The whole world lies under the sway of the evil one (1 John 5:19). Our adversary, as fearsome and fierce as a lion, seeks people to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). The god of this world never rests to put blinders over the eyes of our people, to shut out the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). There must be found a preacher in the land that God can use to stay the hand of Hell (Rom. 10:14).

We need preaching (2 Tim. 4:1-5).

Yes, it’s a form of communication as ancient as Noah, who was a preacher of righteousness in the days before the Deluge (2 Pet. 2:5), but God has ordained preaching as a means to faith (Rom. 10:17).

Right now there is a want of powerful preaching in this country (Amos 8:11). The cause of this demise can be linked, in part, to the fact that sacred rhetoric has fallen out of our favor (2 Tim. 4:3). Sacred rhetoric is treated in the same way that we treat floppy disks, rotary phones, or The Sears, Roebuck Catalogue—historic relics with nostalgic value but little contemporary relevance. Just as human progress has changed the way we store information, changed the way we call a friend, and changed the way we shop, it has changed the way we preach. Gone is the fire and brimstone. Gone is the unction. Gone is the offense of the cross. Gone is the gospel.

A new kind of proclamation—if it can be called as such—is coming from American pulpits. It’s humorous. It’s conversational. It’s easy-going. It’s topical. It’s trivial. If there’s a text taken, it’s taken only as a springboard for preachers to vaunt themselves into the air of their own opinions.

And what’s the result of this newfound homiletic? Churches are bigger, and pews are fuller, but heaven is no more gained.

So then, I am calling us back to our work of preaching (2 Tim. 4:2). Not to the kind of preaching that blesses man; but to the kind of preaching that glorifies God. That would be biblical preaching, text-centered preaching, expository preaching, and gospel-focused preaching. We can do without any more cutesy conversations or any more psychologized pep-talks or any more pulpit pyrotechnics that fires off a lot of sound but leads to little gospel sight. 

We need more Amoses to thunder forth justice; and more Jeremiahs to minister his mercy; and more Jonahs to call for repentance; and more Obadiahs to summon his judgment; and more Hoseas to broadcast his covenant-keeping love.

Will you be that preacher? When the eternal commission is sounded forth, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us,” will you answer with such eager assent as the prophet, “Here I am! Send me”?

Why not be that preacher? You may not get the big church. You may not get the television ministry. You may not get the invite to keynote the big conference. But preacher, even though you may not get these things, what you will get is a stare. That is, the angels will stare at your feet.

They will stare at them and say, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

So, what did he say?

“Christians are trying to get to heaven.”

Did you catch it? Maybe you didn’t. Let me help you out. He didn’t say Christians are going to heaven; he said they’re trying to get to heaven. Big difference. What’s most disturbing, a simple Google search turns up several gospel songs in which the phrase appears in the lyrics. So, not only has it worked its way into our mouths, it’s wormed its way into our music.

To be sure, the phrase may be nothing more than a harmless cultural idiom. Perhaps I’m overreacting. But then again, the phrase is theologically bankrupt and we’d do better to get rid of it altogether. The truth is, many professing Christians mistakenly believe that heaven is a place to be earned. The idea is that you believe in Jesus, become a Christian, and hope that you do enough good and avoid enough evil. And when it’s all over, if your good outweighs your bad, then you get to go to heaven. That’s terrible theology! Christ died not for the good but for the bad (Rom. 5:8). It wasn’t when we were strong but when we were weak that Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6). It was Christ who suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Pet. 3:18). 

Now, all this talk of Christ suffering and dying was to save us from sin. And let me tell you, you and I were steeped in it. Dead in our trespasses is what we were (Eph. 2:1). Unable to save ourselves. Left to the consequences of our own disobedience and facing God’s wrath (Rom. 1:18). But God in His mercy saved us—and it wasn’t because of any good deed or deeds we had done (Titus 3:5). That would be impossible anyway because our righteousness is no more valuable than a filthy menstrual cloth (Isaiah 64:6). God had to step into our situation. And that’s exactly what He did. When the time was right, God sent Jesus into this world to redeem us from sin (Gal. 4:4-5). So then, we are saved by grace through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:5).  And, not only that, but listen to what else Paul says about this wonderful salvation in Ephesians 2:6: “[He] raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

There you have it, folks. Seated with Jesus in the heavens. The reality is so certain in Paul’s mind that he can speak of it as a present possession. In other words, heaven comes with the package. It’s not as if you get saved and, depending on whether you’re good enough, get heaven tacked on as a bonus.

Recently, my father-in-law had given me two tickets to a Detroit Lion’s preseason game. At the time, the game was a couple days away. Was I ever nervous about not being able to get into the stadium? Did I ever imagine being stopped at the gates and being denied entrance? Didn’t even cross my mind. Why not? Because I had a ticket. That ticket—assuming it was genuine and not a phony—was good for admission. And so it is with Christians. Our ticket of admission into heaven is the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). And if we’ve got that ticket, we need not fear being denied heaven’s gates.

I think I know what people mean when they say they’re trying to get to heaven. They mean that the nagging presence of indwelling sin robs them of the assurance of salvation. And, therefore, they question if they’ll ever make it through. But thank God, our perseverance in the faith isn’t based on our performance (Gal.3:3). Ultimately, it’s not we ourselves who keeps us. Instead, it’s God who sees to it that we endure to the end (Jude 24; Phil. 1:6).

But does this mean Christians can live any way they want and still go to heaven? That’s a loaded question, of course. By definition, a Christian is a person who’s truly been born again. And if it’s true that the truly born again will persevere to the end, then it’s also true that only those who persevere to the end have been truly born again. You get all that? In other words, those who fall away prove that they weren’t saved to begin with (1 John 2:19). While a Christian can certainly backslide (Is. 57:17), a true believer will eventually repent (Psalm 51).

So then, are Christians trying to get to heaven? No. Heaven already belongs to us. We have our ticket. And none can wrest it away from us. Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come. If you’ve come to trust Jesus as Savior, your future is secure. Jesus promises you that: “If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2)?

So, here’s a better song to sing:

When we all get to heaven,

What a day of rejoicing that will be,

When we all see Jesus,

We’ll sing and shout the victory.

First, let me go ahead and call a spade a spade: racism is a sin. 

No, it’s not just some social scourge that liberals can’t stop talking about. Let’s take racism out of that class of social problems and put it where it belongs: in the biblical category of sin. Plain and simple. Right up there with murderers, adulterers, thieves, and liars, belongs racists. 

Here’s why:

1. Racism denies our ancestral unity. Acts 17:26 says, “[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.” From one ancestor (Adam), God created all the ethnic groups—from the European and African to the Chinese and Japanese. All people from one parent. Many shoots but one root. Talk about the difference in blood “types” if you like—A, B, AB, O, and so forth—but at the end of the day, it’s all still red. This can only mean, as the Declaration has it, “that all men are created equal,” and share a common heritage. So, contrary to the nefarious doctrine of Aryanism, no single race is more superior or inferior to the other, since we all trace our lineage to the same ancestor. 

But racism denies this very unity. The ADL’s definition of racism is both concise and helpful: “Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics.” Racists argue that ethnic groups are inherently different, and that there’s no true solidarity or harmony among the races. But such a view is in violation of the clear teaching of Scripture (cf. Rom. 10:12; Gal. 3:28). So, what can racism be other than sin?

2. Racism denies the image of God in all people. The Bible clearly affirms that all people were created in God’s image and so share in His likeness. In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The term “man” in that passage is the Hebrew term ‘adam which, in that context, generically denotes both male and female. The point is that all people—whether white or black or brown—share the marks of God’s nature. For example, we all share the same ability to reason, to exercise an intellect, to make moral choices, to speak in a language, and so on. But racists will deny this. They routinely treat those of “inferior” races as nonpersons. This is how 3,446 black people could be lynched between 1882-1968. This is how up to 6 million Jews could be exterminated during the Holocaust. Deny someone’s humanity and you can pretty much justify treating them however you wish. And how can this denial of God’s image in all people be anything other than sin?

3. Racism is a form of partiality. The Bible has much to say about the sin of favoritism. James 2:1 says, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” And why shouldn’t we do this? If only because there is no partiality with God (Rom. 2:11). Going back to the James passage, in v. 9 of the same chapter, James pulls no punches. He makes sure to call things by their proper names. Just in case there was any confusion, he puts it as categorically as he can: “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that. But what about when one race is preferred over another? What about when jobs are offered to some people but not all? What about when African American men are sentenced more harshly and with less leniency by the criminal justice system? Isn’t that the kind of partiality and favoritism James is talking about? Of course it is. And it’s sin. 

4. Racism violates the royal law of love. A lawyer came to Jesus asking which is the greatest commandment in the law. Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Then he added the necessary corollary, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Yet racism does just the opposite—it exchanges love for hate. When you treat people scornfully and call them disparaging names and wish they never move into your neighborhood or enroll in your school or get hired at your job—you’ve violated the law of love. There’s no love in mowing down counterprotesters with your car. And neither is there love in teaching your children to despise someone of a different color than they are. Such antagonism and animosity and cruelty is tantamount to sin. And as it’s true with all sin, the sin of racism needs to be acknowledged, confessed, repented of, and forsaken. But if not, Jesus stands poised to judge. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first,” says Jesus in Revelation 2:5, “If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” 

So, what will you do America?  Will you finally repent of your sin? 

Your very soul is at stake.       

God gives us time to create in us a sense of urgency. Have you ever met someone who had no sense of time? They are the ones chronically (ironically, this word is traced etymologically to the Greek word chronos, meaning “time”) late. They are the ones who live without a sense of purpose. They drag their feet across the landscape of life. But time is meant to create in us a sense of urgency. A simple experiment will confirm this. Go and perform some mundane task, say, mowing your lawn. No big deal. However, perform that same task while in view of a large stopwatch counting down the minutes. Instantly your banal work takes on a newfound necessity. You just may mow faster and trim quicker. You will be determined to get the job done before time is lost.

And maybe God gives us time because He wants to impress upon us the urgency of repentance.

God gives us time to remind us of our ephemerality. Time brings inevitable decline. The world is passing away. Paul could say that our “outward man is perishing.” Our bodies get older and weaker and our minds more feeble with time. Time reminds us of our finitude. In light of this fact, we yearn for things that are imperishable, unchanging, and eternal. That is to say, we yearn for God.

And maybe God gives us time to remind us of our human frailty so that we would recognize our need for Him.

Finally, God gives us time to teach us a lesson in wisdom. Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Why do we number our days? What is the use of clocks and calendars? The wise use of time involves writing down and recording our blessings. The hymn has it this way, “Count your blessings, name them one by one.” But the wise use of time also involves living on purpose. This means living as if eternity really mattered.

Paul sums it up for us in Romans 13:11 when he said, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”

Thank you God for your time.

1) Let’s not Romanticize King. Too often in our public schools, for example, Dr. King has been unnecessarily elevated to a kind of mythic status, thereby making him immune to our honest critiques and evaluations. Let’s remember that King was a real man with real failures and, just like us all, had deep flaws.

2) Let’s not Parochialize King. In our present media culture of snippets, sound-bites, and slogans, we have a tendency to isolate various quotes and rhetorical flourishes of King’s from his wider body of works. Dr. King wrote and spoke voluminously. Yet our fixation on his famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” for instance, creates the illusion that his academic output was little. Dr. King, in fact, wrote five books along with a published dissertation.

3) Let’s not Patronize King. It is interesting how the political right and political left both cite Dr. King as their most loyal supporter. Another curious practice is to speculate on what Dr. King would have believed about a present-day issue. To be sure, we know Dr. King was an outspoken critic of unregulated American Capitalism and decried urban poverty. But where he stood on issues in the 1960’s does not necessarily mean he would have held the exact same views in the 2010’s. We forget that thought is dynamic, and the ideas and positions we hold, over time, are often refined or rejected altogether.

A better way to remember Dr. King is simply to take him at face value. By that I mean, we must learn to appreciate him for who he was and what he said and what he thought in the context of the society in which he lived.

How is this possible? How can Paul say that we are ultimate victors when life’s challenges often leave us bruised and battered? Considering how often we must pick up the pieces of our lives, how can we say that we are conquerors? Maybe Paul is being overly optimistic and unreasonably positive. Not quite. Paul understands that we do not base our victory on human strength. No sooner did Paul say, “We are more than conquerors,” than he carefully added an important qualification, “through Him that loved us.” The victory is ours because of the God who loves us.

Accordingly, the truth of this text is that nothing in life or death can separate us from God’s eternal love. God’s love in Jesus is what keeps us secure in the midst of hard times. In fact, Paul listed various realities threatening us from day to day: death, life, angels, principalities, things present, things to come, powers, and so on. Yet he comes to this conclusion, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors.”

This is precisely the word of encouragement I want to leave with you today: despite the difficulties of our days, you are more than a conqueror! Indeed, you are a super-victor! You are a consummate champion! You are transcendently triumphant! You are supremely victorious through Him who loves you and gave His life for you.

Whenever life gets the upper hand, remember this word. You may be beat up and beat down, but you are still a conqueror. You may be poor and destitute, but you are still a conqueror. The world may malign and mistreat you, but you are still a conqueror. Although you are tested, tried, and made to pass through the fires of affliction, you are still a conqueror. Although you often walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are still a conqueror.

Moreover, you are not just a conqueror; you are more than a conqueror. Because He loves you, your victory exceeds the limits of an ordinary victory. Therefore, whenever you face the vagaries and vicissitudes of life, remember that the victory is abundantly yours, not because of your own power, strength, might, or wisdom; you are victorious because of the love that He has for you. But remember, the victory is not a life free of tribulation. Instead, the victory is to know that even in tribulation, Jesus’ promise is still true, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”