Love and Grace…

by Rev. Richard Sparling

On December 19th, I saw what was one of the greatest quarters of football maybe ever played. In the last quarter, the Philadelphia Eagles scored four touchdowns in a little over seven minutes. (For those of you who don't know much about football, that is amazing!) What's more, they were not just four ordinary touchdowns, but some of the most exciting ones I've seen that happened because of trickery or some incredibly long runs. If you tried to tell someone about it who hadn't seen the game, they wouldn't believe it.

One of the most outstanding players in this game was the quarterback, Michael Vick. He ran the ball as well as passed it and led the team in an amazing way. As an example, he ran the ball for one hundred and thirty yards. Again, for you who might not be knowledgeable of football, that is an outstanding statistic. All I can say about this quarter of football and Michael Vick is WOW!

This, however, is not the complete story. After the game I turned to a channel that has a panel of four men who discuss the game. The panel included the Governor of Pennsylvania. They were so excited!

But to me what happened during their program was the best part. They televise the after the game press conference. The coach of the team and one of the best players who ran for sixty-six yards for the winning touchdown had their turns at being interviewed. Then it was Michael Vick's turn. He came to the podium and immediately said, “Before I say anything, I want to first give praise to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (As close as I can remember.) I became so excited that I got on the phone and called my sons and brother pastors in case they hadn't heard it so that they could share this testimony with others, including their congregations.

Why? Because this is a great picture of love and grace. You might recall that several years ago Michael Vick was a well- known and successful quarterback for another team but was involved with dog fighting and killing dogs on his property. He was arrested, tried, convicted and sent to prison where he spent, I believe, two years. He was rightly condemned by everybody. He lost almost everything that was important to him and an incredible amount of money. His future looked bleak. He might have been, at that time, one of the most hated men, looked down upon by many.

There was one, however, that did not hate him. God loved him. And not only did He love him, but He exercised grace toward him. First, upon his release Vick was given an opportunity to play football again and has responded in a great way. Because of love and grace, he was given a new opportunity for his life. More importantly, in some way God worked to convince him of his need for forgiveness. There is a Christian coach, that we know, who visited Vick while he was in prison and I am told he continues to mentor him now that he is out of jail. The Spirit of God worked in his life and Vick responded, received Christ, and is now born again.

What a testimony of God's love and grace in the life of a sinner. No matter how bad that sinner, God loves and works His grace. Vick has a new life physically and spiritually.

It all starts with love and who God loves.

Rom. 5:8 “But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for…

Who?

Rom. 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

God's love makes no distinction. ALL have sinned, and no matter what, He LOVES them all. Praise God, he loved Vick, but also He loved me and you.

The song writer wrote,

“I am so glad that our Father in Heaven Tells of His love in the book He has given. Wonderful things in the Bible I see This is the dearest that Jesus loves me.”

Then comes grace:

Eph. 2:8 “For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

The hymn writer wrote:

Grace, Grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within...
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Love and grace. Michael Vick exerienced it and so have all of us who are now the children of God. Praise God! But that is not where the experience is to end. There is now a life to live in that love and grace and to live to demonstrate that experience.

Having experienced God's love and continuing to live in that love, we too are to be beings of love.

I John 4:16 “We have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love and he that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him.”

II John 6 “And this is love that we walk after His commandments.”

As God loved and exercised grace, we are to love and exercise grace.

I John 4:7 “Love is of God and everyone that loves (exercises grace) is born of God and knows God.” (Read I John 3, 4, II John)

There is not enough space to write about what we should do but John gives us a basic instruction.

I John 2:6 “He that says he abides in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.”

Michael Vick's testimony was the beginning of that walk and one we also should do. It is only fulfilled when we put love to action and by grace fulfill all that God would have us do.

It Is A Balancing Act…

The Scripture describes my sin as that which dishonors that worthy Name by which I have been called but James 2:23 tells us:

"And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God.”

As I walk through my life it is a constant struggle for me to balance these two truths and keep them before me.  As I pray, whether on a “normal” day or on a day when I can “recovering” from a fall…I see that it is in my sins Lord, and certainly most frequently in my faults, I do dishonor you. I suppose it is the besetting sin of man that afflicts me as well; but even in the midst of reading the Scripture, or studying the Scripture, profound wickedness can insert itself. It is a cause of both great sadness and great consternation for me. It is also a cause of great frustration! There are several areas of my, "nature" that I would gladly do without so that I could be more godly. They plague me and they drag me down. I freely confess for that I find it difficult to gain victory over them.

But then, I suppose and I remember that this, in fact, is the Christian life. Were it not, immediately after the moment of redemption You would take us to be with You! The Christian life is about the struggle with these matters and so struggle on I must go. But it is a grief to me Father and a great sorrow. For I fail and I fall down and it is a misery to me. Not only is it a sorrow when I fall, but the very experiencing the thoughts and impulses is a great sadness as well.

Thankfully Lord, the Scripture is surely true when it says that Abraham "believed" God and THAT was counted to him for righteousness!

As with Abraham, my righteousness is a righteousness that is foreign to me. It is Christ's righteousness and not my own. That goes not only for the forensic righteousness that placed me in Christ insofar as my redemption goes. But also for the righteousness that carries me on day by day.

I do not earn God's blessing or His pleasure in my daily life. I cannot! To think or expect that I do is to hint that Christ's sacrifice was not truly sufficient. It is to imply (however unintentionally) that there was more to be done when He said "It is finished." It suggests (again, however unintentionally, but truly nevertheless) that Christ's cross work only puts us at the starting line and that we ourselves, by our effort (oh yes, with His help of course) must do the rest of the work by our own strength.

The Law of unintended consequences comes into play for many here.  For whatever reason, the vast majority of them external to the Bible (worldview, church leaders, parents, tradition, tickling of the ears, etc.), many assume the truth of their point of view concerning this matter.  Jesus saved me, but now I have to pitch in and get the job done, He ain’t gonna do it for me. It is almost almost framed in terms that are sympathetic and hard to contradict.  After all – who would try and say that Jesus is going to be obedient “for” me?  I certainly wouldn’t.

The problem is that there is a real misunderstanding of just what it is that was being accomplished.  There is a misunderstanding of what was addressed at the Cross, and of the real nature of man both before and after the cross.  Ah Lord, how is it that You have shown to me the truth of what the Word of God says? I say Lord, hopefully in all humility, that I cast away any thought that I must accomplish my own righteousness.  God forbid that I be like those who rely on their own strength to carry on after the cross to try and please the God of heaven and to do all that He requires.

It sounds nasty when you say that way, doesn't it? It should! Because that's not at all what God's word says. When Christ said the work was finished – it was indeed completely finished. Ah Lord, thank You so much and remind me that though my nature is so wretchedly soiled and ugly, that You in Your gracious mercy have made tremendous provision. Enable me, dear Father, to balance that knowledge with a drive toward holiness and righteousness and striving for purity in my everyday life.

Nehemiah, Sanballat & God’s Promises

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?” 20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:19–20)

"Horonite" was a title given to Sanballat. He was an enemy of Nehemiah and was probably a native of Beth Horon in Samaria which explains why he was hostile to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Many of those who were originally from the northern kingdom would have been anything but sympathetic to the restoration of the southern kingdom from their captivity. After all, the Northern Kingdom had not been restored from their captivity at all! They were still a mass of mixed peoples, foreigners, unbelievers, and who knows who else?

Once they had gone into their captivity in Assyria in 722 BC they never really returned. Some of those who desired to be faithful to God fled, at that time, to the South and lived in the area of Judah and Jerusalem. They retained some of their distinction, but were eventually assimilated into "Israel" as a unit. The genealogies of the North were lost and so no one really knew who was truly who anyway. The only "record" was Aunt Tess and Uncle Sy's memory; and, reliable as that was, it was not official.

As the years went by, their official nation identity began to be lost. Over the centuries Israel's national identity was tied up, not only in their National identity together, but also in their tribal identity. They belong to Israel, but that identity was a religious identity. Jerusalem was where they went to make sacrifice. It was where they went to relate to God. And they did that yearly. Jerusalem was where there can live. It was where they sent their taxes. It was a "large" identity.

But on there every day scale, they were a tribal, even a family group. They were Rubenites, Gadites, one of the 10 tribes that had been lost forever now. When serious came they came and they destroyed not only the "Northern Kingdom" per se, but they destroy all the records and all else that made up that Northern Kingdom. They left nothing for anyone to come back to. All that was remaining was Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom, Judah and Benjamin.

It is entirely possible that Sanballat and the other two are thinking one of two things when they laugh at Nehemiah here.

• Either they are trying to undercut him, which is what I suspect they are doing or
• They are cynical and expecting God to do the same thing in the south as He did in the north.

More realistically, I suspect it is a combination of the two.

To see God demonstrating mercy and extending patience to His people, among them members of that same Northern Kingdom, would not have been a pleasing thing to those who were still rebellious. There was nothing left for he and his family. His home, where he originally live had been destroyed. The Assyrians had made definite work of it. Oh, the general place was still there, but it was not what it was before the captivity. The north was no longer "a land flowing with milk and honey."

What they, and so many others had forgotten, was that God had made promises to Abraham, and those promises demanded to be fulfilled. There was a Messiah coming. And that Messiah, one day, had to set His eyes toward Jerusalem. Outside of Jerusalem there's a hill called Mount Calvary and on that hill that Messiah, according to the foreordained plan of God, our Lord Jesus Christ yielded His life, body and blood, to satisfy the wrath of God for the sins of His people, Israel.

The patience of God shortly has it's purpose, doesn't it? God doesn't withhold or do anything for no reason. The Scripture says that a sparrow doesn't fall out of the sky that doesn't escape His notice. We sing a beautiful hymn that picks up that idea: "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he's watching me".

God dealt with the nation of Israel as a unit. Both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms together, demonstrate the reality God's character, His Holiness, His justice, and His patience and mercy! God is holy and just; sin must be punished He cannot allow it to pass by without seeing to it that it receives what it deserves. The Northern Kingdom demonstrates that truth for us, God judged them for their sin and sent them off into oblivion forever, away from His presence and blessing, never to return.

But the southern kingdom tells a far different story. Sinful, as the northern kingdom was, but still the recipient of God's patience and mercy. They also were sent into captivity, just as the northern kingdom was. But after a time brought back to the place of sacrifice, the place that was typical of He who was coming.

You see, there had to be a Jerusalem for God's Messiah, His holy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to set His eyes toward! Were there not, there would be no salvation for anyone. And that just would not do.

Once Again, A Merciful God - Ezra 6:1-13

¹ Then King Darius issued a decree, and a search was made in the archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. ² And at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found, and in it a record was written thus:

The opponents and enemies of the Jewish returnees (their own brethren and the others who had settled in the area to the north of Judea known as Samaria in Jesus’ day) had thought to cause great trouble to them by appealing to the authorities north of the river” in the prior chapter. They were certain that the rebuilding to Jerusalem and the Temple couldn’t be progressing with the

The search for Cyrus’s decree is made first in Babylonia, where Cyrus had declared himself king in 539 B.C. and where many exiled Jews lived. But the scroll containing the record of the decree was found in Ecbatana (v. 2), a summer residence of the Persian kings, where Cyrus may have gone soon after his triumph over Babylon. The province of Media (v. 2) was formerly the seat of an empire itself, but Cyrus had made it part of the Persian realm. Leather scrolls are known to have been used in Persia for official documents in Aramaic. The document now discovered is called a record (v. 2) and is apparently a memorandum concerning the decree rather than the decree itself (which would probably have been written on a clay tablet).

In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, 4 with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king’s treasury. 5 Also let the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and taken back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God” (Ezra 6:3–5) 

This record is not identical with the decree as recorded in Ezra 1:2–4. It makes new stipulations about the building, its location, its size, and its materials. This may be because a copy of the original decree had been found and additional instructions may have been added to it in light of the particulars of this complaint and to address the matters brought up by the people from the Northern Province.

Moreover, different copies of Cyrus’s original decree may have been made, varying in wording according to the purpose for each copy.  It is interesting to note that the size of the temple might be specified in order to limit it, since public funds were being used to pay for it. The absence of a length dimension is odd, and the greater breadth than Solomon’s temple is unexpected (1 Kings 6:2), especially in view of Ezra 3:12.

In 6:4 the prescription of three layers of great stones and one layer of timber exactly follows the construction of the older temple (1 Kings 6:36; 7:12), which was modeled after temples in other lands (cf. 1 Kings 5:1–12). While the original decree had required people in Babylon to support the cost of the exiles’ project (Ezra 1:4), this record requires that the cost be met from the royal treasury.

We mention all of this to say that it yet another of many example in God’s Word of His mercy and patience to His people.  Even here in the greatest of their failures, resulting in their exile to Babylon, the departure of the glory from the Temple, etc., God is still willing to intercede for them and allow them to return and to make provision for them, not only to return, but to rebuild!  Ah – the glory of the great mercy and patience of our God!  How blessed is His longsuffering!

In chapter 6:6–12, Darius now specifically and in no uncertain terms instructs Tattenai, the Governor and his fellow officials to allow the work to continue.  This leaves those instructions in such a form as to prevent any “misinterpretation” by the locals once away from authorities later on.

Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, and your companions the Persians who are beyond the River, keep yourselves far from there. (Ezra 6:6)

It is specifically here in verse 6 God reverses the plans of the opponents and uses Darius to favor the restoration.  This confounds the plans and expectations of those who had opposed that restoration.  This had occurred again and again throughout the history of Israel as God defended and prospered, or had taken mercy upon them and restored them to a place great blessing after chastening. Here, God so favored the Jews (cf. 5:5) that, through Darius, He forbade the officials from interfering with the building project.

Of course, this all is prefiguring God’s work in blessing the church.  Paul makes this clear in Rom. 8:28:

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

All things, up to and including captivity, the worst of things in Israel’s National life, work for their collective and national good, being ultimately realized in the coming of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ – Who did for them what they could not and would not do for themselves…obey their God!

Luke shows us the fulfillment of this in Acts 4:29–31 as a Jewish “congregation” was filled with God’s Spirit at the beginning of the Church age:

29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

In Acts 8:4 we read that they, in turn scattered and preached this “new” Testament to all men:

4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word.

Christ came, sinlessly born of a virgin, and did, both actively and passively what no man, neither Jew nor Greek could nor would do for themselves.  He fulfilled God’s Law.  Then, at the appointed time, He set His eyes toward Jerusalem as the spotless Lamb of God and yielded Himself as a satisfaction for the wrath of holy God against the sins all those who will believe.  This is the God we serve…

7 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site.

In verse seven, the Governor of the Jews refers to Zerubbabel (Hag. 1:1). Nothing is known, either Biblically or extra-Biblically of what became of the first governor, Sheshbazzar.

Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond the River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered. 9 And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons.

In verses 8-10 Darius not only confirms Cyrus’s decree but also provides for costs to be met from taxes raised in Beyond the River itself (v. 8). He also provides for materials for sacrifice in perpetuity (v. 9), with the political stipulation that the Jews pray for the life of the king and his sons (v. 10)—showing that Darius’s generosity was part of his policy to sustain Persian power. 

Once more, we are amazed to note the province of God over the secular world and the “power” of the king.  Darius was one the great rulers of the ancient world.  Yet God moves his will like it was naught!  Is your life and mine and more difficult?  Can we view the moving and scheming of our own authorities or those around us as any more an obstacle than that of these great Kings whom God “tossed about” with seemingly no difficulty?

Also I issue a decree that whoever alters this edict, let a timber be pulled from his house and erected, and let him be hanged on it; and let his house be made a refuse heap because of this. 12 And may the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently.

Darius makes in effect a further decree, backed up with a typical threatened sanction (v. 11). The final warning borrows language from the Jews’ own way of speaking about God’s presence in Jerusalem (the God who has caused his name to dwell there, v. 12; cf. Deut. 12:5); Darius strikingly acknowledges the efficacy of the God of Jerusalem in his own place (although, like Cyrus in Ezra 1:3, he might not be claiming that there is only one true God).  We can conclude that there had been some witness, by faithful Jews, on Cyrus there in his palace. 

This would follow the example of Nebuchadnezzar who had the example and active witness of Daniel and his three friends at the very least, with the result that, after his time of insanity Nebby came to know the Lord of heaven in a saving way.  Certainly this passage indicates that Cyrus, at the very least, had heard truth concerning the God of Heaven and had come to respect that God above other Gods.  Was he redeemed?  We have no positive indicator one way or the other…

13 Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent.

Verse 13 tells us that, due to God’s undertaking on the behalf of the returning captives, Tattenai and his fellow officials respond quickly to Darius’s decree.  Of course, this is not a shocking development.  Ancient Near Eastern Monarchs not only had the absolute power to make such decrees, they also had the power to enforce them!  In short, if one did not submit and submit immediately, one was fodder for the animals!  Tattenai knew this and he quickly obeys.  Those beneath him follow his example.

 

How gracious and patient is our God and wonderful it is that we can trust Him to receive those who will humble themselves and turn to Him when their have need and humble themselves before Him in that time of need?  How sad that this great act of mercy witnessed here is a temporary one, for Israel ultimately descends into the condition our Lord found her when He walked the earth…but that is a topic for another time.

Amaziah & Failure to Be Separate

     There were three kinds of kings in Israel and Judah's history, a king who did what was right in the Lords eyes, a King who did not do what was right in God's eyes, but rather did what was evil, and then there was a King like Amaziah in 2 Chronicles 25, who: "…did what was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a loyal heart." As a young man of 25 Amaziah came to the kingship after his father. The Scripture says that he followed after the book of the law of Moses and he did what was right before the Lord.

     My verse six through eight tells us that, because of his divided heart, Amaziah entered into an ill-advised agreement with the Northern Kingdom. He hired 100,000 "mighty men of valor" from Israel for 100 talents of silver. You'll remember, of course, that it was well known that the Northern Kingdom was a wicked kingdom. This truth was not hidden and was well-known to all of those in the Southern Kingdom. But yet, because of what Amaziah wanted to accomplish, he thought that "in this one instance", because of what he wanted to accomplish, it would be okay. The enemy of my enemy is my friend after all!

     But in verse seven, God in his mercy and his patients, warns of Isaiah. He sends a profit, I may have got to warn him he comes and he tells them to not let the army of Israel go with him because God is not with Israel. He is not with any of the children of Ephraim. He warns him that if he does go that God will cause him "...to fall before the enemy for God has power to help and to overthrow." (v8)

     As a result, undesired discharges the troops that he had hired from Israel, and he goes with his own troops and he attacks Mount Seir. His men killed 10,000 of the people of Edom. But the Word of God tells us, in verse 12, that they also took captive 10,000 more alive, and brought them to the top of the rock and cast them down from the top of the rock so that they were all "dashed to pieces." This was a mode of execution that was common among pagan nations, but was not common among Israelites. Likewise we are told, in verse 13 that the soldiers of the army which Amaziah had discharged, so they wouldn't go with him and battle also raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon and killed 3000 in them and took a lot of spoil as they went. All because Amaziah entered into that ill-advised accord with them. He failed to be separate as God desired him to be.

     Further, we find that sin, as always, has a way of "snowballing". Because he had failed to be separate and had allow sin a foot-hold his life, we find in verse 14 that "after our desire came from the slaughter of the Edomites that he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods and bowed down before them and burned incense to them." One failing later to another, which led to another, which led to another!

     So it is often in your life and mine, though hopefully with much smaller matters than we find in Amaziah's life! But when we think about it, idolatry is idolatry. Amaziah committed idolatry in its' most blatant form. But what is idolatry, really, except the placing of something else, other than the Lord God, the one true and living God, in the place where He belongs? Anything, no matter how minute, that we allow to usurp His position in our lives can rightly and justly be called idolatry! I don't think it unfair or sensational to say that.

     The lesson that we can learn, at least one of them from this passage is that we need to take care that we not commit the kind of sin that Amaziah commits here.

     Further, we need to understand and see that this is yet another illustration that large "sins" begin with small concessions. Amaziah's idolatry did not begin with a leap directly into bringing foreign gods back to Judah. It began with his desire to gain a "victory" for God over an "enemy", Edom. It began with a failure to keep Judah and himself separate from sinful Israel. Small concessions lead to larger sin. We need to keep eyes and our attention on what the Word of God tells us. We need to mind the small things in life and see to it that we maintain our righteous and holy life and see to it that we walk with God in those small areas of life and the larger areas of life will, by and large care for themselves.

Jehoshaphat & Fearing God - 2 Chronicles 20:1-4

1 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. (2 Chronicles 20:1–4 )

     2 Chronicles 20 is one of those accounts in the Scripture that simply begs to be spiritualized. But we need to take care that in our zeal to see and apply the truths that are here, we do not lose the very real facts that are here as well. Verse one interviews is Austin these facts with the phrase "It happened after this...". The "After this" that chapter 20 is speaking of are the reforms that Jehoshaphat put in place toward the end of his kingship. If they were real, then the events of Chapter 20 are real as well.
     We're told that Moab went to battle against Jehoshaphat. History tells us that they went under the leadership of Mesha who had gained Moab's independence from the Omri dynasty of Israel soon after Ahab died. The battle mentioned here took place when Ahab's son, Ahaziah was king of Israel. The defeat of Jehoshaphat's enemies in Israel only meant the rise of other enemies outside of Israel. We should understand this situation would be a test of Jehoshaphat's faith.
     Both Moab and Ammon, of course were the offspring Lot by means of the illicit relationship with his daughters after the destruction of Sodom. There were located to the east of the Jordan River and in the area what, to the south, was known as Edom (named for the offspring of Esau, Jacob's brother of course). The area was extremely rough and rugged, it was a common route for those who were enemies and would attack Israel, as it provided a lot of cover and invisibility for those attacking.
     In verse two some come to Jehoshaphat and they tell him that a "great multitude" is coming against him from beyond the sea. Some manuscripts have the word "Syria" but it is plain from the majority of texts that this is a reference to Ammon and Moab and others on the other side of the Jordan River. The word multitude is a word that refers to an abundance, a large amount or quantity of objects which is much greater than needed. The word is used in Jeremiah 49:32 where we read "...the cattle shall be for booty and a multitude of their cattle for plunder..." It's talking about a large group of cattle. They're from wars and they are spoil from those wars, far more than was needed. By application, the idea here is that there are far more of all of these invaders that would be necessary to overcome Israel.
     Understandably, verse 3 tells us that Jehoshaphat is moved by the circumstances "to fear". What is interesting is that the word for "fear" normally means of course "to be frightened" in some form of the hide under the bed fashion. Now, as with any word, this word has a number of different "shades" of meaning. Depending on the tense and context in which it is used, it can mean different things. Normally, in its most basic sense, it means, of course, "to be frightened" that is, to be in a state of feeling great distress or be concerned of pain of some unfavorable circumstance.
     For instance in Genesis 3:10 when Adam is confronted by God in the garden after he had partaken of the forbidden fruit he responds to God by saying: "I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself". Most of the other uses and forms of this verb carry that shade of meaning in one way or another.
     However, this particular usage here in 2 Chronicles 20:3 is a bit different. Here, this form means to revere, to venerate or to show a profound respect for one that borders on fear of that object. It is one of the Old Testament words that is used for godly fear. Leviticus 19:32 uses this verb "you shall rise before the grey headed in honor of the presence of a old man, and fear your God: I and the Lord."
     We should remember at this point that a part of what has prompted Jehoshaphat to fear the Lord is the warning of Jehu the Prophet who went out to meet him and said to him in chapter 19 verse 2. "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you." The prophet was rebuking Jehoshaphat because of his alliances, remember, Jehoshaphat had entered into an alliance with God's enemy, Ahab (1 Kings 22:2), yet there was mercy mangled in with that wrath because the king's concern personally and nationally for true worship of God. At the end of that chapter Jehoshaphat makes great reforms and generally "straightened himself out" before the Lord and improves his standing before God.
     But there is no doubt that this was on Jehoshaphat mind as he heroes of this overwhelming mass of enemies standing ready to invade his land. Realistically, home who would not have this on their mind as they stood, representative of their entire people and land, and face such a matter?
     But Jehoshaphat responds wonderfully! In verse 3 the Scripture tells us that he "set himself to seek the Lord" and also "proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah". What better example can we have or godliness for a leader, at whatever level, then this? Personal godliness, and then a call for national godliness as well. They were in a situation that only God could rescue them from, Jehoshaphat knew that, and so he turns to the only One Who could secure their safety. He knew that God would not respond to his prayers if he was not what he needed to be. He wanted to be certain that his people feared the Lord and he knew that his personal example of fearing God was the best way to see that they would fear God also.
     And so he calls for a national fast one that involved himself, his people and even the children! There is no other way to see to it that gods favor arrests upon you, upon your family, or upon your nation. But we'll talk more about this later...

8 Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the LORD your God! Because your God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” 9 And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 

     It is of great concern to me, as I listen as a Pastor, to hear so many conservative Pastors talking about the influence that the Church ought to have on the nation and the government around us. More properly, it concerns me greatly when I hear them speak of the means by which we ought to go about accomplishing that influence. They almost universally speak of using the same means that the unredeemed use; polls, mailings; the exact same methods!
     But this is not at all what we see in the Scripture. Nowhere do we see God's people using worldly means to accomplish his purposes in an unsaved world. This is particularly true when that end is a spiritual goal and not a purely "worldly" end. This is most certainly the case when we talk about "winning our country for Christ", or accomplishing revival, or "turning our nation back to what it once was".
     First of all, those terms are nebulous enough, that we ought to abandoned them as uncertain because we don't really know what they mean. Let's set our goals in Biblical terms, and then pursue them with the zeal in which the Scripture commands us to pursue them.
     Here in 2 Chronicles 9, early in Solomon's reign, before any of the "distractions" had had a chance to destroy his life, Solomon had a witness to the entire world. That witness extended everywhere that the name Solomon extended. Anywhere that the ships of Israel went, to trade and to bring back goods and commerce, the witness of the Lord God of Israel went as well. The account here in 2 Chronicles 9 of the Queen of Sheba coming to Solomon is an example of how the witness the godly can have effect on winning the entire world for the Lord.
     It is important to note, that at this point in Solomon's life, he is godly. He has not yet succumbbed to the emptiness and to the terrible vanity that plagued him and seduced him away from the Lord in what was, apparently, most of his life. Here, in these early years, he is still walking with and serving his God. The result is that Sheba sees the Lord God in his life. Verse 8 of chapter 9 demonstrates this for us. She says "Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God!"
     She not only recognizes that God has put Solomon into place, after all most people will recognize the "workings of God" in human life. But she goes on and she says that "God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them to do justice and righteousness."
     The active testimony of what she heard from Solomon's messengers, combined with the wisdom that she heard from Solomon himself, all combined with the truth that she saw in Jerusalem in Solomons court and at the Temple itself testifying to her of the truth of the reality of God and God's claim in the world. This is the witness, the true witness that God desires to be borne to the unsaved world.    
     Her response? Submission! This is Queen in her own right submitted to King Solomon. Not only did she submit, but verse 9 says that she gave him an immense amount of gold, spices and a great abundance, and precious stones; and then the verse goes on and says "there never were any spices such as those the Queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon." She gave him the best that she had!

     Our point here is that Solomon did not use any of the modern techniques for trying to reach out to the world. Now, I understand that one could make the argument that these modern techniques did not exist back in those days. I don't think that this is a particularly legitimate point, but we'll let it pass.
     But we need to understand that Solomon and those whom he sent out did what God desired them to do. They lived life and they spoke about the God whom they served. They did not seek to make him "relevant" or shape him to the particulars of the culture or the people to whom they were speaking.
     Once the messengers of Solomon had spoken on the truth of the God of Israel in Sheba's hearing, and God moved Sheba so as that she wanted to hear more, there was a problem - the messengers didn't know more. In order to hear more, she had to go to Solomon. At some point Sheba had to go to meet with God where God was, that is in Jerusalem. I don't mean to over dramatize, but rather to avoid making this more dragged out than it needs to be.

     If we wish to reach our nation and our culture, (and I should hope that this would be our aim, - not just the "Christianizing" of our nation or the "democritization" of othr nations) we must do the same thing. It is one thing to go to them (I know that sounds horrible, "them", I don't mean it at all the way it sounds, but rather simply mean to draw the same distinction the Scripture draws between the lost and the redeemed) and to adapt our message to the culture, and to national and cultural peculiarities as we preach. But it is quite another thing when those adaptations began to compromise the message of the gospel itself. And they indeed have - Christiantiy is virtually unrecognizable these days as regards what it was just a generation ago - and no matter what anyone say - that is NOT a good thing.
     This was what happened to Solomon in the middle period of his life. He became distracted, and the witness of his kingdom, and therefore the ability of his kingdom and his kingship was completely undermined. What was possible at the beginning of Solomon's reign was not possible at the end. What Solomon accomplished at the initial part of his kingship, he could no longer do at the end. Thankfully, he returned to faithfulness at the end of his life and we have his Psalms, we have Proverbs and we have Ecclesiastes, rich resources for us as believers to teach us how to avoid his mistakes.
     We also have the example of his life and his kingdom to teach us how it is a king and nation is to conduct itself. Surely we are not a monarchy, but their example is useful to us. How should a nation and the people live? How should they conduct themselves in representing God before an unsaved world? Solomon and the Israel of his time show us the way.

You Are Complete In Him!

I came across this in one of my posts - happy reading...

A Vital Reminder For Every Blood-Bought Child of God!

     "For in Him [the Lord Jesus] dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete [filled full] in Him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:9-10).

     In Christ dwells the glorious, whole, totality of who God is. All that God is can be found in Christ. All of God's glorious Person inhabits and dwells in the Person of Jesus Christ. All that God is, all that can be found of God is embodied in Christ. If you want to have access to God, Jesus Christ is the way to get to God. All of God, not part of God, is in Christ. God is able to perfectly represent Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the GOD-MAN.
     In verse 10 we read that we are "complete in Him" or "filled full" in Him. The word "complete" in verse 10 (the verb) is related to the word "fullness" in verse 9 (the noun). The word involves completeness and perfectness. The verb in verse 10 is in the perfect tense. You have been filled full with the result that you continue to be filled full. You were complete in Christ when you were saved and you presently stand in a position of total spiritual completeness in Him. "And you are in Him, having been completely filled full with the present result that you are in a state of fullness in Him" (Kenneth Wuest's rendering). It is in the passive mood meaning that God, not the believer, does the filling, and this took place the moment we were saved. When you received HIM (John 1:12) you received God's FULLNESS. You are filled full in Him! This is a momentous truth. God is to you, in Christ, EVERYTHING that you will ever need! Are you living in light of this glorious fact?
     Christ is all! He is the FULLNESS of God (verse 9)! Christ is all I need! I am COMPLETE (filled full) in Him (verse 10)!
     Christ in all of His fullness is IN YOU (Col. 1:27). "Christ in you," if you are saved, is God's fullness. Christ is your FULLNESS! Not only is Christ in you (Col. 1:27) but you are in Christ (Col. 2:10). To be in Christ is to be in the middle of the fullness of God. In Christ is all the fullness of God and the believer is found in the middle of Christ, positioned in God's beloved Son. And Christ is found in the middle of God and all of God's fullness. "And of His fullness have all we received" (John 1:16). "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19; compare 4:13). All of the fullness of God is in Christ and you are complete in Christ! Christ is the fullness of God. There is nothing else you need to be complete. Christ is your complete sufficiency. Having Him you have all!
     Believers are in vital union with the very One who is the fullness of God and who has supplied them with all they could ever need. If you have Christ, what more joy do you need? Is He not your joy (John 15:11)? If you have Christ, what more hope do you need? Is not He your hope (1 Tim. 1:1)? If you have Christ what more peace do you need? Is not He your peace (Eph. 2:14)? If you have Christ what more comfort do you need? What more power do you need? What more wisdom do you need, seeing that in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3)? Having Him, how do you lack? "Having all sufficiency in all things!" (2 Cor. 9:8), what can be added? What else is missing? We are in Christ and we are to draw upon His fullness!
     Jesus Christ, in me, makes the exercise and experience of fullness a rightful reality. The fullness that I have as a believer is Christ. Not only is Christ in the believing heart, but the believing heart is in Christ. In Christ the believing heart finds all the fullness of God. The believing heart is in Christ, in the middle of God's fullness. God has done a marvelous thing. God has placed us in Himself, in the middle of all His fullness. My fullness, my sufficiency, my completeness is not to be found in me; it is to be found in Christ even in Christ who is in me. This is why I can do all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13). This is why I can "work out" my own salvation because "it is God that worketh" in me! How rich am I as a believer? All the riches and fullness of God is found in Christ and Christ is in me! We have this TREASURE in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7). "Ye in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20). Precious mystery! Blessed relationship!
     In and of ourselves we are bankrupt. We are empty. We lack any kind of fullness, excepting that we are full of SELF and full of SIN. We are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Rev. 3:17). But in Christ we have all and abound, lacking nothing. There is nothing in a believer; everything is in Christ. As the old hymn says, "Jesus Christ is made to me, all I need, all I need; He alone is all my plea, He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness this very hour. My redemption full and free. He is ALL I NEED!" (compare 1 Corinthians 1:29-31). Putting no confidence in the flesh, may we glory and boast in Him! Are you finding Him to be ALL YOU NEED?
     There is the expression: "I Find Christ Adequate." It also could be said, "I Find Christ All-Sufficient!" He is SUFFICIENT for every SITUATION. Are you resting in the complete adequacy of Christ? Are you completely sufficient in an all-sufficient Saviour? Because we are complete in Him, "there are resources in Him from which we may be filled, that nothing be lacking in us" (Calvin). Charles Wesley expressed it in this way, "Thou, O Christ, art all I want,/More than all in Thee I find." The Apostle said it this way: "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (2 Cor. 9:8).
     Christ is the FULLNESS of God and we are COMPLETE in Him! Because we can partake of His fullness we do not need to lack in an area. "And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16). Because we have received of His fullness, we have an endless supply of GRACE! The word "for" in John 1:16 means "instead of, in the place of." Think of the waves of the ocean. One wave crashes in and it is replaced by another wave, and then another wave. Wave upon wave upon wave! They keep coming! There is an endless supply of waves, one after the other continually. So it is with God's grace. Of His fullness we have all received, grace for grace, grace upon grace! God's grace rolls in the direction of the believer wave upon wave, an endless supply, all that we need! "He giveth more grace" (James 4:6, present tense, "He keeps on giving more grace!"). "God is able to make all grace ABOUND toward you" (2 Cor. 9:8).
     The Lord Jesus Christ is more than enough! Of His fullness we have all received. As believers we are in Him and He is in us and we are complete in Him. We lack nothing. We have everything in Christ but we must appropriate the sufficiency of Christ in the light of our bankruptcy. We are sufficient in His sufficiency. "And who is sufficient for these things?....our sufficiency is of God" (2 Corinthians 2:16; 3:5). May Christ, who is the fullness of God, be ALL and EVERYTHING to you in these days and may you find in Him your completeness and the fountain and source of all that you need. "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).

     Complete in Thee – each want supplied, And no good thing to me denied; Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be, I ask no more, complete in Thee. Dear Saviour! when before Thy bar all tribes and tongues assembled are, Among Thy chosen will I be, At Thy right hand, complete in Thee!

– Aaron R. Wolfe

Perpetually in the Temple...2 Chronicles 7:12–20

12 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’

19 “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

     The dedication of the temple and the events surrounding the dedication of the temple are finished with chapter 7 verse 11 and Solomon successfully accomplishes, we're told in verse 11, "all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house..." that which would honor the Lord.
     When we arrive at verse 12, it is entirely possible that months and even years have passed. We are not certain, because the text does not tell us how much time, but it is certain that some significant period of time has gone by. The Lord appears to Solomon again by night and he says to him "I have heard your prayer" and He assures him that he has chosen this place, meaning the Temple, as a home for Himself and as a place of sacrifice.
     This in itself is very significant. When God says he has chosen it as a "place for myself", he is saying that he will "live" there. We need to ask ourselves what that means. Surely the God who created the world, who is transcendent, who is bigger than all that there is, cannot live in a place that man has created. Certainly then we are to understand this in a metaphorical sense. Our Lord is saying that he will be with the Israelites in sense in which he is not with any other nation.
     This is born out by the second part of what God says when He says that He has chosen this as a "house of sacrifice". If the Scripture is clear about anything, it is clear about the fact that men are sinful and that, in order to approach Him there must be a shedding of blood to atone for that sin. "Without the shedding of blood, there can be remission of sins.." Is the message of the entire Bible.
     What is truly interesting here is that down in verse 16 and 17 He says that He has chosen and sanctified this house and that His Name will be there "forever". He says at the at the end of verse 16 "my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually." Verse 17 and following are filled with the conditional language that we are used to hearing in the law... If you do this, then I will bless; but if you do that then I will judge.
     The problem here, as in many other places in the Old Testament, is that God, from the very beginning had prophesied that Israel would not be faithful! He had said, from before Israel ever set foot in the land that they would be rebellious and that He would be forced to judge and drive them away. And so we are left with trying to think our way through what ever does He mean when He says that He will be perpetually present with them in the temple?
     It can't be a reference to his presence in the Solomonic temple, because the Solomonic temple doesn't exist any longer. It really can't be a reference to the temple at all actually, because that entire system doesn't exist any longer. The Scripture says that that entire system has been supplanted by means of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Ah! there we have it!
     What we have here is another of the instances in the Old Testament where God was speaking not only in a local sense, but more directly in the larger sense of referring to the Lord Jesus as He is the fulfillment all of what the Old Testament pointed to. The temple, and all that was in it was a picture of the Lord Jesus, His body, His blood, His work, and all of the satisfaction that that would provide to God concerning the sins and offenses of Gods people.
     What God received in token on the altars in the Tabernacle, and the Temple and "winked" during the Old Testament period under the Law; He received in reality when Christ laid down his life on Calvary's cross. When that real sacrifice was finished and received in the true sanctuary in God's heaven, there was no longer in need for the earthly temple. When Christ entered in to that real Temple and provided that satisfactory Atonement to his Heavenly Father; all need for the type that had been going on in the Old Testament era was at an end.
     Though it is surely true that Solomon could not know the fullness of what God was saying to him, this was how God could say, truthfully, that He would be perpetually with the Temple. This was how He could say that He would be perpetually with Israel and how He could be forever present with his people. Because his presence would be with His messiah, the One coming, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Call of the First Disciples (Part 4)

2. The Following Two (John 1:43–51)
     The next day, two more men were converted to Christ. Their conversion circumstances were different than any of the first three, but they were truly converted.
     The conversion of Philip. Philip was not a prominent disciple like Peter but his conversion is reported in Scripture.

• First, the pursuit of Philip. Jesus … findeth Philip” (John 1:43). Philip’s conversion was like that of Apostle Paul in that Christ Himself sought out Philip (cp. Acts 9:3–5). Everybody does not have the same conversion experience. Andrew and John were pointed to Christ by John the Baptist. Peter was brought to Christ by Andrew. Now Philip is sought out by Christ. While conversion experiences differ, there is at least one constant, namely, conversion always includes a person coming to Jesus Christ.
• Second, the precept for Philip. “Follow me.” (John 1:43). Conversion involves following Christ. This means submission (follow is not leading but submitting to someone else; the Lordship of Christ is involved here) and the Savior (conversion focuses on Jesus Christ not Mary or some famous saint or prophet).
• Third, the place of Philip. “Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44). The city of Bethsaida had many great spiritual privileges. It was the dwelling place of some of the greatest men ever (three disciples here), and in it Christ did some great miracles. Yet the city was cursed, for Christ said, “Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you” (Luke 10:13, 14).

     The conversion of Nathanael. As in the previous case in which after Andrew got converted and sought out Simon Peter, so here when Philip is converted, he seeks out Nathanael (some believe he is the Bartholomew of the twelve). Salvation precedes seeking, and the saved will seek.

• First, the communication to Nathanael. “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). This communication was supported by Scripture and focused on the Savior. That is what our preaching should also be and do.
• Second, the challenge by Nathanael. “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth” (John 1:46). The town of Nazareth had a bad reputation which it deserved. It was a wicked town. So Nathanael questioned that One as Holy as the Messiah would come out of Nazareth.
• Third, the coming of Nathanael. “Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him” (John 1:46, 47). Though Nathanael was a skeptic, he checked out the testimony of Philip and found it true. Much unbelief, however, is not willing to investigate the facts.
• Fourth, the cognizance of Nathanael. “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” (John 1:47) Good people need Christ, too, not just those on skid row.
• Fifth, the curiosity of Nathanael. “Whence knowest thou me? Jesus … said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee” (John 1:48). Philip learned of the omniscience of Christ.
• Sixth, the confession of Nathanael. “Nathanael answered … Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel” (John 1:49). Evidence of the omniscience of Christ convinced Nathanael of the identity of Jesus as the Messiah and he confessed the same.
• Seventh, the compensation for Nathanael. “Believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these” (John 1:50). Faith has many wonderful compensations. Unbelief leads to eternal damnation. Faith leads to eternal bliss in heaven.
• Eighth, the comparison for Nathanael. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (John 1:51). This refers to Genesis 28:12—“ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.” This ladders is often called “Jacob’s ladder.” This ladder was in a dream Jacob had in an overnight stay at Bethel after he had left home to go north to find a wife. The ladder is a comparison to Christ’s mediation work. Christ is the One only mediator between God and man (I Timothy 2:5). He spans the gulf from earth to heaven. Nathanael would perceive this truth.

The Call of the First Disciples (Part 3)

1. The First Three (John 1:35–42)

“The next day after John stood, and two of his disciples” (John 1:35).

     The first three (John, Andrew, Peter) began as two then became three. The word “after” is not in the Greek text but was added by the translators. Its insertion here is confusing.
     The communications from John. “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). This is the second time John the Baptist has used this term in reference to Christ. The other time was recorded in John 1:29 to which was added “taketh away the sins of the world.” Here John is simply pointing out the Lamb to Andrew and John (John the Apostle does not name himself—a habit of his in his writings—see John 13:23, 19:26, 19:35, 20:2, 21:7, 20, 24). We note two significant details from this communication.

• First, the importance of Christ. “Behold.” As we noted the first time John used this phrase, “Behold” means something important. No one is more important than Jesus Christ. He needs to be number One in our lives if our lives are going to amount to anything where it counts the most.
• Second, the identity of Christ. “Lamb of God.” This is one of the great designations of Christ throughout the Bible. The book of Revelation closes the Bible by speaking some twenty-seven times of Christ as the Lamb.

     The conversions of Andrew and John. “The two disciples [Andrew and John] heard him speak, and followed Jesus” (John 1:37). John the Baptist experienced the results every preacher likes to experience, namely, after we preach, people follow Jesus.
     The communion with Christ. The following of Christ resulted in communion with Christ. First, the test for the communion. “What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi … where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt” (John 1:38, 39). These two disciples wanted to be with Jesus. But Christ tested their desire by “Come and see.” They passed the test in their “Came and saw.” “Came” is faith. “See” is the result of faith. The world wants to see before it believes. Christianity says believe then you will see. Furthermore, many complain they do not experience the “saw” of Divine blessings. The reason is that they never “came.” “Came” involves devotion, dedication, and sacrifice. Second, the teaching in the communion. “Abode with him that day” (John 1:39). Knowing what other Scripture says about the habit of Christ to teach in every possible situation it is easy and justifiable to conclude that the time in which the two disciples abode with Christ was filled with some of the finest teaching a man could have. They certainly did not sit around and watch some stupid TV show during their time with Christ. When you are with Christ, you will learn from Him.
     The concern after the conversion. The time with Christ caused one of the disciples to be concerned about his brother.

• First, the seeking of Peter. “One of the two … was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon” (John 1:40, 41). Evangelism starts at home.
• Second, the informing of Peter. “We have found the Messias … Christ” (John 1:41). Andrew informed Peter about Christ. He was the looked-for Messiah. There would have been no use seeking Peter if Andrew did not have a message. Churches need to get back to emphasizing the message, and the message needs to be about Jesus.
• Third, the bringing of Peter. “He brought him to Jesus” (John 1:42). No other person could help Peter like Jesus Christ.

     The change after the conversion. “Thou art … thou shalt be …” (John 1:42). When Peter came to Christ, a change occurred. When anyone is genuinely saved a change occurs. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). The change in Peter’s case was symbolized in the change of names. Christ changed Peter’s name. Christ is the source of change in conversion. From “Simon, the son of Jona” to “Cephas” (Cephas is Aramic for Petros which is Greek for Peter which is English). The name means stone.

Continued on Part 4

The Danger of Making Assumptions

     We spoke before concerning the danger of making assumptions especially in the spiritual realm and concerning the will of God. David, at least in the beginning of his Kingship, meticulously observed the need for not making assumptions. When a decision meet at making, especially an important decision concerning the Kingdom, he sought the face of the Lord. It was important to him that no matter how obvious the decision seemed, that he be sure that his mind was parallel with the mind of God.
     What is interesting here is that Nathan, a Prophet of God as opposed to an "normal person", does not do the same thing. He rushes onward, assuming that he has the mind of God. I don't believe that there is purposeful arrogance and Nathan here, but there surely is what amounts to arrogance! Whenever we do not, as David demonstrates for us time and again, take care to see to it that our minds are indeed parallel to the mind of God in whatever choices and decisions we make, we demonstrate the arrogance of human pride.
     The fall into pride is such an easy fault to make! That is especially true when one has been walking with the Lord and has a history of "spirituality" behind one. It becomes easy to make assumptions, and to begin to fail to look closely at the choices and decisions that you make. It becomes oh so very easy to stop measuring everything that you do and think by this standard and the plumbline of the Word of God. Rather, and I suspect, in the vast majority of cases, rather innocently, we assume that because of our knowledge of the Word of God and our "vast" experience with God that what we perceive to be the correct course, is the right course. It must be! Mustn't it?
     The problem is that this takes way too much authority and responsibility upon us. And of course, when we put it this way it's obvious. We are not the Master in this relationship and we are not the one who directs the activity. It is of rather our Lord and Master who has the reigns in His hands. It is for us to recognize that, and to do that recognizing on a continual basis, constantly acknowledging that He is Lord and we are not. No matter how long we are his servants, acknowledging that it is He who directs our paths. He never leaves us on our own to direct our own way.
     In a very real way, that is most comforting, isn't it! I don't want to be left on my own. It is only the pride and arrogance of the flesh that seeks to govern itself. Time and again in the scripture we see these two things set in opposition to one another. The arrogance and pride of the unredeemed person brought to destruction and then the submission and the willingness to serve of the redeemed person brought to fruit and blessing.
     This was the story of ancient Israel was it not? When they obeyed and submitted to their God, God brought them to fruit and to blessing. When they rebelled and insisted on their own way, God sent affliction and judgment. When they, in turn, repented, God sent them a Judge or some other deliver and returnned to them to blessing. That cycle continued throughout Israel's history until finally the Northern Kingdom disappeared into final judgment and the Southern Kingdom was sent to Babylon. Though they were eventually returned from Babylon, their desire to govern themselves was no better. Ultimately, all of the prophecies and pictures of this sin and Deliverer Metaphor will be realized in the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that he has effected on Calvary's cross.
     Assumptions are dangerous things. The most dangerous assumption we can make, of course, is the assumption that we can somehow please God on our own. Cowboy stadium will be filled with people this coming weekend, most of which either will not care or who will make the assumption that they are able to please God in some fashion on their own. There is no more dangerous assumption than that one. Nathan simply made the assumption that God wanted a house built for him in Jerusalem. That was not an assumption that he should've made, and as a Prophet of God he should've known better.  It's not even clear from the Scripture that God actually wanted the Temple Built at all..but what is clear that he certainly didn't want David to build it, and yet Nathan tells him that God was with him.  God immediately, that night, straightened him out and sent him back to David to tell him that he would not be building God a house at all, but that his son would be doing that task. 
     Assumptions. We must be very careful about making assumptions. They can get us into bad, bad trouble.

The Calling of the First Discipes (Part 2)

Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20

4. The Report of the Catch (Luke 5:6,7)
     The report of the catch of fish is not surprising. Christ promised and the disciples obeyed. That will always work great things for the honor of God.
     The size in the report. “Inclosed a great multitude of fishes” (Luke 5:6). Christ promised and He fulfilled His promise. Christ does not disappoint. The world makes great promises but does not fulfill them, not so Christ.
     The submission in the report. “When they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes” (Luke 5:6). The fishermen did exactly what Jesus told them to do and it resulted in the fulfilling of the promise of a “draught” of fish. Submission to the will of God always brings blessings.
     The stress in the report. “Their net brake” (Luke 5:6). The translation is more accurately rendered “the net began to brake.” If it had broken the fishermen would have lost all their fish. But the net was only beginning to tear. The great fish catch was not lost.
     The ships in the report. “They beckoned unto their partners, which we in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships” (Luke 5:7). The catch was so great the fishermen needed help with the fish.

• First, the call for the ships. “They beckoned unto their partners.” When fishermen have to seek help from other fishermen to pull in a catch of fish, the catch has to be large. With the net beginning to break, help was desperately needed to save the great catch of fish. The cooperation of the fishermen in catching fish exhorts churches to like cooperation in catching souls. This is not a pitch for ecumenical cooperation, but for fundamentalists to stop raiding other churches and help each other win souls.
• Second, the contents in the ships. “Filled both the ships.” When God blesses, it will be obvious. His blessings will fill both ships. When churches cooperate instead of compete in their work, there will be more than enough blessing for all the churches.

     The sinking in the report. “Filled both the ships, so that they began to sink” (Luke 5:7). Like the nets, the ships did not sink and lose the catch but only began to sink. They obviously got to shore before disaster struck. The “began to sink” and “their net brake” simply emphasizes the greatness of the miracle. When Christ worked a miracle there was an abundance of evidence that He did it.

5. The Reaction to the Catch (Luke 5:8,9)
     There was a very pronounced reaction to this miraculous fish catch by all the fishermen involved.
     The awareness in the reaction. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). The great fish catch made Peter acutely aware of his sinfulness. Peter’s statement did not mean he wanted Christ to leave him as the unbeliever wants nothing to do with Christ. Rather it is the exaggerated language of a humbled soul, who, though he loved Christ more than anyone else and desired His companionship greatly, sees himself wholly unworthy of fellowship with Christ. Scripture says the goodness of God is to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). It certainly did this for Peter, but too many react to Divine blessings by celebrating in an evil way. When people get a pay raise or have some other success, they often drink and get drunk. But Peter used the blessing to see his unworthiness before God.
     The astonishment in the reaction. “He was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken” (Luke 5:9). The fact that these veteran fishermen were astonished gives excellent attestation to the miracle. No one would be able to evaluate a great catch like these veteran fishermen. If they were astonished—it must have been a great catch. The evidence for Christ’s power has abundant proof.

6. The Recruiting After the Catch (Luke 5:10,11)
     The sequence to the great miraculous fish catch was the recruiting of these fishermen to be followers of Christ.
     The pardon in the recruiting. “Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men” (Luke 5:10). Peter’s falling down before Christ needed to be addressed by Christ, and the “Fear not” assured Peter of pardon.

• First, the serenity in the pardon. “Fear not.” Pardon brings peace, and what great peace this would bring to Peter.
• Second, the service in the pardon. “From henceforth thou shalt catch men.” When one feels very unworthy of the presence of Christ, he is not likely to think he is qualified to serve Christ. But Christ assures Peter that he is indeed qualified to serve Christ. The kind of humility Peter evidences is in fact a qualification for serving Christ. Pride disqualifies.

     The promise in the recruiting. “Thou shalt catch men” (Luke 5:10). Christ made catching of fish an illustration of winning people to Him. The illustration does not, of course, apply in every situation. As an example, in catching fish you kill them, but in catching men for Christ you give them life. This promise would encourage Peter. It promised him results for serving Christ. That always encourages anyone in service.
     The price in the recruiting. “They forsook all, and followed him” (Luke 5:11). The other fishermen, beside Peter, are included here. Forsaking all was a great price especially after the great fish catch. But if you would follow Christ, you must not let material success keep you from following Him.
     The path in the recruiting. “Followed him” (Luke 5:11). The emphasis in service is Jesus Christ. We are to follow Him, not some religious organization or some religious human hero. “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21) is the path.

The Calling of the First Disciples

Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20
     This chapter in Luke begins with a record of one of the two great fish-catching miracles in the ministry of Christ. The other great fish-catching miracle is in John 21.

1. The Request Before the Catch (Luke 5:1–3)
     The great miracle fish catch began by a request of Christ to use one of the fishing boats belonging to Peter and his fishing partners James and John.
     The cause for the request. “As the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he [Jesus] stood by the lake of Gennesaret” (Luke 5:1). “Gennesaret” is the old name for Sea of Galilee—in the other miracle fish catch recorded in John 21, the sea is called “Tiberias” (John 21:1). The multitude listening to Christ teach were pressing so close and hard upon Him that He was in danger of being pushed into the sea, so He requested a boat in which He could get in and teach from the boat.
     The convenience for the request. “Saw two ships [boats] standing by the lake” (Luke 5:2). When we do the work of God, Divine providence often smiles upon us providing circumstances to meet our need as in this case.
     The cooperation with the request. “He entered into one of the ships … prayed … would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship” (Luke 5:3). Christ’s request was granted. Granting the request showed some devotion to Christ for at least three reasons.

• First, it was granted in spite of work. The “fishermen … were washing their nets” (Luke 5:2). Christ interrupted the work of the fishermen when He asked them to loan a boat for His teaching platform. Serving Christ requires a high priority or we will not serve Him.
• Second, it was granted in spite of weariness. “We have toiled all the night” (Luke 5:5). The fishermen were tired, but still granted Christ His request. Sometimes we must serve the Lord when we do not feel like it.
• Third, it was granted in spite of woe. “We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing” (Luke 5:5). The owners of the boat had fished all night and caught nothing, so they would not be in the best of spirits. Yet they were asked to serve. We must serve the Lord regardless of discouragement. If we wait for every situation to be perfect before we serve the Lord, we will never serve Him.

2. The Requirements for the Catch (Luke 5:4)
     Christ rewarded the fishermen for loaning their boat. He rewarded them with a great catch of fish. But this miraculous catch of fish came with some additional requirements. The blessings of God have requirements for those who want the blessings. If we are short on Divine blessings, it just may be that we are not fulfilling the Divine requirements.
     The launching requirement. The first requirement for this miraculous fish catch was launching the boat.

• First, the where in the launching. “Launch out into the deep” (Luke 5:4). The fishermen must do more that row a few yards from shore. They must get very involved in launching. We have too many Christians and churches who are shallow-water in their efforts and then wonder why their boats are not full of blessing. Launching into the deep means all-out commitment.
• Second, the when in the launching. “Launch out into the deep” (Luke 5:4). This was not the time to fish, these seasoned fishermen were washing their nets—they fished at night. But if you want Divine blessing you not only go where God decrees but also when He decrees.
• Third, the witnesses for the launching. “Launch out into the deep” (Luke 5:4). The fishermen had to do this very unusual action before a multitude of people. If we are to witness well for the Lord, we will have to do so in front of people. God does not commend secret discipleship.

     The letting requirement. “Let down you nets for a draught” (Luke 5:4). This requirement seemed so unreasonsonable.

• First, the protest of the letting. “Simon answering said … Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing” (Luke 5:5). Peter was a veteran fisherman; he knew when to fish and where to fish. Letting the nets down now did not seem wise at all.
• Second, the promise for the letting. “For a draught” (Luke 5:4). Christ gave a promise for this letting command. God gives ample encouragement to do His commands especially when they seem contrary to human rationale.

3. The Response to the Requirement (Luke 5:5)
     Peter responded well to the requirement given by Christ. His answer to Christ’s command is most instructive.
     The Savior in the response. “Master … nevertheless at thy word” (Luke 5:5). The obedience of Peter showed great respect for Christ. Calling Jesus “Master” showed respect for Jesus Christ, and “thy” also showed honor for Christ.
     The Scripture in the response. “At thy word” (Luke 5:5). The word of God would guide Peter’s actions. We all need this attitude about the Word of God. It needs to have a very high priority in guiding our life.
     The situation in the response. “Nevertheless” (Luke 5:5). Peter did not let his adverse situation keep him from obeying Christ. Regardless of failure (“nothing”) and fatigue (“toiled all night”), Peter would “nevertheless” obey the Lord. Such was his noble response to Christ’s orders.

Even When It Seems Obvious...

And David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”

The LORD said to him, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.”

     This lesson is perhaps one of the great reasons why David is "a man after Gods own heart". He was concerned, more for God's glory that he was for his own. In 1 Chronicles 14:10, as David was in the process of ascending to the throne, the Philistines set out to oppose him. Now David has some 225,000 men at his disposal, men-of-war. And we all know the reputation of David as a man of war! He could have, and had he been a man like Saul, likely would have simply gone to face the Philistines.
     But this is not Saul, this is David. The issue at hand is not just defeating the enemy. The issue here is serving his God. And so David must first consult his Master. And so we see here, as we have seen in the past and will see many times in the future, David defeats his enemies and then gives praise to his God, YHWH - the God of Israel - not the god of the peoples round about.
     What is interesting, is that, though the course of action seems to be obvious, David did not make the assumption. There is submission. Though he is King, master over all he surveys, he is not the ultimate Master, and he knows and he readily acknowledges that fact.
     And further, he does so publicly! It is not simply that he consults God privately, and then goes ahead and leads his people to victory and then takes the credit himself. Oh no! He gives God the full glory for having instructed and then enable this great victory. This was the habit of his life. This was why he was a man after Gods own heart.
     Now it is certainly true that David had his failures and his fallings. But it is heartening that those failures and those fallings are presented for us in glorious black and white in the pages of Scripture for all to see. When we remember, in spite of all of this, those terrible failings with Bathsheba and all else, that David is the one who is remembered as the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our hearts are thrilled. That God used one such as he in that fashion encourages me to think that God might, just might perhaps use one such as me.
     Even when the right course weems "obvious" we need to remember that we are not the Master of the course.  There is a God in heaven Whose will is supreme.  It is He Who has the yes and no over all that we do or don't do and not you and I.  We need to be sure that, not only are we correct in the course that we are following, but that we are observing the truth that God is God and we are not.  We dare not rush ahead.  That was one of Saul's great failings and David was, at least at this point in his life about to make the same one!

The Temptation of Our Lord Jesus Christ - Part 2

4. The Climactic Attack #2 in the Battle (Matthew 4:5–7)

     The second great climactic attack or temptation had to do with God’s protection of Christ. If Satan cannot defeat you in one area, he will attack another area.

The place of the temptation. “The devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple” (Matthew 4:5). The place of this temptation had two advantageous for temptation,

• First, it was a holy place. Attacking Christ in a holy place (“holy city”) gave the advantage of disguising temptation in holy apparel—that fools many folk. Using the sacred to do evil shows that Satan has no respect for anything sacred. He will defile the sacred if he can which explains why you will find such things as booze, gambling (bingo and cards), dancing, and rotten music in some churches.
• Second, it was also a high place. (“pinnacle”) High places are often places of strong temptation. Satan has used high position to corrupt many good people. We need to remember the exhortation given Baruch, a helper of the prophet Jeremiah, which said, “Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5). Do not covet high position or envy those in such places.

     The proving in the temptation. “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands thy shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash they foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:6). As with the first temptation, so in this one, Satan tries to motivate yielding to temptation to prove Christ’s identity. We do not need to do the unnecessary, the unusual, or the unwise to prove our faith. And jumping from the Temple was unnecessary, unusual, and unwise. We can prove our faith by our daily walk that honors God.

     The perverting in the temptation. “He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:6). Christ had used Scripture to defeat the previous temptation, so now Satan will counter by also using Scripture; but he perverts matters by not quoting Scripture accurately. The text is Psalm 91:11. Satan left out “in all thy ways.” Protection promised by the Scripture was only “in all thy [God’s] ways.” Satan is like many cults and other evil philosophies who quote Scripture but do it inaccurately and out of context to justify their perverted creed. One of the great needs in our churches today is the knowledge of the Scripture. Many sermons reveal that even preachers do not know the Word well. If churches did learn the Word of God well, it would change their programs, creeds, standards, and attitudes dramatically.

     The power over the temptation. “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7). Christ defeated this temptation the same way He defeated the previous temptation, namely, by the Word of God. This can be seen in two ways.

• First, Christ was cognizant of the Word. “It is written” (Matthew 4:7). This text comes from Deuteronomy 6:16. Christ was cognizant of the Word and so could use it to defeat temptation. Most church programs do little to help folk know the Word well enough to conquer temptation. Entertainment has replaced exhortation and this has led to ignorance of the Word and increased succumbing to evil.
• Second, Christ was compliant to the Word. “Thou shalt not” (Matthew 4:7). Christ would not worship Satan. He obeyed the Word of God. That will always give you victory over any temptation.

5. The Climactic Attack #3 in the Battle (Matthew 4:8–10)

     The strongest of the three climactic attacks or temptations was the temptation regarding a crown for Christ—it was an offer give Christ the rule over all the kingdoms of the earth. This temptation is recorded as the second of the three in Luke with the second temptation of Matthew being the third in Luke. This climactic attack or temptation was the strongest of the three because it offered more. The first climactic temptation simply offered to satisfy the desire to eat, the second climactic temptation offered protection in jumping from the Temple, but this third climactic temptation offered Christ a high position with much power and prestige in the world.

     The place of the temptation. “The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain” (Matthew 4:8). Once again Satan uses height to enhance temptation. As height can make a person unstable physically so height can make one unstable spiritually. Satan knows this fact and has used height in position to ruin many a good man. Promotion in this world is often the means of polluting the promoted.

     The perverting in the temptation. “Showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (Matthew 4:8). The perverting here is in the fact that Satan showed only the “glory” of the kingdoms. He did not show Christ the guile of the kingdoms, and history reminds us that kingdoms have more guile than glory. Satan habitually shows only one side of evil in tempting. He shows the pleasures of sin but not the pain of sin. He shows the splendor of evil but not the sorrow and suffering of evil. But men are so easily deceived today by this appeal of sin. Liquor ads show expensive cars and houses but do not show the loss, the divorce, the broken homes, and the crime. Gambling talks about how it will help the economy when it really hurts the economy of the society where gambling is permitted. Smoking is advertised by macho men and beautiful women but it does not tell you that it debilitates the strength of men and destroys the beauty of women.

     The promise in the temptation. “All these things will I give thee” (Matthew 4:9). The promise of gain causes many folk to do evil. Folk sell their soul for gain in this world. That is all that Satan can promise, however. He can promise no gain in the world to come. He has nothing appealing to offer for eternity. Check all the promises of temptation. The gain they promise is only temporal.

     The price in the temptation. “If thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). This price says that you can get gain by doing evil. Many have embraced that philosophy. But it is a corrupting philosophy that will extract a far greater price than what Satan appears to require. And it is also a God dishonoring price. Any price that results in dishonoring God (and doing evil certainly dishonors Him) is too high to pay.

     The pleasure in the temptation. “All these things will I give thee” (Matthew 4:9). This temptation would eliminate the pain of the cross. All the kingdoms of the world are going to be given to Christ anyway. “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). But Satan’s offer would give the kingdoms to Christ without Christ having to experience the suffering on the cross. Satan would give Christ the crown without the cross. Satan does not want the cross for it is his doom. He is the author of every religion that leaves out the cross of Christ for salvation. This shortcut for Christ is typical of Satan’s temptation. He is always tempting us to take his shortcut to pleasure. He says do not wait for the cross for the kingdoms. Do not wait for marriage to have sex—have it now. Do not wait in labor for money—gamble or steal it. Do not study for good grades—cheat instead. These temptations all exhibit the same principle found in this temptation.

     The power over the temptation. “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). Once again Christ demonstrated the power to defeat the devil. The power here is found in both separation and the Scriptures.

• First, there is power in separation. “Get thee hence, Satan … then the devil leaveth him” (Matthew 4:10, 11). Separation from evil gives power over evil. Mixing evil with righteousness weakens righteousness. Much emphasis today in our churches seems to be on mixing, not separation. Most people do not like the idea of separation. But separation is necessary to overcome evil. So Christ commands Satan to leave.
• Second, there is power in Scriptures. “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). Christ knew the Scriptures and they gave Him power to defeat the devil. This text is from Deuteronomy 6:13. If we honor Scripture, as Christ did here, we will have much power to overcome evil. This particular Scripture reminds us that whom you worship you will serve. Worship well and you will serve well. Our service reveals how well we have worshiped God. That exposes a lot of church members as not doing well in worship.

6. The Comforting After the Battle (Matthew 4:11)

     “Behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matthew 4:11). After His bruising battle with Satan, Christ experienced heavenly comforting. Scripture does not say what the angels did for Christ; but whatever it was, it was comforting and helpful. This comfort from God comes to those who have been faithful to Him. You will not get angels’ help, if you have not stood true to God and His Word. Many want solace from heaven but will not be steadfast for heaven.