Sermon from Sunday: 0 Raptures

0 Raptures (Really?)

            We are continuing our series on Numbers in the book of Revelation.  I have a feeling that the number we are looking at this Sunday is perhaps the most surprising number.  That number being 0…as in 0 raptures.  Make no mistake I believe in the glorious and triumphant return of Jesus Christ to claim his people and make all things new…but I do not believe that there is enough evidence in the Bible of a rapture of Christians out of this earth when Christ does return.  Now with that said, I have brothers and sisters in Christ, I have friends who believe the rapture.  So what I am sharing with you this morning is what I believe is the best way to understand this from a biblical perspective.  However, I do not think my colleagues in ministry and friends are unstudied or unbiblical or less of a Christian because they disagree with me…I just think they are wrong…that’s all...and they think I’m wrong.  And if you can’t respectfully disagree about something…if you can’t agree to disagree and still love the person and appreciate them, then you need to take a deep long look at your heart and your capacity to love someone.  We can disagree on this and still be all about Jesus Christ and his kingdom on this earth.

            I grew up in the Methodist church and I do not remember hearing teaching and preaching on the end times and on the rapture and on the tribulation.  It’s just not a big deal in the Methodist church.  Were any of you raised in the Baptist church?  In most Baptist churches end times is a big deal and it’s preached and taught and talked about.  I was surprised when I got to seminary and discovered that end times theology is a big deal to people.

            So let me just back up a little bit share with you the predominant views of how the end of the world is going to happen.  What I’m going to show is three main views of people who believe in the rapture.  Here’s a chart: Pic.  

Now to understand the chart you have to know what the tribulation is.  In the book of Revelation the tribulation period is thought to be a period of seven years where God unleashes hell on earth to judge those who are not Christians.  During this seven years 75% of the people on earth are destroyed.  This is the four horseman and the beasts and plagues and moon turning blood red and the sun being blotted out type of stuff.  The people who take this stuff literally believe this time to be the tribulation and the rapture will happen either before during or after the tribulation.

            The most common view is this first one in the chart…where Christians are raptured to heaven then there is seven years of tribulation, then Christ will come again and there will be 1,000 years where Christ reigns on earth to get those who are still living for that amount of time to believe in him (this is called the millennium).

            Then there’s midtribulation where the rapture happens in the middle of the tribulation period, then there’s also postribulation which says the rapture happens after the tribulation period. 

            This can get really confusing so don’t worry about memorizing this chart.  I’m just sharing this with you so that you know that even among people who believe in the rapture there are different understandings of exactly how it’s all going to go down.  Let me back up and give you some history about where the idea of the rapture came from then we will dig into the Bible itself.

In the mid 1800’s a british born pastor by the name of John Nelson Darby discovered a new way to understand the Bible called Dispensationalism.  Within this new way of understanding the Bible Darby also saw a literal rapture and a literal period of tribulation and literal millennium of Christ reigning on earth.  He was the first one to see this in the Bible.  So for the first one thousand 800 and fourty years of the church existing on earth there was no writings or discovery or theology or belief about a rapture from the Bible.  So all the people that studied and taught and preached the Bible (up until John Nelson Darby) did not see this idea of a rapture in the Bible.  None of the early church Fathers who have been so influential in the theology that we believe today, not one of them taught or wrote about a rapture.  The idea that there is a rapture is only about 170 years old, compared that to theology that’s over 1800 years old…that fact alone should make us at least skeptical of rapture theology.  Because when it comes to what we believe about the Bible, new is not always better.  So how did it become so popular?

Rapture theology became popular in the United States first through a pastor named C.I. Scofield.  Some of you may have a Scofield study Bible which taught dispensational theology and within that system taught the rapture.  Then Charles Ryrie came out with a study bible that was also supportive of rapture theology.  In 1969 Hal Lindsay wrote a book called The Late Great Planet Earth…some of you may remember that.  Then in most recent times through writers Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins we see this theology in the Left Behind Series which many of you have read the books or seen the movies.  And they are actually in process of making the movies again with Nicholas Cage.  The Left Behind series is Christian fiction…please do me a favor as someone who takes the bible seriously and do not base your beliefs on Christian fiction.  If you read the Bible and come to the conclusion of a rapture that’s fine, but don’t use this popular Christian fiction as your basis.

Here’s what I’m telling you, for over 1,800 years rapture theology was not known or heard of in the Christian church.  It wasn’t taught or preached by Catholics or Protestants, by Calvinists or Armenians.  Iranaeus, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley…none of them were even familiar with rapture theology much less believed it because they didn’t see it in the Bible.  It wasn’t until someone came up with this new system of reading the Bible that we see the rapture being taught.  Do you know why no one saw the rapture in the Bible until this one man saw it around 1840?…because it’s not there. 

Lets get into the Word.  The first text today is from Revelation 4 verse 1.  This is the very next thing that happens after the specific message to each of the seven churches in Asia Minor.  The last church to receive a message is Laodicea and then we have this.  READ.

People who believe the rapture say that John is representative of the church as a whole.  So that when the voice John hears says “Come up here.”…that the voice is calling the entire church to come up there and that this is the part in the book of Revelation where the rapture takes place.  So that most of the rest of the letter is when the church, the body Christ, Christians are not present on earth and therefore those chapters are describing the period of time called the tribulation.  So for chapters 4 through chapter 19 in Revelation Christians are not on the earth, that’s the belief.

I believe this way of reading the book of Revelation is isogesis at it’s finest.  Isogesis is a fancy way (every now and then I have to throw out these big words so you know I went to seminary) of taking an idea that we already believe and putting it in the text.  I believe the Bible supports slavery…so I take that idea and put it in the Bible and when I do that I can make a case.  I believe the Bible supports polygamy (having more than one spouse) so I take that idea to the Bible and make my case.  I believe the rapture is isogesis.  We take that we believe the rapture and then look for it in the Bible.

What we want to do is exegesis.  Exegesis is the process of extracting the idea already there in the text.  So when we do exegesis on Revelation 4:1 here’s what happens.  We know that this is a letter to seven churches who are undergoing sever persecution and need a message of hope.  So John is writing to them (and by extension to Christians) with this message that Jesus and those who belong to him win in the end.  John is writing the letter.  There is no indication when you do exegesis of the text that John has more than just himself in mind when he is taken up to heaven in this vision.  This is a vision for him…the message is for the rest of the church, but the experience is for him to experience and then record for Christians everywhere.  There is no indication that this is the entire church taken up to heaven.  The earliest church fathers who studied the Bible didn’t see and most rapture theologians and scholars…the ones that take it seriously enough to do exegesis…most of them will say that this is not a text that teaches the rapture but that you can see the rapture in it.  So their own proponents of rapture theology take the one text in Revelation that can be considered about the rapture and say it’s probably not about the rapture.

This is the only evidence in the entire book of Revelation that we have of any sort of rapture and it is suspect by it’s own proponents.  If rapture is such a big deal to God why didn’t he make it more clear in the one book of the Bible that is about how the world is going to end?  There are only a handful of texts that we can even say might be the rapture.  That’s it.  This is not a theme that is throughout the entire Bible. 

Now, lets look at the text that spells out what people think is the rapture more than any other text.  It’s 1^st Thessalonians 413-18.  Read. 

            So it appears that when Jesus returns he will come down from heaven with a loud command – there is not a secret rapture – even if you believe in a rapture…it’s not going to be secret.  There’s a loud command and the voice of the archangel and trumpets.  The Left Behind Series presents a secret rapture…even if I believed in the rapture and used this verse I could not come to the belief that it is a secret rapture.  Do you think a loud command and the archangels voice and the trumpets of heaven are loud…this sounds like a public announcement.

            Keep that in mind.  So when Jesus returns it’s announced that he has returned and the dead in Christ will rise first (this Christians who have died)…this is the resurrection of beleivers that we see throughout scripture…we know that when we are raised up that we will be raised in new life with glorified bodies…this is the resurrection of those who believe in Christ but have died.  After that, Christians on earth will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  “And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

            We are caught up in the clouds, we meet the Lord in the air, and then we are with him forever.  Where are we with him forever?  It doesn’t say does it.  I believe this text is talking specifically about the resurrection of believers that we see elsewhere in scripture…especially 1 Corinthians 15.  It’s an awesome read. 

N.T. Wright is one of the most prominent New Testament scholars in the world right now.  Wright rightly states that Paul is describing the resurrection using imagery that has been falsely interpreted.  Remember Paul was a Jew before his conversion to Christianity.  He wasn’t just any Jew, he was a highly educated Jew.  Three things about this text that Paul has in mind. 

            First, Paul echoes the story of Moses coming down the mountain with the Torah.  The trumpet sounds, a loud voice is heard, and after a long wait Moses comes to see what’s been going on in his absence.

            Second, he echoes Daniel 7, in which “the people of the saints of the Most High” (that is, the “one like a son of man”) are vindicated over their pagan enemy by being raised up to sit with God in glory.  This metaphor, applied to Jesus in the Gospels, is now applied to Christians who are suffering persecution. 

Third, Paul conjures up images of an emperor visiting a colony or province.  The citizens go out to meet him in open country and then escort him into the city.  Paul’s image of the people “meeting the Lord in the air” should be read with the assumption that the people will immediately turn around and lead the Lord back to the newly remade world.  Remember how I said it sounds like a public announcement…just like the announcement of a king coming to visit a city…the city officials would want everyone in the city to know about the visit and the leaders would go out and meet the king outside the city wall and escort that king back inside as a way to host the king and let the king know he is welcome.

            Remember, Paul is the one who hammered on the resurrected body for a long, entire chapter in 1^st Corinthians 15 and he writes about the resurrection body over and over again in his other letters to the churches.  If Paul intended for this to be a rapture as so many understand it wouldn’t that same idea appear more than once in his writings.  It doesn’t.  The first Christians who read this would have seen this as welcoming an emperor into their city and I believe that idea is the idea Paul intended to communicate.

            Lets look very quickly at a parable Jesus told.  Matthew 24:36-41.  READ.  The reference is the story of Noah and the flood.  Another movie coming out next year is about Noah played by Russell Crow…should be interesting.  In the parable the sinners are the ones not in the ark that Noah built and the righteous are the ones in the ark.  The ones who are swept by the flood are done so as a sign of judgment.  Those in the ark are saved.  The ones in the ark are the ones who are left behind.  Get it.  To be left behind in the parable that Jesus is telling is to be saved from the judgment which in Noah’s day was a flood.  You want to be left behind according to this parable that Jesus tells. 

            Here’s my final point.  Rapture teaches escapism.  Rapture theology teaches that Christians are going to escape from this earth so that we don’t have to face a time of tribulation.  There’s a story of a pastor sharing at a Christian conference about our responsibility as Christians to make a difference in the world.  To be people who take care of the widow and orphans and who are in ministry with the poor and are willing to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves and just try to make this world a better place to live.  A woman raised her hand and asked him: “but if we do those things the world won’t get worse and worse and it will take longer for Jesus to return.”  See, the hope of this world is not that things have to get worse so that Jesus can rapture Christians out so that the tribulation can start…the hope of the world is what we pray every Sunday…that the kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.  Jesus did not teach escapism…he taught being engaged in such a way as to bring the goodness of heaven into this broken world.  And guess who is tasked with being the hands and feet of Christ?  The body of Christ…you and me…Christians!

            God’s people in the Old Testament, the prophets, Jesus and Paul…none of them taught escapism.  The idea of being in Christ is that we would take up our cross daily for the sake of Jesus.  Jesus promised that we would face tribulation in this world…he even used that word.  Paul said to rejoice in suffering because it leads to character building. 

            The overall theme of the bible does not teach that people who belong to Christ are escapists.  What it does teach over and over and over again is that people who belong to God are endurer’s and overcomers who believe that through Christ in us we can remain faithful in the face of the most difficult of circumstances.   

If I have taken away something that you hold dear…if I have taken away the belief of rapture from you…I am thankful.  I also know how hard it is to have something you have always believed and that you have held dear taken away.  And I believe it is important to replace it with something else.  Here’s what I suggest you can replace it with: the return of Jesus to make all things new and usher in the eternal and glorious future that is the new heavens and new earth.  You don’t have to believe in the rapture to believe in the return or Jesus.

If you still believe in the rapture after this morning…I still love you and appreciate you and will not judge you.  This is not about whose right or wrong, this is about being faithful to a God who loves you and who we can all agree wins in the end.  That’s the good news we can all agree on and that matters more than exactly how the end of the world happens.  Jesus, the slain lamb of God, wins in the end and we get to participate in the victory!  Amen.

Sermon from Sunday: 666

Numbers in Revelation: 666

As we continue our series about Numbers in the book of Revelation today we are looking at the number 666.  We know the cultural association with 666 don’t we.  We know it because if 666 is in any part of the title of a movie we know it is going to be a horror movie.

            Historically when people think of 666 because of what Revelation says, that it’s a man who is the antichrist, people have tried to identify this man.  At different times in history Christians have thought they knew who the man was, they thought they knew the person which the 666 identifies as the anti-Christ.  In the late 1700’s it was Napoleon Bonaparte.  Before that it was Genghis Khan.  In the middle of last century, the 1900’s, it was Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. 

            In the United States we are selfish.  Did you know some thought Ronald Wilson Reagan was the anti-Christ...because he was the only president with 6 letters in his first name, middle name and last name.  Thus 666 thus he’s the antichrist.  You can find images of just about any president in the United States being the antichrist…because some people just like to demonize what they don’t agree with.

            I came across this picture of Netanyahu

…oh, he must be the antichrist because he’s doing a similar salute to what Hitler did.  In the 14 and 1500’s the Catholics thought it was Martin Luther and the protestants thought it was the Pope.  This gets ridiculous right.  It’s ridiculous.  We are so quick to see anyone who does not agree with our views as the antichrist.  And this number 666 is commonly associated with the antichrist.

            As Christians lets do what we should do and look at what the Bible says.  Lets start there by looking at it in its original context and then ask the question, what does it mean for us today?  We want to start with where it lies in history and with the author’s intent and with what was happening at this time, then we can ask what does this number have to do with us as Christians today?

            Our text is Revelation 13:11-18.  Remember last week we said the book of Revelation is a letter from John to seven churches in Asia minor (modern day Turkey).  It was a letter written in the apocalyptic genre with the purpose of bringing hope to Christians who were suffering persecution at the hands of an emperor, a Caeser that did all kinds of nasty painful torturous things to Christians who would not give up their faith and claim that Caeser was Lord. 

            In Revelation 12, there’s this vision that John see’s about a pregnant woman and a dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns.  There was a contemporary mythological story that existed in the modern culture at the time John wrote this that would have been familiar to those who read and heard this letter.  The story is a reference to the virgin Mary pregnant and eventually giving birth to Jesus and how Satan tried to stop it in the heavenly realm.  Jesus is born and in Chapter 13 the war comes to earth.  We see two beasts in chapter 13.  So now we have a dragon and a beast out of the sea and a beast out of the earth.  This is called the unholy trinity.  It’s a way for Satan to mock the trinity that is God the father, God the Son and God the spirit.  Evil always corrupts and distorts that which is good.  The trinity is good so this is evil’s way of saying we have a trinity too.

            We are concerned more this morning with the vision of the 3^rd beast.  In Revelation 13:11-18 we are introduced to the 3^rd beast often referred to as the anti-christ referenced with the number 666.  READ Text.   

I shared with you last week that the emperors in power would be important this week as we look as this number 666.  Nero had served about 60 years before this was written.  Domitian was the Caeser now in power.  Domitian was very similar in the way to Nero in the way he treated Christians.  He persecuted them because he wanted to be called Lord and God.  One way that they persecuted Christians was by making it hard for Christians to become a Roman citizen.  To become a Roman citizen under Nero and Domitian you had to be willing to burn incense to the Caeser as a way to worship the emperor.  Once you burned your incense you were given a certificate with a mark on it that allowed you to trade and sell goods in the marketplace.  If you weren’t willing to burn incense as a way to worship the emperor, it made livelihood difficult.  So Christians especially in Rome had a difficult decision to make.  Do you compromise and receive this certificate so your family can eat and live or do you remain faithful to God and just hope that God will provide for your bodily needs?

            Look at verses 15-17 again.  READ.  Is it possible that this certificate, this mark to buy and sale is what John had in mind when he talked about the mark of the beast. 

            Also, remember how I said that evil often corrupts and distorts something good.  A common Jewish practice that has been passed down for many many years is the use of Phylacteries.  A phylactery is something you put on your forehead that has scripture in it to remind you of who God is and it’s straps you wrap on your forearm and recite scripture as you wrap them around you.  Hasidic Jews still use them today.  When we were in Israel we saw Hasidic Jews with these on their heads and arms.  Here’s what it looks like.

I wonder if the evil one is doing this as a way to distort, to corrupt, this Jewish practice that’s based on scripture.  The early Christians would have been familiar with this practice and may have associated what John is saying as a corruption of something good…like the unholy trinity.

             Lets back up a little bit.  Remember I told you the words in verse 12 about a fatal wound being healed and verse 14 about “being wounded by the sword and yet lived” would be important.  There was a rumor going around that after Nero had died that he had been raised again.  Or that he had not really died and was still living and ruling as an emperor.  It was a big enough rumor that we have historians at the time who wrote about it.  Is it possible that when John writes about this beast who had been wounded that he is referencing Nero.  What if the 2^nd beast is Nero, who this rumor that he still lives is about, and the 3^rd beast is Domitian who is carrying on the practices that persecute Christians that Nero held.  We read in 16 and 17 that unless you worship this beast that you can’t buy or sale items.  That was literally happening to the Christians in Rome who wouldn’t proclaim that Caesar is lord. 

            Remember this is a letter written by John to the seven churches in Asia and by extension to all Christians everywhere who were suffering persecution.  His readership (more accurately hearer-ship) at this time would have been so familiar with who he was talking about.  And maybe the reason he didn’t identify him directly and explicitly was because this was written in the form of apocalyptic literature so that he would not be immediately executed by naming the emperors by name.

            Now, many of you are wondering what this all has to do with 666.  Read verse 18 again…John invites his readers and hearers in the 1^st Century to have wisdom as to who this number is referring to.  And it’s obviously a man.  Many people claim this is the antichrist.  And John invites his readers to figure out who it is and the number is just a hint.  The number is like a jigsaw puzzle or riddle that they have to figure out.  The number 666 is merely a clue as to figuring out who he is talking about.

            Another practice in Judaism was called Gemmatria.  Now John knew Hebrew and often uses Hebrew in a couple other places in this letter.  He wrote it in the Greek language but there are several instances where he does reference Hebrew.  And his readers and hearers probably did not know Hebrew, but many of them would have been familiar with Hebrew and with Jewish practices.  It’s easy to forget that at this time Christianity was still another form of Judaism.  Many Christians were former Jews. 

            Gemmatria is the practice of putting numbers to letters to give a name a numeric value.  For example, the number of my Hebrew name is 219.  Thank God it’s not 666 right?  Guess whose name when given a numeric value using Gemmatria is 666.  Nero.  The name and title of Nero in numbers, in this Jewish practice of Gemmatria: 666 makes the name Nero.  Again, why didn’t John just come out and say he was talking about Nero and Domitian?  Because he wrote this in apocalyptic literature…that’s why.  We have a hard time figuring out this puzzle (and others in Revelation) but for these first Christians it would have been easy. 

            So while John has Nero and Domitian in mind when he writes about these beasts, he also has the general disruption, corruption and force of evil in mind as well.  While John is referencing Nero, I believe, and many scholars believe with me that John is more concerned about painting a picture of evil so that Christians know what they are facing. 

            666 is most likely a reference to Nero and it’s also a reference to any kind of evil regime that is in power and in opposition to the kingdom of God.  That’s what 666 is all about. 

Here’s what one scholar wrote: “Nero Caesar then becomes representative of the ongoing model for all of history’s “Caesars” who rule over the anti-Christian kingdom and repress the commitments and values of God’s kingdom.  This number then becomes a symbol, a metaphor for any evil ruler who commands and validates an evil regime that is anti-Christian or anti-God.”    

Now this kind of evil that John is describing is a socio-political evil with a spiritual foundation.  An evil that is on a governmental ruling level that is absolutely opposed to Christ and his kingdom and has a desire to stamp out Christianity.  Adolf Hitler was evil.  He was an anti-Christ.  Joseph Stalin was evil, he was an anti-Christ.  Anyone who is the leader, the head, the initiator of an oppressive and evil regime can be called an antichrist and that number 666 is a hint that that’s who it is. 

I don’t believe that anti-christ is one person that’s going to come at a specific time.  I believe the anti-Christ is anyone obviously opposed to Christ and creates an environment, like Nero, like Hitler, going back to the O.T. like Pharaoah, they set themselves up as God and they lead a regime that is about oppression and injustice and superiority and is defined by acts of evil and atrocity.  Look at 1 John 2:22: ²² Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.

            The question we should ask as Christians when faced with evil is what should our response be?  How do we deal with this kind of evil?  What is evil and what does it look like?  John wrote this letter and he eventually gets to the part where anything opposed to Christ and His kingdom is defeated, in the meantime, what is our response.  Faithfulness, faithfulness to God and to the slain lamb of God because of the hope we have in him.  What does that look like?  We need to be aware of how evil operates.

Do not be fooled brothers and sisters, just like those Christians who had a decision to make and were tempted by evil to compromise their faith and burn incense to Caeser so they could eat and survive and make a living, we are faced with decisions of following God or Satan everyday.  And evil doesn’t knock on your door and announce “here I am trying to corrupt you and make you bad.”  Evil is much more deceptive and veiled and hidden than that.  What leads us often into sin, into evil, is small compromises we make along the way.

Remember Satan is the Father of lies…he is good at deception and at tempting us in the little things.  Oh I’ll just cheat on my taxes a little, I’ve never gotten audited before so no one will ever know.  Slow fade into greed.  Husbands, oh I’m only flirting with her, it’s not like we’re dating or anything.  Slow fade into adultery.  Well I guess I’ll go to that movie because all my friends are going even though I know it’s going to tempt me sexually.  I’m just curious so I only go to that website or look at that image once.  Slow fade into porn addiction which often leads to the breakup of marriages and families.  Women, oh he’s just being nice to me, there’s nothing between us.  But you like the attention and you tend to flirt just a little bit.  You are sending him the wrong signals.  Slow fade.  Or you have a new and juicy piece of gossip that you can’t wait to share…it’s a slow fade into ruining either your own or someone else’s reputation.

            Some of you are familiar with the Screwtape Letters and book by C.S. Lewis that is a correspondence between a lesser demon and a greater demon to try to get this particular man away from God.  Listen to this demon’s words: 

But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

It’s when we compromise by saying, it’s been 2 years since I’ve been sober and now I can handle alcohol, I ‘ll just have one beer.  Slow fade.  Compromise.  That’s what the enemy wants.  It’s short small steps into disaster. 

            One thing Revelation does for Christians is expose the reality of evil.  We aren’t persecuted and fearful for our lives in modern day America.  But until Satan is thrown into the eternal lake of fire he will come after you and your soul and your families soul as well.  And if you are not intentionally protecting yourself and your family from his attacks he will establish a foothold and wreak havoc in your life and in the life of those who you love.

            Evil is real and it’s veiled and it’s hidden and the best way for us to give into it is one small compromise after another.  We have to be careful.  Get in the word.  Get in prayer.  Husbands love and cherish your wives and be considerate to them, build them up with your words and actions.  Wives respect and honor your husbands and encourage them and let them know you appreciate them.  Parents, realize that your children are not your friend, they are your children, and sometimes parenting means being mean to them out of love and out of discipline and out of a desire to protect them and raise them in a way where they will live for God.

            May we be the kind of people that resist and overcome the spirit of 666 in any form that we see it and/or experience it…for the sake of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, let us protect ourselves, our families, our church and our friends.  

Sermon from Sunday: Seven Churches

Numbers in the Book of Revelation: Seven Churches

Read Revelation 1:1-6

 Are you ready for the Book of Revelation?  No “s”.  The book of Revelations does not exist.  Revelation, no “s”. 

            There are so many wild notions that exist about the book of Revelation. I remember when I worked at RadioShack while I was in seminary we had just gotten a new manager of the store.  And I remember having a conversation with him about the Book of Revelation.  He said that he had studied a few years ago and that he believed that some of the visions, some of the descriptions could fit real, modern day creations.  For example, he talked about how in one of the visions locusts are described as a part of how the end of the world and he said the description sounds a lot like an Apache Helicopter.  And that meant he could’ve been predicting the end of the world for us who are living now.  And I thought well, okay I guess that’s possible.  I have since learned, no, the book of Revelation has nothing to do with Apache helicopters.  Nothing.

            My hope in this series is to help you read Revelation the way it was intended to be read.  And to understand what you are reading the way it is intended to be understood.  To pursue reading and understanding the book of Revelation you have to be okay with unanswered questions.  Because while God has definitely put enough in this book for us to understand and for us to grow in our faith and in our witness, there will definitely be things we don’t’ understand.  And we just have to accept those things and push on as best we can.  At the same time God has given us brains and resources and enough in the book of Revelation that we can know a whole lot about it.  So what do you need to know.

            First, the book of Revelation is first and foremost a letter.  Notice verse 4…"John to the Seven churches in the province of Asia.  It is a letter from John to the Churches in the province of Asia.  Before being an end times saga with weird visions and strange symbols and bowls and lanterns and dragons and other wild stuff, it is first and foremost a letter.  Written by a person while in exile on the island of Patmos…a person under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

            I have here my neighbors mail.  I have in my hand Jeff and Connie’s mail.  Oh yeah, I just decided to be curious when I was getting my mail and thought I would walk across and get their mail as well.  We have a good relationship so I didn’t think they would mind.  So lets see what’s here.  Oh, trying to get them to switch to DirecTV.  It looks like this is a bill from the city of Hickory, must be a water bill.  Store coupons that we all get.  Ooh, what is this?  Mt. Creek Construction.  Ooh it’s from his company…lets see what it is.  Annual performance review…ya’ll want to be nosey?  You want to see how Jeff is doing his job?

That’s crazy right.  That’s absurd.  I would never go into their mailbox.  And hopefully they know that.  We trust each other not to do that.  And I think it’s federal offense to get into someone else’s mailbox.  As absurd as that sounds that’s what the book of Revelation is.  It’s a letter in which churches get to read each other’s mail.  It’s written to these seven churches on one scroll.  Here's map of Asia Minor. 

It is modern day Turkey.  Here’s where John is in exile and here is where the churches are.  So Ephesus is the first church.  They will copy the scroll to have for themselves and send the original up to Smyrna.  And on around the letter would travel.  It wasn’t just a letter, it was a letter strategically written for a purpose to these seven churches.  Churches that would then spread the message from their own cities out across the rest of Asia and Europe. 

The book of Revelation is a letter written to seven churches before 100 AD and it was one scroll.  For that reason, it was intended to be read out loud during worship services.  It was primarily heard by the people more than it was seen by them.  So the rich imagery and symbolism would have had them able to follow along with the message throughout the reading of the book.  And when I say reading, I mean the whole book.  It was probably sometimes split up into sections, but they would have been large sections, not just a few verses like we are looking at today.  So what that means is that it can be dangerous to take just one verse or two verses and make it say whatever you want it to say without considering the entire book of Revelation as a whole.

Another thing about the book of Revelation is that because it is apocalyptic literature, it is not to be taken literally.  The word “Revelation” in Greek is apokalypsis – which means an unveiling or revealing.  It is full of imagery and symbolism from the Old Testament because it was written to Christians who would have been familiar with the Old Testament and what those images meant.  Therefore, most of Revelation cannot be taken literally.  It just can’t…the 1^st century readers did not take it literally…John did not write to be taken literally…neither should we take it literally.  The genre of Apocalyptic means it is written in way to be read non-literally.  So it is a letter written in the form of apocalyptic literature to tell the truth about what is happening.

            The reason this is so important is because a letter is written at a specific time, by a specific author, to a specific person or group, for a specific purpose.  John, the author of Revelation, did not have Adolf Hitler in mind when he wrote the book of Revelation.  I remember a guy told me when I was in College that he thought that Bill Gates was the Anti-Christ.  When John wrote the book of Revelation he did not have Bill Gates or any other contemporary figure in mind.  Some of the descriptions of evil in Revelation has more to do with the emperors around the time John wrote the book then they do with the rulers of today.  Most likely the Roman emperor in power was Domitian and he was not kind to Christians.  Also, John was familiar with another evil emperor who oppressed Christians named Nero…he will be important later on in this series on the Book of Revelation.  Here’s what I’m saying, so many pastors and Christians make Revelation say what they want it to say instead of looking at the context in which it was written.  Start with the context then ask what does this mean for us today. 

At the time of Domitian’s rule in Rome Christians in these areas were being persecuted.  John wrote the book of Revelation to show the Church that in the end Jesus and those who belong to Jesus would be victorious.  That what is happening now is just temporary and that the victory is already won even though it doesn’t seem that way.  Remember the word Revelation in Greek means an unveiling…John is unveiling the truth of what has happened is happening and will happen for those who hold on to their faith in Jesus Christ.  He is saying, in a time of great persecution, keep the faith because the lamb of God has already won.  The book of Revelation is a message of hope to persecuted Christians in it’s original context.  John’s purpose was not to predict the end of the world or to give us 21^st Century Christians who the anti-Christ would be…no it was written to bring hope to Christians who were being put in the arena and torn apart by wild animals.  It was written to Christians who had heard the story of the emperor using Christians as human torches to light his banquet hall.  It was written to Christians who had heard about someone who would not claim that Domitian was Lord so they bound him to corpse and left him to rot alive.  That’s the context.  That’s why it was written. 

Next time you think you have it bad, think about what it would be like to face a torturous death simply because you would not claim that the national leader was lord.  See Domitian and other emperors like him, demanded that they be called lord and God.  And of course Christians and Jews too could not claim that the emperor was lord and god because only God, only Jesus held that title.  And so Domitian simply sought to get rid of them.

You would think Christianity would die during this time.  That the fear of persecution would destroy the church because people would fear for their lives.  You didin’t have to tell these Christians that the great tribulation was coming, no, they were already in the great tribulation.  Later in the letter when John writes of the great tribulation, these Christians are saying, yeah, that’s what we are going through here and now.  It wasn’t sometime in the future, it was here and now for them.    They were already suffering the worst of the worst.  And you know what, the church did not shrink and lose members, the church grew.  Throughout history, during times of the greatest persecution the church has grown exponentially.  When the persecution is the worst, the most faithful Christians rise up and spread the gospel more powerfully that at any other time in history.  Throughout history, during times of great blessing and prosperity, the church has shrunk and declined.

You all know where we are in the United States of America.  Christians are not persecuted here.  We don’t fear for our lives.  In fact, most people in the United States of America think they can make it in life on their own.  So why do we need God?  John, writing under God’s inspiration writes in Revelation chapter 3 to the church at Laodicea verses 17-19.  That sounds like the United States of America.  Now, it was written to the church at Laodicea and the warning was for the church at Laodicea, but we can see the same thing happening around us, can’t we. This is how you apply Revelation.  I’m not saying John was writing the United States of America when he was writing to Laodicea.  What I am saying is that like the churches in Laodicea, we have bought the lie that we are self-sufficient.  We have bought the lie that we can accomplish our dreams and when we do we will be happy, we will be rich.  It doesn’t work that way does it. 

The kind of richness God talks about in verse 18 is a richness of recognizing that we are the opposite of self-sufficient.  That we can’t live life on our own.  That we need a savior and a Lord.  Not a lord like Domitian that purports a lifestyle of prosperity and ownership and power by the sword, but a Lord who purports a lifestyle of faithfulness, love, generosity and power by grace and mercy.  Revelation is a letter whose warnings and promises we need for today.  We may not be persecuted like the church was at the time this was written, but we still need hope.

            The closest thing to persecution most of us experience is the testing of our faith.  It’s in those times that we realize the significance of the message of the book of Revelation  That when our faith is tested, we must realize that Jesus has overcome evil, sin and death and we have nothing to fear.  That even in the face of certain death…we have nothing to fear…because death is not the final answer.  Jesus has overcome and eternal life is the final answer.  Death just leads us into another life, into a new creation.  Revelation is about hope and faithfulness to Christians in the midst of hard times. 

It was and is a letter to 1^st Century Christians that we get to read and that we get to believe and live out and whose message we get to receive.  The message is this: there is always hope…no matter how dark life is, no matter that it looks like evil is winning, no matter that a loved one dies tragically, no matter that someone you care about is diagnosed with cancer, no matter that a married couple you love is getting divorced, no matter that your mom or dad is diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s, no matter that you have lost your job, no matter that what there is hope.  Because God is God, Jesus is Lord, the Holy Spirit is powerful and God has overcome and defeated all that threatens the human race.  Let the message of the book of Revelation be what it was intended to be…a message of hope and victory for those who put their faith and trust I the slain Lamb of God.

Sermon from Sunday

The Wesleyan Way: Freewill

This morning I want to piggyback off of how we ended the service last week.  If you remember I showed a video of a show Oprah did where she had Pastor Rick Warren talking about cards that you are dealt in life.  He talked about how we are all dealt the card of Chemistry: we don’t choose our chemical makeup.  I did not choose to be 6’6”…if I had I would have also made myself able to jump high.  Not my choice.  He talked about the card of Connections.  We don’t choose our earliest connections.  We don’t choose who our parents are.  He talked about Circumstances.  Things happen in our lives outside of our control, those are our circumstances.  Maybe we were born without a limb or with cerebral palsy or whatever our predispositions are…that is our circumstances.  Then our Consciousness, these are things we have been told all of our lives.  Things in our heads that maybe we can’t get out of our heads and just have to deal with.  I cannot change the fact that I have a memory of some kids in school insulting me and making me feel like a nobody.  Then he said, the fifth card in the deck of life we are handed is the wild card.  The fifth card is Choices.  We didn’t choose our chemistry, but we can choose to be positive and take care of our mind and body.  We didn’t choose our earliest connections, but we can choose to have healthy relationships now.  We didn’t choose our circumstances…but we can make the best of what we have gone through in life and choose to put ourselves in better situations for our future.  We didn’t choose our Consciousness…we didn’t choose our brains and we didn’t choose to have the memories we have growing up, but we can choose to make better memories now and we can choose to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Do you remember that from last week?  Okay, most people would agree with that…that we have choices.  Most Christians, pastors and people who make it their career to study the Bible would agree with that.  However, many Christians, pastors, theologians and bible scholars would very much disagree on whether or not we have a choice when it comes to our salvation.  There is this prominent, popular belief among many Christians and pastors and Bible scholars that we don’t choose whether we are saved or not, but that God chooses whether we are saved or not.  This belief called Limited Atonement or Particular Redemption.  The word you may have heard it as is predestination.  It’s part of an entire theological system articulated by a French theologian who lived in the 1500’s named John Calvin and cutely illustrated by the word acronym TULIP.  PIC.

I don’t have time to go over this entire system and preach and teach on freewill, so I just want to talk for a minute about this idea of Limited Atonement then share why I don’t subscribe to this and why I am a Methodist. 

Here are a couple of quotes by John Calvin:

God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.

God “saves whom he wills of his mere good pleasure.”
Regarding the lost: “it was his good pleasure to doom to destruction.”

            This is what is known as double predestination.  If God predestines some to salvation and the person has nothing to do with choosing God, then God also predestines some people to damnation and they have no power, no say in the matter at all.

Let me tell you about Justus Arminius.  He was a dutch theologian that came right after John Calvin and the theology of John Wesley and the Methodist Church comes out of Arminius’s writings.  Arminius believed in free will and wrote specifically against this idea of predestination that John Calvin was so sure of.  Here’s what Arminius said:

Concerning Grace and Free Will, this is what I teach according to the Scriptures and orthodox consent:—Free Will is unable to begin or to perfect any true and spiritual good, without Grace.

                He also came up with a system like Calvin did that doesn’t have a cool acronym like TULIP…it would be HCURF which isn’t nearly as pleasant as TULIP…but I believe it’s more Biblical.  His 5 points are basically the opposite of Calvin’s 5 points.  So where Calvin says we have no say in our own salvation…Arminius says…we have say in our salvation…God’s grace is a gift that we either accept or reject.  We have a choice.  And what that means also is that just as we can choose salvation through Jesus Christ, we can also choose to reject Jesus and no longer be saved.  Arminius believed so strongly in freewill that just as Calvin believed in double predestination – God chooses some to salvation and some to damnation at his good pleasure – just as Calvin believed that – Arminius believed in double freewill – you can choose to be saved and you can choose not to be saved and you make that choice at any point in your life.

                So enough about what these two dead theologians said…lets look at scripture.  Lets look at what the Bible says.  Here’s the deal, there are scriptures that point to predestination and foreknowledge and those kinds of ideas.  However, I believe in each of those scriptures where we see those words and those ideas context dictates the meaning and in each case assumes that the group who is predestined chose for themselves salvation.  How that works I don’t know.  I also believe that where the simplest truth is obvious that’s the one that’s going to win me over when it comes to a debate between freewill and predestination.  Here are two scriptures that to me so clearly and obviously point to the truth of freewill and of what God’s pleasure is.

            Peter is talking about judgment and last days and says this: READ 2 Peter 3:8-9.  God’s pleasure is not that some people are predestined to damnation.  I actually believe that just as Jesus wept for Lazarus and because he saw the destruction of the Temple because of his people’s unfaithfulness I also believe that Jesus weeps when people reject him for their eternal salvation.  If it is God’s desire that none should perish and everyone come to repentance then doesn’t it make sense that He grieves when someone doesn’t accept his gift of grace in Jesus Christ?

            Lets look at the second scripture: READ 1 Timothy 2:1-6.  God’s desire is for all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.  Even politicians.  That’s the point of this scripture.  Paul starts by saying pray for your leaders…the kings and all those in authority.  God knows people in authority are often dirty…and he knows that they need to be saved…and Paul says God actually wants them to be saved.  God desires that Obama be saved. 

            When it comes to freewill lets keep it simple…any of you heard of the KISS method…Keep it simple stupid.  It sounds derogatory but I think it’s true.  So I started with all this theology and TULIP and Calvin and Arminius…lets just use the KISS method and think about these scriptures and scriptures like John 3:16: READ.   

It’s obvious to me that we have freewill and that we’ve had from the beginning of time.  If Adam and Eve didn’t choose to eat the fruit (Eve was first) then humanity cannot be held responsible for sin entering the world.

So the question then becomes: what are we doing with freewill?  What kind of choices are you making in your life?  Are you making choices that allow the fruit of the spirit to grow and mature and ripen in your life…or are the choices you are making the fruit…or not even the fruit…but the actions of the flesh. 

            One thing that helps keep us in the right state of mind and helps us remember to develop the fruit of the spirit in our lives is communion.  The fruit of the spirit is this love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  I’m going to say them again and I want you to think about as you take communion which one of these characteristics of the fruit of the spirit do you need to develop in your life.  Would you listen to them again and as you prepare to take communion and as you take communion would you be in a worshipful and prayerful mindset as you think about which fruit of the spirit you want to choose to work on, because you have the choice, to work on it this week.  Which one do you need to work on…and I hope you will choose to pray and seek God and ask him to help you. 

August Newsletter Article

The Dentist and Church

I went to the Dentist last week (Monday the 29^th).  My vehement dislike for dental procedures (including cleanings) meant that I had not been to the Dentist in 4 or 5 years (I would not recommend waiting that long in between visits).  I felt so sorry for the girl cleaning my teeth that I continued to apologize to her.  I felt bad that my teeth had not been professionally cleaned in a long time because I know it made her job harder than it should have been.  She was sweet and assured me that she had seen worse.  While my teeth felt smooth and polished afterwards, my gums were sore (I was quite disappointed at myself for not taking better care of my gums).  I have since promised myself that I would not wait 5 years to visit the Dentist again and that I would be more consistent in flossing my teeth.

            I imagine the experience I had at the Dentist must be similar to the experience first time visitors (or even long time non-attenders) have when they attend a church service: disappointment.  They have finally answered God’s prompting to attend a church service and when they do they just end up being disappointed: either at themselves or at the church.  They don’t like the feeling they get at the church service so they don’t go back to a service for a few years or possibly even ever.

            It’s possible that the person just didn’t attend the right church for them, but often it’s the church’s fault when someone has a bad experience.  Sometimes the congregation can make a visitor or a long time non-attender feel like they don’t belong.  Instead of welcoming them home like the father did to the wayward son in the parable of the prodigal son, they act superior and holier and make the person feel unwelcome and unwanted.  Or maybe the pastor goes on and on about sin and judgment and God’s wrath without ever talking about God’s grace and mercy.  So the person just feels shame and guilt and never wants to come back.

            Maybe it took more courage than we realize for that person to even step foot in a church.  It took courage for me to go the Dentist after not going for a few years.  I had fears and reservations about going but I knew it was important for my health.  Maybe the visitor felt the same way.  They had fears and worries about what their experience would be like but decide to take the chance anyway.  When they take that chance what kind of experience do they have?

            The answer to that question is up to all of us who attend church consistently.  And by the way, if you are a member of a church, any church, you should attend consistently.  If you are a member of a United Methodist church you made a vow (among other promises) that you would support the church with your presence.  That means you attend the worship services when you are able to do so…not just when it’s convenient for you.  If you feel bad after reading the last three sentences then God must be prompting you to get back in church on a regular basis.

            Back to the topic…It is up to those of us who attend church services on a consistent basis to make those who don’t attend services regularly have the best experience possible when they do show up.  We are the Church (captiol “C”), we are the body of Christ, it’s up to us to let people know they are loved and welcome when they make the effort to attend our church (little “c”) services.  Lets make every effort to be the kind of “C”hurch God wants us to be so that people who attend “c”hurch feel invited, welcomed, included and accepted.  As for my part to play…I’m going to start by flossing my teeth!                                                                                                

Sermon from Sunday: The Quadrilateral

We started a new sermon series at Catawba UMC this Sunday called the Wesleyan Way.  Here's the first one in the series from this Sunday, The Qaudrilateral (you can also scroll tot he bottom of this blog to listen to the message):

We are starting a new series this morning called the Wesleyan Way.  John Wesley (pic) is the founder and father of the Methodist church as we know it.  He was an Anglican priest in the early 1700’s and started doing things that the church of England didn’t like…like going to the coal miners to preach.  The Church of England believed people should come to them, Wesley believed the Church should bring the gospel to the people.  So that’s what he did and the Church of England was not very happy.  Wesley never lost his credentials as an Anglican priest but he did for all other purposes leave the Anglican Church and start a new movement of people early on called Methodists.

You might be wondering what in the world this word found in the title of the sermon today is: “quadrilateral.”  Let me ask you this: How do you know who God is and what God expects of you?  How do you know that God exists?  How do you know that God loves you?  Even more practically, how do you know that murder is wrong?  How do you know that lying and stealing is wrong?  How do you know that forgiveness is right?

The quadrilateral was John Wesley’s way of exploring and even answering these questions.  The word itself quadrilateral was coined by a United Methodist scholar named Albert Outler.  After spending an incredible amount of time reading John Wesley’s writings, Outler concluded that for Wesley there are four resources that help us answer those questions.  Outler coined those four resources the “quadrilateral.  They are: scripture, tradition, reason and experience.  You would have to be really into this to get this T-Shirt: Pic.

                Some of you might be thinking, how in the world does this apply to me and why should I care about two dead guys who came up with the concept and word quadrilateral?  It’s a fair question and one I might be asking if I was in your place this morning.  Look at it this way: if you have ever been faced with a hard decision this applies to you.  Because these are four God given resources made available to Christians for decision making.  Think about it, faced with a hard decision:  What does scripture say?  What does tradition, the past say and what can I learn from it?  What does my brain tell me, what’s logical, that’s reason?  What does my experience tell me, what does the Holy Spirit living inside me tell me?  So the quadrilateral is a set of four resources that helps us know who God is and what God expects of us.

            One more thing, while this is distinctly an invention within the Methodist church, I hope you see that this is applicable within any denomination.  That while it was formed within Methodism, it’s not just a Methodist tool, it’s a tool any Christian of any denomination can use.  And so maybe you love the Methodist Church and that’s great, maybe you’re more indifferent to the Methodist church and that’s just where you are, either way, this idea of the quadrilateral is helpful for anyone who calls themselves a Christian. 

            Let’s look at each one of these resources.  For Wesley, these four resources were not of equal value.  Scripture was primary.  Scripture was the main one.  Albert Outler said before he died that he wished he had not coined the word quadrilateral because so many people took it to mean that each of the four resources are equal.  And that’s not what he meant because that’s not what Wesley believed.  A statement found in the United Methodist Book of Discipline offers a correct understanding of the quadrilateral: "Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason. Scripture [however] is primary, revealing the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation.'"                 

Scripture attests to itself in 2 Timothy 3:16.  It is God breathed.  It is of a divine origin.  However, we know, that it was written by people, mostly by men.  Its human element does not take away from its divine origin and it’s divine origin does not take away from its human element.  The Bible is our primary source for all things related to our faith and the practice of our faith.  People will say “what about the contradictions in the Bible and what about where it’s wrong when it comes to science.  The Bible was written by people influenced by, inspired by, led by God Himself.  However, it is not a scientific textbook and was not meant to be a scientific textbook.  It is primary for faith and practice, not primary for science and math.  So the other three resources: tradition, experience and reason only make sense if they are in conjuction with scripture.  Lets talk about tradition.

            Tradition is about history.  It’s about what has happened in the past.  Both good and bad.  We learn from the bad and we celebrate the good.  Within the Methodist church itself there is some bad.  The early Methodist church supported the separation of whites and blacks even within the church itself.  That’s something the Methodist church is not proud of and it’s how the African Methodist Episcopal church or AME church began.  Black people weren’t happy so they started their own denomination.  I don’t blame them.  We learned that ordaining women is a good thing.  It took several years after the Methodist Church began before it would ordain women. 

            There’s some good things as well.  In our tradition John Wesley believed in personal holiness and social justice.  He believed that if you were a holy person, you would naturally be involved in making the world a better place.  The coined the rules of life that as an ordained person I agreed to uphold: Do no harm, Do all the good you can and attend to the ordinances of God.  Which means practice the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, fasting, communion and attending worship services on a regular basis.  Some of you would be surprised to know that one of our traditions is that at one time in the early 1800’s we were known as “shouting Methodists.”  What we now call “Pentecostal churches” and “Charismatic churches” started at this time with the holiness movement of the Methodist Church.  Look at this report given by someone in the Formalist tradition in 1848.

Such groaning and shouting, it sets me to doubting.

I fear such religion is only a dream.

The preachers were stamping, the people were jumping,

And screaming so loud that I nothing could hear....

The men they were bawling, the women were squalling,

I know not for my part how any could pray....

Amid such a clatter who knows what's the matter?

Or who can attend unto what is declared?

To see them behaving, like drunkards, all raving,

And lying and rolling prostrate on the ground.

I really felt awful, and sometimes felt fearful

That I'd be the next that would come tumbling down.

                The services where people are shouting and dancing and laying prostrate on the ground, that was the Methodist church, that was us at one time.  So if you want to talk about tradition, it doesn’t just mean the hymns, it doesn’t just mean saying the Lord’s prayer every Sunday, lets talk about all the traditions.  If you consider yourself a traditionalist then why aren’t you shouting?  That’s part of the tradition of the Methodist church.  When Wesley talked about the importance of tradition, he was talking about those things we can learn from and those things we should celebrate.  Where did the Methodist church get this idea that worship had to be quiet and somber and rigid?

            Now, there are some traditions that are steeped in historical struggle.  One of those traditions is the Apostle’s Creed.  This statement of belief did not just happen on it’s on, it took years and years to develop and it’s earliest form was established in the 4^th century.  Wesley believed that the Apostle’s Creed was an accurate statement of faith that we as Methodists, more importantly, we as Christians can share together.  Would stand and say it with me: Apostle’s Creed.

The author of Hebrews has just listed heroes of Bible and talked about how their faith allowed them to do incredible things.  In chapter 12 the authors says this: Hebrews 12:1-2.  We have a history, a tradition of people who did incredible things because of their faith, let us join the tradition of fixing our eyes on Jesus as well.

Lets talk about reason.  Wesley declared “Is it not reason (assisted by the Holy Ghost) which enables us to understand what the Holy Scriptures declare concerning the being and attributes of God? – concerning his eternity and immensity; his power, wisdom, and holiness?  It is by reason that God enables us in some measure to comprehend his method of dealing with the children of men; the nature of his various dispensations, of the old and new covenant, of the law and the gospel.”^[1]  What Wesley is saying is that God gave us a brain, use it.  Paul says the same thing in Romans 12:1-2.  He’s talked about the people of Israel being saved and all people being invited to be a part of the Kingdom of God and then he says:

Paul says if you want to know God’s good and perfect will for you, you need to be transformed not by your heart, not by your feelings, not by your faith, by your mind.  What does your mind do, it reasons.  It uses logic.  It thinks.  Jesus was asked one time by a man how someone inherits eternal life.  Jesus said what do you think?  The man said: Luke 10:27.  Jesus says yes, you’re right.  Jesus doesn’t correct him even though he quoted a beloved scripture by Jewish people…this guy quoted it wrong.  The original quote is to love the lord with all you heart, soul and strength.  Here the mind is added and Jesus says yes.

Sometimes our brains disagree with each other.  Sometimes the way I reason things and the way my wife reasons things are very different.  Therefore, reason itself does not lead to truth.  But it is a resource for us to use when in line with scripture that helps us make good decisions and more than that helps us to know God.

Last but not least is experience.  Now, when we think of experience we think of what has happened to us in the past and what we have learned through it.  That is not what Wesley meant by experience.  Wesley was very specific in what he meant by the word experience when it came to knowing God.  And Albert Outler, remember, the guy who coined the phrase quadrilateral, tried to convey this specific meaning but people have taken to mean whatever they want it to mean.

Kevin M. Watson is Assistant Professor of Wesleyan Studies at Seattle Pacific Seminary and says this:

Outler’s understanding of the role of experience in Wesley’s theology is not any experience that a person has, it is the distinctively Christian experience of assurance of the forgiveness of one’s sins. It is the experience of the witness of the Spirit. Wesley was quite fond of citing Romans 8:16 to illustrate this: “it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

            In case you didn’t catch that.  For Wesley the kind of experience he’s talking about is the experience of conversion.  The experience of being saved.  The experience of giving your life to Christ to live on this earth and to have the hope of an eternal future.  If you haven’t been converted in years, you are missing out.  For Wesley the idea of conversion, the idea of knowing we are forgiven for our sins, was something we should do daily, even hourly.  When is the last time you experienced God?  When is the last time you felt the assurance of the forgiveness of sins?  This morning I want to give you an opportunity to have that experience.  The altar is open.  You are welcome to come forward and pray or you can do it in your own pew. 

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[1] WOW, Sermon 70, Case of Reason Impartially Considered.