation than the way God chose to do so, and that Christ is the very power of God meaning the supernatural work of salvation is seen only in Jesus Christ and no other. This is what the message of the cross does for those who are called and have believed in Christ.