Honour the KING!

Sometimes I think about how different life would be if the country I lived was ruled by a king and all people were subject to him.  Needless to say, it would be so different from what I am accustomed to it is impossible to fully grasp the implications.  In Bible times, kingdoms flourished or were run into the ground due to how the king ruled.  Subjects in large part were at the mercy of their king who held their lives in his hand with God-given authority to administer justice upon evildoers and to reward faithful servants.

King Nebuchadnezzar was a man who was not at all squeamish to rule with unchallenged might and power.  Those who served him well could be promoted, but any who offended or opposed him would be destroyed immediately.  The king was used to having his way, and when he gave a command the wise among his people took him seriously.  This was evident after he made an image of gold in the plain of Dura, and he commanded all his officials to gather before him.  He then informed his subjects when they heard the sounds of instruments, they were to bow in worship before the image he set up.  He warned all people, nations and languages represented among his people that if they did not bow, they would be immediately cast into a fiery furnace.

Of all the people who gathered, there were three of the children of Israel who refused to bow.  Chaldeans approached the king and dobbed them in, and Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and rage at their insolence.  He summoned them before him and gave them a final opportunity to comply with his command and worship his image.  The king repeated the consequence for disobedience, that they would be thrown into a burning, fiery furnace:  "And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"  In Nebuchadnezzar's eyes, he was greater than any god:  his word would stand.  When they refused, Nebuchadnezzar heated the furnace 7 times hotter, and threw them into the furnace.  The flames immediately killed the men who ushered them to the furnace, and the king was without concern.  He was king and did as he pleased.

Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar rose to his feet in amazement.  He asked, "Didn't we throw 3 men in the fire?", and so they had.  Daniel 3:25 reads, "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."  Nebuchadnezzar approached the furnace and called his servants by name, and they walked out of the furnace without injury or even smelling like smoke.  Daniel 3:28 tells us the response of the king:  "Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!"  Nebuchadnezzar and all his subjects witnessed something remarkable, for the king's word had been frustrated (KJV says "changed") by the God of Israel.  Unlike the image of gold Nebuchadnezzar set up, the God of Israel is the almighty who sets up kings and deposes them, the God who speaks and it comes to pass without fail.

This passage contains a glorious truth for Christians whether we live in a monarchy or a parliamentary democracy:  our good God is able to overrule all kings, governors and governments to accomplish His purposes.  May our lives provide a testimony God is worth obeying and serving, that we will honour the commands of our God and Saviour rather than living to please men.  God commands us--in the New Testament, by the way--to pray for those in government and to submit to those God has put in authority as our service to God (1 Peter 2:13-15).  1 Peter 2:17 reads, "Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king."  Blessed be God who delivers His servants who trust in Him, and let us yield our bodies as living sacrifices to Him that He would be honoured always.

Demonstration of Love

"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:7-8

One thing I enjoyed at the San Diego County Fair was to watch demonstrations of various products.  People crowded around a fellow with a headset who demonstrated the sharpness of a knife by slicing a tomato, and then sawed the sole of a boot in half and drew it across raw metal to produce shavings.  People were amazed when he went back to the tomato and sliced it perfectly.  People were drawn in by the demonstration, and seeing the sharpness of the knives before their eyes prompted people to pull out their wallets to buy the wonder blades.

When Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, all sorts of people flocked to see the Roman execution.  As they watched the proceedings--cruelly designed for agonising pain and humiliation--people mocked and reviled Jesus.  Matthew 27:39-43 reads, "And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." ⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ⁴² "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. ⁴³ He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Those who condemned Jesus as a blasphemer blasphemed Him, and they taunted Him to demonstrate His divinity by coming down from the cross.  They threw His words they did not believe back in His face, telling Him to save Himself to prove Himself a Saviour.

The doubters, haters and mockers said they would believe Jesus was the Son of God and King of Israel if He did their bidding and came down from the cross.  They had watched Jesus do countless miracles and did not believe:  why would they believe their own eyes if Jesus bowed to their will?  Their temptations have a satanic ring to them, and Jesus submitted to the will of the Father instead.  Jesus demonstrated He was the Son of God and the King of Israel by staying on the cross, shedding His blood and dying.  What Jesus did in willingly dying was greater than the works He did in His life, for it preceded Him taking up His life again--by raising the temple of His body in a glorified state--three days later.  Jesus proved He is the Saviour by dying on the cross, rising from the dead and ascending to the Father just as He said.

In his letter to Roman Christians, Paul explained the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was actually a demonstration of God's love towards sinners.  The love God demonstrated was not merely kind sentiment or emotional affection but sacrificial love in providing atonement for sinners by His shed blood.  We also see the effectiveness of Jesus' sacrifice demonstrated by His resurrection from the dead.  There was no greater price God could give than sending His only begotten Son Jesus to die for lost sinners.  No one can put a price on the precious blood of Jesus Christ spilled so enemies of God could be redeemed and made children of God.  Have you ever seen a more compelling demonstration of love that Jesus on the cross who died for sinners?  God does not bid us to pull out our wallets to obtain salvation, for He offers it freely by His grace.  By His love, Jesus paid our price in full.

God Draws the Driven

This morning's sermon contained a warning from God to the children of Israel who departed from God through idolatry without repentance.  Through the prophet the LORD said in Jeremiah 27:14-15, "Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for they prophesy a lie to you; ¹⁵ for I have not sent them," says the LORD, "yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you."  False prophets were saying articles taken from the temple would soon be returned and they would not serve Nebuchadnezzar.  God said if His people believed the lie and refused to submit to the yoke He fashioned for them--to serve the king of Babylon--He would forcefully drive them from the land He gave them as an inheritance.  If they would not submit to God's word voluntarily, they would be driven to go where they did not want to.  This prompted my consideration of this pattern in Scripture.

As those redeemed by faith in Jesus, Christians are provided an incredible privilege of a relationship with the living God.  God created this world and all that is in it, and His desire is for people He created in His image to know Him, to respond to His love demonstrated to us while we were yet sinners.  We observe this from the very beginning.  After God created Adam, he had fellowship with God as they walked together in the Garden of Eden.  But sin resulted in the spiritual death of Adam, Eve and their offspring.  Adam and his wife were sent out of the garden as it says in Genesis 3:24:  "So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."  Adam disobeyed God by eating from the tree, and thus he was driven from his dwelling place and rest.

God called Nebuchadnezzar His servant, and without realising it Nebuchadnezzar was God's chosen instrument to bring judgment upon nations--including His own erring people.  Though God established Nebuchadnezzar on the throne, when he was lifted up with pride (having ignored God's warning through Daniel's interpretation of his troubling dream), God drove him mad and he was driven from men for 7 years.  Daniel rehearsed the situation years later in Daniel 5:20-21:  "But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. ²¹ Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses."  When Nebuchadnezzar's sense returned to him, he praise the God of Israel who restored him to his throne and former glory.

After Jesus entered Jerusalem, He cleansed the temple in Matthew 21:12-13:  "Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.¹³ And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  Jesus did not show partiality between buyer or seller when He drove them out of the temple, for though they had a thriving business they had no business being in God's house due to their iniquity.  In a short time Jesus was lifted up on Calvary and drew all people to Himself as Messiah. These passages illustrate well how idolatry, pride, greed and sin brought awful consequences--even being driven from the presence of the LORD.  The remedy for our sin is to return to the LORD in humble repentance, to take Christ's yoke upon us by submission to Him and walking with Him.

God has always expressed desire to draw near to His people and dwell among them in the Garden of Eden, in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt, after God established His people in Canaan, in the tabernacle and temple and by Christ coming who gives the Holy Spirit who indwells us.   When people meet in Jesus' name, there He is in the midst.  God's desire is for us to abide with Him forever (for He has freely offered eternal life for all who believe in Jesus), and our rebellion, unbelief and sin prevents us from enjoying the fellowship and closeness God supplies today by His grace.  God is faithful and loving to always draw those driven away by sin to Himself.  Let us take to heart and put into practice the exhortation of James 4:8-10:  "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

The Golden Rule (With Love)

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught what is commonly called the "Golden Rule" to His disciples in Matthew 7:11-12:  "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! ¹² Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  God is good and the generous source of all good things.  Jesus pointed out since sinners are able to give good gifts to their children, our heavenly Father is infinitely more inclined and able to give good things to those who make their requests known to Him.

Because God gives good gifts to those who ask Him, Jesus said whatever we want others to do to us, we ought to do also to them.  The opposite of this can be true.  If there is something we do not appreciate, we avoid doing the same to them--even if it seems they deserve such treatment.  When I was musing upon the Golden Rule yesterday, I realised it cannot stand alone without great risk of making myself the flawed standard of morality I adhere to.  The Golden Rule in isolation can lead me to justify being unloving, devoid of sympathy or compassion, and resisting the Holy Spirit who always guides us to walk in love.  The Law and Prophets are summed up well by the Golden Rule, but Jesus fulfilled the Law and gave His disciples a new law to obey:  we ought to love one another as Jesus loves us (John 13:34).

In a conversation with my wife yesterday, I recalled laughing when my GP told me I had torn my ACL playing baseball.  She was a bit caught off guard and asked me what was so funny.  I thought it was funny that all I had done was rounded first base and fell over like a sniper took out my knee, a rather pathetic way to hurt oneself that required surgery, rehabilitation, financial cost, and missing over a year of sport.  When being fitted for glasses recently a new optometrist looked at my file and in great seriousness questioned if a specialist had fully explained the potential impact of an eye condition I have been diagnosed with.  I quipped, "Yep, untreatable and incurable."  "Yes," she said slowly, trying to make sense of my casual response.  The point I am trying to make is, if the Golden Rule was the only standard I employed to guide my conduct towards people's conditions or problems, it would lack compassion, gentleness and tact.  Love leads me to be sensitive to others when I am naturally harsh with myself.

The Golden Rule is a good rule that helps guide our conduct towards others, yet it cannot be followed rightly without God's love.  Paul wrote in Romans 12:9-15:  "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honour giving preference to one another; ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³ distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."  Jesus taught His disciples the Golden Rule, also commanded them to love one another, and demonstrated His love for sinners by dying on the cross.  God has provided the whole Bible and the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us to walk in love to one another:  to bless and not curse, to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Following His Steps

As I was driving the other day, I saw a family walking on the foopath parallel to my car.  I was stopped at a red light, and dad was leading the way.  What I noticed right away was the boy who followed behind his dad, imitating in an exaggerated fashion dad's normal gait with swaying shoulders and swinging arms.  The way he was walking did not look like his dad to me, but he clearly was doing his best to copy him.  His extra long strides, carefully timed to his father's steps, made his head bob up and down as he tried to keep pace with his shorter legs.

It is natural for young children who look up to their parents to imitate them, to want to be like them.  This also ought to be true for those who are made children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.  John 1:11-13 says of Jesus, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  Because God is our Father who is eternal and does not change, we are perpetually His children who ought to trust and obey Him.  Unlike children who grow older and become increasingly independent of their parent's oversight, children of God grow spiritually by becoming more dependent and reliant upon Him for everything.  In our season of adult life when we have learned to do many things ourselves, it is a continual challenge to submit to Him.

As followers of Jesus, Christians are called to walk in His ways as Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:31-5-2:  "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. ¹ Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ² And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."  The Bible teaches us by Christ's example how we ought to live, loving God our Father and others as Jesus loves us.  Our resemblance to Jesus isn't by copying His terms of phrase, growing a beard or walking from city to city in Israel:  our imitation of Christ comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit within who teaches us of Jesus and empowers us to be His witnesses in real time.

Peter charged servants to walk in the steps of Jesus even in submitting to harsh masters in 1 Peter 2:18-23:  "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. ¹⁹ For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. ²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ²² “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”; ²³ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously..."  We cannot imitate Jesus or walk in His steps without Jesus helping us.  Let us be numbered among those who follow Christ's example of love like the little boy who happily followed his dad.  It was no chore to walk in his father's steps but his great delight.

God Knows and Lives

Fulfilled prophesies provide strong evidence for the veracity of the Bible and demonstrate God's power to know and do all He has promised.  It is one thing to accurately predict the outcome of a game, whether a medical treatment will be effective, or how tall someone will grow to be, but it is entirely another thing to predict something that is obviously impossible.  Speaking of His physical body, Jesus said to those who questioned His authority:  "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  The apostle remarked in John 2:22, "Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said."  We observe Jesus and the Scripture foretold His death and resurrection, and the knowledge, promises and power Jesus displayed to do what is impossible moved people to believe in Him.

This morning I read Ezekiel 37 when God used an illustration with a valley filled with dry bones.  God asked the prophet Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  If I was Ezekiel, I would have quickly answered "No."  The bones were dry and turning to dust; how could they support a physical body or the marrow produce red blood cells?  If Ezekiel focused on what we he knew from observation, experience and human anatomy, impossibilities would abound.  Yet he fixed his attention upon God and said, "O Lord God, you know." (Ezekiel 37:3)  God said the dry bones would know He was the LORD when He brought life into them again.  God commanded Ezekiel to prophecy to the bones and by the power of God they were covered with muscles, sinews, skin and God breathed life into the great army that stood on their feet before Him.

God explained the significance of the vision to the prophet in Ezekiel 37:11-14:  "Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. ¹⁴ I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.'"  God spoke of the Jewish nation as feeling dry, having lost hope and cut off.  Yet God would do for them as those dry bones, for He would revive them and bring them into their land again.  This came to pass after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, and it came to pass in 1947 when Israel regained their land and became a sovereign nation again.  This also will have a future fulfilment, for at the end of the Great Tribulation Jesus will return to judge the nations and establish His throne in Jerusalem.  He will gather His people to Himself from wherever they had been scattered.

I find it intriguing some dead believers literally rose from the dead when Jesus died on the cross as it is written in Matthew 27:51-53:  "Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵² and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many."  Like the centurion who witnessed the death of Jesus on the cross, Ezekiel said people would know He was the LORD when God opened their graves and brought them out alive.  Ezekiel 37:24-26 goes on to say, "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. ²⁵ Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. ²⁶ Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore."

Jesus is revealed to be the Son of David, God's Servant spoken of by Isaiah and the prophets, the KING OF KINGS who will rule over the nations, the Good Shepherd who lay down His life for the sheep.  It was humanly impossible for dry bones to live, but with God all things are possible.  It was not believed possible God could take human form, die on the cross and rise from the dead, but Jesus Christ has done all this and more!  As those dead believers were raised to life, so the Jews would inhabit Jerusalem again, and one day Jesus will return and rule the nations.  Jesus has made a new covenant in His own blood that Jew and Gentile can have peace with God by receiving Jesus by grace through faith.  How awesome is our God who does the impossible, who speaks of what will be when it never could be.  It is encouraging to know even if we feel dry, without hope or cut off, in God there is assurance of new, abundant life by faith in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns forever. 

Bread of the Presence

My Bible reading in the evenings these days has been in the Legacy Standard Bible, a relatively new translation that seeks to "preserve the American Standard Version while incorporating recent discoveries of Hebrew and Greek textual sources and rendering it into more current English."  The biggest difference from other versions I am familiar with is the heavy use of "Yahweh" in translating the Tetragrammaton rather than "LORD God."  Yesterday I came across another distinction, as the showbread in Exodus 39:36 was called, "the bread of the Presence."  This refers to the 12 large loaves of holy and consecrated bread that were placed on the table of showbread on every Sabbath and were to be eaten by the priests in the holy place.

The table of showbread was one of three articles in the holy place in the tabernacle along with the altar of incense and the lampstand (Menorah).  As I thought about all these articles, each one required maintenance:  the lamps were filled with oil, the wicks trimmed and lit to provide light continually.  Exodus 30:7-8 says of the altar of incense, "Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. ⁸ And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations."  Concerning the showbread baked with fine flour we read in Leviticus 24:6-8:  "You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD. ⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the LORD. ⁸ Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant."  Incense was burned when the lamps were tended and the bread was eaten by the priests--light to see, incense to smell and bread to eat--an interactive feast of the senses physically and spiritually.

It was forbidden for the children of Israel to copy the formula of the anointing oil or the incense used in the worship of God in the tabernacle.  From what I have read, I do not see a similar prohibition for the "bread of the Presence" which was displayed on the table for a memorial.  Bread was a staple food for the Hebrews, and bread was likely part of every meal.  Unlike everything else in the holy place, the bread of the presence was meant for eating by priests while oil and incense was consumed by fire.  While the bread people baked was not anointed or placed on the table of showbread, the bread people made in their houses and ate was special because of the significance in the tabernacle and the bread's connection to the presence of God.  It is fitting Jesus did not remain in the heavens or abide only in the temple, but He came to common people and revealed Himself as the Bread of Life.  It was amazing God dwelt in the midst of His people, and then to present Himself as Jesus Christ went even further, for He promised whoever believed in Him would receive eternal life enjoyed in His presence.

During the Passover feast, Jesus instituted Communion with His disciples by eating bread that symbolised His body broken for them and drank wine that represented His blood shed for them.  Christians in the church today proclaim our LORD's death until He comes by eating the bread and drinking of the cup together, and this physical act of obedience is a declaration of God's presence within us by the Holy Spirit--having received Jesus by faith and been born again.  Eating the broken bread is a reminder of the price Jesus paid to atone for our sins through His death and shows we have spiritually received Him.  Calling the showbread the "bread of the Presence" is a worthy title as it alludes to the presence of God who was with His people in the tabernacle and temple, and it also foreshadows the Bread of Life Jesus whose presence indwells us as the temple of the Holy Spirit.  How close we can be to God because His presence has drawn near to us!

Stirred With Wisdom

As a little kid at church, I remember hearing a lot of adults express a desire to preach in front of the congregation.  During the "Jesus People Movement" in southern California (I didn't know was a thing at the time), it was common for people to be saved and in some cases relatively quickly move into serving in pastoral ministry because of the volume of people coming to faith in Jesus.  For years I observed men regularly attend church for a season and become involved in serving, but when it seemed there were no openings or opportunities to be a pastor, they moved on.  I do not judge or condemn anyone for doing their best to follow God's leading.  People came and went, and I continued to encounter the perspective that to be most useful and profitable in a church, being a "full-time" pastor was the prime position.  Perhaps this calling would provide validation and respect people craved.  If that's what they hoped for, I suggest they would have been disappointed when the call of every Christian is to be servant of all.

In His great wisdom, God has joined Christians together as a church where He is the Head of the body.  Those who imagine the pastor is the head of a church have a very inaccurate, unbiblical view of leadership.  As God has designed our bodies to be comprised of many parts connected and coordinated to work together for the glory of God, to promote health and to help others, so He has divinely placed His church in the world.  In addition to there being different callings in the church--like missionaries, prophets, pastors and teachers--God also grants people a variety of spiritual gifts according to His will.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶ And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all."  Many people have desired to be God's mouthpiece from a pulpit, yet no one needs to be a pastor to study, speak and walk in obedience to God's word.  The way we conduct our lives among others can be a better witness for Jesus Christ than sermons preached in a church building some will never sit and listen to.

One thing that struck me as I read Exodus 35-36 is how God does not restrict wisdom to pastors or teachers.  When God instructed Moses how to build the tabernacle, God also called and filled people with wisdom to do tasks and work we may not ever connect to Christian ministry.  After God stirred the hearts of people to bring materials for the building of the temple, weaving of fabrics and constructing the articles of gold and silver, He gave men and women wisdom to do physical work--things we may not imagine we need wisdom from God to do well.  Exodus 35:26 says, "And all the women whose heart stirred with wisdom spun the goats' hair."  God empowered men like Bezalel and Oholiab as Moses wrote in Exodus 35:35:  "He has filled them with wisdom in their heart to do every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as those who do every work and make designs."  Wisdom and ability was not only granted by God to the leaders but the workers as Exodus 36:4 says:  "And all the wise men who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work which he was doing." (LSB)

Because Christ is the Head of the church and has become Wisdom for us, we can bring God glory and be spiritually fruitful regardless of our current role, gifting or service.  One work we see others moved to do in the same passage was that of giving, for when enough had been supplied, Moses said in Exodus 36:6, "Let no man or woman any longer do the work for the contributions of the sanctuary."  By the command of God, people were restrained from giving towards the building project because their inclination was to give daily.  My eyes were opened to the marvellous design and intricate function of our physical bodies before the LORD opened my understanding to perceive His wondrous design of the church where people--who were once not a people--are now His people, united by one Spirit, adopted into God's family, made citizens of heaven who fellowship and serve together, guided by His love and grace.  Dear church, may we walk in wisdom as we are coordinated with Jesus our Head, being led by the Holy Spirit as we serve faithfully.

Nehushtan

Shortly after the death of Aaron the high priest, the Hebrews were discouraged as they took the long way around the land of Edom rather than passing through.  They spoke against God, Moses and said they loathed the food God provided daily.  Moses said God sent venomous snakes among the people that bit them, and as a result many people died.  Finally the people came to Moses and admitted their sin in the matter, and asked for Moses to pray God remove the snakes from them.  God gave a curious answer to Moses' prayer in Numbers 21:8-9:  "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived."

The people asked the snakes be taken away, yet God directed people to look upon the bronze serpent crafted by Moses to be miraculously healed and survive.  The prohibitions in the Law of Moses that forbade the crafting of images was to avoid idolatry as they were inclined to be driven to worship the works of their hands--as well as the sun, moon and stars.  Deuteronomy 4:15-40 went into great detail about how God had appeared to His people in a flame of fire, and without taking a physical form He spoke to them from Mt. Sinai.  Nothing God created was like Him, and thus there was no physical representation made by man's hands worthy to represent Him.  There is not another word concerning the bronze serpent Moses made until we read of king Hezekiah's reforms in 2 Kings 18:4:  "He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan."  Nehushtan literally means, "thing of brass."  The crude image made by Moses that was likely kept as a memorial of God's salvation was later idolised by later generations.  Hezekiah did well to break it to pieces to splinter bonds of idolatry with the revered object.

Since people are as prone to idolatry as ever, it is important we guard our hearts against idolising objects or people God used in the past.  The bronze serpent that should have pointed to God and His great salvation over time was disconnected from God and became one of many gods that could not heal, help or save.  Amazingly, the bronze serpent incident which should have reminded God's people of His salvation in the past was employed by Jesus Christ to speak of future salvation He would bring by being lifted up on a cross in death.  Jesus said in John 3:14-16, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  The focus of the story wasn't Moses or the bronze serpent but God who calls, saves and sent His only begotten Son Jesus.  Having been bitten by a venomous snake required faith to look at a bronze serpent for healing, and all who look to Jesus Christ in faith receive a much greater gift in eternal salvation by the Gospel.

I read an article recently with a son's remark how his father "wore a cross" every day to express his faith in God, and this was put forth as evidence of salvation.  This statement shows how it is possible to focus on a symbol rather than the Saviour who is Christ.  A cross can be made out of wood, silver or gold, but it is just as powerless as Nehushtan to save anyone.  The shape of the cross was not as important as the Messiah lifted up and crucified upon it who is risen from the dead and lives in eternal glory.  Had bits of the cross or nails been preserved, undoubtedly there would be those driven to worship them.  But what are pieces of dead wood or corroded nails compared to the living Son of God who fills us with His Spirit and will return in due time?  As God's redeemed people, let us refuse to exchange the Truth of God for a lie and worship a Nehushtan rather than our Creator we love and serve.

Thanks and Worship

Because we are people with needs and desires, we need to be intentional to express thankfulness to God.  If we are primarily focused on what we lack, we might not consider how God has always been faithful to meet our needs--regardless how we feel at the moment.  When we focus on what others have and we do not have, we can become bitter and without gratitude for all God has done for us.  Should we focus on what we have, we are easily lifted up with pride when our possessions exceed others or we can feel down when we have little by comparison.

I was reading through ministry material today that reminded me how thankfulness is worship.  When we worship God, freely giving Him the honour and glory He is due, it works to humble our hearts before God.  Those who humble themselves with thanksgiving and gratitude to God are those He will lift up.  We do not express gratitude to God with the aim to gain but with contentment and joy for who He is, all He has done and given us according to the riches of His grace.  What do we have that we did not first receive? (1 Corinthians 4:7)  How good it is for us give God the praise and thanks He is due!  In exalting the almighty God, we are encouraged in faith.  By proclaiming publicly what God has done for us privately, we delight to make Jesus our boast.

Psalm 100:4-5 exhorts God's people, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. ⁵ For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."  To know God by entering the Door--by grace through faith in Jesus--means to enter His kingdom and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace, very sweet fruit indeed!  We have been thankful to people for kindness shown to us:  hasn't God's goodness and kindness to us been infinitely greater?  Shouldn't we thank God and bless His name because He is always good?  All the resources on this planet are limited and soon gone, yet God's mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 95:6 says, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker."  How blessed we are to be called and chosen as children of God, the people of His pasture.  Our awesome God is good, and we ought to express our eternal gratitude every day.  As we bow our knees before our LORD God in adoration, may we thank Him with our lips from the heart.

Food that Satisfies

There are many biblical terms Christians can use that are disconnected from practical experience.  This is reasonable for it is difficult to translate the spiritual meaning into practical applications without dumbing it down to a formula to follow.  As little kids we had the idea the very important part of prayer is to bow our heads, fold hands and close our eyes when these in a spiritual sense are not even requirements to have an audience with the Almighty.  These directives were more practical than spiritual:  bowing our heads was a show of respect, closing our eyes prevented us from being distracted by what we could see, and folding our hands meant we would not be touching others or fidgeting with objects.  From a biblical perspective, the posture of our bodies was never as important as the condition and posture of our hearts in the sight of God.

As we continue to read the Bible and grow in understanding, we begin to separate style from substance, identify traditions and sound theology, and our outward appearance from the condition of the inner man.  Still, we need the Bible--with the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us--to continue to "flesh out" spiritual disciplines in our daily practices.  Tucked into countless passages of Scripture in the Old and New Testament, God supplies wisdom and guidance concerning how we ought to live.  Recently I read Isaiah 55:2-3 and found it good food for thought:  "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. ³ Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you--the sure mercies of David."

Through the prophet Isaiah, God called all who were thirsty to come to the waters and drink.  It seems a strange thing thirsty and hungry people would spend their money to obtain what they could not eat or drink, but this is our natural tendency when it comes to spiritual things.  Our deepest need is a spiritual one to know God, yet we can imagine this need can be satisfied by worldly things other than God.  The God of Israel asked His people why they spent their money for what was not bread and never could satisfy their hunger and needs.  Notice in the second half of verse 2, how listening carefully to God is equated with "eating what is good."  God's word is indeed food for our souls, for Jesus is the Word of God sent as the Living Bread who provides eternal life for all whom by faith receive Him.  This shows us spiritual eating and nourishment takes place when we listen to God's word carefully with intent to obey.

Verse 3 begins with saying, "Incline your ear, and come to Me."  This teaches us we do not need to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, go to a church building or even move a muscle to truly come to God.  The Bible is a revelation of God in flesh (Jesus Christ) who preached repentance and the Gospel for all sinners to hear, repent of sin and receive Him by faith.  The New Covenant alluded to in Isaiah 55:3 is the covenant in Christ's shed blood by which He atoned for the sins of the world.  How satisfying it is for our souls to be born again, made children of God by grace through faith!  In hearing God's word and by faith receiving it as true, based on these verses we spiritually come to God and eat what is good.  As a result of receiving Christ our souls delight in the abundant life of Christ, His everlasting covenant and sure mercies.

Friends, let us eat what is good and come to Jesus whenever we are spiritually hungry, thirsty and without satisfaction.  Why should we spend our money for what is not bread when we are starving?  Why should go elsewhere when Jesus alone has the words of the life and the Living Water of the Holy Spirit?

Scripture Fulfilled Today

It is important when reading, interpreting and applying Scripture we realise no verses or books of the Bible are intended to stand alone, to be understood apart from the immediate context or other verses that complement it.  The Bible contains the word of God spoken to a specific audience which can reveal the unchanging character and promises of God that can be applied to the reader.  I have heard it estimated about 30% of the Bible is comprised of prophecies that can have multiple fulfilments.  Those who fear and trust God ought to take Him at His word, and exposure to the whole Bible with a sound hermeneutic is a valuable resource that prevents confusion and error.  Having the Holy Spirit within us is absolutely indispensable for Bible comprehension.

Sunday at church we read Psalm 34:18-19:  "The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. ¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all."  This passage teaches us of the character of God, that He is near to the brokenhearted and saves the contrite person.  Like many promises of God, there are conditions our lives must align with to receive the benefits freely offered.  In this case, a broken and contrite heart leads to God saving from trouble.  Everyone faces affliction--even those who trust in God and walk in His ways--but the LORD will deliver the righteous out of every affliction.  This speaks of God's knowledge, power and desire to deliver and save all who trust in Him.  This is fleshed out more in the New Testament with the revelation of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of grace.

The verse immediately following reads in Psalm 34:20:  "He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken."  God not only delivers those who trust in Him from all afflictions, but He protects every one of their bones.  Is this saying no believer in God will have a broken bone?  Certainly not, for in contrition for sin David said of God's discipline in Psalm 51:8, "Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice."  David likely spoke figuratively, but even with broken bones the child of God can rejoice and rest in our Father's embrace.  One connection people under the Covenant of Law may have made was the requirement for sacrifices offered to God and the Passover lamb needed to be completely intact, without a single broken bone.  This verse was literally fulfilled in the case of Jesus when He was crucified on the cross, for instead of breaking His legs His side was pierced with a spear.  John 19:36 says, "For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken."

It would be a mistake to limit the fulfillment of Psalm 34:20 only as relating to Jesus on the cross but is intended to encourage the humble who are afflicted to trust in the LORD.  God's goodness is immutable and can always be counted on, and thus His divine protection of our bodies and souls remains in full force today.  God allows afflictions that include broken bones and chronic pains for His good purposes, yet we are called to look to Him in faith even as our bodies fail.  History tells of many Christians made to suffer awful tortures that tore them physically apart, yet by faith in Christ gained a glorious entrance into heaven forever.  It may be you have not broken a bone until now, but should the LORD break multiple bones we can rejoice today as David because of our God who protects, delivers and saves us forever.  As it is written in in Jude 1:24-25:  "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

Courage to Confess Fear

I grew up in an era where action movie heroes were popular that featured muscled actors like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger who barged into trouble with guns blazing.  For 90 minutes, viewers were treated to stunts, explosions and cringeworthy puns as the body count rapidly multiplied.  Today the ladies have taken centre stage to fill the role of the tough, death-defying and emotionally impotent heroines who take the lives of human beings and aliens as casually as we take a sip of water.  It is exceedingly rare to see a modern film where action heroes betray a shred of what could be considered fear when there is only a step between them and death.  This could be seen as weakness, and we can't have that!

In Braveheart (a work of fiction loosely based on history), I found it refreshing for the courageous protagonist William Wallace, on the eve of his execution, to be shown on his knees in prayer to God and confessing he was afraid.  He prayed God would give him strength to die honourably without crying out under the pains of torture, for he felt to do so was to admit the wicked, wheezing Longshanks had won.  Previously the film portrayed Wallace many times jumping into the fray, putting himself in harm's way and risking death to secure freedom for himself and fellow Scots one battle at a time.  Though the Hollywood depiction of William Wallace puts the most bold among us to shame, it was humanising for him to be portrayed as vulnerable before the almighty God as he confessed his fear--which is common to all people.  That may be the most courageous thing Wallace did in the film.

With wisdom comes grief, and increased knowledge can be accompanied by fear.  Our bodies are wired to respond to fear when we are startled or frightened to flight, fly or freeze.  There is no one who is without fear, and anyone who boldly claims to be fearless is especially suspect.  Fear has countless disguises, cover-ups and names that camouflage it because we are naturally ashamed to be viewed as fearful.  It is a hit to our pride to say we are scared, and we can express fear by laughing as easily as crying.  Fear is a part of our flesh we inhabit, but the Holy Spirit who regenerates Christians fundamentally changes us from within as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:6-7:  "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."  God has given us a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind, and His perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

As long as we live in a body of corruptible flesh, our experiences and feelings can fall short of the spiritual reality of what Jesus has done for us.  We can be filled with the Holy Spirit and still feel afraid because we are preoccupied and distracted by what is not God.  Even as Timothy needed to be intentional to stir up and use the gifts God had given Him, so we must remind ourselves God has not given us a spirit of fear.  We are no longer slaves to sin, worry and anxiety because we now are in Christ, and we should not allow fear to be a squatter in our lives who robs us of peace.  After speaking of the Comforter He would send, Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:27:  "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  When we realise we are afraid, we ought to take courage in Christ and confess this sin so we might be strengthened to do God's will and abide in His love.

Evidence of Conviction

The choices we make are more indicative of our convictions and beliefs than what we say.  Many times we have observed people rail against evils in society or the church who are later exposed as partakers of those very things.  Perhaps being outspoken against a particular sin is an attempt to distract from their  own indulgence in it or is a vain attempt to convince themselves of something being sin they want to avoid because their flesh finds it alluring.  Since we cannot plumb the depths of the hearts of mankind, we can only guess concerning the motivation or intentions of others, and it is infinitely more profitable to honestly examine our own hearts, repent of sin and seek to do what pleases God than guesswork about others.  What is in our hearts will find its way out, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

The Bible shows how actions speak truer than words.  Yesterday I read a passage that illustrates this fact in Exodus 9:20-21 that described the responses to the warning Moses gave that in about 24 hours God was going to rain down massive hail upon Egypt:  "He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. ²¹ But he who did not regard the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field."  The previous 6 times Moses said a plague from God was going to occur, it happened just as he had said.  People in Egypt had personally experienced the Nile turning to blood, a plague of frogs, gnats (or lice), flies, pestilence that killed livestock, and boils that broke out on man and beast.  One might assume people would be very switched on to listen to Moses at that stage, but there were some who did not fear the word of the LORD.  The ones who feared God's word were those who quickly brought their servants and livestock under cover, but those who did not regard God's word left their servants and cattle in the field.  Their actions showed whether they feared the word of God or not.

In Ezekiel 9, the prophet had a vision of God who was preparing to bring judgment upon His people.  God told a man in white linen with an inkhorn by his side (presumably an angel), to go and mark people in Ezekiel 9:4:  "...and the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it."  This mark was to identify those who would be saved from the coming judgment, for they grieved over the wicked abominations that took place in Israel--disobedience to God's Law, offering incense to idols, polluting the land with innocent blood and the perversion of justice.  It wasn't sufficient in God's sight to merely not do wickedly, for God was looking for those whose hearts were moved to mourn and weep over the sins committed in Jerusalem.  God was intent on saving those who feared Him and were zealous for His honour, while those who committed wickedness or were careless towards sin would be destroyed.

These passages show those who fear the word of the LORD will be responsive to it with obedience.  It also shows those who submit to God and His word have a desire to do His will, and should we observe wickedness in God's people we should be moved to grieve.  Thankfully God knows the hearts of men (we cannot know!) and is able to change them by the power of the Gospel.  He empowers us to know and do His will, even bearing one another's burdens as Galatians 6:1 exhorts:  "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted."  If grief over sin leads us to rail angrily against others, it indicates the involvement of our flesh rather than the humility and meekness of the Holy Spirit.  Our flesh on its best day could never resist or overcome our sinful habits, but the power of the Holy Spirit is always victorious by God's grace.  Praise God He will exchange our tears for enduring joy.

Contempt Corrupts

I recently read an article from the perspective of a marriage psychologist who said one of the most surefire evidence of a marriage in trouble was when the couple openly shows contempt for one another.  Webster defined "contempt" in the 1828 Dictionary as:  "The act of despising; the act of viewing or considering and treating as mean, vile and worthless; disdain; hatred of what is mean or deemed vile. This word is one of the strongest expressions of a mean opinion which the language affords."  Contempt is the opposite of love, for it is hardened hatred, disgust and without regard or respect for another person.  Contempt is the fruit of unresolved conflict, bitterness, and resentment, and this corrupt outlook reveals a lack of love and grace.

It has been said that "Familiarity breeds contempt," but it has also been observed a closer relationship with someone can result in greater appreciation and mutual respect.  Should our relationships be soured because of contempt for others, it says more about the hardened state of our hearts than dashed expectations or negative judgments we have made concerning others.  In the Bible God is revealed as the unchanging, holy and awesome, longsuffering, gracious and wise.  He made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He delivered the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.  God appeared before His people in thick darkness and fire as He spoke to them from Mt. Sinai, and the people trembled before Him.  God gave them the Law through Moses, and the people promised to walk in His ways.

One might think because the almighty God who dwelt in the midst of His people was good and glorious, they would have loved and been loyal to Him always.  This was not the case.  People brought sacrifices  to the temple and priests went into the presence of God, yet they despised God and departed from Him.  When God sent the prophet Ezekiel to speak the word of God to His people, see what God said in Ezekiel 3:5-7:  "For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, ⁶ not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted."  It had reached such a low point in Israel's relationship with God they would not even listen to Him because of the hardness of their hearts.  Since they would not listen to God, they would not hear Ezekiel either.  Ironically, God said foreign people with a language barrier would be more willing to listen than His own people!

This passage of Scripture in Ezekiel shows the danger of hearing God's word without obedience can lead us to reject Him.  Like the Israelites, we Christians can become dull by much hearing; familiarity with the Bible can make ordinary in our eyes what is miraculous, transformative, and divine truth.  We rarely see ourselves as the entitled, demanding brat who treats his generous and caring parents with contempt, yet this passage shows it is possible unchecked pride in our hearts could result in contempt towards God--and even His faithful servants.  The good and awesome God never changed, but His people can for the worse.  By God's grace may we continually submit ourselves before Him gladly as He sanctifies and refines us to be more like Him:  to respond to hatred with love, to give more grace, to forgive, show mercy and walk humbly as we follow Jesus closely.  

God At Hand and Afar Off

"Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "and not a God afar off? ²⁴ Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD."

Jeremiah 23:23-24

God is omnipresent and omniscient:  before there was time on earth God was everywhere and knowing all things--even beyond our universe.  Solomon and the children of Israel knew God's presence was not contained to the Holy of Holies or a temple made with hands.  At the same time, the temple was viewed as a focal point of God's attention because His presence dwelt among His people.  Wherever Jews were in the world, they prayed in the direction of the temple in Jerusalem to acknowledge their God who rules over all.

God made it clear to Jeremiah He was not merely a God near at hand but also afar off.  There was no place where anyone could hide from His presence, for He filled heaven and earth.  Not one sparrow could fall without Him knowing, all the hairs on our head are numbered by Him, and He calls all the stars by name.  God's absolute knowledge and presence is a great comfort to believers, for we are assured nothing escapes His notice.  When the children of Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians and suffered, their cries were heard by God as it is written in Exodus 2:24-25 (LSB):  "So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ And God saw the sons of Israel, and God knew them."  The groans of God's people put His promises to their fathers in His mind--not that He ever forgets.  This passage shows God's faithfulness and responsiveness to His people, regardless of their geographical proximity to a temple or city.

God heard the groaning of His people who suffered, remembered His covenant, saw the sons of Israel and God knew them.  Out of all the sounds made by nature, machinery or mankind, God was drawn to observe His people and respond to their suffering by opening a way of deliverance and salvation.  I am reminded of the word of Hanani the prophet who rebuked king Asa because he had relied on an arm of flesh rather than the LORD who made Himself known and saved him in 2 Chronicles 16:8-9:  "Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars."  God's eyes run everywhere in the world, looking to show Himself strong on behalf of those with loyal hearts to God.

The Good Shepherd Jesus said in John 10:27-30,  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. ³⁰ I and My Father are one."  God hears the groaning of His people, sees and knows us wherever we may be, and we also can be attuned to hear the voice of Jesus as we follow Him.  We are blessed beyond measure the God of Israel is a God at hand and also a God afar off, and not one of us is far from Him in Christ Jesus.  The God who fills heaven and earth has chosen to make Christians His holy habitation by His grace.  Wherever we are, there He is in our midst.

Truth Who Sets Free

Sometimes a verse spoken out of context can provide impetus to study and analyse passages of Scripture more carefully.  It seems people are pleased to quote fragments from the Bible to condemn others, justify themselves or to gain credibility--even when they think little of God or the Bible as a whole.  For instance, I read a news article that quoted from John 8:32 where Jesus said, "The truth shall set you free."  The writer went on to list things the passage did not say.  Infinitely more important than what the Bible does not say is what God does say and the message Jesus intended to convey.

In the passage that preceded this well-known quote, Jesus proclaimed He was the light of the world.  The Pharisees opposed Jesus, and they complained He bore witness of Himself and thus His witness was not true.  Later people asked Jesus who He was really in John 8:25-32:  "Then they said to Him, "Who are You?" And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." ²⁷ They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. ²⁸ Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. ²⁹ And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." ³⁰ As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. ³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Jesus was not speaking of some arbitrary revelation of truth, but He specifically spoke of Himself as the Truth.  Jesus was sent from heaven to earth by God the Father, and the witness Jesus gave concerning Himself was true.  When Jesus was lifted up on a cross and crucified, He said it would show and confirm what He truly was:  the Lamb of God sent by God to provide atonement for the sins of the world.  Jesus would lay down His life on Calvary in obedience to His Father in heaven, and He would take up His life again by rising from the dead.  Verse 30 says many believed in Him--not just that He was being honest--but that He was the Son of God, the promised Messiah God would send to save sinners.  Jesus said to the Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  Anyone could have followed Jesus around, but His true disciples heard and obeyed His word.  These are those who would know the truth, and the truth would make them free.  The text does not allow us to substitute our truth or what poses as truth in Christ's place, for He objectively is the truth.  To unbelieving religious leaders who remained slaves to sin Jesus said in John 8:36:  "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

Jesus plainly identified Himself as the truth to Thomas and His disciples in John 14:6:  "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."  By the power of the Gospel, Christians are set free from sin that brings death and are set at liberty from the Law of Moses that condemned us.  We are set free from the curse of sin and set free to worship, serve and have fellowship with God forever.  Paul wrote in Romans 6:17-18, "But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."  The freedom Jesus brings is infinitely more than a feeling or a change of mind but a complete transformation of a person who by faith in Jesus goes from slavery to sin and self to be a new creation, a child of God and citizen of heaven.

If we misunderstand what "truth" in John 8:32 means, we will arrive at very wrong conclusions of what "free" means as well.  This illustrates the importance of carefully reading and considering the context of Bible passages when we quote a phrase or verse, for our flippancy can cause people to miss Jesus Christ and the critical points He was making.  It is God's word, after all, and the wise are zealous to hear Him speak.

Contend For the Faith

"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."

Jude 1:3

In the book of Jude, he wrote to Christian believers to exhort them to earnestly contend for the faith.  The faith to which Jude refers is in Jesus who preached the Gospel and made a way for all sinners to be saved through repentance and faith in the Son of God who died and rose again.  In verse 4 that followed Jude explained why this was necessary:  "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."  Even in the early days of the church, ungodly people had crept into the church, turned the grace of God into lewdness (an opportunity to indulge in lusts) and denied God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son.  Like the serpent in the garden of Eden, they questioned, challenged and opposed what God plainly said and led people into sin.

One thing that struck me about Jude's exhortation was the purpose he wrote was to exhort Christians to contend for the faith--not to take up the fight against heretics or falsehoods.  In boldly standing up to promote the Gospel and hold fast to God's word on the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ, they would be effective and fruitful in ministry.  Jude went on to provide examples of the kinds of ungodly characteristics of people in Israel's history so they could better identify sinful motives in their own lives and the church, the body of Christ.  Peter urged this steadfast resistance in 1 Peter 5:8-9:  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."  Those who engage in lion hunts in distant places potentially leave their own houses and families vulnerable to attack, and our call is to know the truth so we can recognise error and resist it in faith right at home.

Having been informed of the truth of the Gospel by God's word, we are called to contend earnestly for the faith in Christ granted to us by God's grace.  We did not discover it on our own; it was given freely to us by God.  We were once those ungodly people marked for condemnation who have received the Gospel we are to learn to continually walk in:  as we have been freely forgiven, we forgive others.  We have freely received the love of God, and therefore we love one another--even our enemies we pray for.  The battlefield of earnest contention for the faith is not merely outwardly but in our own hearts and minds.  There will be temptation to keep records of wrongs, to sow discord due to personal offence, and to be careless with our words.  Let us heed God's word to be sober and vigilant to remain steadfast in faith and contend earnestly for it so Jesus will be glorified, sinners will be saved, and the church will be edified.

Jesus Has Overcome

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

When Jesus told His disciples on the night He was betrayed they would not seem Him for a little while, and they would each be scattered to their own.  In a little while they would again see Him, and Jesus revealed He was going to the Father.  He spoke to them in proverbs they did not understand fully at the time, but they could bank on their sorrow being turned to joy that could not be taken from them.

From a human perspective there was not much comfort in what Jesus said because they could not comprehend what Jesus meant or how their lives would be impacted.  They expected and hoped Jesus would remain with them, so to hear He would soon be leaving was an impediment to peace and joy.  Yet in His wisdom Jesus summed up His long conversation with His disciples by saying, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace."  This is a principle that remains in force today and forever for all Christians regardless of our circumstances of life.  In Jesus the disciples would have peace by faith in Him even when He was arrested, crucified and breathed His last.  They would have peace in Jesus after He ascended to heaven and they were hauled before magistrates who wanted to silence and kill them.

In the midst of tribulation God's people can be of good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world.  Notice Jesus said this in past tense before His crucifixion.  If Jesus said, "I will overcome," current tribulation and trials Christians face might prompt us to wonder if having peace today is even possible.  Jesus overcoming the world was not due to His crucifixion or anything He would do but on the basis of who He is, all He has promised and accomplished.  I am reminded of the word of God spoken to Baruch by the prophet Jeremiah who thought God had added grief to his sorrow and rest proved elusive.  The LORD spoke to Baruch in Jeremiah 45:5 with words that align with Jesus' words to His disciples:  "And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh," says the LORD. "But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go."  When we seek great things for ourselves, our perspective can be distorted to lose sight of Christ who is greatest and grants eternal life to all who trust Him.

Those who hear Jesus and obey His word He likens to a wise man who built his house upon the rock that could withstand all storms.  The winds will lash and the waters churn, yet in Jesus we have peace because He has overcome the world.  Jesus bids all come to Him, and just because we are familiar with the verses or have them memorised does not mean we faithfully do our part to trust and daily come to Him with our troubles.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  When life is all too much, in Jesus we continually find peace and rest for our souls.  

Tried and Found Faithful

One of the more well-known quotes from G.K. Chesterton about Christianity is, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult; and left untried."  (Chesterton, G. K. What’s Wrong with the World. Ignatius Press, 1994. page 37)  Following Jesus Christ is no guarantee of an easy life, but all who are in Jesus know He is the Life!  Those who trust and love Jesus shall not want, for He is our Good Shepherd.  Just because we follow Jesus, however, does not mean we are always willing to follow His word when the world and our experience leads us differently.

It can be difficult to submit to God's word and obey Him because it is not our natural inclination.  It requires faith for us to trust and obey God when it comes to the administration of discipline, whether it be in the church or with our own children.  Recently I was in a conversation when we discussed the few times we had ever observed church discipline administered as Jesus taught in Matthew 18.  Paul's 1st and 2nd letters to the Corinthian church illustrate how Christians can swing like a pendulum to extremes:  first Paul rebuked the church for allowing blatant sin to be accepted among them, and then Paul had to exhort the church to receive the man who repented of sin and to affirm their love for him.  Every Christian is a sinner and we can be easily offended, yet we are not always willing to put Christ's commands into practice.

Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 18:15-17:  "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' ¹⁷ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."  For every time church leadership has failed to discipline an openly sinning member, there are likely many more times believers have told others or the church how others are at fault--rather than going to the offender personally alone because it was difficult.  This is how the Pharisees operated:  when Jesus did something that offended them they spoke to His disciples about it, and when the disciples offended them they complained to Jesus.  Brothers and sisters, let us not follow their example but Christ's commands.

The individual member who obeys Christ to go to their brother who sins against him with the aim of restoration and edification is the first step to implement church discipline.  Going to a brother and humbly confessing he has sinned against me is a difficult thing that requires faith in Jesus marked by obedience.  I exhort you, fellow Christian, lay aside any protests and doubts it will not produce your desired effect!  Could it be the LORD is testing you to see if you will obey Him or not?  When we want other people to admit wrong or change their ways, it could be the LORD is using them as His instrument to further refine your faith and obedience.  There have been a handful of times people have been obedient to God to confess I had sinned against them, and their obedience to Christ resulted in great blessing by His grace.  We trust Jesus to provide forgiveness and eternal life:  how about trusting Jesus to obey Him when it is difficult?  Try Him, for those who trust and obey Jesus shall not want.  He is faithful.