Dr. Terry Threadwell's Blog

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (Joh 14:2-3 NKJ)

The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. (Rev 21:21 NKJ)

Yesterday we looked at Matt 19:16-22, “Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “`You shall not murder, ‘`You shall not commit adultery, ‘`You shall not steal, ‘`You shall not bear false witness,’ `Honor your father and your mother,’ and, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” The young man came seeking eternal life, heaven or as the Jews would have seen it, the ‘age to come.’ Feeling quite proud of himself, the young man boasted that he had kept the commandments from his youth, but Jesus knew his heart and gave him a paraphrased version of the sixth commandment, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” The young man rejected the ‘good news’ and walked away.  Being rich wasn’t the problem, it was what he did with his riches.  God had blessed him, but instead of using his wealth for Kingdom purposes, he hoarded what he had and probably sought more.

So, why are Christians so concerned with the material? Rather expressing a desire to be in God’s presence, Christians are concerned about the size of their mansion and the gold streets, if that is all your concerned about beware. First, the term mansion is an analogy for a big place with room for everyone. Second, the golden street is John’s way of expressing the brilliance of God’s glory.  Third, the New Jerusalem happens when heaven appears on the earth.

We need a biblical view of heaven and not one produced by Hallmark.

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “`You shall not murder, ‘`You shall not commit adultery, ‘`You shall not steal, ‘`You shall not bear false witness,’ `Honor your father and your mother,’ and, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mat 19:16-22 NKJ)

Known as the rich man, because he had great possessions. He comes to Jesus, looking to see what he needed to do to inherit eternal life.  This young man was a success in this age and wanted to be a success, a somebody in the age to come. Jesus responds to his question by telling him to keep the commandments. The young man responds by asking which ones, after all, there are 613 commandments? Jesus picks out five and saves the sixth till last. “`You shall not murder, ‘`You shall not commit adultery, ‘`You shall not steal, ‘`You shall not bear false witness,’ `Honor your father and your mother,’ and, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

Well, let’s look at the sixth commandment:

21 `You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ (Deu 5:21 NKJ)

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Jesus knew that this young man was covetous, he valued material things, money, position.  There is no place for the material in the life to come.  So strong was this young man’s hold on his stuff that he would walk out on the future.

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (Jam 5:13-18 NKJ)

Space, the final frontier, no, this is not about ‘Star Trek’ and the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Space is what surrounds you.  We might believe that it is just empty space, but is it really? I believe that there are times when we need to push back whatever is around us, create some sacred space, and invite God to come and reside. That is what James is calling on us to do. Whatever you’re going through, pray!

The key words I believe are ‘effectual’ and ‘fervent.’ Action in prayer produces results.  Having pushed back the world and created that sacred space, don’t leave a vacuum, fill it with prayers.  Prayers of faith, thanksgiving, rejoicing, Word filled, lament, confession. If you don’t have what it takes, invite the elders to enter your space and pray for you. And if you don’t see the answer straight away—keep on keeping on. God has answered your prayer; it’s coming through.

And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment. All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it. (James 5:1-6. MSG)

Speaking your mind, was a gift that James most definitely had. You would almost believe that James was talking to the 21^st century, corporate America.  The Christian needs to be careful and know and invest wisely, making certain that their money is not invested in any of the following;

1.      Damage to the Environment: Deforestation of rainforest in order to plant palms for palm oil. Fracking that poisons the water aquifer, or open cast mining that destroys the environment.

2.      Exploiting the workforce: Minimum wage job, poor working conditions, and child labor.

3.      Unfair trading practices: You might pay nine or ten dollars for an average packet of coffee.  The coffee growers only get pennies on the dollar.

God will have the final word, and the rich man or woman will leave here with nothing more than a large casket for their fat bodies according to James.

Better to store up treasures in heaven where moth and rust can’t eat it away.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. (Jam 3:8-12 NKJ)

What comes in through our eyes feeds the heart and comes out of the mouth.  So when something comes out of our mouth that isn’t pleasing to God, we have to trace it back to the source. James asks us, “Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?” We would answer, no! However, when the water at home starts to show signs of impurities, it’s an excellent opportunity to change the water filter. We can do this, in our lives, by adding more prayer, reading and studying the Word or being in fellowship with others, making sure that the company you keep is wholesome, uplifting and glorifying to God.

Remember, God is looking for a relationship, not religion.  Too much religion and the water will taste like chlorine—clean, but undrinkable.

Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell. (Jam 3:3-6 NKJ)

Haven’t we all, at some time, said something and then wish we could take it back? James tells us that the tongue is one of the smallest members of our bodies and yet it has some much power. Thinking of the greatest speeches ever, Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a Dream’ speech or Maya Angelou, ‘On the Pulse of Morning,’ and so many more. There are the speeches at Nuremberg, where Hitler incited a nation to war or Jim Jones in Guyana, who convinced 909 people to commit suicide.  The tongue is so powerful; it can speak life and death, and with so many tongues wagging around us, we need more and more to listen to that still small voice before we speak a word.

My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity. Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. (Jam 2:14-18 CEB)

 There are thirty plus scriptures that talk about helping the poor and needy, and yet, so many Christians seem to think that helping the poor is optional, or those that are poor are losers, welfare bums, lazy or time wasters. The reality is that 43.1 million people fall below the poverty line.  Many of them are working two or more jobs and still cannot make enough to live. Becoming poor is really easy, getting your share of the American Dream is almost impossible.  Getting in poverty just takes one serious illness, losing your job or a major disaster.

 If we truly are a people of faith, then we should put that faith into action. The kingdom of God is all about transformation and change. Our ministry should be about caring and sharing. We should hold corporate America to account by showing them what profit is and what is greed. And what the Bible says about treating you workers fairly. And we need to remind our politicians what it means to serve. If we are going to make America great again, then it should be every America and not just a few.

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.” Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. (James 2:14-17. MSG)

 James, what is the big deal? The answer is simple. Faith without works expect God to do everything, while you do nothing, but you have complete confidence that God can handle it. The works person leaves no room for God or faith and achieves very little.

Christianity is a partnership with God. Faith is believing that he can do awesome things and that we have the opportunity to work alongside.

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? (Jam 2:1-6 NKJ)

James could be writing to us today; his argument is still relevant to us today. The Church should be the great equalizer. Paul told the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28 NKJ)

The poor realized they had nothing and yet they had everything.  The rich on the other hand, had riches and wealth, gaining what they had through oppression and by taking others to court.  James warns the Christian, ‘you show partiality?’ Beware, the rich will never be satisfied, they will want more.

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (Jam 1:21-25 NKJ)

Three things James is telling us here.  First, all the Holy Spirit to declutter your life, the theological term would be sanctification. If you invited me to dinner, I would be impressed with how beautiful you home looked, the food and the fellowship.  But, at the end of the night, I insisted on inspecting all the rooms and closets in the house. Shock and horror ensued because you knew that where you keep all the junk. Our lives can be the same. So room by room the Spirit of God wants to clean up and throw out.

Second, implant the Word of God into your life.  Having cleaned house, don’t leave space, fill the space with the Word of God.  Then having received the Word, put it into practice.

Third, this is the metaphor of the mirror, the work of the Father. Whenever my parents wanted to get my attention their first instruction would be ‘look at me,’ they wanted to get my attention. When my heavenly father wants to get my attention he calls me to look at him, to look into his holiness.  This is the part we try to avoid because when we look in, he also looks into us and reflects back to us the perfect image in which we were made, what a beautiful experience. Yet some people have seen what God is striving for choose to walk away and replace the perfect image with something less than.

All three are really one, and they are working in you.