The apostle Paul puts it this way: “In this hope [viz. the redemption of our bodies] we were saved” (Rm. 8:24). For the salvation of our Gospel is laid in store for us in Eternity, when we who bear the curse of Adam shall be ridden of our dead bodies and rise as Christ rose by the glory of the Father (cf. Rm. 6:4). This is the glorious Promise and Hope that our God has granted to us, and it is a Promise and Hope that transforms our lives here upon this planet.

For this reason, we are called to live as aliens in this world, as those who are merely passing through it to reach our Homeland. It is for this reason that the prosperous father of our Faith, Abraham, lived in tents rather than in a palace, for his hope was vested in the City whose designer and builder is God (cf. Heb. 11:10). It is for this reason that the faithful Macedonians forsook what little material goods they possessed and gave to the aid of the saints out of their poverty in an abundance of Joy (cf. 2Cor. 8:1-7). And it is for this reason that our Lord Jesus Christ forsook his rights as God and humbled himself to such an extent that he was born in innkeeper’s barn, labored as a carpenter, lived as a homeless man, preached the truth of God so that all despised him, and endured the shame and the agony of the Cross. All these lived thus because of the Promised Joy that was set before them–a joy to which no riches or sufferings in this world can compare (cf. Rm. 8:18).

And it is for this reason that the yoke of Christ is light. For when this life is placed in its proper context, all matters that the world regards as significant become trite to the Christian. For worldly riches are trite when compared to the bounty that is in Christ, fleeting pleasures become trite when compared to the pleasures that are in Christ, mortal life becomes trite when compared to the Life that is in Christ, and the esteem of men becomes trite when compared to the commendation of Christ. Therefore, the call of Christ, which the world regards as nonsensical, namely to lose one’s life so that he might gain it, is the only sensible call for those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (cf. Ps. 34:8).

However, many in this country who call themselves Christians bear false witness to the Salvation which they profess to have. For they declare that their hope is in Christ, and yet their lives reflect little upon the greatness of their Inheritance. For rather than losing their present life so that they might gain Eternal life, they believe that they can gain life here and also gain it in the Life to come. Therefore, there is little distinction between those who profess to be Christians and those who do not profess Christ at all. For they both pursue the same things–nice homes, new cars, better careers, prolonged life, bodily health, etc. and the only difference between the two is that one seeks these things bearing a Christian façade and the other seeks these things without that façade. And those who claim no allegiance to Christ have no interest in asking those who claim allegiance to Christ the reason for their hope, for their hope is no different than theirs.

It is for this reason that most Christians in our county cannot preach the Gospel. Though they may take courses on sharing the Gospel, and they may memorize certain Scriptures pertinent to the Gospel, they do not preach the Gospel with their lives. And thus when they make converts, they make converts by their false gospel. And though their gospel may not bear the heresy of Joel Osteen in its word (viz. live your best life now), it does bear it in deed. For anyone who would follow after Christ must not merely talked as he talked, but he must walk the same road he walked–a road of suffering, of poverty, of self-sacrifice, of love–and not to walk that road is to walk the road to destruction.

It is for this reason that our first priority as Christians in America must be the comprehension and the demonstration of the true Gospel by those who profess Christ here. For while it is indeed amiable and essential that we reach the Nations with the Gospel, how can we reach the Nations with that which we do not understand ourselves? As it stands now, we, by and large, hold to a defiled gospel here in the States, and we therefore preach a defiled gospel to the Nations. It is for this reason that other countries where the Gospel is not tainted send missionaries to American shores. For they have seen what we who have been blinded by tradition and culture cannot see, and they out of deep love for us wish to show us the errors of our ways. Now is the time, as the apostle writes, “To awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14). And to “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15). Therefore, live wisely, O Christian, for this life is but a breath, and pleasure in anything but the Gospel of the Hope of the revelation of Christ is vain and will be burned away.

Though today, the people of God will not be called to march around a city to accomplish its ruin, they are called to live a life that is as counter-intuitive as was the battle plan against Jericho. For many of the great commands of our Lord: “Lose your life that you might gain it” (Lk. 17:33), “Sell your possessions so that you might have treasure in heaven” (Mt. 19:21; cf. Mt. 13:44), “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” (Lk. 20:25), and “Seek to live peaceably with all men” (Rm. 12:18), etc.–all these go against what is preached by the world and what is ingrained in our natural minds and instincts. For the world tells us to seek for our life in this age, to hoard up for ourselves treasures in this world, to fight against paying taxes to the governing authorities, and to stir up discord for the sake of our rights. And if we are found living as Christ commanded rather than as the world commands, many eyebrows will be raised in the process.

And just as Joshua and the Israelites marched obediently around Jericho with their gaze fixed upon the Promised Land, so we also must live our lives with our gaze fixed upon the true Promised Land. For our hope is not based in this world, and we are admonished to live our lives in such a way that it demonstrates this to the world. And in living so, we will glorify Christ, for we will regard what the world treasures as rubbish and will thereby demonstrate the superiority of our future Inheritance in Christ.

And though living in such a way will not come without great sacrifice and ridicule, we will find that the joy that we have in Christ and in obedience to his commands will far outweigh what we have sacrificed in this life. We will find, to our delight, that we share in the same Joy that when set before Christ pushed him toward the cross (cf. Heb. 12:2), and when set before the Macedonians caused them to give out of their extreme poverty for the aid of the saints (cf. 2Cor. 8:1-7). Just a thought.

Sonnet I

My belovéd Death! far too long have I
Been unfaithful to thee, giving Diblaim’s bed
To blind Desire and feigned Hope in thy stead.
Yet, how could I’ve known thee, hid ‘hind the lie
Of dye-drenched grayed hair and suppresséd sigh?
Seeing thee a foreign tyrant, I fled
From thy distance-blurred image to wed
One less loving to escape thy ill-bye.
I was deceived! Thou art not ill, indeed
Thou art the balm for my indifferent heart!
Come nigh to me (not too close!) and impart
The power thou gavest Keats in his age.
Breathe into me, sweet Death! cause me to bleed,
Fix my gaze past thee, my might never assuage.

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord (Rm. 12:11).

Following quickly upon the heels of the apostle’s exhortation to let the love of Christians be genuine, the apostle admonishes the church at Rome to “Not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

The exhortation is one that chastises complacency in the Christian’s life. For, as the apostle intimates earlier, this life in this present age fails to compare with the Life promised to us in the age to come. More than that, this present passing age has great consequence upon our future Life, for how one conducts himself in this life dictates and declares where one’s true hope rests. For this reason, the apostle writes earlier:

To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory, honor, and immortality [God] will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality (Rm. 2:7-11).

Therefore, as those who have an eternal dwelling laid in store for us, our business is to be about constantly seeking for “glory, honor, and immortality” in this life. For those who have such an Inheritance make much of it in this life, and declare the greatness of their Inheritance with the way in which they live their lives. As the apostle to the Hebrews writes:

For people who speak thus [i.e. as strangers and exiles on the earth] make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (Heb. 11:14-16).

In other words, the ability to please the Lord rests in how one conducts himself in this life by his faith in the coming Inheritance. And this is the way in which one fulfills the apostle’s exhortation in our present verse, namely, “Serve the Lord.” For one who would serve the Lord must be zealous. There is no room for complacency in the Lord’s service, but we must be fervent in spirit counting this present age as fleeting and Eternity with Christ as our greatest treasure. Therefore, we who are in Christ, should live in the same manner as Martin Luther said so well:

Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back tomorrow.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city (Heb. 11:13-16).

Driving home from the work the other day, I spotted a bumper sticker on the back of some man’s truck which said in essence, “God gives freedom to those who are willing to die to protect it.” This sticker echoes the sentiment of many who call themselves Christians in America, who love their country dearly and who have gone to fight or have sent sons or daughters to fight for the sake of this country. And, on the surface, our freedom is a great gift accomplished by those who were willing to die for their country, for because of their sacrifice, we live in relative freedom and from fear of attack and persecution.

However, the worldly freedom that we as American Christians enjoy has had an ill-effect upon the church. For we find in the American church a pride in country and freedom that is a poor testimony to where our true Land resides. This unhealthy pride is demonstrated by several characteristics of American Christianity:

First, it is demonstrated in the American church’s involvement in the politics of this nation. And I am not speaking of William Wilberforce-like politics where Christians openly denounce the wicked practices of a their country (in Wilberforce’s case, the British slave trade), but we find in the American church those who are consumed by every aspect of American politics, be it education, taxes, legislation, or what have you. And in the midst of their political involvement, American Christians have come to identify themselves with a particular political party (viz. the Republican party) and unabashedly herald their alignment to the world.

Thus, we have in America two parties, the one with which Christians align themselves and the one which they do not. And it is not as though that political alignment rests solely upon one issue (e.g. abortion), but it is upon all spheres of legislation and American life. Therefore you find that many who call themselves Christians are more likely lambast particular persons based solely upon their political alignment rather than pine for all those, without respect for political theory, who live in this country apart from Christ. It is a characteristic of American Christianity that makes the religion more about political activism than about Gospel activism.

Because of this outspoken political dimension of American Christianity, the American church has testified for decades that its greatest hope is in this country and in this world rather than in the One to come. For you will find among American Christians those who are just as passionate about the global warming debate and capitalism as they are about abortion and other injustices. We, because of our concern for these passing issues, have declared loudly and proudly that our lives are invested in this age rather than rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and testifying by our lives that we are but aliens in this land.

Secondly, our pride in country has destroyed our passion for the Nations. For we who are American Christians tend to be more bent on identifying ourselves as Americans than we are on identifying ourselves as Christians. Therefore, we have little or no regard for rest of the world and particularly for our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer in other parts of the world.

We demonstrate this lack of concern for the Nations by the way in which we live our lives. For we look upon our present state as a wealthy country as our own accomplishment and as own “inalienable right,” and, therefore, we look upon the rest of the world with contempt, because they have not helped themselves in the same way that we have helped ourselves. And rather than looking at our present wealth as a God-given stewardship that is to be used to demonstrate to the world that Christ is our Inheritance and using that wealth for the aid of the saints in the world and for the proclamation of the Gospel, we lavish our wealth upon ourselves, because we have earned it. For this reason, our concern in the American church is not our Promised Rest in the Age to come, but it is our retirement funds and accumulation of security in this present age. Therefore, we, rather than having hearts of liberality as did the Macedonians spoken of in 2 Corinthians 8, we have miserly hearts that are much more interested in building bigger barns for ourselves thereby neglecting the Nations.

Thirdly, our unhealthy pride in country it is demonstrated in the complacent way in which we live our lives. Rather than pursuing hard after godliness and being set apart from the world, we are much rather inclined to be, despite the apostle’s exhortation in Romans 12, conformed to the world rather than transformed by the renewal of our minds. For this reason and this reason alone, we find in the American church innumerable divisions. For rather than holding fast to the Scriptures’ declarations and conforming our lives to them, we seek to conform the Scriptures to our own particular philosophical and political views. We, because of the freedom in which we boast, live lives apart from persecution that allow us to live and believe whatever we want concerning Christianity without the threat of worldly recompense.

However, there will be recompense one Day. For there will come a Judgment where all the secrets of men’s hearts will be laid before the Judge, King Jesus, and “he will render to each one according to his works; to those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury” (Rm. 2:6-8).

The question that you must ask yourself today, you who call yourself an American Christian, is “Where is your hope and joy?” Is your hope and joy found in a petty country that will one day be wiped off the face of the earth, or is you hope in a future Land where Jesus Christ is King and will reign in peace forever? And what is the testimony of your life? Is your life a testimony to your love for the United States of America, or is it a testimony to your love for Jesus Christ? I exhort you, brothers and sisters, to celebrate this Fourth of July in a manner that demonstrates to the world that your hope is not in this land, but it is in the Promised Land to come.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God (Heb. 11:5).

The story of Enoch is one of the more interesting in the Genesis narrative, not necessarily because of his life, but because he did not see death. We find in Genesis 5 that Enoch walked with the Lord, and he did so all the days of his life by his faith in the Lord. Therefore God was pleased with Enoch, and, in his good pleasure, took Enoch so that he would not die.

The testimony of the life of Enoch is a great one indeed, for Enoch’s taking from this earth by the Lord at the relatively young age of 365 demonstrates, first, where Enoch’s hope rested. Had Enoch desired this life and its present luxuries, he would have likely lived, at those before and after him, past nine hundred years. However, as it was, Enoch’s greatest treasure was the Lord, and the Lord saw fit to give him the desire of his heart, expressly God himself.

Secondly, the narrative of faithful Enoch is the first explicit demonstration in Scripture of the Inheritance that waits for those who walk with God. Since God’s pleasure in the life of Enoch was manifested in Enoch’s being taken from this earth, it shows that the true Inheritance of the Lord does not rest in this life but in the life to come. Therefore, the taking of Enoch exists as a testimony to all those who follow him of the great future that lays in store for those who walk with the Lord in this life.

Thirdly, as did the acceptable offering of Abel, the taking of Enoch testifies to the coming One who would redeem his people from their sins and from the guilt of Adam. For if this Provision was in question, Enoch would not have been taken, for he, being a son of Adam, was by necessity a sinner and guilty before God for his sins and his first father’s sin. However, since God had already ordained a Provision for sin (cf. Gen. 3:15) and because of the certainty of the his Promise, God was able to cast Enoch’s transgressions upon that Provision and take him into Eternal Rest.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:16,17).

Concerning ourselves, there is not a more shocking reality than our adoption as sons into the family of God. While we, in our own imaginations, might contrive a God that would spare us our due penalty out of love or might contrive, as the prodigal son did, a Father who would hire us as a servant out of pity, our adoption by the Father as sons is totally off the radar.

The most significant part of this reality is our adoption as sons. All of the saints of God, regardless of their sex, have been adopted as sons into the family of God. The gender of the phrasing is significant, for our adoption as sons entails an inheritance whereas an adoption as a daughter would not. And this inheritance is no petty inheritance (as if an inheritance from God could ever be!), but is the very inheritance of Jesus Christ, God’s one and true Son! The Apostle writes that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ his Son–the same Son to whom the Father gives the nations as his inheritance in Psalm 2:8. What a glorious thought!

But, the Apostle also writes, “[We are] fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” As glorious a thought being fellow heirs with Christ is, equally sobering should be the phrase, “provided that we suffer with him.” The Apostle says that our sonship and our subsequent inheritance are contingent upon our suffering with Christ in this life. How foreign a concept that is to the American Church!–to us who strive to live our “best lives now” and who try to minimize and eliminate all suffering in our lives.

“What is the nature of this suffering that Paul is writing about?” “How do we suffer with Christ?” These are all valid questions that we need to answer if we desire any amount of surety with regards to our sonship and inheritance, for if we do not suffer with Christ, we have no reason to expect an inheritance. Here are my thoughts on these questions:

Our Sufferings are to be Voluntary and Intentional
I am afraid that the typical American Christian would interpret the sufferings of which the Apostle speaks as strictly those that come upon us for being named with Christ. To that Christian, the sufferings in our cultural context would perhaps fall along the lines of being ridiculed for the Gospel or losing a job for being a Christian–things that are possibilities in America but are not very likely. To him, suffering is a passive thing–something to be endured if encountered but avoided if possible.

I believe however that our sufferings should be, well, more like the sufferings of Christ. In his life, Christ suffered in countless ways. Passively, he was ridiculed and harassed by the Jews who did not believe, but most of his sufferings were sought intentionally. He intentionally deprived himself and became a man; he intentionally humbled himself and washed the feet of his disciples; and he intentionally gave himself up to be nailed upon a cross and there intentionally bore our sins. Therefore, if we are to suffer with Christ, we must be intentional about our suffering.

We Suffer with Christ When We Suffer for Our Brothers
Christ said, “Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Our lives, in order to reflect the life of Christ’s, must be a laying of them down for the sake of our friends. We may not ever be called to die in the place of a brother or sister in Christ, but we are all called to regard each other as better than ourselves. I firmly believe that Paul gives so much praise in his letters to the Macedonians because they got this. They understood what it meant to regard their brothers in Christ as better themselves, and they proved it by joyfully giving beyond their means and out of their extreme poverty. They were the epitome of suffering with Christ.

How do we suffer with Christ, or do we at all? Do we intentionally seek to suffer for Christ’s sake, and do we intentionally seek suffering by regarding our brothers and sisters in Christ as better than ourselves? We had better find definite answers to these questions, for our sonship and inheritance are contingent upon them.