Scripture Rightly Divided

In our Friday night Bible study at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed how Satan is well-versed in the Scripture.  After Jesus defused a temptation from the devil by quoting the word of God, Satan employed a verse from the Psalms to encourage Jesus to do his will rather than the Father's will.  The devil used a tactic people can use as well, to hijack passages from the Bible they do not believe or accept as true to condemn, guilt or manipulate other people.  Though Satan knew the words of Scripture it is evident he did not understand it, for had he considered the full passage he wrenched out of context he would have been confronted with his own ruin.

Matthew 4:5-6 tells us, "Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  Let us consider the passage the devil quoted with verses before and after in Psalm 91:9-13:  "Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, ¹⁰ no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; ¹¹ for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. ¹² In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. ¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot."  The passage holds forth the Most High God as a safe refuge from harm, the one who gives deliverance and victory to His people over all enemies.

The Bible compares Satan to a roaring lion in 1 Peter 5:8, and he is also identified as that old serpent or dragon in Revelation 12:9 and 20:2.  Jesus had no need to jump off the pinnacle of the temple to affirm His identity as the Son of God or to prove the Bible is true--being the Author of Scripture who cannot lie.  God foretold of His victory over the serpent when he was cursed in Genesis 3:15.  The proud devil was conversing with the LORD who had created him, will bind him and shall destroy him forever.  In his pride Satan refuses to admit defeat even in the face of God, but before he knows it God's word shall be accomplished.  Jesus did a far greater thing than jumping from the temple and being spared death by angels who bore Him up when He died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose again.  The obedience of Jesus to the will of the Father ushered in salvation and deliverance for all who believe.

The devil does not lay the truth of Scripture to heart and cannot rightly divide it with his forked tongue, but the child of God ought to hold fast to the truth of God's word come what may.  Jesus overcame the temptations of Satan with His feet firmly on the word of God by faith, and we are to follow Christ's example.  Jesus Christ is our faithful refuge, the Most High who keeps us in all our ways, God who tramples the lion and serpent underfoot.

Peace to You

As Christians read the Bible with a hungry, willing heart, the Holy Spirit opens our understanding to notice deeper connections we did not see on the surface.  Sometimes people assume "deeper" revelations of God are new, things previously unheard or unknown, when they are primarily actually affirmations of the truth God has already revealed.  God is exceedingly generous with His wisdom and has made it available and understandable to those who lack it.  In the book of Proverbs Wisdom is personified of standing in the street and calling out to anyone who will listen, and God continues to speak in this manner today through the Scriptures.

While going through an inductive Bible study lesson, I was reminded of a wonderful connection of two passages that are not often placed together in Sunday School:  Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish and His interaction with the two disciples in Emmaus.  In the first instance Jesus showed compassion for the physical needs of people by feeding them, and He demonstrated His miraculous power by doing so with only five loaves and two fish (He used seven loaves of bread and two fish to feed 4,000 on a subsequent occasion (Matthew 15:36-38).  Matthew 14:19 reads, "Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes."  Jesus distributed the food to His disciples, who in turn gave it to those who sat down at His word.  Jesus revealed Himself to be the Bread of Life sent from heaven, that whosoever receives Him will be born again and receive eternal life.

Fast-forward to Jesus and the two disciples He met and walked with along the road to Emmaus after His resurrection.  They were sad because of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ whom they hoped was the Messiah and Redeemer of Israel.  Jesus gently rebuked their slowness of heart to believe all the prophets had spoken concerning the Messiah, and He expounded Scriptures from Moses, the prophets and all Bible passages concerning Himself.  After they arrived at Emmaus, Cleopas and his companion invited Jesus to stay with them.  Luke 24:30-32 says, "Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. ³² And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"

After the eyes of Cleopas and his fellow disciple were opened to recognise Jesus, they did what the disciples did when they fed the 5,000 with bread and fish in a spiritual sense:  as they had received from Jesus, so they were moved to distribute the word of God to disciples starving for hope in Jerusalem!  Luke 24:33-36 continues:  "So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴ saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" ³⁵ And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. ³⁶ Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  The disciples hustled back to Jerusalem and shared that the LORD Jesus was indeed risen, what Jesus told them from Scripture, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.  As they spoke of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself stood in the midst with a blessing of peace for them.  How awesome is this!

Jesus told His disciples, "Freely you have received; freely give."  The Holy Spirit opens the Scriptures to us, not only so we might spiritually feed and grow, but so we would be moved to share Jesus Christ the Living Bread with others so they might be born again, strengthened in faith, and experience peace with God.  The joyful reunion of Cleopas and his friend with the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem provided a literal fulfillment of what Jesus said in Matthew 18:20:  "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."  This is also literally fulfilled at church, in the breakroom or boardroom, in an office or walking along a beach.  Wherever Christians go to share Christ and His word, Jesus is present with us.  We may not see Him in a human form or hear and audible voice, but our eyes of faith see Him and our hearts know He is there, for He has promised to never leave or forsake us.

What the disciples who returned from Emmaus did in sharing Christ and His word, so we are all called to do as Christians.  Even as the bread and fish passed from the hands of Jesus to the disciples to distribute to others, so we are not to keep spiritual truth concerning Jesus to ourselves.  There are some who are hungry, willing and ready to receive Christ, and as we open and proclaim God's word--including the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus--our risen Saviour will meet with those we speak.  Jesus said in John 6:57-58:  "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever."

Keep on Shining

In the biblical record of king David's last words, he said in 2 Samuel 23:3-5:  "The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me: 'He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. ⁴ And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.' ⁵ "Although my house is not so with God, yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; will He not make it increase?"  David considered the calling of God to rule justly in the fear of the LORD.  As the sun rises and scatters darkness with light, Proverbs 20:8 illustrates the impact of a righteous king:  "A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his eyes."

David freely acknowledged he and his house had not risen to the height of holiness God called them to.  He and his house were guilty of coveting, adultery, murder, rape, deception and insurrection, grave sins despite receiving the revelation of God and His word.  David realised the enormity of God's grace to him and his house, that God had made with him an everlasting covenant with all assurance.  There was nothing more David could have wanted or asked for, for in God David was satisfied and secure forever.  Any good David had done could never excuse his failings, but his faults were all overcome by God's goodness, mercy and grace.

The KJV rendering of 2 Samuel 23:5 is quite different at the end:  "Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow."  What was it God did not make to grow for David?  It was not God's covenant, for it was eternal, secure and unchanging.  It was not David's desire, for his desire was fully satisfied by God and his goodness.  This goes back to the ruler described who is like the "light of the morning when the sun rises" on a morning without clouds.  When the sun first emerges over the horizon with a fiery glow, it is not as bright or hot as when it shines directly overhead.  As king David advanced in age, his glorious influence to uphold justice in the fear of the LORD did not continue to grow.  Marred by sinful scandals and disorder, the light of the house of Jesse dimmed.

Though David's light did not increase toward the end of his life, he remained faithful to the LORD and continued to trust and praise God continually.  Even as the sun rises and sets, humanly speaking our light will rise and be extinguished at the time known by God.  In this world filled with darkness and sin, God did for us what even a man after God's own heart could not do:  to come as the Light of the World in the person of Jesus Christ and bring salvation through the Gospel.  When Simeon held Jesus in his arms, he praise God for the salvation God prepared for all and in Luke 2:32 said Jesus was "...a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel."  Jesus said a city on a hill shall not be hidden, and having received Him we are to let our light shine before all so they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

At the end of his life David was not fighting giants on the battlefield, but he continued to praise and acknowledge the goodness of God to him.  He continue to shine for the LORD even when his body could not remain warm and he relied on assistance of others for his health and survival.  Though none of us are righteous in ourselves and have fallen short of God's glory due to sin, let us be those who continue to shine bright because of the everlasting covenant God has made with us.  Jesus is our salvation and song, and may our light that glorifies God be made to increase by God's grace even as the day grows long and the evening of our lives draws nigh.

Responding to Grace

On the subject of opening the door to Jesus who knocks, there is an insightful interaction in the Song of Solomon.  At one time the Shulamite was deeply smitten by the affection and love of her spouse, but when he came knocking at the door it was evident her feelings toward him had cooled.  He lovingly called out to her as he knocked, his hair wet by dew, yet she was reluctant to climb out of bed to let him in.

In response to her husband standing at the door, Song of Songs 5:3 shows the Shulamite's made herself of focus and attention:  "I have taken off my robe; how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how can I defile them?"  Her husband knocked at an inconvenient and unexpected time since she had already climbed into bed.  Getting up meant unwanted labour of dressing and likely needing to wash her feet again after walking on the ground.  She did not spare a thought of how cold and wet her spouse was as she considered whether to rise from bed or not.

But she did love her husband, and she wanted to see him.  She warmed to the idea of opening the door to her husband, and apparently took time preparing herself to be presentable.  Verse 5 describes her fingers dripping with liquid myrrh as she went to open the door, a valued fragrance used in beauty treatments.  To her surprise, when she opened the door her husband was nowhere to be found.  It seems clear that had she opened the door immediately at his voice, bounding out of bed as he had previously as he leapt across hills to be with her, she would have been swept up in his embrace--without a robe, dirty feet and all.

I wonder if Christians can be with Jesus like the Shulamite was with her husband she loved.  Rather than responding to His voice immediately, our thoughts make ourselves the focus when we ought to consider Christ who loves us.  We do the equivalent of trying to make ourselves presentable when He knows what a mess we are behind closed doors, like the lukewarm church of Laodicea, spiritually we are wretched, poor, blind and naked!  Because of the love Jesus has demonstrated for us, it is no inconvenience to rise at his voice.  Since it is Jesus who empowers us to do His will and can raise the dead to new life, He can strengthen us to rise--even if we are comfy in bed.

How blessed we are to be called to fellowship by our gracious Saviour who loves us!  The love Jesus for us is not based on our worthiness or readiness but shown by His willing, complete sacrifice for us.  Let us be those who respond to God's grace not because it is convenient but because He is worthy.