And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No”; anything more than this comes from evil. — Matt. 5:36-37
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so.” — Matt. 26:63-64
Excerpts from the book:
Page 294: A New Standard of Truthfulness.....In other words, Jesus now goes beyond the Old Testament standard of keeping our oaths to not using any. His reason seems to be that with the arrival of the kingdom of God in his ministry (Luke 11:20; 17:21) and the presence of the King himself (Matt. 21:15-16) and the sending of the Spirit of truth (John 15:26) and the inauguration of the new covenant (Luke 22:20; see Demand #23), the standards of truthfulness should rise and the measure of compromise with evil in this world should decrease.
Page 295: Therefore, truth is in jeopardy all the time. But life in community cannot survive without truth. There must be some measure of trust in marriages and businesses and schools and governments and in the vast realm of contractual agreements, not to mention the precious fabric of personal friendships. Therefore, the evil of lying and falsehood and deceit that pervades the human heart and society has been restrained by devices called oaths.
Page 295: We Look to Oaths to Do What Love Does Not Do - The evil that ruined trust is essentially selfishness and ill-will. We distort the truth to get what we want, even if it hurts others. Which implies that, for truth to hold sway, love must hold sway. If we were not selfish or unloving to others, we would not break our word or tell lies or act hypocritically. Truth would hold sway. But love does not hold sway in the world, and so oaths have arisen to compensate for what love should do.
Page 298: Jesus Simply Said, “You Have Said So”Jesus was saying, “.................Let your integrity be unimpeachable. Look the court clerk in the eye when she asks you, ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God,’ and say, ‘I will tell the truth.’” When Jesus was adjured by the high priest at his court appearance the night before he died, the priest said, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matt. 26:63). In other words, he demanded that Jesus call God to witness with an oath as he made his claim to messiahship. Jesus would not yield. He answered, in accord with his own command in Matthew 5:37, “You have said so.” This is Jesus’ simple yes: “You have said it, and you are right” (Matt. 26:64; see Mark 14:62). There was no need for an oath.
Page 298-299: Should the Followers of Jesus Ever Take an Oath?.......To answer this it may be helpful to note that the question can be asked another way. Not only did Jesus say, “Do not take an oath at all” (Matt. 5:34), he also said the positive counterpart, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’”—or literally, “Let your word be ‘yes, yes,’ ‘no, no’” (Matt. 5:37).
Page 299:.........So the question of application can also be put this way: Should the followers of Jesus ever make a promise or answer a question or make an assertion with any other words than “yes” and “no”? The reason it may be helpful to consider this second question is that there are exceptions in Jesus’ ministry that would warn us against saying followers of Jesus may not add any words to “yes” and “no” to emphasize the speaker’s truthfulness. The most prevalent is Jesus’ use of the phrase, “Truly” or “Truly, truly.” Over fifty times in the Gospels Jesus says something like, “Truly, I say to you,” or “Truly, I tell you.” And over twenty-five times he uses the even stronger phrase “Truly, truly I say to you.”
Page 299: This gives me pause, therefore, that I should be slow to say that a follower of Jesus may have such integrity that there is no situation in which love may not demand some reinforcing expression for the sake of the listeners. Add to this that Jesus knew that God himself, who is the essence of integrity, confirmed his word at times with oaths. This was not to make up for untrustworthiness on his part, but to give multiple encouragements to help us believe him (see Luke 1:73; Gen. 22:16). It seems, then, that Jesus’ argument aims at absolute integrity and truthfulness but does not intend to stipulate absolutely the wording that expresses this truthfulness.
Page 300: Some Oaths May Be Permitted - Returning then to the seemingly absolute prohibition, “Do not take an oath at all,” should we infer from these thoughts that there are exceptions to the prohibition? I am inclined to think we should be open to the possibility that the wording of an oath .......... In other words, Jesus’ absolute prohibition relates to the abuses of oaths referred to in Matthew 5:35-36 and 23:16-22, and the principle that is absolute across all time and culture is the demand that we be people of absolute truthfulness and honesty.
Page 300:....Our new inclination should be, my oath is not necessary. I should be slow to use an oath. An oath will very likely (if not necessarily) communicate something about the weakness of my trustworthiness that may dishonor Jesus. One of the glories of Jesus is that he frees me from the need to lie and from the need to prove that I don’t lie. The followers of Jesus are not just honest, they are moving toward a condition in which protections against being thought dishonest will not be necessary. Therefore, they will find countercultural ways of declaring the lordship of Christ over their minds and mouths. In the end Jesus aims to be known as the way, the truth, and the life. He demands that we live and speak in a way that will make that glory known.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Demand #38; Do Not Take An Oath - Cherish The Truth And Speak It Simply
Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No”; anything more than this comes from evil. — Matt. 5:33-37
Excerpts from the book:
Page 290: Jesus teaches that truth is precious. All of us agree with this when we are being lied about. The most relativistic professor in the university, who scoffs at the concept of truth in the classroom, will be indignant if his electricity bill is false to his disadvantage. He will call the utility company and complain that there is some mistake. He will not think it funny if the voice on the other end says, “It’s a mistake in your view, but not in our view.”
Page 291: Those who mock the concept of truth are people with power who do not (at the moment) need to appeal to truth for their lives. Totalitarian despots do not care about truth, because they have power to create the reality they want—for a fleeting moment in history. Tenured professors may not care about truth in the classroom because they have the power and security to entertain their students with academic games without being forced to apply their
foolishness to their own real lives after they go home at night. But for most of the world, truth matters. And they know it. It matters ultimately. Their lives depend on it.
Page 291: Jesus loved truth and hated deceit. He confirmed the ninth commandment, “Do not bear false witness” (Mark 10:19). He warned that “deceit” comes out of the heart and defiles a person (Mark 7:21-22). He considered religious hypocrisy a hellish form of lying (Matt. 23:15) ................Lying originates with the devil, and those who turn away from speaking truth join forces with Satan....... Jesus came into the world to reveal the truth about God and man and salvation and what is right and wrong.
Page 291: At the end of his ministry, when he was on trial for his life, he said to Pontius Pilate, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). Like many modern cynics, Pilate responded, “What is truth?” and turned to go without waiting for an answer.
Page 292: But we know the answer he would have received....... “I am . . . the truth” (John 14:6).......... When he speaks, there is no error or falsehood. He said of himself, “The one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood” (John 7:18)............. when others did not believe what he said, he did not consider changing the message to win a better hearing. If truth was met with unbelief, the problem lay with the unbelieving heart, not the truth. “Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (John 8:45). Jesus said that people turn away from the light not because they think it’s false, but because they love darkness (John 3:19).
Page 292: When Jesus left the earth he promised to send a Helper. He called him “the Spirit of truth.” “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). This Spirit of truth will help us know the truth and be changed by the truth. So Jesus prays before he leaves and asks the Father to make the truth effective in our lives: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). So we can see how supremely important truth is to Jesus, and how destructively evil is the impulse to deceive and mislead and speak in devious ways.
Page 292: ......Therefore, it is not surprising that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus overturned one of the subtle practices of his day to avoid truthtelling and promise-keeping. When a promise is not kept, it becomes a lie. And when a promise made with a public oath is not kept, we call it perjury.
Page 293: When I was growing up we joked that if you had your fingers crossed when you made a promise, you didn’t have to keep it. We also had our own youthful ways of reinforcing our distrusted word: We said, “Cross my heart and hope to die.” What we meant was: I am speaking from my heart, not just my lips, and if what I say is not true let me die. Jesus was not happy about either of these devices—the crossing of the fingers to escape a promise and the crossing of the heart to reinforce a promise. (Matt. 5:33-37)
Page 293: Jesus is demanding two things here: First, he demands that we not use verbal evasions to escape promise-keeping; second, he demands that we be so truthful that oaths are superfluous.
Page 294: Jesus rejects that kind of evasion. He points out that everything you swear by has God behind it one way or the other. Heaven is his throne. Earth is his footstool. Jerusalem is his city...........your problem is your small view of God and truth. You think truth is insignificant and can be manipulated to your liking. And you think God is off in a corner with little concern for your truthfulness until his name is mentioned. In these two things you are wrong. Truth is precious beyond your ability to imagine, and God is behind every molecule in the universe and is always concerned that his creatures be truthful.
Page 294: Jesus encountered this evasive strategy in the Pharisees in Matthew 23:16-22. His indignation is unmistakable.......It is almost incredible that the Pharisees not only use evasions like this, but teach them...........Perhaps it is not a direct quote but rather the upshot of what they say. In either case, Jesus is furious at the way truth and God are belittled here. Gold is esteemed above God’s temple. Sacrifices are esteemed above God’s altar. Heaven is esteemed above God who dwells there. All this evasiveness ignores the fact that the holiness of heaven, altar, and temple come from their connection with God.
Page295: But this means little to those who are bent on finding ways to make peace with falsehood. What alternative did Jesus demand to these manifold ways of evading the binding claims of truth on our lives? To that we turn in the next chapter.
Excerpts from the book:
Page 290: Jesus teaches that truth is precious. All of us agree with this when we are being lied about. The most relativistic professor in the university, who scoffs at the concept of truth in the classroom, will be indignant if his electricity bill is false to his disadvantage. He will call the utility company and complain that there is some mistake. He will not think it funny if the voice on the other end says, “It’s a mistake in your view, but not in our view.”
Page 291: Those who mock the concept of truth are people with power who do not (at the moment) need to appeal to truth for their lives. Totalitarian despots do not care about truth, because they have power to create the reality they want—for a fleeting moment in history. Tenured professors may not care about truth in the classroom because they have the power and security to entertain their students with academic games without being forced to apply their
foolishness to their own real lives after they go home at night. But for most of the world, truth matters. And they know it. It matters ultimately. Their lives depend on it.
Page 291: Jesus loved truth and hated deceit. He confirmed the ninth commandment, “Do not bear false witness” (Mark 10:19). He warned that “deceit” comes out of the heart and defiles a person (Mark 7:21-22). He considered religious hypocrisy a hellish form of lying (Matt. 23:15) ................Lying originates with the devil, and those who turn away from speaking truth join forces with Satan....... Jesus came into the world to reveal the truth about God and man and salvation and what is right and wrong.
Page 291: At the end of his ministry, when he was on trial for his life, he said to Pontius Pilate, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). Like many modern cynics, Pilate responded, “What is truth?” and turned to go without waiting for an answer.
Page 292: But we know the answer he would have received....... “I am . . . the truth” (John 14:6).......... When he speaks, there is no error or falsehood. He said of himself, “The one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood” (John 7:18)............. when others did not believe what he said, he did not consider changing the message to win a better hearing. If truth was met with unbelief, the problem lay with the unbelieving heart, not the truth. “Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (John 8:45). Jesus said that people turn away from the light not because they think it’s false, but because they love darkness (John 3:19).
Page 292: When Jesus left the earth he promised to send a Helper. He called him “the Spirit of truth.” “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). This Spirit of truth will help us know the truth and be changed by the truth. So Jesus prays before he leaves and asks the Father to make the truth effective in our lives: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). So we can see how supremely important truth is to Jesus, and how destructively evil is the impulse to deceive and mislead and speak in devious ways.
Page 292: ......Therefore, it is not surprising that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus overturned one of the subtle practices of his day to avoid truthtelling and promise-keeping. When a promise is not kept, it becomes a lie. And when a promise made with a public oath is not kept, we call it perjury.
Page 293: When I was growing up we joked that if you had your fingers crossed when you made a promise, you didn’t have to keep it. We also had our own youthful ways of reinforcing our distrusted word: We said, “Cross my heart and hope to die.” What we meant was: I am speaking from my heart, not just my lips, and if what I say is not true let me die. Jesus was not happy about either of these devices—the crossing of the fingers to escape a promise and the crossing of the heart to reinforce a promise. (Matt. 5:33-37)
Page 293: Jesus is demanding two things here: First, he demands that we not use verbal evasions to escape promise-keeping; second, he demands that we be so truthful that oaths are superfluous.
Page 294: Jesus rejects that kind of evasion. He points out that everything you swear by has God behind it one way or the other. Heaven is his throne. Earth is his footstool. Jerusalem is his city...........your problem is your small view of God and truth. You think truth is insignificant and can be manipulated to your liking. And you think God is off in a corner with little concern for your truthfulness until his name is mentioned. In these two things you are wrong. Truth is precious beyond your ability to imagine, and God is behind every molecule in the universe and is always concerned that his creatures be truthful.
Page 294: Jesus encountered this evasive strategy in the Pharisees in Matthew 23:16-22. His indignation is unmistakable.......It is almost incredible that the Pharisees not only use evasions like this, but teach them...........Perhaps it is not a direct quote but rather the upshot of what they say. In either case, Jesus is furious at the way truth and God are belittled here. Gold is esteemed above God’s temple. Sacrifices are esteemed above God’s altar. Heaven is esteemed above God who dwells there. All this evasiveness ignores the fact that the holiness of heaven, altar, and temple come from their connection with God.
Page295: But this means little to those who are bent on finding ways to make peace with falsehood. What alternative did Jesus demand to these manifold ways of evading the binding claims of truth on our lives? To that we turn in the next chapter.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Demand #37: Lay Up For Yourselves Treasures In Heaven - "It Is Your Father's Good Pleasure To Give You The Kindom"
Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. — Luke 12:32-34
Excerpts from the book
Page 287 - Jesus knows that the flock of God struggles with fear about selling what we don’t need and giving sacrificially and generously to the poor.
Page 281 - Before looking at the ground of our giving in the goodness of God, there is a pressing question that rises whenever the motivation of rewards is mentioned. I turn first to that question and then to the goodness of God beneath all our giving. Why would this motivation for giving—to enlarge the measure of our joy in heaven—not turn our giving from an act of love into an act of prudential self-regard? The reason is that in all our giving our aim is that the beneficiaries—whether enemies or brothers—will be helped, by our giving, to see more of the beauty of Jesus so that they are drawn with us into the heavenly reward. No genuine follower of Jesus wants to enjoy Jesus alone.
Page 282 - What sort of love would it be if in giving generously to others we did not want to share in the joy we want for them?
Page 282 - I think some people entangle themselves in a contradiction here because they think it is loving to give to the needy without regard to the eternal joy of the needy. They think that simply giving to the poor without aiming at their conversion, so that Jesus becomes their treasure, is a loving thing to do. It is not. If we are indifferent to whether our generosity leads the beneficiary to love Christ, we are not acting in love. I do not mean we must succeed in order for our generosity to be love. Our aim may not be attained. They may reject Jesus while accepting our generosity. We will not stop loving them for that—as long as they live. But not to aim at their eternal joy in Jesus is not a loving way to give.
Page 282/283 - His demand is that we use what we have to bless others. It may be money (Matt. 19:21) or healing (Matt. 10:8) or a cup of cold water (Mark 9:41) or time and effort like the Good Samaritan’s (Luke 10:34-35) or your home and hospitality (Luke 14:13-14). The point of Jesus’ “It Is Your Father’s Pleasure to Give You the Kingdom” demand is that we be radically free from the love of money and what it can buy, and from the fear of losing the security and comforts it affords.
Page 283 - Money enslaves either by greed or fear. We are greedy for more of it and fearful of losing what we have. Jesus wants us free. Sacrificial giving is one evidence that we have been liberated from the idols that money provides.
Page 283 - Luke 12:32 is the key to being liberated from our fearful slavery to possessions. It is the dynamite that can demolish the house of materialism that we live in. Luke 12:32 is a powerful word from Jesus about the nature of God. It’s about what kind of heart God has—what makes God glad, not merely what he has or does.
Page 284 - Notice every amazing part of this extravagantly gracious verse: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” In other words, God is not acting in this generous way in order to cloak and hide some malicious motive.
Page 284 - Jesus’ meaning is inescapable: God is acting here in freedom. He is not under constraint to do what he doesn’t really want to do. At this very point, when he gives his flock the kingdom, he is acting out of his deepest delight.
Page 284 - Then consider the phrase “your Father’s.” “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus does not say, “It is your employer’s good pleasure to pay you your salary.” He does not say, “It is your slavemaster’s good pleasure to provide your lodging.” He does not even say, “It is your king’s good pleasure to bestow the kingdom.” He chooses every word in this sentence to help us get rid of the fear that God is ill-disposed to us. So
he calls God our “Father.”.....God Is the Best of Fathers—Far Better Than the One You Had!
Page 285 - Jesus says, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him,
“Then the sons are free.” God does not levy taxes against his children.
Page 285 - Then consider the word “give.” “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Page 286 - Then consider the word “flock.” “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus is piling up the metaphors. God is our Father. And since he gives us a kingdom, he must be a King. And since we are his flock, he must be a Shepherd. Jesus is at pains to choose every word he can to make his point clear: God is not the kind of God who begrudges his blessings.
Page 286 - Then ponder the word “little.” “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Why does he say “little flock”?........ but I will use all my power to take care of you because you are precious to me. So “little flock” carries the connotation of affection and care.
Page 287 - Finally, consider the word “kingdom.”.....He doesn’t promise to give money (Luke 18:25)....He doesn’t promise popularity or fame or admiration among men (Luke 6:22).... He doesn’t even promise security in this life. (Luke 21:16).... What does he promise to give to his little flock—to prove once and for all that it is not only his good pleasure to give, but that it is
his good pleasure to give big? He promises to give them the kingdom of God.
Page 287 - It means simply and staggeringly and unspeakably that the omnipotent rule and authority of the King of the universe will be engaged forever and ever on behalf of the little flock of God. Who can describe what it will be like when that saying comes to pass that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, “I assign to you as my Father has assigned to me a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom” (Luke 22:29-30)?
Page 287/288 - Jesus knows that the flock of God struggles with fear about selling what we don’t need and giving sacrificially and generously to the poor...... Therefore, the Lord is at pains in Luke 12:32 to free us from this fear by telling us the truth about God. He has chosen every word to help liberate us from the love of money and satisfy us with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus. Every word counts. Always read it slowly.
Fear not,
little
flock,
for it is your Father’s
good pleasure
to give you
the kingdom!
Note: Dr. Piper ends this chapter with a very good story of "The Simplicity and Generosity of William Carey." Mr. Carey was a worker, a missionary....a devoted man to practicing his Christianity as he engaged in "affairs of the trade."
To that end....
Excerpts from the book
Page 287 - Jesus knows that the flock of God struggles with fear about selling what we don’t need and giving sacrificially and generously to the poor.
Page 281 - Before looking at the ground of our giving in the goodness of God, there is a pressing question that rises whenever the motivation of rewards is mentioned. I turn first to that question and then to the goodness of God beneath all our giving. Why would this motivation for giving—to enlarge the measure of our joy in heaven—not turn our giving from an act of love into an act of prudential self-regard? The reason is that in all our giving our aim is that the beneficiaries—whether enemies or brothers—will be helped, by our giving, to see more of the beauty of Jesus so that they are drawn with us into the heavenly reward. No genuine follower of Jesus wants to enjoy Jesus alone.
Page 282 - What sort of love would it be if in giving generously to others we did not want to share in the joy we want for them?
Page 282 - I think some people entangle themselves in a contradiction here because they think it is loving to give to the needy without regard to the eternal joy of the needy. They think that simply giving to the poor without aiming at their conversion, so that Jesus becomes their treasure, is a loving thing to do. It is not. If we are indifferent to whether our generosity leads the beneficiary to love Christ, we are not acting in love. I do not mean we must succeed in order for our generosity to be love. Our aim may not be attained. They may reject Jesus while accepting our generosity. We will not stop loving them for that—as long as they live. But not to aim at their eternal joy in Jesus is not a loving way to give.
Page 282/283 - His demand is that we use what we have to bless others. It may be money (Matt. 19:21) or healing (Matt. 10:8) or a cup of cold water (Mark 9:41) or time and effort like the Good Samaritan’s (Luke 10:34-35) or your home and hospitality (Luke 14:13-14). The point of Jesus’ “It Is Your Father’s Pleasure to Give You the Kingdom” demand is that we be radically free from the love of money and what it can buy, and from the fear of losing the security and comforts it affords.
Page 283 - Money enslaves either by greed or fear. We are greedy for more of it and fearful of losing what we have. Jesus wants us free. Sacrificial giving is one evidence that we have been liberated from the idols that money provides.
Page 283 - Luke 12:32 is the key to being liberated from our fearful slavery to possessions. It is the dynamite that can demolish the house of materialism that we live in. Luke 12:32 is a powerful word from Jesus about the nature of God. It’s about what kind of heart God has—what makes God glad, not merely what he has or does.
Page 284 - Notice every amazing part of this extravagantly gracious verse: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” In other words, God is not acting in this generous way in order to cloak and hide some malicious motive.
Page 284 - Jesus’ meaning is inescapable: God is acting here in freedom. He is not under constraint to do what he doesn’t really want to do. At this very point, when he gives his flock the kingdom, he is acting out of his deepest delight.
Page 284 - Then consider the phrase “your Father’s.” “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus does not say, “It is your employer’s good pleasure to pay you your salary.” He does not say, “It is your slavemaster’s good pleasure to provide your lodging.” He does not even say, “It is your king’s good pleasure to bestow the kingdom.” He chooses every word in this sentence to help us get rid of the fear that God is ill-disposed to us. So
he calls God our “Father.”.....God Is the Best of Fathers—Far Better Than the One You Had!
Page 285 - Jesus says, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him,
“Then the sons are free.” God does not levy taxes against his children.
Page 285 - Then consider the word “give.” “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Page 286 - Then consider the word “flock.” “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Jesus is piling up the metaphors. God is our Father. And since he gives us a kingdom, he must be a King. And since we are his flock, he must be a Shepherd. Jesus is at pains to choose every word he can to make his point clear: God is not the kind of God who begrudges his blessings.
Page 286 - Then ponder the word “little.” “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Why does he say “little flock”?........ but I will use all my power to take care of you because you are precious to me. So “little flock” carries the connotation of affection and care.
Page 287 - Finally, consider the word “kingdom.”.....He doesn’t promise to give money (Luke 18:25)....He doesn’t promise popularity or fame or admiration among men (Luke 6:22).... He doesn’t even promise security in this life. (Luke 21:16).... What does he promise to give to his little flock—to prove once and for all that it is not only his good pleasure to give, but that it is
his good pleasure to give big? He promises to give them the kingdom of God.
Page 287 - It means simply and staggeringly and unspeakably that the omnipotent rule and authority of the King of the universe will be engaged forever and ever on behalf of the little flock of God. Who can describe what it will be like when that saying comes to pass that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, “I assign to you as my Father has assigned to me a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom” (Luke 22:29-30)?
Page 287/288 - Jesus knows that the flock of God struggles with fear about selling what we don’t need and giving sacrificially and generously to the poor...... Therefore, the Lord is at pains in Luke 12:32 to free us from this fear by telling us the truth about God. He has chosen every word to help liberate us from the love of money and satisfy us with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus. Every word counts. Always read it slowly.
Fear not,
little
flock,
for it is your Father’s
good pleasure
to give you
the kingdom!
Note: Dr. Piper ends this chapter with a very good story of "The Simplicity and Generosity of William Carey." Mr. Carey was a worker, a missionary....a devoted man to practicing his Christianity as he engaged in "affairs of the trade."
To that end....
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Demand #36: Lay Up For Yourselves Treasures In Heaven And Increase Your Joy In Jesus
How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. — Luke 18:24-25
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? — Luke 16:10-12
Excerpts from the book:
Page 274 - Emerging in the previous chapter were two controversial claims that I will try to support from Jesus’ teaching in this chapter. First, the claim that a selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven. Second, the claim that there are degrees of reward, or degrees of joy, in heaven, depending on how sacrificially generous we were on earth. First, Jesus implies, again and again, that a selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven. Here are five examples to show this truth.
Page 274 - The Rich Ruler and Eternal life: First, when the rich ruler asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded......
Page 275 - The Rich Man, the Beggar, and Two Destinies: A second example is the story of the rich man and the beggar at his gate. Jesus said.....
Page 276 - Failure to Love and Final Judgment: Third, similarly, in Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus warns that a professing follower of Jesus who is indifferent to the needs of the poor will endure “eternal punishment.”...
Page 276 - The Rich Fool Who Loses His Soul: Fourth, again Jesus tells a parable of a rich fool. The man’s fields prosper, and he has more than he can use. Instead of thinking generously he says.....
Page 276 - How to Lose True and Lasting Riches: Fifth, here is one last illustration of how a selfish spirit keeps us out of heaven. After the parable of the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1-9), Jesus draws out these conclusions:.....
Page 277 - It is fairly clear that “true riches” and “that which is your own” refer to the treasures of heaven—the pleasures of the age to come when we enjoy unbroken fellowship with Jesus. Therefore, Jesus is saying that we will not get these true riches if we have not been faithful with
what we were given to use in this fallen world.
Page 277 - The Ground of Our Acceptance with God: That is one implication of what I said in the first sentence of this chapter: A selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven entirely. I hope it is plain by now in this book that I do not believe a sacrificially generous spirit is the ground of our acceptance with God. When Jesus says that a selfish spirit keeps us out of heaven, he does not mean that God watches to see if we show ourselves to be generous before he accepts us into his everlasting favor.
Page 278 - Greater Sacrifices of Love Lead to Greater Joy in Heaven: The other controversial claim emerging in the previous chapter and mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter is that the degree to which we overcome our selfishness determines, in some measure, the degree of our reward—our joy—in heaven. The more sacrificially generous you are on earth, the greater will be your enjoyment of heaven. The first indication that Jesus means this is found....
Page 279 - The Measure You Use Will Be Used to Measure You: Another indication that Jesus thinks this way about heaven is the way he speaks in Luke 6:37-38:....
Page 279 - First, he confirms what we saw before, that a selfish spirit will rob us of all blessing: “Give, and it will be given to you.” He is not speaking of mere human relations here. He is speaking of the final reckoning with God.
Page 280 - The point I am stressing here is that there are differences in the fullness of delight that each of us enjoys in heaven. Each will be full in heaven, for there are no frustrations there. But the fullness of each will not be the same since the measure that we used to bless others on earth, and that God will use to bless us in heaven, are different for different people.
Page 280 - We will see in the next chapter that this kind of sacrificial generosity is grounded in the goodness of God to us before and while we are generous to others. We are able to love and give because he has already given freely to us and promises to meet every need we have in a lifetime of generosity (Matt. 6:33; 7:7-12; Luke 12:32).
To that end.....
God Bless
(see links on right to download a free copy of the book)
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? — Luke 16:10-12
Excerpts from the book:
Page 274 - Emerging in the previous chapter were two controversial claims that I will try to support from Jesus’ teaching in this chapter. First, the claim that a selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven. Second, the claim that there are degrees of reward, or degrees of joy, in heaven, depending on how sacrificially generous we were on earth. First, Jesus implies, again and again, that a selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven. Here are five examples to show this truth.
Page 274 - The Rich Ruler and Eternal life: First, when the rich ruler asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded......
Page 275 - The Rich Man, the Beggar, and Two Destinies: A second example is the story of the rich man and the beggar at his gate. Jesus said.....
Page 276 - Failure to Love and Final Judgment: Third, similarly, in Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus warns that a professing follower of Jesus who is indifferent to the needs of the poor will endure “eternal punishment.”...
Page 276 - The Rich Fool Who Loses His Soul: Fourth, again Jesus tells a parable of a rich fool. The man’s fields prosper, and he has more than he can use. Instead of thinking generously he says.....
Page 276 - How to Lose True and Lasting Riches: Fifth, here is one last illustration of how a selfish spirit keeps us out of heaven. After the parable of the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1-9), Jesus draws out these conclusions:.....
Page 277 - It is fairly clear that “true riches” and “that which is your own” refer to the treasures of heaven—the pleasures of the age to come when we enjoy unbroken fellowship with Jesus. Therefore, Jesus is saying that we will not get these true riches if we have not been faithful with
what we were given to use in this fallen world.
Page 277 - The Ground of Our Acceptance with God: That is one implication of what I said in the first sentence of this chapter: A selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven entirely. I hope it is plain by now in this book that I do not believe a sacrificially generous spirit is the ground of our acceptance with God. When Jesus says that a selfish spirit keeps us out of heaven, he does not mean that God watches to see if we show ourselves to be generous before he accepts us into his everlasting favor.
Page 278 - Greater Sacrifices of Love Lead to Greater Joy in Heaven: The other controversial claim emerging in the previous chapter and mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter is that the degree to which we overcome our selfishness determines, in some measure, the degree of our reward—our joy—in heaven. The more sacrificially generous you are on earth, the greater will be your enjoyment of heaven. The first indication that Jesus means this is found....
Page 279 - The Measure You Use Will Be Used to Measure You: Another indication that Jesus thinks this way about heaven is the way he speaks in Luke 6:37-38:....
Page 279 - First, he confirms what we saw before, that a selfish spirit will rob us of all blessing: “Give, and it will be given to you.” He is not speaking of mere human relations here. He is speaking of the final reckoning with God.
Page 280 - The point I am stressing here is that there are differences in the fullness of delight that each of us enjoys in heaven. Each will be full in heaven, for there are no frustrations there. But the fullness of each will not be the same since the measure that we used to bless others on earth, and that God will use to bless us in heaven, are different for different people.
Page 280 - We will see in the next chapter that this kind of sacrificial generosity is grounded in the goodness of God to us before and while we are generous to others. We are able to love and give because he has already given freely to us and promises to meet every need we have in a lifetime of generosity (Matt. 6:33; 7:7-12; Luke 12:32).
To that end.....
God Bless
(see links on right to download a free copy of the book)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Demand #35: Lay Up for Yourselves Treasures In Heaven By Giving Sacrificially And Generously
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. — Matt. 6:19-21
You received without paying; give without pay. — Matt. 10:8
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? — Luke 16:10-12
Excerpts from the book -
Page 267 - The more sacrificially generous you are on earth, the greater will be your enjoyment of heaven. Therefore, since Jesus loves us and summons us to maximize our eternal joy in heaven, he demands radical freedom from the love of money and radical generosity....
Page 268 - Sacrifice Is the Measure of a Gift’s Size - The reason I say, “the more sacrificially generous you are” is because of what Jesus said about the widow’s offering...... The point here is that the value of a gift is not measured by its size but by its sacrifice...... But if you sacrifice for Jesus and have little left, then the heart has less to rest in. The heart is more likely to be resting in the hope of heaven. It is more likely to be depending on Jesus than on money.
Page 268 - It is astonishing how much Jesus deals with money and what we do with it. Randy Alcorn reckons that “15 percent of everything Christ said relates to this topic—more than his teachings on heaven and hell combined.”1
Page 272 - Why does Jesus express such a remarkable concern with what we do with our money? The reason for this, it seems, is the basic principle that Jesus laid down.....
Page 272 - Now Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and money.” The meaning of “serve” would, presumably, be the same in these two relationships. So what Jesus is saying is that we should serve God not in the sense of providing a service or giving him help, but the opposite: We look to God to be our helper, our benefactor and treasure. To serve him would be to plan and dream and strategize and maneuver to be in a position to maximize our enjoyment of God and what he alone promises to be for us. God then, not money, becomes the giver and the benefactor in this servant-master relationship. You don’t meet God’s needs (he has none!). You look to God to meet yours.
Page 273 - Therefore, it represents the great alternative to God in our hearts. This is why what we do with our money is so crucial to Jesus.
Page 273 - Selfishness Separates from Heaven, and Sacrifice Heightens Joy in It.... There are two things being said here. One is that a selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven. And the other is that there are degrees of reward, or degrees of joy, in heaven, depending on how sacrificially generous we were on earth. Both of these claims are controversial.....
You received without paying; give without pay. — Matt. 10:8
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? — Luke 16:10-12
Excerpts from the book -
Page 267 - The more sacrificially generous you are on earth, the greater will be your enjoyment of heaven. Therefore, since Jesus loves us and summons us to maximize our eternal joy in heaven, he demands radical freedom from the love of money and radical generosity....
Page 268 - Sacrifice Is the Measure of a Gift’s Size - The reason I say, “the more sacrificially generous you are” is because of what Jesus said about the widow’s offering...... The point here is that the value of a gift is not measured by its size but by its sacrifice...... But if you sacrifice for Jesus and have little left, then the heart has less to rest in. The heart is more likely to be resting in the hope of heaven. It is more likely to be depending on Jesus than on money.
Page 268 - It is astonishing how much Jesus deals with money and what we do with it. Randy Alcorn reckons that “15 percent of everything Christ said relates to this topic—more than his teachings on heaven and hell combined.”1
Page 272 - Why does Jesus express such a remarkable concern with what we do with our money? The reason for this, it seems, is the basic principle that Jesus laid down.....
Page 272 - Now Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and money.” The meaning of “serve” would, presumably, be the same in these two relationships. So what Jesus is saying is that we should serve God not in the sense of providing a service or giving him help, but the opposite: We look to God to be our helper, our benefactor and treasure. To serve him would be to plan and dream and strategize and maneuver to be in a position to maximize our enjoyment of God and what he alone promises to be for us. God then, not money, becomes the giver and the benefactor in this servant-master relationship. You don’t meet God’s needs (he has none!). You look to God to meet yours.
Page 273 - Therefore, it represents the great alternative to God in our hearts. This is why what we do with our money is so crucial to Jesus.
Page 273 - Selfishness Separates from Heaven, and Sacrifice Heightens Joy in It.... There are two things being said here. One is that a selfish spirit will keep us out of heaven. And the other is that there are degrees of reward, or degrees of joy, in heaven, depending on how sacrificially generous we were on earth. Both of these claims are controversial.....
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