Perry’s Scope: Christian sermons, lessons, and resources for teachers

In church circles we talk a great deal about “life after death.” We give the “invitation” (or “altar call”) at the end of a sermon in case someone wants to become a follower of Jesus for what? Typically we say, “And go to heaven when you die.”

The eternal afterlife is a gift from God to all who will follow his Son. It seems in reading the scriptures that this is a given fact. It does not seem to be a dominant incentive to entice people into following Jesus. In fact, as you read through the gospels and the book of Acts, count how many times the speakers use the reward of heaven as a motivation to obey God.

As a Minister, the thought of not being able to use the carrot of eternal life to get people to obey God seems disarming. Yet, as we search the scriptures, we see many people obeying God. Why would they if heaven is treated as a matter of fact and not motivation?

Perhaps we can see that there is a different focus given by the Messiah, Jesus and his disciples. They did preach eternal life, but that life is not just some far off event. The gospel to them was more than fire insurance against hell. The message they preached involved life NOW.

Eternal life begins when we walk with God. Jesus said He is the key to abundant life (John 10:10). Note John’s use of “eternal life” as present, not merely future in 1 John 5:11-13.

¹¹And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.  ¹³I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

What would be the enticement to follow Jesus if we do not emphasize the afterlife? Perhaps we can take a lesson from the Messiah and see that the abundant, eternal life not only begins in our walk with him, it impacts every aspect of our lives. We become transformed people. We see life through a new set of eyes. We do not despair over every little thing. We have a hope that the world does not have and a life worth living NOW as well as in the resurrection (see John 11:24-27).

Maybe instead of asking, “Do you believe in life after death?” we should be asking, “Do you believe in life BEFORE death?”

Keep The Light Burning!

Perry Greene

Recently Richard May mentioned in a sermon that if we spent the same amount of time in our formal schooling that we do in our formal church Bible classes, we would be in First Grade for twenty-four years! As I heard that I thought, “What would happen if our public schools could help us with our Bible study? How much quicker could we grow if we had at least one class per day in Bible study as well as our church time, family time, and personal time?” That is a reason that many people choose to send their children to Christian schools or home school.

Then it hit me. That is EXACTLY what the Founding Fathers intended for our education system. They knew the power of knowledge. They knew that America was established, as Patrick Henry said, “not on religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” America was to be a FREE country and it was to be a CHRISTIAN nation. People needed to be able to read so they could study the Bible.

I read that Connecticut once passed a law for their citizens where the authorities would send inspectors to each home in their state. The inspectors would test the children in each household to be sure they could read at the level they were supposed to. If not, the parents were fined. What was their reasoning? They knew that legislators need accountability. They determined that if the people could read, they would be able to read the laws that were being passed by Congress. If those laws did not match the Bible, the people could protest and have the laws removed.

The New England Primer used the Bible to teach children to read and write. It was written in 1690 and used in one form or another until the early twentieth century. The children learned stories and doctrines from the Bible at an early age. Some were so adept at learning that they were able to enter schools like Harvard and Yale (once Christian schools) while in their early teens!

How far from our moorings we have drifted as a nation! How amazing the wisdom of our ancestors! How can WE get back on track?

Beginning where we are, we must make a more concerted effort to learn and to learn. Most importantly, we must learn the word of God from Genesis to Revelation. We must see His hand in the history of the world and our country. America did not happen by accident. Even men like George Washington realized that Providence established the nation, not the military or political skills of the citizens (see also Zechariah 4:6).

Turn off the TV and slow down. Take time to read the Bible daily. In the words of Jesus, “Could you not tarry one hour?” Knowing the Bible will make all the difference on all the levels!

Keep The Light Burning!

Perry Greene

A contract is a formal or legal agreement. It may take a written form in which two parties come to an agreement and hold each other to it. Entrance into the contract is usually voluntary, but once in, it is impossible to get out of the agreement without violating the contract. One must live up to the stipulations until the end of the contract period. At that point, each party is free to go his own way.

Most Western Christians treat God in this fashion. Typically, we try to “trap” God in his agreement. We legalistically approach him and see that he has made us an offer we really can’t afford to refuse. Then we leap into the agreement. Going through the motions, we try to force God into living up to his side of the deal with little to no real commitment on our part. We reason, “He OWES this to me because I entered into the contract. Does this sound at all familiar?

This gets a little tricky because there are some legal applications to what God offers us. The Bible teaches, though that we cannot earn our salvation or do we deserve it on any level (Ephesians 2:1-10). We cannot earn or receive it from God regardless of what we do to achieve it on a legal level. We violate the “contract” daily but expect exemptions. We cannot simply comply with a few rules or regulations and demand blessings from the Creator of the universe.

We are actually in a covenant relationship with God. While there are legalities within it, there is an emphasis on relationship over law. We see covenants all through the Bible. God made covenant with Adam; by means of Noah; in Abraham; by way of Moses; and especially in and through Jesus. A key to covenants that came by these men is the relationship that God wanted with his people. The covenant expresses contractual obligations but create a relationship between the parties.

In Luke 22:20, Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” The fullness of the covenant is seen in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Jesus expresses the ultimate aspect of relationship by his willingness to pour out his blood (a sacrifice) for his people. He expresses relationship as well as contract obligations.

Maybe the story of the “loving Father” in Luke 15 can better express this. Both the “prodigal” (i.e., wasteful) son and the older brother treat their father in a legal way. The younger son declares, “Give me what is mine.” He expected his legal rights in the form of his early inheritance, even though this was highly insulting to the father. In essence, the son is saying he wishes his father was dead and that he preferred stuff over his parent. The older brother also winds up with an inheritance. However, as the story unfolds, the father (obviously representing our heavenly Father) expresses a covenant relationship with his sons which supersedes contractual obligation. Because the father loves the sons, he is willing to humiliate himself with both of them and went beyond the law to restore relationship.

This is exactly what the Father has done for us through Jesus. What do we deserve as sinful children? The obvious answer is death (Romans 3:23; 6:23). If God was merely a contract lawyer, that is what we would get. He is, instead, a loving Father. He desires relationship with us (your guess is as good as mine as to why). Therefore, God establishes a covenant with us which is ratified in the blood of his Son. He actually took on the whole legal obligation of the covenant because we cannot (also see Genesis 15 when God ratified the covenant with Abraham by taking the Abraham’s responsibility as well as His own).

Let’s live beyond contractual obligations with God. That is what we want in our homes, why not in God’s household? Even the Torah states we are to LOVE God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), not just abide by a set of rules. Jesus states it this way in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

Keep The Light Burning!

Perry Greene

I used to want to do something GREAT for God. I wanted to be a Moses or a Samuel or a Daniel. I have changed my mind.

I did not change my mind because of stress. I imagine that any of the great Bible characters lived with constant stress and turmoil in their lives. It appears that Moses had (or at least approached) nervous breakdowns on occasion. Daniel had to walk the tightrope with the king and THE King. Every one of those guys was the “cream that rose to the top” but did so in very trying times. But, that’s not my reason.

I changed my mind because I have come to realize that God did not make me a Moses. He already had one. There was already a Samuel and an Elijah, or whoever else you want to name. God makes some of us to do things with high visibility. He makes others of us to do more hidden things (Romans 9:20-24; Isaiah 64; Jeremiah 18). Rather than complain because I am not “an eye” (1 Corinthians 12:14ff) shouldn’t I just be who I am? Isn’t that a greater responsibility than trying to be someone I am not?

The real task of my life is to learn who God had in mind when he made me. Once I have made that discovery I can more aptly live up to HIS expectations of me. A by-product will be a fuller life with a deeper commitment to my God. Is that not what Jesus said the first command involved?

God is not going to condemn me for my lack of Moses-like qualities. He will not criticize me for not being Jeremiah’s equivalent in our day and time (how rough would that be?). He only expects me to be me and live up to his Instructions.

Keep The Light Burning!

Perry Greene

In the spirit of Memorial Day I did a few patriotic and semi-patriotic things this past weekend. I flew the American flag. I participated in a ceremony at the Union Soldiers Cemetery in Oklahoma City. I watched movies about WWII.

While watching “Patton,” I thought about one of the great differences between America and so many other nations of the world. History has shown that nations rise and conquer. They subdue the defeated and rule them. Not so with America!

As we marched through North Africa, then into Sicily, then into Italy, we did not fight to rule the citizens, we came to free them. We LIBERATED Europe and Asia in the Second World War. How thrilling it must have been for our service personnel to have driven away the enemy and restored freedom to a town. It must have been sobering to liberate concentration camps and see the absolute epitome of “man’s inhumanity to man.”

We hear about how arrogant America has been in our history. We hear apologies for our role in world history. Certainly we are not perfect, there is only One is. But for all of our shortcomings, we have been a servant to the world.

How many applications are there through our history! Since the USA was founded on biblical principles, it is evident that so much of who we are and what we do comes from the Book. The spiritual qualities of sacrifice and freedom fill its pages.

Think of God bringing deliverance to the Hebrews as they were enslaved in Egypt. Think of Jesus’ coming to lay down his life for his friends and his enemies (John 15:13-15; Romans 5:8). Think of the words of Christ ringing the sound of freedom from spiritual oppression for us (John 8:32). Think of the path of freedom that Jesus has laid out for us (John 14:6)

Freedom comes at a high price. It cost our American Founders their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.” Our spiritual freedom cost the life of the Son of God.

Keep The Light Burning!

Perry Greene