Childlike humility coupled with adult wisdom

I Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

I Corinthians 14:20 (ESV)

Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 

Scripture sometimes can be confusing.  For example, these verses speak that you should grow up, not act like a child, but act like an adult.  Contrast this teaching with Matthew 18:3 where Jesus says that unless you become like a little child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Indeed, confusing on the surface.  Bible critics will use verses like these to accuse the Bible of being contradictory and, therefore, cannot be believed.  Of course, they are wrong. 

The best way to interpret a verse or passage of Scripture is to understand its context.  In I Cor 13 Paul implores the Corinthian church to love one another as God loves us, with this kind of agape (sacrificial) love being a more excellent way (see I Cor 12:31) of serving God and others in His church.  Paul is speaking of Christian action where such action is dictated by Christian thought.  You are to think as mature adult, not as a child.  Mature thinking breeds mature attitudes and mature attitudes result in mature actions.  You are to be adult in your faith and actions.  And, no, this kind of maturity is not what you might see or hear or read about an advertisement or promotion for pornographic literature or movies where it says or states “for mature adults only”.  No, people who enjoy this kind of trash are not mature adults; they are immature and evil who demonstrate infantile behavior.

To be adult in your faith and actions is to be mature in your thinking as I Cor 14:20 states.  It is an interesting phrase Paul uses, “Be infants in evil…..”  Are infants evil?  Of course not.  He is not talking about children, he is talking about the level or extent of evil developed in your mind.  Evil thinking in the mind of a follower of Christ should be minimal.  Evil cannot be completely eliminated, but it can be minimized, just like an infant is the minimal age of a human being.  Christians are to be innocent towards evil.      

While Christians are to be mature adults in their thinking and actions, they are to be like children in their relationship with Christ.  When Jesus said that we are to be “like these little children” in Matt 18:3, He clarifies this in the next verse by emphasizing the need to be humble.  Jesus described Himself as “gentle and humble in heart” (Matt 11:29) and His followers are to be like Him.  So, you, as a Christian, are to be mature in your thinking and resultant actions and also to be humble in your heart with childlike reverence for God and selfless attitudes and actions towards others.  Think about areas of your thought life where you are child-like and where you are mature.  How might you be an infant in evil and mature in your thinking?  Why might it be so hard for you to be an infant in evil and mature in thinking?   

Satan seeks opportune times to tempt us

Luke 4:13 (NASB)

When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

The story of Jesus being tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4) is well-known in Christian circles.  In the Matthew story, after Jesus told Satan to go away, he did as Matthew 4:11 says: “Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.”  However, in the Luke story, you read verse 13 that the devil left Jesus “until an opportune time”.  Have you ever thought about what “an opportune time” means?  Was there another time later when Satan returned to tempt, harass, and perhaps harm Jesus? 

Scripture does not record another direct communication between Satan and Jesus again.  However, Jesus spoke about Satan several times in the gospels (Matthew 12:24-28, Matthew 13:19, Matthew 13:36-43, Luke 10:18, John 12:31-32, John 12:43-44).  Jesus always spoke about Satan being the enemy of Christians and always attempting to turn people’s hearts away from Jesus.  The parable of the sower in one example where in Matthew 13:19 and Mark 4:15 Jesus described the seed planted by the road as people who hear the Word of God but do not understand it and “the evil one” comes and snatches away what was sown in that person’s heart.  Luke 8:12 goes further and writes that the devil takes away the Word of God from people’s heart so that they will not believe and be saved. 

When Jesus was speaking about His death and resurrection in Matthew 16:21, Peter rebuked Jesus in verse 22 and what was Jesus’ response?  “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me”.  So Satan chooses an opportune time to oppose Jesus any chance he can get where he will oppose Jesus’ words and keep people from following Jesus.  He did this with Judas as you read in Luke 22:1-6.  

Luke 22:39-46 records Jesus’ time at the Mount of Olives right before He was betrayed and arrested.  While Scripture does not record any direct conversation Jesus might have had with Satan, Luke twice uses the phrase “enter into temptation” (verses 40 and 46).  This was in reference to His disciples that they pray not to enter into temptation.  Who is the tempter?  Satan.  When Jesus prayed in Luke 22:42 that His Father “remove this cup from Me”, isn’t it logical to believe that Satan was tempting Jesus right then?  Satan had many opportune times during Jesus’ waiting to be arrested, during His sufferings and being crucified, yet like the temptation in the desert, Jesus prevailed and did not allow Satan to have his way.  Such triumph over Satan demonstrated Jesus’ indescribable love for people more than any fear He might have had of pain and death.   

Satan looks for opportune times every day to tempt you and me.  He is the great deceiver (Genesis 3:1-7, Rev 12:9), the father of lies (John 8:44), and a prowler seeking to devour you (I Peter 5:8).  Satan even disguises himself as “an angel of light” (II Cor 11:14) which is a common method for him to deceive people and pull them away from following the Lord.  He deceives people as an angel of light imposter by false teaching; that is, teaching that is contrary to the Word of God.  So many people who call themselves Christians do not know the Bible and, therefore, are easily deceived.  Two very common ways that Satan deceives people as an angel of light is through human pride, often manifested through sex and money.  It’s okay to be greedy, it’s okay to commit sexual immorality, it’s okay to be selfish and self-centered, etc.  That’s how Satan distorts the truth of God.

As Peter warns in I Peter 5:8, you must always “be of sober spirit, be on the alert” because Satan always looking for an opportune time to “devour” you so that you question your faith, you question the Bible, you think that your way is the right way (Isaiah 53:6).  The only ways that you can resist these satanic opportune times to destroy your faith and testimony are (1) to stay away from whatever you know tempts you in the first place and (2) use Scripture as Jesus did to counter attack any assault you feel Satan is aiming at you.  If you resist Satan through quoting God’s Word, he will flee from you (James 4:7). 

“Thanks be to God who gives us the victory though our Lord Jesus Christ”—I Corinthians 15:57 

Do not be ashamed of the gospel

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Define gospel.  Don’t read further; just define what gospel means to you.  Do you feel clumsy putting it into words?  We take the word for granted at times as we do many other words where trying to define such words to someone else is not easy.  For example, define art, beauty, pain, old, health, love.  Such words are difficult to define because they are subjective words with slightly different meaning to different people. 

Gospel can have many meanings

·  Good news of Christ

·  Good news concerning Christ, the Kingdom of God, and salvation

·  The life of Christ

·  The first four books of the New Testament 

·  The truth

·  The proclamation of redemption preached by Jesus and the Apostles

·  Evangelical

·  Relating to music

·  Any system of religious doctrine

The word Paul used for gospel was “euaggelion” meaning “good or glad tidings of salvation through the grace of God in Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God”.  This was the same word written in verses describing Jesus’ teaching, e.g. Jesus preaching the “euaggelion” in Matt 4:23 and  9:35; Mark using this word many times, e.g. 1:1, 1:14-15, 8:35, 10:29, 13:10, 14:9, 16:15, and Acts 15:17 and 20:24. 

It is this gospel, however you define it, that Paul boldly declares that he is not ashamed of.  Why?  He proceeds to give four reasons: (1) It is power (“dynamis”); (2) It is of God (“Theos”); (3) It is salvation (“soteria”); and (4) It is for everyone (“pas”). 

By this definition in Romans 1:16, the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to you and to anyone who believes……….believes in the gospel of God (Romans 1:1) that He promised in the Old Testament (verse 2) concerning His Son (verse 3) who had the power to be resurrected from the dead (verse 4).  So belief is referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ , Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Jesus came to save sinners from being separated from God.

The Roman world knew what power meant and Paul used “dynamis” to describe just how powerful the gospel is, even more powerful than any Roman army, sufficiently powerful to defeat death.  Such power can take the greatest sinner and convert him/her into the greatest saint.  Paul was such a person, a former killer and persecutor of Christians, now a minister of the Christian faith.  

 

Is your faith in Jesus Christ sufficiently solid and deep that you could easily proclaim this same message to anyone else?  If not, why not?  Is there still some kind of shame or embarrassment in what you believe?  Where do you need to change, to grow, to deepen your belief?  What does power mean to you?  How can you apply that power in your daily life?  What weaknesses still exist in your life where God’s power can overcome (II Cor 12:9)?

The Lord is my strength and my shield

Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy. 

This is a very special verse for me, not only because of its meaning, but also because it reminds me of my daughter, Allison.  Today is her birthday.  When she was 7 years old, one day she excitedly told me that she had memorized this verse.  Since then, every time I read this verse, I am reminded of my precious daughter.  So I am delighted to write about this verse.

Think deeply for a few moments on these truths:

1.   The Lord is my strength

2.   The Lord is my shield

3.   My heart trusts in Him

4.   His strength, shield and my trust in Him help me.

5.   My heart leaps for joy

Really now, did you concentrate on these five truths?  Did you repeat them in your mind and reflect on what they mean to you?  Whatever your mood or circumstances right now, did not these truths give you something positive to encourage and help you? 

Let’s dig below the surface.  The Lord is your “oz”, yes, that’s the Chaldean word used here for strength.  You didn’t know that the title of the book and movie was really “The Wizard of Strength”, did you?  This word also means security, power, boldness, and majesty.  There are dozens of verses in the Old Testament that make this same claim (e.g. Psalm 18:2, 19:14 and 46:1).  The most familiar passage on strength in the New Testament is Philippians 4:13.  Are you facing a difficulty right now that is so overwhelming that you see no way out?  Is something in your life out of control?  Can you see from this passage where true strength comes from?  Can you see what happens when you have this strength?  Do you understand how you can have it?

The Lord is also your ‘meginnah’ (meg-in-naw), your protector, your shield.  Think of the Lord not only as your protector, but also think of His shield as making the missiles (attacks) of the enemy in the form of fear and worry and depression bounce off of you.

Why can you trust Him?  OK, try this………ask Him right now to give you strength and to be your shield in whatever challenging or difficult circumstance you are facing right now.  Be specific in your prayer, telling Him your deepest emotions and not holding anything back, even if you need to ‘complain’ that you are not feeling any strength or protection.  Tell Him that you trust Him to give you His strength and His protection within and throughout this circumstance.  Now, after you have prayed as fervently as you can[1], and emptied your mind and heart of whatever emotions you have, how do you feel?  Do you feel that you have been helped? Does your heart want to leap for joy?  Is there a smile on your face?  Is there a sense of relief in your heart?  You have experienced something highly spiritual that words cannot describe.  You have experienced the incomparable and indescribable power and joy of the creator of you and all things.  You have experienced His certainty, His security, and His peace of mind! 

Here’s another rendition of this beautiful verse:

The Lord’s my strength, He is my shield, on Him my heart relies.

So I am helped, my heart exults, to Him my thanks arise.

For all His chosen people too, the source of strength is He

And for His blest anointed Son, His saving strength shall be

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[1] Be sure that you first have asked for His forgiveness for James 5:16 says that the prayers of a 'righteous man’ can accomplish much and a righteous man/woman is one who has been cleansed of all sin by confessing it (I John 1:9).