07 Oct

Preaching To My Two Year Old by Sam Hight

“35 Jesus wept” – John 11:35 (ESV)

We’ve begun experimenting with scripture memorisation for April (2 years old). She learns many words and phrases from us so we thought that this would not be an impossible task. Even so, we decided to start with the shortest verse in the Bible.

It’s not a perfect process by a long shot, but that’s not the point. It’s the spiritual discipline of scripture memorisation which we want her to develop.

When April quotes this verse she doesn’t quote the chapter and verse. We’ll keep working on that but larger numbers are not very consistent for her yet. She also says, “Jesus wet,” which isn’t really too far off since she knows that weeping is crying and crying is a wet process. I doubt it is deliberate interpretation at this stage but it is very cute.

This morning April was sitting on my knee while I was reading my Bible. I thought I would show her the verse in the book so she could see that it came from God and not just from mum and dad.

Our children see us reading a fair bit. They know the words are the important bit and that we can read words from a book or from a screen and they are just as important. But the Bible has a special significance, whether electronic or paper, and our children know this too.

As we read the two words of April’s memory verse, I was struck by how much text was on the screen and I considered what a two year old would notice when they looked at the jumble of words. Too many words for a child who has to consider each letter carefully to decipher them one a a time – very overwhelming.

I decided that an explanation of the verse was called for instead of just marveling at words and letters.

I started with a question, “April, do you know why Jesus was crying?”

“No, papa.”

“Jesus was crying because his friend had died.”

No point in sugar coating it, I thought, but that’s not something she could comprehend yet… How to communicate this concept to a small child.

“That means his friend had gone away for a long time and Jesus wouldn’t see him any more. Jesus would really miss his friend. It’s like when you and papa visit Queenie and Rangi and we start to miss mamma.

Jesus was really missing his friend so he wept.

But Jesus is special so he made his friend come back.

When you and papa are away we can’t make mama just come back. We have to get in the car and drive all the way to her. Jesus can just make mama to be there with us so we don’t miss her any more.”

I watched her thoughtful two year old expression for a few seconds…

And then her attention span was at an end and she slipped off my lap and went to dance to the music playing in the background.

If I had the attention of little April for longer I would like to have shown her how she can ask Jesus to fix things that upset her. Or to make her feel better when things can’t be fixed.

Any opportunity to show the character of God to my children, even on a very simple level like this, is well worth the time spent. We parents must constantly be on the look out for opportunities to glorify God before our children. Some are obvious like this, but some are not so obvious such as keeping cool when something goes wrong or frustrations mount up.

I’m certain that most of what I said went over her head, but this is a message we will come back to regularly with April. Just like adults, children need to hear things over and over before they stick. I think it’s important to note that God’s word won’t return empty as it will accomplish what he sets for it to do (Isaiah 55:10-11). This applies for children or for adults, even if it might seem a little silly to speak about such deep concepts with children.

It is always worth it to speak holy truth to our children. Always. I can also testify that it is such a rewarding feeling if children hear something from the Bible which makes them happy. The caution then is to not just stay within the happy parts of scripture like blessing, mercy and love. Death, sin and judgement are also important, but at the right time.

Please feel free to share your experiences with teaching God’s word to your children. God bless.

05 Jul

Extended Scripture Memorisation Experiment by Sam Hight

For the past two and a half months I have been trialling the memorisation of larger chunks of the Bible. I have successfully memorised the book of Jude (25 verses) and the first two chapters of 1st John (39 verses) and will continue the practice as long as my life (God willing).

I’m not sharing this to brag. I’m sharing this because I think pretty much anyone is capable of doing this and it is a given that such memorisation is good for your spiritual development.

I’ve had a number of obstacles through this process which have made it a challenge to keep up the practice, but despite these it has proven surprisingly easy. If you are similarly challenged I want to encourage you that you can do this still, and if you are not facing similar obstacles then you have no excuse at all.

Some Of My Obstacles (And Why They Should Not Stop You)

Time – this must take a while to work on right? Actually, it takes about five to ten minutes in the morning over breakfast in my modified version, and a few minutes scattered here and there through the day to check and correct what I learned in the morning. The long part is daily reciting the whole of what I’ve already learned (developing long term retention) but this I do while driving or riding to and from work, or while spending a few moments with my eldest daughter while putting her to bed (she asks, “Papa lie on the floor?” and I quote about 30 verses)

Tiredness – This can be hard to overcome and takes a little persistence. However, if I keep in mind that the method will definitely work, even through the foggy-tired-brain of a father of sleepless young children, I do manage to stay positive during the practice until each part is successfully completed. Because the method is basically repetition it is almost a mindless process anyway. It tends to go faster if the mind is engaged, but it can definitely be done under less than ideal mental conditions.

Distractions – similar to tiredness, distractions require some persistence to overcome. This is not because of the interruptions to the memorisation process, which you just make time for when there are no distractions around (get up a little earlier or go to bed a little later – when all of the distractions/children are asleep). This is more an issue of an overworked or divided mind which refuses to focus on the task at hand. Once again, trusting the process and committing to completing the verse repetitions is all that is required.

Really, all hurdles to completing such a beneficial practice for your spiritual walk will be overcome if you just commit to doing it, and trust God to make it happen. You will always find a way through if you are serious about making the effort. I hope I have inspired you to make the effort!

Resources:
Extended Scripture Memorization by Dr. Andrew Davis (free PDF or for purchase on Amazon)
Video of me showing how to do the daily memorisation, minus the extended quoting of the entire previously memorised section:


Video of me quoting the book of Jude:

01 May

“Expository Preaching: Time for Caution” by Iain H Murray (289/1600)

Ian Murray puts forward two views of what constitutes expository preaching:

  1. Where the preacher “…confine[s] himself to the text of Scripture, and … make[s] the sense plain to others…”
  2. The same as the first except this also insists upon working through a book or passage of the Bible consecutively.

Murray is addressing the view that the second way of expository preaching is right and the first, applied to texts of scripture which are unrelated from week to week, is wrong.

There are several obvious benefits to preaching through entire passages/books, and Murray details them briefly. However, his intent is to focus on the disadvantages of such a style of preaching.

First, not every preacher is gifted in this style of preaching.

Second, preaching isn’t necessarily about covering as much of the Bible as possible – it’s about meeting the current needs of the congregation.

Third, working through an entire section of scripture consecutively can easily become a lecture rather than a sermon.

Fourth, the consecutive style tends away from being memorable due to covering too many ideas (rather than picking one or two main ideas from the passage). Murray explains that this is why Reformed preaching is often considered dull.

Fifth, consecutive preaching  does not fit well to an evangelistic style. Murray says that “preaching to heart and conscience commonly disappears.”

Murray finishes by saying that these points should not stop this style of preaching from happening, but that preachers must use it at the right time along with the one-off type messages in their right time. He is eager to emphasise that both consecutive and individual/isolated verses can be expositonally preached, and that all preaching must be exposition of the Bible.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/Expository_Preaching_Iain_Murray.pdf 

15 Jan

Made In The Image Of God by Sam Hight

When challenging ourselves to treat others with love and respect, it can be difficult to see anything worth loving and respecting in them. Drug dealers, dole bludgers, disobedient kids, and disabled people (who may seem like a drain on society).

It is easy to put yourself above these others because you have no illegal addiction, work for your livelihood, obey the rules, and contribute more than you take. But these things are very minor, vanishingly minor even, compared to the one thing which gives each of us our surpassing worth.

You, me, and everyone who makes you grind your teeth in “righteous” anger at their worthlessness – we are all made by God and made in his image. Being an image bearer of the God of the Universe is a crown of high royal standing and worthy of love and respect. This is true even if those people are not living up to the standard for which they were created. Mistreat royalty, even if they mistreat you first, and it is “off with your head”.

I want to say it again because it is so important that you understand this: Our worth comes from our relationship to God. He made all of us. Our actions don’t really reflect our worth because we all fail to live up to that high, high standard which our Creator has set for us.

A quick note on love: love is not always a feeling, and that is true most especially in this case. Love is committing to do what is caring for another’s wellbeing and reputation, and honouring their inherent value through actions. The feelings tend to follow in any case. Sometimes it is hard to feel love for certain of your family members but you do the loving thing anyway. It’s not such a huge step to love your enemies from there. It is often those closest to you, who you love the most, who will wound you the worst anyway!

A quick question: We can see now (hopefully) that everyone is worthy of your loving kindness, but are you truly living up to the value of your own royal worth? How can you know? What can you do if you are failing in this?

You can only know what is expected of you by reading the instructions from your Creator and following them as best you can. Read your Bible for the details but here is the essence of those instructions:

You are expected to be perfect in pleasing your Creator. That is what he made you for. Nobody has lived up to that level of worth and we are all guilty of undervaluing ourselves and others. This is such a wicked crime because it means we are undervaluing the One who made us and stamped his image on us. We have failed to please God by our actions and attitudes towards each other and towards God.

But God is merciful and made a way for us to be forgiven and to be restored to the function for which he made us. Rather than take our own deserving punishment in hell, God’s son Jesus will take it for us on the cross if we turn to him and follow his way of living. This will begin a personal transformation toward purity which will continue through this life. And when Jesus returns at the end of the age we will complete that transformation and we will be perfectly pleasing to the Lord. We will never again undervalue him or his image.

Free Bible Apps:
YouVersion (Android, iOS)
Logos (Android, iOS)
ESV (Android, iOS)

Bible websites:
Bible Gateway
ESV

10 Jan

“Making Sense of Scripture’s ‘Inconsistency'” by Tim Keller (243/1137)

Tim Keller addresses the common objection to Christianity, that of the inconsistency of Christians following only the rules from the Bible which seem to suit them. For example, the Old Testament sacrificial laws and laws about stoning disobedient children are ignored but the laws about prohibiting homosexual behaviour are not.

Keller explains that the essential morality in the Old Testament continues in the New Testament and in the teachings of Jesus, however the ceremonial laws and laws about ritual cleanliness are no longer in action as they have been fulfilled in Jesus.

He also explains that the punishments for moral crimes in the Old Testament are different to those for today. This is because of the difference between the religiously controlled state law of Old Testament Israel and the church instituted by Christ which is a part of all nations and cultures under their own state rule.

Keller finishes with the observation that, “If Christ is God, then this way of reading the Bible makes sense,” and that those objecting to Christianity on the grounds of their misunderstanding of what seems to them to be inconsistency; those people are asking Christians to deny this core of Christianity in order to make Christianity not make sense, i.e. they make an assertion without logic behind it.

Christianity, properly understood, must lead to picking only some rules to follow from the Old Testament.

The full article is required reading for a deeper understanding.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/mobile/article/tgc/making-sense-of-scriptures-inconsistency

08 Jan

Set Your Mind On Things That Are Above by Sam Hight

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” – Colossians 3:2

It’s hard to believe that every Christian can feel as Paul the Apostle did when he said that he was the chief of sinners. He was responsible for the death of many genuine and godly believers in Jesus, and had made it his mission to quash Christianity completely. Yet I can tell you that it is not only our actions but our thoughts which condemn us, and this raises each of us to the level of the worst sinner ever.

Jesus was clear on this in the Sermon on the Mount when he raised lust and anger to the level of adultery and murder. The thoughts of your mind are exceedingly sinful when they are set on the wrong things.

I think we all know enough to be able to tell when something is bad in our mind, but often these things occur to us without any conscious ability to control them popping into our awareness. The first appearance of wicked thoughts is not sin, but it is a sign of our sinful nature. It is sin when you set your mind on them, that is, when you think them again because you are dwelling on them, when you linger a little longer on these hellish thoughts than you should.

As fast as you can you need to set your mind on things that are above – godly things – and not hide these sinful ideas inside yourself and nourish them and grow their power over you.

I’m not going to mention specific thoughts and ideas of evil, for a number of reasons which I won’t go into here, but the general terms for these things are commonly mentioned in the Bible:

“sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” – Galatians 5:19-21

I’ve been a Christian for 15 years, since I was 18 years old. During this time I have been fighting sin in my life in thought, word, and deed. I’m far from perfect, but by the grace of God I have continued to grow in holiness and purity of mind. However, just a few years of setting my mind on things that are on earth – doing all that I wanted to fulfil my earthly desires without restraint (except for the restraining notion of the shame of being found out as a terribly wicked person); these few years of practising evil and thinking about evil things have continued to be a burden as I’ve tried to practise holiness.

15 years in the pursuit of holiness and I am still worn down by the wickedness of my mind to suggest evil things. Just a few years of unrestrained evil during my teenage years has set a pattern of thinking which, while thankfully reducing every year, will be with me until I die or until Jesus returns.

It is so vital that we encourage young boys and girls to set their mind on things that are above from an early age so that they are not worn down by the battle against themselves when they are adults. This is in part so that they can spend more of their energy building the Kingdom externally amongst God’s people rather than internally inside themselves.

Now, some might object that these thoughts are not really that bad, that they are definitely not as bad as carrying out the acts for real. That may be true because you are not involving anyone else in your sin, causing them to participate in the actions which you think about. However, we have seen from Jesus that a thought is as good as a deed at condemning you to hell, so there must be a little more to it.

I think that this is because the gravity of a crime is determined by who that crime is committed against. And all sin is against God, who created us for a holy purpose which we deny and corrupt by our evil thoughts and actions. As far as God is concerned, since he sees the thoughts and intentions of our hearts as clearly as he sees our actions, there is no difference.

Others might object that such thoughts are more than humans are capable of thinking for themselves and that it must be devils putting them into their mind. Again, there is an element of truth to this objection, that Satan can have enormous power over people to suggest such things, but you must not underestimate the creative imaginations of humans to come up with wildly wicked ideas.

God has intended our intelligence and our creativity for good, but we continually use them for bad. And that is why we must set our mind on the things that are above, because in doing so we train our conscious and our subconscious to dwell on holy things. This way, we will find that less evil thoughts from the back of our mind, which we are less aware of, will be sent forward to full awareness in the front. This then leads to less sinful and distracting thoughts for us to deal with.

An important note to remember, for Christians and non-Christians, is that Jesus has died to take the punishment for sin. If we put our trust in him to do this for us, we can then put our failures of mind and body behind us and set ourselves on doing what we know is right. Every day is a battle for holiness, but our failures do not need to weigh us down. We must continually thank Jesus for the forgiveness that we have for our daily errors, and then set our minds on things that are above so that it becomes more natural for us to think right and to do right.

And we can also look forward to the return off Jesus, when every evil notion and urge will be completely removed from all of creation, and we will finally have the rest in our minds which Christians should crave daily. What a wonderful relief that will be!

Some practical ideas for setting your mind on things that are above:

    Read your Bible – how much closer to things that are above can you get than filling your mind with the Word of God? And every day, multiple times a day, you should fill your mind with Scripture rather than filling it with the latest TV series about worldly fancies.
    Memorise Bible verses – perhaps pick Colossians 3:2 to start so that in those moments where evil thoughts pop into your mind you can immediately quote to yourself “set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”.
    Make a practice of wondering about people’s faith backgrounds and where they will spend eternity – many of our unholy thoughts are about other people, so when you talk with people or walk past them in the street you should look them in the eyes and try to consider their eternal fate or detect clues about their faith so that you can ask about these things.
    Keep yourself busy enough mentally and physically so that you do not have an idle mind which is waiting for something to occur to it – hard work is not bad, games are not bad (sudoku, cryptic crosswords if you can), reading is not bad, so fill your mind and life with activity which will grow your potential to be holy and to think holy things.

What other practical ideas do you have for setting your mind on things that are above? Add them in the comments below.

04 Jan

The Word In The Old Testament by Sam Hight

Under the Old Covenant, which was started during Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, the High Priest would enter into the tent of meeting (the most holy place) to meet with the Lord. God’s visible presence marked the tent as holy, either by falling on that location as a cloud or as fire.

It is impossible to know just how the people of Israel would have felt when witnessing this, but we can be sure that a holy fear or terror would have been a part of the experience. Imagine for a moment that you are standing in front of a bonfire which is raging as it burns a pile of wood. Or maybe you’ve experienced the fear of being in the path of a furious bush fire – out of your control and heading right for you…

Consider the fear, but also consider the privilege of being able to enter that tent without being consumed by the fire.

In that tent there were a number of items. Some were man made and some were made by the hand of God himself. The elaborate garments, utensils, etc. were man made – his best efforts to produce an offering that was acceptable to God, and worshipping him how he said he wanted them to worship. All of these things were made from the matter which God had already made in Creation. And from God there was his law, written by his own hand, and the miraculous bread from heaven.

There was bread made by man and bread made by God in that place. I think that this was the only item which both brought there. Is there symbolism in a shared meal, fellowship over potluck food? I think so. Now we have Jesus though, the Bread of Life, from whom we will never need to eat again once he has fed us of himself.

Also in that place of God’s presence was the law of God. This shows that his presence is there when we read the Bible today. This is one of the most privileged positions, in the presence of the Word of God, and now blasted wide open, beyond the bounds of a mere tent and veil, for all to partake of freely if they care to do so.

Do we value the Word as we should? Do we treat every detail as a deliberate part of the message from God? Do we enter into his presence often to hear from him in the sure word of Scripture? Do we?

I urge you… Please do.

01 Jan

Why Does A Christian Have To Read Their Bible Regularly? by Sam Hight

I am a person who loves to read. If I had the time and money for books I would read about a thousand times more than I do. I realise that not everyone is a natural and passionate reader like I am.

Even for me, it is sometimes a battle to make sure that I read my Bible. However, I am always of the mind that it is essential to read it regularly and I discipline myself to do so.

I am continually shocked, not by the staggering number of Christians who fail to read their Bibles regularly but, by the many Christians who don’t feel bad about their failure in this duty. Some are professing Christians who are not really Christians, some are trying to justify themselves because that is their pattern of behaviour when confronted with their sin, and some genuinely (but foolishly) think that the little they pick up from occasional reading is sufficient.

Here are a few quick reasons for reading the Bible regularly:

It is God’s Word to man – God is important and he determines your eternal fate. Listen to what he has to say, take it seriously, live by it.

It is an amazing read and will make your heart sing and your mind expand.

If other things in your life are more important than the Bible, these things will guide your thinking and your decisions. Is TV more important to you than the Bible? Are video games or social media more important to you than God’s Word? If so then the odds are you don’t even know how much influence these worldly things have on you. What should influence you more?

Psalm One says that you will be blessed and you will prosper if you meditate at all times on the Word of God.

Psalm 119 says that you can overcome sin in your life by taking the Word of God into your heart.

Jesus said in John 8 that the truth of his words will set you free.

At the end of the day, what you value is what defines you. And what you truly value is what you keep coming back to regularly. If you don’t value the Words of God graciously given to you, then you are definitely not a Christian.

Why not take the time to refocus your life on Jesus and his Word this year? Show the world who you follow and be a better advocate for the truth which can save the world.

What other reasons for reading your Bible are particularly important to you?

Further resources:
Daily Verse Project
A 2 Year Bible Reading Plan (article and helpful suggestions)
YouVersion Bible Software – free audio options available (Bible app available on iTunes and Play Store)
Logos Bible Software (iTunes app and Play Store app also available)

25 Dec

The Unforgivable Sin and Losing Your Salvation by Sam Hight

Some truths in the Bible are not obvious. Some truths seem obvious at first, but then when you read more you find what seems to contradict.

The Christian who trusts God and is convinced that His Word is true will feel caught between a rock and a hard place at these times. The rock is their conviction that scripture is without error. The hard place is that such a contradiction seems to be an error. Yet you can ease your mind and trust that your faith is well placed if you have years of interaction with the Bible and know that the contradiction is no contradiction – just that there is some key information lacking.

You can also ease your mind by doing some research, and thinking, and find a solution which deals fairly with the contradiction.

I want to share one example of these sorts of difficulties which branches into two, and I’ll share a solution. I’ll present the dilemma in the form of a question: Can a Christian lose their salvation?

On the one hand we have 1 John 5:13

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

This seems to show that we can know, for sure, that we have eternal life. That sounds like assurance to me! But then we have Hebrews 6:4-6

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”

This seems to show that a person can “fall away” after being “enlightened” and having “tasted the heavenly gift” which seems like a person can lose their salvation.

So what is going on, and what does this have to do with the unforgivable sin? We’ll get to that, but first I want to share two ways how some would wrongly deal with this.

The first wrong way to deal with a contradiction is to ignore it. Ignoring a problem may make you feel better but it is for the wrong reasons. The goal is not to just feel better. The goal is to have confidence in the Word, given to us by God. And not only that, we also want to help others to trust the Bible and God and be saved. Ignoring is not the same as setting it aside for later consideration, but make a note and keep coming back to it until you are satisfied.

The second wrong way is to come up with some vaguely correct interpretation which seems plausible. Again, this gives you a good feeling so that you can at least suggest something to show that there might be a solution. But again, this is unsatisfying and ultimately does nothing to help develop a lasting confidence in God and His Word. Think about how a non-believer will deal with the situation: they raise an objection to Christianity saying that the Bible is full of contradictions and provide an example, you suggest a possible solution, they then tear it apart. How would you feel if you have been clinging to that possibility for decades without a deeper consideration of the issue? I think the non-believer will have done more for ruining your faith than you will have done to grow their confidence in God’s Word!

Some have dealt with this specific example by saying something like this: “There is no doubt that we can fall away from Hebrews 6, so 1 John 5 must be talking about something else. Maybe it’s saying that you can have assurance for that moment only? That sounds plausible because I know people who have seemed to be Christians but have then left their faith to do drugs and stuff and have never returned.”

The plausible attempt in this case will favour the Hebrews 6 verses, possibly because they seem clearer and possibly because they come first in the Bible so that’s the bit read first which sticks in our minds. And it might even have a good result for the person who believes that they can lose their salvation because they will be diligent to make sure that they don’t lose it.

The problem with this plausible interpretation is that you don’t really have assurance of being saved if you can lose your salvation. Think about it. And think about this: Where does that assurance come from? From yourself or from God’s Spirit? If it comes from yourself, or from a friend, then what happens if you change your mind or uncover evidence that you might not be saved? People are changeable, God is not. And God knows the beginning from the end so he knows whether you will be saved or not in the end. Not only that, but He actively predestined your salvation before the foundation of the world, if you are born again.

How can you lose your salvation if God has given it to you before you were born? In fact, a gift can be returned, but God has made us to be a vessel of salvation so that we would not want to return the gift ever. That is, if we are born again and truly a Christian.

So what is the solution? How do we convince the Atheist who says that the Bible contradicts here?

Let’s take a look at Matthew 12:22-32

“Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

This may seem like a random passage, which has nothing to do with assurance of salvation at first, but please bear with me.

At first, it may seem that this is showing that you can lose your salvation because all you have to do is speak against the Holy Spirit. So anyone who says, for example, that Pentecostal “healings” and “miracles” are not always (or not often, if at all) a work of the Holy Spirit are potentially losing their salvation and can never be saved again.

But lets dig a little deeper.

The first idea to tease out of this passage from Matthew 12 is the concept of “The Kingdom”. Jesus, as Messiah (the Son of David in verse 23) was to demonstrate victory over Satan, and he did this convincingly, plundering Satan’s kingdom (in verse 26 “his” kingdom is Satan’s kingdom). Jesus doesn’t only bind the strong man (Satan) and plunder his goods, causing his kingdom to fall. Jesus also replaces Satan’s kingdom with his own Kingdom of Heaven (the Kingdom of God which has come already, at least in part, in verse 28).

By denying Jesus and his Kingdom, people are clearly not saved, or are not a part of that Kingdom. If they are not a part of the Kingdom of God in “this age” (verse 32) they will also not be a part of the Kingdom of God in the “age to come”.

So what is unforgivable about not being in the Kingdom of God? Everyone starts out that way from birth and must be saved to come into the Kingdom. It can’t be unforgivable then, at least not in the sense that everyone starts outside the Kingdom. Otherwise nobody would ever be saved.

But when Jesus brought the gifts of the Kingdom of God to those around him, which included victory over Satanic powers, healings, food to ease hunger, and the truth to set people free from Satan’s kingdom of worldly lies; those who “tasted” (Hebrews 6) this, experiencing the enlightenment and tasting “the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,” – those who then fall away from participating in the Kingdom this way will remain in Satan’s kingdom and be unsaved.

If you die, having tasted it but not joining it by being born again into the Kingdom, you will not be forgiven in The Judgement which precedes the eternal age to come, and your eternal state in that eternal age will be to remain in Satan’s kingdom which is to receive punishment in hell that was prepared for Satan and his fallen angels.

Heavy.

That’s why we need Jesus, to share in his Kingdom and to enter in by forsaking ourselves and our lives which are dominated by Satan and Satan’s world. And to trust Jesus that his Holy Spirit will cause us to be born again into the Kingdom of Heaven.

And our contradiction is resolved, because we see that Hebrews chapter 6 is speaking of those who are never saved in the first place. They have experienced the fruit of the Kingdom of Heaven and have even been enlightened by someone sharing the truth of the Kingdom with them – as I have done with you here and now – but they have not taken the step of joining the Kingdom, which by implication is to deny that it is good and that these gifts from the work of the Holy Spirit are worth taking up.

To taste of the Kingdom and then deny it in this life – never committing to Christ as Lord of your Kingdom – is to commit the Unforgivable Sin of denying that the work of the Holy Spirit is holy and good and worthy of your praise.

Those Christians around who who have shared of themselves and have demonstrated the Kingdom to you, providing gifts and benefits which have profited your well-being, they are also showing the work of the Spirit in their lives for you to taste. Their salvation may be certain, but if you turn from their example and pass it off as “just another one of those annoying do-good-ers” then you are denying the Spirit of Truth.

Sure, there are pretenders who give Christianity a bad name, but they are also denying the work of God by serving their own selfish desires and will get a nasty shock at The Judgement when Jesus says to them that he never knew them. Instead of using pretenders as an excuse to deny the goodness which comes through God’s genuine people, why not join them and have confidence in your eternity, and in God’s Word.

15 Dec

How I Included The Gospel In My Leaving Speech by Sam Hight

After being at Hillcrest High School for ten years, I am leaving to go to Hamilton Christian School. The following is an excerpt from my leaving speech to the staff there.

I began by sharing some memories of my involvement, then some personal things about myself that they might not know, leading in to why I was leaving if I thought Hillcrest was so great. I shared that it was for faith reasons and simplifying my life by merging two strands of involvement (faith/ministry and work) into one.

Then I said this. Some parts are not full sentences but bullet points which I expanded upon:


“Many of you come from faith backgrounds yourselves, so I’d like to quickly share a little about how my own faith adds into this:

As I said, I don’t come from a Christian family.
– Converted as an adult
– At a Christian friends prompting, I pretty much just read the NT of the Bible and believed it.
– What I read didn’t seem that nice to me, for instance finding out that I wasn’t as good a person as I thought I was, and that I was in need of Jesus to take the eternal punishment that I deserve.
– But even though I didn’t totally like what I read, I couldn’t ignore the growing conviction that it was truth, and the longer I’ve studied the Bible, alongside science, philosophy, observations of the world, human nature, etc. the stronger that conviction has grown. I’ve made it a habit to engage with the strongest arguments against my faith to be sure that what I believe is grounded in truth.

I think, every person needs to make a reasoned choice about two very important things regarding spirituality:

The first is whether God exists or not – and I want to emphasise that it needs to be a reasoned choice, not just what feels right or tickles our emotions in a particular way – there is a true reality one way or another, and what we believe with regard to this will affect our lives in some profound ways…

The second is that, if God exists, what is He saying to you and how can you trust it as truth? And I’m talking about why a religious text, such as the Bible or Koran, or a self proclaimed prophet should be trusted as speaking for God.”

I then moved on to thanking a bunch of people for specific things during my time there and wished everyone all the best for the future.