“Nothing lasts, nothing is fair, nothing is perfect, and you aren’t home yet.”

Matthew: Nothing lasts, nothing's fair, nothing is perfect, and you're not home yet. Let's talk on Key Life. Key Life is a radio program for struggling believers, sick of funny religion and pious clichés. Our host and teacher is seminary professor Steve Brown. He teaches that radical freedom leads to infectious joy and surprising faithfulness.
Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. If you were listening yesterday, I said it was a principle; it's not a principle, it's a truth. And I got it from the book of Ecclesiastes, and I also got it from Jesus. "In this world you will have tribulation," Jesus said. He said if they hated you, they're going to hate me. He also said that he had overcome the world, and we're going to get to that part before we finish, but we've got to walk through some dark stuff until we do. Yesterday, the truth was, and it's so important: Nothing lasts, nothing is fair, nothing is perfect, and you're not home yet. I mentioned that Billy Joe Royal recorded a song one time called "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden." Jesus didn't promise you a rose garden either. And a Christian will know the difference between what God promised and what he didn't promise. There is, for instance, a difference between promises and principles. The Bible book of Proverbs is called wisdom literature. Proverbs was given to Christians so we can be, as Jesus said, as wise as serpents. Numerous examples of that are found in Proverbs. One proverb says that if—and this is Proverbs 22:6—says that if you raise up children in the way they should go, they will walk in that way, the way you raised them. I've had so many parents say to me when their child wandered away from the faith that God did not fulfill his promise. The really spiritual parents said that they were trusting in God's promise to be fulfilled, if not now, then in the future. I told those parents that God isn't finished with their children, and because they are covenant children, he will do something. But what they were claiming as a promise was not a promise at all; it was a principle of how things work in a messed-up world most of the time. I could give you dozens of examples of the same confusion about things like divorce or temptation or failure or financial situations or physical healing. In those cases, we've got to separate what God says about how the world works from what he has promised in scripture. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation. I.e., divorce, temptation, failure, financial disaster, cancer, Parkinson's, etc. It's what it is, and a dose of that kind of realism is always good for the believer. I was once invited to give a lecture on Pauline theology at the local secular college. The professor in that class was a Christian and hoped that my lecture would disabuse some of her students of their spurious views of Christians and scripture. I did some of that, but it turned out that my reason for being there had more to do with the professor than her class. After the class, we talked and she started crying. She had a beloved young son who had juvenile diabetes and was dependent on his regular doses of insulin. She told me that some very strong Christians—I still can't believe this happened, but it did—she told me that some very strong Christians had said to her that if she took a step of faith and stopped giving insulin to her son, God would honor it and heal her son. That left her with a dilemma. If she stopped the insulin, her son could die, and if she didn't have enough faith, he wouldn't be healed of the disease. I'm not making this up. I told her to stop crying and be thankful that God loved her enough to send someone, that would be me, who actually knew what the Bible taught. I told her the truth, and she was so relieved. The point is that those well-meaning Christians—and I trust they were well-meaning, but I'm not entirely sure they were—had taken something the Bible teaches about God's concern with our health and made that truth silly. It was the difference between a promise and a principle. There is—and I'm running out of time, so we're not going to be able to talk about it today, but I will tomorrow—there's also a difference between pipe dreams and God's dreams. Actually, pipe dreams is a bit strong, but there are good godly dreams that probably won't be fulfilled in our lifetime. Every generation has Christian leaders who, for instance, admonish their followers to win the world for Christ. Some even say if those followers were faithful, it would happen in this generation. No, it won't. The scripture is clear about that in several places. Jesus said when we encounter those who don't give a fig about our faith, we should shake the dust off our feet and spend time with those who do. In other words, sometimes it won't happen now. You think about that. Amen. Well, it's Wednesday, and sometimes when we have some extra time, I take that time to answer one or two questions. And as you know, Pete will be in on Friday and we spend the whole broadcast answering questions. And now and then, sometimes we're right and sometimes we're wrong. So you've got to get out your Bible and do some checking and correct us when we're wrong. By the way, we love to get your questions. You can pick up the phone anytime and call 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. Follow instructions, ask your question, and sometimes we put your voice on the air. Or you can send your question to Key Life Network, Post Office Box 5000, Maitland, Florida 32794. In Canada, it's Key Life Canada, Post Office Box 28060, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8. Or you can email your question to [email protected]. And I promise we'll take you seriously. If you can help us financially, please do. And I promise that we'll be as faithful with your gift as you were in giving it, and we will squeeze every dime for the glory of God. Okay, let's turn to one or two questions. This is an email and the person writes, "How much power does the devil have over us as Christians? Can he hear my thoughts or influence my actions?" Well, if you happened to be at The Cove recently, I spent three days teaching about spiritual warfare, and you wouldn't have to ask the question if you had been at that seminar at the Billy Graham Training Center. Because I said—and by the way, that's not my comfort zone; I don't usually teach on the devil and spiritual warfare or about eschatology. I'm more into God's grace and mercy and forgiveness, and I believe that's the message that God has given me. And so I was kind of uncomfortable with the subject at The Cove and kind of uncomfortable with your question until I realized that the devil is one of the best signs God has ever given us that he loves us. The devil and the creation of the devil is one of the great signs that God loves us. Why is that? Because if you don't have an adversary, you never have a victory. If you don't have an adversary, you never have a victory. And not only that, God wanted us to see the power that Christians have. You're a lot stronger than you think you are, and spiritually you have more power than you think you have. And then he gave the devil to us because he was going to have a celebration ultimately called the marriage supper of the lamb. And he wants to make sure that you will celebrate properly when—that we all will—when we get to heaven. And you say, "But Steve, what about my question?" Well, yeah, we're warned about Satan, but we're also told that he's a defeated enemy. You can read the book of Colossians, and it's very clear that Jesus has already dealt with Satan. But the title of the seminar that I taught for those three days was "His Tail Still Swishes." And so Satan's been destroyed—the dragon has—but his tail still swishes. Can he hear your thoughts? I don't think so, but maybe he does. Can he influence your action? Well, maybe sometimes, but don't spend all day worrying about it because, as a matter of fact, he's been slain. He has lost the battle, and you're going to be victorious no matter what he does to you. Hey, that's a good thing to remember. By the way, Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.
Matthew: Nothing lasts, nothing's fair, nothing is perfect, and you're not home yet. Let's talk on Key Life. Key Life is a radio program for struggling believers, sick of funny religion and pious clichés. Our host and teacher is seminary professor Steve Brown. He teaches that radical freedom leads to infectious joy and surprising faithfulness.