Under New Management from Romans 6

Today I am commenting on Romans 6:1-14.

 

No doubt, we have all seen the sign outside a local business which proclaims that it’s “Under New Management.” The shop has the same name, and possibly even the same merchandise, but has different owners and staff.

 

This was done because the shop was not making money.  It was losing customers and wasn't financially viable.  The change was made to stem the loss of trade and to increase the customers.

This only works if the change of management makes a difference: in products, in prices, in service.  If there is no difference, the business won't be saved from bankruptcy. This also applies to our lives as we see in Romans 6:1-14.

In Christ We Have A New Life:

Verses 1-7 tell us that in Christ we can have a new life.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Like a failing business, we need a new life. A rotten building must be redeveloped, not just painted.  If the current manager is failing, a replacement is needed, like firing the manager of a baseball team or the head coach of a football team. When we fail at managing our lives, and we all do fail, we need a new manager to take over.

           

Christ will give us new life if we ask Him to. While there are no hostile takeovers in God's Kingdom, Jesus is glad to take over if we will let Him. Galatians 2:20 explains this process the best: “I have been crucified in Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

 

When we receive the free gift of salvation from Jesus, we've been taken over by new management which has new plans for our life! We look the same outside but are different inside!

 

This is like two computers from the same manufacturer. They may have the same case, keyboard, and display, but the internal specifications may be very different between the two. They may look the same but have totally different performance. What is inside makes all the difference!

           

Paul taught that Baptism is a great illustration of what happens when Jesus takes over our lives. Baptism originated in the Jewish sect “Essenes” from whom we have the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was used by John The Baptist as a sign of a new beginning and a repentance from old ways of living.

 

According to Paul, when we are immersed it symbolizes death to the old life, and when we come up out of the water, we are rising to new life, like the old saying, “Bury a seed, produce a tree.”

 

In Christ We Have a New Lord:

 

Verses 6-10 teaches us that in Christ we have a new Lord.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Everyone has a lord. Everyone has a governor.   

        

It might be many different things: self, Satan, world, money, pride, power, possession. One's lord is that person's master, controller, boss; the one who has supreme power over a person. The bottom line is your lord is the one you obey!

 

 Our Lord before Christ is, in a word, sin!

 

In our natural state, before Christ intervenes, we are like an alcoholic, addicted to doing destructive things. We can promise, cry, struggle, but we have no power. We are like a SCUBA diver in the grasp of an octopus's tentacles.

           

With Jesus, we have a new Master, a new controller. We are no longer in the power of sin, and self. We have a new boss, who gives us the power to do what is right!

 

One of the keys to success in a large company or organization, is that you must know for whom you work! When we allow Jesus to save us, then we work for Him. Remember, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

 

In Christ We Have a New Lifestyle:

 

Verses 11-14 teaches us that in Christ we will have a new lifestyle.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 

So, what is the evidence of new management in a business?

Again, in a single word, change.

 

We should see a change in the way business is done.

 

We should see a change in the attitude of the staff.

 

We should see a change in what is produced, hopefully for the better.

           

The evidence of a new life and a new Lord is a new lifestyle. If there are inward changes then that should improve outward performance.

 

I recently overhauled an old computer. I gave it more memory and better storage. It had become sluggish and unreliable, but with new inner parts, it works almost like a brand-new computer. I changed it on the inside and now it has new life, and it shows!        

 

We must begin to live as ones who are alive, not as ones who are dead. We should start to become like our new owner. We should start to speak like our new owner. We need to start to act like our new owner. What’s inside us will always come out be it good or bad!

 

Alcoholics Anonymous has a saying, “If what you say and what you do don’t match, then what you say is a lie and what you do is the truth.”

 

1 John 3:10 asserts that, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”

 

Conclusion:

 

A business is not a building, but an owner and a staff. If you change the owner, you will change the outward results.

 

A person is not a body, but a soul. If you change its Lord, you will change the outward results.

 

This IS the message of The Gospel!

 

Every blessing,

 

Dr. Otis Corbitt

 

Our Heavenly Father from the Gospel of Matthew

Today I am commenting on the term "Father" as we find it in the Gospel of Matthew:

I was blessed to have a Godly, gentle, diligent father, who, along with my mother, loved me and my sister and raised us to be good and productive citizens. I know this is not always the case with fathers; we know that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and not every father is a good father. In my case, however, I am blessed to be my father’s son.

To illustrate this, let me relate an event from many years ago when I was interviewing with a church’s pastor search committee. The committee chairman, who later became my first deacon chairman at that church, had worked for the same company as my dad. They were in different divisions, and they didn’t know each other well, but the committee chair knew my dad by reputation. 

When a committee member asked about my personality and moral character, the chairman replied, “I don’t know him, but if he is anything like his father, he will be a good man.” My eyes always well up with tears when I remember that!

I was blessed to have a wonderful earthly father, which, as I said, many people do not. The truth is, however, we all can have a wonderful Heavenly Father, who is greater than any human father and who Ephesians 4:20 says is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

What are some things we can know about God as our Heavenly Father? Actually, the Gospel of Matthew teaches us quite a lot:

A Blessing Father:

Matthew 5:45 tells us, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

When I was deployed to Iraq and I went out with our commander to visit our companies which were scattered across Baghdad, the sergeant in charge of his security detail always had me ride with him in the first vehicle in our convoy. I suppose he saw me as a good luck charm, but I always reminded Him that God was fair to all people. It is true we never hit an IED, but neither did any of our other vehicles either.

In this passage Matthew reminds us that people are in the center of God’s heart, and He loves to bless us all and that even those who reject Him can enjoy the blessings of this world which He created for all of us to enjoy.

A Personal Father:

In Matthew 6:9-13, we read about how Jesus taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

This prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer, actually teaches many important things about God Our Heavenly Father. Things like:

He wants us to talk with Him! 

God knows all our needs and wants before we pray to Him, yet He still wants to fellowship with us through prayer.

He wants us to honor Him!

God is wonderful and powerful, loving and kind, just and benevolent and He always does the right thing. He deserves our praise!

He wants us to obey Him!

God is a father who really does know what’s best. When we allow Him to rule our lives and our hearts, it blesses Him, and it blesses us also. 

He wants to give us good things!

God is good and He only gives us good things. Matthew 7:9-11 says, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

He forgives us!

As I said above, we all have sinned, fathers and children alike, and we all need God’s forgiveness. It is a wonderful thing that God offers that forgiveness to all through the sacrifice of His Only, Uniquely Begotten Son, who died and rose again, and who ascended into heaven and sits at God’s right hand and who intercedes for us, the Children of God.

He helps us escape temptation!

As Paul taught the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

It is amazing how much that short prayer that is so familiar to us can teach us about God our Father, but the Gospel of Matthew has even more to tell us:

A Protective Father:

Matthew 10:29-31 tells us that God watches over His children. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

A Father Who Is Reflected in His Son:

Matthew also tells how we can know the character qualities of God. We can know what our Father is like by looking at the Son: 

Matthew 11:27 says, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

In His Gospel, John expresses this truth in this way in John 14:7, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

A Saving Father:

Finally, in Matthew 18:12-14, we learn that the Father God wants none of His children to perish: 

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”

Conclusion:

In conclusion, it is easy see from just this one book of the Bible that our God is a wonderful Father. He is great and mighty and loving, and He is more excellent than any human father could ever be. What does this mean for us, personally?

First, we need to be sure we are His children. Jesus offers us salvation and adoption into the family of God. We need to accept that offer and allow God to save us and make us His own.

Second, if we are a father or a mother, we need to imitate God as we raise and love our children. We will never be perfect parents, but we can be more like our own Heavenly Father if we submit our stubborn wills to His.

Finally, no matter who our earthly father is, no matter how good or how bad, he may be, we all have a Father in Heaven that watches over us and cares for us. Not only that, but He also has the strength and will to act for our good and our blessing.

So, let us be of good cheer, and rejoice because of the love and care of our Heavenly Father!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

All-in from Matthew 28

Today I am commenting on Matthew 28:16-20, which reads:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As a military chaplain, I have had the opportunity to serve with all kinds of troops. Some of the most intense Soldiers I have ever known are Special Operations personnel; they are, “All in, all the time!” That’s why the entry level skill of most Special Operations units is Airborne School. When you exit an aircraft in flight at 1250ft, you are fully committed to that endeavor!

Being all-in reminds me of when the barnyard animals were debating what to get the farmer for his birthday. The chickens wanted to cook him bacon and eggs for breakfast, but the pigs objected, saying, “For you, bacon and eggs are an offering, but for us it is a real sacrifice!”

After the Resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples to give them His final guidance before ascending to Heaven. The word “All” featured prominently in His instructions.

ALL AUTHORITY:

When Jesus met with the disciples, some who were present had doubts. An old military saying is, “When in charge, take charge!” Jesus did!

He asserted His authority as the sovereign ruler of all things. Because He is ruler, He has all authority, and this is what sovereignty means.

Our government is sovereign, but its powers are limited by the Bill of Rights. Jesus, however, is King of Kings, and His authority is unlimited.

Jesus has delegated some of His authority to the church. Some people believe that Satan rules Hell like God rules Heaven. This is not so!  Jesus is ruler over all! This is why Jesus told Peter about the authority of the church in Matthew 16:18-19.  Jesus said: 

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

So, we see that the authority of the church descends from our Lord. Jesus also extends His authority to us personally as well.

We Americans are rebellious and individualistic and proud. For example, a Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew.  She asked one little girl, “What are you drawing?” The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and then said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

We forget that we, too, are under the authority of Jesus. We think we can do what we want, but we can’t. We need to remember what 1 Corinthians 6:20 says: “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”

We all need to bow our knee to Jesus as our King!

ALL NATIONS:

Jesus gave His people a mission:

He wants all people to have saving knowledge of Him.

He wants all people to understand truth.

He wants all people to be free from the lies of Satan.

And . . . He wants us to be His tools to make that happen.

To do this we must have power! The TV comedy “Home Improvement” had a running gag about “More power,” but the truth is, humans don’t have the power to accomplish the mission assigned to us. 

We do need more power, and God has provided it to us as Acts 1:8 describes: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Jesus walked day-in and day-out with the disciples, and He knew that they couldn’t do it in their own strength. He also looked down through the ages and saw we can’t do it on our own, either, so He sent us power to give us the ability to do this work.

Today, we have the Holy Spirit, the Word, our testimony and much more. We need all that He has given us, because the task is huge and difficult!

 

To do this, we, like the disciples, must go outside our comfort zone! Today, many think that Jerusalem was the disciples’ hometown. Wrong! They were from Galilee! Jerusalem was not their “home field.”

As strangers in a strange land, we never have a “home field advantage.” The only advantage we have is what God gives us. Blessedly He has given us all we need to accomplish His mission!

ALL THINGS:

We need to be “Full-gospel preachers,” not in terms of a denomination but by offering people the whole Revelation of God!

We don’t need to keep people in ignorance; they need to know the full richness of God’s love for us.

You don’t need to know very much to be saved, but you do need to know a lot to become a disciple, and our task is to make disciples, not just converts. As Paul reminds us, Psalm 47:7 says we should sing with understanding!

What is the full Gospel? Since we come to the Lord as a child, so this can’t be too hard to understand! It includes simple yet profound ideas, like:

The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.

We are to love God with all our being.

We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We are to obey the commands of Christ and we are to make disciples.

 

Here is one key we need to remember: Before we can make disciples, we, ourselves, must be disciples!

Doctors teach medical students; lawyers teach law students. Therefore, we must be full Gospel people before we are full Gospel preachers!

If we are not disciples ourselves, we can’t make them, and if we are not making disciples, we are disobeying our King!

We really don’t want to disobey our King. Consider Hebrews 10:24-27: 

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

We all have things we fear, such as illness, loneliness, rejection, the Internal Revenue Service and many other things. These are nothing compared to offending the God of the universe!

ALWAYS:

We often let our fear prevent us from obeying God. We are just ordinary people and we feel incapable of doing this tremendous task. We say, “I’m no hero” and we try to duck our responsibility and let someone else do it who is “more qualified.”

I have known some heroes in my life:

Al is a father of a childhood friend. He served in the 3-4th Cavalry in Vietnam and was wounded three times in less than 3 months. He has always walked with a limp since then.

  

Chuck , who was my first platoon sergeant in the Army, was awarded a Silver Star escorting a convoy with the 4th MP Company in Vietnam.

Jeff was a missionary who had to resign because of a debilitating tropical illness he caught in Africa.

William Koehn was the administrator at Jibla Baptist Hospital and who was shot to death there and martyred.

 

Each of these folks were ordinary people:

Al had a bad temper.

Chuck had his own, stubborn way of doing things (His nickname was Crazy Harold).

Jeff was fixated on some particular theological ideas and liked to argue about them.

Bill Koehn was a mild, avuncular, unassuming man.

Yet each was a hero in his own way. And the fact is, God equips the called, He doesn’t call the equipped. 

Equally important, we can obey God and serve Him because, no matter what we face, He is always with us! He will never leave us nor forsake us! And he will help us whenever we step forward for Him.

Conclusion:

If anyone in this life has ever been “all-in,” it has to be Jesus. He gave His all so that we could have a relationship with God. The Bible also tells us that He gives us all things we need to serve God and live for Him. 

Jesus is “all in!” Are we?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Power for the Church from Acts Chapter 2

Today I am commenting on the 2nd Chapter of Acts. The first four Verses tell us:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Many times, people will make promises they can’t keep or promises they shouldn’t keep. For example:

A boy approached a lady in his church and promised, “Lady, if you give me a quarter, my little brother will imitate a chicken,”

The lady was not impressed, and she replied, “So, what will he do for this quarter, cluck and flap his arms?”

“No,” the boy replied, “he wouldn’t do a cheap imitation like that. He’ll eat a worm!”

Another fellow knocked on his neighbor’s door.  When his neighbor answered his knock, he said, “I’m so sorry, I just ran over your cat with my car. I want to do the right thing and replace him.”

His neighbor said, “O.K. then, there’s a mouse in my kitchen. Go get it!”

A final example of this comes from the personal ads of a newspaper: “If Jack Smith, who deserted his wife and baby twenty years ago will return, the aforementioned baby will knock the socks off of him.”

Unlike people, God keeps all of His promises. Jesus had promised that the church would receive power for its work. Today we will see how that power came and what it helps us to do.

Heavenly Power:

The power which descended on the first members of the church was unlike anything that they had ever seen before.  Suddenly there was a, fierce, unearthly sound that filled the whole house and then something appeared that looked like fire. Immediately the Apostles were filled with the Spirit of God and this enabled them to speak in other languages.

Many missionaries have jokingly said that they prayed for the gift of tongues while trying to learn a difficult foreign language, but for the gathered disciples, this was an overwhelming and life-altering event. Try to think back to the first time you ever tasted coffee. It was foreign, hot, pungent, and overpowering. As immersive as this experience may have been, it was child’s play compared the what happened on Pentecost.

Verses 12 and 13 tell us that the people who were present there were stunned: “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’ Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.’”

Many just sat and watched in awe and wonder but others tried to blame what happened on sin. People often attribute good things to sin or Satan. I remember when a deacon once doubted a person’s repentance saying, “You know, people never really change much.” The fact is that God’s power is far beyond what we understand, and we shouldn’t try to explain it or scoff at it.

The fact is, this was the power that Jesus had promised before his Ascension in Acts 1:8. It was power from God Himself: a power to supernaturally relate to God and a power to work outside our own strength in God’s Kingdom.

This is like a hunter who was walking through the jungle. He found a huge dead elephant with a pygmy standing beside it. Amazed, he asked: "Did you kill that?" The pigmy said, "Yes." The hunter asked, "How could a little fellow like you kill a huge beast like that?" "I killed it with my club," the pygmy replied. The astonished hunter asked, "How big is your club?" The pygmy replied, "I think there are about 60 of us."

A bad joke, yes, but it illustrates the point that in Christ we are not alone, and we don’t act in our own power.

Relational Power:

Next, let’s look at Verses 5-11:

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?  Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

The church is about people. God created this world for people. He revealed Himself through the Scriptures to people and Jesus died for people. So, the church needs to be about people.

The problem we face is that sin divides people from each other. In fact, the first sin mentioned in the Bible after the fall was murder. Furthermore, half of the Ten Commandments dealt with how people are to treat each other. We know that all people are made in the image of God, but we have trouble treating them that way.

Anger, outrage, and tumult are common today in our nation. Very few political moderates are left in the USA today, and the rise of social media has done nothing but make it easier for people to cast aspersions on one another with Ad Homonym attacks. We are a sharply divided nation, and social discourse is at a low not seen since before the Civil War.

Sadly, the same situation is often found in our churches. In a previous ministry, in which I was responsible for helping start new churches in Alabama, I was told by a denominational leader of a neighboring state that, “We start most of our new churches by splitting old ones.”

Contrast this state of affairs with what happened on Pentecost. God gave the early church the power to relate to all kinds of people from all walks of life. On that day, every person from the over 14 nations present in that place heard the Gospel in a way that they could relate to effectively. According to the Great Commission this is the task of every missionary, every pastor, and every Christian.

When my wife and I were missionaries we used a number of different techniques to try to relate well to our local partners. We wore the same kind of clothes, we ate the same kind of food, and we learned their language. We did have some success in doing this but the success of relating on Pentecost was even more dynamic and more powerful.

Preaching Power:

Next, beginning in Verse 14, we see Peter preach the first Christian sermon, “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.’”

Relating to others can be difficult but it can also be easier than preaching!

If we relate well to people without sharing the Gospel, we are simply not doing the job. A missionary colleague once admitted that she spent so much time being culturally sensitive that she found she wasn’t witnessing.

Churches often try to attract people by artificially adapting to their culture, but as the old preacher said, “If you get them with a hotdog you have to keep them with hotdogs.” The offense of the Gospel must take place. God’s truth has to be revealed and He has chosen us to do it!

Look at how Peter completed the first Christian sermon by issuing the first altar call in Verses 37-41:

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

How can we do what Peter did? The same way that Peter did it:

Peter was an uneducated fisherman. He had run away from Jesus and denied Him with a curse. After the crucifixion, Peter went back to fishing. Yet, now, he preached the first Christian sermon. How did he do it?  By letting God empower him!

God empowered Peter’s natural personality for supernatural ministry. Peter was bold, but now his boldness was directed properly. Loose cannons are dangerous! They can sink a ship.  Peter was a rough man, but now God used that roughness to witness for Himself. Peter was also a die-hard Jew, but now the Spirit interpreted that Jewishness properly.

When we submit to His will, whatever we have that we place in God’s hands he will use effectively!

Growth Power:

The Verses that follow Peter’s sermon give us valuable insight into God’s intentions for the church:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

It is clear that the church was always intended to grow. The church is an organism not an organization. Organisms must grow and develop, or they will die. God did not buy us from slavery to sin to have us wither and die. We are divinely appointed to grow!

This passage tells us how God wants us to grow:

• Growth by salvation (Verses 40 & 41).
• Growth in doctrine, in fellowship, and in prayer (Verse 42).
• Growth in our awe of God (Verse 43)
• Growth in meeting peoples’ needs (Verses 44 & 5).
• Growth in our worship together (Verses 46 & 47).
• Growth that happens daily (Verse 47)

We need to ask some hard questions, both individually and collectively. Are we growing effectively? Are we growing consistently? Are we growing in all of these areas and more? The answer is that we should be, because we have the power we need to do so!

Conclusion:

God does not believe in wasted effort. He has given us power to relate to people, to preach the Gospel, and to grow in fellowship, and in ministry.

Are we being faithful stewards with what God has given us?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Remembrance from Joshua 4

Today I am commenting on the word, “Remember,” and on Joshua 4:1-8, which reads:

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,  “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” 

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.

Israel Had A Problem Remembering:

One of Israel’s biggest problems was a bad memory: They were like the man who has three pairs of glasses: one for nearsightedness, one for farsightedness, and one to find the other two when he forgot where he put them.

Israel forgot what God did for them.

They forgot what life was like before God saved them.

They forgot who God is, and what He is like.

They forgot that God fought all of their battles for them and had given them all of their victories.

Every time they forgot they got into trouble, and then God, in His grace, had to rescue them.

God wanted Israel to remember His acts on their behalf, so he required them to establish a memorial.

He included all 12 tribes and rocks which came from the riverbed and which had a distinctive look, which was different than the native rocks on the riverbank.

He told them what to say when their children asked about it. This is just like the Passover, which is a meal of observance and remembrance. I like to linger at monuments and museums, to understand what they represent. This is exactly what God wanted the Children of Israel to do.

We Too, Need to Remember:

First, we need to study God’s Word to see His past record.

You know in a strange sort of way this is like deer hunting. Most people think sitting in a deer stand and harvesting a deer is how you hunt them but that's really not true. That's really just harvesting the deer.

You actually hunt the deer by scouting out where they have been and then placing your deer stand or your blind to overlook that place. You know where the deer will go because of the tracks of where they have been. And this is the same with God and why we need to study God's Word; we know where God will go and what He will do by where He’s gone and what He’s done.

We also need to walk with God daily to remember how He blessed us that day. In addition, we should fellowship with other believers and see how He works in their lives as well.

Finally, we need to make sure our children remember also. The church is only one generation from extinction. To prevent that tragedy, we need to be people who remember God’s works.

Remembrance:

This Sunday is Memorial Day, which gives us another dimension about the word remember. On Memorial Day, we need to remember all those who have died fighting for the cause of freedom.

One of the most touching memorials I ever remember attending was when I was the chaplain of the 441st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion and we were deployed to Iraq.

Each year the EOD community observes a memorial ceremony to remember all of those EOD Techs that were killed in the line of duty during the previous year. As the name of each deceased hero is read the congregation replies with the refrain, “We remember!” It sent chills down my back.

Like the church, our nation is only one generation from extinction. We are not a perfect people, but we have worked hard to better implement the lofty goals that our forefathers codified in the Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

We need to remember this Memorial Day that those who have died in the cause of freedom have died for a righteous cause and we need to dedicate ourselves to defending those same liberties with all the righteous means at hand.

This Memorial Day let us all say with gratitude to our God and to our fallen heroes, “We Remember!”

Every blessing, Dr. Otis Corbitt

Facts for Uncertain Times from Romans 8

Today I want to comment on some facts for uncertain times:

The biggest psychological difference between the 1800's and today is that we have an overall feeling of uncertainty which our Victorian ancestors didn't have.

In the 1800's people thought that they ruled their own destiny, but in 1912, the Titanic, the "unsinkable ship," sank.  One survivor said: 'I'll never feel sure about anything again."

Soon after followed WWI, then WWII, then Korea, and the wars of the Middle East and South East Asia.

Nuclear energy, which,  once seemed to be a great hope, but is now seen as a great danger, but so are fossil fuels who many fear causes our climate to change.

Our experiences in the first two decades of the 21st Century have done nothing to give us any feeling of certainty. The attacks of 9/11 were followed by Hurricane Katrina. Soon after that we had the Great Recession in 2008, and now in 2020 we have the COVID-19 crisis. Life is definitely uncertain.

The Good News is that we do have a source of certainty to which we can turn. Paul gives us some facts in Romans 8 that we can hold on to, facts that we can be certain about.  These facts can still guide us today in the same way that they guided the early church.

FACT 1: GOD IS FOR US! 

Romans 8:31 and 32 tell us, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

This is the essential difference between our God and the false ones that surround us. Our God is a person and He wants to fellowship with us and He wants to bless us. Other gods must be appeased and bribed to buy them off. This is like paying-off a corrupt judge. Besides being very costly to us, we never have any assurance that it will actually work!

How do we know this fact about our God? Well, it only takes a short review of scripture to give us the assurance that our God is for us. Here are some examples:

John 3:16:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 10:10:  "The thief comes not but to kill, to steal, and to destroy; I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

This one fact should give us confidence as Christians. We can rest assured of God's love and favor and we can rest on His power and strength. This reminds me of a mistaken sermon title once printed in a church bulletin: 

A church secretary asked her pastor what the title for his Sunday sermon was. The pastor was in a hurry to go make a visit at the hospital and he said to her ''The Lord Is My Shepherd . . .  that's enough.'' And that is exactly what she put in the bulletin.

Even mistakes can sometimes be good theology!

FACT 2: GOD JUSTIFIES US! 

Romans 8:33 tells us, "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies."

Gossip is the most destructive form of communication. It is done behind the victim's back and it gives no opportunity to refute the charges. Gossip is done to hurt and to correct or to rehabilitate.

Satan gossips about us slanderously. If you have any doubts about this, just read the first two chapters of the book of Job! Some of the charges Satan makes against are not true, but many are, because we are frail and limited human beings. His purpose is not to help us, but to hurt us and in that way, to hurt God.

Our God, on the other hand, paid the price for our sin!

Legally, a parent is held liable for a minor child's debts. I remember reading a news story about a mother who redeemed a stolen item from a pawn shop and returned it to the owner to get her son out of trouble. This is just what God does for us, but even better.

When we become God's children, He pays our sin debts, and then He casts our sin away as far as east is from the west. In His sight, when we allow the blood of Jesus to cleanse us, it is just as it we’d never sinned!


FACT 3: CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR US! 

Romans 8:34 tells us, "Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."

Think about the work of a bodyguard: In the event of an attack, the bodyguard is supposed to interpose himself physically between the principal and the attacker. The bodyguard must be willing take a bullet in place of the principal. This is how the bodyguard gives the principal freedom to live; by being willing to give up his own life!

Jesus did just that for us! He placed His body between us and Hell and by doing so, He gave us the freedom to live! Even now He is in Heaven reminding God of our justification. This is why Satan’s slander is ineffective!

FACT 4: NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM CHRIST!

Romans 8:35-39 says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Paul reminds us here that we are connected to God through Christ. In some ways he is like the tethers you see on children in the shopping mall or in the park. Like those children we can wander off from God for some distance, but he always brings us back. Or maybe we are like a yoyo, but in any case, the connection we have to God through Christ cannot be severed.

The United States Army TOW missile system is guided by commands transmitted by fine wires. These missile guide wires are extremely small, but they so strong they can sever a helicopter rotor mast, which Army aviators have learned to their regret. This is like God; nothing can break our connection to him. He sticks to us like glue!  He is our shadow; he never leaves us!

FACT 5: WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS!

Romans 8:37 tells us, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Sports victories don't last; victories are sweet and fulfilling to some extent, but they are temporary. A championship team must play again the next season to keep it. In baseball, you are only as good as your last time at bat.

The truth is, sports victories don't really apply to much else in life. You may have wild success in one area but be a failure in others. As an illustration, Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time, but he did not have similar success when he tried to play baseball. In addition, you might have victory in sports, but your life may be a disaster otherwise.

Our lives and our potential are different:  We have an eternal victory in all areas!

CONCLUSION:

If you think we live in uncertain times, you are not alone! We can take comfort, however, on some facts that we can be certain about:

FACT 1: GOD IS FOR US!

FACT 2: GOD JUSTIFIES US!

FACT 3: CHRIST INTERCEDES FOR US!

FACT 4: NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM CHRIST!

FACT 5: WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS

Really, what more needs to be said?

Every blessing,.

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Mothers of the Early Church from Acts

Today I want to comment on some women in the Early Church:

The church is all about people.  Of course, because people are frail and limited, this makes the church an interesting place to be.  An old joke among missionaries is that mission service would be quite enjoyable if it weren’t for the local believers and the other missionaries!

In another case, a pastor was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to, after the worship service, ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building.  Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick, and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute.

The substitute wanted to know what to play. "Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."

During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up." At that moment, the substitute organist played "The Star-spangled Banner."

And that is how the substitute became the regular organist!

This Sunday is Mothers’ Day, and today we want to focus on some very important people of the church, namely women.  I’d like us to look at some women in the New Testament whom we might call the “Mothers of the Early Church.” As we do, let’s consider how they helped the infant church grow and mature in the 1st Century.


IN THE EARLY CHURCH, WOMEN HELPED SEEK GOD’S GUIDANCE 

In the 1st Century, women were not considered equal with men. They had to be related to a man in some way and they could not act on their own. They were not even allowed to worship alongside men in the Jewish synagogue, for example. Women sat in the rear of the sanctuary, usually behind a screen of some type.

This attitude towards women still exists in many places today. When we were missionaries in Africa one of our workers who was a Muslim had to remarry against her will.  She was a mature lady with adult children, but when her husband died, she was required to marry another man whom she had never met because she was not allowed to live outside the authority of a husband.

In the case of the early church, however, we see a radical difference, which is revealed in Acts 1:12-14 and 26:

When the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers . . . Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

In this passage, we see women and men praying and consulting together. We even see women apparently deciding about calling a new Apostle. This shows a radical change in understanding.

Although many see the church as discriminating against women, what we actually see is that the church was on the cutting edge in empowering women. Women were not allowed to vote in the United States until 1920, but women were involved in deciding the course of the church right from the start!

IN THE EARLY CHURCH, WOMEN RECEIVED GOD’S MERCY 

If sin is an equal opportunity killer, then it is good to see that mercy knows no gender.

We know that Jesus did many miracles for men; for example, we know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and that He caused a blind man to see.  We also know that He did many miracles for women as well. The woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of His cloak was healed, as was Jairus’ daughter.

The application of mercy did not end with the founding of the church. This is clearly demonstrated in Acts 9:36-41:

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

Dorcas was a disciple who was known for her good works & charity. She fell sick and died, but God was not finished with her. He wanted to use her for His glory, and so He did.

Notice a couple of interesting points in this passage. Peter made sure that the widows were called so they could be encouraged and comforted. What a great example of pastoral care!

Also, note that God did not raise Dorcas simply to bless her or to comfort the widows. No! He used this event to bring glory to Himself and to win souls to the cause of Christ! Dorcas was a channel for God’s grace and mercy to be issued for His glory.

IN THE EARLY CHURCH, WOMEN HELPED SPREAD THE GOSPEL 

As unusual as it was in the 1st Century, God used a woman to bring the Gospel to Europe. Let’s look at this remarkable event in Acts 16:9-15:

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

The Macedonian Call was a tipping point in church history. When Paul and Silas took the Gospel into Macedonia, the church became a true intercontinental movement. This event took the Gospel to Europe, and then it expanded across the oceans to arrive here in America. It continued to move on around the world until it arrived back in the Middle East. The spread of the Gospel reminds me of a cartoon where a character threw a boomerang and it went around the entire world and hit the character in the head from behind.

The really fascinating thing about this is that God began this revolutionary missionary endeavor in a unique way. Amazingly, the first European convert was a woman! The first church planted outside of Asia was started in a woman's home. There is true equality before the Lord!

Galatian 3:28-29 tells us: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Lydia is a prime example of this promise of God!

IN THE EARLY CHURCH, WOMEN DISCIPLED OTHERS 

God calls all people to become disciples. The Great Commission does not say make converts it does command us however to make disciples. We are all called to salvation and to grow in the Lord. We are all called to become mature people, not remaining babes in the Lord. Even more than that, mature believers are called to help the immature to grow. In this case, God called a woman, Priscilla, to help disciple a man named Apollos in Acts 18:24-26:

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Apollos was a loose cannon: He was a powerful orator and knew something of Jesus.
Much of what he was so eloquently preaching was wrong, because he was not actually saved yet. This reminds me of a young man in my home church who surrendered to the ministry, but then got saved! Like Apollos, he had the process backwards!

Priscilla helped get Apollos saved, and then helped disciple him. Discipling should normally be a same-gender exercise. In other Scriptures, older women are instructed to teach younger women. In this case, Priscilla worked alongside Aquilla, and God was able to use Apollos mightily!

As Acts 18:27-28 tells us: “When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.”

IN THE EARLY CHURCH, WOMEN LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR FAITH IN THEIR HOMES

As we consider this idea, we need to venture out of the Book of Acts to the book of 2 Timothy. Timothy was a protege of Paul and a valuable leader in the early church. As a young man he responded to the call of God and became the pastor of an important church in Ephesus. Even though young, he was a man of great Biblical knowledge, who had a Godly personality. As 2 Timothy 1:3-5 tells us, Timothy had a solid foundation in the faith which was laid for him by his mother and grandmother:

I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

Both parents are responsible to God for their children, but mothers usually have more time with children. It is true that, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world!” These women took advantage of their time with Timothy and not only taught him how to walk, how to talk, and how to have manners, but also about God and the Scriptures.

We must raise up our children in the way they should go! These women obviously did and were commended for it!

CONCLUSION

Remember the old nursery rhyme that goes, “Here’s the church and here’s the steeple, open the doors, and here’s the people?

Well, in truth, the church is people: men, women, and children. In the passages above we have seen how God used the women of the early church to grow it and mature it the way a parent grows and matures the children in their family.

Each of these cases has much to teach us about the church today. The question is, have we learned our lessons?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt