Category Archives: Discipleship

Posted on

The Reality of Human Suffering

The Reality of Human Suffering

The saying “I thirst” reveals the physical suffering that Jesus underwent as a human being. Isaiah chapter 53:3 describes the Messiah as a suffering servant. In Isaiah 53:3 it says “He was despised and rejected by men. He was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.” In suffering death by crucifixion, Jesus underwent the most intense suffering that human beings have ever conjured up to inflict upon another person. Nothing is more painful, or more agonizing or more prolonged, than the suffering of a death by crucifixion.

Some have speculated that the wine mixed with myrrh that was offered to him by the Roman soldier was the kindness of a sedative to dull the pain. Other interpreters see it as a bitter and mocking response to compound his thirst with sour wine. Regardless, the saying and what followed with the offer of gall reveal that Jesus underwent deep distress and suffering.

Jesus was fully a human being, a man, who understands what it feels like to be in pain, to be hungry, to have your friends betray you, to have your friends deny you, to have yourself carried away by a perversion of justice. He understands what it feels like to be tortured, to be mocked, to be spit on.

I thirst

Jesus understands what it feels like to be sick and to suffer and experience pain. He was a man of sorrows and familiar with sufferings. In this life on earth, there are certainly sufferings. People sin against us, do they not? Confidantes say things that hurt us. Intimate and close friends betray us.

Sometimes others hurt us intentionally out of spite and out of a sinful and evil heart. At other times our loved ones wound us without intending us harm but merely because they too are wounded and finite human beings. Sometimes we suffer and we hurt, and we grieve the loss of our friends. We grieve the loss of control of our bodies. We suffer to the point of even death at times. All of us at one point in our life will suffer to the point of death. Jesus bore our sufferings. Isaiah says: “Surely he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows.” (53:4)

There’s nothing that you can go through in this life that Jesus has not gone through and will not go through with you. If you are in the midst of a challenging time in your life, in the midst of a time of suffering, of pain, of hurt, maybe it’s at the hands of another person or maybe it’s because your body is falling apart. Perhaps it is for some other reason, injustice; whatever your pain, Jesus understands—He has been there before and is with you now.

The writer of Hebrews describes Jesus as a high priest, but not like the other high priests. He is a high priest who is able to sympathize with us in our weakness, as the writer of Hebrew says. In Hebrews 2:14, the writer says:

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity that by in his death he might destroy he who holds power over death—that is the devil. For this reason, (verse 17) he had to be made like his brothers in every way.”

Jesus had to be made fully human, completely and fully human even in pain and weakness. He shared with us in all of the pains and all of the weakensses with which human beings struggle.

He was made like His brothers in every way. Why? In order that He might become a merciful and a faithful high priest in the service of God, that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered, He is able to help those who also are tempted and are suffering. The writer of Hebrews would go on to say in Chapter four, verse 15, “…but we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are and yet was without sin” and because of that, we can do something that is quite incredible—approach the Throne of Grace for help!

Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence so that we too can receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Are you going through a time of need right now? Do you need Jesus to help you? He sympathizes with you in your sufferings. He is your great high priest who has shares in your sufferings and will abundantly and lovingly help you through the sharing in this trial time. Boldly approach the Throne of Grace, today!

The post The Reality of Human Suffering appeared first on St. Peter's Lake Mary.

Posted on

The Choice to Suffer

The Choice to Suffer

“I thirst” is the shortest of the seven last words. In fact, it is only one word in Greek, the word διψω which is pronounced dip-sō.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” –John 19:28

See that Jesus is purposeful in his work. Jesus was fully in control and knew exactly what He was doing in the distress of the Cross. His purpose was to complete, to persevere to the very end, to finish the work that the Lord, His God and Father had given Him to do. It was a work that is found in the pages of Holy Scripture itself: the call to be the suffering servant.

One of the questions that arises in this is: why would anyone purpose to suffer distress? Indeed, the very idea sounds foreign to the ears of the people of our culture and day. We work so incredibly hard to avoid and minimize distress in our lives. Indeed, this has become an all-consuming dream of Americans. Pat Morley in his book The Man in the Mirror sums up that dream in what he describes as the “wrinkle free life.”

The “wrinkle-free life” is a dream of a life on earth where we minimize pain, we avoid suffering, we age without stress and we retire in comfort. Unfortunately, the more focused our culture has become on pursuing the self-serving wrinkle free life, the more surprised we are by the stress-filled lives we have created for ourselves. The Lord has a word to our cultural pursuit:

Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” –Haggai 1:5-6

The more we pursue the “wrinkle-free life” the more it seems to elude us. Perhaps the goal is wrong. Indeed it is dead wrong. Paul writes of those who pursue the mindset of the world:

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. –Phil. 3:10

Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him. That does not sound like the easy, stress free, pain-less path. On the contrary, the Lord is inviting us to join Him in “sharing in His sufferings.” (Phil. 3:10) Indeed, the followers of Christ must intentionally purpose to suffer and endure. This is a sinful and fallen world. In order to be on the side of righteousness and truth, grace and love, there will be opposition from evil forces and people. The world will marshal its force against us. If it persecuted Christ, it will persecute His followers.

One of the ways to steady ourselves for these unexpected moments of opposition and distress is to intentionally enter periods of distress as a way of steeling ourselves for the inevitable. The spiritual disciplines of self-denial have long been recognized by faithful Christians as useful for strengthening the character of the Cross in our hearts.

Examples of disciplines of self denial may be intentionally fasting from something that we enjoy, giving away money to the poor, keeping Sabbath worship, sacrificing our time in service to others or to the Church. Through actions of self-denial, the self-centered focus is brought into check. The fleshly nature is naturally lazy; it tries to avoid pain; it runs away from hard work.

The call of Christ encourages us to overcome the natural self-serving desires of the flesh. By engaging in the disciplines of self-denial in times of blessing and plenty, we are preparing our character for the necessary fortitude needed when the inevitable time of trial comes. Pastor John Piper called fasting, “The Hungry Handmaiden of Faith”. Fasting, almsgiving, service and other forms of self-sacrifice show us both our weakness in the flesh and give confidence of the character that God is working in us.

During this season of Lent, how are you engaging in the disciplines of self-denial? Where do you see God addressing the powerful forces of self-centeredness in your own life? In what ways have you been shaped by the world’s pursuit of the “wrinkle-free life?” In what ways is Christ shaping you into the character of the Cross?

The post The Choice to Suffer appeared first on St. Peter's Lake Mary.

Posted on

A Date Which Will Live in Infamy was a Sunday

“A Date Which Will Live in Infamy” was a Sunday

Remembering December 7, 1941…

Harry Clifton Clay (1920-2010) was my father’s next door neighbor in Homosassa, FL. Seventy-two years ago, he was a young 21 year old marine who was stationed in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Pearl Harbor Vet

Mr. Harry Clifton Clay (1920-2010) was a young 21 year old marine when he was stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Harry once told my father the story of that morning. He said that he was at church dressed in his Sunday best when he heard and felt the bombs dropping. He recounted to my father, “Dressed for church, we ran to the anti-aircraft guns, wiped off the grease and began to fire.” The guns were kept coated with grease to protect them from the ocean salt in the air.

Seventy years later, Harry pulled out of his closet the pair of Johnston Murphy’s that he was wearing that morning to show my father. They were his “church shoes”. He had kept the shoes in pristine condition for all of those many years as a tangible reminder of that moment which he would never forget–and neither should we. It is a date which will live in infamy.

As you dress for church, say a prayer and count your blessings that men like Harry served to defend our freedom and were brave to the task in the moment of trial.

Mr. Harry Clifton Clay was a member of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, Crystal River. His wife Catherine just died two months ago.

O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
A Prayer For Heroic Service, The Book of Common Prayer

Posted on

True Gospel: The Book of Galatians

In this series of sermons, Fr. Charlie addresses the difference between true and false Christianity. The letter to the Galatians was written to a church where a group of people slipped into the congregation and began to pressure the members to adopt a version of Christianity which was really not Christianity at all. Paul strongly confronts them for what he calls a false Gospel and then corrects their think and behavior in light of the one true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1. The False vs the True Gospel

2. Does it matter what you believe about the Gospel?

3. What defines you? Identity in Christ

4. What are the marks of an Authentic Christian?

5. How should we hold one another accountable to authentic Christianity?

Share your thoughts:

What questions do you have about the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

How do you see expressions of authentic and inauthentic Christianity in our day?

Posted on

The Bible Challenge

TheBibleChallengeHeader_380

 

 

 

The Bible Challenge is currently recording teachings to correspond with the Bible Challenge Readings. Check back often to recieve the latest installment.

Old Testament Study

This weekly teaching overview contains a downloadable study guide and an audio lecture on each week’s readings in the Old and New Testaments. The lessons run about 30-40 minutes in length. The teacher is The Rev. Charlie Holt of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lake Mary, FL.

The Study of the New Testament

The weekly teaching focuses on going deeper in the New Testament readings of the Bible Challenge. There is a downloadable study guide and audio lecture (just over 1hr in length). This study is taught by The Rev. Charlie Holt of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lake Mary, FL.

Posted on

Being Skeptical of the Skeptics: a Critique of the Jesus Seminar

The following was published in the May, 2011 Central Florida Episcopalian

The recent Jesus Seminar course advertised in the Central Florida Episcopalian underscores the need for the clergy and laity within the Diocese of Central Florida to be wise and discerning in the matters of our common Christian faith and life. From the ad in the April 2011 CFE, headlined, The Quest for the Historical Jesus: “The Gospels portray Jesus as the Messiah and divine savior. Within the Gospels, however, we can glimpse another Jesus, a Jewish teacher and healer with a radical vision of the kingdom of God. The search for the historical Jesus examines the Gospels in order to discover who Jesus was before he became the object of Christian belief.”

The basic premise of the Jesus Seminar scholars is that the “Jesus” that the Church worships and follows in life practice is a different Jesus than the actual flesh and blood person who walked the Earth 2000 years ago. The basic charge from the Seminar is that the later followers of Jesus mythologized the figure of Jesus in order to create a religious theological system called Christianity and an institution called the Church.

On face value, the basic premise of the Jesus Seminar’s teachings sounds quite plausible especially to our modern minds which have been thoroughly schooled in materialistic secularism. The modern mind has no categories for the miraculous, the mysterious or the supernatural.

The Seminar’s teachings often find a sympathetic audience for another reason. There is a general skepticism in the culture with institutions in general but especially the institutions of the Christian Church. This is not entirely without good reason. Turn on the news and we are shown a pastor in Gainesville burning Qurans; priests and bishops being sued for a pedophile scandal; and prominent Christian leaders caught in extra-marital affairs. A recent research study titled UnChristian concludes that “An overwhelming percentage of non-Christians sampled said they perceived Christians as judgmental, hypocritical, too political, and antihomosexual, among other things.”

The media rarely reports on Christians feeding the homeless, teaching the next generation in Christian schools and ministering to the sick and dying. If it bleeds it leads. The institutional Church has many self-inflicted wounds which make the headlines. So the claims of the Jesus Seminar that the institutional Church has gotten it wrong for two millennia about the “real” Jesus resonates in a secular society already skeptical of the Church.

To be honest, institutional churches have at times been wrong in teachings and doctrines. The Protestant Reformation is a good example of a period in Church history where scholars and theologians challenged the institutional Church to reform its teachings to bring them back into conformity with the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer and others were willing to be branded as heretics, even to put their lives on the line in order to challenge what they perceived to be corruptions in teaching and practice by the institutional Church.

Episcopalians are the heirs of that rich protestant heritage of questioning our catholic institution. As Protestants, we are always seeking to reform and renew our beliefs. In our prayers for the Church, the Book of Common Prayer provides the petition: Gracious Father, we pray for thy Holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen.

Following the teachings of the Jesus Seminar, bishops and clergy like the Rt. Rev. Jack Spong have fashioned themselves as the Church’s newest protestant reformers. They are calling into question the long standing creedal and doctrinal teachings of the Church on the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the divine nature of Jesus, the efficacy of prayer, the reality of heaven and hell, the promise of a second coming of Jesus, the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, the Cross of Jesus as an atonement offering for the sins of the world, and so on.

One of the workshops offered at the seminar event last month was titled What Jesus Wasn’t and the Kingdom Isn’t. The website promoting the workshop asserted: “The followers of Jesus exchanged the vision for the visionary. They elevated Jesus to godhood, interpreted his death as a blood sacrifice, and organized Churches. Christianity eventually constructed an all-encompassing official theology with the divine Jesus at its center. This workshop tells how this happened, assesses its costs, and explores modern options for thinking about God that take the historical Jesus seriously.”

So, has the Church been wrong about Jesus all these years? Was the “historic” Jesus merely a man who not only lived and died as one of us, but never really walked on water, calmed the storm, fed the five thousand, died on a cross for our salvation, or bodily rose from the dead? Was all of that made up by the Church, a form of religious mythology? Is Jesus merely an inspiring historic figure, but nothing more? If the Jesus Seminar’s critique is correct, one is left wondering what is the point of continued participation in the Church? Indeed, many people have come to accept the skeptical teachings of the Seminar through the years and as a result have wandered away from life in the Church.

The Jesus Seminar is perhaps most famous for its gatherings of scholars to vote on the sayings attributed to Jesus in Gospel texts using various colored beads placed in a basket to register their individual degree of certainty or skepticism that the words authentically represent the historic Jesus. The voting system has been roundly criticized by many scholars, such as N.T Wright, author of Jesus and the Victory of God, for its use of a weighted average that favors ruling a saying of Jesus to be inauthentic. Wright muses, “I cannot understand how, if a majority … thought a saying authentic or probably authentic, the ‘weighted average’ turned out to be ‘probably inauthentic’.”

The Seminar itself which is self-selected vastly under-represents the multitude of New Testament scholars around the country that affirm the basic historic accuracy of the Gospel records. Thus the results of their voting are biased toward a skeptical reading of the Gospel texts in favor of non-Canonical texts such as the “Gnostic Gospels”. Many have questioned whether the Jesus Seminar seems at times more motivated by a desire to say something controversial which might land them a media appearance on the latest made for TV Easter or Christmas documentary.

One of the most important things to know about the methodology of the Jesus Seminar is their prior assumptions. The Seminar has created many different criteria that govern whether they will determine that a saying of Jesus is authentic or inauthentic. Raymond E. Brown in An Introduction to the New Testament is critical of the methodology: “It [the Jesus Seminar] has operated to a remarkable degree on a priori principles, some of them reflecting an anti-supernatural bias. For instance the bodily resurrection had no real chance of being accepted as having taken place. The session dealing with the authenticity of Jesus’ predictions of his passion and death was dominated by the initial refusal of most of the participants to allow the possibility that Jesus could have spoken of his impending death by virtue of “super-ordinary” powers; accordingly they voted black (he did not say it) on eleven Synoptic passion predictions.”

A text such as John 14:1-14: “I am the way, and I am the truth, and I am life”, cannot be an authentic saying because it has Jesus referring to himself. Robert W. Funk, founder of the Jesus Seminar writes: “It is unthinkable…that Jesus said many of the things he is reported to have said. He certainly did not make claims for himself. To have done so would have contradicted his fundamental disdain for arrogance and hypocrisy and run counter to his rhetorical strategies. Sayings like those we find in the fourth Gospel could not have originated with Jesus.” But why could not Jesus have referred to himself? The circular logic is that Jesus would not have said such things so he certainly did not say such things—says Funk.

It is not surprising then that the “historic” Jesus whom the Jesus Seminar reconstructs closely reflects their prior assumptions. Luke Timothy Johnston, author of The Real Jesus, remarks that their conclusions were “already determined ahead of time,” which Johnston says is “not responsible, or even critical scholarship. It is a self-indulgent charade.” And Brown concludes, “The question has been raised whether once again, as with the discovery of the liberal Jesus in the last century, the quest [for the historic Jesus] is not producing the Jesus the quester wished to find.”

And just who is the Jesus Seminar’s Jesus? He is a wise peasant, a Jewish cynic, a faith healer who is committed to a social reform ministry on behalf of the poor and marginalized. But, he is a Jesus who does not see himself as God in the flesh, who does not have the aim of creating a continuing community called the Church after his death, who does not provide any theological significance to his death, or anticipate his eschatological return. This Jesus most certainly did not bodily rise from the dead.

The other founder of the Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan, goes so far as to say that after Jesus body was taken down off the cross (if it even was) it was most likely thrown into the town garbage heap to be eaten by carrion and wild dogs or buried in a mass grave. For Crossan, the resurrection of Jesus is a faith experience on the part of the early Church, not a historic reality.

Brown summarizes the many “bluntly critical” writings about the Seminar: “One finds therein such devastating judgments as: methodologically misguided; no significant advance in the study of the historic Jesus; only a small ripple in NT scholarship; results representing the Jesus the researchers wanted to find; the pursuit of a specific confessional agenda; and dangerous in giving false impressions.” Such critiques come from a wide range of New Testament scholars from faculties such as Baylor, Duke, Emory, Yale, Catholic University, and Wake Forest.

The leaders of the early Church also were very critical of false prophets and teachers. The writers of the New Testament anticipated that there would come a day in which false teachers would slip into the common life of the Church and question the eye-witness testimony of the Apostles and the Commandment of the Lord Jesus. “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.” (2 Peter 2:1-2)

The people of God must always be prepared to discern between true and false teaching—even within our own diocese. There are plentiful reasons why someone might want to deny the historicity and accuracy of the Gospels. Some motivations are seemingly selfless (for example, a desire to be non-judgmental, and all-inclusive). However, the main reason often proves itself to be one of hardness of heart and stubborn willfulness. The challenge of Jesus is his sovereign Gospel summons to the Kingdom of God which calls all people to repentance and obedience of faith in the Messiah, the Christ. In pride, human beings do not want to submit to a higher authority, especially one that challenges them to renounce self. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead in time and space vindicates him in his lordship. The resurrection provides to those who trust in Jesus name a historic guarantee of salvation from sin and death and a tangible foretaste of new life in the coming Kingdom of God.

Those who deny the faith given to us by Jesus Christ and his Apostles harm not only themselves, but of greatest concern is the harm they do to those who follow them. Be skeptical of the skeptics. Those who question the Lord need to be questioned themselves. Jesus calls us to trust and obey.

Posted on

Worthy of God

Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Related Sermon: “Living Worthy of God” (sermón en español)

The Lord calls us to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28). The fulfillment of the grand plan of God is our corporate and individual responsibility. God also has a unique and specific plan for each of our lives. Just as we are called to be stewards of the grand plan of God for the world, we are also called to take responsibility for the specific plan for our individual lives.

The Apostle of the Lord, Paul says to the Thessalonican Christians “11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” (1 Thes. 2:11-12)

What does it mean to live a life worthy of God? It is certainly possible to live our lives in such a way that is not worthy of God. Paul warns of those who are “idle or disruptive” in the way they live because they do not live according to the teaching of the Lord and the Apostles of God. (see 2 Thes. 3:6-15). God has given us very clear instructions on how we ought to live as a people who have been called to be representatives and heirs of his kingdom. As individual Christians, we each have uniquely been given specific gifts and responsibilities which will fulfill God’s specific calling for our lives.

The word “worthy” is usually used in the New Testament for Jesus. Jesus is “worthy” to receive glory and honor because of his willingness to suffer and die for the sins of the world. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” cry the saints and angels of heaven in the book of Revelation. The word conveys “weightiness or substance” It is the same etymology as the word “Worship”. To worship is to ascribe worth, value, substance to the Lord God.

So what makes us worthy? For Paul, the test of our worth comes when we suffer for the name of Jesus. In those times where we stand firm in faith when others might shrink back, our worth is proven. Our lives bring glory and testimony to Jesus’ claim on us.

Our lives also become praise-worthy when aligned with God’s plan both on the grand level and in our unique calling. When we do what God has created and gifted us to do, others see it and acknowledge it. More importantly God ascribes praise to us. “Well done good and faithful servant.”

I love the poem entitled “The Touch of the Masters Hand” by Myra ‘Brooks’ Welch:

T’was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin,
but held it up with a smile; “What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?” “A dollar, a dollar”; then two!” “Only
two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three? Three dollars, once; three
dollars twice; going for three..” But no, from the room, far back, a
gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust
from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody
pure and sweet as caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
said; “What am I bid for the old violin?” And he held it up with the bow.
A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two? Two thousand! And who’ll make
it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and
gone,” said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, “We do not
quite understand what changed its worth.” Swift came the reply: “The touch
of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin, A
“mess of pottage,” a glass of wine; a game – and he travels on. “He is
going” once, and “going twice, He’s going and almost gone.” But the Master
comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul
and the change that’s wrought by the touch of the Master’s hand.

Our lives are instruments created by God to make beautiful music to the Lord. The worth of our lives is revealed when we allow the Master to tighten the bow and tune the strings. This is the work of aligning our character, morals and decisions with God’s revealed will found in the Bible. The music begins when we place our lives to his service by ministering to others using the unique spiritual gifts which the Lord has given us. God calls each of us by name so that he might glorify himself through our lives well lived.

He has a grand plan and a special plan for your life. Will you allow the touch of the master’s hand demonstrate your worth? Live your life worthy of God who has called you into his kingdom and glory!

Posted on

Storming the Gates of Hell!

Sermon (listen now)

The gospel story of the confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi marks a major turning point in the battle for the heart of the world’s people. The moment marks the first time a person, one man, Simon, confesses Jesus as Lord: “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the Living God”. Jesus commends Simon as “Peter” (the name means rock) as the “Rock upon which I will build my Church.” As I indicated in my sermon (listen here), there are three, yea four, ideas as to what the Lord means by “this Rock”: Peter himself, the faith of Peter, or Jesus as the object of Peter’s faith. As I argued, all three are important for understanding the “this Rock”. Jesus is the Rock and having a rock-solid faith in Him will give a man a rock-solid character. They go together and should never be separated. There is a fourth element to the phrase “this Rock” we need to consider implied by the location of the Confession itself.

Jesus had taken the disciples into the heart of Paganism. Caesarea Philippi was a city which the rabbis warned, “No good Jew would ever enter!” Not only was it a city that was wrapped up in emperor worship. But it also had adopted the more base and perverse worship of the pagan god, Pan. At the base of the cliff face in Caesarea there is a grotto where a statue of Pan stood. And all manner of perverse rites of fertility and bestiality occurred there. This was the “Sin City” of the region. To make matters worse near the grotto stood the entrance of a cave which bore the name “The Gates of Hell” where access to the underworld was attained. To any good Jew, the city was perversely disgusting and place of tremendous satanic and demonic activity.

So when Jesus says, “on this Rock I will build my Church”, was he indicating that the Church would be planted in the heart of that demonic capital, a Church that would storm the “Gates of Hell” and take the ground of a perverse Pagan city such as Caesarea Philippi for the Kingdom of God? Consider the next statement of Jesus, “And the gates of Hell will not stand against it.” Many in the Church of our day have a “sanctuary-refuge” concept about the church. The church is seen as the place of protective refuge where we escape the evil powers of the world and beyond. Now there is tremendous comforting truth in that perspective; however the Church is not merely a sanctuary. It is also a base of operations, an outpost, for the missionary expansion of the Church militant. The call of the Church is to take ground from Satan and evil powers. This world does not belong to him, but to Jesus. We do not merely defend against evil; we attack!

To the church was given the power to “bind and loose”. We are given weapons to bind the spiritual forces of evil and loose the chains of the human captives held within Satan’s strongholds, like Caesarea Philippi.

Consider this: who has ever been attacked by a gate? Gates are defensive in nature. The challenge to Peter and the Church is that Satan has set up his fortresses all over this world. Yet, the Church of Jesus Christ will storm the gates of these hellish strongholds. As we do, they will not stand. The ground will be taken. Satan’s minions will be bound, the people of God will be set free. Hell will not prevail.

Practically, how does this happen? It begins when, a man, woman or child stands up and confesses the Name of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. At that moment, they have chosen sides. The Confession of Jesus is a flag planted in the ground for the Kingdom of Jesus. Jesus is Lord of all. Our job as the Church is to incarnate that reality in word and deed. As Jesus’ disciples revealed, many people could not bring themselves to fully submit their lives to Jesus as Lord of all. When Jesus asked, “Who do people say that the Son of man is?” The answers were all related to Jesus being a mere spokesperson for God, John the Baptist, or Elijah or one of the prophets.” Jesus asks, “But, who do you say that I am?” Simon replied, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the Living God.” Jesus wants submitted souls, not warm acknowledgements.

At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Do not fear the haunts of Hell. On the contrary, Jesus would have the church claim the darkest places on earth for his kingdom. People who live in places such as Caesarea Philippi need to be liberated from Satanic bondage and his stronghold. Only Jesus and the Spirit of the Living God can liberate souls in bondage.

One man or one woman, one child who stands in their place of business, community group or school, and raises the banner for Jesus will find the battle engaged. Start a bible study prayer group in a place governed by evil. That is what the early church did all over the Roman Empire. Peter led the fight in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire! These bold Christians took the fight out and into the pagan strongholds. They stormed the Gates of Hell. Make no mistake Satanic strongholds do not go down without a fight. The devils and demons fight dirty. Victory belongs to the faith-filled. Christians who stand up with rock hard faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will prevail. The gates of Hell will not stand against the Church militant. Down the gates will go. And, go down they should!

Posted on

The Biblical Qualifications for a Bishop

On August 31, 2011, I gave a presentation (click here) to the people of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church about the Call of the Bishop. This teaching focused on the nature of the bishop’s call, the Biblical qualifications for bishops and Diocese search process. You can find those passages in 1 Timothy, Titus and 1 Peter. Click here for more information about the search for the next bishop of the Diocese of Central Florida.

(On May 19, 2011, I gave a similar presentation to the men’s group at The Cathedral Church of St. Luke about bishops in general and the search process specifically. Click here to listen.)

1 Timothy 3:1-7

1 Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

 

 Titus 1:5-9

5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

1 Peter 5:1-4

1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it 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 will never fade away.