John Wesley Sermons – On Obedience to Parents (Colossians 3:20)

The original sermon can be found in: The Works of John Wesley, Volume 7 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), 98-108.
Language edited and updated by J. Thomas Johnson – Sunday, June 19, 2022

[Given that today is Father’s Day on the secular calendar, I wanted to choose a sermon to revisit in which Wesley discussed parenting or children. I narrowed my search down to three sermons: “On Family Religion,” “On the Education of Children,” and “On Obedience to Parents.”

There are perhaps few practices that have changed more in western cultures between the 1700s and today than those involved in the raising and educating of children. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to revisit Wesley’s sermons on family and parenting today. Much of the language he used and the assumptions he held are not only different than those employed today, but the assumptions of 16th century England about parenting were often in contradiction to the assumptions of today. Therefore, of the three sermons I was considering, I chose the one I felt was the least cultural and most Biblical.

Even so, I have had to update Wesley’s language, and perhaps in updating it, I could be accused of having changed it. For instance, Wesley often spoke about breaking a child’s will. Hearing that language today, it sounds as though Wesley was encouraging parents to exercise a type of abusive control of their children. However, given that Wesley believed and taught frequently on Biblical love as the inheritance of all Christians and that love was patient, kind, self-controlled, not given to fits of rage, and so on, it seems impossible that Wesley meant that parents should be abusive, short-tempered, or out of control with their children. So, I have translated Wesley’s commendation to break a child’s will into the language of curbing a child’s self-centered willfulness or rebelliousness. I’m convinced this is essentially what Wesley meant, but perhaps I have altered his meaning a bit with that translation.

Also, in the midst of this sermon, Wesley spent considerable time condemning the wearing of elegant clothing, encouraging parents both to model and to instruct their children in the virtue of dressing plainly. Again, this is a subject that is out of step with most contemporary assumptions about Christian behavior. However, I think there is something deeply wise and deeply biblical about what Wesley was commending. Therefore, when we get to that part of the sermon, I will provide some explanatory comments that I hope will help to bring Wesley’s concerns to today’s issues. Well, without further ado, let’s consider Wesley’s sermon “On Obedience to Parents.”]

 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

Colossians 3:20, NASB

Are there any innate principles shared by all people? [Is there such a thing as natural law? Is there a sort of a universal conscience that is present in all people, in all places, at all times?] This subject has been disputed over many centuries, perhaps millennia. Even so, one principle that seems to have been embraced in a great diversity of cultures throughout history is the idea that children should honor their parents. . . .

And wherever God has revealed His will to humans, this teaching has been a part of that revelation. In fact, it is in the revelation of God that the principle of honoring one’s parents has been re-affirmed, enlarged considerably, and enforced strongly. In the Covenant of Sinai, those who did not honor their parents were to be put to death. And this was one of the laws that our blessed Lord Jesus did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Therefore, Jesus, [in Mark 7:9-13,] severely reprimanded the Scribes and the Pharisees for nullifying the command to honor one’s parents through their traditions. Jesus’ teachings should, therefore, reveal to us that the obligation to honor one’s parents applies not only to Ancient Israel, but also to Christians.

This is substantially what the Apostle Paul was communicating to the Ephesians when he wrote:

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Ephesians 6:1, NASB

And, again, in writing to the Colossians:

20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

Colossians 3:20, NASB

We can see that Paul supports this responsibility with three reasons. First, in his letter to the Ephesians he added, “for this is right.” In other words, obeying one’s parents is a matter of righteousness, not simply of mercy. Obedience is what parents are due—it is what we owe them for the life we have received from them. Secondly, “This is pleasing to the Lord.” It is especially pleasing to the great Father of humans and of angels that we should pay honor and obedience to our earthly parents. Thirdly, it “is the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2, NASB). This is the first commandment of God in which God attached a promise—namely, “so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6:3, NASB). This promise has been generally understood to include health, earthly blessings, and long life. And we have seen many evidences that it belongs not only to the Covenant of Sinai, but also to the promises of God to Christians. Many remarkable instances of God’s faithfulness to this promise can be seen today.

But what did Paul mean to commend when he said, “Children, obey your parents in everything?” I will endeavor, with the assistance of God, first to explain Paul’s meaning, and then to apply it.

First, I will endeavor to explain the Scripture’s meaning, particularly because so few people seem to understand this teaching. Look around the world—and not the non-Christian world, but the Christian world specifically—, among Bible-believing Christians who have access to the Bible in their own language, and how many appear to have ever heard of this teaching? Here and there a child obeys his or her parent out of fear or perhaps out of love or affection. But how many children can you find that obey their fathers and mothers out of a sense of duty to God? And how many parents can you find today who consistently place this responsibility upon their children? I wonder if a vast majority both of parents and of children are totally ignorant of this whole subject. For the sake of those who may be unaware of God’s requirements in this respect, I will discuss it as plainly as I can. But still, I am quite aware that those who are unwilling to be convinced will not understand me at all. It will be as though I were speaking in Hebrew or Greek.

It is quite clear that by parents the Apostle Paul meant both fathers and mothers, as he referred his readers to the fifth commandment, which names both the one and the other. However human laws throughout history may vary, the law of God does not distinguish between mothers and fathers. The obligation given to children is to obey them both.

But before we consider how we are to obey our parents, perhaps we might first ask how long we are to obey them. Are children to honor and obey their parents only until they can walk, or until they go to school, or until they can read and write, or until they are as tall as their parents, or until they graduate from high school or college? No. If children were to obey their parents only because they were afraid of punishment, or because they depended on them for food and shelter, what honor would there be in such obedience? Only those who honor and obey their parents when they can live without them, and when they neither hope nor fear anything from them, shall receive praise from God.

But is an adult man or woman or a married man or woman under any further obligation to honor and obey his or her parents? With respect to marriage, it is true that “a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24, NASB); and by the same reasoning, a woman is to leave her father and mother and be joined to her husband. Consequently, there may be some instances in which the responsibilities of marriage must take precedence over one’s responsibility to parents. However, I do not see either in the Scripture or by the scrutiny of reason that marriage either cancels or diminishes the general obligation of children to their parents. Much less does our responsibility to our parents diminish because we have reached twenty-one years of age.

I certainly never behaved as if this was the case myself. When I was in my thirties, I considered my relationship with my father to be the same as when I was ten. And when I was in my forties, I considered myself just as responsible to obey my mother in everything lawful, as I did when I was learning to walk.

But, what is implied in Paul’s instruction: “Children, obey your parents in everything” (Colossians 3:20)? Certainly, the first point of obedience is to do nothing which your father or mother forbids, whether it be a major thing or a minor thing. Nothing should be more obvious than that the prohibition of a parent should bind every conscientious child—unless, of course, that prohibition were to cause us to disobey God.

But, there is more. Obedience can be understood a bit further. A gentle parent may totally disapprove of something that s/he does not expressly forbid. What is the responsibility of a child in these instances? How seriously should this disapproval be taken? Whether a parent has prohibited a behavior or not, a person who wishes to have a clean conscience should be safe and avoid offending a parent unnecessarily. The most honorable decision is certainly to avoid behaviors of which you know your parents disapprove. To do otherwise would imply a degree of disobedience which those of tender conscience would wish to avoid.

The second thing implied in this teaching of Paul is that we should do everything which our father or mother asks, whether it is large or small, provided that what is asked is not contrary to any of the teachings of God. In this way, God has given an honor to parents which even governmental authorities do not have. The Queen of England, for instance, is a sovereign ruler, yet she does not have the power to ask me to do anything unless the law of the land requires it of me. For the queen has no power but to execute the law. The will of the queen is not law to a citizen of England. But the will of a parent is a law to the child, who is bound in conscience to submit, unless submission would result in rebellion against God.

It is with admirable wisdom that God has given us this teaching. When children are weak, the strength of their parents can support them, and when children are ignorant, the wisdom of their parents can guide them until children have strength and understanding of their own. In the same way, the will of parents may guide the wills of their children until they have wisdom and experience to guide themselves. This is, therefore, the very first thing which children must learn—that they are to obey their parents, to submit to their will, in all things. And this must be put into effect long before children can understand the reason for it, and, indeed, long before they are capable of understanding any of the teachings of Christianity.

This is why the Apostle Paul directs all parents to bring up their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4, NASB). For their self-centered willfulness can be curbed by proper discipline, even in their early infancy, long before they are ready for instruction. This, therefore, is the first responsibility of all parents: From the time a child is able to begin to reason in any degree, parents must curb their self-centered willfulness by accustoming them to submitting to your will, which will prepare them for submitting to the will of their Father Who is in heaven.

But how few children do we find, even at six or eight years old, who understand anything of this? Indeed, how could they understand it, seeing that they have no one to teach them? Are not their parents, both father and mother, as ignorant of this submissiveness as they themselves? Whom can we find, even among Christians, who have the vaguest idea about it? Haven’t we all witnessed this ignorance ourselves? Haven’t we been present when a father or mother has said to his or her child, “Do so and so,” and the child, without any second thought replied, “No,” and then the parent quietly passed it by without comment? Do we not see that by this cruel indulgence, we are training up our children, by brazen rebellion against their parents, to rebel, eventually, against God? Therefore, we are raising up our children for the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels! If any parent really understood this, they would neither eat nor drink nor sleep until they had taught their children better lessons, instilling in them the fear of ever giving that diabolical answer again.

For those parents who fear God, allow me to explore this a little further. If we do fear God, how can we allow a child above a year old to say, “I will do,” what we have forbidden, or “I won’t do” what we have asked and to go unpunished? We must confront this self-centered will in our children right away, so that they may be deterred from making a habit of rebelliousness. Have we no compassion for our children, no regard for their salvation or destruction? For those of us who do not allow our children to curse or swear in our presence, we must realize that disobedience is as certain a way to destruction as cursing or swearing. Confront him, confront her, in the Name of God. In the words of Samuel Butler, do not “spare the rod and spoil the child.” Do not surrender your child to his or her own self-centered willfulness, for that will be to surrender them to the devil himself. The Scriptures say:

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8, NASB

As painful as it may be for us, we must pluck our children out of the lion’s teeth. Teach your children submissiveness that they may not perish. Curb their self-centered willfulness that you may save their souls.

I don’t know how to emphasize this sufficiently or to impress it on you more strongly. Permit me to add part of a letter on this subject which was printed some years ago.

In order to shape the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to curb their self-centered willfulness. To educate them takes time and must progress slowly, but curbing the self-centeredness of their wills is something that must be done from the beginning—the sooner the better. For if we delay to teach this, they quickly develop a stubbornness, which is extremely difficult to curb later, and often cannot be curbed later without methods we would be loathe to employ. Therefore, I call those parents cruel who are often considered kind and indulgent, who permit their children to develop habits which they know must eventually be broken.

I insist on curbing the self-centered willfulness of children early, because this is the only foundation for a religious education. When this has been accomplished, then a child becomes capable of being governed by the wisdom of his or her parents until his or her own understanding matures.

And there is still more to consider. Self-centered willfulness is the root of all sin and misery in the world, so whatever encourages this in children ensures their future misery and faithlessness. Consequently, whatever discourages and restrains it, promotes their future happiness and faithfulness. This should be obvious to those of us who realize that religion is nothing else but doing the will of God, and not our own. So, since self-centered willfulness represents an enormous impediment to both our earthly and eternal happiness, no indulgence of it can be trivial and no curbing of it can be unprofitable. Heaven or hell depends on this alone. So, the parent who works to curb this in his or her children, works together with God in the saving of a soul. But, the parent who indulges self-centered willfulness does the devil’s work, makes Christian faith more difficult, places salvation out of reach, and does all that is in them to condemn their child forever!

Therefore, I must earnestly repeat what I have already said: curb their self-centered willfulness early, begin this work before they can walk, before they can speak clearly, or perhaps even before they can speak at all. However hard it may be, resist their stubbornness and curb their self-centered willfulness if you would not condemn your child. I beg you, parents, not to neglect this responsibility, nor to delay it! Therefore, let a child from a year old be taught to respect our discipline and not to throw tantrums. In order to accomplish this, we should commit to never allowing our child to have anything he or she cries for—absolutely nothing, large or small, or else we will sabotage our own efforts. From that early age we must, at all costs, ensure that our children do as they are told, no matter how challenging or strenuous we find the endeavor. Don’t let anyone convince you that these efforts are cruel, for it is cruel not to discipline our children’s rebelliousness. If we teach them to curb their self-centered willfulness early, then the call of Jesus to self-denial will be understandable to them later, and perhaps in the future our children may come to bless our sacrificial efforts for all eternity.

On the contrary, how dreadful are the consequences of that accursed kindness which gives children freedom to follow their own desires and does not teach them the virtue of submissiveness from their infancy? It is primarily due to this that so many Christian parents raise children who end up as atheists or agnostics—even more, children who, as adults, often have no respect for them as parents at all. Why is this? Because their self-centeredness and rebelliousness was not curbed from the beginning; because they were not required from early infancy to obey their parents in all things and to submit to them as unto the Lord; because they were not taught from the time they began to reason that the will of their parents was, for them, the will of God and that to disobey their parents was rebellion against God, and an open door for all manner of ungodliness.

Having explained the teachings of the Apostle Paul in these verses, I will now proceed to apply them. And permit me, first, to apply this text to you who are parents and are concerned with the proper instruction of your children. Do you understand these things yourselves? Are you thoroughly convinced of these important truths? Have you taken them to heart yourselves? Are you putting them into practice with regard to your own children? Have you disciplined your children before they were capable of instruction? Have you confronted their self-centered willfulness from infancy, and do you continue to do so in opposition both to their nature and to this culture’s customs? Did you explain to them, as soon as they began to comprehend instruction, your reasons for raising them in this way? Have you taught them that the will of God is the sole law of every intelligent creature, and have you shown them that it is the will of God that they obey you in all things? Do you repeat this over and over again until they perfectly understand it? Never be weary of this labor of love, for your labor will not always be in vain.

At the very least, we must not teach our children to disobey by rewarding them for disobedience. Remember that you do this every time you give them anything because they cry for it. For children are quite intelligent in that if you reward them for crying they will certainly cry again. There will be no end to it unless we make it a sacred rule to give them nothing for which they cry. And the easiest way to accomplish this is never to tolerate their crying aloud out of desire or want. Train them up to obedience in this area, and you will find it easier to bring them to obey in others.

Why not begin today? Certainly, we can see that this is the better way, both for them and for us. Why then do we disobey the Scriptures? Because we are cowards; because we lack perseverance; and because this certainly requires a great deal of patience, far more than we have by nature. But the grace of God is sufficient for us. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). This grace is sufficient to give us both diligence and resolve. Otherwise, laziness will be as great a hindrance as cowardice. For without suffering, we cannot overcome. Nothing can be accomplished with carelessness or sloppiness. Labor on, never tire, teach lesson after lesson until patience has completed its work.

But there is another obstacle that is as difficult to overcome as either laziness or cowardice. It is called fondness or affection, and it is usually mistaken for love. But, O how different from it! Fondness or affection is, in actuality, hate, and hate of the most mischievous kind, leading to the destruction of both body and soul. Do not give way to it any longer, no, not for a moment! Fight against it with all your might, for the love of God, for the love or your children, and for the love of your soul!

I have one more word to say to parents. If, in spite of all the Apostle has said, you encourage your children by your example to adorn themselves with “gold or pearls or expensive apparel,” (1 Timothy 2:9, NASB), you and they must drop into the pit together. And even if they do it despite your having set a good example, the fault is still yours as well as theirs.  For, even if you have not put any ornament on your child that you would not wear yourself, they would not have done it themselves if you had required them to obey you from their infancy and taught them the responsibility of submissiveness from at least two years old. Whenever, therefore, I see the gaudy-dressed child of plain-dressed parents, I see at once that the parents are defective either in knowledge or in faithfulness. Either the parents are ignorant of their own or their child’s responsibility, or the parents have not practiced what they know.

[Wesley’s concern here strikes me as a Biblical one. The concern of 1 Timothy 2 is that of a façade that is intended to distract an onlooker from the true heart and character of a person, drawing their attention instead to superficial beauty or affectations. In Wesley’s day (and in Paul’s day), this was mostly accomplished through dress—clothing, hairstyles, and external adornment. For the Apostle Paul, plainness of dress was not a virtue in and of itself, but it was a means to an end. The point for Paul was that Christians should be clothing themselves with good works, calling attention to their character and not to superficial masks which project beauty where no true godly beauty exists.

Today, we, too, often dress in such a way as to project something about ourselves that has little to do with our character. But, even more, we also often hide our true character behind branding, profile pictures, social media handles, and so on. Many are very careful to conceal their character, and instead spend a great deal of time crafting a public persona that presents the face to the world that they want the world to see—often an idealized version of who they wish they were or think they should be. Paul’s point, and Wesley’s was that we should be laboring to be people who do not distract attention from our character with masks, but whose true character is available for all to see and is consistent with that of Jesus. So, Wesley attacked gaudy-dress, but what he was really attacking was the superficial construction of a false-persona that may look godly, but in fact concealed a corrupted heart. In fact, for Wesley, the very desire to adorn oneself with external extravagance was itself an indication that the heart was not being formed by faithfulness to Jesus.]

Wesley continued…

I cannot dismiss this subject yet. I am pained continually at seeing Christian parents allowing their children to run into the same folly of dress as those who are not Christians at all. In God’s Name, why do we allow them to vary a hair’s breath from the Scripture’s teaching? “Because they’ll do it anyway.” Of course, they will. Whose fault is that? Why did we not curb their self-centered willfulness from infancy? At the very least, we must do it now. It’s better late than never. It should have been done before they were two years old. It may still be done at eight or ten, but with far more difficulty. However, do it now and accept the difficulty of it as the just reward for past neglect.

Now, at least, follow through whatever it costs. Do not be wishy-washy like foolish Eli, who said to his wayward sons, “No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the Lord’s people circulating,” (1 Samuel 2:24, NASB), instead of restraining them with a firm hand. Rather, speak as calmly as possible, but firmly and preemptively, “I will have it this way,” and then follow through with what you say. Instill in them consistently the love of plain dress and the hatred of finery. Show them the reason that you choose to dress plainly and explain to them why the same should be true of them. Defy laziness, cowardice, and foolish affection, and always follow through with what you say. If you love your children’s souls, make and keep them as plain as yourselves.

And I charge you, grandparents, before God, do not hinder your children’s efforts in these respects. Do not dare to give your grandchildren what their parents deny them. Never take the side of your grandchildren against their parents, and never criticize parents in front of their children. If you will not strengthen their authority, as you ought to do, at the very least you must not undermine it. If you have any true devotion to the Christian faith, help your children in the work of loving their children in these ways.

Permit me now to apply the Apostle Paul’s teachings to you, children, particularly to you who are children of Christian parents. In fact, if you do not fear God, I am not speaking to you right now.  But if you really do fear God and if you have a desire to please Him, then you will have a desire to understand all His commandments, the fifth in particular. Do you understand it now? Do you now understand what your responsibility to your father and mother is? Are you now considering that by God’s will your parents’ will should be a law to you? Have you ever considered the true extent of the obedience to your parents that God requires of us? The Scriptures say, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord” (Colossians 3:20, NASB). There is no exception to this command unless what your parents require is illegal or against God. Have you done this? Have you even meant to do this?

We must be honest with ourselves. Is your conscience clear in this matter? Do you do nothing which you know to be contrary to the will either of your father or your mother? Do you never do anything which he or she forbids? Do you avoid doing everything which they dislike, as far as you can in good conscience? On the other hand, are you careful to do whatever your parent asks? Do you pay attention to them in order to learn how to please them, to make their lives as easy and pleasant as you can? Whoever here practices this responsibility in their daily lives in order to please God in all things, blessed are you of the Lord. As the Scripture says, “it may turn out well for you, and you may live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6:3, NASB).

But as for those who remain unconcerned about this teaching of the Scriptures, who do not consider it a responsibility before God to obey our parents in all things, but choose when and if to obey based on our own sensibilities, who frequently do those things they have forbidden or of which they disapprove and fail to do what they ask, suppose that you awake in the night, begin to feel the weight of your sin, and begin to cry out to God for mercy? Is it any wonder that you find no answer from God while you are guilty of this unrepented sin? How can any of us expect mercy from God until we obey Him by obeying our parents?

But suppose I have, by an uncommon act of mercy, experienced the forgiving love of God. Can I expect, even though I hunger and thirst after righteousness, after the perfect love of God, that I should ever attain these things while I am living in outward sin—that is, in the willful transgression of a known law of God—in disobedience to my parents? Is it not rather amazing that God has not yet withdrawn His Holy Spirit from me, that He still continues to strive with me, though I am continually grieving His Spirit?

Don’t grieve the Spirit of God any longer! By the grace of God, we must obey our parents in all things from this very moment. As soon as we get home, as soon as we set foot within our doors, we must begin a new way of living! We must look upon our parents with new eyes. We must see them as representing our Father Who is in the heavens. We must learn and study, looking forward to pleasing them, to helping them, and to obeying them in all things. We must behave not simply as their child should behave, but as their servant for Christ’s sake, as the Scriptures have taught us. In this way we will truly learn to love one another in ways we did not know before! God will respond by making them a blessing to you and you a blessing to them. And all who witness your relationship will see that God is with you. Many will see your love of each other and praise God, and the results of your love will remain even after you have passed away from this life and into the arms of God. [Amen.]

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Some Clarifications – Friday, June 17, 2022

Friday, June 17, 2022

On January 17, 2021, I experienced the word of the Lord coming to me and asking me to resign from the vocation of pastoral ministry. At that time, I had been a credentialed pastor in the Church of the Nazarene for sixteen years. My last day as a credentialed minister was February 28, 2021.

Over the last year and a half, the Lord has been discipling me, and I have been coming to understand slowly why I had to leave the vocation of pastor and what the Lord intends next.

This message of clarification is for those who have been journeying on a similar road. Some of you I know; some I don’t. But we all share in common a sense that the season of God’s mercy is at its end, and a season of judgment is falling upon both the Church and the nations of the earth.

At the time of my resignation, I declared a call to repentance for the Church, which I still believe I did in obedience to Jesus. That call can be found in a message entitled “Words.”

I would encourage any who share my concern to listen again to that message, asking God in prayer to confirm or to deny its call to repentance.

As I have continued on this journey out of ministry and into discipleship to Jesus, I gave another message in August of 2021, entitled “Signing Off.” In that message, I tried to explain the work that the Lord has been doing in showing me that the call to ministry I had followed and the ambition that I was still cultivating to accomplish something meaningful and lasting for God were idols, infested with false spirits, calling me (and others like me) to service and to significance, but not to the way of Jesus.

Again, I would encourage any who share my concern to listen or to re-listen to that message again.

And yet, though at that time I stepped back both from preaching and from my attempts to build a ministry platform on social media, the Lord seemed to give me intermittent assignments, which required me to remain engaged in ways I thought were to be left behind me. I released several videos, and then I felt the Lord asking me to produce a series of messages revealing to His people the true nature of His judgment on the world. The result was a podcast series entitled, “The gods of the West.”

Links to that podcast series can be found at the following link: https://shadowofthecross.org/the-gods-of-the-west-series/).

Then, near the end of 2021 I was asked to serve as an interim minister of the church I was attending, and I knew that this assignment was also of the Lord. So, I accepted, and since February of 2022, I have been preaching again every week. The Lord asked me to lead that congregation through the book of the prophet Amos, which included more explanations for why God brings judgment along with more appeals to His people to repent. So, despite having signed-off in August, the Lord has not yet released me to step away fully.

I have come to understand this delay in my departure as the mercy of God. Still God’s people have not repented, and still He is making His appeal, both through me and through others similarly commissioned. I expect that my commitment to signing off was personally necessary in August of 2021, but the actual finality of it is still yet in the future. I am preparing for it, and when God wills it, I will obey. But, God seems to have delayed my departure from public ministry temporarily.

In recent days, the intensity of God’s appeals have been increasing. On April 22, 2022, the word of the Lord came to me and instructed me to warn His people that the Church was, in fact, the harlot of Revelation. This I did in a message entitled “The Harlot of Revelation.”

Then on May 27, 2022, the word of the Lord came to me, assigning me to contrast the teachings of the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount with the institutional, ritual, and ethical practices of the Christian Churches. This I did in a message entitled, “The Calling Out of the Church.”

And then, on May 31, 2022, I experienced the word of the Lord coming to me again, assigning me to communicate His will to His followers that it is now time to leave the institutional churches. I obeyed in a message entitled “It’s Time to Go.”

Again, I’d encourage all who share my concern to listen afresh to these messages.

This progression all makes sense to me, but perhaps it has left some of you who are journeying with me confused or perplexed. I received questions from some of my Christian friends asking me if this meant that I would be leaving my current ministry assignment. Others have indicated that there is nothing wrong with the institutional church that cannot be corrected. And others have assumed that I have been taken by some sort of an anti-institutional spirit that is inconsistent with the Scriptures.

I’ll do my best to explain what I understand. God’s judgment is not coming on the Christian Church because it is an institution. God’s judgment is coming on the Christian Church because it has institutionally aligned itself with the spirits in rebellion against God.

Jesus’ kingdom is not of this earth (John 18:36), nor is it to be built the way earthly kingdoms are built (Luke 22:25-27). Jesus required no buildings, instead, the Apostles spoke of the gathered community of faith as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Jesus required only small gatherings—instructing His people that they required only two or three gathered for Him to be with them (Matthew 18:15-20). The earliest followers of Jesus incorporated study of the Prophets and Apostles, Prayers, and Table Fellowship as the only components of their gatherings (Acts 2:43-47).

Today Christians are enthralled with Nephilim—that is, with people of great talent and great accomplishment. We pursue excellence, seeking the most gifted and talented to worship for us and to enrapture us with their supreme efforts to honor God. Through them, we have come to believe that we can connect with God and enter into His presence. As far as I can tell, this is pagan. It was to avoid this that the early church prohibited musical performances as part of Christian worship for nearly the first two centuries of the faith. It was also to avoid this that Paul warned the first century churches to be wary of super apostles who entertained the masses with their eloquent rhetoric and charismatic presentations.

And, perhaps, most lamentable of all, is the Church’s caricature of the Gospel itself. Long forgotten is Jesus’ call to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus. The Gospel, today, insists that Jesus denied Himself so that we do not have to deny ourselves, that Jesus took up His cross so that we do not have to take up crosses, that Jesus was obedient to God because we will never be obedient. In this Gospel, Jesus fulfilled all God’s hopes for humanity, so that those who believe in His work do not have to please God or do His will themselves. Long forgotten is the promise of God delivered to the Church through the Apostle Paul:

12 Therefore sin is not to reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your body’s parts as instruments of righteousness for God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the Law but under grace.

Romans 6:12-14, NASB

If I am hearing God adequately (and time will most certainly reveal if I am), then God’s word to the Church today is two-fold:

15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”.

Matthew 23:15, NASB

And…

“One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Luke 18:22, NASB

So, it is time to leave. It is time to sell all we’ve accumulated, and give it back to the world from whence it came. It is time to leave behind our legacies and our bylaws and our buildings and our savings accounts. It’s time to leave Egypt and follow God into the wilderness with the Scriptures alone.

And I, too, must repent. In fact, this last year and a half has been the beginning of my repentance. Why? Because pastors like me are part of the reason the Church has become irredeemably corrupted by the world.

When God called me to feed His sheep, I wanted to do nothing else. I wanted that to be all I did with my life. I wanted that call to be a career to which I would devote my full-time. To do that I needed an institution to support me, tithers to support that institution, and on and on. I needed a kingdom on earth in order to have the future I was pursuing.

For me, and so many others like me, we can’t repent because too much depends on the survival of the institution as it is. From Christian schools, to Seminaries, to the contemporary Christian music industry, to Christian media outlets, to parachurch agencies, to Church hierarchies and administrative organizations and staff, to clergy, to local churches it is nearly impossible to calculate how many of us depend for our living on the survival of the Church as it is.

I am coming to understand that this is why I had to forsake my calling…because my calling was part of what is keeping the Church from returning to Jesus and to the simple worship of the first believers. So, I repent. I am sorry both to God and to believers for trying to make my living off of the Gospel. I have left. And though the Lord has asked me to serve temporarily in order to make one more appeal to His people to repent, I will soon leave for good.

But, this is not to leave Jesus, nor to leave the fellowship of believers. It is simply to leave an institution which has been designed to preserve itself and to raise up disciples who will preserve it indefinitely. The institutional church has become too big to fail, and so, its corruption is now no longer a bug, but a feature.

It is time to begin again…with just the Scriptures, prayer, and table fellowship with two or three gathered. And for those concerned there won’t be enough checks and balances to protect the church from heresy…look at where we are and ask yourself if all the institutional checks and balances have truly kept the Church from apostasy.

Perhaps it is time to believe that God is actively involved in preserving His own Truth. Perhaps it is only in our arrogance that we have assumed that God needs our institutional help to protect His investment in the world.

To those who have ears to hear, it’s time to go.

~ J. Thomas

John Wesley Sermons – On the Trinity (1 John 5:7)

Preached by John Wesley on May 7, 1775

Language updated and edited by J. Thomas Johnson – June 12, 2022

The original sermon can be found in The Works of John Wesley, Volume 6 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996).

As I prepared to share Wesley’s reflections on the doctrine of the Trinity today, I was reminded of a recent experience at my last ministry assignment. When I was pastoring Christ Community Church of the Nazarene in Camillus, NY in the middle of a sermon in which I mentioned the Trinity a visitor to the congregation stood up, interrupted the message, and reprimanded me publicly. He was of the opinion that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were three distinct beings—that is, three Gods. Their oneness, according to him, was a way of speaking of their agreement with one another, but not of their being, together, one God.

In response, I led the congregation to the Nazarene hymnal, and I read aloud the Nicene Creed. For me, at that time, it was an open and shut case. Either one confesses belief in the Trinity or one is not Christian. The man was quite upset and ended up leaving the service before I had finished explaining the orthodox Christian view. It’s one of those moments that has stayed with me. So, as I prepared this week to learn from John Wesley, I was anxious to hear what he had to say about the Trinity.

I’ve had to do a little editing of Wesley’s teaching throughout the message just to keep his main point clear. Several of the illustrations Wesley used, though perfectly suitable in 1775, prove to be quite dated today. Having lived before Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity, for instance, Wesley’s understanding of gravity and the motion of the planets was limited to that of his time. With that said, I think the points Wesley was attempting to make remain important. So, I have updated his illustrations with some that speak similarly today as his did to his original audience.

Also, the main passage Wesley was discussing in this sermon is 1 John 5:7. Interestingly, that verse occurs in a greatly abbreviated form in modern translations of the Bible. And the verse was debated heavily in Wesley’s day, as well. Wesley seems to have believed that the longer version of 1 John 5:7 was authentic. Most scholars today believe the additional language was added later. In light of this, I have added a few verses to Wesley’s message that help to support his point beyond 1 John 5:7.

With that said, I will begin Wesley’s message by reading the same passage from the King James Version, which is the closest version to the one from which Wesley was preaching.

1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

1 John 5:1-8, KJV

Whatever people may assume, opinion is not religion. Religion is not simply a way of speaking of a set of right opinions, nor is religion mentally agreeing with one or even with ten-thousand truths. Religion and opinion are worlds apart. Even a right opinion is as far from religion as the east is from the west. People can hold correct opinions about a great many things, and still, at the same time, be irreligious. And, on the other hand, people may be truly religious while, at the same time, holding many wrong opinions.

Can anyone possibly doubt this while Roman Catholicism remains in the world? For who can deny not only that throughout history many of this tradition have been truly religious—such as, Thomas à Kempis, Gregory Lopez, and the Marquis [Jean Baptiste] de Renty—, but also that many even today are real inward Christians? And yet, what a heap of erroneous opinions do they hold, delivered by tradition from their fathers! Even more, who can doubt this while there are Calvinists in the world—that is, those who believe in absolute predestination? Will anyone dare argue that none of these people are truly religious? Not only were many of them in the last century burning and shining lights, but many of them are still today real Christians, loving God and all humankind. And yet what are all the absurd opinions of the Roman Catholic Church compared to that one of the Calvinists that the God of love—the wise, just, merciful Father of the spirits of all flesh—has, from all eternity, fixed an absolute, unchangeable, irresistible decree that part of humankind will be saved and they have no say whatsoever in their salvation and that part of humankind will be condemned eternally and they have no say whatsoever in their damnation!

In light of this, we cannot but conclude that there are ten thousand mistakes which may coexist with real religion. Therefore, any careful and considerate person will allow for differing opinions. But there are some truths that are more important than others. It seems there are some which are of deep importance. I do not call them, myself, fundamental truths because that is an ambiguous word, and, consequently, there have been many heated disputes about the number of fundamentals. With that said, there are some truths which we must be concerned with knowing because of their close connection with vital religion. [In other words, there are some truths that are so central to the ways in which we worship God that to change them would be to change how the Scriptures require us to worship.]  And certainly we might rank the words of 1 John 5:7 among these:

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:7, KJV

Now, I do not mean to say that we must believe this tradition or that tradition’s explanation of these words. In my opinion, a wise person would not attempt to explain them at all. One of the best tracts which that great man, Dean [Jonathan] Swift, ever wrote was his Sermon upon the Trinity. In that sermon, Swift has demonstrated that all who have tried to explain the Trinity at all have utterly lost their way and done more theological harm than good.

[In the words of Jonathan Swift himself, from his sermon first printed in 1744:

Since the world abounds with troublesome books, particularly written against the doctrine of the Trinity, it is important to inform you that the authors of these books were mistaken from the beginning. Their desire was to demonstrate how impossible it is that three can be one and one can be three. However, the Scripture says no such thing, at least not in the way they have taken it. The Scriptures only say that there is some kind of unity and distinction in the divine nature, which humankind cannot possibly comprehend. Therefore, the whole doctrine is short and plain and should not be controversial. God has simply revealed the fact but concealed the manner. And therefore, many theologians who thought it best to refute those wicked books have been mistaken, too, by answering fools according to their folly and trying to explain a mystery, which God intended to keep secret from us. Therefore, I would encourage all people to avoid reading those wicked books written against the doctrine of the Trinity, and I would also encourage them to omit the responses to those books as unnecessary, as well.]

Swift, A Sermon on the Doctrine of the Trinity, 1744, 11

Such folks have only, as Job has said, “darkened the divine plan by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2, NASB). It was in an evil hour that these expositors began their fruitless work.

I insist upon no explanation of the Trinity at all, not even the best one I ever saw—that is, that which is given to us in the creed commonly ascribed to Athanasius. [The Athanasian Creed begins with the words:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

Historic Creeds and Confessions, electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Lexham Press, 1997)

And so it continues.]

I would not say that those who cannot agree with the Athanasian Creed “will without doubt perish everlastingly.” Because of this statement and another later in the creed, I, for some time, did require that all believers subscribe to that creed. But then I realized, first, that these sentences relate only to willful unbelievers—that is, to those who have had opportunity to read and understand this creed, but who still reject it.  And second, that they relate only to the substance of the doctrine of the Trinity, not to the philosophical illustrations of it.

I do not insist that anyone use the word Trinity or Person when speaking of God. I use these terms myself without any difficulty, because I know of no better words. But if anyone has a problem with them, who should force him or her to use them? Not I. I would not burn a man alive for saying, “Though I believe the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; yet I struggle with using the words Trinity and Persons because I do not find those terms in the Bible.” These are the words which the merciful John Calvin cited as having been written by Servetus. [Servetus was burned at the stake for heresy under Calvin’s leadership in the town of Geneva.] I would insist only on the words just as they appear in the Scriptural text without explanation:

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:7, KJV

“Just as they appear in the Scriptural text.” But here arises a question: Is that text genuine? Were the words “…the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one…” originally written by the Apostle John, or were they inserted later by others? Many have questioned the authenticity of this passage, . . . .

[Whatever the outcome of the debate over the authenticity of 1 John 5:7, several other passages describe God as both Three and One. The insistence on the Oneness of God is from the beginning, as can be seen in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” And yet, Jesus revealed distinctions within the Oneness. For instance, in John 10:27-30, Jesus said:

27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.

John 10:27-30, NASB

Furthermore, in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus taught His disciples:

18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20, NASB

And the following exchange between the Apostle Philip and Jesus in John 14:8-11 is particularly telling:

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”

John 14:8-11, NASB

We could go on, but that should suffice for our present purposes.]

Another objection has been made: “Whatever one makes of the text of 1 John 5:7, we cannot believe what we cannot understand. Therefore, when you require us to believe mysteries, we ask to be excused.”

Here is a two-fold mistake: First, you are not required to believe any mystery with respect to the Trinity, despite your belief to the contrary. And second, every person already believes many things that s/he cannot understand.

To begin with the latter: Each of us already believes many things which we cannot fully comprehend. Each of us believes that there is a sun over our heads. . . . [and we believe that the earth revolves around the sun, along with the other planets, by a force called gravity. But, what precisely is gravity. When NASA was asked that question in its Starchild Question of the Month in February of 2001, the NASA response was:

We don’t really know. We can define what it is as a field of influence, because we know how it operates in the universe. And some scientists think that it is made up of particles called gravitons which travel at the speed of light. However, if we are to be honest, we do not know what gravity “is” in any fundamental way – we only know how it behaves

https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question30.html

.

But even though we cannot fully comprehend what gravity is, we still believe that the motion of the planets around the sun is effected by it.]

We believe there is such a thing as light, whether it emanates from the sun or any other light source, but we cannot fully comprehend either its nature or the manner in which it flows. . . . [Michael Schirbner, in his 2007 Live Science article entitled, “The Enduring Mystery of Light,” has written:

It goes through walls, but slows to a standstill in ultra-cold gases. It carries electronic information for radios and TVs, but destroys genetic information in cells. It bends around buildings and squeezes through pinholes, but ricochets off tiny electrons.

It’s light. And although we know it primarily as the opposite of darkness, most of light is not visible to our eyes. From low energy radio waves to high energy gamma rays, light zips around us, bounces off us, and sometimes goes through us.

Because it is so many things, defining light is a bit of a philosophical quandary. It doesn’t help that light continue to surprise us, with novel materials that alter light’s speed and trajectory in unexpected ways.]

https://www.livescience.com/7186-enduring-mystery-light.html

Explain this, and I will explain the Three-One God.

. . . .

Many people believe we have souls. . . . [that] we have an immaterial soul connected with this physical body. But can any of us fully comprehend how? What are the ties that unite the heavenly flame with the earthly clod? None of us understands this. Those who believe this assume it to be true, but how it is, no one can explain.

. . . .

In summary, those who will not believe anything that they cannot fully comprehend, must not believe [in gravity], that there is light shining around them, nor that they have a soul. . . .

Secondly, as strange as it may seem, in requiring us to believe:

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one;

1 John 5:7, KJV

we are not required to believe any mystery.  That great and good man, Dr. Peter Browne, the former bishop of Cork, has demonstrated that the Bible does not require us to believe any mystery at all. The Bible only requires us to believe facts, not the manner by which they have come to be facts. The mystery, after all, does not lie in the fact, but entirely in the manner.

For instance, “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3, NASB). I believe this. I believe the plain fact of it. There is no mystery at all in this. The mystery lies in the manner of it. How did it happen? How does creation work? I don’t know anything about the manner of it. I believe nothing about it. This is more an object of my faith than it is of my understanding.

To apply this to the Scripture passage before us:

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:7, KJV

I believe this fact also—namely, that God is Three and One. But I do not understand how this is so, and, therefore, I do not believe in the manner of it—the how of it. It is in the manner of it that the mystery lies. But I am not concerned with how this is so. That is not the object of my faith. I believe only what God has revealed and no more. God has not revealed how this is so, therefore, I believe nothing about the manner of it. But still, it would be absurd of me to deny the fact that God is Three and One simply because I do not understand the manner of it.  In other words, it would be absurd to reject what God has revealed simply because I do not fully comprehend what God has not revealed.

This is a significant point for us to grasp. There are many “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the human heart” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NASB). Some of these “to us God revealed them through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:10, NASB)—“revealed;” that is, unveiled or uncovered. God revealed those parts He requires us to believe. But, parts of them God has not revealed. These things we need not and cannot believe. These unrevealed things are far above us, out of our sight.

Now, where is the wisdom of rejecting what is revealed because we do not understand what is not revealed? Is it wise to deny the fact of what God has unveiled because we cannot comprehend the manner of it, which remains hidden, especially when we consider that what God has revealed to us with respect to His being Three and One is a truth of the highest importance. This confession lies at the heart of Christianity, and, it lies at the root of all vital religion[—that is, at the heart of how the Scriptures instruct us to worship God.]

Unless these Three are One, how can “all honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (John 5:23, NASB). Socinus wrote in a letter to his friend, “I know not what to do with my untoward followers. They will not worship Jesus Christ. I tell them that it is written, ‘And let all the angels of God worship Him’ (Hebrews 1:6, NASB). They answer, “However that be, if he is not God, we dare not worship him. For ‘It is written: you shall worship the lord your God and serve him only’ (Luke 4:8, NASB).

What I’m trying to explain is this: The knowledge of the Three-One God is interwoven into all true Christian faith, and, therefore, with all vital religion[—that is, with all Christian worship.]

I am not arguing that every real Christian must confess with the Marquis de Renty, “I bear with me continually an experience of the truth of and an abundance of the presence of the ever-blessed Trinity.” I presume that this is not the experience of “children,” but rather “fathers in Christ.”

But I do not know how anyone can be a Christian believer until he has, as the Apostle John has written, “the testimony in himself;” until “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16, NASB)—that is, until the Holy Spirit testifies that God the Father has accepted him through the merits of God the Son, and, having this testimony, he honors the Son and the blessed Spirit, even as he honors the Father.

It is not that every Christian testifies to this. Early in the Christian walk, perhaps one in twenty would not confess it. But, if you were to ask any true believer a few questions, you would find quite quickly that it is implied in what he or she believes.

Therefore, I do not see how it is possible for any to have vital religion and deny that these Three are One. My hope for them is not that they will be saved, but that, before they pass into eternity, God will bring them “the knowledge of the truth” (Hebrews 10:26, NASB). [Amen.]

2022-06-12-Wesley-OnTheTrinity-1John5_7Download

John Wesley Sermons – Scriptural Christianity (Acts 4:31)

Preached by John Wesley at St. Mary’s, Oxford – August 24, 1744

Language updated and edited by J. Thomas Johnson – June 5, 2022

The original sermon can be found in The Works of John Wesley, Volume 5 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996), 37-52).

. . . .4 someone who hears the sound of the horn but does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.

Ezekiel 33:4, NASB

31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:31, NASB

“…And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” The same expression occurs in the second chapter of Acts, where we read:

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all [the Apostles, with the women, and the mother of Jesus, and his brothers,] together in one place. 2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. [One immediate effect of this was that they] began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out, [insomuch, that both the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the other strangers who] came together were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.

Acts 2:1-6, NASB

In Acts chapter four we read that when the Apostles and the others gathered with them had been praying and praising God, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, there was no visible appearance at this time as there had been in the earlier instance, nor are we told that the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were then given to all or any of them; such as the gifts of healing, of miracle-working, of prophecy, of the discerning of spirits, of speaking in diverse tongues, or the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Whether these gifts of the Holy Spirit were designed to remain in the Church throughout all ages, and whether or not they will be restored at the nearer approach of the “restitution of all things,” are questions which we do not need to decide. But we should observe that, even in the infancy of the Church, God divided these gifts with a sparing hand. Were all even then Prophets? Were all workers of miracles? Did all have gifts of healing? Did all speak in tongues? No, perhaps not one in a thousand. Probably none but the Teachers in the Church, and only some of them (1 Corinthians 12:28-30). It was, therefore, for a more excellent purpose than this that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”

It was to give them (what no one can deny to be essential to all Christians in all ages) the mind which was in Christ—those holy fruits of the Spirit which whoever does not have them does not belong to Christ; to fill them with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control;” (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB); to endow them with faith (perhaps a better word would be fidelity) with meekness and the moderation of their appetites; to enable them to crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts, its passions and desires; and, as a result of that inward change, to fulfill all outward righteousness; to “walk as Christ also walked,” in the “work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope” (1 Thessalonians 1:3, NASB).

Without concerning ourselves, then, in idle curiosity about those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, let us take a closer look at the Spirit’s ordinary fruits, which we are assured will remain throughout all ages;—at that great work of God among the children of humanity, which we express with one word, Christianity; not as it applies to a set of opinions or a system of doctrines, but as it refers to human hearts and lives. It may be helpful to consider Christianity from three perspectives:

  1. As beginning to exist in individuals.
  2. As spreading from one person to another:
  3. And as covering the earth.

Having discussed these, I intend to conclude with a plain, practical application.

First, let us consider Christianity in its rise, as beginning to exist in individuals.

Imagine, then, that one of those who heard the Apostle Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost in which he preached repentance and remission of sins was convicted in his heart, was convinced of his sin, repented, and then believed in Jesus. By this faith in the work of God which “is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1, NASB), he instantly received the Spirit of Adoption, by which he now cried “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

Now by the Holy Spirit, he could call Jesus Lord, the Spirit Himself bearing witness with his spirit that he was a child of God (Romans 8:16). Now he could truly say, “20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20, NASB).

This, then, would have been the very essence of his faith, a divine evidence or conviction of the love of God the Father, through the Son of His love, to him, a sinner, now accepted in Jesus. And, “having been justified by faith, [he now would have] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 5:1, NASB). Even more, “the peace of God would rule in his heart;” a peace, which, beyond all understanding, would keep his heart and mind from all doubt and fear, through the knowledge of the One in Whom he had then come to believe.

He could not, therefore, “be afraid of any evil news;” for his “heart would stand fast, believing in the Lord.” He would not fear what any other human could do to him, because he would know that the very hairs of his head were numbered. He would not fear the powers of darkness, whom God would be daily crushing under his feet. Even more, the fear of death would become the least of all of his fears. Instead, he would confess with the Apostle Paul that now he had “the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;” (Philippians 1:23, NASB). For, “14 … since the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Hebrews 2:14-15, NASB).

This one’s soul, therefore, would magnify the Lord, and his spirit would rejoice in God, his Savior. He would have rejoiced in Jesus with unspeakable joy, for Jesus had reconciled him to God and “7 In [Jesus} [he would have] redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of [his] wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7-8, NASB). He would have rejoiced in the witness of God’s Spirit with his spirit that he was a child of God; and more abundantly, “in hope of the glory of God:” in hope of the glorious image of God, and full renewal of his soul in righteousness and true holiness; and in hope of that crown of glory, that “inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away,…” (1 Peter 1:4, NASB).

“The love of God [would also have been] poured out within [his] heart through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5, NASB). “6 Because [he was now a son], God would have sent the Spirit of His Son into [his] heart, crying out, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:6, NASB). And that parental love of God would have been continually increased by the witness that he had in himself of God’s pardoning love to him; by “1 [seeing] how great a love the Father has given [him], that [he] would be called [a child] of God;…” (1 John 3:1, NASB). God would have become the desire of his eyes and the joy of his heart; his inheritance both in time and in eternity.

And one that loved God in these ways could not help but love his brothers and sisters; and “…not love with word or with tongue [only], but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18, NASB). “If God so loved us,” he would have said, “we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11, NASB); yes, we must love every single person, for, “9 The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9, NASB).

In agreement with these things, this lover of God would have embraced all of humankind for God’s sake; not ignoring those he had never met personally, or those of whom he knew nothing more than that they were “the offspring of God,” for whom His Son had died; not ignoring the “evil” and the “ungrateful,” and not ignoring even his enemies—those who hated or persecuted or despitefully used him. All of these he would have embraced for his Master’s sake. Each of these would have had a special place, both in his heart and in his prayers. He would have loved them “even as Christ loved us.”

And “love does not brag, [and] it is not arrogant” (1 Corinthians 13:4, NASB). Love brings the knees of all those in whom it dwells into the dust. Similarly, this man would have been lowly of heart, little, mean, and vile in his own eyes. He would neither have sought nor received the praise of people, but only that which comes from God. He would have been meek and longsuffering, gentle to all, and easy to ask favors of.

Faithfulness and truth would never be far from him; these things would be “[bound] around [his] neck, and [written] on the tablet of [his] heart” (Proverbs 3:3, NASB). By the same Spirit he would be enabled to be temperate in all things, controlling himself as though he had been weaned from excess as a child is weaned from milk. He would have confessed with the Apostle Paul, “…the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14, NASB); now living beyond, “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life,…” (1 John 2:16, NASB). By the same almighty love he would have been saved both from passion and from pride; both from lust and from vanity; both from ambition and from covetousness; and from every state of heart and mind that was not in Christ Jesus.

Of course, a person who had this love in his heart would work no evil against his neighbor. It would have been impossible for him, purposefully and intentionally, to do harm to any person. He would have been at the greatest distance from cruelty and wrong, from any unjust or unkind action. With the same care he would have “3 set a guard over [his] mouth; and kept watch over the door of [his] lips,” (Psalm 141:3, NASB) lest he should offend by his speech either against justice or against mercy or truth. He would have put away all lying, falsehood, and fraud; neither would deception be found in his mouth. He would have spoken evil of no person; nor would an unkind word ever have come out of his lips.

And as he would have been deeply aware of the truth of Jesus’ teaching, “…apart from Me you can do nothing,” (John 15:5, NASB) and, consequently, of his own need to be watered by God daily, so he would have continued daily in all the ordinances of God, which are the stated channels of God’s grace to humanity: Namely, “the Apostles’ teaching,” receiving eagerly that food of the soul; in “the breaking of bread,” which he would have found in the communion of the body of Christ; and “in the prayers” and praises offered up by the great congregation. And, in these ways, he would daily have “grown in grace,” increasing in strength, in the knowledge and love of God.

But it would not have satisfied him simply to abstain from doing evil. His soul would have been eager to do good. The language of his heart would have been continually, “ ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working’ (John 5:17, NASB). My Lord went about doing good; and I will follow His example.”

As he had opportunity, therefore, if he could do no good of a higher kind, he would have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, helped the fatherless or stranger, visited and assisted them that were sick or in prison. He would have given all his goods to feed the poor. He would have rejoiced to work or to suffer for them; and in whatever way he might have benefited another person, in those cases especially he would have denied himself. He would have thought of nothing as too dear to part with for them. He would have remembered the word of his Lord, Who said, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me” (Matthew 25:40, NASB).

This was Christianity in the beginning. Such was a Christian in ancient days. Such was every one of those who, when they heard the threats of the Chief Priests and Elders, “…were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. 32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul;…” (Acts 4:31-32, NASB).

In this way the love of Him in Whom they had believed constrained them to love one another! “And not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them” (Acts 4:32, NASB). So fully were they crucified to the world, and the world crucified to them! “33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35 and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need” (Acts 4:33-35, NASB).

Having considered Christianity in its rise, as beginning to exist in individuals, now, secondly, let us consider Christianity in its spread from person to person, and so gradually making its way into the world: For this was God’s will for it, Who did not “light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, [that it might give] light to all who are in the house” (Matthew 5:15, NASB). Jesus Himself had declared this to His first disciples by teaching, “13You are the salt of the earth,” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13a, 14a, NASB). And, at the same time He gave them the general command, “16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, NASB).

And, so, let’s suppose that a few of these people who were committed to loving humankind the way Jesus instructed them saw “that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19, NASB). Can we believe that they would be unconcerned at the misery of those for whom their Lord died? Wouldn’t their compassion and mercy overwhelm them? And even if Jesus gave them no command, could they really stand by idly? Instead, would they not work by all possible means to pluck some of these brands out of the burning? Of course, they would. They would endure whatever must be endured to bring back whoever they could of those poor “straying sheep to the Shepherd and Guardian of their souls” (1 Peter 2:25, NASB).

The Christians of old did just this. They worked, “as they had opportunity to do good to all people,” (Galatians 6:10, NASB) warning them to flee from the wrath to come; now, now to escape the damnation of final judgment. They declared, “30 So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to humankind that all people everywhere are to repent” (Acts 17:30, NASB). They cried out, “Turn, turn from your evil ways; ‘so that wrongdoing does not become a stumbling block to you’ ” (Ezekiel 18:30, NASB). They “reasoned” with them of “righteousness,” or justice,—of the virtues opposed to their reigning sins; “of self-control, and the judgment to come,” (Acts 24:25, NASB)—of the wrath of God which will surely be executed on evil-doers on that day when He will judge the world.

In these ways they endeavored to speak to every person individually according to that person’s need. To the careless, to those who lay unconcerned in darkness and in the shadow of death, they thundered, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14, NASB).

To those who were already awakened from sleep and groaning under a sense of the wrath of God, their language was, “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:1b-2, NASB).

Meanwhile, they provoked those who had believed to love and to good works; to patient endurance in doing good; and to abound more and more in that “holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, NASB).

And their labor in the Lord was not in vain. His word ran and was glorified. It grew mightily and prevailed. But so much more did offenses also prevail. The world in general was offended, “because [they] testified about it, that its deeds were evil” (John 7:7, NASB).

Pleasure-seeking people were offended, not only because these people were made, as it were, to reprimand their thoughts, but much more, because so many of their companions were taken away and would no longer “run with them in the same excesses of debauchery” (1 Peter 4:4, NASB).

People of high office and high esteem were offended, because, as the Gospel spread, they declined in the esteem of the people; and because many no longer dared to give them flattering titles or to give them the respect due only to God. Salespeople and retailers called one another together, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. 26 You see and hear that [these men have] persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people [so] that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute” (Acts 19:25-27, NASB).

Above all, religious people were offended, and ready at every minute to cry out, “Men of Israel, help!” (Acts 21:28, NASB) “5 for we have found [these men] a public menace and ones who stir up dissensions throughout the world” (Acts 24:5, NASB). “[These are the men] who instruct everyone everywhere against our people, our religious beliefs, and our religious institutions” (Acts 21:28, NASB).

Thus it was that the heavens grew black with clouds, and the storm gathered in great haste. For, according to those who rejected Christianity, the more it spread, the more hurt was done. And the number of those who were more and more enraged at “these [people] who have upset the world” (Acts 17:6, NASB) increased, insomuch that more and more cried out, “Away with such [people] from the earth, for [they] should not be allowed to live!” (Acts 22:22, NASB). And, in so doing, many sincerely believed that they were “offering a service to God” (John 16:2, NASB).

Meanwhile these offended parties did not fail to “scorn [their] name as evil;” (Luke 6:22, NASB) so that “this sect was spoken against everywhere” (Acts 28:22, NASB). People spoke all kinds of evil against them, just as had been done to the Prophets who came before them (Matthew 5:12). And whatever any person would say about them, others would believe; so that offenses grew as numerous as the stars in the heavens.

And then came, at the time foreordained by the Father, all kinds of persecution. Some Christians suffered only shame and reproach for a season; others suffered “the seizure of [their] property;” (Hebrews 10:34, NASB) “36others experienced mocking and flogging, and further, chains and imprisonment;” (Hebrews 11:36, NASB) and others “resisted to the point of shedding blood” (Hebrews 12:4, NASB).

Now it was that the pillars of hell were shaken, and the kingdom of God spread more and more. Sinners everywhere were turned “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18, NASB). He gave His children such “eloquence and wisdom which none of [their] adversaries [were] able to oppose or refute;” (Luke 21:15, NASB) and their lives were of equal force with their words. But above all, their sufferings spoke to all the world.

They “4[commended themselves] as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in difficulties, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in mob attacks, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5, NASB) “in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Corinthians 11:27, NASB). And when, having fought the good fight, they were led as sheep to the slaughter and offered up as sacrifices in service of their faith, then the blood of each of them found a voice, and the Heathen said, “Though he is dead, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4, NASB).

In these ways, Christianity spread itself upon the earth. But how soon did the weeds appear with the wheat, and the mystery of iniquity work as well as the mystery of godliness! How soon did Satan find a seat, even in the temple of God, until “the woman fled into the wilderness,” (Revelation 12:6, NASB) and the faithful again “became few and lowly” (Psalm 107:39, NASB). Here again we walk a well-worn path: The ever-increasing corruptions of the succeeding generations have been largely described in seasons throughout history by those witnesses God raised up to remind us that He had “built His church upon a rock; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18, NASB).

But shall we not see greater things than these? Yes, greater than those things which have occurred since the beginning of the world. Can Satan cause the truth of God to fail or His promises to be of no effect? If not, the time will come when Christianity will prevail over all and cover the earth. Let us pause here for a moment and survey this strange vision: that of a Christian world. “10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to us made careful searches and inquiries” (1 Peter 1:10, NASB), and the Spirit which was in them testified:

“2 Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. . . . And they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war” (Isaiah 2:2, 4, NASB).

“10 Then on that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal flag for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious. . . . 12 And He will lift up a flag for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:10, 12, NASB). “6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fattened steer will be together; and a little boy will lead them. . . . 9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6, 9, NASB).

. . . .

Imagine now the fullness of time having arrived, and these prophecies having been fulfilled. What a prospect is this! All is peace, “quietness and confidence forever” (Isaiah 32:17, NASB). Here there is no sound of weaponry, no “roar of battle” and no “cloak rolled in blood” (Isaiah 9:5, NASB). “6 The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins” (Psalm 9:6, NASB). War is gone from the earth, and there are no conflicts remaining—no person rising up against person, no country or city divided against itself, and destroying itself. Civil unrest is at an end forevermore, and no one is left who would destroy or hurt a neighbor.

There is no longer any “7 oppression” that would make “a wise person look foolish,” (Ecclesiastes 7:7, NASB) no extortion to grind “the face of the poor” (Isaiah 3:15, NASB), no robbery or wrongdoing, no violent seizure of another’s property or injustice of any kind, for all are “content with what [they] have” (Hebrews 13:5, NASB). In these ways, “righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10, NASB), they have taken “deep root and filled the land” (Psalm 80:9, NASB), “11 truth sprouting from the earth, and righteousness looking down from heaven” (Psalm 85:11, NASB).

And along with righteousness (or justice) mercy is also found. The earth is no longer full of cruelty. The Lord has destroyed both the blood-thirsty and malicious and the envious and vengeful person. If anyone were to be provoked, there is no one who would return evil for evil (Romans 12:17). Even more, there is no one that does evil—no, not one—, for all are innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).

But being filled “with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13, NASB), and “by one Spirit all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13, NASB) they all love as brothers and sisters, and they are “of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32, NASB). “And not one of them claims that anything belonging to him is his own,” (Acts 4:32, NASB). “There is not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34, NASB) for every person “loves their neighbor as themselves” (Matthew 22:39, NASB). And all the people walk by one rule: “12 In everything, treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (Matthew 7:12, NASB).

It follows, then, that no unkind word can ever be heard among them—no quarrels, no contention of any kind, no complaining or evil-speaking, but everyone “opens their mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on their tongue” (Proverbs 31:26, NASB). They are also incapable of fraud or deception. Their love is genuine and without pretense. Their words are always the honest expression of their thoughts, opening as a window into their hearts, that whoever desires may look into their inmost being and see that only love and God are there.

How can this be? Whomever the almighty God reconciles to Himself and wherever He reigns, God “subjects all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:21, NASB), causing every heart to overflow with love and every mouth to be filled with praise. “15 Blessed are the people who are so situated; blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!” (Psalm 144:15, NASB). “1 Arise, shine; (says the Lord) for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:1, NASB). “And humanity has come to know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob” (Isaiah 49:26, NASB). “I have made peace your administrators, and righteousness your overseers. 18 Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise” (Isaiah 60:17-18, NASB). 21 “All your people are righteous; they will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified” (Isaiah 60:21, NASB). “19 No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor will the moon give you light for brightness; but you will have the Lord as an everlasting light, and your God as your glory” (Isaiah 60:19, NASB).

Now that we have considered Christianity both in its earliest days and as it spread throughout the nations of the earth, I have only now to close this discussion with a plain and practical application.

First, I would ask you, “Where does this Christianity now exist? Where in this world do these Christians live? The inhabitants of which country on earth are filled with the Holy Spirit in the ways the Scriptures have described?

In which country are all inhabitants of one heart and of one soul, cannot endure any among them to lack anything, but continually give to every person according to his or her need, who, one and all, have the love of God filling their hearts and constraining them to love their neighbors as themselves, who have all “put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other,” (Colossians 3:12-13, NASB), who, neither in word or deed, offend against justice, mercy, or truth, but in every situation do to others as they would have done to themselves? Can we really call any country a Christian country which does not answer to this description? In truth, we must confess together that we have never yet seen a Christian country upon the earth.

I beg you, brothers and sisters, by the mercy of God, if you consider me insane or a fool, then, as a fool bear with me. It is necessary that some one should speak plainly to you, and it is all the more necessary at this time, for who knows if it is the last time? Who knows how soon the righteous Judge may say, “I will no longer hear the prayers of this people?” “14 Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in this land, by their own righteousness they could only save themselves” (Ezekiel 14:14, NASB).

And who will speak plainly to you, if I do not? Therefore, I must speak plainly to you. And I urge you, by the living God, do not harden your hearts against receiving a blessing at my hands. Do not say in your hearts, “Lord, do not send whom you have sent; let me rather perish than be saved by this man!”

Brothers and sisters, “I am convinced of better things regarding you” (Hebrews 6:9, NASB) than what I am about to speak. Let me ask you then, in tender love, and in the spirit of meekness, “Is this a Christian city?” Are we considered as a community of people so filled with the Holy Spirit as to enjoy in our hearts and evidence in our lives the genuine fruits of the Spirit?

Are all civil leaders, all principals and administrators of schools and their respective committees, (not to speak of the inhabitants of the town,) “of one heart and one soul?” Has “the love of God been poured out within our hearts” (Romans 5:5, NASB)? Have we all the “attitude in ourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5, NASB)? And do our lives evidence this claim? Are we holy as He Who has called us is holy, in all the things we say to and about each other?

I beg you to be mindful, brothers and sisters, that we have not been considering novel or obscure notions. We have not been discussing debatable matters, of one kind or another. We have been describing the undoubted, fundamental teachings of our common Christianity. And for your response to this message, I appeal to your own conscience, guided by the word of God. Therefore, the one who is not convicted in his or her own heart, let that person be unconcerned.

. . . .

. . . . Before God and this congregation, I own myself to have been of the number, solemnly swearing to observe all those customs which I then knew nothing of; and those statutes which I did not so much as read over, either then, or for some years after. What is perjury, if this is not? But if it is, o what a weight of sin lies upon us! And doesn’t the Most High see it?

May it not be one of the consequences of this that so many of us are a generation of triflers; triflers with God, with one another, and with our own souls? For how few of us spend a single hour in private prayer a week? How few of us have any thought of God in the normal course of our daily conversations?

Who of us is, in any degree, acquainted with the work of God’s Spirit, His supernatural work in the souls of people? Can any of us stand talk of the Holy Spirit in church? Would we not assume that any one who spoke of the Holy Spirit was either deceiving us or deceiving themselves? In the name of the Lord God Almighty, I ask, “What religion are we of?” Even the talk of Scriptural Christianity we cannot bear. O my brothers and sisters, what a Christian city is this? “126 It is time for the Lord to act, for we have broken Your Law” (Psalm 119:126, NASB).

For, indeed, how probable is it (is it even possible?) that Christianity, Scriptural Christianity, should again be the religion of this place, that all people among us, from the least to the greatest, should speak and live as people filled with the Holy Spirit? By whom would this Christianity be restored?

Would it be restored by those who are in authority over us? Are they convinced that what I have described is scriptural Christianity? Are they desirous that it be restored? And would any consider it their sacred responsibility and duty to see it restored? And even if one in authority were to have this desire, who would have the influence and the proportionate power to actually bring it into effect? Perhaps some have even tried, but with how little success?

Shall Christianity be restored, then, by young, unknown people? I am not certain that any of our young would be willing to suffer for it. Wouldn’t many of us older folks cry out against such a young person, saying, “By doing this you are criticizing and condemning us?” But, I fear there is no danger of being in this situation, because wickedness has overspread us like a flood.

Whom then shall God send—the famine, the pestilence, (the last messengers of God to a guilty land) or the sword? Please no, O Lord! Let us fall into Your hand rather than into the hands of humans. Lord, save us or we will perish! Take us out of the mire that we might not sink! O help us against these enemies for human help is futile! Only unto You are all things possible. According to the greatness of Your power, preserve those that are appointed for destruction, and preserve us in the way that seems right to You; not as we will, but as You will!

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The Sheep & the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

The Christian Scriptures certainly call followers of Jesus toward generosity and hospitality. As Jesus Himself taught in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew:

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘you Shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:38-48, NASB

Generosity toward those in need, hospitality toward strangers, and care for the vulnerable or disenfranchised are behaviors expected of the people of God. These are, indeed, ethics of the Kingdom of the Heavens. As God explained to Israel through Moses:

14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set His affection on your fathers, to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, you over all the other peoples, as it is this day. 16 So circumcise your heart, and do not stiffen your neck any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe. 18 He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. 19 So show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.

Deuteronomy 10:14-20, NASB

Throughout the First and New Testaments, these behaviors are commended to the people of God. Those who live in these ways are praised. Those who do not are warned, called to repent, and, if continuing in their rebelliousness, disciplined.

But, contrary to much contemporary preaching and teaching, this is not what Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats was about. Before we look at the parable, we must first contextualize the language that Jesus uses therein.

One of the terms that proves essential to understanding Jesus’ intent as it has been preserved by the Gospel of Matthew is the term brother. The Greek word is adelphōn, and since it can be used to refer generically to one’s relatives, it is often translated today as brothers and sisters. This is not a word Jesus used casually in Matthew’s recollection of His ministry. Perhaps the most illustrative context is Matthew 12:46-50:

46 While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 [Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”] 48 But Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” 49 And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

Matthew 12:46-50, NASB

The Christian Scriptures do not teach the universal brotherhood or sisterhood of humanity. It is true that all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve by way of Noah and his wife. However, this reality does not lead the writers of Scripture to describe humans universally as brothers and sisters. Quite to the contrary, the New Testament authors have insisted that to become part of God’s family, we must be adopted by faith in Jesus. As Paul has explained in Galatians 4:1-7:

1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:1-7, NASB

In addition to Galatians, Paul used the terminology of adoption in Romans 9:4 and Ephesians 1:5, as well. This is the way Jesus was speaking of family in Matthew 12, when He said, “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.” When Jesus used the word brother, He was not referring to humanity generally, but to those who do the will of His Father particularly.

Now, let’s listen to the parable of the sheep and the goats with contextualized ears.

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-46, NASB

We have to go back a long way to discover the context of this teaching of Jesus. It can be found in Matthew 24:3:

3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Matthew 24:3, NASB

This parable of Jesus is the last of a long series of teachings that Jesus did in private with His disciples during the last week of His pre-resurrected life. According to Matthew, only the disciples heard it. What was Jesus trying to tell them?

These teachings were prompted by Jesus’ declaration that the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. His disciples were understandably vexed by this prediction, and they asked Jesus both when the destruction would occur and when He would reveal Himself to be the Messiah. Jesus’ responses to both questions were not encouraging to the disciples. Jesus spoke of seasons of great difficulty and tribulation ahead for them. Most dire was his prediction of their future suffering:

9 “Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. 12 And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:9-14, NASB

It is to this mistreatment of the disciples that Jesus was speaking when He told them the parable of the sheep and the goats. Who are these brothers of mine? Jesus meant to single out those of His disciples who had suffered in the way described in the parable for bearing His message. It was those who bore His message faithfully who would be hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and imprisoned. What Jesus was revealing to His disciples (and to us through them) was that the judgment of the nations at the end of time would take into account their treatment of the disciples of Jesus. Though they would be persecuted and oppressed and even killed for the message of Jesus, at the final judgment, the nations will answer for their treatment of Jesus’ brothers—i.e., their treatment of those who were doing the will of the Father.

As I said at the onset, hospitality and generosity are part of the ethics of the kingdom. Those who truly follow Jesus will live in these ways. But, the parable of the sheep and the goats does not teach that at the final judgment people will be judged solely based on how they have treated the poor or the criminal. Jesus told the parable of the sheep and the goats to encourage His disciples and to warn the world that the nations and people of the earth will answer at the final judgment for how they received those who have followed Jesus by doing the will of the Father.

There are several ways that we might apply this revelation of Jesus today. But, there is one that the Lord seems to have asked me to highlight today. The Lord has an accusation to make against those professors, scholars, pastors, and laypeople who have persecuted His Prophets and Apostles by disregarding or disrespecting the messages from God entrusted to them and preserved in the Christian Bible. Hear the Word of the Lord:

Throughout the ages many humans have presumed to speak in the Name of a god. Most have spoken presumptuously words from their own imaginations. But, I chose the prophets of Israel and my own Apostles as a people apart from the world. I put my Word in their mouths and I entrusted them with a message for the nations. While they lived, they were persecuted, marginalized, and restrained. After their deaths, many conspired to silence them, to twist the words I had entrusted to them, and to refashion what I said through them into words more amenable to fleshly desires and appetites. Though I had warned such people not to add or to take away from the Word I had sent, they did not heed my warning.

When the day of judgment comes, I will separate the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. To those who have honored, cared for, received, and embraced my prophets and Apostles, I will welcome them into my kingdom. To those who have dishonored, disrespected, rejected, and twisted the words of my prophets and Apostles, I will cast you into darkness.

Whatever you have done to the least of these brothers of mine, you have done to me. Repent, nations and people of the earth. For I desire the destruction of no one. You must heed the words of those I have sent to you.

33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34 And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. 35 And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

‘A stone which the builders rejected,

This has become the chief cornerstone;

This came about from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

Matthew 21:33-44, NASB

Many have seized my vineyard, and put my servants, the prophets and the apostles, to death. Their teachings are no longer revered and their words have been twisted to suit worldly gain. I am coming to reclaim my vineyard. Repent, before I come.