Quote from Forum Archives on July 14, 2009, 10:54 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

 

 

 

CHECKING OUR COMPASS

July 12, 2009

 

 

TEXT:  John 6:25-40

 

As Pat McCarty announced last Sunday, the ABW state project is a continuation from last year of the “Break the Chains” ministries.  The purpose is to address and work to eliminate human trafficking, our modern form of slavery.  Our missionaries around the world have been witnessing this sad phenomenon for many years now.  There are many overseas ministries that are now devoted to the purpose of providing haven, support, and education opportunities for men, women, and children coming out of human trafficking situations.

 

This form of slavery is worldwide.  It exists even in the United States.  It exists in many forms: some are forced into the sex industry, some into domestic servitude, and some into other types of forced labor.  As the displays in our hallways point out, human trafficking includes not only those who are kidnapped, but also those in such desperate situations that they fall prey to many deceptions and illegal schemes.  In some cases, parents “sell” their children as payment for the debts they have incurred for survival.  There are some vicious cycles and some vicious circumstances out there that need to be broken.

 

It is also appropriate that Christians have established leading ministries to address and correct these abuses.  Christians have led the fight to end slavery before in England and in America.  Led by Christian principles of human value, worth, and dignity given by God, men and women of the faith stood firm against the powers that enslaved others.  Holding fast to the Word of God, they toppled structures of slavery.

 

In order to succeed, though, our modern movements must bear in mind that while freeing people from human trafficking is the very worthy goal, it can only be accomplished by never losing site of the will and command of God.  Human trafficking is possible only with the consent, whether intentional or not, of the culture.  Even though there are many who express disgust for this modern form of human bondage, they nonetheless contribute to its possibility by turning their backs on God’s righteous instructions.  In order to succeed in this mission, we must be checking our compass.

 

One of the lessons revealed in John 6 is that men came to Jesus for the wrong reasons.  Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:26-27)  This is one of the portions of Scripture where Jesus uses the imagery and illustration of physical and spiritual bread.  Those seeking Jesus here are looking for physical fulfillment and missing the spiritual truth of eternal life that Jesus was giving.  In fact, when he spelled it out for them, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), some of them rejected both the message and the Savior because, although he offered them what they needed, he was not offering them what they wanted.

 

This happens when we fail to check our compass.  Whenever we are wandering in a desolate area, it does us absolutely no good to carry a compass if we are not going to use it.  And when we use it, then we have to measure our response by the compass, not by our personal wishes.  If we need to be heading north, and, upon checking our compass, we discover we are heading east, then we need to change direction.  But what if the right direction looks a little rougher and unpleasant?  Doesn’t matter, does it?  We either correct ourselves and head north, or we continue to travel in error.

 

Jesus was the compass in these Scriptures, and he is still the compass today.  In John 6, those seeking Jesus discovered that they were heading the wrong direction.  They were not heading toward the “true bread from heaven.”  Even though they saw Jesus, they did not believe.  And without belief, there can be no salvation.  Jesus gave them the right direction, but some of them purposefully chose to continue the wrong direction.  Following the right direction is so important that Jesus tells them and us that, “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)  We must recognize this distinction.  Even Jesus the Son checked his compass, and when he did, he followed it; that is, “the will of him who sent me.”

 

Therefore, it is vital for us to check our compass.  We cannot ignore doing so.  As a practical example, return to the “Break the Chains” mission project.  I declared that it is good for Christians to move to eliminate the slavery of human trafficking.  In reality, there are non-Christian organizations also mobilizing to combat human trafficking.  This is fine; we can work together.  But when Christians check our compass, we discover that there are specific sexual behaviors that are sinful.  Consequently, we are not to engage in them, nor are we to encourage others to engage in them.  Unfortunately, many in the non-Christian organizations are marching in a different direction in this matter.  They believe that many kinds of behavior are acceptable.  The problem is that this attitude gives rise to the problem of human trafficking that they are trying to eliminate.  If they, too, would seek to curb sinful sexual behavior, then a large portion of human trafficking would be easier to identify and eliminate.  But they are not interested in the result of checking their compass.  They want to choose which moral imperatives they want to apply, but it doesn’t work that way.

 

Even more unfortunate, there are those claiming to be followers of Jesus who are likewise ignoring their compass.  They claim that Jesus would want his followers to free these unfortunate victims from their slavery, and I agree with that.  But then these same folks turn around and tell us that we can, and even should, ignore what Jesus and the Bible tell us about sinful sexual behavior.  They tell us that sexual relationships outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriages are OK.  They tell us that any kind of family as contrived by the human mind is OK.  They tell us that it is “legalistic” to insist that sexual behavior be limited to Biblical standards.  In fact, they are beginning to tell us that openly declaring certain specific sexual behaviors as sinful is a form of “hate speech.”  If they are checking their compass at all, then they are clearly ignoring what their compass is telling them.  “But as I have told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” (John 6:36)

 

Special projects that are devoted to justice, especially Biblical justice, are great.  God loves justice.  “He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)  But if those pursuing such projects neglect or ignore their compass, which is Christ, then their attempts to establish justice are going to fall far short of the ideal at best and fail completely at worst.  It does us no good to seek Jesus but then, once finding him, not believe.

 

I have used the “Break the Chains” project and sexual behavior as an example of the wider problem.  I hope you understand that.  This Scripture from John 6 does not address either of these issues directly.  But it does address them, and everyone of humanity’s other problems, generally.  We cannot hope to have the results God promises if we reject the God who makes the promises.  Make no mistake about it; we reject both the promises and the Maker of the promises when we turn our backs on His commands and instructions.  One might ask, “Well, aren’t you being legalistic, Pastor Chuck?  God says that He forgives me.”  Yes, that is entirely correct.  God forgives the repentant sinner.  But make no mistake of this: God’s forgiveness does not give a license to sin.  God forgives to make us righteous and holy.  God forgives so that we can follow the path He chooses for our life.  God forgives because His beloved Son, who did “the will of him who sent me” made himself the offering for our sin.  There is no room for the one who comes to Christ for physical food and then rejects the spiritual food so lovingly provided by the Lord.

 

Just to show how far away some stray, compare Jesus’ words of promising the bread of life with the opening remarks of Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori at the General Conference in California.  She says it is "heresy;" that is, a false belief, to believe that an individual can be saved through a sinner's prayer of repentance.  She calls that "the great Western heresy: that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God."  According to Schori, it is heresy to believe that an individual's prayer can achieve a saving relationship with God. "That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy." (Associated Press, 7/9/09)

 

Now I’m going to check my compass.  This is Jesus speaking in verses 35, 39, and 40: “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty…  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:35, 39-40)  Oops.  Looks like Bishop Schori is telling us to go south and Jesus is telling us to go north.  I wonder who we should follow?

 

Sadly, because of the moral relativism that has been beaten into our culture, not even some in positions of leadership who are supposed to be Christian are pointing in Jesus’ direction.  That leads to more confusion and more lost souls in both this life and the next.  You may have heard religious relativists say, “We may be climbing different sides of the mountain, but we are all going to reach the same peak.”  Spring this on anyone who wants to use that terrible analogy: Before you can start climbing the mountain, you’ve got to get to the mountain!  If you’re in the valley, and the mountain is due north, you ain’t getting there by going south.  You can’t even get there by going north-northeast or north-northwest.  It ain’t happening.  When Jesus says to go north, and you take off in any other direction, you’re lost.  If you go north…  well, I’ll let Jesus tell you what can happen:  “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…  I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:32-33, 35-40)  Who would not want to follow that compass?

 

 

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com

 

 

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org