Tag Archives: moralizing

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Fighting the Temptation to Copy Cat the Temptation of Jesus in Luke 4

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The picture above from tumblr.com is a fitting reminder of the temptation we face to copy the actions of Jesus in the Gospels. Luke 4:1-13 records the devil tempting Jesus to sin. First, notice the link between Luke 3:38 (“the son of God”) and Luke 4:3, 9. Luke is showing us how the Son of God handled temptation, not primarily how we should handle it. Luke shows us a Savior who defeated Satan in Luke 4 and would ultimately defeat him at the end of the Story on the cross. It is because we have such a Savior that we have any hope of defeating temptation, too. We don’t defeat temptation because we can quote appropriate verses from Deuteronomy (just think how helpless a brand new Christian is until they build up enough Scripture memory to tackle a variety of temptations!). No, first, we defeat temptation when we trust our Savior to do what we cannot do. Then, we can copy Jesus by living out the Scripture we know to be truer than temptations’ lies.

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Preaching the Bad Examples in 2 Chronicles: Preaching Through Chronicles

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There are many times in preaching through Kings and Chronicles where God teaches us through bad examples. In Second Chronicles 18 and 19 Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, functions as a very good bad example. We know that because of what Hanani, the Seer, asks in 19:2, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” Well, the answer is, “No, we shouldn’t do that!”

Contrary to the theme for the series–“Direct our hearts toward you, Lord”–this king does not consult the Lord and ends up in a very dangerous situation. He joins forces with wicked king Ahab.

I explained the theology of these two chapters this way:

  1. There’s no need of helping the wicked (v. 18:1a). The chapter begins with a description of how God blessed him (also cf. 17:3 “The Lord was with him…”).
  2. The danger of helping the wicked (vv. 18:1b-27). One of the scariest parts of the OT is seeing Jehoshaphat become associated with something that was destined to fail. 18:22 reads, “the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.”
  3. Finally, the faith to avoid this (vv. 18:28–19:3). This is a remarkable story of God’s protection of Jehoshaphat. He could have easily–should have–been killed due to his agreeing to Ahab’s plan to save himself at his expense. But God was merciful. And His mercy should drive us to put into practice biblical separation (a doctrine that doesn’t get much press these days!).

And, if you’re looking for some connection to the cross, look no further than 18:23 where the prophet, Micaiah, was “struck…on the cheek.” Of course, our Lord suffered that same attack as recorded in Matt. 26:67; 27:30.

It is the love of God displayed on Calvary’s cross that gives us the desire and capacity to not love the world (1 John 2:15) or entertain a deadly “friendship with the world” that “is enmity with God” (James 4:4).

Preach these very good bad examples so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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How Not to Moralize John’s Moralistic-sounding Gospel

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One hurdle in preaching the Gospels is the presence of moralistic-sounding messages. Luke 3:10-14 contains John’s message. In response to John’s warning about the need for bearing fruit “in keeping with repentance,” his listeners ask, “What then shall we do?” John answers with three specific things to do. That’s it. No talk of faith in Christ. I suggest that in order to preach Luke 3:1-14, we need to make a clear statement about John’s moralistic-sounding Gospel making sense with the following section on Jesus’ soon-coming baptism with the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 3:15-17). John preaches his moralistic-sounding message knowing that faith in Christ will create the desire and capacity to do those three distinctly Christian acts and more.