"Lucifer Falls"

“Lucifer Falls”

A church friend recently visited her sister in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. While there they took a trip to a state park west of Ithaca where they viewed Lucifer Falls. (Karen grew up about an hour from this location but had never heard of it so it’s a well-kept secret.) I “googled” it and saw pictures—the water drops 115 feet from Enfield Creek to a pool below, truly a remarkable sight! How this attraction got its name is uncertain but some believe it goes back to an Iroquois word from the 18^th century.

“Lucifer Falls” could be the title for Isaiah 14:12-15 (NKJV): “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne over the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit,” (This is the only place in Scripture where this name for the devil is used. {The Hebrew word means “morning star” and is so translated in most newer versions.} But the Bible identifies him by many other names and descriptive phrases.) He occupied a high place in Heaven but pride overcame him (notice the five “I wills”) and he was banished from God’s presence. Since then he’s “…(been) roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” (Job 1:7).

The Apostle Paul warns his readers that “…Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Just as Lucifer Falls’ beauty attracts tourists our archenemy has the ability to make sin look good and draw us into his clutches. Our Lord’s brother writes, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). How? By following Jesus’ example when He was tempted and confront Satan with Scripture (see Matthew 4:1-10). The result? “Then the devil left him….” (Matthew 4:11) because he cannot fight the power of God’s Word (‘…the word of God is living and powerful….”—Hebrews 4:12, NKJV).

Lucifer has fallen once and he will a second time: onto his knees before Jesus (“…at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth….”—Philippians 2:10, NLT, emphasis added). And so will each of us, either willingly as Savior or unwillingly as Judge, Which will it be? The choice is up to each of us.

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Maturity"

“Maturity”

Early in my pastoral career I attended a workshop led by Dr. Gene Getz, author of the groundbreaking book Sharpening the Focus of the Church. In addition to distinguishing between biblical functions (those things which are mandated such as prayer, worship and fellowship) and their forms (how they could be carried out in a variety of ways) Dr. Getz also addressed spiritual maturity on individual and church levels. He maintained that the measure of maturity for both is summarized in 1 Corinthians 13:13: “…These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Is he correct? Let’s look at examples of a couple of churches to which Paul wrote.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 we read, “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Emphasis added). Even though the Apostle spent only a short time in this city (perhaps as little as three Sabbaths—see Acts 17:1-10) he was able to commend the new believers for their imitating Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:6), godly example (verse 7) and outreach (verse 8). So despite a limited period of instruction the church had reached a high level of development because the three key elements were present. (See Colossians 1:3-8 for another illustration.)

By contrast the church at Corinth “…(did) not lack any spiritual gift….” (1 Corinthians 1:7) but the absence of the qualities of maturity made it Paul’s heartache and headache despite his investing 18 months teaching the people God’s truth (Acts 18:11). It was to this body that he wrote his great treatise on love because they were essentially clueless as to its practice. (2 Corinthians was penned about a year later and reflects some progress in dealing with the church’s troubles.)

As followers of Jesus each of us is called upon to exhibit these elements of growth: faith (“…Take the shield of faith….”—Ephesians 6:16), hope (“…{Do not move} away from the hope of the gospel….”—Colossians 1:23, NASB) and love (“…Live a life of love….”—Ephesians 5:2). To accomplish this we must “…leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity….” (Hebrews 6:1) by learning God’s Word (Colossians 3:16), prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-4), fellowship (Hebrews 10:25) and service (Colossians 3:24). As we obey these commands “…we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15) and make a difference for Him in a needy world.

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"'V' Is For Victory"

“’V’ Is For Victory”

One of the most common approaches to preaching is using alliterative outlines in which the main points begin with the same letter. I often practiced this technique (sometimes it was a stretch) to aid listeners in remembering the message’s primary thrust. It was effective many times but I had to be careful not to distort Scripture’s meaning by trying to appear clever.

Some letters are hard to fit into this pattern. (At a pastors’ conference years ago I heard two speakers—one used “Q” and the other “Z” in forced ways which took away from the impact of their messages.) So when I prepared to bring a series of five sermons on the main doctrines surrounding Christ I discovered (much to my delight) that I could begin each title with “V”, a letter not often utilized in such a way, without misrepresenting biblical truth. Here’s what I came up with along with some key passages:

Verbal Inspiration—Scripture has its source in God and is therefore without error and trustworthy (“All Scripture is God-breathed,,,,”—2 Timothy 3:16; “Every word of God is flawless….”—Proverbs 30:5, emphasis added).

Virgin Birth—Jesus was miraculously born into humanity without a human father (“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son….”—Matthew 1:23; “…When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman….”—Galatians 4:4, emphasis added).

Vicarious Atonement—Jesus Christ died in our place to pay the price for the sin of the world (“…Christ died for our sins….”—1 Corinthians 15:3; “He is the atoning sacrifice…for the sins of the whole world.”—1 John 2:2, emphasis added).

Victorious Resurrection—His physically rising from the dead showed Him to be God’s Son and guarantees our future resurrection (“…Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead….”—Romans 1:4, NLT; “Because I live, you also will live.”—John 14:19. emphasis added).

Visible Return—Jesus will be seen when He comes back to earth as King of Kings (“…All the nations of the earth…will see the Son of Man coming….”—Matthew 24:30; “…Every eye will see him….”—Revelation 1:7. emphasis added).

So when we see the “V” sign (immortalized by Winston Churchill during World War II) let’s remember what it stands for to us (from two well-known hymns of yesteryear): “Victory in Jesus” and “Faith Is the Victory”. And never forget that in Jesus we’re always (in the words of an old chorus) “On the Victory Side”.

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan