What Will Your Money Say on Judgment Day?

“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” - 1 Timothy 6:10

Have you ever heard the expression, “Money talks”? Its roots go back over 2,400 years ago to the Greek playwright and poet Euripedes. He spoke of the power money has to influence and sway people. Money can talk people into changing their opinions. And money can convince people to do things that they wouldn’t otherwise do. Think about criminal defense attorneys. Think about abortionists. Think about politicians. Make no mistake about it: Money talks.

 In James 5:1-4, God’s word shines the spotlight on a future day when our money is going to be talking louder than ever before. And what it says about you and me will echo throughout all eternity. James starts right off by warning wealthy landowners of his day: “Listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you” (James 5:1).

Now, first of all, remember: 1 Timothy 6:10 teaches that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Contrary to popular belief, the Bible doesn’t say that money is evil. Riches are not evil.  Riches are neutral. They can be used for good, or they can be used for evil. What the Bible teaches us is that the LOVE of money is evil. As a wise man once said, “It is good to have money in your hand as long as you don’t have money in your heart.”

But as these rich guys in James’ time lived for the almighty dollar, they committed four sins that would result in God’s judgment:

Sin #1: They hoarded their wealth (v. 3). Yes, hoarding is a sin. Here on earth we are managers, not owners, of the stuff that’s in our possession. It all belongs to God. And the real owner of all our stuff commands us to hold it with a very loose grip. He commands us to use what we have in our possession for the good of others and the glory of God. If we keep accumulating stuff and hold tightly to all our stuff, our hearts will be all wrapped up in that stuff. And that’s idol worship. Our hearts are supposed to be all wrapped up in God. Further, hoarding deprives others of their needs. The rich landowners James was condemning were hoarding food that could have fed the poor, clothing that could have clothed the poor, and gold that could have been used to care for the poor.

Sin #2: They defrauded their workers (v. 4). The rich landowners had ripped off their poor workers. They promised to pay them a certain wage, but after the workers did their work, the landowners didn’t pay them. God gives us this command in Romans 13:8: “Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another.” This verse doesn’t just apply to borrowers who need to pay back a loan. It also applies to employers who need to pay their employees and suppliers what they owe them. So, if you’ve borrowed money from someone, pay him back. If you’ve borrowed a tool from someone, give it back. And when you make a commitment to pay people for their services, pay them what you owe them.

Sin #3: They lived lives of selfish excess while people around them starved (v. 5). It’s clear from verse 5 that the rich people James condemned were hedonists who lived “in luxury self-indulgence.” They lived for not just for pleasure, but for extravagant pleasure. And all the while, they turned a blind eye to those around them who would have been blessed with even the scraps from their table. It’s not a sin to be rich and to have nice things. But it IS a sin to have more than you need while turning a blind eye to your neighbor who God has called you to help

Sin #4: They had condemned and ruined the lives of innocent men (v. 6). The rich landowners, in most cases, had not pulled the trigger that ended someone’s life. The word translated as “condemned” is a legal term. James is indicating that the landowners had a nasty habit of dragging innocent people into court and doing whatever it took, no matter how crooked it was, to see them condemned and out of the picture.

Never forget: One day our lives on earth will end. We will stand before Almighty God and be judged for the lives that we lived. James asks us to look ahead—because for some of us, there will be Hell to pay if we don’t start making some big changes in our lives right now. In 1 Cor. 3:10-15, Paul teaches us that on Judgment Day, our life’s work will be fed through the flames of testing. If our work has been shallow and self-serving, it will be like wood, hay or straw in the fire: It will be burned up. But if our work has been done for the good of others and for the glory of Jesus Christ, it will be like gold or silver or precious stones. It will pass through the flames of testing—no problem. And it will be transformed into precious eternal treasure in heaven.

I would make the case that on Judgment Day, your money and possessions will also be fed through the flames of testing, resulting in heavenly reward …or lack thereof. And as your material stuff is fed through the flames, I believe it will speak. Your money will talk. Your car and your house will talk. Your electronic devices, your tools and toys and investments will ALL talk. And when they talk, what will they say about you?

Will they say that you selfishly hoarded them, and therefore deserve to be punished? Or will they say that you should be blessed with an eternal reward because you used them for the good of others and the glory of God? When your stuff lets the cat out of the bag, what will it say about you?

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our live outdoor worship service tomorrow at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on our YouTube channel (Impact Christian Church) or on Facebook.

 

The Invisible War

“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

– Luke 11:23

Back in the mid-1980s, Christian author Frank Peretti published a novel that rattled a lot of Christians—including me. The novel, “This Present Darkness,” is set in the small college town of Ashton. In the story, the chief editor of the local newspaper and the pastor of the town’s struggling church discover something very unnerving: Ashton is a ground zero for a flood of demonic activity. Thousands of demons are flying overhead and lurking in shadows, steering the course of events in their little town. Like puppeteers, these demons are pulling nonChristians’ strings to get them to do exactly what Satan wants them to do.

In one scene I don’t think I’ll ever forget, a demon hovers over someone’s head, sticks his bony little finger through his skull, and stirs his thoughts. As a teenager, that image just about gave me nightmares. In his book, Frank Peretti shared vivid and imaginative ideas of what demonic activity might look like in the invisible realm. And even though it was a fictional story, it opened a lot of Christians’ minds to the reality of spiritual warfare. 

Jesus understood spiritual warfare better than anyone. At the very beginning of his ministry, freshly baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus went mano-a-mano with Satan himself. He spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert battling Satan’s temptations, overcoming every one of them with the Word of God lifted up in prayer. Over the next three years of his earthly ministry, Jesus encountered demons time and time again. And in Luke 11:23, Jesus makes it clear that it is impossible to be on the fence in spiritual warfare: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

In verses 24-26, Jesus tells of a demon who, for whatever reason, vacates a man’s soul. The demon wanders the desert looking for rest and doesn’t find it. So, he decides to return to the man he left. “When [the demon] arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order” (v. 25). In other words, the man had cleaned up his act since the demon left him. Perhaps he got off drugs, stopped cheating on his wife, and got himself a steady job. But his soul was empty because he still hadn’t invited the Spirit of Jesus Christ into his life.

In the parable, Jesus continues: “Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first” (vs. 25-26). In other words, the demon said to himself, “Easy smeezy! I’ll grab seven of my buddies, and the eight of us will have no problem storming the gates to this man’s soul and moving right back in.” The demons did just that, and as time passed, the man’s condition was worse than ever. What happened? Well, let me share three lessons that William Barclay draws from Jesus’ illustration:

#1: You can’t leave a man’s soul EMPTY. In our pride we think we have so much willpower against Satan’s attacks. We think we can sit on the sidelines of the great spiritual war and not take sides. We think we can leave our souls empty. But we can’t. If we don’t freely choose to join Jesus’ team and ask him to fill our hearts, whether we like it or not, Satan will drag us onto his team, and he will fill our hearts. If God is not in the driver’s seat of your life, one way or another, Satan will be in the driver’s seat.

#2: It’s not real religion if it’s nothing but NEGATIVES. The man in Jesus’ illustration thought that getting rid of the demon was all it took to be in a good place. The evil was gone. So, life must be good … right? No. It doesn’t work that way. Good isn’t simply the absence of bad. True religion does include the negative—NOT doing certain things. But it can’t be boiled down to a list of “Thou shalt nots.” Far too many nonChristians in our community have been given the impression that Christianity is just an oppressive list of “don’ts.” But Christianity is so much more. It’s not just about expelling the evil. It’s about being filled with our good Savior and penetrating this world with his mercy and grace and love and goodness.

#3: The best way to avoid evil is to do good. I don’t know about you, but I find that I’m not nearly as mean to people when I’m being nice to people. My actions tend to steer clear of evil when I’m busy doing what is good. My thoughts don’t wander off in depressed or bitter or lustful directions when I’m keeping myself busy doing God’s work. In James 1:27, God’s word tells us, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

You and I must choose a side: Either Jesus Christ’s side or Satan’s side. And the word of the Lord is this: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” In other words, “Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will come inside you and fill your heart and your soul. And when he does, you will be full of God, and there will be no room for the enemy.” So, choose Jesus. Be filled with Jesus. Obey his word, and you will be blessed.

  

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah: Lessons You Should Never Forget from Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.

4 Pillars of Christian Ministry

“All the people were amazed and said to each other, “’What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!’” - Luke 4:24

After leaving his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus never established a new home address. That’s why Jesus would later say that he “has no place to lay his head.” But Capernaum—the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James and John—was where Jesus spent more time than anywhere else. After speaking at a synagogue in Nazareth and nearly getting pushed off a cliff, he went to Capernaum, where he again spoke at a synagogue on the Sabbath. This time, he got a much warmer reception, and the results of his ministry were nothing short of amazing.

During this visit to Capernaum, Jesus modeled what we could call “The Four Pillars of Christian Ministry”: 1) Teach truth; 2) Confront evil; 3) Show compassion; and 4) Spend time alone with God. I’d like to take a quick look at each of these, starting with Jesus’ visit to the synagogue.

1) Teach truth. When Jesus was given the opportunity of teach God’s word, he taught. And in Luke 4:32, we see that “They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.” What does that mean? It means that Jesus didn’t teach the way all the other rabbis taught. When other rabbis gave an exposition on a passage of scripture, they would quote another rabbi, then give the opinion of other rabbis who disagreed with him. In other words, the rabbis leaned on other rabbis’ authority when teaching a passage of scripture. They couldn’t lean on their own authority, because they didn’t have much. Even the great prophets of the Old Testament wouldn’t lean on their own authority; they would routinely say, “Thus saith the Lord” when sharing a truth of scripture.

But Jesus was different. He didn’t quote Rabbi So-and-So. He didn’t say, “Thus saith the Lord.” Jesus would just say it as if it was God saying it. And that fact blew the sandals off those who were listening as Jesus taught in the Capernaum synagogue.

2) Confront evil. In verse 33, while Jesus was still in the synagogue, he encountered a man who was “possessed by a demon, an evil spirit.” This demon called out the Son of God in plain view of the people Jesus had been winning over: “Hah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (verse 34). The demon knew full well that he was no match for Jesus in a head-to-head matchup. But he must have figured that if he was loud enough and gutsy enough to call Jesus out by name, Jesus would back down. But instead, Jesus told him sternly, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” And with that, the demon threw the man down and came out without injuring him (verse 35).

When the demon threw the man down on the floor of the temple, the onlookers must have thought that the demon had seriously injured him. But Jesus wasn’t about to let that happen. Jesus made sure that the man was not harmed by the demon. As theologian Matthew Henry wrote: “Whom Satan cannot destroy, he will do all that he can to; but … he can harm them no further than Christ permits; nay, he shall not do them any real harm.” You see, everything that God allows to come our way has to pass through the filter of His love for us. Therefore, whenever Satan harms us, it’s not “real” harm. It’s really only temporary and brings a blessing at the end of it.

3) Show compassion. In Luke 38-40, Jesus went to the home of Peter’s mother-in-law and destroyed the miserable fever that caused her to suffer. Then, one by one, people brought their miserably sick relatives and friends to Jesus, and Jesus healed every one of them. As William Barclay points out in his commentary, “Always Jesus was ready to help; his followers must be the same. Jesus did not need a crowd to work a miracle. Many a man will put out an effort in a crowd that he will not make among his own private circle.” But not Jesus. Whether he was in the synagogue, in a crowd, or behind closed doors in Peter’s home, he was the same compassionate Jesus.

Remember, it’s not just so-called “faith healers” who do their best work when the spotlights are on and the cameras are rolling. You and I so often can let down our guard when we’re at home behind closed doors. You and I should be the same compassionate Christians at home as we are at church, at school and at work.

4) Spend time alone with God. Luke tells us in verse 43, “At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place.” Mark records this as well, but Mark clarifies the purpose of Jesus going off by himself: He did it to pray. When we focus on Jesus’ powerful ministry, we tend to gravitate to his miracles, signs and wonders. He opened the eyes of the blind and cleansed the lepers and raised the dead and calmed the storm and walked on water. We love these parts of Jesus’ ministry … and well we should. The miracles were certainly a pillar of Jesus’ ministries. But so was Jesus’ prayer life—the hours and hours that Jesus spent alone in prayer with the father. They were vital to his life and ministry. And they will be vital to yours as well.

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com and join us for church tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Are You a Stinkin’ Alien?

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight.” – Colossians 1:21-22a

Over the years, there have been lots of movies about aliens coming to earth. We’ve had “Signs,” “Independence Day,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “E.T.” … the list goes on and on. Now, I’d like you to chew on this: In all of these movies, whether the aliens are good or evil, the basic premise is the same: Earth is humans’ home planet, and anyone who comes here from somewhere else is an alien.

Interestingly, the Bible disagrees. According to Scripture, WE are the aliens, and heaven is our true home. But on our own, we’re not the nice, cuddly, “E.T.”-type aliens. Nope—left to our own devices, we’re more like those mean, ugly dudes in “Independence Day.” That’s you and me … at least, until we reconcile to God through Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 1:21, Paul points out a stark reality, which many people don’t want to accept: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” That wasn’t a popular message in Paul’s day, and it’s not a very popular message today. Many people take pride in being very “spiritual” and feel very “connected” to God. So they are taken aback by Paul’s blunt words here. But without Jesus Christ, you’re alienated from God. In fact, you’re an enemy of God. Now, how do you like them apples?

The word “alienated,” as it’s used by Paul, is a translation of a Greek word that means “to be utterly estranged” and “to be utterly the property of another.” So, Paul is saying that before we become believers and followers of Jesus, we are utterly estranged from God; we are completely sold out to someone or something other than God. You see, ever since Adam and Eve first sinned, sin has corrupted everything on this planet: the land, the animal kingdom and human beings. Sin turned this perfect paradise into an alien planet, and sin turned us into aliens.

When Paul speaks about us being enemies of God “in our minds,” he is addressing something much more severe than just a pattern of sinful behavior. As Bible commentator N.T. Wright explains: “It is not simply that habitual wrongdoing has turned the mind away from God…. Thought and act are both tainted, each pushing the other into further corruption…. Wrong thinking leads to vice, vice to further mental corruption, so that the mind, still not totally ignorant of God’s standards, finds itself applauding evil.”

This doesn’t happen today, does it? Our culture doesn’t applaud evil, does it?  Unfortunately, it does … all the time. Millions of our fellow Americans not only support abortion but applaud “a woman’s right to choose.” Millions of Americans applauded sexual perversion a couple of weekends ago by plunking down $46 million on the opening weekend of the latest “50 Shades of Grey” movie. Whether we’re talking about premarital sex, homosexuality, greed, profanity or no-fault divorce, there are any number of lifestyle choices that the world celebrates, even though the Bible condemns them.

So, when we turn to Christ, he doesn’t simply have to transform our moral behavior. He also has to transform our thinking, because in this alien world we live in, both our morals and our thinking have been tainted by sin. This led Paul to write in Romans 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

In this alien world we live in, both our actions and our thinking alienate us from God and make us enemies of God. That’s the bad news. But thankfully, there’s good news. Take a look at verses 22 and 23: “But now He [God] has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.”

The bad news: You’re a stinkin’ alien. The good news: Jesus can wash you up and bring you home. In the movie “E.T.,” Elliot and his friends work together to send E.T. home. In real life, God the Father works together with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to bring us home. And what is home? From God’s perspective, home is His Kingdom. Home is a restored, unbroken relationship with Him. Home is forgiveness. Home is mercy and grace. Home is holiness. Home is faith in Him. Home is freedom from accusation. Home is love and peace and hope. And Jesus is the only One who can get us there.

Doesn’t home sound wonderful?

Dane Davis is the Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com  and join us for worship Sundays at 10 am.

Jesus Is the Light of the World

“Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.’” - John 8:12

The story is told of an atheist professor who tried to convince his students that the existence of evil proves that God Himself is evil. A quick-thinking student asked, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor responded, “Of course it exists.” But the student disagreed: “Darkness does not exist. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t that correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

The student continued: “Evil does not exist either, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exists just as light does. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love in his heart. It’s like the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

Great food for thought! Just as it would be ridiculous for us to turn off the lights in our home and then proceed to blame them for the darkness, it is silly to blame God for the prevalence of evil after having removed Him from our schools, our homes and our government. The Old Testament records the history of the Israelites who repeatedly removed God’s light from their nation. And the results were disastrous. But in fulfillment of His promise, God sent into the world the brightest light imaginable—His Son, Jesus Christ.

At the start of his gospel account, the Apostle John introduces Jesus Christ in an amazing way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” On that very first Christmas Day, Jesus Christ left the physical darkness of his mother’s womb and entered the spiritual darkness of this fallen world. He came as the embodiment of God’s Word and as the light of this dark world.

Thirty years later, Jesus stood in the temple courts during the Feast of Tabernacles and proclaimed, “I am the light of the world.” This revelation was particularly powerful considering the fact that the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated God’s guidance of Israel’s ancestors during their forty-year journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land of Canaan. Before the eight-day annual feast began, the Jewish leaders erected four huge golden candelabras in the temple courts. These candelabras were seventy-five feet high, and when lit, would light up the night sky over Jerusalem. Standing just a few feet from these city-illuminating lamps, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world.” Wow! It’s one thing to light up a city; it’s quite another to light up the world!

Jesus came into this dark, sin-cursed world and pierced the moral and spiritual darkness. Every single human being who has ever walked this earth commits sins. Before Jesus came onto the scene, everyone on earth was living under the curse of that darkness. But Jesus’ light broke through the darkness. Jesus’ light broke through the hopelessness, the hate and the condemnation. His light broke through the racism, the fear, the pride, the lust and the idolatry. Jesus’ light broke through because Jesus is the light of the world.

And while preaching the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turned to his followers and declared, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Yes, Jesus is the Light of the World, but every Jesus follower is also the light of the world because the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells within us. He shines in us, and we are commanded to let his light shine through us. Sadly, most of us who claim to be Christians have a bad habit of shining our lights brightly in private and dimly in public. That’s one of the main reasons why Christians have had such limited impact in our culture in recent years. Let’s face it: Secret agent Christians don’t lead people to Christ’s salvation. Christians who disguise their faith don’t transform their families’ or neighbors’ morals. Jesus followers who only shine their lights within the four walls of the church building don’t penetrate the cultural darkness with the light of Christ.

We as Christians MUST shine the light of Christ outside the church building, and this light shining should be very practical. It involves sharing the Gospel with our mouths, but it also requires us to share the Gospel with our hands and feet. Christians who are serious about shining Christ’s light are serious about meeting people’s practical physical needs in addition to their deeper spiritual needs. Starving people need a full tummy before they’re ready to hear the Gospel. Injured people need a Band Aid before they’re ready to hear the message. People who feel they’ve been mistreated and betrayed by Christians need to experience your love before they can begin to understand Christ’s love.

Jesus is the Light of the World, and he has called you and me to shine his light in our dark world. We must allow Christ’s light to shine in us and through us. Darkness can only exist wherever Christ’s light is not allowed to shine. So, let your lights shine, Christians. Let them shine!

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.fccvv.com  and join us for worship Sundays at 10 am.