Merry Christmas! Do You See What I See? Do You Hear What I Hear? - Purity 923
Purity 923 12/24/2022 Purity 923 Podcast
Purity 923 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of Pastor Jaron Halsted, Pastor Tom
Mollo and his son, Tommy Jr, taking in the amazing view of elephants on shoreline
of the African plains while atop a riverboat gliding down the Chobe River comes
to us from yours truly as I captured this photo of what I later described as an
“African Snow Globe” while on a vacation two week mission trip to Zambia and Zimbabwe
back in February of 2016. With our mission of construction projects and preaching
at various churches and schools accomplished, our team treated ourselves to two
days of rest, one spent at Victoria Falls and another on Safari at the Chobe
National Park in Botswana.
I’m sharing the video of my testimony that I gave at
church describing this scene on the blog today. If you want to see what I
looked like then and hear what I had to say. I didn’t rewatch the video but I’m
pretty sure I said something to encourage others to seek the Lord and to follow
His call on our lives.
And that’s not all, this amazing young man of God
will be going back as he has made the decision to answer the Lord’s call on his
life and enter the mission field full time in February. I’m including a link on
the blog today if the Lord moves you to support him: https://donorbox.org/tommy-mollo-s-campaign
A lot can change in a relatively short time and the
Lord may direct our paths to places we never would have expected.
Before coming to Christ I never imagined I would go to
Africa or on a mission trip anywhere, but in Christ I did that and so much
more.
After finding a church home at Rock Solid Church in
Hudson, where Pastor Halsted and Pastor Mollo still faithfully serve, I never
imagined I would ever leave. After finding a church community in which I could,
worship, serve, and grow, I never thought I would go anywhere else and at
various times imagined how the church would grow as I remained serving there.
But just like Tommy Mollo Jr was called to the African Mission field, the Lord
arranged the events in my life to bring me to lead an online discipleship
course for Freedom in Christ Ministries, to blog and podcast my walk of faith, which
just happened to lead me to the Christian wife I prayed for, and a new church
home, Starpoint Church in Clifton Park, where I will be serving today as a member
of the prayer team!
Well, it’s Christmas Eve, so Merry Christmas! The Christmas
song, “Do You Hear what I hear is running through my mind this morning because
it’s Christmas Time and because I want to wish all who hear or see this message
a merry Christmas, I want to share it’s lyrics:
"Do
You Hear What I Hear"
Said
the night wind to the little lamb
"Do
you see what I see?
Way
up in the sky, little lamb
Do
you see what I see?
A
star, a star
Dancing
in the night
With
a tail as big as a kite
With
a tail as big as a kite."
Said
the little lamb to the shepherd boy
"Do
you hear what I hear?
Do
you hear what I hear?
Ringing
through the sky, shepherd boy
Do
you hear what I hear?
Do you
hear what I hear?
A
song, a song
High
above the trees
With
a voice as big as the sea
With
a voice as big as the sea."
Said
the shepherd boy to the mighty king
"Do
you know what I know?
Do
you know what I know?
In
your palace warm, mighty king
Do
you know what I know?
Do
you know what I know?
A
child, a child
Shivers
in the cold
Let
us bring him silver and gold
Let
us bring him silver and gold."
Said
the king to the people everywhere
"Listen
to what I say
Listen
to what I say
Pray
for peace, people, everywhere
Listen
to what I say
Listen
to what I say
The
child, the child
Sleeping
in the night
He
will bring us goodness and light
He
will bring us goodness and light."
He
will bring us goodness and light”
This song not only highlights the events of the birth
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but it also highlights His call – the star,
the voice, the invitation to know what I know) and His promise to bring, peace,
goodness, and light.
I’m not sure if you “see what I see” or if “you hear
what I hear” in this song but let me tell you what I know: It’s ALL TRUE – ITS ALL REAL – for like – FOR
REALLY REAL.
GOD is Real, Jesus is Real. The Holy Spirit is Real. They – He – God is alive and well and is calling us to
experience His peace, His goodness, and His light.
The shepherd’s trusted the angels and followed their
directions and found Jesus.
The wise men followed a star and found Jesus.
God’s gift to mankind and God’s gift to you is not lying
under a Christmas tree. God’s gift to you is Jesus and the new abundant life
that is available to you when you:
A. Put Your Faith in Christ as Lord and Savior
B. Follow Him – through His word and His call on your
life, every day.
While we won’t get anywhere without taking that
first step of faith, we really need to take that second instruction seriously
and enjoy the gift we have received, continuously.
Jesus and our life of faith isn’t something we are
only supposed to drag out and enjoy a few times a year or weekly at church. Our
new life in Christ is the gift that keeps on giving and should be ‘played” with
daily.
The promises of peace, goodness, and light come from
walking in the Spirit, living continuously according to God’s wisdoms and ways
and spending time in His presence.
So rejoice that the new born king has come and given
us the gift of a new eternal life through his exemplary, sinless life, death,
and resurrection. And follow that star,
answer that call, and seek God’s will for your life so you can “see what He wants
you to see”, “hear what He wants you to hear” and “to know what He wants you to
know.”
Simply put keep walking and talking with God and
have yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Enjoy the Gift of the Wonderful Life
we have in Christ Alone!
God bless us, everyone!
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I’m taking a
vacation from sharing the “Bible Verse of the Day from the “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”, again. But I
would invite you to read the “20 Christmas
Bible Verses” that was compiled by Concordia University’s Adriana Thompson last
year, by clicking on the link you will find on today’s blog. (https://www.concordia.edu/blog/20-christmas-bible-verses.html)
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
“Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
The
Church of Jesus Christ and Discipleship
Chapter
Twelve
The
Saints, continues
What is the meaning
of fruit? The “works” of the flesh are many, but there is only one “fruit” of
the Spirit. Works are accomplished by human hands, but the fruit sprouts and
grows without the tree knowing it. Works are dead, but fruit is alive and the
bearer of seeds which themselves produce new fruit. Works can exist on their
own, but fruit cannot exist without a tree. Fruit is always something full of
wonder, something that has been created. It is not something willed into being,
but something that has grown organically. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of
which God is the sole source. Those bearing this fruit are as unaware of it as
a tree is of its fruit. The only thing they are aware of is the power of the
one from whom they receive their life. There is no room for praise here, but
only the ever more intimate union with the source, with Christ. The saints
themselves are unaware of the fruit of sanctification they bear. The left hand
does not know what the right hand is doing. If they become curious to know
something in this matter, if they decide to engage in self-contemplation, then
they would have already torn themselves away from the root and their time of
bearing fruit would have passed. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”
(Gal. 5:22). It is this passage that sheds the clearest light on the
sanctification of the individual, as well as on the holiness of the church-community.
The source of both of them is one and the same, namely, community with Christ,
community in one and the same body. Just as the separation from the world is
visibly accomplished only in an ongoing struggle, so personal sanctification
also consists in the struggle of the Spirit against the flesh. In their own
lives, only the saints see strife, hardship, weakness, and sin. And the more
maturity they gain in the state of sanctification, the more they recognize
themselves as being overcome, as those who are dying according to the flesh.
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions
and desires” (Gal. 5:24). They still live in the flesh. But because of this
very fact, their whole life must now be an act of faith in the Son of God who
has begun his own life in them (Gal. 2:20). Christians die daily (1 Cor.
15:31). Even if their flesh is suffering and passing away, their inner being
will be restored day by day (2 Cor. 4:6). The dying of the saints according to
their flesh is grounded solely in the fact that through the Holy Spirit Christ
has begun his own life in them. The saints die in Christ and in his life. Now
they no longer need to seek their own self-chosen sufferings with which once
again simply to reassure themselves in their flesh. Christ is their daily death
and their daily life.
This is why they can
fully rejoice in the fact that those who are born of God are no longer able to
sin, that sin no longer rules over them, that they have died to sin and now
live in the Spirit.[18] “There is therefore nothing to condemn in
those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). God is pleased with God’s saints.
For it is none other than God who is at work in their struggle and their dying.
In so doing, God brings their sanctification to fruition. The saints should be
completely confident that there is fruit, even though it remains deeply hidden
from them. However, this does not mean—under the umbrella of the message of
forgiveness—that fornication, greed, and hatred of human kindred could once
again take hold within the Christian community. It is also wrong to think that
the fruit of sanctification could remain invisible. But even where it does
become widely visible, where the world, when looking at the Christian
community, is compelled to say, as in the earliest days of Christianity, “See
how they love one another,”[57] it is especially there that the
saints will look exclusively and constantly to the one to whom they belong.
And, unaware of their goodness, they will ask for the forgiveness of their
sins. These very same Christians, who embrace the truth that sin no longer
rules over them and that the believer no longer sins, will also confess that
“if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just in forgiving us our sins
and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make God a liar, and God’s word is not in us. My little children, I am
writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is the righteous one” (1
John 1:8–2:1). “Forgive us our sins” is what the Lord himself has taught them
to pray. And he instructed them to forgive one another without ceasing (Eph.
4:32; Matt. 18:21ff.). By forgiving one another in brotherly and sisterly love,
Christians make room for forgiveness by Jesus within their community. They no
longer see the other as the one who has harmed them, but as the one for whom
Christ has interceded on the cross pleading for forgiveness. They encounter one
another as those who have been sanctified by the cross of Christ. Through dying
daily under this cross, their thinking, speaking, and their bodies are being
sanctified. It is under this cross that the fruit of sanctification grows.
The community of
saints is not the ‘ideal’ church-community of the sinless and the perfect. It
is not the church-community of those without blemish, which no longer provides
room for the sinner to repent. Rather it is the church-community that shows
itself worthy of the gospel of the forgiveness of sins by truly proclaiming
God’s forgiveness, which has nothing to do with forgiving oneself. It is the
community of those who have truly experienced God’s costly grace, and who
thereby live a life worthy of the gospel which they neither squander nor
discard.
This implies that
forgiveness can only be preached within the church-community of saints, where
repentance also is being preached; where the gospel is not separated from the
proclamation of the law; and where sins are not only and unconditionally
forgiven, but where they also are retained. For it is the will of our Lord
himself not to give what is holy, the gospel, to dogs, but to preach it only
under the safeguard of the call for repentance. A church-community which does
not call sin sin will likewise be unable to find faith when it wants to grant
forgiveness of sin. It commits a sin against what is holy; it leads a life
unworthy of the gospel. It is an unholy church-community because it squanders
the Lord’s costly forgiveness. It is not enough to lament the general
sinfulness of human beings, even within their good works; that is not preaching
of repentance. Rather, specific sins have to be named, punished, and sentenced.
That is the proper use of the power of the keys (Matt. 16:19; 18:18; John
20:23) which the Lord entrusted to his church, and about which the reformers
still spoke so emphatically. The key that binds and retains sins must be
employed within the church-community, too, not only for the sake of what is
holy, but also for the sake of the sinners, and for the sake of the
church-community itself. For the church-community to live a life worthy of the
gospel, it must maintain the practice of church
discipline. Just as sanctification brings about the separation of the
church-community from the world, so it must also bring about the separation of
the world from the church-community. One without the other will remain spurious
and false. Being separated from the world, the church-community must exercise
internal church discipline.
The aim of church
discipline is not to create a community of those who are perfect. Its sole aim
is to build up a community of those who truly live under God’s forgiving mercy.
Sinners within the church-community must be warned and disciplined, so that
they not forfeit their salvation and thereby misuse the gospel. The baptismal
grace can be received only by those who repent and profess their faith in Jesus
Christ. The grace of the Lord’s Supper can be received only by those who are
“able to distinguish” (1 Cor. 11:29) between the true body and blood of Christ
for the forgiveness of sins, and some other meal which may have a symbolic
meaning or some other kind of character. This, in turn, implies one’s being
able to give evidence of one’s understanding of the faith. It implies that we
either “examine” ourselves or submit to an examination by another Christian to
determine whether we truly desire Christ’s body and blood, and his forgiveness.
This faith examination [Glaubensverhör] is coupled with confession [Beichte], in which Christians seek and receive the
assurance that their sins are forgiven. Here God provides the sinner with the
help to avoid the danger of self-deception and self-forgiveness. In the
confession of sin before another Christian, the flesh dies together with its
pride. It is surrendered into shame and death with Christ, and through the word
of forgiveness a new human being who is confident of God’s mercy comes into
being. The use of confession thus needs to be part of the life of the saints.
It is a gift of God’s grace whose misuse cannot go unpunished. In confession,
we receive God’s costly grace. Here Christians become like Christ in his death.
“Therefore, when I urge you to go to confession, I am simply urging you to be a
Christian” (Luther, Larger Catechism).
The whole life of the
church-community is permeated by discipline. There is an order of gradual
levels, the reason for which is that discipline is to be exercised in the
service of mercy. The proclamation of the word with regard to both keys remains
the sole basis for exercising church discipline. This proclamation is not
confined to congregational worship services. Rather, the bearer of church
office is never relieved of this commission. “Proclaim the message; be
persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; exercise discipline,
warn, and exhort[66] with the utmost patience in teaching” (2 Tim.
4:2). That is the first level of church discipline. It ought to be immediately
obvious that only such sins can be punished here that have become public. “The
sins of some people are conspicuous so that they can be judged beforehand,
while the sin of others will only become apparent later” (1 Tim. 5:24). Church
discipline thus spares the sinner from the punishment of the last judgment.
However, if church
discipline already falters on this first level, namely, the office bearer’s
daily pastoral ministry, then everything that follows is thereby open to
question. For the second level is for members of the church-community mutually
to admonish one another as brothers and sisters: “teach and admonish one
another” (Col. 3:16; 1 Thess. 5:11, 14). Admonition also includes comforting
the fainthearted, supporting the weak, and being patient with all people (1
Thess. 5:14). For this is obviously the only way to struggle against daily
temptation in the church-community and against falling away from it altogether.
Where such mutual
brotherly and sisterly service is no longer alive in the church-community, it
will also be hardly possible to reach the third level in the right way. For if
a member of the community nevertheless commits a sin of word or deed which
becomes known, then the community must have the strength to initiate the
process of real church discipline against this member. That process also is a
long journey. First, the church-community has to muster the courage to separate
itself from the sinner. “Have nothing to do with that person” (2 Thess. 3:14);
“part company with them” (Rom. 16:17); “do not even eat with such a one”
(Lord’s Supper?) (1 Cor. 5:11); “avoid them” (2 Tim. 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:5). “Now we
command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (!), to keep away
from believers who lead a disorderly life and not according to the tradition
they received from us” (2 Thess. 3:6). This course of action by the
church-community is intended to let the sinners “blush with shame” (2 Thess.
3:14) in order to win them back. It certainly also includes their temporary
exclusion from the activities of the church-community. However, this avoidance
of known sinners is not yet meant to be a complete suspension of any community
with them. Rather, the church-community which separates itself from the sinners
is called to continue to confront them with the word of admonition. “Do not
regard them as enemies, but admonish them as believers” (2 Thess. 3:15). The
sinners still remain believers, and for that very reason they receive the
discipline and admonition of the church-community. Church discipline flows out
of merciful human kinship [Brüderlichkeit]. It is with gentleness that the
defiant must be disciplined and the wicked be borne, so that “God may perhaps
grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, turn sober again, and
escape from the snare of the devil, allowing themselves to be held captive by
God to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:25f.). The form of this admonition will have to
vary depending on the individual sinner. But the goal of leading the sinner to
repentance and reconciliation will always be the same. If a sin can be kept in
confidence between you and the sinner, then you shall not make it public.
Rather you ought to exercise discipline and ask that person to repent in
private, and thereby “you have regained a brother or sister.”[73]
But if that person does not listen to you and persists in her or his sin, then
you should, again, not make the sin public but try to find one or two other
private witnesses (Matt. 18:15f.). Witnesses are first of all necessary to
corroborate the fact of a sin having been committed. If the facts cannot be
proven, and the person denies them, then the whole case should be left up to
God. The witnesses are not inquisitors! The second reason to find additional
witnesses is the sinner’s stubborn refusal to repent. The secrecy with which
the discipline is exercised is intended to make repentance easier for the
sinner. If the person in question still refuses to listen, or if the sin has by
now already become public knowledge within the church anyway, then it is up to
the whole church-community to admonish and call on the sinner to repent (Matt.
18:17; cf. 2 Thess. 3:14). Those sinners that hold an office within the church
ought to be put on trial only if the accusation is brought by two or three
witnesses. “As for those who sin,[75] rebuke them in the presence of
all, so that the rest also may stand in fear” (1 Tim. 5:20). Now it is the
entire church-community, together with the ordained minister, which is called
upon to exercise the office of the keys. This public declaration requires that
both the church-community itself and its ordained minister be publicly
represented. “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect
angels, I implore you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing
nothing on the basis of partiality” (1 Tim. 5:21), for now God’s own judgment
is about to be passed on the sinner. If the sinners repent, and publicly
confess their sins, then they are granted the forgiveness of all their sins in
the name of God (cf. 2 Cor. 2:6ff.). But if the sinners persist in their sin,
the church-community must retain their sin in the name of God. This, however,
entails exclusion from all forms of life together with the church-community.
“Let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17).
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.… for where two or three
are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matt. 18:18ff.). The exclusion
from the church-community merely confirms an already existing fact, namely,
that these are unrepentant sinners who are “self-condemned” (Titus 3:11). It is
not the church-community which passes judgment on them; rather, they have
passed judgment on themselves. Paul speaks of this complete exclusion from the
church as a handing-“over to Satan” (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20). The guilty
persons [Schuldige] are being handed back to the world where Satan reigns and
causes death. (Here, Paul does not think of capital punishment as in Acts 5, as
is evident when comparing 1 Tim. 1:20 with 2 Tim. 2:17 and 4:15.) The offenders
have been expelled from the body of Christ because they have separated
themselves from it. They no longer possess any rightful claim with regard to
the church-community. However, even this ultimate act exclusively serves the
goal of salvation for the persons concerned, that their “spirit may be saved in
the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5), and that through being disciplined “they may
learn not to blaspheme anymore” (1 Tim. 1:20) For sinners to be restored to the
church-community or to find salvation remains the goal of church discipline. It
remains a pedagogical act. The declaration of the church-community will
certainly stand for eternity if the sinner does not repent. However, this
declaration with which the church-community must take away the sinner’s
salvation is just as certainly the final offer of life together with the
church-community and of salvation. 19 [1]
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
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Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
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My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the
author may represent.”
[1]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship,
ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 266–274.
