We must not hide our faults.

 Jesus demonstrated His humility by being baptised. He was identifying with sinners. When we go under the water in baptism, our sins are symbolically washed away but Jesus had no sins of His own to be washed.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptised by him.
And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptised by You, and are You coming to me?”
But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. Mt 3:13–15 NKJV

When we go under the water in baptism, we are symbolically burying our old life of sin and our sinful nature and rising again with Christ to the new heavenly resurrection life. But Jesus had no old sinful life and no sinful nature to bury. Jesus became one with us in His humble birth, His humble childhood, His humble social status, His humble occupation and His humble baptism.

If I am humble like Jesus, I will identify with people who might be considered beneath me in social standing, education, age, wealth or position in the church. I will not try to elevate myself above the poor, the mentally ill, the ignorant or uneducated people around me. 

If I have more intelligence, education, wealth, rank, power, social standing or any other advantage, I will use that to bless people apparently beneath me, not to make me feel superior or separated from others.

In Hebrews we read that the Old Testament priests had to sacrifice first for their own sins and then for the sins of the congregation. So many preachers subtly behave as if this spiritual truth did not apply to them.  

A preacher who gives the impression of living in superhuman victory above the level of his weaker church members can pay a great price for his subtle deception.

The people can form such a vivid mental picture of their leader as a supernaturally superior person, that all exhortations to pray for their leader do not penetrate their heart. Somehow they do not believe in their heart that this great man of God could really be so weak and vulnerable as to urgently need prayer support.

When a preacher plays at being Moses and then he falls, the people get a great shock but sometimes the gifted preacher brought it on himself. When he tried to persuade people of his great need for prayer support, it contradicted the image he created at the same time of being a virtually infallible man of God to whom everybody owed a debt of constant submission and even in some cases of lifelong allegiance.

The overexposed leader, inadequately supported by prayer, suddenly falls into personal sin or does something else equally mad, damaging to himself and his people. He reaps what he sowed.

Some preachers always talk about their achievements and never about their mistakes. This is a serious mistake.

What is Healthy Self Love?

God loves you and me. We have all gone wrong. We are all unworthy sinners, we need God's forgiveness. Without God's forgiveness, we must always strive to hide our shame and disguise our failure.

You and I long for love, but we always doubt whether we can be lovable.

Many react with excessive self-centredness. For this reason, religious Christianity has rejected all self-love as a sin. Many strive to resist self-love. They try to love others but not to love themselves.

But this does not work well.

From social science, we learn that a great many patients visit a doctor, get a prescription, but do not buy the medicine.

‘Imagine a hundred people being prescribed a medicine. What happens? One in three doesn't even go to the pharmacy. Two-thirds pick up the medicine but take it incorrectly. They just forget to take their pills, for example in the morning when they have to rush.’

Peterson, Jordan B.. 12 Rules For Life:

Why do we neglect our own health? Because of a lack of genuine healthy self-love.
But social scientists have revealed an even more astonishing finding.

When they get a prescription from the vet, almost all people are very reliable and use the medicine exactly right.

Jesus tells us to love ourselves. But no! Really?...

… ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Mk 12:31 NIV

But many preachers have always claimed that each of us loves ourselves too much. We must therefore strive not to love ourselves.

And the very many people who despair and commit suicide, do they really love themselves?
So many people do not respect themselves, do not take care of themselves, do not protect themselves.

Yes, there are people who seemingly worship themselves, but there are also so many who hate or despise themselves.

I visited a church in Germany where the pastor prayed with longing for revival. He once asked God why the long-awaited revival had not yet come.
He told us that God gave him an amazing answer.

We are still waiting for revival because so many Christians do not love themselves. 

Once I had a problem because a pastor had dominated me arrogantly.

Again and again I thought about how I should have resisted his domination. Again and again, anger and resentment welled up in me. Then I repented every time. I prayed to God for forgiveness. I proclaimed my forgiveness over the pastor.

But a few days later the anger came up again.

Then I gave up the fight. I simply said to God,
‘Dear God. You see my thoughts. What do you think about this?’
The Holy Spirit answered immediately:
‘You can't forgive the pastor because you can't forgive yourself. You should have resisted and you failed. You have to forgive yourself for your failure.’
Then I was set free.

It was a lack of self-respect. There is a God-given self-respect. This is one aspect of the healthy self-love that Jesus talks about.

Paul covers the same ground.

He warns against extreme servility, which is also an aspect of a lack of self-love.

In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:20 NIV

Jesus also warns us against authoritarian preachers.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. Mt 23:8 NIV

Extreme submissiveness is terrible, but rebellion and selfishness are no better.
When a man pays a prostitute, he despises not only the woman but also himself.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 1 Cor 6:19 NIV

Healthy self-love is also an antidote for drug addiction and porn addiction.

You can only truly love yourself when you learn to experience the love of God, when you learn to value yourself as God values you.

Stars and Celebrity Preachers

 People today are infatuated with celebrities and stars, but in the Bible we see that God has a very different view.

Who did God choose to be the mother of Jesus? A humble and completely unknown girl in Nazareth, a town with no good reputation. Mary was a nobody in Nazareth.

Shortly after the beginning of his ministry, Jesus chose Philip.

Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

“Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied. Jn 1:45–46 NLT

None of the first apostles were rabbis. Only one was rich, Matthew, a tax collector with a bad reputation.

Mary and the first apostles only became world-famous much later, long after their deaths.

Despite their humble origins, the disciples were not free of ambition.

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” Mt 20:20–21 NIV

Jesus had no desire for worldly honour.

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. Jn 6:15 NIV

Many in this world want to be famous. Many are infatuated with celebrities and stars. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who also have this attitude.

Christians in the traditional protestant churches and in the independent churches reject Catholics because they ascribe superhuman authority to the pope, but in America there is a church on every street corner where the head pastor rules like a pope.

 In the Old Testament, the Hebrews wanted a king even though that was against God's will. They demanded a king and God gave them Saul. Saul was humble at first, but gradually he became proud and self-centred.

Paul rebuked the Christians in Corinth for wanting to identify themselves as disciples of this or that preacher.

Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” 1 Cor 1:12 NLT

Many Christians want to find their identity in the glory of a great preacher, but your true identity as a Christian is only that of a beloved daughter or son of God because Jesus sacrificed his life for you on the cross.

Repent and Believe.

 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14 NIV

If this text does not inspire the fear of God in you, then there is something wrong with your faith.

For example, if you are involved in pornography addiction, should you expect to go to heaven?

It's good to proclaim the truth of God, but if you keep aggressively belittling those who think differently, do the outsiders see the love of God in you? Will your religious pride open the door to heaven for you?

If we are saved only by holy living, we must live godly lives.
What does that mean? Can we earn eternal life?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph 2:8–9 NIV

We are saved from condemnation by God's grace, but we must never forget that we are saved not only from God's punishment, but from sin, from the old unholy life.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Rom 6:1–2 NIV

God gives us grace to live as disciples of Jesus, not as sinners who expect God's forgiveness lightly and unconditionally.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Jn 8:31–32 NASB95

I read a story about a prostitute who attended a church service. She kept attending the service and she came to faith. Her thinking and character changed bit by bit. Then she began to tithe. A while later, she left her work in the brothel and began to lead a completely new life.

This conversion was a process. When was she accepted by Jesus as a child of God? Only God knows that. We must not rush to judgement, but we do know one thing: If she had stayed in the brothel, she would never have got to heaven.

But there are many Christians who were never shameful sinners like this prostitute, but they were nevertheless secretly addicted to pornography, or they were cruel husbands, or greedy businessmen. If they don't repent, should they expect God's blessing and salvation?

What did Jesus say?

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mk 1:14–15 NIV

Healings and Miracles Today

There are Christians who are enthusiastic about signs and wonders. Some of these Christians love Jesus with all their heart and have an intimate relationship with God.

Others seem to be enthusiastic about miracles, but their lives show no deep love for God and little love for their neighbour.

Jesus is our role model. His love for God and for us human beings moved him to sacrifice his life on the cross.

Through his death on the cross, his love was most clearly seen, but not only that. Everything Jesus did was motivated by his love.

We find the human life of God's Son in four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

At the age of 30, he began his ministry as an itinerant preacher. Three years later he was arrested and executed on the cross.

A central aspect of his ministry was the signs and wonders, especially the very frequent miraculous healings.

We read again and again how his miracles were motivated by great compassion and mercy.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Mt 14:14 NIV

His teaching and preaching were motivated by the same compassion and love.

His healing ministry was inseparable from his ministry as a teacher and preacher.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. Mt 4:23 NIV

There was no sickness before the first man and woman disobeyed God. In a sermon by Peter in the book of Acts, we see that sickness is the work of the devil.

And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 NLT

After his resurrection, before he returned to the Father in heaven, Jesus declared that his disciples should continue the same supernatural ministry.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;  

they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mk 16:17–18 NIV

This is supposed to be the normal behaviour of Christians.

‘’These signs will follow those who believe...‘’ so not only apostles.

We find a similar statement in the Gospel of John.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. Jn 14:12 NIV

But didn't Jesus warn that we can work miracles and still be condemned as sinners?

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Mt 7:22–23 NIV

That is the tragic reality.

But some want to claim that all preachers in our time who really or supposedly work miracles are hypocrites.

Is it possible that a preacher blessed by God can work real miracles but end up being condemned as a sinner?

Judas Iscariot healed the sick, just as Peter and John did, but he betrayed Jesus and was condemned.

But if Jesus taught signs and wonders were important, we should also value miracles. He is our role model. We should believe for miracles and make sure we are motivated by love, as Jesus was and is.

 

Political Partisanship is Dangerous

 Are you a socialist? Careful. The devil is also a socialist.

Are you a conservative? Watch out! The devil is also conservative.

Are you an idealist who wants to save the environment, who believes in a new world order. The devil also marches in your movement.

Are you a nationalist who wants to save your nation through resistance. The devil also belongs to your party.

The devil manipulates us without ceasing. He stirs up dogmatism and contention everywhere.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 

idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions… Galatians 5:19–20 NIV84

What do I see in political parties? Enmity, strife, ... discord, factionalism.

If we look too closely at the schemes of the devil in this world, we will be tempted to join in any religious or political movement. Then we become spiritually blinded so that we can no longer clearly perceive the truth of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Many years ago my father was invited to join an anti Communist association. My father had no sympathy for communism, but he refused. Why? My father did not want to define himself by what he opposed.

I firmly believe in a government which encourages business enterprise and also actively cares for poor, sick or disadvantaged people.

Some politicians favour the strong but neglect the weak. Others want to care for the weak, but discourage enterprise. 

I am looking for leadership which is fair and balanced. I am often disappointed by what I see.

When we passionately fight for an ideology, our patriotism or idealism can become a false god without our realising it.

idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions. Galatians 5:20 NIV84

We see these unfortunate tendencies everywhere, unfortunately among many devout Christians.

Where do you fix your eyes, on the schemes of the Antichrist on earth, or on Jesus?

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1–2 NIV84

We have an election coming next month in Australia. I am finding it extremely difficult to practise what I preach at this time. 

It is so difficult to pray for national leaders when you see serious faults and corruption on both sides.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV84

Voting is a trial if you live truth, justice and mercy. I usually find I must vote for the lesser evil. That can be a difficult decision.