Servant: Recent Episodes
Brian Poindexter
Observe ye everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, and the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season, and transgress not against their appointed order. Behold ye the earth, and give heed to the things which take place upon it from first to last, how steadfast they are, how none of the things upon earth change, but all the works of God appear to you. But ye - ye have not been steadfast, nor done the commandments of the Lord, But ye have turned away and spoken proud and hard words. Ye shall find no peace.
If God is the God of our life, we can believe what the Bible says over the COVID drama that has consumed this country. Now is the time to rise up and say that we will never give any government access to our bodies. Our genetic material was written by God, and we will not allow anyone to change it. Our bodies are His temple, and His spirit will naturally defend us from this alleged ailment. You don't have to be a Christian to be skeptical of the COVID story. Again, 55,000 doctors believe that we will all benefit from natural "herd immunity." So, now is the time to shine a light on a different narrative for everybody to hear.
One that restores God to His rightful place on the throne, so that we are no longer "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." People will be let back into the church. Instead of becoming a stepping stone towards Satan's ultimate goal, we shall be the rock upon which God builds His kingdom. May God pierce our hearts and the church awaken, because time is running out. Jesus is on his way.
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Topical Series - With what judgment you judge, you will be judged back to you, says Jesus in Matthew 7:2. This is a classic illustration of what happens when we take a verse out of context, and separate it from its intended meaning. Anyone who believes that believers can never judge another person's sin is seeking permission to sin. Matthew 7:1 When Jesus said, "Do not judge," he clearly did not mean to ban all forms of accountability. He was not pleading with us to turn a blind eye to sin in Christ's body. His sermon was about true righteousness, which cannot be achieved by adhering to man-made standards such as the Mishnah of the Pharisees. The Mishnah regulated all facets of Jewish life, ostensibly to ensure that Israel adhered to God's Law. All of these are, by definition, "judgments".
By our faith alone, all believers have been credited with Christ's righteousness. The temptation is to pass judgment on one another's righteousness under the guise of God's judgment. On my best days, my walk may come close to resembling true righteousness. And on my worst days, you may doubt my salvation, not at all. Jesus said, "Do not judge one another in this manner," according to 2 Peter 2:2.
The Lord has already given His Spirit to every believer, as well as all of God's Word, to bring them to righteousness. How much leverage do you have with your scorn or guilt trip to compel obedience from other believers? How much assistance do your judgments and advice provide? When we pass judgment on others, we obstruct our own path of righteousness. When we do so, we become hypocrites similar to the Pharisees, forgetting that we are all in need of God's grace to be justified. The last thing any struggling Christian needs is to be burdened with additional rules, particularly those that are superfluous. Judging others feeds our arrogance and promotes self-righteousness, as well as hypocrisy. On a good day, none of us will achieve Christ's perfection in our walk, but we will come close.
No believer in this congregation is more acceptable to God than another. Judging others in these ways does not constitute judgment of their righteousness or their worth before God. Do you hold other believers to a standard of perfection? You'd be wise to be prepared to be flawless. That is how God views us when we pass judgment on another's weakness. We would be governed by unholy, ungodly individuals who would portray themselves as God's gatekeepers. This is a direct contradiction to everything that Christ has taught in this sermon. While we are commanded to hold one another accountable for sin, this does not imply that we're commanded to judge one another's righteousness. However, not by examining another person's righteousness. Again, the point is that we all have flaws, and we all require assistance in order to obey, which is the role of the Body of Christ. Additionally, there is a biblical model for assisting one another in surviving a greater number of obedient, righteous lives.
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Jesus presents one of, if not the, most renowned parables of His ministry, The Parable of the Sower and the Seed. This tale has been told in various ways, both verbally and in writing. This parable has many misinterpretations. Only with the direction of the Holy Spirit, with regular time set aside for biblical study, and with awareness of the context in which it is placed, can we fully understand it.
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We return to a crucial moment in the Book of Acts in this episode. The Spirit had shown Himself in the middle of the throng, bringing with Him distinct demonstrations of His power. We realize that these manifestations generated two different reactions from the onlookers. We'll return to the two answers before moving on to the second part of the chapter. However, "we must first retrace our steps through the text's main problem." That is why the Spirit continues to come long after these men become Christians, all the more so since God's pattern has changed. God is making an effort to imprint this day on our memory. This is the last day of the Feast of Weeks, often known as Pentecost. As such, it is essential for Christians throughout history to recognize that God created a distinct Holy Spirit mission. All Christians would thereafter experience a personal indwelling of the Spirit, which we call the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the Baptism of Fire.
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Paul was unconcerned by Jewish leaders or Judaizers in Athens, the center of culture, religion, and philosophy. He did however discover the challenges of confronting the intellectual community with the gospel, particularly the resurrection. He resisted the temptation to dilute his message. The city's idols disturbed him, particularly one labeled "To the Unknown God." Though he began his ministry with Jews and Gentile proselytes, it wasn't long before Paul drew the attention of philosophers. His preaching in the agora, or marketplace, piqued the intellectual community's interest and elicited a strong reaction.
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Unbelievers can look very much like Christians, at least initially, just as tares look like wheat. In the main point of this parable, the Master says do not uproot the wheat. Under normal circumstances, a farmer would not hesitate to remove weeds from his field if they choked off wheat production. Although he might lose a few wheat plants in the process, he would gain a larger harvest as a result. Why does the Master adamantly refuse to allow his servants to remove the weeds in this parable? The Master's insistence on never losing a single wheat plant. Those wheat stalks were more important to Him than the overall production of His field. In addition to being hard to identify in the world, these two groups may even stand side by side within our congregations. Unbelievers can look very much like Christians, at least initially, just as tares look like wheat. The wheat stalks that Jesus planted in this world are each of us, and his primary focus is on bringing us into the Kingdom. For a time, Jesus must tolerate the tares in His field in order to ensure he does not lose the ones the Father gives Him. He will rectify the situation one day, but for now, Jesus is willing to tolerate less production.
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The Parable of the Sower and the Seed shows us that a Christian cannot be satisfied with living among the thorns and weeds. Every one of us begins there, hiding our light. However, do not remain a closet Christian or a self-centered one. As a culture, we spend too much time on the wrong things, including the wrong spiritual things. Neglecting our responsibilities in this area has a price. Jesus presents a warning in verses 17 & 18 for those who neglect to hear this message Luke 8:17-18 “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.“So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him. If we bury our witness, fail to produce fruit, remain a closet or self-centered Christian, Jesus warns there will be no secrets on the day when all things will be revealed. Unbelievers will be exposed for who they are, and Christians will have their work evaluated. As we live in an age where everything has a beginning and an end, we can't begin to comprehend eternity. When we reach the other side of this life, entering a time and place where we are faced with eternity. There will be no death, no transitions. Just endless time. Jesus says what we experience in that time depends on what we accomplish within these few decades.
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God’s seeming unwillingness to answer our prayers can leave us feeling bewildered and impatient. Jesus gives insight into the character of God and why we should talk with Him. Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). In reply, He told a story about a man who pestered a neighbor for help, with an unexpected twist (11:5–8). In the end, it was the man’s persistent requests, and not the neighbors’ mutual friendship, that led to the man’s success in getting his neighbor’s help—a turn of events that still baffles readers today. Does this mean that we can bug God into giving us what we want? Does it mean that He is more motivated by getting us off His back than He is by His love for us when He answers our prayers? The answer to both questions is no. What the story makes clear is that our freedom to ask does not dictate God’s response. He is not a servant waiting for a list of tasks we want accomplished. Nor does He rely on us to define our needs, outline solutions, or say when or how He should act. Our all-knowing and all-wise God does those things for us. However, God is eager for His children to develop a habit of talking with Him, including asking Him for help (11:9, 10). That doesn’t mean He will be guided by our limited understanding of a situation and its possible solutions (11:11–13). He asks us to trust Him to know what is needed and when. Our calling is to ask—even persistently—and to grow in the process. One of the most surprising benefits of prayer is how much we change when we talk regularly with God. Sometimes that in itself is the answer to our prayers.
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The older brother of the prodigal son demonstrates what can happen when people are around religion for a long time. Unlike his father, who expressed relief and mercy for his brother for returning home, the older brother was horrified by the celebration held in his brother's honor. His jealousy went beyond jealousy. His fury swept over him. As a result, his father suffered and his son wasted the family's valuable assets.
On the surface, those feelings make sense, and could have been based in love for his father. But further reading shows that this son had missed the blessings the father had been bestowing on him. That was the attitude of the Pharisees who first heard Jesus tell this story. It became the view of Jews in general as the Good News spread to the Gentiles. How could Jesus be so friendly toward sinners yet so distant from people who carefully practiced the finer points of the Law? How could God show compassion toward the Gentiles while bypassing the Jews, who had been His people for generations?
It might feel as if everyone overlooks people who make a lifelong habit of obeying God. It may seem like new followers of Jesus with gruesome pasts get all the attention. To everyone who feels under-appreciated, Jesus’ parable supplies both a comfort and a challenge. The comfort is that God never forgets who His children are. He blesses them continually. He has great treasures stored up for them.
The challenge is that they need to maintain the right perspective. Every one of their godly choices brings great good. We will never stop needing the Father’s compassion and mercy to make these choices and to recover from the bad ones. And when they comprehend that, they will find it easier to watch others connect or reconnect with the Father’s heart.
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Luke begins the parable, just as he did in the previous episode, by explaining its meaning. The parable illustrates the two places people place their trust. In Jerusalem, two men went up to the temple to pray. Jesus draws immediate contrasts here, as he did in the earlier parable. Jewish culture associated the Pharisees with righteousness. Similar to Mother Theresa being the symbol of righteousness throughout the world. Tax collectors had the lowest reputation in Jewish society. In the parable, the role of honor is reversed, which effectively plays on these two extremes. In these parables we find Luke records the culmination of Jesus' teachings as he travels from Galilee to Jerusalem. The whole chapter is devoted to the discussion of faith as the only route to salvation, so it only makes sense. As in the previous parable, The Parable of the Persistent Widow, this parable emphasizes the basic issue of faith as the main ingredient of a relationship with God.
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Throughout this Parable, Jesus encourages his disciples to pray and not become weary or discouraged. Meaning, Jesus wanted to give the disciples reason not to give up or be discouraged in their appointed work. And that they should continue to pray in their afflictions. Jesus Had given the disciples a grim report of what to expect in the days immediately before His return. A depraved world where the enemy seemed to be taking control. And even though the disciples had no idea how long it would be prior to Jesus’ return. When persecution comes, don’t lose heart, don’t grow weary of keeping the faith and doing the master’s will.
Considering what they faced during their lifetime, it would be natural for the disciples to grow tired and discouraged. The disciples all suffered martyrdom, as well as many other trials on the road to their deaths. They must have all presumed that the Messiah's arrival on earth would usher in peace and justice. It would be demoralizing all by itself to think that it won't happen for awhile. So discouragement would have been easy to experience. However, discouragement is not exclusive to the disciples.
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The Scribes and Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus for allowing their traditions to override God's clear commands. The rabbinical requirements regarding ritual washings for preparing and serving food were specifically mentioned. We no longer follow the rigid pronouncements of a priestly class. Even so, there are countless traditions and expectations-most unspoken- that govern our behavior and sometimes cause us to squabble. Christians are called at times to uphold tradition and at other times to create new patterns of living. While there are no simple formulas to guide our decisions, we can start by asking ourselves questions like these
What values and principles does a particular tradition, strive to embody?
Do those align with what Christ wants?
What is the purpose of this tradition? What is the purpose of maintaining it?
Is there a solid reason to continue it or to end it?
Who benefits from maintaining this tradition and who suffers from it?
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Using the Old Testament concept of "fear of the LORD" (Prov. 1:7), Jesus redefined fear from God's point of view. We are not caught up in a lifetime of anxiety as a result of a fawning, cringing dread. Rather, it is a liberating respect for who God is, a conviction that if we did not ask His blessing on an action, we would be foolish. Seeing God in the light of His compassion, righteousness, and power, we can see how His love is revealed in His holiness, His commandments, and even His judgments. With this knowledge, we can see who is worthy of our respect, and we enthusiastically obey Him. While life is a temporary thing, we must not ignore the One who rules over everyone.
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Luke 11:5–13
God’s seeming unwillingness to answer our prayers can leave us feeling bewildered and impatient. Jesus gives insight into the character of God and why we should talk with Him.
Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). In reply, He told a story about a man who pestered a neighbor for help, with an unexpected twist (11:5–8). In the end, it was the man’s persistent requests, and not the neighbors’ mutual friendship, that led to the man’s success in getting his neighbor’s help—a turn of events that still baffles readers today. Does this mean that we can bug God into giving us what we want? Does it mean that He is more motivated by getting us off His back than He is by His love for us when He answers our prayers?
The answer to both questions is no. What the story makes clear is that our freedom to ask does not dictate God’s response. He is not a servant waiting for a list of tasks we want accomplished. Nor does He rely on us to define our needs, outline solutions, or say when or how He should act. Our all-knowing and all-wise God does those things for us.
However, God is eager for His children to develop a habit of talking with Him, including asking Him for help (11:9, 10). That doesn’t mean He will be guided by our limited understanding of a situation and its possible solutions (11:11–13). He asks us to trust Him to know what is needed and when.
Our calling is to ask—even persistently—and to grow in the process. One of the most surprising benefits of prayer is how much we change when we talk regularly with God. Sometimes that in itself is the answer to our prayers.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/humbleservant/message