Larry Thompson

2012-01-29T22:16:00.001-06:00

Thanks to my Russian readers. I'm excited to know you are reading about God's word in Russia.

God bless.

2012-01-29T07:36:00.001-06:00

FINAL INSTRUCTIONS
2 TIMOTHY 2

Carry On The Ministry
2:1-7

In chapter 1, Paul exhorted Timothy to be strong and to avoid being ashamed of the gospel or of Paul. He urged him to guard the gospel. He gave examples of those who were ashamed and abandoned him. But he concluded with the example of Onesiphorus, who was not ashamed of Paul, but rather came to Rome and searched until he found Paul and helped him. So, when Paul says “you then”, he refers to these examples.

Paul told Timothy several things to do in ministry. They are part of not being ashamed of the gospel. He told him to:

1. teach the gospel to others who will be able to teach;
2. share in suffering; and
3. avoid entanglements in the world.

First, Paul instructed Timothy to teach others who would be able to teach. The heart of the gospel ministry is to teach and preach the gospel message. Jesus commissioned the apostles to do it. He told them to teach their disciples to observe all things that Jesus commanded them. (Matthew 28:20) They were to take what they were taught by Christ and teach it to others. Jesus specifically instructed Peter to do this. He said three times “feed my sheep”. (John 21:15-17)

The apostles understood their mandate. They immediately began to teach and preach. The Jews arrested them. (Acts 5:18) The high priest said “you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching”. (Acts 5:28)

The apostles protected their teaching time by appointing deacons to accomplish the ministry to widows. They said “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” Acts 6:2.

Paul continued the work of the apostles, preaching and teaching all over Europe and Asia. He found younger men who could preach and teach and trained them, then sent them out to churches. Now he wants Timothy to do the same. This is the pattern of ministry that built the church and the pattern that should continue today.

Second, Paul told Timothy to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ. (2 Timothy 2:3) This is somewhat like his instruction in 1 Timothy 1:18 to wage the good warfare. He wanted Timothy to take the fight to the enemy even though it resulted in suffering. He wanted him to be aggressive for the gospel, out there preaching and teaching the gospel without reservation and without corruption. Both the Romans and the Jews would come to persecute those who did so. But it was God’s calling.

Third, Paul told Timothy to avoid entanglements in the world that would sidetrack his ministry. He said no soldier gets involved in civilian pursuits. Rather he fights to please his commander. (2:4). This applies to preachers and teachers first of all. They are to be devoted to teaching the gospel, teaching the Bible, not involved to distraction in other things, such as politics or sports or the accumulation of wealth. The Word comes first.

But it also applies to all of us in a way. There is not really a secular world and a religious world. We believe all the world comes under the domain of Christ. Abraham Kuyper said “In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, That is mine!"

We have the duty to live for Christ and speak for Christ at all times. There is no time off and no secular space. We live first to please God.

Paul gave two examples. First, the athlete only wins the prize if he competes according to the rules. Those who try to jump in at the end of a marathon and claim to win are disqualified. Jesus made the rules for us. He often called them commandments. To please him, we must follow his instructions. We must obey his commandments. We must want to do this. Jesus said “if you love me, you will keep my commandments”. (John 14:15) It is we who have created exceptions to living totally to please him. He calls us to it full time.

The second example Paul used is that of a farmer. The hard working farmer gets the first share. (6) Paul again encouraged Timothy to be strong in the task, to get out there and engage the world for Christ.

Now, drop back to verse one of this chapter. Paul told Timothy to “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus”. This faithful, hard work of the ministry can be done despite Timothy’s human nature and ours. We draw our strength from grace. God knows we are weak. Some are weak because they have timid natures. Some are weak because they are prone to pride. He does not expect us to rely on our own strength. We should not expect it either. Rather we constantly seek and receive his strength, then move out in faith to rely upon it.

Notice here that Paul does not ask Timothy to remove his mind from the process. Too many in our day stress emotion and minimize the mind. Paul told Timothy to think over these things and God would give him understanding. (7) God would provide the understanding as Timothy used his mind on the problem. That is why God renews our minds when he regenerates us. So we can know and understand more of his mind and behave accordingly.

Romans 12:1-2 tells us that it is this renewal of the mind that transforms us from understanding the world to discerning the will of God. Paul prayed that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in spiritual wisdom and understanding so that they could live in a way that fully pleased God. And in doing so they would even increase more in knowledge. (Colossians 1:9-11)

I love the fact that Ravi Zacharias calls his radio show “Let My People Think”. He challenges the church to think about everything in Biblical terms. Then he goes to non-believers and challenges their thinking also.

To further strengthen Timothy, Paul even preached the gospel to him. He said “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel…” (8) Certainly Timothy had not forgotten the facts of Christ and his resurrection. But they needed to be a present reality for him. Paul continually burned with passion because he experienced the risen Christ and longed to please him. His divinity (his being God) was proven by his rising from the dead.

Your religion can get really abstract. You can go through the motions. You can look good, but be rotten on the inside. You can be intimidated by atheists and liberals. Eventually you will come to doubt.

But consider this if you believe Christ rose from the dead. It is the most revolutionary fact in history. It means he defeated death and reigns in heaven. It means all will stand before him in judgment. It means he is the only thing that ultimately matter.

For example, Jesus does not exist to make your marriage better. Your marriage exists to glorify Christ. Jesus does not exist to make your job better. Your work exists to bring glory to Christ.

That is why those early church members were so crazy about Christ and about each other. They believed in the resurrection and it was the most exciting thought they had and it consumed them. It consumed them so much, awe came upon them. (Acts 2:43). They devoted themselves to the study of the word as taught by the apostles, to fellowship with each other, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42) They went to the Temple every day, then went home and had meals together.

They shared everything they had together. They did this because possessions were not near as important as having fellowship with everyone who believed in Christ and his resurrection. They were grateful for what they had. They were so radical and excited and good that people came and joined them every day.

Have you seen the video on YouTube of the kids reading John 3:16? It was made by Focus on the Family and they played it during a football game. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1fdAHbUM9o&feature=endscreen&NR=1.
At the end, a kid says “wow!”. And it is “wow”!

What happened to us? What happened that we hear the gospel preached and we do not say “wow”. What happened to make it so people do not come to worship for a year at a time, do not read God’s word (I mean, it is God’s Word!), we do not talk to God, we do not live for him or talk about him or worship him?

Let’s repent and get our “wow” back!

2012-01-27T12:56:00.000-06:00

UNITY MUST BE BASED ON TRUTH.

Kevin DeYoung tells it true here.

2012-01-22T06:49:00.001-06:00

PAUL'S FINAL INSTRUCTIONS TO TIMOTHY
2 TIMOTHY 1:10-18
THE WORK OF CHRIST

Next Paul described God the Son. (10) He, Christ, abolished death and gave us eternal life. This is the heart of the gospel. Christ through his death on our behalf brought eternal life to those who believe in him. Jesus said it this way: “For God so loved the world (or God loved the world this way), that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16)

Let’s talk about death for a minute. When God placed Adam in the Garden, he gave him instructions. In my opinion, he made a covenant with him. He said in Genesis 2:16: “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that eat of it you shall surely die.” Adam ate the fruit of the tree. He violated the covenant with God. He disobeyed God’s instructions. So God, who is always faithful to fulfill his part of the covenant, imposed death upon Adam. First, there was spiritual death. God drove him out of the Garden and out of his presence. He also was condemned to physical death, for he was prevented from reaching the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22).

Paul picked up the theme in Romans 5 as he compared Christ to Adam. He wrote “…sin came into the world through one man (Adam) and death through sin…” (Romans 5:12).

So, we inherit death through Adam. This is the theological concept of original sin. There are two thoughts that are relevant to this. First, because Adam sinned, every human being born since then, including you, entered the world with a fallen nature. We have sinful tendencies and desires from birth. David acknowledged this in Psalm 51:5. Jesus said “…whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God”. John 3:18. We are children of wrath unless and until we become children of God. Ephesians 2:1-3. If you do not believe children are sinners, go to the children’s building and watch.

Second, the guilt of Adam's sin is credited not just to Adam but to all of us. God regards us as having sinned in Adam. Therefore we deserve the same punishment as Adam. So, we inherit sin and death from Adam.

But do not worry if you think this is unfair. The Bible says we all sin. Romans 3:23. And the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23. So, either way you get to the fact that you sin and you must die. Every man and woman must die physical death unless they are blessed to be alive at the Second Coming. That is the judgment on mankind.

But part of Adam’s punishment was banishment from the presence of God. Not only will we die physically, but we will die spiritually. Hell is the place where those who reject God are gathered to live outside of his presence and blessing. So it will be terrible. It is so bad, Revelation calls it the Second Death. Revelation 20:14-15 describe it as a lake of fire.

Jesus spoke of eternal punishment in parables. In the parable of the weeds, Matthew 13:24-30, he said used weeds as a symbol of those who rejected Christ and said the weeds would be gathered first and burned (verse 30). He explained the parable to his disciples in verses 36-43. He said “…at the close of the age the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all breakers and thrown them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashingof teeth. (verses 39-43).

There is only one exception. That is the gospel message. Here, in 2 Timothy 1: 10, Paul said Christ abolished death and brought life and immortality. When we commit our lives to Christ and repent of our sins, God imputes our sin to Christ who paid for it on the cross. He also imputes Christ righteousness to us and gives us eternal life.

This physical body will die for now. But our spirit will live forever. And one day, Christ will renew and remake our physical bodies and we will walk the new earth forever in them and in his presence.

In 2 Timothy 1:11, Paul states again that he was appointed to preach this message (preacher), to take it to other nations (apostle) and to teach its ramifications (teacher). This is the message of the gospel Christ appointed Paul to preach (11).

This gospel is the reason he was persecuted. (12) Why was he persecuted? Why do men hate the gospel message and the people who preach it? If it is such good news, why do many react so violently to it?

I think it is because it puts all power on God and none on man. Man is only saved because God has mercy on him and extends grace. It is not because of personal worth or good works. We would rather think God must accept us because we are acceptable for whatever reason. Jesus said they hated me and they will hate you.

Paul suffered terribly. Yet, Paul was not ashamed. He said this in his introduction to the book of Romans: “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16. The gospel is the only message for salvation.

In verse 12 (2 Timothy 1:12), Paul stated the reason he was not ashamed, the reason he did not back away from the gospel when he was persecuted. The reason was that he trusted Christ to preserve him and the gospel. He said this in verse 12: “for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” (ESV) Other versions say “what I have entrusted to him”, and the hymn you know is written for that translation because it is based on the KJV.

However, the context here and later in the letter is Timothy’s guarding the gospel that was entrusted to him as it was to Paul. Paul will later tell Timothy to entrust the gospel to other faithful men as it was entrusted to him. It is the same idea of Paul’s saying he was made a steward of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).

Christ entrusted the gospel to Paul, then to Timothy, then to us. We are pretty weak. We do not spend enough time concentrating on what the Bible says. Many redefine the gospel. But Paul says God is able to guard the gospel, to keep it undefiled. He has many times brought revival or reformation to accomplish that. He raised up men and women who read the Bible and cry out against those who have corrupted its message.

So, in verses 13-14, Paul exhorted Timothy to guard that deposit of the gospel. He could do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. As can we.

How could Timothy do that? How can we do it? Paul told Timothy in verse 13-14. He said “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

Timothy was to follow the teaching of Paul. Paul followed the teaching of Christ. Make of list of the things Paul taught and put them up against a list of the things Christ taught and see how they match up.

What of us? We are to follow the teaching of Christ and of the apostles. Read and study your Bible. Listen to sound teaching. Only by knowing the truth do you recognize counterfeit. You must do this to be safe.

The job of the teacher is to learn the text and teach what it means. It is not the job of the teacher or the theologian to come up with new ideas that are not Biblically based. It is not the job of the teacher or the theologian to explain away the text. Be on guard when any message starts with the words “this does not really mean this”. It is the inspired word of God. You may not change it.

Does any false teaching or preaching occur today? Since there is no accountability for media based ministries, you have to judge what they say. There are some great ones. There are some terrible ones. There are many cults and spin offs of Christianity. You must guard against them. And if you are a teacher, you are even more accountable.

Part of Paul’s suffering was due to the fact that many he won to Christ abandoned him. In verse 15, he states that all in Asia turned against him. He named two men specifically. In contrast, he touted Onesiphourus, who stayed faithful to Paul and even found him in Rome and refreshed him. To him Paul said the Lord would grant mercy on the day of Judgment. The implication is that those who abandoned him would not find mercy, but rather judgment, for they had fallen away.

Follow the steps of Paul and Timothy. Whether you are persecuted or abandoned or live in freedom, proclaim the Gospel, guard the Gospel and bring glory to God.

2012-01-19T12:37:00.002-06:00

I often stay at the office after the staff leaves. In the winter, that means walking out of the empty building alone, into the dark night. The empty and dark parking garage echoes my footsteps. It reminds me of the poem by Thomas Gray "Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard".

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.
The plowman homeward plods his weary way
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

2012-01-16T11:14:00.000-06:00

Genesis 39 tells the story of Joseph coming to Potipher's house in Egypt. His brothers sold him as a slave. But he served his master faithfully. God was with him. God blessed his work. Potipher benefited from the blessing. So Potipher began to notice Joseph and promote him.

Work can be a challenging environment. All kinds of people are there. Some are not nice. Some ate poor workers. Some cause problems for everybody.

God is with the believer at work. God will bless you at work. It may not be with promotions; it may be the chance to live for him and even talk about him. We are to work for his glory. Paul said to do everything for the glory of God.

When you work for God's glory in the work place, you work diligently at your assigned tasks. You exhibit the fruit of the spirit in the work place. You love the unlovely, care for the needy and go the extra mile.

When you live out your faith at work, you will be blessed and your employer will be blessed through you. And God will be glorified in you. Jesus said to let your light shine before the men and women in your workplace, and your co-workers will see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

That is your real job.

2012-01-15T08:28:00.001-06:00

Because God gave Timothy the spirit of power, not fear, Paul told him not to be ashamed of the gospel or of Paul. (8) Many had turned against Paul. They were ashamed of him. In verse 15, he said “all who are in Asia turned away from me”. Can you imagine the pain of that? Paul preached the gospel to them. He started their churches. He taught them. Then, when he went to prison for the gospel, they abandoned him. Was it because they did not want to be put in prison also? Was it an opportunity to take over control? Imagine having invested your life in people who abandoned you when you needed them the most.

That is the way it goes, though. Jesus experienced it. The Twelve abandoned him when he was arrested. He told his disciples they would experience the same. He said “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my sake.” Matthew 24:9. He also said “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you….If they persecuted me, the will also persecute you.” John 15:18

Paul knew Timothy would take flak for being Paul’s protégé. He told him to stand his ground and not shrink back in fear or timidity because of that. Paul also knew persecution had begun and would get worse. He admonished Timothy not be to ashamed of the gospel. Rather he was to be ready to suffer for the gospel by the power of God. (8)

The gospel normally takes hold through suffering. We preach the gospel. We suffer for it. People believe it. This was the story of the early church. The church suffered until Rome broke under the weight of it. The Reformation was brought about by a return to the preaching of justification through faith and suffering for it. Men were killed for preaching the gospel in almost every country in Europe. Luther lived in hiding for years for his preaching. Calvin left France for Geneva to avoid death. The French slaughtered hundreds of Huguenots. The English garroted and burned men alive for translating the Bible into English and preaching the gospel. The Catholic Scots beheaded Protestants and displayed their heads or sent them to their families.

Pastors in China today vanish or go to jail. Muslims bombed a church in Nigeria recently. Christians in Iraq are bombed, beaten and killed now that the control of Saddam Hussein has been removed. Iran hangs believers. Christians in Afghanistan have lost their church buildings and live in fear of death. Indonesian churches are bombed and burned.

Yet, Christ calls us to stand for him in the face of persecution. Jesus said “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23. That is a scary verse. But verse 26 is even scarier. He said “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

Paul was always able to launch into a little sermon about the gospel at any given time. Here he did it describing God in verse 9. He described both God the Father and God the Son.

First, Paul saved us and called us to a holy calling. He did not do this because of our works. In Ephesians 2:9, he said it is not the result of works so that no one may boast. Isaiah said “…all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment”. (Isaiah 64:6) Titus 3:5 says “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” Our works can never save us.

Much of the Bible was written to point this out to us. God created Adam with a free will and no sin nature. He placed him in a perfect place. He gave him a wife. He walked with them daily. Yet, they rejected God and chose to elevate themselves. God created the nation of Israel, redeemed it from slavery in Egypt, made a covenant with them and blessed them. Yet they rejected him in favor of gods of stone and wood.

Rather, God saved us because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (9) It might humble you a little to reflect on the fact that God saved you for his own purpose, not just for your sake. There are larger things going on than your life. God has a purpose in this creation and in humanity.

What was that purpose? That is a big discussion. But, we start with the simple proposition that God created humanity for God’s glory. He made Adam in God’s image. He was to rule the earth as God’s representative. He was to reflect the glorious character of God. He was to spread the knowledge and glory of God over all the earth. Paul portrayed Jesus the Second Adam because he accomplished what Adam failed to do.

God chose and created Israel for the same purpose. In Isaiah 43:7, God referred to his people as: “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made”.

God chose us, we who believe, before the foundation of the world, to be holy. (Ephesians 1:4) That is, he chose us and saved us to reflect his glory. He is holy. He says be holy as I am holy. He is saying because he is holy, we must be holy to reflect his nature and bring glory to him. (1 Peter 1:15-16) We are to reflect his glory of holiness. Romans 8:29 says “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” The result is the “praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6). When we live holy lives, we reflect God’s perfect nature and bring glory to him. This is our holy calling (8).

We are to spread his glory over all the earth, just like Adam. Psalm 37:29 says “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever”. Jesus told his disciples to make disciples in all nations. Matthew 28:19.

And what is the picture of eternal life at the end of the Revelation? It is a new earth, made like the Garden of Eden, over which the glory of God is permanently manifested. Revelation 21:23 describes it this way: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb (Jesus).”

In other words, we were not saved because we did good things. We were saved because it was God’s purpose to save us and he did it through his grace. He planned this all before the world began, but later manifested it when Christ appeared. So, to an extent, Paul was speaking of God’s election of believers. God knew what he was going to do for us before he made any of us.

Next Paul described God the Son. (10) He, Christ, abolished death and gave us eternal life. This is the heart of the gospel. Christ through his death on our behalf brought eternal life to those who believe in him. Jesus said it this way: “For God so loved the world (or God loved the world this way), that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16)

This is the message of the gospel Christ appointed Paul to preach (11). This gospel is the reason he was persecuted. (12) He suffered terribly. Yet, Paul was not ashamed. He said this in his introduction to the book of Romans: “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16. The gospel is the only message for salvation.

In verse 12 (2 Timothy 1:12), Paul stated the reason he was not ashamed, the reason he did not back away from the gospel when he was persecuted. The reason was that he trusted Christ to preserve him and the gospel. He said this in verse 12: “for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” (ESV) Other versions say “what I have entrusted to him”, and the hymn you know is written for that translation because it is based on the KJV. However, the context here and later in the letter is Timothy’s guarding the gospel that was entrusted to him as it was to Paul. Paul will later tell Timothy to entrust the gospel to other faithful men as it was entrusted to him. It is the same idea of Paul’s saying he was made a steward of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).

Christ entrusted the gospel to Paul, then to Timothy, then to us. We are pretty weak. We do not spend enough time concentrating on what the Bible says. Many redefine the gospel. But Paul says God is able to guard the gospel, to keep it undefiled. He has many times brought revival or reformation to accomplish that. He raised up men and women who read the Bible and cry out against those who have corrupted its message.

So, in verses 13-14, Paul exhorted Timothy to guard that deposit of the gospel. He could do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. As can we.

2012-01-14T22:43:00.001-06:00

FINAL INSTRUCTIONS
2 TIMOTHY 1:1-7

Paul wrote this letter to Timothy from prison in Rome. He was released from the imprisonment we read about it Acts. He did more missionary work. Then he was arrested again. He was eventually executed.

Eusebius wrote in his book, Church History, that Nero executed Paul. If Eusebius was correct, Paul had to write the book before 68 A.D., the end of Nero’s reign. Nero’s persecution of Christians became intense in 64 A.D. Many people think this letter was written in 64 or 65 A.D.

Paul and Timothy had a very strong relationship. Paul thought of him as a son. Timothy travelled with Paul, served with him, took care of him during his first imprisonment in Rome, carried messages from Paul to churches and, ultimately, was sent by Paul to the church in Ephesus to lead it. 1 Timothy 1:3. This letter is likely from Paul in prison in Rome to Timothy in Ephesus.

The Greeting
1 Timothy 1:1-2

Paul referred to himself as an apostle of Christ by the will of God. (1) The apostles were special. God chose them and called them. Jesus told the Twelve: “You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you…” John 15:16. Paul’s conversion and appointment was a dramatic act of the Lord, not a volunteering by Paul. In fact, Paul (Saul) persecuted the church until the dramatic appearance of Christ in Acts 9. The Lord told Ananias about Paul “…he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles…” Acts 9:15.

Paul’s apostleship was to preach the gospel. Here in 2 Timothy he calls in the “promise of life that is in Christ Jesus”. In Acts 13:26, he said the message of salvation had been given to him to preach.

In verse 2, Paul called Timothy his “beloved child”. Paul and Timothy had a father-son relationship. Paul loved Timothy dearly: he called him “beloved”. In 1 Corinthians 4:17 he called Timothy his beloved and faithful child. In Philippians 2:22 he said Timothy served him as a son serves a father.

Paul thanked God for Timothy. He prayed for him day and night. (3) That is a good example for us. We all have friends. We do not see them all the time. But we can pray for them all the time. You like to get an email or note that says someone prayed for you. So do the same for others.

The Encouragement
2 Timothy 1:3-14

Paul longed to see Timothy. He knew it would fill him with joy to see Timothy again. (4) Timothy must have felt the same way about Paul. Paul remembered his tears, probably when Paul sent him off to Ephesus and they were parted. So we see here that Paul is a real person. He got lonely. He needed support. He missed his younger friend and longed to see him before he died. He may have been a super apostle, but it was not without cost. He loved. He suffered.

Paul also used his greeting to encourage Timothy. First, he commended Timothy’s faith as “sincere”. (5) He had proved his sincerity by sticking with Paul through adversity and through faithfully fulfilling the assignments Paul gave him.

Paul also reminded Timothy of his heritage of faith. He mentioned Timothy’s grandmother and his mother, saying he knew their strong faith resided in Timothy as well. You may take comfort and strength from this as well. I often think of my grandmother, who had only a few years of education, but who never missed church, knew her Bible and passed on her faith to her children and grandchildren.

Paul wanted Timothy to know he thought well of him. He wanted Timothy to know he had a strong heritage and a strong personal faith to stand on as did Paul. Then he moved on to give specific encouragement.

Timothy evidently had the gift of preaching. The gift was given by God. This gift was given to Timothy when Paul laid hands on him. Paul compared it to hot coals ready to catch fire. He said Timothy needed to fan it into flame.

Here we get an idea that Timothy, despite his faithfulness, might have been timid. Paul told him in verse seven not to be timid or fearful, for God gave us a spirit that was not fearful, but a spirit of power and love and self control. The Revised Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible say “timidity” rather than fearful. Paul recognized Timothy’s gift and wanted him to use it boldly.

Because God gave Timothy the spirit of power, not fear, Paul told him not to be ashamed of the gospel or of Paul. (8) Many had turned against Paul. They were ashamed of him. In verse 15, he said “all who are in Asia turned away from me”. Can you imagine the pain of that? Paul preached the gospel to them. He started their churches. He taught them. Then, when he went to prison for the gospel, they abandoned him. Was it because they did not want to be put in prison also? Was it an opportunity to take over control? Imagine having invested your life in people who abandoned you when you needed them the most.

That is the way it goes, though. Jesus experienced it. The Twelve abandoned him when he was arrested. He told his disciples they would experience the same. He said “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my sake.” Matthew 24:9. He also said “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you….If they persecuted me, the will also persecute you.” John 15:18

Paul knew Timothy would take flak for being Paul’s protégé. He told him to stand his ground and not shrink back in fear or timidity because of that. Paul also knew persecution had begun and would get worse. He admonished Timothy not be to ashamed of the gospel. Rather he was to be ready to suffer for the gospel by the power of God. (8)

The gospel normally takes hold through suffering. We preach the gospel. We suffer for it. People believe it. This was the story of the early church. The church suffered until Rome broke under the weight of it. The Reformation was brought about by a return to the preaching of justification through faith and suffering for it. Men were killed for preaching the gospel in almost every country in Europe. Luther lived in hiding for years for his preaching. Calvin left France for Geneva to avoid death. The French slaughtered hundreds of Huguenots. The English garroted and burned men alive for translating the Bible into English and preaching the gospel. The Catholic Scots beheaded Protestants and displayed their heads or sent them to their families.

Pastors in China today vanish or go to jail. Muslims bombed a church in Nigeria recently. Christians in Iraq are bombed, beaten and killed now that the control of Saddam Hussein has been removed. Iran hangs believers. Christians in Afghanistan have lost their church buildings and live in fear of death. Indonesian churches are bombed and burned.

Yet, Christ calls us to stand for him in the face of persecution. Jesus said “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23. That is a scary verse. But verse 26 is even scarier. He said “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

Paul was always able to launch into a little sermon about the gospel at any given time. Here he did it describing God in verse 9. He described both God the Father and God the Son.

First, Paul saved us and called us to a holy calling. He did not do this because of our works. In Ephesians 2:9, he said it is not the result of works so that no one may boast. Isaiah said “…all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment”. (Isaiah 64:6) Titus 3:5 says “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” Our works can never save us.

Much of the Bible was written to point this out to us. God created Adam with a free will and no sin nature. He placed him in a perfect place. He gave him a wife. He walked with them daily. Yet, they rejected God and chose to elevate themselves. God created the nation of Israel, redeemed it from slavery in Egypt, made a covenant with them and blessed them. Yet they rejected him in favor of gods of stone and wood.

Rather, God saved us because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (9) It might humble you a little to reflect on the fact that God saved you for his own purpose, not just for your sake. There are larger things going on than your life. God has a purpose in this creation and in humanity.

What was that purpose? That is a big discussion. But, we start with the simple proposition that God created humanity for God’s glory. He made Adam in God’s image. He was to rule the earth as God’s representative. He was to reflect the glorious character of God. He was to spread the knowledge and glory of God over all the earth. Paul portrayed Jesus the Second Adam because he accomplished what Adam failed to do.

God chose and created Israel for the same purpose. In Isaiah 43:7, God referred to his people as: “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made”.

God chose us, we who believe, before the foundation of the world, to be holy. (Ephesians 1:4) That is, he chose us and saved us to reflect his glory. He is holy. He says be holy as I am holy. He is saying because he is holy, we must be holy to reflect his nature and bring glory to him. (1 Peter 1:15-16) We are to reflect his glory of holiness. Romans 8:29 says “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” The result is the “praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6). When we live holy lives, we reflect God’s perfect nature and bring glory to him. This is our holy calling (8).

We are to spread his glory over all the earth, just like Adam. Psalm 37:29 says “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever”. Jesus told his disciples to make disciples in all nations. Matthew 28:19.

And what is the picture of eternal life at the end of the Revelation? It is a new earth, made like the Garden of Eden, over which the glory of God is permanently manifested. Revelation 21:23 describes it this way: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb (Jesus).”

In other words, we were not saved because we did good things. We were saved because it was God’s purpose to save us and he did it through his grace. He planned this all before the world began, but later manifested it when Christ appeared. So, to an extent, Paul was speaking of God’s election of believers. God knew what he was going to do for us before he made any of us.

Next Paul described God the Son. (10) He, Christ, abolished death and gave us eternal life. This is the heart of the gospel. Christ through his death on our behalf brought eternal life to those who believe in him. Jesus said it this way: “For God so loved the world (or God loved the world this way), that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16)

This is the message of the gospel Christ appointed Paul to preach (11). This gospel is the reason he was persecuted. (12) He suffered terribly. Yet, Paul was not ashamed. He said this in his introduction to the book of Romans: “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16. The gospel is the only message for salvation.

In verse 12 (2 Timothy 1:12), Paul stated the reason he was not ashamed, the reason he did not back away from the gospel when he was persecuted. The reason was that he trusted Christ to preserve him and the gospel. He said this in verse 12: “for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” (ESV) Other versions say “what I have entrusted to him”, and the hymn you know is written for that translation because it is based on the KJV. However, the context here and later in the letter is Timothy’s guarding the gospel that was entrusted to him as it was to Paul. Paul will later tell Timothy to entrust the gospel to other faithful men as it was entrusted to him. It is the same idea of Paul’s saying he was made a steward of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).

Christ entrusted the gospel to Paul, then to Timothy, then to us. We are pretty weak. We do not spend enough time concentrating on what the Bible says. Many redefine the gospel. But Paul says God is able to guard the gospel, to keep it undefiled. He has many times brought revival or reformation to accomplish that. He raised up men and women who read the Bible and cry out against those who have corrupted its message.

So, in verses 13-14, Paul exhorted Timothy to guard that deposit of the gospel. He could do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. As can we.

2012-01-08T21:52:00.001-06:00

2012-01-06T11:58:00.000-06:00

REBOOT

Whenever my work computer freezes up, the tech tells me to reboot. Somehow that causes the computer to restart without the difficulties I experienced.

You can reboot, too. If 2011 was not a good year for you spiritually, reboot now. Get a fresh start. Make 2012 a great year.

How do you do it? First of all, be honest. Be honest with yourself. Acknowledge you did not regularly attend church and Bible study. Realize you did not read and study the Bible. Remember you had no significant prayer life and no ministry to others.

Then be honest with God. We call that confession. Confess these shortcomings to God. He will forgive them. 1 John 1:9 is the promise of this.

Now that you have a fresh slate, what do you do? Let the past go. Move on. Learn from the past without the paralysis of guilt. In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul put it this way: “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Put the past behind you. Press on to live for Christ. Make 2012 a great year of spiritual growth and joy.

Reboot.

2012-01-03T17:18:00.000-06:00

The Next Billy Graham Might Be Drunk Right Now

Great article by Russell Moore. Christianity does not reproduce genetically, but spiritually.

2012-01-03T16:50:00.002-06:00

THOUGHTS ON TIM TEBOW

Mr. Tebow impresses me. Many famous people mention Jesus but live like the devil. Mr. Tebow seems to walk as well as talk. I just saw a video of him calling a young boy with cancer. The boy looked up to Mr. Tebow as a hero. He said he was awesome.

Mr. Tebow promised to see the boy and did so after a game. The boy was speechless. Way to go, Tim Tebow.

"You are the light of the world...let your light sine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

2012-01-01T07:25:00.001-06:00

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION\OLD YEARS EVALUATION
TAKING SPIRITUAL INVENTORY

It is New Years Day, the first day of 2012. Many are making resolutions. Some of the most common are to start exercising or to lose weight, to read more good books, to quit robbing convenience stores.

When you make a New Years Resolution, you acknowledge that you fell short in some area and need to do better. So that can be a good thing.

It is also a good thing for the follower of Christ to evaluate his or her life in light of the Bible and resolve to grow where needed.

Paul addressed this in his letters to the Philippians. He told them:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

Paul had just given them the great vision of the reigning Christ is 2:1-11. In light of that, he wanted the Philippians to continue to grow in obedience and Christ-like character even while he was gone.

It is easy for a believer to find a nice place on the road and stop there. He comes to a place where he does not sin overtly, he takes care of his family, he works, he reads a little of his Bible now and then and attends church. It gets comfortable and he stops. But the road goes on.

This road is the path of sanctification. It runs from the day of salvation to the day of glorification. God continually works to make us more like his son.

Paul put it this way: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) The fact that he began a good work means it is not complete, but he intends to complete it.

But where God did all the work in salvation, he expects us to do something regarding our sanctification. That is why Paul said to work out your salvation. Yet it is not ultimately our work, for he said it is God who works in you. We are trying to work it out, but God is working in us to accomplish his will. The Father’s will is that we become like his Son, like Christ. Romans 8:29 says “for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn of many brothers.” He predestined that believers would be conformed to the image of his son individually and that there would be a great number of us.

In light of this, one way to be sure we continually move toward becoming like Christ, to growing in sanctification, is to look at the things that the Bible says make up the Christian life and measure ourselves against it. Christian maturity comes from the patient practice of the Christian virtues and disciplines.

Let me suggest a process. First, you get alone somewhere quiet. You pray, asking God to reveal yourself to yourself and convict you of your shortcomings. Then, you read Scripture, make a list of areas to evaluate, then compare yourself to the standard God set in his word. When you find an area where you have had a good year, thank God for bringing this about in your life and ask him to help you continue in that area.

Where you find an area in which you fell short, acknowledge that to the Lord and ask forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Numbers 14:18 tells us God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression.

“Confess” means to acknowledge what you did, or did not do, and that it fell short of God’s standard.

What are some specifics with which we can evaluate ourselves? Here are a few.

One thing we know is that those who have believed in Jesus have received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works for our sanctification. If we live in obedience to him and follow him, he will bear fruit in our lives. That fruit is a character that reflects the character of God. Paul spelled it out in Galatians 5:22. He said “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control”.

This is a place to start. How did you do in 2011 exhibiting these fruits of the Spirit in your daily life? For example, I am a little edgy. It is hard for me to be at peace and to extend peace to people who make me mad. I often have to consciously give a situation to God and back away. I often have to ask forgiveness for not doing that. Yet, I can see how, as I began to apply this evaluation process, I have grown.

Matthew 5:1-11 contains a list of people who are blessed by God. They are commonly called the Beatitudes. They are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for the sake of Christ.

Jesus told us not to be anxious about our economic situation, but to live for God’s glory and trust him to provide for us. Matthew 6:25-34. Paul taught the same principle in Philippians 4:6-7. Around 2.5 million Americans suffer anxiety disorders. Women have them twice as frequently as men (probably because they live with men). How are you doing in the anxiety department?

Hebrews 10:25 tells us to continue meeting together. Are you faithful to gather with other believers in worship and fellowship?

1 Corinthians 11 tells us to observe the Lord’s Supper and to observe it correctly? Do you regularly attend the Lord’s Supper?

Do you walk by the Spirit, seeking to please God, or do you seek to please your flesh? Galatians 5:16 speaks to that. You should not be involved in any kind of sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, etc., as listed in the following verses.

Do you help those who are in need? Romans 12:13 says “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Do you obey the law of the government? Romans 13:1 says “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.”

Are you humble? Ephesians 4:1 says humility is walking worthy of our calling. The Bible constantly denounces pride.

Do you work to preserve the unity of the fellowship or cause divisions or hard feelings? See Ephesians 4:3.

Husband to you love your wife? See Ephesians 5:25.

Wives, do you submit to your own husband as to the Lord? (Ephesians 5:22)

Do you thank God for his blessings? Colossians 2:6 says you should abound in thanksgiving.

Do you rejoice in the Lord? Do you live a life of joy because you have Christ? Paul commanded us to rejoice (Philippians 3:1).

The Bible is full of statements of the things that please God, the traits God wants us to exhibit and the work he wants us to do. These are just a few to get you started.

One last thing: what if you go through this list and there is no way any of these describe you? Then, that part of working out your salvation is to make sure you are indeed saved. You can attend church and not be saved. Do you believe in Christ? Paul said the important facts are these: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and that he appeared to many after he died (1 Corinthians 15:3). Do you believe in this Jesus who died for your sins and was raised from the dead?

And if you do believe, have you also committed to live your life for Christ? Believing facts is not enough. James said the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19). You must commit your life to him regardless of the cost. Jesus put it this way: “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23).

You must follow him. Follow means to obey him and trust him. Jesus said my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me (John 10:27). Following is evidence of salvation. Good works are evidence of salvation. James wrote that faith apart from works is useless. Some versions say dead. (James 2:20). The Father created us in Christ for good works which he prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10). Jesus commanded us to do good works. He said “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

We do not work to get salvation, but we work out our salvation in the fear of the Lord as he works in us to bring about his purpose and will. Work out your salvation this year. Pursue sanctification. Be brutally honest with yourself and God.

The rewards are great.

2011-12-30T15:56:00.000-06:00

BAD RADIO PREACHING ON THE WILL

My wife told me yesterday that she heard a woman teaching on a local Christian radio station. The woman said God had never imposed his will on the will of any person. She is dead wrong. She did not cite any scripture for this, of course, because there is none.
I do not know why Evangelicals, especially Southern Baptists, have come to worship at the altar of free will instead of bowing to God’s sovereignty. They believe man imposes his will on God.

Has God ever violated or overruled a person’s will? Sure. Here are some examples.

1. Pharaoh in Exodus.

The easiest example to analyze is Pharaoh.

God told Pharaoh through Moses to let the Jews go. Pharaoh said no. Pharaoh’s will was that the Jews remain in Egypt in slavery to boost his economy. God sent plague after to plague, including killing his first born son, to break him down and force him to let the Jews go. That certainly qualifies as violating his will. More accurately, God imposed his will on Pharaoh.

Then Pharaoh decided he wanted the Jews back. He sent his army to get them and bring them back. God swallowed them up in a flood. That imposed God’s will on a man’s will.

God even said he hardened Pharaoh’s heart so God could gain glory from him. How did God gain glory? By imposing his will on Pharaoh and showing he is God and Pharaoh is not.

2. Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar wished to be gloried as the lord of all the earth. Daniel 4 tells the story. He said he built Babylon by his mighty power for the glory of his majesty. The Lord took his kingdom from him, making him act as a beast. Why? So that he would “know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Daniel 4:32. He imposed his will on Nebuchadnezzar to make him acknowledge God’s ability and right to impose his will on him. This right is called God’s sovereignty. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged it, saying “he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him “what have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35)

3. Jonah

God told Jonah to go preach the gospel to Nineveh. Jonah said no. Jonah ran in the opposite direction. God sent a storm, had him thrown into the sea and swallowed by a fish (symbolic of death) and only let him out when Jonah acknowledged the Lord. I’d call that God imposing his will on Jonah.

4. Zechariah.

When Zechariah questioned the message of Gabriel, he struck him speechless for nine months. (Luke 1)

5. Jewish Crowd

A crowd tried to grab Jesus and make him king. He vanished to thwart them. He imposed his will to be a servant on their will to make him king.

Another crowd willed to kill Jesus, but he imposed his will to complete his earthly ministry by vanishing from them. (John 8:34-47)

6. Peter

Peter willed that Jesus would not be crucified. Jesus rebuked him and continued to exert his will to die for us. (Matthew 16) Thank you for that, Jesus.

7. Me

God imposed his will on me. He convicted me of my sin and the judgment to come. He drew me to him for salvation. My will was to live for self. His will was for me to live for him. He won. Thank you for that, Jesus.

The Bible tells us the will of men and women is corrupt. (Jer. 17:9) I know it to be true of me. I want many things and would pursue them with reckless abandon if my will prevailed. I want God to violate my will and conform it to his will so it will be pleasing to him.

Thank you for that, too, Lord Jesus.

2011-12-29T15:26:00.001-06:00

The Lord that made both heaven and earth,
And was himself made man,
Lay in the womb, before his birth,
Contracted to a span.

Behold, from what beginnings small
Our great salvation rose;
The strength of God is owned by all;
But who his weakness knows?

Let not the strong the weak despise;
Their faith, though small, is true;
Though low they seem in others’ eyes,
Their Saviour seemed so too.

Nor meanly of the tempted think;
For O what tongue can tell
How low the Lord of life must sink,
Before he vanquished hell?

As in the days of flesh he grew
In wisdom, stature, grace,
So in the soul that’s born anew,
He keeps a gradual pace.

No less almighty at his birth,
Than on his throne supreme;
His shoulders held up heaven and earth,
When Mary held up him.

hymn by Joseph Hart (1712-68),

2011-12-26T08:11:00.000-06:00

Let’s Stop Ignoring Joseph Russell Moore fleshes out the character of Joseph. He rightly maintains that Joseph is too often ignored in the Christmas story.

2011-12-25T20:18:00.001-06:00

Devotion 25. Anna’s Testimony

The final witness to the baby Jesus as Christ came from an old widow named Anna. She was 84, very old for her time. She was a prophetess, declaring God’s word. They may have been in part because “she did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. Rather than bemoaning her fate as a long time widow, she spent her time with the Lord. She worshipped, fasted and prayed continuously. Her life was totally and completely devoted to God. In return, he sometimes spoke through her. So she was known and accepted as a prophetess.

The Lord used her as another witness to the birth of the Messiah, the Savior. He revealed to her, as he had to Simeon, that Jesus was the Messiah. He did this while Jesus was dedicated at the temple. Others were there dedicating their children, praying, worshipping and making sacrifices. She witnessed to all of these that Jesus was the Messiah.

Luke put it this way: “And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38).

The Father did not send Jesus to us for us to keep him to ourselves. Once we have received him, we are to share him with others. That is why it is called news. You tell news. You spread news.

Jesus spread the news. He preached the gospel to devout Jews in Judea. He preached to the Samaritans, hated by Jews but loved by God. He preached to Gentiles, called “dogs” by the Jews, but “children of God” by Jesus when they believed. When he went back to heaven, Jesus commissioned the disciples to carry on the task. That has now been passed on to us.

Christmas can be the time you spend a lot of money, go to a lot of parties and generally eat and drink too much. Or, it can be a time you share the gospel. You can proclaim Christ as Anna did to whoever will listen.

Speak of him to all.

God bless. I pray these devotions have been of some benefit to all who have read them. They have been good for me.

2011-12-25T19:50:00.000-06:00

Devotion 24. Simeon’s Testimony

The Holy Spirit was active in proclaiming the birth of Christ. He spoke though Mary, Elizabeth and Zechariah to announce Messiah’s birth. He led wise men from the East to Christ.

But he was not through. Next he spoke through an old man named Simeon.

Luke 2:22 begins the story. Joseph and Mary were devout Jews. They brought their first born to the temple for purification and to redeem him for the Lord according to the covenant law. That is where they met Simeon.

Simeon was righteous and devout. He knew his Scripture and was looking for the Messiah. The Holy Spirit had even told him he would live to see the Messiah (25). And God kept his word, of course. So Simeon saw the baby Jesus, took him from his mother and held him up and blessed God for fulfilling his promises, both his promise to Simeon and his promise to Israel.

As the others had spoken in the Holy Spirit, so Simeon began to prophesy or preach. He said:

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

The Holy Spirit declared God’s purpose again. Christ would be a light not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles. He would be the glory of Israel. That is, he would be the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to them. It is the same truth we have heard repeatedly. God made his purposes known.

I wonder if Mary told her other sons about this experience. They evidently did not believe in him until his resurrection. But, maybe while they complained to her about his controversial preaching, she related this story.

James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. After the gospel spread to the Gentiles and they formed a vibrant church at Antioch, some Jews tried to enforce the law on them. A conference was held in Jerusalem between the representatives of the Antioch church and the apostles. It is recorded in Acts 15. James was clearly in charge.

James had the final word. He said the conversion of the Gentiles was the fulfillment of the word of God in the Hebrew scriptures. And they, and the Jews, were now part of a new covenant. The old law was not in force against them. James understood the purpose of God as preached in the Old Testament and by Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and Simeon.

Simeon understood the gospel and believed it. He encountered Christ, even as a baby, and found eternal life. He was at peace and ready for God to take him.

May we have the same peace. We have found eternal life through faith in Christ. Those who believe in him will not perish but rather will have eternal life. John 3:16. Because we have eternal life, we can start every day saying if it is your will to take me today, I will depart in peace for I have seen your salvation.

2011-12-25T19:03:00.000-06:00

Devotion 23. The 1st Gentile Worshippers

In previous devotions, we saw that God’s intention was always to spread his glory over all the earth. It was not his intention to limit the knowledge of himself to Israel. God told both Adam and Noah to multiply over the earth and take dominion of it. He told Abraham he would bless all nations. He set Israel in a special land to be a kingdom that would be the light of the world. Through Isaiah he said “…the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together…” (Isaiah 40:5).

When the Savior was born into the world, God demonstrated his purpose dramatically. He reached out to wise men living in the eastern world and drew them to Jesus. They may have been philosophers or astrologers living in Persia. Some think them to have been Medes in the Persian Empire. Regardless, God drew them to himself. Matthew told the story in chapter 3 of his gospel. They saw a star. Somehow they knew that following it would lead them to the king of the Jews. I have often thought that they might have had Daniel’s prophecy from the time he lived in exile in Babylon. The Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to come home. Daniel 9 informs us that Daniel continued to serve in the Persian Empire. Its king was Darius, who was actually a Mede.

Somehow the wise men also knew he was more than an earthly king, for they came to worship him (Matthew 2:2). They were looking for a sign this great king had come. They saw the star as that sign. They went to worship, driven by the Lord. It reminds me of Jesus’ words in John 6:44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” The Father certainly drew the wise men to him. And they were Gentiles.

So from the beginning of Jesus’ earthly life, God worked to manifest him to Gentiles. These wise men were missionaries of a sort. They saw the Son of God. They worshipped him. They returned to their land and told their story. It was all as God intended and all according to his purpose.

Most of you who read this devotion are Gentiles. God drew you to himself. He brought you into his kingdom. These wise men were the first fruits of the Gentile branches grafted into the tree of God’s kingdom (Romans 11:17). Now there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile (Romans 10:12). What is important now is not race, but belief. The distinction is between those who believe in Christ and those who do not, for the Lord bestows his riches on all who call on him. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:12-13).

And of course we see the intended result is worship. God called these Gentiles from far away to come and worship Christ. And they did.

When you worship on Christmas Day (fittingly on the Lord’s Day this year), rejoice that God did not limit salvation to the Jews. Praise him for this great mercy. He chose to spread his knowledge over the earth by including Gentiles in his salvation. When you sit in the pew and hear the gospel, worship the Lord of salvation and realize you were as far away from Christ as the wise men until God drew you to himself and bestowed his grace upon you so that you became a child of God.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us,,that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1).

2011-12-24T17:12:00.000-06:00

Devotion 22. Immanuel

After he related the story of Gabriel giving Mary God’s message concerning her baby, Matthew inspired by the Holy Spirit, explained that “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23d“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:21-22)

Matthew referred to Isaiah’s prophesy in Isaiah 7:14. The context of that passage was the reign of King Ahaz recorded in 2 Kings. Ahaz was a king of Judah and not a good one. Samaria (the northern kingdom of Israel) and Syria had joined forces to conquer Judah. God sent Isaiah a message through Isaiah, the prophet, to say that they would not succeed. In fact, a young woman would conceive and bear a child and before the child got old enough to eat on his own, Judah would defeat these enemies.

The passage goes on to describe a time of peace and favor of the Lord that would occur thereafter. Matthew said that prophecy had its ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Christ. Matthew, writing in Greek, used the word for “virgin”, whereas Isaiah, writing in Hebrew, used the word for young woman of marriage age. As a side note, this caused some to reject the Revised Standard Version and others which interpreted the Isaiah passage as young woman rather than virgin. I think this unnecessary, as we would not have known the ultimate fulfillment of the verse until the Holy Spirit explained it to us in Matthew’s gospel. At any rate, Matthew says the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy comes in the birth of Christ.

The heart of this word is that Christ is referred to as Emanuel. Matthew explains it means God with us. To the people of the time of Ahaz, it would have told them that the God whose presence filled the temple would be among them and protect them. But with the birth of Christ a greater meaning came to the name just as a greater fulfillment came to the prophecy.

Christ truly became God with us. First, he took on human flesh and dwelt with the disciples. John explained that in John 1:14. He said “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. But then, he departed and the Holy Spirit came and dwelt in believers, permanently being among us.

It has always been God’s purpose and design to create a people for himself and to dwell among them. He made Adam and Eve and prepared a place for them to live in his presence (Genesis 2:8). He even walked in the garden (Genesis 3:8).

After redeeming Israel from slavery in creating them as a people for himself, God prepared a place for them and dwelt in their midst. First he dwelt in the Tabernacle. Next we dwelt in the Temple.

Christ then came and dwelt with his people, the disciples. Then the Holy Spirit dwelt among the believers. No buildings were necessary. But in the new creation, God will dwell in our midst forever. John put it this way: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:3).

Christmas celebrates God with us. We think of the Incarnation. But we look forward to his 2nd Coming to dwell with us forever.

I’m ready.

2011-12-24T14:35:00.000-06:00

Devotion 21. Shepherds Worship Jesus

The shepherds had quite a night. First, angels appeared and announced the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Then they went and saw him first hand. As would fit his ministry, Jesus manifested himself first to the poorest of the poor.

And how did the shepherds respond to their encounter with Christ? They worshipped. Luke 2:20 (ESV) says “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

Any encounter with Christ should produce worship. I am mindful of this when t here is a fair amount of drama happening at my church. There is so much concern over the schedule and the style of music, the dress and the order of the service. In the middle of these concerns, worship gets lost to our loss.

I am mindful of this at Christmas. In the midst of shopping, decorating, partying and the dreadful traffic, worship gets lost. The secular aspects of the holiday overshadow worship.

In fact, I am mindful of this in daily life. Commuting, working, errand running and exercising are all fillers of the day. When I concentrate on them, worship is lost.

If you do not worship wholeheartedly and continuously, your life will be dry and stressful. You will obsess over small things and ignore big things.

God wants you to worship him. In fact, he demands it. Isaiah 66:23 records the word of the Lord: “From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord.” From new moon to new moon means all month long. From Sabbath to Sabbath means all week long, not just on the day set aside for worship. Believers are to be fully engaged in worship full time. That is pleasing to the Lord.

We often read the Lord’s words “you shall worship me” by going on to concentrate on the condemnation of idol worship. But the first command is to worship him. Hebrews 12:21 says “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe”. The response to salvation is gratitude and worship.

When all is made new and God dwells among us in the New Earth, what will we do? John’s vision of heaven gives us a clue. He wrote in Revelation 4:10:

the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”

They worship in heaven. They worship in the presence of God.

We have God living in us and among us. We need to worship him as they did: continually.

2011-12-23T22:34:00.001-06:00

Devotion 20. Angels Preach to the Shepherds.

Luke tells us in Luke 2: 8-14:

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Kings do not come to town unannounced. They send heralds before them to announce their appearance so people will be ready for them. It was the same with Jesus Christ. But in his case, his heralds were angels. They came to announce the good news that Jesus was born in the City of David. I do not know why, but God chose to herald the coming of Christ to some shepherds. These guys were camped out with their flock of sheep in the fields when the angels appeared. The angels told them the Messiah, the Christ, had been born. They told them where he would be and what he looked like so they would know when they found him.
There was important news in this announcement. The long awaited Messiah had appeared. From the beginning, when Adam and Eve heard the curse on the serpent, God’s people awaited the one who would defeat Satan. They awaited the seed of Abraham that would bless all nations. They looked for the prophet like Moses. They waited for the one perfect sacrifice. They expected a Suffering Servant that would bear their iniquities and heal their wounds with his stripes. Now, the angels announced, this Messiah appeared. The word Messiah is the English translation for the Hebrew word meaning “Annointed”. The word “one” is implied, so “Annointed One” would be a fair translation. In Greek it is Kristos if you use English letters. We transliterate it as Christ.
Jesus would later say the title should be his. Mark 14:60-62 records the following conversation:
And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
The angels’ second piece of news was that this news would be joy for all peoples. God promised Abraham a descendant who would bless all nations. That descendant arrived in Bethlehem announced by angels.
Third, those with whom God was pleased, those whom he called into his kingdom, would find peace with God. Sinful men and women are enemies of God. But Christ would reconcile his followers to the Father (Romans 5:10). Christ is the only one who can bring about this reconciliation in the life of believers. Jesus said “no one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6).
What a wonderful event and what a blessing to hear the news first. Yet, thanks to the Bible and the faithful witness of Christ’s disciples throughout the centuries, we join the angels in praise to God for his gracious salvation. The shepherds witnessed this first great praise: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
That multitude of heavenly beings is now joined by a multitude of believers from all of time and from every country that ever existed glorifying God and preaching the gospel of reconciliation to God: peace to those with whom he is pleased. Revel in the knowledge that the Creator of the Universe is pleased with you if you follow his Son. He takes pleasure in your praise and your obedience. What more could you ask?

2011-12-23T12:56:00.000-06:00

Devotion 19. Zechariah’s Testimony

After John (the Baptist) was born, Zechariah was allowed to speak. But the first speech he gave was from the Holy Spirit.

Here is what he said, started at Luke 1:67:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

The Holy Spirit first directed John to praise the Father. He praised the Father for sending the Son as the Savior. You have a nice little Trinitarian event here.
This praise also comes in the context of covenant. God is praised as the covenant keeping God. He mentioned God’s covenant with Abraham and his covenant with David. He said both covenants were fulfilled in the coming of Christ.

Zechariah also testified that Christ’s coming fulfilled the words of the prophets of old. All of the prophets testified to a future redemption and deliverance of God’s people. Christ fulfilled that by bringing salvation and drawing men and women into it. He made people all over the earth “his people” by transferring them from the kingdom of darkness to his kingdom of light.

John would be the prophet of this salvation. The Holy Spirit made clear through Zechariah that this salvation would not be a military triumph, throwing off Roman rule. It would be forgiveness of sins.

He also told us what this forgiveness and salvation was for. It was not just a get out of hell free card. It was not to recite magic words that get us into heaven when we die. No, we are subjects of a king. We can be subjects to sin and the devil. Or we can be subjects of Christ. Subjects serve their king and master. (John 8:34; Romans 6:16) Therefore, Zechariah says it means they “might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

Modern Evangelism does not often preach this service. The plea is to come and take Jesus into your heart, words not really found in the Bible. What we do is receive him (John 1:12). We receive him as savior, but also as master and king. We become his servants as well as his brothers.

So the plea to repent is not just to feel sorry for your sin. Repent really means to turn around, to do a U-turn and head in the right direction. So, the plea is to turn away from following your selfish desires, from the path of sin, and to turn around and follow the path of righteousness in service to Christ. Jesus said “if any one would serve me he must follow me” (John 12:26). That sounds easy until you consider the context. He was talking about his death. He meant to serve him was to follow him to death, to despise this life lived for yourself and to embrace the life devoted to serving Christ, even if it meant dying for him.

Christmas would be a great time to start following Christ.

2011-12-19T07:58:00.002-06:00

The third generation of Kim now assumes the throne in North Korea. It just goes to show, under all the rhetoric and uniforms, their government is really a monarchy handing down the throne through generations. Cuba is the same. Castro handed off the throne to his brother.

All the talk of sharing the wealth just ends up in poverty for the masses, a decadent king and a strong army to shoot down anyone in the country who dares to point that out.

It is a pity for the North Korean people, who live in poverty and starvation while their brothers in the South prosper.

2011-12-18T21:52:00.000-06:00

Devotion 18: Mary Confessed: God Kept His Promise.
After hearing Elizabeth’s Holy Spirit inspired praise, Mary erupted into praise to God. Talk about a praise service, these two women, one young and one old, celebrated the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord together.
Mary’s praise is sometimes called “The Song of Mary”, but is also known as the Magnificat. I like to call it “Mary’s Song of Praise”. I want to focus on the last sentence:
He has helped his servant Israel
In remembrance of his mercy
As he spoke to our fathers
To Abraham and to his offspring forever.
Mary was quite the little theologian. Upon hearing the angel tell her she would bear the Messiah and hearing Elizabeth confess him as her Lord, Mary thought of the promise that God would again have mercy on Israel.
Psalm 98:3 says “He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel”. Several times God judged Israel with defeat to their enemies. Then he would restore them when they repented.
God ultimately sent Israel and Judah into captivity. The last remnant was carried off to Babylon and the city destroyed. The king was put in prison. Many were executed. Then, in the time of Daniel, Babylon fell to Persia and Cyrus sent the Jews home. They worked to rebuild their city and God’s house. It never reclaimed its former glory, however. No Israelite king took the throne again. Israel existed, but under the rule of foreigners. The Persians, the Greeks and the Romans and their designees all ruled Israel. When the temple was restored, the king was not actually Jewish at all and certainly not Davidic. The Jews longed for the Messiah to return their kingdom. They longed for God’s favor.
The prophet Micah prophesied the returned favor of the Lord. Micah 7:20 says:
You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old.
The Lord expressed favor by sending his son. The Son did not come that first time to establish an earthly kingdom in the sense that Israel would again be a world power and throw off the rule of the Romans. Instead his kingdom would be his rule in the hearts of those who believed in him. He preached that the kingdom was at hand and that it was within them. When he comes the 2nd time, he will establish his kingdom and rule on the new earth. But the favor of the Lord still came in the form of salvation.
Mary’s mind also went back to Abraham. God made a promise to Abraham thousands of years before. God told Abraham “in you all the families on earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:4). Mary realized the time had come. This Messiah, this savior, would not restrict salvation to Jerusalem or Judea. His mission was much greater. He would extend God’s expression of favor, his salvation, over the whole face of the earth. God said:
It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
Christ would do what Adam failed to do. He would do what Israel failed to do. He would fulfill the promise to Abraham blessing all the families of earth.
God always keeps his promise.
And salvation is the greatest promise of all.

2011-12-17T22:01:00.001-06:00

Devotion 17 Elizabeth Speaks by the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:39-45 tells the story of Mary going to visit Elizabeth right after she heard the news from the angel. That news included the fact that her relative Elizabeth, though an old woman, had also conceived a special son and was already in her sixth month.

There is a bit of irony here. Zechariah asked for a sign and was punished with muteness because he did not believe and asked for a sign. Mary did not ask for a sign but was given one in the form of a barren relative who miraculously conceived in old age.

So Mary took off quickly to see Elizabeth (Lk. 1:39). When she arrived, the baby John, already filled with the Holy Spirit (1:15), leaped in Elizabeth’s womb to be in the presence of the newly conceived Messiah. Even as a baby in the womb he was thrilled by the presence of Jesus.

Then a most unusual thing happened. God sent another word about his son, the Messiah. The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth and this old, pregnant, woman began to prophesy! She was loud about it, too. She “exclaimed with a loud cry” (1:42).

The Holy Spirit always points to Christ (John 15:26). He did so here. Being God, he sovereignly chose through whom he would speak. The mother of John the Baptist testified through the Spirit to the mother of Christ, as her son would later testify to Mary’s son. What a beautiful and intricate package. God kept his word, testified to his word and blessed those who believed his word.

Here is what Elizabeth said: blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken of her from the Lord. (Lk. 1:42-45)

“Blessed” means to be in the favor of the Lord. Elizabeth declared through the Spirit that Mary was favored of the Lord. This word of the Lord spoken by Elizabeth repeated the word of the Lord spoken by the angel to Mary: she had found favor with the Lord (Lk. 1:30).

Elizabeth went on to say that the baby Jesus also was blessed. He also had the favor of the Lord. John the Baptist would later testify to the outward manifestation of this favored status at the baptism of Jesus. Matthew recorded. A voice came from heaven and said “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. (Matthew 3:17)

Lastly, Elizabeth said Mary had the favor of the Lord because she believed the Lord would fulfill what was spoken of her from the Lord (Lk. 1:45). In contrast to the doubt of Zechariah, Elizabeth’s own husband, she declared the Lord’s favor on Mary for her belief.

All who believe the word of the Lord about Christ Jesus find his favor. All who do not believe find his wrath.

Believe and be blessed.

2011-12-16T16:04:00.000-06:00

Devotion 16. Mary v. Zechariah

Luke tells us the story of two miraculous births preceded by angelic announcements. It also tells us of two different reactions to the news.

The parents of John the Baptist were Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were old and childless. Zechariah was a priest. To be childless in that time was a humiliation. It was even taken as a sign of God’s disfavor. Many stories in the Bible revolve around God blessing a barren woman with a child.

Before John was conceived, an angel appeared to Zechariah to give him the news and prepare him for the great ministry the Lord had prepared for John. Zechariah was at work in the Temple, burning incense of the altar of incense. This altar sat before the ark of the covenant. It was made of acacia wood. It was square and had horns on the corners that were of one piece with it. It was overlaid with pure gold. Special incense was made to burn on it. It could not be used for anything else. The smoke from the incense represented the prayers of the priests and the people going up to God. In fact, Luke notes that a multitude of people were outside praying while Zechariah burned the incense (1:10).

The angel appeared next to the altar of incense. I think he did that to convey to Zechariah that he had come to deliver the message that God had granted Zechariah’s prayer for a child. The angel then told Zechariah he would have a child. His prayers had been answered (1:13). And what a child he would be! Many would rejoice at this birth (14), he would be great before the Lord and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of conception (15). He would be a prophet like the great Elijah and prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah (16-17). This would all result in tremendous joy and gladness for Zechariah and Elizabeth (14).

Imagine being told by an angel that you would have a child when it appeared impossible. Not only that, imagine your child would be a great man for the Lord. He would be another Billy Graham or R. C. Sproul or Jonathan Edwards. Of course that would bring you great joy! You would jump and shout and high five your spouse and dance around together. You would call your friends and share the good news.

But not Zechariah: he doubted. Remember he is in the Temple holy place in the presence of a glorious angel. He said “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” (18).He asked for a sign that the angel was telling him the truth. I would like to think if an angel came and told me something I would believe it. I would not ask for a sign. And of course, the sign was the coming of the angel to tell him at the altar of incense.

This angel was Gabriel. He was not pleased that Zechariah would doubt him or doubt the Lord. He responded: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” (1:19-20).

Because of Zechariah’s unbelief, his mouth was shut until the baby was born.

Now compare his reaction to Mary’s.

The same Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would have a baby who would be the Messiah. (26-33) Mary also had a question, but she did not ask for a sign or express doubt. Luke 1:34 says “And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’”. Mary did not doubt the word of the Lord spoken by Gabriel. She just did not understand how it would happen, since she was a virgin and knew she should not have sex with her husband until their wedding. So, Gabriel explained to her that the Holy Spirit would place the child in her. He did not condemn her question. He graciously answered it. He did not reprimand her, for she did not doubt. In fact, upon receiving this supernatural explanation, she simply submitted to the Lord’s will. She said “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” In effect she said, I am the Lord’s servant, he can do with me as he will.

The contrast is startling. Zechariah was old. He should have been wise and mature. In fact, the passage says he and his wife were righteous. In addition, Zechariah was a priest. He was honored to be chosen by the other priests to serve in the holy place and minister the altar of incense. But at the crucial moment, he doubted.

Ironically, he had prayed for a child. By doing so he expressed his belief that God would hear his prayer and had the power to grant it. Yet when God said he would answer his prayer, he did not believe. All of us have done similarly. We have prayed for something, but expressed surprise when God made it happen as we asked. Worse yet, we have taken credit for it and not given God thanks and praise for accomplishing it.

Mary on the other hand was young. Many think she was around 14. That was marriageable age for a virgin Jewess of the time. She was a Godly young woman who heard the word of the Lord, believed it and affirmed her submission to the will of the Lord.

Not many of us will have an angel come with the answer to our prayers. Only a few in the Bible had the experience. But we will experience answers to prayer. In response, we need to be careful to give God the glory and thank him for his gracious providence.

Not many of us will receive any word from the Lord given by the mouth of an angel. But all of us have the Word of the Lord in printed form. You do not have to pray for God to speak to you. Every time you open your Bible and read any word of it, God has spoken. When you read it, you may respond like Zechariah or Mary. You may doubt and even ask for signs that it is true. This does not please the Lord.

Or you may read it, no matter how fantastic it seems to you, and say “I am your servant. Let it be to me as you have said”.

2011-12-16T13:07:00.003-06:00

PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO DO NOT THINK THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE RE-ELECTED

A recent survey shows that 52% of Americans do not think the President should be re-elected. That sounds devastating on the surface, but in fact you should note that you do not have to win the popular vote by a majority to win the election. Because the election is not a popular vote election, the number of votes by state in the electoral college controls who wins. For example, here are the percentages for the last several elections.

1992 Bill Clinton 43.01%
1996 Bill Clinton 49.23%
2000 George W. Bush 47.87%
2004 George W. Bush 50.73%
2008 Barack Obama 52.87%

Bill Clinton never got a majority of the popular vote. George W. Bush only got the majority by a fraction in his section election.

So, while the poll numbers are interesting, and no president wants to be a minority president, the poll is not representative of election results.

2011-12-15T15:58:00.000-06:00

Devotion 15. Name Him Jesus

God left nothing to chance. He told aspects of this event to his prophets over the centuries. Now that the time had come, he gave specific instructions. The Father sent Gabriel to Mary with His word about her role in his redemptive plan. Gabriel is God’s messenger. He stands in God’s presence and carries his instructions where God sends him. (Luke 1:19 ESV) records this statement from Gabriel to Zechariah: “And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.” (Luke 1:26)

So the Lord sent Gabriel to Mary with a message. The angel said “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31). That is a very specific instruction. Luke did not tell us why God cared what the baby was called.

Or maybe the naming of the child was not the mother’s prerogative, but the father’s. We see in the story of the birth of John the Baptist that the angel told the baby’s father, Zechariah, what to name the baby. When the baby was born, the neighbors asked Zechariah, not Elizabeth, what he had named the baby.

An angel also spoke to Mary’s husband, Joseph. After explaining the divine pregnancy, the angel instructed Joseph “She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21 ESV).

The Savior would be named Jesus. He would bear that name because he would save his people from their sins. We do not know what language the angel spoke to Joseph, but it would seem from history that Hebrew people of that time still gave their children Hebrew names. The New Testament was written in Greek and many people in Palestine spoke common Greek and Aramaic. But the names were Hebrew. For example, Paul had a Hebrew name, but was given a Greek name after conversion.

The Hebrew\Aramaic name translated “Jesus” in Greek is “Yeshua”. That is likely the name he was given. A good indicator is the inscription on the “James Ossuary”, the bone box reputed to hold the bones of Jesus’ earthly brother, James. In may not be the real ossuary of James, but the language on it has been shown to be authentic for the time. The English translation of the inscription is “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. The inscription reads “Ya’akov bar Yoseph akhui diYeshua”.

The name Yeshua was not uncommon. In fact, it appears many times in the Old Testament. In English it is commonly translated “Joshua”, although there are other variants. The Greek translates to “Iesous”.

But here is why I look at the Hebrew name. Hebrew names meant something. Yeshua means “the Lord’s salvation” or “salvation from the Lord”. This was yet another way that the Lord signaled to Israel that this was their Messiah, their savior.

I wonder if Mary, upon hearing this command, thought of Isaiah 53. That chapter speaks of the Messiah and his sacrifice for sin. It ways he was wounded for our transgressions (5). The iniquity of us all would be laid on him (6). He would be an offering for guilt(10). He would be the savior.

Peter preached the same message. He said “…there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Centuries later the Westminster Confession echoed the words of Scripture: “it pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the…Savior of his church…” (Chap. 8, Sec. 1).

There is no other name.

2011-12-14T18:33:00.000-06:00

Devotion 14. Jesus: Fully God

Although Jesus was fully man, he remained fully God. Here are some reasons we know this.

The angel told Mary her child would be from the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:35). He would be called the son of the Most High (Luke 1:32).

Long before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied concerning him. He said “…his name shall be called…Mighty God…” (Isaiah 9:6).

Many modern theologians and philosophers have tried to maintain that the Bible does not claim Jesus was God and neither did Jesu. But that is not correct.

Jesus said “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) and “the Father is in me and I am in the Father (John 10:38).

John 1:1 says “the Word (Jesus) was God”. That is pretty clear.

The Jews understood it and opposed him. For example, John 5:18 tells us the Jews sought to kill him because he was calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

When the apostle Thomas saw Jesus resurrected, he declared "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Jesus did not correct him.

Titus 2:13 says we are "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."

We also know Jesus is God because he manifests the attributes of God:
1. He knows everything (Mt 16:21; Luke 11:17; John 4:29),
2. He has all power (Mt 8:26, 27; 28:18; Jn 11:38-44; Lk 7:14-15; Revelation 1:8),
3. He has life in himself (Jn 1:4; 14:6; 8:58),
4. He reigns or rules over everything (Mt 28:18; Rev 19:16; 1:5),
5. He is eternal, not beginning or ending (John 1:1; 8:58), and
6. He created in the world, or it was created through him, (John 1:3).

The divinity of Christ has been challenged many times. It was an issue all the way back in the 400s. The Council of Chalcedon considered the issue and upheld his divinity. The statement of the council says:

"Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us."

Jesus is God who became a man, born as a baby, who lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death, rose from the grave and sat down at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He is not just a good teacher or a nice man. To receive eternal life, salvation, you must receive him for who he is. John 1:12 tells us that those who receive him receive the right to become children of God. Receive him as God and King and receive eternal life in God’s family.

2011-12-14T16:15:00.001-06:00

I apologize to all to whom I had formerly linked on this blogroll. While messing with the settings, I accidentally deleted the whole thing. Now I will need to recreate it. So, I am not at any of you and did not intentionally de-link you.

2011-12-13T17:58:00.000-06:00

Devotion 13. Jesus: Fully Man

The angel Gabriel told Mary she would be pregnant and give birth to a son (Luke 1:31). The Son of God became a man without giving up his divinity. You may have heard the phrase “fully God and fully man” to describe this. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, but grew as a fully human child in the womb of Mary and was born as any human baby is. Philippians 2:7 said he was made in human likeness (NIV).

The story of his life in the gospels demonstrates his humanity. He got tired, hungry and thirsty. He wept at the loss of his friend Lazarus. He felt pain when he was tortured. He bled. He died physically.

The church has maintained the full humanity of Christ through the ages. John 1:14 says Christ became flesh and dwelt among us. 1 John 4:2 says every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 2 John 7:7 puts it strongly: “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

Christ’s humanity is important for several reasons. Here are a few. He had to be born under the law and satisfy its requirements so that his righteousness could be credited to us. This is sometimes called his active obedience. Galatians 4:4 says “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, so that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Romans 5:18-19 says “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” What the first Adam did, the Second Adam “undid”.

By taking on humanity, Jesus was perfected as our Savior and Mediator. Hebrews 2:17 says he had to be made like us in all ways so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest and to make propitiation for sins. Hebrews 4:15 says “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.”

Every pain you feel, Jesus felt. His father died when he was young. His brothers rejected him and thought he was crazy until he appeared to them after the resurrection. His people, the Jews, largely rejected him. The leaders of his religion persecuted him and eventually assassinated him. He lost a friend to death. He walked until he was exhausted, taught until he was so tired he fell asleep in a boat during a storm. He was criticized. He was doubted. His disciples abandoned him. He suffered excruciating pain. He did all this so he could perfectly sympathize with you.

Have you ever tried to share your pain or anxiety with a person that just has everything going their way? Did they patronize you or brush you off? Did they just not understand because they had never suffered? It is not that way with Jesus. While fully in human flesh, he suffered all that we do.

He did not sin, but he understands the pain.

2011-12-13T17:46:00.000-06:00

Devotion 12. Jesus The New Israel.

Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the promises to Israel. He is the goal of Israel’s existence. He is the final destination of faith.

Matthew presented his gospel in a manner that shows Jesus as Israel. He did this to show the promises to Israel were fulfilled in Christ.

I believe Matthew organized his gospel into five sections to show Christ was the fulfillment of the Torah and, therefore, of all the Old Testament scripture. That is too much to analyze here, but it is an interesting study.

Here are some examples of Matthew’s presentation. Matthew begins his gospel saying this is the book of the generations of Jesus Christ. Genesis 2:4 says these are the generations of the heavens and earth when they were created. It repeats that language in reference to Adam in Genesis 5:1.

Matthew gives a detailed genealogy of Jesus, Genesis gives several genealogies of the Israel. Both tell of miraculous births: Isaac and Jesus. Israel and Jesus both go to Egypt for protection. Both are tempted in the wilderness: Israel for 40 years and Jesus for 40 days, in which he quotes scripture for the time of Israel’s wilderness experience.

Matthew 2:15 in particular is interesting. In writing of Jesus going to Egypt to escape Herod, Matthew wrote that this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet “Out of Egypt I called my son” (ESV) The prophet here is Hosea, who in Hosea 11:1 said “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” The son in Hosea 11:1 is Israel. Matthew directly says this is a prophecy and Jesus fulfills it.

One last example occurs at the giving of the great commission, the last event recorded by Matthew. Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Hebrew Bible (we have re-arranged the books) ends with the words of 2 Chronicles 36:23: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD, the god of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.”

Cyrus, under the influence of the Holy Spirit claimed universal authority. Christ did the same. Both told the people of God to go and to build a house for God. The Jews were to go home and build the temple as God’s house. The disciples were to go into the world to build the new temple, the body of Christ.

Matthew began his gospel alluding to the beginning of the Hebrew scripture and ended by alluding to the end of the Hebrew scripture. He was saying Christ is the sum and substance, the fulfillment, of the Old Testament.

Jesus spoke of this principle to two of his disciples after his resurrection. Luke 24:47 says “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” The entire Old Testament and all of its promises are about Jesus and fulfilled in him.

Paul referred to this principle. He said ‘For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Some versions of the Bible say “yes and amen”.

So we again see that God has kept his word in all aspects. Every word of promise is fulfilled in Christ. We also see that there is nothing insufficient in God’s work for us. Christ fulfills it all. When God promised Adam and Eve he would bring a descendant who would defeat Satan, he fulfilled it in Christ. When he promised forgiveness of sin, he fulfilled it in Christ. When he promised to dwell with his people, he fulfilled it in Christ. When he promised to reign over his people, he fulfilled it in Christ.

Now we see why it is so important to believe in Christ and abide in him. There is no other. There is nothing else to wait for. There is only Christ, who is all and in all. He is the goal of history. He is the head of the church. In eternity, he will be the center of our universe.

Christmas is a little reflection of that. Everything centers on Jesus.

2011-12-13T14:01:00.001-06:00

Devotion 11. A Ruler From Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2 contains a very specific prophesy about Christ. The context of this verse is a message of hope. This passage likely contains prophesy spoken by Micah during the reign of Hezekiah. Jerusalem was under constant threat and, ultimately, attack from Assyria. Micah condemned much in the worship and lifestyle of Jerusalem. He spoke of its destruction as a result of God’s anger over their sin. But he also spoke a word of hope.

Remember also what prophesy is in the Biblical context. It is a word spoken by God through his prophet.

Look at this specific prophesy.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

This prophesy told Israel that its Messiah would be born in the little town of Bethlehem. We know it was little at that time because it say the town is too little to even be in the clans of Judah. (The designation “Ephrathah” distinguishes it from another town in the north of Israel also called Bethlehem.)

The Jews clearly understood this prophesy as Messianic. After the Magi came seeking “the king of the Jews”, an upset King Herod sent for the chief priests and scribes. He asked them where Christ was to be born (Matthew 2:3-4). He was not a Godly man, but even he knew Christ was promised. He also seemed to understand that Christ would be king of the Jews. He just did not want that to happen. The priests and scribes cited Micah 5:2 and told him Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:5-6). Matthew related the story so as to show Jesus’ birth fulfilled this prophesy.

The reason God had Jesus born in Bethlehem was that it was the birthplace of David. 1 Samuel 16 contains the story of God sending Samuel to Bethlehem to find David and anoint him king. It was one more way God revealed that he kept his covenant with David. It was also one more way God manifested Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah.

Micah went on to tell Israel the Messiah would be the shepherd of all who believed in him. Verse 4 says “And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.” Jesus referred to himself as the good shepherd in John 10. Through faith in Jesus, one could enter the flock and be saved (John 10:9).

Out of Bethlehem came a savior, a king and a shepherd.

Phillips Brooks wrote the well known hymn about Bethlehem in 1868. He went there and was inspired by the view of Bethlehem at night from the hills outside the town. I like these words in the second stanza:

O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God, the King,
And peace to men on earth.

That would be a worthy endeavor for us the Christmas. Proclaim Christ.

2011-12-12T22:54:00.000-06:00

Devotion 10. Jesus The Branch

Another term for the Messiah in the Old Testament is “the Branch”. Isaiah 11:1-3 says:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

In earlier chapters Isaiah prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, Israel and Judah. He always maintained that a remnant will be preserved from destruction. For example, Isaiah 10:20-23 speaks of the destruction of Israel and the preservation of a small remnant. From that remnant, the Messiah will come.

Jesse was David’s father (1 Samuel 16). We have in previous devotions seen the passages in which God promised to bring the future king, the Messiah, through David’s descendants. This is the intent of these passages concerning the Branch.

The judgment to come, the destruction of the northern kingdom by Assyria and the southern kingdom by Babylon, is portrayed as the cutting down of the trees of a great forest. This includes the tree of Jesse’s family. But out of the stump of that tree a new shoot and branch will grow. So God will preserve Jesse and David’s line and bring forth another descendant that is special.

Isaiah said “the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him (11:2). John the Baptist testified “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and it remained on him”.

Isaiah also said “his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD”. Jesus said “I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). He said “I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me” (John 6:28) and “I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (John 6:29).

The Father preserved the line and brought Jesus out of it. He gave his people some idea of what to expect. But Jesus was much than they expected.

Jeremiah also related the words of the LORD concerning the Branch (23:5). He said “Behold, the days are coming declares the LORD when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch and he shall reign as King and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

This seems to speak of Jesus after all his enemies are defeated and he reigns on the new earth. Jeremiah 33:14 seems to echo this same thoughts. In Zechariah 3:8 the LORD said he would bring his servant the Branch.

Zechariah 6:12 is an interesting verse. It says the Branch will build the temple of the LORD. Jesus alluded to this passage when he said “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).

Zechariah wrote that the Branch will bear royal honor and shall sit and rule on his throne (6:13). We previously looked at Jesus as king, taking over the throne of David and fulfilling the promise of God. We know he rose to the right hand of the father and reigns there until all enemies are put under his feet.

2011-12-12T14:19:00.002-06:00

Drilling For Dollars

If you do not think drilling for natural gas is good for the economy, consider this. One company alone in my city has already paid out over $160 million in royalties this year. It has paid $1.3 billion since 2004. They are running 16 rigs and plan to drill 300 more within the year. They also complete pipelines to channel the gas from the wells.

In addition to the royalties, the company hers employees and contractors to do all this work.

Let them drill.

2011-12-11T07:47:00.000-06:00

2 KINGS 22-23
JOSIAH THE REFORMER

Josiah was evidently the most Godly king of Israel since David. The writer gives him the highest praise we have seen in the Book of Kings 2 Kings 22:1-2). He says Josiah:
1. did what was right in the eyes of the Lord;
2. walked in all the ways of David; and
3. did not turn aside to the right or left.

Josiah was completely faithful to the Lord, kept the law and led the nation to do so, reformed worship in all Judah and parts of Israel and wiped out idol worship.

He came to the throne when he was only eight years old (2 Kings 22:1). He was not a co-regent since his father had been assassinated (2 Kings 21:23). The writer does not tell us how he was able to reign, but it is likely he had some sort of co-regent during his youth. The story of his reign begins when he had reigned 18 years and was 26 years old (22:3).

We know the spiritual state of Judah was terrible at the time Josiah became king. He father Amon and grand-father Manasseh were two of the worst kings ever. Manasseh was so evil he sealed the fate of Judah for exile. He worshipped many gods and corrupted the worship of the Lord by defiling the temple, building alters and idols even in the Lord’s house.

You cannot account for Josiah’s faith from his family. You can only attribute it to the work of the Holy Spirit through the reading of the Scripture. He may have been aided by the preaching of Jeremiah, although 2 Kings does not mention him in regard to Josiah. Jeremiah 3:6 specifically mentions the Lord’s word to Jeremiah during the reign of Josiah. Zephaniah also prophesied the coming destruction of Jerusalem as the Great Day of the Lord.

Even before Josiah read the Scripture, he set about to serve the Lord. His first task was to repair the temple (2 Kings 22:3-7). The temple had probably been neglected during the reigns of Manasseh and Amon. So Josiah called for the High priest, Hilkiah, to get the money people were charged when they came into the temple and turn it over to workmen for repairs. This is similar to what Jehoash did in chapter 12.

While Hilkiah was taking care of the temple funds, he came across the Book of the Law (22:8-10). Even though he was high priest, he did not know where it was and had not read it. Or he had kept is to himself during the reign of Amon, knowing Amon did not sympathize with it. That is how bad things were. He knew what it was, though, and took it to the kings secretary, Shaphan. Shaphan read it. He realized it was important. The king needed to see it.

So, when Shaphan reported to the king that the temple funds had been turned over to the workmen and Josiah decreed, he also told him Hilkiah had brought him a book. Josiah had him read it.

What happened next demonstrates the power of God’s word. The Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God, brings conviction. Jesus said:

“…it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…” John 16:7-9.

Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

This was the experience of Josiah. Picture Josiah sitting on this throne listening. Shaphan began to read the Book of the Law. I think this refers to what we call the book of Deuteronomy. It may have referred to what we know as the first 5 books of the Bible. But if it was Deuteronomy, Josiah listened to the story of Israel refusing God’s command to enter Canaan. He heard how God sent them into the wilderness for a generation as punishment.

But then he heard the terms of the covenant, the law. He heard the command to obey the law. He heard God command them not to worship idols or to make them. He knew as he heard it that his land was full of idols, even the Lord’s own temple. The Holy Spirit convicted him of these sins. He heard the 10 commandments. He heard that the Hebrews were people chosen and loved by God. They were to be holy to the Lord. Then he heard the penalties for disobedience. He knew his kingdom was disobedient to the law.

How did Josiah react? He was greatly distressed. He tore his clothes (2 Kings 22:11). He sent the high priest and others to go and inquire of the Lord for him and for the people concerning the word of the Lord (2 Kings 22:12-13).

Josiah understood the consequences of Israel’s disobedience. He said “for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our father have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:13).

It is interesting to me that the high priest could not make inquiry of the Lord. He appears to have been clueless about the Law and incapable of seeking the Lord on his own. Yet he was supposed to be the religious leader of the people.

Instead, Hilkiah and the other men went to a woman who was a prophetess (2 Kings 22:14-20). And, indeed, the Lord gave her a message to give to King Josiah. It was not a very happy word.

Huldah the prophetess related God’s word that indeed the Lord was angry and had determined to bring disaster on Judah as the book of Deuteronomy said. These are the curses for disobedience to the law of the covenant (16-17).

The only good news was that, because Josiah had repented, the Lord would not bring the disaster during his life time.

Despite knowing Judah was ultimately doomed, Josiah continued his obedience to the Lord (23:1-3). He led a great reform in the land. First, he called all the people to Jerusalem. He took them to the temple. He personally read the Book of the Law to them. He made a covenant to obey the Lord and the people joined him.

Josiah followed his commitment with action. He went on a crusade to rid the land of idols (23:4-20). Here is a list of what he did.

1. He took all the items of idol worship out of the temple and burned them.
2. He ran off the priests that made offerings in the high places.
3. He ran off the priests of Baal.
4. He ran off the priests who led worship to the stars.
5. He desecrated pagan worship sites.
6. He destroyed the houses of male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord.
7. He destroyed the high places.
He broke down the altars at the gates of the city.
8. He defiled the site in the Valley of Hinnom where children were burned to Molech.
9. he removed horse idols to the sun god and burned their chariots.
10. He broke down all the extra altars Manasseh and Amon had built.
11. He even found and destroyed high places for pagan worship that Solomon had built. He desecrated their sites with the bones of dead people.
12. He pulled down and burned the golden calf at Bethel and defiled the site as the Lord had said would happen back in 1 Kings 13:2. That prophesy was so specific it named Josiah as the one who would do it, long before he was born.
13. He destroyed shrines all through Samaria and sacrificed the pagan priests on their altars (20). He desecrated the sites with dead bodies.

These actions were required by the law. Deuteronomy 12 commands Israel, upon entering Canaan, to destroy the high places, to tear down the pagan altars, tear down and burn the Asherim and destroy any idols they found.

After destroying idol worship in the land, literally going to war against the Devil, Josiah re-instituted the Passover (22:21-23). The observance of Passover was commanded in Deuteronomy 16. But it had not been observed for years in Judah or Israel. Since Josiah had just read the book, he likely required them to do just as it said. Therefore, the offered sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem and ate unleavened bread with the meat of the sacrifice for 7 days (Deuteronomy 16:2-3).

Josiah also got rid of the practitioners of occult arts (22:24-25). He put away the mediums and necromancers. All in all he followed God’s law to the letter, not just in form but n spirit. He sought to personally serve God and to lead the nation into the pure and scriptural worship of the Lord.

This did not turn the Lord away from judgment (22:26-27). The Lord had determined to remove Judah from his land, away from his presence, as he removed Israel. Here we see echoes of the judgment on Adam, as he drove him from his presence in Eden.

After all of these reforms, Josiah died young. He was only 39. He went to battle against Egypt when it went to war. The Babylonians had restored their kingdom and revolted from Assyrian rule. They were now the giant power in the east. Babylon would attack Judah and destroy it. Egypt likely was going to aid the weakened Assyria against the new Babylon (23:28-30). Pharaoh Neco marched from Egypt along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea). He was trying to join the Assyrians. Together they would march into Haran to defend against the invasion of the Babylonians. Neco had to cross Judah to get to Haran and Josiah tried to block him at Megiddo.

2 Chronicles 35 tells us Neco tried to warn him off and told him God had sent him to do battle. But Josiah did not back off. He was killed the minute he got there. I think God was ready to move to judgment and took Josiah early.

What made Josiah a great reformer? He heard the word of God and he obeyed it. That is a good word for us. Many Christians have to hunt for their Bibles on Sunday. Christians should be students of the Word. We should read it. We should study it.

But after we read it and study it we should not stop. We should obey it. We should do what it says to do and be what it says to be. We will reform our personal lives and our church lives by doing so. We will affect those around us.

The end of the year is a good time to reflect on this. Read God’s word. Make a list of the qualities that the Bible says should be in a Christian and spend some time examining yourself and praying about it. Make obedience to God your New Year’s Resolution.

2011-12-08T17:07:00.001-06:00

Devotion 8. A Promise to David (Part 1)

2 Samuel 7 tells the story of David’s desire to build a temple, or house, for the Lord. David had entered a period of great success. He had peace from his enemies. He built himself a house fit for a king. The Lord did not let David build the Lord’s house. But he did promise He would make David a house (2 Samuel 7:11). In this case, “house” means “dynasty” or “line”. The Lord went on to promise David his line and his throne would be established forever. David may have not understood the full ramifications of this word, but he seemed to comprehend a lot of it. He said “For you, O Lord God, have spoken and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

With this further revelation to his people, God narrowed the focus on the coming Messiah. First, They only knew he would be a man born from a woman. Next they knew he would be a physical descendant of Abraham, a Hebrew. Then they were told he would be from the tribe or line of Judah. Now they knew he would come from the house or line of David.

The Israelites understood this word to be prophetic of the Messiah. Isaiah wrote “of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:7). Jeremiah 23:5 says “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

Ezekiel 34:24 says “And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.” David was long dead by then, so Ezekiel referred to his descendant, the Messiah. Amos 9:11 says “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old…” There are many other passages which demonstrate this knowledge.

Matthew began his gospel, written to Jews, by proving that Jesus was the son of David (Matthew 1:1). He did this because he knew no Jew would read a book about someone claiming to the Messiah unless he knew that person was David’s descendant. Matthew also recorded several events where Jews acknowledged Jesus as the Son of David. Here are a few.

When Jesus healed two blind men, they first approached him and cried out “Have mercy on us, Son of David” (Matthew 9:27).

In Matthew 12:23, Jesus healed a demon possessed man who was blind and mute and “…all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” During the triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Matthew 21:15, the crowds shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

In Matthew 22:42, the children in the temple cried out “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Finally, the disciples themselves acknowledged it. Jesus said “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” (Matthew 22:42.

Since you are probably not a Jew, the concept of Jesus as the Son of David might not mean much to you. But it is important for a couple of reasons. First, it again shows that God intended to send Jesus when he did and where he did. He did not wake up one day and decide he needed to do something to get things back on track. Second, it shows God kept his word to David through many centuries. Third, it shows that David was a type of Christ. A type is a figure that is not exactly the same but tells us about something about someone or something in the future. David reigned as king over God’s people. Because he largely obeyed God, he brought peace and prosperity to the nation. Jesus now reigns over God’s people, blessing us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places as he reigns now from heaven.

That brings us to the next devotion: the office of king.

2011-12-07T14:00:00.001-06:00

Devotion 7. Jesus As Priest

We have looked at one of the three offices of Christ so far, that of prophet. Today we will look at the office of priest. For you Latin lovers, these three offices are the Munus Triplex.

The type that foreshadowed Christ’s priestly office occurs in one story with a strange ending. The story is told in Genesis 14. After Lot and Abraham parted ways, Lot moved into Sodom. Sodom and several other city states revolted against Elam. The king of Elam, Chedorlaomer, and his allies, came and fought against the rebel states and defeated them. Chedorlaomer’s armies took all of the possessions of the rebel armies and went home. He also took Lot and his possessions. When Abraham found out, he took his army and went after them. He defeated them and retrieved his nephew, Lot. Now comes the strange ending.

Abraham returned and met the king of Sodom in the King’s Valley. Someone else showed up, though. It was the king of Salem, Melchizedek. The writer parenthetically inserted into Genesis 14:18 that Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God. That is all we are told about him. Remember this was before the priesthood was established through Moses and Aaron. So, the mysterious man Melchizedek is not a pagan but worships God, as does Abraham. He brought bread and wine. Was this just supper? Or was it Communion? The text does not say. But Abraham acknowledges Melchizedek as the representative, the priest, of God by giving him a tithe of the spoils.

And Melchizedek does not show up again in Abraham’s life, at least as far as we are told. I read the story many times and thought it was mysterious, but did not attach any special meaning to it. Melchizedek is, however, mentioned in other passages. It turns out he is a type of Christ in his office as our great high priest. Hebrews 7:3 says “He (Melchizedek) is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.”

The first place we see this is Psalm 110, a Messianic Psalm. The first 3 verses of the Psalm deal with Christ as King, sitting at the Father’s right hand (implying a throne), wielding a scepter and ruling his enemies. Peter applied this passage to Jesus in his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:35).

But verse four deals with Christ as priest. It says: The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This tells us the Messiah will be a priest, or will have priestly functions, but not as a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. He could not be, of course, because he will not be from the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron, but the tribe of Judah and the family of David.

The letter to the Hebrews deals with Christ’s priesthood and its superiority to the Aaronic priesthood. We cannot discuss the whole book in this little devotion. But here are some things it tells us.

He is our great high priest (Heb. 4:14). He was appointed as such by the Father (Heb. 5:5-6). The Father appointed his as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:10).

A high priest was chosen to act on behalf of God’s people to offer sacrifices for sin (Heb. 5:1).Christ functioned as a priest by bringing a sacrifice for sins. In the old covenant, the priest offered animals continually as a sacrifice for the sins of Israel. Christ offered himself, his blood, once for all time, obtaining eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:11-15). He was both the priest and the sacrifice. He was the mediator of the new covenant. This new covenant includes eternal salvation. God will not remember our sins anymore (Heb. 10:17).

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (yes, I know it is weird for a Baptist to quote a Cathechism) states it this way in Question 25:

Q: How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
A: Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice,1 and reconcile us to God;2 and in making continual intercession for us.3

As our high priest, Jesus also stays at the right hand continually interceding for us (Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2). We actually have an example of that while Jesus was on earth. John 17 records Jesus praying for his disciples, both those with him at the time and those who would follow them. He prayed for our sanctification (John 17:17). This chapter is often called the “High Priestly Prayer” because of this. Since Jesus lives to intercede for us with the Father, we may, in Him, come to the Father in fellowship and prayer (Heb. 4:16).

Because of what Christ has done, we have assurance of our faith (Heb. 10:22). We do not have to doubt. We do not have to wonder if we have been good enough. No one can snatch us from his hand (John 10:28-29). Nothing can separate us from his love (Rom 8:37-39).

So, we must hold fast to the confession of our hope and faith without wavering (Heb. 4:14, 10:23). Christmas is a great time to make our confession known. While people put up manger scenes and buy gifts, we may confess Christ and our faith in him. Not just Jesus the baby in the manger, but Jesus our high priest, who saves us and preserves for eternity.

2011-12-06T18:39:00.001-06:00

Devotion 6. Jacob’s Prophecy

Jacob functioned as a prophet on his deathbed. He spoke the Lord’s word for the future of his sons and their descendants. He said “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the days to come.”

Once the sons were assembled, Jacob gave a word for each one concerning their character and destiny. Rueben, as the first born, would normally have assumed leadership of the family. But he disqualified himself when he slept with one of his father’s concubines. Jacob had not gotten over it, he even exclaimed “he went to my couch!” a second time as if he could still not believe it.

The next sons were Simeon and Levi. They were disqualified because of their violence. They slaughtered Hamor and Shechem and all their family because Shechem had defiled their sister. (Genesis 34:27)

The Levites later distinguished themselves by supporting their brother, Moses, when Israel made and worshipped the golden calf while Moses was on the mountain receiving the terms of the covenant. So they served in the temple, but they did not lead the nation or have an allotment in it.

So, the leadership passed to Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. He had troubles in his past, yet the Lord chose him to lead. Here are Jacobs words in Genesis 49:10:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

The tribe of Judah became the leading tribe. When the ark was finished, the Lord gave instructions on how the Israelites were to march to Canaan. The tribe of Judah was to go first. Numbers 2:9. They were led by a man named Nashon. Every morning, Nashon would go to the front of the congregation, next to the standard bearer with the flag showing the lion of the tribe of Judah, and start the march. Their symbol was the lion, for Jacob had declared that Judah was a lion.

I love that image of Nashon, standing before the congregation of a million or so Israelites, stepping out in faith, following the cloud of the presence of the Lord, the elder brother of a vast family of believers. He is a type of Christ in this, who is the firstborn of many brethren that God chose to be in his family. Romans 8:29.

God preserved that line through the good and bad times. Eventually, God gave Judah over to its enemy, Babylon, for Judah’s idolatry. They were defeated, Jerusalem and the temple destroyed, and the survivors taken to Babylon in exile for 70 years. No king ever took the throne in Jerusalem again.

But of course, God kept his word. He preserved the line of Judah. In the fullness of time, he brought the Forever King, Jesus, into the world. Matthew showed him to be of the line of Judah. (Matthew 1:3) Luke did the same in Luke 3:33. Note that Nashon is also in that line. (Luke 3:32)

Revelation 5:5 closes the loop for Judah. It says Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, prevailed.

Jesus has prevailed over Satan, sin and death. He will prevail, putting all his enemies under his feet. Then he will reign, and we with him, for eternity.

I wonder if he will fly the flag of Judah.

2011-12-05T21:51:00.001-06:00

DEVOTION 5. THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM

When the Lord called Abraham to leave Ur and go to Canaan, he made Abraham a promise. Genesis 12:1-3 tells us the promise:

Now the Lord said to Abram,“Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

In this promise, God narrowed our focus on who to look for as the savior. In Genesis 3, he told us only that the coming Messiah would be one who was born of a woman. But here we find out that the Messiah will come from Abraham. Both Matthew and Luke trace Jesus’ genealogy through Abraham (Matthew 1; Luke 3).

Some think of Abraham solely as the father of the Hebrew race. But God had much more in mind for him. He would be the father of all who believe in Christ. Some believed that he would come as promised. Some believed the man they heard preach in Judea was he. Some like us heard his word and believed that he came to save us. All of the vast family of God throughout the centuries are blessed in Abraham.

God told Abraham that he would be blessed so that he would be a blessing. In fact, in him all families on earth would be blessed. “In him” means one of his descendants would bless people from all nations and races. That descendant is Christ Jesus. In Galatians 3:7 Paul tells us it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. It is not just the Hebrews.

Certainly God elected Israel for special purposes. That is why we call the Hebrews “God’s Chosen People”. He used Israel to demonstrate his righteousness, his grace and his judgment. He showed his sovereignty in history.

Yet he never intended to stop with that one little country. It is and has always been God’s desire for his glory to fill the earth, for the whole earth to worship him. He told both Adam and Noah to be fruitful and multiply and to subdue the earth. They were to subdue the earth for the glory of God. When he called Abraham, it was for the same reason. Galatians 3 goes on to tell us that the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying ‘in you shall all the nations be blessed’.

Isaiah prophesied the same word from God. In chapter 54 the Lord said “enlarge the place of your tent…” He said the children of the desolate one (the Gentiles) would be more than the children of her who is married (Israel).

Then, in chapter 60, he said:

Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.

The Lord spoke the same message through Zephaniah. He said “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord.” (Zephaniah 3:9)

God promised Abraham the Savior would come from his family. We are beneficiaries of that promise made so long ago. We are children of Abraham and, through Christ, children of God.

2011-12-05T20:43:00.001-06:00

Devotion 4. The 2nd Promise of a Savior, “A Prophet Like Me”.

What is a prophet? God chooses and calls a person to be a prophet. For example, God told Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5. Jeremiah actual tried to get out of it, claiming he was too young. But God said not to claim youth and to speak whatever God commanded him to speak. (Jeremiah 1:6-7).

God let the prophets know his mind and purpose and enabled them to speak about it through the Holy Spirit. That is why so many of their speeches began with “thus says the Lord”. They spoke his very words.

Many think of prophets as ones who foretell the future. Mostly the prophets preached the law and the covenant. They warned Israel to repent and obey the covenant. Sometimes they brought word that God would act to protect them. Sometimes they brought warnings that God would punish or destroy them for disobedience.

Moses was a great prophet. God spoke the law of the covenant to him and he spoke it to Israel. He led Israel to obey the Lord. He prayed for Israel when Israel rebelled. He even told them they would eventually rebel and be driven out of the land for it.

At the end of his life Moses told Israel:
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen-just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said ‘let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them”. Deuteronomy 18:15-18.

Certainly God raised up many prophets to speak to Israel. Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Ezekiel and many others.

But the ultimate fulfillment of this word was Christ.

The Jews themselves interpreted this message as messianic. At the time of Jesus, they were looking for the prophet promised by Moses. The priests and Levites asked John the Baptist if he was the prophet. (John 1:19-21). When Jesus fed the 5,000, the people said “this is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14). When Jesus preached at the Feast of Booths the people said “This really is the Prophet” (John 7:40). Finally, Peter preached in Solomon’s Portico and invoked this passage to call Jews to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. (Acts 3:22)

We often hear the offices of Jesus referred to as prophet, priest and king. How did he function as a prophet? He knew the mind and words of God and spoke them. He did what the Father told him to do and said what the Father told him to say.

John wrote “No one has ever seen God (the Father). The only God (Jesus the Son) who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known (John 1:18).

Jesus said “…whatever the father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. John 5:19). He also said “I declare to the world what I have heard from him” (John 8:26) and “all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 16:15).

Jesus’ words are the last prophetic words. The New Testament is the writing of Jesus’ words and life in his words and in those of the apostles. Their teaching is his teaching. There are no new prophets and no new words. The words of those who claim to have new sayings from God or new revelations are false. The writer of Hebrews made this plain when he wrote “Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Even that last prophetic word in the New Testament, the Book of Revelation, is the word of Christ. John made it clear. He wrote:
“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.” (Revelation 1:1-2).

Our gracious Heavenly Father revealed to us through his prophet Moses that a great prophet like Moses would eventually come to us. As John says in his gospel, the law came through Moses but Jesus brought us grace and truth.

All of those centuries passed from Moses and Joshua through the Judges, the kings, the exile, the return under Ezra and Nehemiah, the years of silence at the end of the prophets, and God still remembered and kept his word. At the right time, he caused a little baby to be born to a poor Jewish couple from a little town. And in so doing, he kept his word and brought it to pass, giving us the last and greatest prophet, the one who was with God and was God and spent eternity in perfect fellowship and harmony with the Father and Spirit before coming to us.

He was thus the perfect one to not only speak the words of the Father, but to reveal the Father to us, to make God known. He not only spoke, he lived and reflected the perfect image of God.

We reflect at Christmas on the wonder of God born in flesh to live among us. That alone is a wonder. But it is a great wonder also that he kept this word and brought it to pass in this event, along with many others.

This is the great God we worship and serve.

2011-12-03T18:25:00.000-06:00

Devotion 3. The First Sacrifice and the First Clothes.

After Adam and Eve sinned they faced God’s judgment. The man, the woman and the snake (Satan) all received punishments from God that affected them and all mankind to come. They were driven from God’s presence and the perfect place God prepared for them. All things that were easy became hard. They would die.

They also experienced shame for the first time. They realized they were naked. Originally they were both naked and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25). After their sin, they were ashamed to be naked in front of each other. They made little coverings for themselves out of fig leaves. When the Lord came to see them, they hid. They were afraid because they were naked (Genesis 3:10). In their state of shame, they could not face the holy Lord.

Yet, in the midst of his judgment, God also extended grace. The Bible describes it in one simple sentence. Genesis 3:21 says “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

God looked at his disobedient children and gave them grace. He relieved their shame by giving them clothes. Interestingly, humankind has turned clothing into a badge of honor, making them from rich and ornamental fabrics. But, speaking theologically, clothing is a badge of shame. It is a constant reminder of our lost innocence. It is a symbol of original sin.

The skins came from an animal. An animal had to die to cover the sin of men and women. This sacrifice foreshadowed the sacrifices to come. We see it in the very next generation. Abel’s sacrifice was the firstborn of the flock with its fat portions. God accepted it. Cain brought an offering of plants. God rejected it. God had instructed them, probably after the first animal was slain, to kill an animal and offer it as a sacrifice for sin.

I wonder if God let Adam and Eve see the killing of the animal. It would have been shocking to them. They had never seen an animal killed. They never used parts of animals for clothing or food. Animals were companions. But this animal was killed and skinned to make their clothes. Although they were relieved of the shame of their nakedness, they would have realized the great cost of that relief.

Our guilt and shame is also relieved by the shedding of blood. Ephesians 1:7 says “in him we have redemption trough his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us…” We should also realize that our relief came at great cost: the death of the one sinless God-Man, Jesus Christ.

But another theme emerges from this event. The story shows us that the clothes made by the man and woman were not good enough to cover their shame. That is why they hid even though they were wearing the fig leaves. But God’s clothes were sufficient.

Paul picked up the theme in Colossians 3. He wanted to illustrate that our “self” without Christ, or made by our own hands, is sinful, corrupt and unacceptable to God. But our self in Christ is acceptable to God and holy. He said “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:9-10) Then, in verse 12, he continued with “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience…”

The image for the self is clothing. He is saying to take off the clothing that goes with the traits of those who rebel against God and put on the clothes that reflect the transformed nature given by Christ.

The old clothes made by our own hands are not sufficient. They represent our work to make ourselves acceptable to God. But no work can do that. Those clothes will in reality be stained with sin. As Isaiah said, all our supposedly righteous acts are like filthy rags in God’s sight. (Isaiah 64:6).

When Christ comes into our lives our natures begin to be renewed in knowledge after the image of God our creator. He gives this to us, as he did to Adam and Eve, as an act of his grace and mercy, not our worth.

John’s picture of believers in heaven finalizes this thought. In Revelation 7, the faithful are those who are dressed in white robes. How did the robes get to be white? Not by their own doing. Rather, they had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

If you have never put your faith in Christ and committed to follow him, Christmas would be a great time to do it. Put off the dirty self made clothes that God sees as filthy rags. Give up trying to please God by your works, or by hoping God will think your good outweighs your bad. Put off those clothes you made and put on those made by Christ, washed in the blood of his death for your sins and acceptable to God.

And if you are a Christ follower, do not put those old dirty clothes back on. Those clothes for Paul represented the acts and attitudes of the old sin dominated nature. Rather, seek those things of Christ, keeping on the robes of mercy and grace, living in them daily.

2011-12-02T13:19:00.002-06:00

Devotion 2. The First Promise of a Savior

The third chapter of Genesis is a bleak story. Humanity rebelled against God, choosing Satan’s lie over God’s truth. They (and we) became children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), separated from God (Isaiah 59:2) and subject to death (Genesis 2:17).

As a result of sin, God proclaimed judgment on all the parties involved: man, woman and Satan. The first is the judgment on the snake, the figure of Satan. But the curse or judgment on Satan also contains God’s word about the future. It is a word of hope for the future of humanity. It is the promise of a redeemer.

God said:
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
(Genesis 3:15, ESV)

Most people either fear or loathe snakes. They are often used as symbols of evil in movies and books. That comes from this event. In my experience, women especially fear snakes. It is the first level of fulfillment of this word: there is enmity between women and snakes. Women fear them and want them killed or want to kill them. They hit them with hoes and shovels until they kill them, severely bruising their heads. Sometimes their husbands come to the rescue and kill the snake, as Adam should have done in the Garden.

But there is a greater picture of this enmity here, it is the enmity between Satan and his followers\offspring and God’s people. The Bible unfolds this story as the forces of Satan attack God’s people through Egyptians, Caananites, Assyians, Babylonians and Romans.

Then there is the greatest picture, the greatest fulfillment. In the fullness of time God revealed the ultimate offspring, the offspring that would finally crush the head of Satan, or defeat him. It is the offspring of woman but not of man, the virgin born offspring. That offspring or seed is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us this in several ways. Luke gives the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3, showing him to be the offspring of Eve through Seth (Luke 3:38).

Jesus said he saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening (Luke 10:18). The 72 he sent out reported that demons were subject to them in Jesus’ name (Luke 10:17). Revelation tells us Satan was restricted so that he no longer could deceive the nations (Revelation 20:1-3). Jesus told a parable about binding the strongman to illustrate that he healed illness and drove out demons because he was God (Mark 3). He cast out demons repeatedly (Mark 5 for example). He demonstrated his power and dominion over Satan.

Once Christ was revealed, Satan and his forces went into a frenzy to try and kill him. Herod tried to find him and kill him because he feared he would grow up to be king, but God warned the Wise Men in a dream and they went home by another route to avoid Herod (Matthew 2:11-12). Then Herod killed all of the male babies in town he could find, but Joseph took Jesus to Egypt out of harm’s way (Matthew 2:13-16).

Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. He tried to deter Jesus from the Father’s purpose and his mission (Matthew 4). He later used Peter to try and deter him from the cross (Matthew 16:23).

Ultimately, and ironically, the Jews become the forces of Satan arrayed against Christ, Eve’s offspring, whom God purposed to crush Satan’s head. Jesus called them the children of the devil (John 8:44). They rejected him in favor of a criminal and had him crucified (Matthew 27:15 et seq). John referred to them as the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 2:9).

But none of these people or their actions stopped God’s purpose. The crucifixion was God’s plan all along. He even stated in the law way back in the wilderness that a man who hangs on a tree is under God’s curse (Deuteronomy 21:23). He punished sin in the suffering and death of the sinless Son. Referring to the verse in Deuteronomy, Paul said “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). In Romans 8:3, Paul said ‘…by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us…”

God then announced the satisfaction of sin and the triumph over Satan by raising him from the dead (Romans 4:25). Jesus rose from the dead and made a spectacle of his enemies. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him (Colossians 2:15) He is at the right hand of the Father, sitting on a throne, ruling his kingdom from heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33; 1 Peter 3:22). He will stay there until the time all his enemies, and ours, are put under his feet (Acts 2:34-35).

When Jesus returns in glory, he will complete his victory. He will take Satan and his minions and cast them into eternal punishment away from his people and their dwelling place (Revelation 20:7-10). Then he will live in the midst of his people on the earth he restores, the new Eden, the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-3, 22-27, 22:1-4). And we will live with him forever in that new Eden with no sorrow, no pain, no hunger, and no death, only worship, joy and fellowship forever.

Then the promise of Genesis 3:15 will be completely and finally fulfilled.

2011-12-02T13:19:00.001-06:00

Devotion 1: Before the Foundation of the World

Before this world was created, the Father chose the Son to be the savior. He sent him into the world to be born of a woman, live as a man and die as a substitute for our sins. The Bible gives us several glimpses of this truth.

John 1 says that “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Just as Genesis 1:1 says “in the beginning God…” to communicate that God existed before the creation, John tells us that Christ existed before the world was created. He was with the Father. He was and is God.

Jesus himself prayed “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world began.” John 17:5. Before the world was created, Christ was with the Father and had glory with him. He was in the form of God and equal to God, according to Philippians 2:6-7, but took on human form. Can you even imagine that? We do not want to give up our comforts, the approval of friends or our place in society for Christ. But he gave up heaven and glory to take on human flesh and die for us.

So, Christ existed from eternity. He did not begin to exist when he was born into human form. He was only revealed to us at that time. Peter said it this way: He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God.” 1 Peter 1:18-19.

Jesus not only existed before his physical birth on earth, his mission was also determined before his birth and even before the world was created. Paul wrote to Timothy: Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” 2 Timothy 1:8-10. Peter preached at Pentecost saying “Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God…” Acts 2:23. So Christ’s birth and mission were set before the world was even created.

God also chose believers in Christ before creation. Ephesians 1:3-4 says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” Revelation 13:8 reinforces this idea. Speaking of the beast, it says ‘and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” Jesus’ birth, mission and the salvation of believers was decided before the creation of the world.

At Christmas we often concentrate on a helpless little baby in a manger as the beginning of Christ’s life and work. But it was not. In eternity before the creation of this world, the Father chose him and he agreed to be the Savior. All through human history, God worked to bring about his purpose to send his son at the right place and the right time to accomplish his purpose. He was not deterred by the disobedience of his people, the designs of Satan, the attacks of sinful men and women or the governments of the world. Even King Nebuchadnezzar had to confess “…he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand…” Daniel 4:35.

Beyond the cuteness of the baby in the manger, the exoticism of the wise men and the drama of the poor Jewish couple is the sovereign God who purposed to redeem people from sin and reconcile them to himself through the sacrifice of his eternal son and who brought it about over thousands of years.

That is a God you can worship.

2011-12-02T13:17:00.001-06:00

25 Devotions for December

I am writing and posting 25 devotions for December. I got the idea to post in on Facebook and have, starting yesterday. It dawned on me today I should post them here also. So, I will. You will just have to read two of them in one day to catch up.

I pray they are blessing to you.

2011-11-30T16:36:00.002-06:00

Recognizing A Good Deed

I am often disgusted by the behavior of those I see around me. However, today I saw a great thing done. A woman at work is going into cancer treatment. She has long blonde hair. Since she knew her hair would fall out eventually, she cut it and donated it. How generous to think of making someone's life better while you are suffering.

2011-11-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

Clayton Cramer's Blog: Temperature Change In U.S. Since 1999: Watt's Up With That? has a summary of the data. Every region of the lower 48 has a declining average winter temperature since 1999 (even t...

Does anyone have Al Gore's email address?

2011-10-13T16:51:00.002-05:00

Was America Founded As A Christian Nation? Part 2

The Supreme Court does not think so.

The clearest command of the Establishment Clause is that one religious denomination cannot be preferred over another. Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228, 244 (1982).

2011-09-03T21:22:00.000-05:00

2 Kings 10
The Reign of Jehu

This chapter continues the story of the Lord working through Jehu to fulfill his word given through Elijah that Ahab’s line or house would be destroyed. It also shows Jehu ridding Israel, the northern kingdom, of Baal worship.

Forcing A Decision (10:1-5)

Jehu was intent on following the Lord’s instruction to eliminate the line of Ahab. He wrote the guardians of Ahab’s sons telling them to fight for them. These people were the leaders of the city of Samaria. They were rulers, elders and guardians of the sons. The intent was to force them to declare their allegiance. They could side with the House of Ahab or with Jehu.

The leaders thought that if Jehu could slaughter two kings, he could slaughter them. So they refused to fight. They sent Jehu a message of surrender and willingness to serve him.

A Test of Loyalty (10:6-11)

Jehu tested their loyalty by requiring them to kill Ahab’s 70 sons and behead them. Jehu then proceeded to kill all others who were allied with Ahab, his great men, his close friends and his priests. He wiped out his whole house.

Jehu’s Theology (10:10)

Every word of the Lord will come to pass regarding Ahab would come to pass. That word was spoken through the Lord’s servant, Elijah, and fulfilled by Jehu. This is emphasized by location. The message is delivered between to stacks of bloody heads. This is the point of this whole story.

Jehu Destroys The House of Ahaziah (10:12-14)

Because Ahaziah had married into Ahab’s house, his house was also destroyed. The Queen Mother, his mother, was Athaliah, the grand daughter of Omri. Omri was Ahab’s father and the first of that line to rule in Israel.

Support From A Radical Believer (10:15-17)

Jehonadab appears as a mysterious figure here, for we do not know who he is. Jeremiah 35:6-7 refers to him and his family as radical believers. Jehonadab instructed them to live in tents, not own things and not drink wine. His descendants in Jeremiah’s time still obeyed those commands. The Lord held them up as an example in contrast to the rest of Israel who did not obey the Lord’s commands.

Jehu treated him with respect, greeting him and not challenging him. He is glad of his support. He demonstrates for him his zeal for the Lord.

Killing the Prophets of Baal (10:18-27)

Further demonstrating his zeal for the Lord, Jehu kills all of the priests of Baal in Israel. They were likely supporters of the House of Ahab, which supported them through the years. So, it was two birds with one stone.

His plan was ingenious. He called for a great sacrifice to Baal and demanded all of the priests attend. It appeared that he was signaling and even greater following of Baal under his kingship than under Ahab’s. But he deceived them.

Jehu got them all in one room. He posted soldiers to keep them from escaping. He tricked them into wearing robes or vestments so they would not be confused with servants of the Lord. Then he killed them all. He destroyed the temple. He desecrated the sacred stone. As a final desecration, the Israelites used it as a latrine.

So the worship of Baal is completely destroyed in Israel. You would not have foreseen this while Ahab and his clan ruled. They seemed invincible. Then the Lord raised up a new man and empowered him to overthrow the king and the pagan worship system in one fell swoop.

Here are a couple of thoughts about this story. Jehu was not a perfect man. Yet God used him to accomplish his perfect will. He can do that. He is God.

Judgment is a messy affair. It demonstrates God’s wrath against sin. It shows us how much God hates idolatry. Think about that when you put other things before your devotion to God. He hates it. 1 Corinthians 10:14 tells us to flee from idolatry. Examine your life. What do you put before God? What do you invest your time in? Where does your energy go, your effort? Repent if it is not the kingdom of God and devote yourself to him.

Now skip ahead for a moment to verse 30.

Jehu’s Reward (10:30)

Jehu’s devotion and zeal was rewarded with sons on the throne. He is like a miniature David in this respect.

Jehu’s Failure & God’s Judgment (10:28-29, 31-33)

The writer sums up Jehu’s reign as he has with all the kings. He had a great commendation. He destroyed Baal worship in Israel. That was a huge thing. It was a huge work for the Lord. He had zeal for the Lord. He was fired up.

But one thing he did not do was destroy the golden calves. He continued in that sin. Why would he do that, with his zeal for the Lord? He may have assumed it was ok because it had been done for so long. It was tradition. He associated it with true worship, but it was not. It confused worship of God with Canaanite religion, where the head god was referred to as a bull, having strength and virility. Even Baal was occasionally portrayed as a bull. We must always examine what we do and what our churches do against scripture to make sure we worship God as he wants to be worshipped. Jesus, always in harmony with the Father, said God seeks those who will worship in spirit and in truth. Our doctrine must be pure. Our practice must be pure. The Bible, God’s word, sets the standard for both.

In continued judgment of the worship of the golden calves, God stripped away more territory. Moab and Edom were already lost. Syria was again a forceful enemy. Syrian then took away all of the territory of Israel east of the Jordan.

In doing this, God continued to keep his covenant. Once again we look at the curses of Deuteronomy 28. God said through Moses:

However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his command and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…” (15). One of those curses is set out in verse 25: The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies.”

Just as God did in judgment of Solomon’s idolatries, God acts against the idolatry and unholy worship of Israel by continuing to reduce its size. Hazael of Syria is God’s instrument of judgment, just as Jehu was. Elijah told them that in advance.

But still they did not repent.

Jehu’s End(10:34-36)

He had a long reign of 28 years. He son succeeded him, as the Lord had said.

2011-08-03T15:53:00.003-05:00

WAS AMERICA FOUNDED AS A CHRISTIAN NATION?

I hear this so much today. The logic is this:

1. America was founded as a Christian nation.
2. Christians have lost control of the nation.
3. Christians need to (and have a right to) take it back.

I do not believe the premise that America was founded as a Christian nation. I think the evidence for that premise is exaggerated and misstated.

Consider this. In 1797, the United States entered inot a treaty with Tripoli, an Islamic nation. Its pirates caused us a lot of trouble. Tripoli was reluctant to enter into the treaty, for its leaders saw the problem with a Christian nation and an Islamic nation trying to get along.

George Washington negotiated the treat. It was ratified by the Senate. It was signed by President John Adams.

Look what it says: "As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims, . . . it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries" (Hunter Miller, Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States [Government Printing Office, 1930], Vol.II, p.365).

So, when you criticize the current president for saying America is not a Christian nation, remember the beloved first president did also.

2011-07-31T21:32:00.000-05:00

New suspect in the DB Cooper case? wow.

2011-07-31T20:50:00.000-05:00

ONE MORE CHUCK NORRIS JOKE

When the Boogey Man goes to bed, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

2011-07-30T10:18:00.003-05:00

JOHN LENNON AND CHRISTIANITY

New information is coming out that John Lennon made serious inquiries about Christianity and may have come to faith. Yoko evidently covered this up for years. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifHere is a video with a short description of his efforts.

2011-07-21T19:59:00.002-05:00

WELCOME TO MY WORLD

The heat moves east and north. I'm sorry, because I know you are not used to it and have not prepared for it. You are Americans and always assume that what happened in the recent past will always happen in the future.

It's just heat, though. Drink some water. Get some air. You'll be fine.

2011-07-20T15:05:00.002-05:00

PLUTO PAYS US BACK

Reeling from its demotion from planet status, the object formerly known as Pluto has played a prank on astronomers as revenge. Pluto has been hiding something from us. It has another moon we have never seen before.

Newly discovered, the moon is not yet formally named. Astronomers refer to it cleverly as P4. Suggestions for its name include "Oops" and "Gotcha".

One thing I like about science is no matter how certain scientists are, nothing is ever certain.

2011-07-18T20:58:00.003-05:00

MORE JOB LOSSES

This will not make the president happy. Borders is closing all of its stores and letting go 10,500 or so employees. Cisco, the computer network company, is laying off 16% of its work force.

Cisco's share price has been dropping all year, so they obviously have problems.

I do not think you can blame the economy alone for Border's death, but it may have hastened it. I think the brick and mortar book store days are numbered.

Nonetheless, yet more unemployed people populate America despite the so called recovery.

2011-07-10T07:03:00.000-05:00

NOTES ON GEHAZI
2 Kings 5:20-27

Namaan’s response to the miracle of healing was faith and gratitude. He confessed his faith by declaring the LORD is the only God in heaven and taking earth to build an offer for future sacrifices in his homeland. He expressed his gratitude by offering a gift to Elisha as God’s representative.

Gehazi did not worship or express gratitude. He should have worshipped. After all, he saw a great demonstration of God’s power in healing a terrible disease. He saw a great revelation that should have broadened his understanding of God: God showed that he desired to bring redemption to people of all nations. He should have felt gratitude, for God had provided an ally for Israel in the midst of its closest and most active enemy.

But Gehazi did none of these. Instead of a desire to worship, he desired material gain. He saw an opportunity for money. When Namaan revealed all that he had brought, Gehazi saw more wealth than he would have in a lifetime. Then his master refused it.

Additionally, Gehazi was a racist. He thought that his master spared “this Syrian”. You can kind of hear today’s words “those people”. Gehazi did not like that this non-Hebrew, from an enemy state, should receive healing for free. Jesus encountered these attitudes in his day, as Jews did not want to associate with Gentiles, Samaritans or even Jews who were tax collectors. Remember the Pharisee thanking God that he was not like the tax collector.

So, Gehazi embarked on a path of sin. It started because his heart was in the wrong place. He did not look to God in worship. He did not submit to a sovereign God who had told Moses he would have mercy on whom he would have mercy. So, when presented the opportunity to sin, he did. James 1:13-15 outlines the process for us. Each person is tempted when he is enticed by his own desire.
Gehazi was tempted by his desire for Namaan’s goods and his dislike of Syrians. That desire was conceived in Gehazi’s mind and gave birth to sin. He coveted Namaan’s goods. Gehazi lied to Namaan and said Elisha sent him and he wanted money and clothes for some other prophets. He lied to Elisha about what he had done. And most of all, he worshipped an idol rather than God by wanting money and goods more than he wanted to glorify God.

James said that sin brings forth death. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. Of course, we know that the sin of Adam brought death into the human race. (Romans 5). And Romans 3:23 tells us all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Gehazi does that in dramatic fashion here.

As punishment, Gehazi received Namaan’s leprosy. God often punishes by using the thing in involved in the sin. Here it is like he said, you wanted what Namaan had, so now you can have his leprosy.

It does not appear to me that Namaan wanted to buy the healing. He was healed before his offer. He wanted to make a gift.

But God wanted to make some things clear. First, he wanted Namaan to know that God healed him. Namaan got that message. Second, he wanted to show that he healed Namaan as a gift of mercy and grace, the same way he offers salvation. We cannot pay for our own salvation. Christ paid for it. The Father extends it to us as a matter of his grace.

God’s servants profane his name when they act in opposition to God’s character and purpose. Gehazi siphoned some of the grace off of this great act of God by taking money. He siphoned off a bit of God’s glory. God does not share his glory.

God’s servants profane his name when they get in the way of God’s work. Gehazi did not like God’s work to go to a Gentile and to go there for free. We do the same sometimes. God brings us people to help. Maybe we are to help by preaching the gospel. Maybe we are to help by offering love and fellowship. Maybe we are to help by sharing what we have.

Not many of these people will be beautiful inside and out. Some will smell bad, be dirty. Some are hurt. Some are ignorant of the gospel. Some are enslaved to sin. If they do not look, smell and act like us, our human nature reacts negatively. But we are not to give in to our human nature. We are to remember our redeemed nature must reflect our Father. We must love those he loves.

Paul reminded us that we were the same before Christ. Not many of us were cool. Some of us thought we were, but were mistaken. (1 Corinthians 1:26 says “not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were off noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise…).

And most of all, we must honor God’s name and nature. We must not profane it.

2011-07-08T16:50:00.002-05:00

China does not want the government to recognize or meet with the Dalai Lama when he comes to Washington. Maybe they will make a movie: Mr. Lama Goes to Washington.

The Chinese say The Dalai is in effect a terrorist, advocating violence to divide the motherland, meaning China. Of course they do not mention that Tibet was not part of the motherland until they invaded it and forced it to come to mama.

Plus, Mr. Lama is a Buddist and advocates peace. Think of Richard Gere without hair and with glasses. He just wants them communists to leave Tibet alone and let them follow him in Tibetan Buddism, wherever it may lead them.

What China should say is, quit talking to the Lama guy or we'll quit buying your bonds and dump the ones we have left on the market at a loss, you stupid spend thrifts. And we'll use those technology secrets Bill Clinton gave us to put a monkey wrench in your capitalistic gears. And we'll hack into your computers. Oh wait, we're already doing that so never mind. But quit talking to him. And no fancy dinners or tours of the White House, or playing basketball with the president. No sneaking out for a smoke with him, either, we see you out there from the satellite you know.

But that is a problem, because Mr. Lama and Mr. Obama are Nobel buddies. They have both gotten the big award, though neither has really accomplished any peace. The Lama has mostly spent his life wandering around whining about Tibet and nothing has happened. Obama just invaded Libya for no good reason. Not very peaceful, that.

Nonetheless, I hear Obama is giving Lama a lot of good stuff. First, there is the 3 volume set of books by Jimmy Carter entitled Everything I Said Is Wrong About America While Visiting Foreign Countries That Suck.

Second, there is the framed stock certificate in General Motors before the bankruptcy. It has no monetary value, but historic significance.

Third, there is the CD entitled All The Smart Things Joe Biden Has Said. It only takes a minute to listen to.

Fourth, Obama had T shirts made with their pictures on the front and on the back it says "We won the Nobel Prize and you didn't".

Fifth, there will be a guided tour of Michelle Obama's closets. It takes much longer than it takes to listen to the CD.

Sixth was actually canceled. They were going to offer him a job but there were none.

Seventh was changed at the last minute. They were going to give him a free ride on the train that the stimulus money built, going from Los Angeles to Harry Reid's place in Las Vegas, but it has not been built yet. So, instead, they are giving him a ride on a government plane when Nancy Pelosi takes her next trip.

Eighth, this one was actually declined by the Dalai. They offered him dinner with Mitt Romney, but he said Mormonism was just too weird.

Ninth, they will restore all the emails British journalists deleted from his account. This is in return for helping the British attack Libya.

Tenth and last, an introduction to all the Buddist nuns that raised money for Al Gore and Bill Clinton.

2011-07-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

Video of the Phoenix dust storm.

2011-07-05T13:30:00.003-05:00

Why do people refer to all other holidays by their proper name, but this one by the date? No one says Happy December 25th. But they say, "have a good 4th" or happy fourth of July.

Maybe the fact of independence is taken for granted. The holiday for most people means the day you cook out, drink beer and watch fireworks.

I hope you enjoyed your fourth.

2011-07-01T10:17:00.001-05:00

DON CORLEONE HAS BEEN ARRESTED!

It must be time for a sequel.

2011-06-26T07:25:00.001-05:00

GOD PROVIDED FOR HIS PEOPLE THROUGH MIRACLES
2 KINGS 4

The Bible tells us of many miracles performed through many different people. We should remember that the miracle is God’s power in action. That is why it is a supernatural event that cannot be explained in natural terms.

Although an individual performed the miracle from the human view point, it is God’s power on display through his chosen servant that brings the miracle about. This is the case with Elisha. He performed miracles, but he was the conduit for God’s power to accomplish God’s purposes.

A WIDOW IN NEED (4:1-4)

One of the prophets died, leaving a wife and two children. He also left debts. Prophets did not make much money. The widow was so poor, the only thing she had was a jar of oil. The creditor knew the widow could not pay the debt with her husband gone, so he came to collect the children in payment. They would work for him as slaves.

The widow came to Elisha for help. Normally, the kinsman redeemer would be responsible for the widow and the debt, but there may have been none. Elisha stepped into that role. He directed her to fill all the jars she could get with oil. God multiplied the oil so she could sell it and pay the debts.

This miracle reminds us Elijah’s miracle that provided oil and flour for the widow of Zarephath as recorded in 1 Kings 17:8-16. The ability to multiply food clearly belongs only to God. Therefore, when Jesus fed the 5,000 in Matthew 14:13-21, he testified that he was God’s anointed one.

RAISING A BELOVED SON (4:5-37)
HELPING A FAITHFUL FRIEND

A wealthy woman extended great hospitality to Elisha. She acknowledged him as a holy man of God (9). She fed him when he came through her village. Then she built him a room on the roof so he had a place to stay.

Elisha had good manners. In return for her great hospitality, he offered to do something for her. (11-13). Elisha was connected. He offered to speak to the king or the commander of the army for her provision or protection. However, she did not need these things. She was wealthy and needed no provision. She lived among her own people, so she needed no protection.

Notice that, in contrast to the widow, this woman did not ask for anything. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, informed him that she had no son and was not likely to get one from her old husband. It was important in those days to have a son to keep the property allotment in the family, carry on the family lineage and provide for the needs of the family. Barrenness was considered a sign of God’s disfavor.

Elijah decreed that she would have a son. God would give her a son. The Bible repeatedly shows this as God’s favor on a woman. It is a continuing theme in the Bible from Sarah, to Hannah all the way to Elizabeth, who bore John the Baptist.

This son would have been cherished, having been born when there was no hope of a child. So, when he fell ill and died it was devastating.

Note that Elisha was not omniscient, he did not know everything. Only God is omniscient. He hid this matter from Elisha until the woman came to tell him. (27)

Since the woman saw Elisha as the one who gave her the child, she went to Elisha for help when she lost the child. Elisha in fact raised the child from death and restored him to life. Only through God’s power could this be done and it testified to Elisha’s standing a prophet.

We are again reminded of Elijah. He raised the son of the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:17-24. He even stretched himself out on the boy (21) as Elisha did (34). The widow declared “now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth”. His use of the Lord’s miraculous power testified to his appointment as the one who spoke for God.

Jesus also raised people from the dead. He raised Lazarus in John 11 and it caused many to believe in him. It also caused the Pharisees and chief priests to plot to kill him and Lazarus.

PURIFYING THE STEW
2 KINGS 4:38-41

When you do not have enough to eat, you make stew. It is just a bunch of stuff boiled in water. We used to have stew once every week. It contained all the leftovers we had from the week’s previous meals.

Famine in the land was a sign of God’s punishment. Deuteronomy 28:22). We know that Israel continued to worship the golden calves.

Here one of the prophets poisoned the stew with a vine. The vine and its gourds looked similar to the edible vines and gourds. But they were poisonous. Similarly the worship of the golden calves was meant to approximate the worship of the LORD, but was not the proper worship the LORD decreed.

Elisha purified the pot. The flour was just a visible sign of God working to remove the poison. God’s power worked through Elisha and God protected his prophets through him.

MULTIPLYING THE BREAD
2 KINGS 4:41-44

A man brought bread and grain to help feed the prophets. He brought only enough for 20, but God through Elisha multiplied it to feed 100. This again foreshadows Jesus feeding the 5,000. Those who knew their scriptures well at the time of Christ would recognize God’s working in Jesus in a similar way to his working through Elisha.

God provides for his people. The Puritans called it his providence. The Westminister Shorter Catechism said ”God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerfully preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions.” It encompassed both the provision of physical needs and the direction of their lives.

That is what God sought to do with Israel. If they would obey him, he would provide for them, guide them and protect them. He provided for them with manna in the desert and a land full of milk and honey to live in. He guided them through the desert with Moses, then a succession of prophets and judges in the promised land. Unfortunately, they rejected his kingship and chose to follow human kings.

God continues this work in the church. He provides for the church through spiritual gifts and offices, he guides us through the Holy Spirit and his Word and he protects us by preserving us for eternal life.

Both of these paths began with an act of redemption. God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt. God redeemed the church from slavery to sin. Then he called both to follow him, obey him and bring glory to his name.

Romans 8:28-30 says:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

2011-06-18T22:29:00.001-05:00

1 KINGS 3

Verses 1-3 are a summary of Jehoram’s reign in Israel. The writer tells us 3 things:
1. he was evil, though not as evil as his father and mother;
2. he put away Baal worship; but
3. he continued the false worship of Jeroboam with the golden calves.

Verses 4-10 tell the story of Moab’s rebellion and Jehoram’s attempt to stop it. Moab had been under the dominion of Israel since King David defeated and subjugated it. Moab paid tribute to Israel in sheep. Moab decided Israel had become weak and rebelled. It probably quit paying tribute when Ahab died, hence the reference in 2 Kings 1:1. Ahaziah injured himself and was unable to do anything about it. But Jehoram decided to quell the rebellion by force.

Notice that Jehoram did not seek God in this decision. He just forged ahead, just as Ahab would have done.

Jehoram had two problems, though. Moab lay south of Israel and the approach from the North was more difficult than the approach from the south west. The Mesha Steele, or Moabite Stone, stated that the northern part of the country was under the control of Moab’s army. So, Jehoram sought an alliance with Judah. An alliance would allow him safe passage through Judah and Edom since Edom was under Judah’s domain, an easier attack route from the south west and additional troops from Judah. Therefore he sought Jehoshaphat’s help.

Although Jehoshaphat’s father, Asa, would not make a treaty with Israel, Jehoshaphat would. He did it before. It almost cost him his life. But here he does it again.

Jehoram’s plan turned out to be a bad one and his leadership worse. They got lost and ran in circles for 7days in the Desert of Edom. They had no water. Both the men and horses began to fail. It reminds me of Proverbs 14:12, which says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (ESV)

Rather than take responsibility, Jehoram blamed it on God (10). He said God called the kings to be defeated by Moab.

There is no evidence that God called them to do this. Jehoram certainly did not consult God, but neither did Jehoshaphat, even though he was a godly king.

This is typical sinful human failure. We want our own will. We will take credit when we succeed rather than glorify God, but blame him when we fail.

Verses 11-12 show Jehoshaphat realizing it is time to consult the LORD. He asked if there was a prophet around. He learned they were not far from Elisha’s home. “Poured water on the hands of Elijah” means he was Elijah’s servant and disciple. Jehoshaphat acknowledged that God’s word was with Elisha, that he was God’s prophet. Remember he sought the LORD through the prophet Micaiah about the battle against the Syrians in 1 Kings 22:7.

It shows Jehoshaphat’s humility that he went to Elisha rather than summon Elisha to himself. Jehoram likely went along to keep Jehoshaphat happy, since Jehoram would have viewed Elisha as an enemy, as his family viewed Elijah.

Verses 13-14 Elisha’s Disdain for Jerhoram

Elisha also viewed the house of Omri and Ahab’s family in particular as enemies of the LORD. In verse 13, he says he wanted nothing to do with them. He told him to go seek Baal. But Jehoram continued to invoke the name of the LORD over the venture.

Elisha only sought the LORD on their behalf because he had regard for Jehoshaphat.

Verses 15-19 The LORD’s Word

The LORD gave Elisha a word: the LORD would deliver water supernaturally, and he would give them victory over Moab. He also accomplished this supernaturally. He instructed them to ruin the land as they went, sewing it with stones. This time they would use God’s battle plan, not Jehoram’s.

Verses 20-27 The LORD Kept His Word

The next morning, water began to flow in the trenches. God abundantly provided: the land was full of water. The water was not from rain. When the Moabiltes saw the water, they thought it was blood from infighting between Israel and Judah. Moab’s arm swept down to finish them off and were struck down. They followed the Lord’s instructions.

The king of Moab first tried to break through the lines of Edom, but could not. He then retreated to a walled city and sacrificed his oldest son on the wall. This was a sacrifice to Chemosh, their god. This was to appease Chemosh, figuring he was mad at them and made them suffer defeat. It provoked great fury in the troops. It is interesting that even the cultures that rebelled against the LORD retained the idea of the sacrifice of one to save the many.

When Jehoshaphat and Jehoram saw this, and the determination of Moab, they retreated. They had accomplished their task of bringing Moab under control. They did not, however, follow the LORD’s instructions fully, as he told them to attack every fortified city (19).

We again see God accomplish many things with one set of actions. Here he:

1. exposed man’s weakness by letting the kings fail in their own plan;
2. manifested his own power and sovereignty by providing water to save them and victory over the enemy;
3. he demonstrated again that Elisha was a prophet embued with power from God; and
4. he punished the pagan Moabites for their unbelief and rebellion against himself; and
5. he preserved the line of Judah and its kings that would bring forth the Messiah.

2011-06-03T07:59:00.001-05:00

Doctor Death is Dead.

2011-05-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

PILING ON

Here is more on Camping, this time from Dr. Mohler.

2011-05-18T16:48:00.001-05:00

SATURDAY, SATURDAY

Well, Saturday is the End of All Things according to Harold Camping. If you are interested in Harold and how he got to be a false teacher, Robert Godfrey has a good series of articles of the subject here.

2011-05-17T14:23:00.003-05:00

NO COMB OVER FOR US

Mr. Trump has chosen television over politics, meaning the Democrats will have to scrap all the jokes they have written about orange comb overs and concentrate on Mormon issues. Romney now leads the field in a convincing manner. He has also raised a ton of money.

The next question is, while Romney stakes out the center, who will stake out the right wing?

2011-05-11T17:20:00.000-05:00

DEAR DIARY: TODAY I PLANNED ME SOME JIHAD

The Navy Seals captured bin Laden's diary. I wonder if it was one of those leather ones with the little gold clasp and a built in pen holder. It should be interesting. Were all of his thoughts about killing? Did he compare his wives and decide which was his favorite?

Did he think about hiring a housekeeper? Did you see how filthy the place was? I'm guessing house work was not part of the duty of the wives. Or else the guy was really hard to pick up after.

Did he ever wonder what his life might have been like if he had not become a terrorist? Did he feel so self righteous that he gloated over the deaths of thousands, or did it ever haunt his conscience? Did guilt ever seep into the edges of his soul?

Self examination will not likely be found. Killers for a cause usually find justification, even glory, in their bloody life's work. Life has no value for them, only their cause.

2011-05-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

THE AYE OF THE NEWT

Newt Gingrich has announced his campaign for the presidency on Twitter.

I guess he hopes the web will be a twitter over the announcement.

And I guess he wants to be the G'rich that stole Christmas from Obama.

He'll have to hope the vote is not too close, or his ex wives alone could sink his ship.

2011-05-07T09:10:00.001-05:00

Today the Pentagon will release some of the intelligence obtained from the raid on bin Laden's compound. It should be very interesting.

2011-05-04T13:21:00.003-05:00

Now that the deed is done, the posturing begins. First, here is Nancy Pelosi. When it might be President Bush who would capture him, she said it would be no big deal. Now it is the biggest deal every.

2011-05-04T13:14:00.002-05:00

The President has decided not to release the photographs of bin Laden's body. He is probably afraid of the Muslim backlash.

It is a hard decision. Either way has possibly unpleasant ramifications. Erring on the side of restraint and dignity is not a bad thing.

2011-05-03T22:36:00.002-05:00

The compound where Osama bin Laden stayed for the last 5-6 years is 8 times the size of the homes around it, has 12-18 feet high walls, barb wire on top and no phone or internet service. It has two security gates.

And no one in the Pakistani government thought to check it out? Also, remember this is in the capital city. Image a compound of this sort built in Washington, D.C. without undergoing FBI scrutiny.

I cannot imagine it and Pakistan has less freedom than we do.

2011-05-03T22:25:00.002-05:00

I'm finding it hard to believe Pakistan did not know Osama bin Laden was there. I've always thought India was a more logical ally for us in the region than Pakistan. We know they have leaked our attack plans in the past. Why is it hard to believe they would keep the truth from us now?

2011-05-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

Note to self: if every approached by Navy Seals, surrender completely and quickly.

2011-05-03T22:03:00.002-05:00

AND NOW FOR THE REVISIONS

Now the story is bin Laden was not armed, but was shot and killed. This will make the Arabs more unhappy. Also, he did not use the woman as a shield, but she rushed the soldiers, who wounded, but did not kill, her.

I hope there is not much more than will be revised.

2011-05-02T22:05:00.002-05:00

It is hard to believe bin Laden lived in the compound in a big city for 5 years before being discovered.

2011-05-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

Tom Ascol's thoughts on the death of Osama bin Laden. This is pretty close to how I feel about it.

2011-05-02T15:06:00.000-05:00

Dr. Albert Mohler on the death of bin Laden.

2011-05-02T11:03:00.001-05:00

DNA results have confirmed that the body was Osama bin Laden's.

2011-05-02T08:35:00.002-05:00

Hillary Clinton is making a statement now. She began with "justice has been done". I like that she pointed out that many of OBL's victims over the years were Muslims.

She lauds our "partners", specifically Pakistan. She reminds us that the battle against Al Qaeda will not end because of this. Our message to the Taliban remains the same, but today it has more resonance: you cannot wait us out, you cannot defeat us, but you can choose to make peace.

OBL's death came at a time of great movement to freedom and democracy. People are rejecting extremism.

The fight continues and we will never waiver.

This is America. We rise to the challenge. We get the job done.

2011-05-01T23:54:00.001-05:00

President Obama called former Presidents Bush and Clinton before making the announcement. He previewed his statement with them. I'm glad he brought President Bush into the loop.

2011-05-01T23:50:00.002-05:00

Only ABC is still reporting. The other networks have gone on to sports.

Bin Laden fired on the Seals, but was killed. It was only a 40 minute operation.

This shows you the value of good intelligence.

2011-05-01T23:47:00.003-05:00

ABC News has some video running of a fire burning at the compound. The attack was carried out by only 20-25 Seals. Evidently, OBL did not have a lot of people protecting him, just a couple of couriers.

He might have been trying to avoid attention.

2011-05-01T23:46:00.002-05:00

The Ground Zero site is also filling up with people waiving flags and singing the National Anthem.

2011-05-01T23:42:00.002-05:00

The raid was carried out by Navy Seals. They breached a big compound with 12 foot high walls. We did lose a helicopter, but no lives were lost.

The compound had no phone or television. He used couriers to conduct communication. Evidently, intelligence operatives tracked and monitored the couriers.

2011-05-01T23:41:00.002-05:00

The Administration is assuring Muslims we will handle the body in accordance with their traditions. That is certainly taking the high road, for you know we would not receive the same treatment.

2011-05-01T23:39:00.002-05:00

Hundreds of people are in front of the White House. American flags are waiving. Times Square if filling with people.

2011-05-01T23:36:00.001-05:00

Ironically, the Taliban began their spring offensive yesterday. They began with a suicide bomb on an 11 year old.

2011-05-01T23:30:00.001-05:00

Foxnews.com still has up its erroneous report that OBL was killed a week ago by a bomb, despite the President's speech.

2011-05-01T23:28:00.002-05:00

V. O. Day

Some people are calling this V.O. Day, Victory Over Osama Day.

2011-05-01T23:13:00.002-05:00

Since the President now says he had information back in August that bin Laden was in Pakistan, credence is lent to the report in October by a NATO official that Osama bin Laden was living in comfort in northwest of Pakistan. At the time, the story for publication was that bin Laden was living in a cave in Afghanistan. This contradiction was ridiculed.

The NATO official claimed access to intelligence information showing that Bin Laden was moving between houses in the Chitral district and the Kurram valley. The Pentagon refused to comment.

The Pakistan government denied any evidence that Bin Laden was in the country. The Pakistanis said, if it were true, they would take immediate action.

Even Richard Holbrooke, the special US envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, ridiculed the report, saying "We hardly have a day that goes by where somebody doesn't say they know where Osama bin Laden is." This now appears to be misdirection.

It also appears the U. S. either did not trust Pakistan to act or Pakistan refused to act for political reasons, so the U. S. acted unilaterally, to accomplish the task.

2011-05-01T22:55:00.002-05:00

What's Next?

Among the WikiLeaks documents were Guantanamo Bay reports that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed threatened "nuclear hellstorm" if Osama Bin Laden were killed.

KSM claimed Al Qaeda has a nuclear bomb somewhere in Europe.

2011-05-01T22:46:00.001-05:00

The lead to Osama's location was found back in August. I cannot believe they were able to keep that a secret.

2011-05-01T22:37:00.002-05:00

The President is now on. He is giving the history of the conflict. He is not mentioning President Bush, but recounting what he did to fight Al Qaeda.

He now turned to himself, saying he directed Leon Panetta to make finding bin Laden our priority. They thought they located him months ago, but the President only today thought they had sure enough intelligence. He confirms it was in Pakistan. The had a firefight and killed bin Laden during the fight. They took his body. No Americans were killed.

Now he makes clear we are not at war with Islam, affirming that President Bush said that also.

It seems to have been a unilateral action.

The American people did not choose this fight. Good point. We will not tolerate the threat to our security.

He said "Justice has been done."

I say to all involved: Well done.

One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. Good ending.

Short, sweet, to the point, no gloating, but justice done.

Good job.

2011-05-01T22:34:00.001-05:00

People are gathering outside the White House chanting "USA USA".

2011-05-01T22:32:00.002-05:00

Where is the president? He is really late, now a full hour. My guess is he is working on his speech to get it just right. But why announce you were coming out if you were not ready?

2011-05-01T22:30:00.002-05:00

CNN says bin Laden was killed in a mansion outside of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. If it was not a joint operation, look for yelling from the government of Pakistan. If it was, look for retaliation.

2011-05-01T22:28:00.001-05:00

Maine senator Susan Collins says bin Laden was killed in a U. S. operation. She did not say a joint U. S.\Pakistan operation, but that could be true or a way to protect Pakistan from retaliation.