Author: Kyle Fuller

I love Jesus. I desire to encourage and equip the body of Christ and preach the gospel to those who don't know Him.

Examine Yourselves (part 3)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Can we know that we have eternal life? If so, how do we know? We have begun a series in order to explore what the Bible has to say about these very questions. (I encourage you to check out parts 1&2 of Examine Yourselves if   you’ve not done so.)

In part two of Examine Yourselves we discussed the fact that salvation is not merely a self-help tool designed to help me be all that I can be. I’d now like us to understand that while salvation most definitely involves obedience and doing; it is not simply keeping a list of do’s & don’ts.

Jesus said in Matt. 5:26 that unless our righteousness surpassed that of the Pharisees we would not enter the kingdom. The Pharisees kept the letter of the law, but missed the Spirit in the law. Remember, they knew that it was a sin to commit adultery, but; Jesus said, “You’ve missed it. We’re talking about the heart and faithfulness here and if you lust after a woman in you heart; you’ve already committed adultery with her. Or, everyone new that murder was forbidden by the law of Moses, but; Jesus said, “No, you’ve missed it. We’re talking about the the heart and love.  In your anger, hatred, and unwillingness to be reconciled to you brother; you have broken this command.

Jesus told the Jews in John 5:39,40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;  and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” The Jews were hanging there hopes on the law of Moses and Jesus said, “No, you,ve missed it! Moses was talking about me! Come to me and know eternal life.” Eternal life is not just about keeping a list of rules and regulations- it’s knowing the one true God, and Jesus whom He sent (John17:3).

In John 18 we read of the events leading up to the crucifixion. Verse 28 tells us, “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.” Did you catch that? The Jews were determined to keep their feast of Passover and would not enter into close proximity with a gentile (i.e. Pilate) lest they be defiled and therefore unable to partake in Passover. They were good rule keepers, but; they were blinded to the fact that the true Passover Lamb was standing right beside them! Like the Jews of Jesus day we often substitute a real relationship with Jesus for cold, dead, ritualistic religion.

When we look at Matthew 7:21-23 we find, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ So we can see that knowing Jesus (salvation) is not simply doing a bunch of miraculous things either. (Hmm, it’s possible for the miraculous to occur even though there is no true relationship with Christ.)

Let’s close with some words from Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees: “for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,  and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:3-14 NASB)

We will see that true salvation does indeed include obedience (doing), but, we must understand that while one who is in Christ will surely do; doing, in and of itself, does not mean one is in Christ.

To be continued…

Mom, Jimmy is Calling Me Names!

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Listen now, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.’ Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have counseled rebellion against the LORD.’”
(Jeremiah speaking of the false prophet Hananiah 627-587 B.C.)

““You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (John The Baptist to the Pharisees and Sadducees 25-27 B.C.)

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your your father.” (Jesus of Nazareth “to the Jews who had believed in him.”  27-29 A.D.)

“But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,  men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.” ( The Apostle Paul to Timothy concerning false teachers 64-65 A.D.)

“Shh, don’t say anything that might offend someone; we have to be tolerant and maintain unity.” (The church 2011 A.D.)

Examine Yourselves (part 2)

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Can we know that we have eternal life? If so, how do we know? We have begun a series in order to explore what the Bible has to say about these very questions. (I encourage you to check out part one of Examine Yourselves if   you’ve not done so.)

There use to be a television show called Myth Busters; it may still be airing, I don’t know. Anyhow, this show  took common cultural myths and proved them to be either true or false. I’d like to utilize this format and look at a few common myths there seem to be in regards to salvation. (Sometimes, a good way to find out what something is is to first understand what it is not.)

It should be understood that salvation is not merely about making me the best me I can be. In the western church many have reduced salvation to a self help fix all designed to make me feel better about myself.  Our need for salvation has more or less been reduced to believing that I need to come to Jesus because I’m damaged, and if  I come to Christ; I can reach my full potential, I can achieve my divine destiny.  PLEASE DON’T CLICK AWAY JUST YET!!

I heard a “Christian” song the other day and the gist of it was, “Jesus, help me to believe I am beautiful enough for you to have died for.” No beloved, its not all about me! Jesus died on the cross because I have sinned against a holy God, because in my sin; I am alienated from Him. Jesus offered Himself not because I haven’t reached my full potential as a human being, and not because I’ve let myself and others down. No, Isaiah tells me that I  have sinned against a holy God, the best I can be is as filthy rags ( literally, like the rags from a woman’s menstrual cycle) when compared to His holiness, and the suffering Messiah came to bear our sin and be crushed by the judgment of a holy God. Salvation isn’t about getting me back into right relationship with myself; it is about getting me back into restored communion with the Father through faith in Jesus Christ.

Remember Genesis 3? Remember the “serpent’s” comments: “Did God really say you’d die if you ate the fruit from that tree? You wont die! No, you’ll know what He knows; you’ll be just like Him.” And what happened? The same thing that’s happening today: We want to know what God knows. We want to see what He sees. The god in me needs to be realized. We say what Adam and Eve said, “Lord, we want to be like You, we wouldn’t mind being You; we just don’t want You.” Many have reduced the gospel to just a means by which we can realize our own divinity. The cross and the blood are an offense, and no longer culturally relevant.

Please don’t misunderstand me. When you come to Christ, you will most definitely begin to understand who you are, why you were created, and what God has purposed for you. The way you look at yourself will forever be changed.  I’m just trying to say that salvation is not a self-help program. We have been led to believe that everything is about us, when in reality; its all about Jesus- even our salvation (Colossians 1: 13-23).

To be continued….

Examine Yourselves

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

I have stated in the past that I believe we are in that kairos (Greek word meaning an appointed time, a strategic time on God’s calendar,  and not simply chronology) time when the deception of wickedness is abounding, and people will not endure sound teaching, but will instead seek for teachers who will “tickle” their ears (II Timothy 4:3,4). There is much talk about “being spiritual,” being more God-focused, and so on; but, is being spiritual and God-focused tantamount to being born again? Can we know that we have eternal life, and if so; how do we know?

Recently I preached a sermon entitled, “Examine Yourselves” in which we explored what the Bible has to say about how we can know if we are “saved,” or “born -again” – in Christ.  I wanted to break the sermon down into a series of posts and present it here, at NLI; so, for the next few weeks we’ll be looking at salvation, sola scriptura (by scripture alone).

I John 5: 13 states that John has written his letter to the people so that they may know that they have eternal life. He goes on to say in verses 19 & 20 “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.  And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Paul exhorted the Corinthians in II Cor. 13:5 to examine themselves and see whether or not they were in the faith. Back in the Old Testament , in Psalms 26: 2 (NASB), David asked the Lord to examine him and test him, to try his heart and his mind. In this kairos moment in which we live, we need to be able to examine, to discern truth and lies,  to know what is of God and what is not. Just because someone sings a gospel song on American Idol, or feeds the hungry, or fights for justice, or prophesies, or performs miracles, does not mean the person is of God.

In so many fellowships today we hear of this one or that one who has fallen away, again. They are in and out, “on fire” for two months and then back in the world, and then back in church for a while, then out again, etc…   Has anybody besides me ever resembled that remark? Maybe we don’t have people who are continuously falling away; maybe we have folks who have never truly been converted, who have never truly been born again by the Spirit of God.

There are also precious saints of God that the devil continuously lies to, telling them that they are not saved because they have  ongoing struggles in areas of their lives. These dear ones stay beaten down, and confused by the liar and accuser of the brethren who says, “A real Christian wouldn’t struggle like that, you’re not even really saved, you may as well go on and give in ‘cause you’re a fake!” Can you be a real disciple and have issues and struggles? We’re gonna talk about these things during this series.

Sometimes, when we  talk about these things we may be tempted to get angry or defensive. We sometimes try to conform the Bible to our lives instead of the Bible conforming us. We might think, “Who does this preacher think he is?” Pardon my English; but, “I aint nobody.” I have to examine myself as well. I’m guilty of every sin in the book, and I’m by no means perfect. I came to a place in my life (by God’s grace and mercy) when I realized that in spite of my experiences, in spite of what I thought, according to the Bible, I did not know the Lord. And then you know what He did? He didn’t condemn me, he didn’t reject me; no, he saved me. He caused me to be born again by His Spirit and not by my own will or endeavors.  He set me free and I didn’t have to “try to be a good Christian” any more. And you know what,  He’s still saving me, forgiving me, and setting me free today.

This may be a difficult topic to explore; but beloved, as they say, “We got to get real.”

To be continued…

The Aphek Affect

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

When you read the commentaries concerning I Samuel 27- 29, many will say that David had backslidden and was not seeking God as he should’ve during this period of his life. They point to his questionable ethics, to the fact that his seeking God is not mentioned, and to the fact that he had resorted to living among the Philistines (remember Goliath) as evidence of this evaluation. I recall the fact that God is not mentioned at all in the book of Esther (does that mean it shouldn’t be in the Bible) and how I Kings 15:5 says that David obeyed God completely, with the exception of the Bathsheba affair; and, I have to question their assertions. I am by know means a scholar, and honestly don’t have all the answers; but, I find it odd that these commentators will praise David for not killing Saul when he had the chance and then turn around and criticize him for trying to survive.

I have a friend and professor who, before he gives his opinion, loves to say, “This and 44 cents will buy you a stamp.” Well, with that in mind I’d like to make a few comments regarding the period in David’s life when he lived among the Philistines and point out some things I think we can learn from it.

Here’s the deal: David had been running from Saul who was determined to kill him. Although David had ample opportunities to kill Saul, remove the threat, and take the kingdom (Isn’t that what God had promised?); his conscience and trust in the Lord would not allow him to take matters in his own hands. David says to himself, “If I keep this up, one day Saul is gonna kill me for sure.” So, he seeks refuge among the Philistines, the great enemy of Israel.

David finds a benefactor in the person of Achish who gives him refuge and a city for he and his men to live in. David lives in the land of the Philistines for quite some time serving Achish as a personal body guard. Eventually the day came (and here’s where I want to focus) when the Philistines were going to fight against Saul and the Israelites. What was David going to do?

It appears that David is caught in the middle here. If he abandons Achish and the Philistines, the consequences will definitely not be good; but, if he joins them, and goes up against Saul, he will be fighting his own people. Not to mention what would happen if he ended up personally killing Saul in the battle. He would be hated and branded a traitor.

(We have an advantage over David because we have read I Samuel 28 and know that the night before this battle took place, Saul had consulted a medium ( one who consults the dead) and had received a message from Samuel informing him that both he and his son Jonathan would die the next day at the hands of the Philistines. David knows nothing of these events.)

So, there you have it. The battle stage is set. The Philistines and David are camped at Aphek, while Saul and the Israelites are by the spring in Jezreel. The Philistine armies are marching with David and his mercenaries bringing up the rear. Everything is coming to a proverbial head and David is caught right in the middle. He’s been “winging” it the past couple of years, pretending to be crazy at one point, living with the Philistines, trying to survive; but now, this is it. God is gonna have to move ’cause there is no way out.

Have you ever trusted the Lord right down to last moment? I mean at 12:00 am it’ll be over and at 11:59 pm you still didn’t know what you were going to do, you still have no answer from the Lord. You’ve been trusting God the best way you know how, trying to survive, rolling with the flow; but then BAM!! Maybe that’s how David felt here, at Aphek. Things sure didn’t look good for the guy who had been anointed king so long ago. He couldn’t run and he couldn’t fight. Keep in mind, he and his men are on their horses, they’re marching up to battle, he’s going to end up killing his own people and maybe even the king he had spared in the past. GOD, WHERE ARE YOU???

The Lord made a way; He used the Philistines themselves. See, the other Philistine lords didn’t trust David the way Achish did and they insisted that David not be allowed to fight in the battle. They feared he might turn against them when faced with the prospect of killing his own people. David was spared having to fight against Saul and the Israelites, and he didn’t have to lose face (or his head for that matter) with Achish. Saul would be killed in the ensuing battle and David would be king.

Sometimes, even though we are walking with the Lord, things happen. God may have planted something in our heart, spoken a word to us, and then things just seemed to fall apart. We find ourselves just trying to survive. Yes, we are trusting the Lord; but things have happened beyond our control and we are swept up in circumstances that seem impossible; and then, BAM!! We find ourselves at our own “Aphek”. We can’t run, we can’t fight,  and there seems to be no way that God’s promises can be fulfilled. GOD WHERE ARE YOU???

Jesus said, “I am the way.” You may have done nothing wrong, you may be trying your best, you may be trusting God the best way you know how, and still find yourself at “Aphek”; trapped with no way out. This is where Jesus whispers to you, “I am the way. Trust Me, I love you.” Perhaps He is using the “Aphek Affect” in your life to teach you that you can trust Him.

Let me ask you, “How did you learn you could trust those that you trust in your life?” You found yourself in various situations with these people and you learned that you could believe what they said. Through experience you learned they were trustworthy. As we follow Jesus, through the fire, over the mountains, in the valley, and right up to Aphek; we learn that we can trust Him, for not only will He make a way,  He Himself is the way.

ADULLAM

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him.  Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them.” (I Samuel 22: 1,2 NASB)

David was running for his life. King Saul, who it seems had gone crazy, being troubled by an evil spirit, was determined to kill him. This man who had been anointed  the future king of Israel, slayer of giants, beloved of the people, and was in fact Saul’s very son-in-law, was now hiding out. This scenario is worth exploring in and of itself; but for now, I want to look at the people who were drawn to him.

The Bible tells us that those who were in debt, in distress, and discontent came and joined themselves with David in the cave of Adullam. Ironically (not really) the name Adullam  means: refuge, hiding place, or justice of the people; and, it is here that the weary ones come to throw in with David. These people were down and out, they were stressed out and bankrupt. They had tasted failure and disappointment, they were bitter and saw that their only hope lay in this “outcast king-to-be.” These were the ones God brought to David.

So many today are “occupying” this and demonstrating against that.  Those who joined themselves to David in the cave of Adullam needed help. They needed protection, relief, and justice; in short, they needed someone to save them. The answer was not in rebellion and demonstration,but rather in joining themselves to the one who was able to secure their deliverance.

There is One, the Son of David, who waits for you at Adullum. In fact, He Himself is your refuge. He calls the bitter, the weary, the disappointed, the stressed out, the ones who have tasted failure and hurt. He says, “Meet me at Adullam, and I will give you rest. I have accomplished justice;  and in me, you will find the refuge you seek. ” Salvation and deliverance are yours in Christ; wont you come and meet Him at Adullam today?

The Litmus Test

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

Simply stated, a litmus test is a test in which there is one decisive factor that reveals the reality of something. For example, in science, the litmus test reveals the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. In politics,  a key question will be asked to determine if  the nominating official will  proceed with the appointment or nomination of a candidate .  God has given us a litmus test to determine whether or not something is truly of him- the Jesus Litmus Test.

There is  much talk today, even in the secular media, about getting back to faith, family and morality, the need to stand for Israel, social-justice , and so on. Take conversation on some of these hot button issues, sprinkle a few references to “God” in with it, add a Bible verse or two, and voilà ; its all good. Or is it?

Here is the JLT (Jesus Litmus Test):  If what is being said or done  is truly from God, it will always glorify Jesus.

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus (John 16:14). If something is truly of the Spirit, it will always point to Christ and glorify Him. Jesus himself said that if some one is truly hearing from God, they will come to him, because the Father himself testifies concerning the Son ( John 5:37; 6:45). Jesus said that a true understanding of scripture will always lead a person to himself (John5:39,40). Simply stated, “If it aint about Jesus, it aint from God.”

My dear friends, in this hour in which we live, there is going to be an increase in the deception of wickedness like never before. Evil wont come, knock on your door and say, “Oh, I’m evil you should avoid me.” No, it will come in the form of  good things, good causes, inclusion and “tolerance.” We must always perform the JLT (Jesus Litmus Test) on the things we hear and see. People may refer to God and the Bible; but remember, Jesus said if it is really of God, it will always point back to him. Let me say it again, “If it aint about Jesus, it aint from God.”

Clarification

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“1 Now, dear brothers and sisters,  let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness  is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.” (2Thessaloians 2:1-12)

“From Alienation and Idolatry to Death and Re-Creation”

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

The following is a pericope found on pages 60 &61 of Bruce J. Nicholls book , Contextualization: A Theology of Gospel and Culture  which I thought was pretty cool; so, I wanted to pass it along:

“The human problem is a problem of alienation. It is a dual problem of alienation from God and from one’s neighbor. The primary difficulty in the communication of the gospel is that mankind, as individuals and as corporate units of society, do not recognize the true nature of this alienation. Some may be obsessed with the problem of their avidya or ignorance of their true union with God so that they, like the sadhu, are oblivious to the social and economical needs of their neighbors and to the injustices of society. Others, however, may be so obsessed with the problems of poverty, unemployment, social injustice and political corruption that they are no longer aware  of the dimension of their alienation from God. This double blindness is found in every religious and secular culture.”

“The biblical doctrine of alienation begins in Genesis 3 where man and woman suppress the knowledge of God, rebel against his lordship and seek to make themselves equal to God. Paul gives carefully worded theological interpretation of this alienation (Rom. 1: 18-32). Sin in its ultimate form is described as idolatry, to which the creature creates deity in his own image or that of the real world and through magical identification placates or controls his gods, only to become a slave of his own creation. The end is subjection to demonic powers, spiritual and eternal death. Western contextualized theologies have not always realized the importance of sin as idolatry, although they have some knowledge of the occult, which is one form of the demonic power of mystical identification. In religions that recognize a supreme God, idolatry may take the form of the manipulation of the sacred words of scripture or of submission to law in order to control God. Whether by a process of mysticism or by rationalism, in every case man is his own savior from alienation. The alienation described in Genesis 3 inevitably leads to the form of alienation described in Genesis 4, people oppressing each other, ending in violence and death. Because the Fall affected every person and all of creation, the social, the economic and political forms of alienation which begins in Genesis 4 reach to the final fragmentation of language and community described in Genesis 11.”

“The prophet is God’s agent to pronounce judgement on all forms of alienation. The prophets of Israel and Judah rebuked both religious idolatry and social injustice. Amos, for example, rebuked Israel’s syncretistic worship (2:4; 4:4-5; 5:21) and the rich, including their wives , for their disproportionate wealth (3:15; 4:1; 6:4) and for their oppression of the poor (2:6; 6:1-7). Thus, true contextualization calls for both spiritual renewal and for social justice.”

“The gospel brings a new and deeper dimension of alienation to those cultures which interpret alienation solely in terms of social shame, as in Buddhist society. To legalistic societies such as Islam, which know little of love and forgiveness, to societies which fear the spirit world and to those which fear the secret police of secular governments, the gospel offers a new perspective on alienation. Twentieth century forms of alienation are only new forms…”

“The prophetic ministry of the gospel calls for a de-culturalization in every [bold print mine] culture of the accretions of true faith. From Moses to John the Baptist, the prophets condemned elements of culture which were contrary to the Word of God. At the same time the prophets ministry fulfills and recreates the truths of every culture. The gospel renews and transforms those elements of culture which are true to God’s general revelation.”