NAMES AND TITLES OF CHRIST
GUARDIAN OF OUR SOULS
DR. JIM DIXON
2 PETER 2:19-25
DECEMBER 7, 1997
The power of the Roman Empire was in its legions. It was the Roman legions that expanded the empire through conquest. The Roman legions defended the frontiers of the empire. The Roman legions built roads and bridges and aqueducts and tunnels and walls. The Roman legions were literally the backbone of the Roman Empire.
In every legion there was a general who was in charge of that legion. There were also six tribunes and 60 centurions. Each tribune was responsible for a thousand men and each centurion responsible for a sentry of men or one hundred men. In the zenith of Rome’s power, there were 30 Roman legions, each legion containing 6,000 men. The members of those legions in the early days of the empire were voluntary professionals but eventually they were conscripted, they were drafted, because the need for more soldiers was great.
The most famous of the Roman legions was the 10th Legion. The 10th Legion consisted of the veterans. It consisted of those who had fought in wars before and they had been tried and proven true. They were faithful and they were strong and when there was a crisis in the Empire, the 10th Legion was summoned.
The Militine Legion, on the other hand, became famous through one event. In the second century AD, when there were many Christians in the Militine Legion, an inordinate number of Christians in the Militine Legion. The Militine Legion found itself in the midst of war on the borders of the Roman Empire. They were surrounded by Germanic tribes. They had been two days without water and they were dying of thirst, and their situation seemed absolutely impossible. The entire Militine Legion fell to the ground, we are told on their knees in prayer, and they were instructed to pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
This they did, and we’re told that the heavens opened and there was thunder and there was lightning. And we’re told that hail came from heaven, a great hailstorm perhaps like we had here in Denver only a few weeks passed. The Germanic tribes, having their heads unprotected, scattered and fled in fear. The Militine Legion was spared. The rain and the hail provided the water to quench their thirst. When the report came back to the philosopher Emperor of the Roman Empire, Marcus Aurelius, he renamed the Militine Legion, the Thundering Legion, because of the thunder and the lightning and the hail and the rain that was sent by God in the name of Jesus Christ.
Well, we don’t know if that story is true, but we know that God has power over nature. But today, historians do agree that the story of the thunderstorm was told. It was told and eventually came through the Praetorian guard to the Roman Emperor himself, Marcus Aurelius, who was the philosopher king. Historians know that because of the story of the thunderstorm, Marcus Aurelius renamed the Militine Legion the Thundering Legion.
Obviously I do not know what happened in the year 176 AD. I do know this. If Christ protected the Militine Legion, it was not because they were Roman soldiers but rather because they were believers in Christ. It was not because they were Roman soldiers but because they were Christians. Indeed, throughout history there are many examples of Christ protecting His people. In scripture, many examples of Christ protecting His people. He is the Guardian of our Souls.
This morning we come to this wonderful title. I have two teachings and the first teaching is this. Christ will not allow your soul to perish if you’re a Christian. He is the Guardian of our Souls. If you are a believer in Christ, He will not allow your soul to perish. Of course, we use the word soul in a variety of ways. Sometimes we use the word soul simply to refer to a person. If we say, “not a soul was in the room,” we mean “not a person was in the room.” Sometimes the Greek word psyche which is the biblical word for soul is used in that sense simply referring to a person but other times we use the word soul to describe the spiritual side of man as contrasted with the physical side. So, the soul refers to your inward person, your mind, your will, your emotions, all that makes you you, the part of you that survives death. The soul.
I think most of you know that the United Nations is very concerned about Saddam Hussein and believes that Saddam Hussein is stockpiling weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. According to Newsweek Magazine, Saddam Hussein has enough chemical and biological weapons to destroy all life on planet earth. According to the Defense Secretary, William Cohen, Saddam Hussein has stockpiled enough VX nerve agent to kill every man, woman and child in the world. There is growing belief that radical revolutionary groups are now able to access chemical and biological weapons as weapons of mass destruction are proliferating on the earth. I think we all want and desire and pray that the United States and the United Nations might be able to establish international safeguards and be able to protect the free people of the world. But we would also agree, would we not, this is a dangerous world in which to live. It is a dangerous world. Many dangers physically.
The Bible would remind us that this is a spiritually dangerous world as well. In fact, the Bible tells us this world is more spiritually dangerous than physically dangerous. Now, that is because the world is fallen. We live in a fallen world. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who are able to destroy the body but fear rather him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.”
If you’re a Christian, your soul is not bound for hell. If you’re a Christian, your soul is bound for heaven, and you have received Christ as your Lord and Savior and he is the Guardian of your Soul. He has come within you by His Holy Spirit, and He holds you in His hand and He will never let you go. But Satan, the Bible tells us, is the destroyer of souls and he desperately wants to damage or destroy your soul. He is like, to use an analogy, he is like the great white shark. Of all the creatures on planet earth, one of the most feared is the great white shark which has a voracious appetite and of course is able to shred every fish in the ocean that it would regard as food except for one fish that is a kind of flat fish, a kind of flounder in the Red Sea that the Israelis call “the Moses sole.” The great white shark is not able to eat this little flounder, this little fish called the Moses sole.
Just recently a team of scientists from National Geographic examined what happens to the great white shark when it attacks this little flounder called the Moses sole. They have actually filmed the great white shark approaching this little flat fish and the shark comes with its jaws open, ready to devour, and when the great white is almost upon this little flounder, the Moses sole releases from its dorsal fins a milky substance which is lethal to the great white shark. It forms a kind of halo of protection around the sole and it paralyzes the great white shark. With its jaws frozen open, the great white shark just painfully swims away and that little Moses sole playfully swims around the bottom of the ocean.
Now, there’s an analogy here of what Christ does for you and your soul when Satan comes to attack because he forms a halo of protection about your soul. He is the Guardian of your Soul and He will never let Satan have your soul. Now, you might say, “Well, what about sin? I mean can’t sin damage my soul?” Yes. Sin can damage your soul. Christ will not allow it to destroy your soul. You know, there’s a little verse in 1 John, that little book of 1 John written by the Apostle John, 1 John, chapter 5, verse 18. It’s a verse that’s somewhat controversial but the Apostle writes, “We know that no one who is born of God commits sin for he who was born of God keeps him, protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.” Bible scholars agree that it’s Christ who was born of God. He is the Firstborn. He is the only begotten Son and it is Christ who protects us so the evil one cannot touch us.
But what does it mean when it says, “No one who is born of God commits sin?” John has already acknowledged in the first chapter of his little letter that Christians sin. In fact, John says in that first chapter. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” John says in that first chapter that if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is the expiation for our sins. So, what does John mean when he says no one who is born of God sins?
Well, when you look at the prior two verses, 1 John 5:16 and 17, you see that John describes two types of sin, sin that he says is prosthanatos, towards death, and sin which is not prosthanatos, not towards death. Most Bible scholars agree that what John is saying is that Christ protects you. He protects you from the evil one and you cannot sin as a Christian prosthanatos. Your sin will not lead to spiritual death. In fact, I believe there’s ample evidence in scripture that Christ, because He is the Guardian of our Souls, would take our lives physically before He would allow us to die spiritually. If He sees that you are giving yourself over to sin, before He would allow you to reach spiritual death, He would take your life physically because He is the Guardian of our Souls and He never lets us go.
Of course, this also tells us how serious sin is and sin certainly damages and devastates the soul. That is why He who is the Guardian of our Souls counsels us to be faithful in His word. The Bible says, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” That’s why Jesus tells us to be faithful in prayer and to pray, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” We’re to pray for protection and power with regard to sin. That’s why Jesus tells us to seek the fellowship of Christians and to confess our sins to one another that we might hold each other accountable because sin devastates the soul.
If sin is like a disease in the soul, acts of love are like exercise for the soul. If you would have a healthy soul, if I would be healthy in my soul, I need to be in a battle against sin and I need to learn what it means to love. A great passage in 1 Peter where Peter says, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart.” You see, if you have a healthy soul, you are not only experiencing some victory in your hunger for righteousness, but you are learning to love if you have a healthy soul.
I thank God for those of you who are rendering acts of love in this church. I thank God for all of you who signed up for the Angel Tree. All of you who signed up for Adopt a Family through our Manna Ministry, all of you who serve in Manna Ministry. All of you who teach Sunday School. All of you who go into the inner city in our Whiz Kids Program and our Save our Youth. All of you who help in our youth programs and ministries. All of you who are counselors or prayer warriors. All of you who lead small group Bible studies. All of you who work in the parking lot. Love and acts of love indicate that something is right with our soul. The challenge of Jesus today who is the Guardian of our Soul is if you’re not involved in some act of love, and if you are not consistently performing acts of love, today is the day to begin for the sake of your soul.
You know the word “Guardian,” when Jesus is called the Guardian of our Souls, the word guardian is the Greek word “epitropos.” This word means “overseer.” It literally means “to watch over.” It’s one of the titles given to pastors. Pastors in the Bible are also called guardians, overseers, epitropoi. There’s a sense in which, as a pastor, I have a responsibility to guard your souls and that is true of all the pastors on our staff and all the pastors of all the churches around the world. In Christ and under Christ, we are guardians and I would not be faithful if I did not remind you this morning that a healthy soul, if you have a healthy soul, you are not only willing to give your time for love’s sake but you are willing to give your treasure for love’s sake. I promise you one of the great indictments against the evangelical church in the United States of America is our hoarding of money and it indicates sick souls.
I’ve been asked by some of our elders to say a few words about money as we approach the year end because as we come to the end of this calendar year, we are $200,000 behind in our general operating. We’re also behind in our capital stewardship campaign for the ministry center. I know some of you probably think, “Well, churches and pastors are always talking about money,” but if you have been to many churches, surely you know we don’t talk about money as much as most churches do. Maybe we don’t talk about money enough because Jesus talked a lot about money. Sixteen of His thirty-six parables deal with the theme of money and the use and abuse of money. One out of every ten verses flowing from the lips of Jesus Christ deal explicitly with money. Two thousand verses in the New Testament deal explicitly with the subject of money because, you see, it’s so related to the soul, so related to the soul.
Barb and I have two kids and most of you know that. A son and a daughter, Heather and Drew. Through the years we’ve spent a lot of money on them. A lot of money. Beginning from the moment of their birth. Even before their birth we began to spend money on them. Of course Heather has just graduated from college and it was a lot of money to see her through college. It required that we gave, it required that we spend a lot of money. Now, she’s out of college and she’s still not completely financially free of our support. Drew is in college. Any of you who have children in college know how expensive that is but you do it out of love because you love your kids, right? I mean you love your kids. You really don’t begrudge it. You long to help them because you love them.
I would ask you, “What if, God forbid, something happened to Heather or Drew? What if Heather or Drew died? How much money would I spend on them then? Obviously, I wouldn’t spend a penny because they wouldn’t be in this world anymore. It’s a privilege, it’s a joy to be able to spend and to give to that which you love.
The church that doesn’t require any money is a dead church. Thank God that we have ministry needs here. A little reminder from the Lord who is the Shepherd and Guardian of our Souls, if your soul is healthy, you give your time out of love and you give your treasure out of love. Only God knows what this ministry is going to be able to do when we really learn what it means to give. Jesus said, “What does it profit if you gain the whole world and forfeit your soul?” Jesus spoke of the rich man who stored up treasure and stockpiled it and Jesus said that very day his soul was required of him. Someday your soul will be required of you. My soul will be required of me. We want to be pleasing to the Lord.
Well, He’s the Guardian of our Souls and He not only promises to keep our soul from perishing, but He commands us to seek the souls of the lost. He promises, if you’re a Christian, to keep your soul from perishing and He commands you to seek the souls of the lost.
October 31, of course, was Halloween. A little over five weeks ago, most of you or many of you celebrated Halloween. Most people in this nation do. Halloween was not originally called Halloween. It was originally called the Feast of Samhain. It was a druidic festival, a pagan festival. Samhain was the Celtic god of the dead. The Feast of Samhain involved spiritism and occultism but, you see, in the 800s AD, in the Middle Ages, the church of Jesus Christ decided to Christianize the Feast of Samhain. This was not unusual to seek to Christianize pagan festivals. So since the Feast of Samhain took place on October 31 and November 1, Christians declared November 1 All Saints Day. On November 1, Christians all over Europe were charged to remember and to celebrate the lives of Christians who had lived and died in generations past. It was All Saints Day, and they declared the night before All Saints Day, October 31, to be Halloween, Hallowed Eve, which simply means holy night. It was not unusual for the church in the Middle Ages or even in the early centuries to seek to Christianize pagan festivals.
Christmas is coming up. No one knows the day that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. We know He was born in Bethlehem. No one knows the day. But in the year 336 AD, Christians made December 25 the day because they wanted to Christianize a pagan festival, the Festival of Saturnalia which was a Roman festival which took place at that time. Even the word Easter in the celebration of Easter comes from the word Ostare, who was an Anglo-Saxon fertility goddess. You see, Christians sought to Christianize the culture. This was true in the Middle Ages, true in the early centuries. Christians sought to Christianize their culture.
Now, certainly it’s good to set aside a day to celebrate the birth of Christ and I’m glad for December 25. Certainly, it’s good to set aside a day to celebrate the death of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. Certainly, it’s good to set aside a day to remember our loved ones in Christ and the great lives of great believers in Christ who have lived and died generations past. But, you see, if you really want to Christianize the culture, and I think this is a viable question for this time in which we live. If you really want to Christianize the culture, the Bible tells us how to do it. The primary strategy is evangelism. Taking the gospel to people. The culture will only change as people change.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be salt and light in the various strata of society. We should. But our primary focus needs to be evangelism. Our primary focus needs to be taking the gospel to the lost. Christ commands us to seek the souls of the lost
I think most of you have heard of William Booth who founded the Salvation Army. He founded the Salvation Army in 1865 although it was not called the Salvation Army until 1878. William Booth founded the Salvation Army because he was concerned about his church. He was concerned that the church he attended was focused only on itself. He was concerned that the church he attended was concerned only with its own programs. William Booth believed that churches should be concerned with the lost and should show compassion for their physical needs and, out of love for their souls, take to them the gospel. And so William Booth founded the Salvation Army which flourishes to this day. Do you not agree that the church of Jesus Christ should show compassion for the physical needs of the lost and take the gospel to the lost that they might be found? Do you not agree?
I think some of you have heard of Charles Spurgeon, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who most Christian historians believe to have been the greatest preacher of the 19th century. He was a pastor in London, England. His congregation built the Metropolitan Tabernacle there which was the worship center, the sanctuary, for Spurgeon’s church, a sanctuary that held 6,000 people. Of course, this was long before the so-called mega-church movement.
In those days in the 19 century, members were seated first in church. Did you know that? Members were seated first in church. This was true in the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England. Members were seated first and guests or visitors or seekers or inquirers had to wait and see if any seats remained. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was oftentimes jammed with people. One Sunday a man arrived at the Metropolitan Tabernacle and he was a maker of shoes and he was not a wealthy man. He had saved for two years just to make the journey to London that he might visit that church. When he arrived, no seats were left. When Charles Spurgeon heard about it, the Holy Spirit convicted Spurgeon. He realized that it wasn’t right that the church was just focused, JUST focused, on members. There ought to be an outward focus as well. He created a section, a new section of the Metropolitan Tabernacle that was just for visitors, just for seekers. He called it the “Inquirer Section.” It was large.
I think you know, as a church we want to be seeker friendly because we care about the souls of people. Next Sunday if Friendship Sunday as Gene mentioned. You have an opportunity to bring a friend, a visitor, perhaps somebody who is unchurched, perhaps somebody who doesn’t know Christ yet. What an opportunity if you care about the souls of people, if you care…. What an opportunity.
You know, we’re also called to go out into this city and into our world and share our faith in Christ with the unbelieving and we’re called to the work of an evangelist. Each and every one of us. This is the great commission. “Go into all the world…,” beginning where you live, “and make disciples.” You shall be My witnesses.” Jesus said, “The fields are white and ready for harvest. Pray that more laborers be sent into the field.” Christ wants to send you.
I know our time is up. We have this great title of Christ, the Guardian of our Souls. He seeks, Christ seeks, the souls of men and women and children the world over. He seeks their souls and He’s commissioned us with the gospel and called us to be faithful. He reminds us that when we’ve come to Him and embraced Him as Savior and Lord, He comes into us by the power of His Holy Spirit and He will not let our souls perish. He has given us eternal life and He is the Shepherd and the Guardian of our Souls. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.