Jesus High Priestly Prayer - Part 1

I’m enjoying a beautiful Michigan day while listening to a Brahms symphony on my ipod and taking some time to think and meditate on the Word of God in preparation for teaching Sunday School tomorrow. This is blueberry country and our daughter gave us some blueberry flavored coffee for our anniversary and so I am enjoying that as well.

We’re studying John 17 in our adult Sunday School class and so this passage is dominating my thinking during this stretch of the late summer.

This passage is often referred to as our Lord’s high priestly prayer. Given the fact that He is praying for all of those His Father had given Him, we can understand why people have given the passage this heading.

He begins the prayer, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.” John 17:1

Many things could be observed here. For example, he addresses God as Father. Obviously He is the Son of God and therefore it makes sense that He would address God this way. My thoughts immediately shifted to the “Lord’s Prayer” where Jesus taught us how to pray. He told us that we should pray, “Our Father”. Isn’t it an amazing thing to think about the fact that Jesus would teach us to address God in the same way that He does? What right could we possibly have to pray this way?

The reason of course is that we have been adopted as one of God’s children. Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

Some people would generalize this to say this applies to all human beings, but John 1:12 tells us that “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

Because of our adoption as God’s children we have the right and privilege to address Him as Father just as He did. The next time you address God as Father in your prayers, do it consciously and with gratitude for your adoption as one of His sons.

Check back frequently as we consider more of Jesus' prayer in the days ahead.

Free From the Law

One of the most powerful and life-transforming truths that we need to grasp when it comes to our death with Christ is our relationship to the law.

Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15:56 “the strength of sin is the law.” In Romans 7:8 we read, “But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.” He goes on to explain that it isn’t the law’s fault. It is sin that is the problem, but sin used the opportunity that the law provided and brought death.

Romans chapter 7 begins by discussing the marriage relationship. Basically if a woman marries another man while her first husband is still alive she is committing adultery, but if her husband has died, she is free from the law of her husband and is therefore not committing adultery if she marries another man. Paul’s point is that in the same way we died to the law when we died with Christ. The law no longer has jurisdiction in our case.

The sinful passions that were aroused by the law brought forth fruit for death. But now (verse 6) having died to what we were bound by we are able to serve in the newness of the Spirit. In this way, as verse 4 tells us, we are able to bring forth fruit to God.

The law, although good, gives sin its power. When our relationship to the law changed through our death with Christ, sin’s ability to gain strength through the law has been destroyed.

The key to victory as we deal with temptation and sin in our lives is to realize our position in Christ which is that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) Neither the law nor Satan, the accuser of the brethren, can hold over us the threat of death and punishment for sin. The penalty for sin is death – but – we have already died with Christ. The punishment has already taken place. We have died and been raised to a new life and the guilt is gone. The law that would accuse us doesn’t apply any more.

Take some time to mull these things over in your mind and meditate on them. Read through Romans 6-8 every day for a week and see what God will do in your life as you begin to live out the truth of your death and resurrection with Christ.

Out with the old, in with the new.

It’s hard for me to believe that it has been nearly a month since I last wrote on this blog. It has been an extremely busy stretch of time for us, but most of the pressures and time constraints have eased and I’m hoping to get back into the discipline of writing. I don’t know how many readers are out there. If you come upon these entries and are inclined to do so, I would enjoy hearing from you. My main goal is to be an encouragement to my brothers in Christ as well as to challenge myself to stay in the word and really think through and meditate on what it says.

The last time I wrote about the cross and its power in our lives I spoke about the fact that Scripture speaks very clearly about what our natural heart is like. Even if Christ saved us at an early age, all of the propensities of the sinful nature of our natural self were there. I won’t repeat all of that but I do encourage you to go back and read through it before you continue.

The purpose of salvation is not just to provide us with a home in heaven some day. The purpose is to save us from our sins. Mary and Joseph were told to name him “Jesus” because He would save His people from their sins. The verses we looked at last time list for us sinful characteristics that were part of the old man but which now in Christ are to be put away. If you go back and review these passages you will see that many of these traits are repeated over and over. If we consolidate the lists and admonitions, we have something like this:

The following attitudes and behaviors should not even be hinted at among the people of God. They belong to the old life and we have spent enough time in the past living like this. These are the kinds of things that are the cause of the wrath of God that is going to descend on the world and so they have no business being a part of the Christian’s life. I’m speaking of things like fornication, lewdness, uncleanness, filthiness, covetousness (a.k.a. idolatry), foolish talking, coarse jesting, evil desire, passion. These things should be put to death in your life and should be replaced by things such as love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, thankfulness, etc. (Summarized from Ephesians 5; Colossians 3; I Peter 4)

This list aims at the heart of what dominates most of our thinking as men. Even we who are Christian men struggle with many of these natural, sinful tendencies. The secret to overcoming is in reckoning ourselves to be dead, buried and risen with Christ and learning to reshape our thinking to be in accordance with the truth of God’s Word.

More on that next time.

New Attitude Conference - Discerning our Idols

I want to bring your attention to a great series of messages on Discernment -- a much needed topic these days. The New Attitude conference featured such men as Joshua Harris, Al Mohler, John Piper, C.J. Mahaney and others

I found CJ's messages on Discerning the Heart particularly challenging. The focus was on discerning the idols in our heart. This message was challenging and encouraging at the same time. It's so easy for us to harbor idols in our lives. CJ presents the clear teaching of Scripture that God condemns idolatry in whatever form it surfaces. Idolatry is condemned probably more than any other sin. Feed your soul by listening to this message. You will find it along with the other messages here.

CJ makes reference to some other materials to help focus our attention on the idols lurking in our souls. These resources can be found near the bottom of this page.

Human Nature

As a result of the fact that we have died and been raised together with Christ, we are to think in certain ways concerning the natural inclinations of the heart.

Ephesians 2 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

Our natural condition was one of being dead in sins. We walked according to the way the world walked which itself is after the plan of Satan who Paul calls the prince of the power of the air. This spirit is a real being who is even now working in the sons of disobedience. Scripture teaches us that every one of us was among this group who conducted our lives fulfilling the lusts of our flesh and the desires of our mind. This is a condition which is natural. It is characteristic of us as we are born into this world.

Paul tells us again in Ephesians 5, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

And in Colossians 3, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.”

Peter tells us in his first letter in chapter 4, “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”

As I observe the world around me, the constant stream of images from television and movies, and the tendencies of my own heart, I recognize that what God says to us through His Word in these passages is true. The amazing this is that while we were still sinners Christ died for us and it is through His death and resurrection that we not only have forgiveness of these things, but we have the new life and power to be changed.

Adjusting to Life after Resurrection

The last time we observed that our death with Christ on the cross is not only death to something, but more importantly represents our living for something. We are to count certain things to be true and then to live accordingly. Our death and resurrection with Christ means that we should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) Life after death and resurrection is not the same as it was before!

This is what Peter says in the first three verses of First Peter 4, “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” In other words, we are to arm ourselves with the way of thinking that truly looks at our life as being post-resurrection. We are to “arm” ourselves with this way of thinking. That means that when we reckon these things to be true of us and live in the light of that truth, it is a means of defense for us against the onslaughts of sin coming from the world, the flesh and the devil.

Paul told us in Romans 6 that our death with Christ was a death to sin and the resurrection we had with Christ was a resurrection to God. The old needs to be put behind us and the focus needs to be God-ward. Isn’t that what Paul meant when he wrote in Colossians 3, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

We are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. Since we’ve been raised with Christ we are to set our minds and seek those things which are above. These exhortations tell me that I need to think differently. I need to train my mind to approach life differently. Paul told the Romans that they should be transformed by a renewing of their minds. Our minds, our thought life play such an important part in living the Christian life. Living by faith means we need to believe what God has said about our position with Him and the reality of our having been raised with Him. Because of the reality of this, we need to refocus our attention and learn to adjust our thinking to focus on the things of God and not the things of this earth.

This is not an easy thing. Most of us have been steeped in our culture long enough to have gained patterns of thinking that need to be totally undone and renewed along biblical lines. It takes effort and personal discipline through the power of the Spirit applying the Word of God in our lives. May God help us to be faithful men in making this kind of reality thinking a priority in our lives.

Dead With Christ

“Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” As we mentioned last time, Paul asks this question because he is working on the deeper question of how we can live in sin when we have died with Christ. He asks us if we realize that when we were placed into Christ by the Holy Spirit we were placed into His death. Our victory is fundamentally rooted in the fact that we died with Christ, but it is also necessary that we know that so that we count it as true and live accordingly.

Paul walks us through the logic of his argument in Romans 6. Death with Christ leads to resurrection with Christ. It isn’t just death to the old, it is death to the old AND a new life on the other side of the resurrection. But that resurrection is not just the actual future resurrection, it is a resurrection to new life now. Consider verse 4. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (See Adrian Warnock's blog here: Adrian's Blog: Resurrection Empowered Life - Dying to Live)

This also is the point in verses 5-11. If we have been in the likeness of His death, we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection. Verse 8 tells us that if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. Verse 10 says that the death He died, He died to sin, but the life He lives, He lives to God. Therefore (verse 11) we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.
Christ, of course, did not sin, but He was tempted in all points like we are. He died to all of that on the cross. On the other side of the cross, death no longer has dominion. The temptations were over. In that same way we are to count it as so that we died also so that we can walk in newness of life, that we should no longer be slaves to sin and that we might be alive to God.

The Power of Reckoning

To reckon means to count on, to account for something. We are going to look at several places in Scripture where we are told to reckon something to be true. That means to count it as true and live in light of its truthfulness. It means to align our lives with the truthfulness of particular facts.

The best place to begin to understand this is in Romans 6. In verse 11 Paul writes, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We’ll go back and look at the context in a moment, but what exactly is God telling us to do here? He is saying that we should count ourselves dead to sin. We should live in accordance with the truth that has been presented that we died with Christ. It is inconsistent to live any other way. Living a life in sin is contrary to what is true about us. The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, is making that argument from verse one of the chapter. “Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?” What is the answer? God forbid! What is the reason? Because it is against the will of God? It is against the will of God, but that is not the reason that is given here. The reason is an appeal to the consistency of how we live compared to what is true about us. He says, “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”

He challenges us based upon the reality of our death to sin in Christ. He then considers the possibility that we might not know that we were in His death when He died. The presumption is that if we know this truth, it should affect our lives. This struck me as kind of interesting since we often say that it is up to the Holy Spirit to work in us to get us to do the right thing. This is true of course, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t work in a vacuum. He works using the Word of God.

….to be continued

The Cross -- Part 3

In my last article I discussed the fact that Christ’s death for us was substitutionary. That means He took our place on the cross. Because He took our sin and its penalty there, we are able to receive the forgiveness of God and actually have imputed to us the righteousness of Christ.

There is an important scriptural truth that we need to study in order to fully lay hold of the victory Christ won for us on the cross. In Romans 6:3 it says, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

I Corinthians 12:13 says, “For  by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”

When we trust Christ and receive Him, the Holy Spirit places us into the body of Christ. We are joined to Him. So Paul wrote in Romans 6 that those who were baptized into Christ Jesus were also baptized into His death. He tells us in verse 6 that our “old man” was crucified with Christ. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ….”

Because of the fact that we have been placed into Christ, we were present in Him when He died on the cross.

The Bible not only teaches that we died with Christ, but that we were buried, risen and ascended with Him as well. Consider the following Scriptures:

Colossians 2:12-13 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

Colossians 3:1-3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in  His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Notice the tense of the verbs in the Ephesians passage. They are all past tense. God made (past tense) us alive together with Christ. He raised (past tense) us up together, and made (past tense) us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We need to believe these statements as the truth whether it feels true or not. We are to reckon them as being the reality in which we live and the true condition of our lives before God. Next time we’ll look at how we are to use the truth of these statements to help us live lives that are pleasing to God.

The Cross - Part 2

I think the place to begin our thinking and meditation on the cross and its power and impact on our lives is to remember that it was at that place and time that Almighty God Himself bore the penalty of sin on our behalf. We say it was a “substitutionary” death because He died in our place.

Paul wrote in Philippians 3:9 that his chief aim was to have the righteousness of God credited to him rather than be found in the rags of his own righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God.

How did we make the jump from a substitutionary death to righteousness? The answer is the cross, for as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

When Adam sinned in the garden that day, he dragged the whole human race down with him. All of mankind was in Adam at the moment of his rebellion and we have all “seconded” the motion of rebellion by our own actions and deeds once we actually arrived in person in this world. God then is confronted by a whole race of creatures who are in revolt against Him. The just retribution for this treason is death. But God, because of His great love for us and to demonstrate the glory of His grace, sent Christ to die for us while we were still sinners and rebels. The sentence of death was on our heads, and “He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross…” (1 Peter 2:24) He was our substitute.

Having taken our sin upon Himself there, He not only grants forgiveness, but amazingly credits us with His perfect righteousness so that when God looks at our record, He sees the righteousness of Christ. That is why Paul said that he wants to be found in Him, not with his own righteousness, but with the righteousness of God. (Philippians 3:9)

Does everyone automatically have this forgiveness and replaced righteousness? No, God tells us that we must repent of our sins and believe the Good News; receive Christ; believe in Him; accept the free gift.
Our right understanding of the cross then is foundational to the victory and power of the cross in our lives. The key, which we will look at in subsequent articles, is that of being “in Him”. You see it in Philippians 3:9 and again in 2 Corinthians 5:21 which was quoted earlier.

The Cross -- Part 1

The cross of Christ is central, not only to human history, but also to our successful living of the Christian life. It is this thought, begun over the recent Easter season, that provoked my thinking for this series.

Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” He also wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Jesus told us in John 12:24-25, “Most assuredly, I say to you,  unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Obviously from these passages and many more that we will examine, Christ’s death on the cross is central and key in all areas of the Christian’s life and experience.

There are two issues which are intertwined in my thinking. The first has to do with the truth that we were in Christ when He died and there is resulting victory and power in the resurrection life we share with Him. The second thread of thought has to do with the fact that in order to keep our life and bring forth fruit for God, we are to take up our cross daily and die to self and live for Christ. I’m going to be trying to think through and meditate on how these two concepts might be related. You may have some comments you want to add to the mix. Feel free to do so.
I’m not able to write my articles every single day so if you decide you want to follow this study, you’ll have to be patient with me and check back frequently to see how the study is proceeding. You can also set up your browser for RSS feeds that will allow you to know when I’ve posted the next installment.

There's more to come, but in the meantime--

I'm still working through some things I want to write related to the cross and its centrality in our lives. There is the challenge and motivation given by the Apostle Paul to be able to apply the truth of our death with Christ and resurrection with Him.

So that is what I'm working on and thus the delays in the posting here on Faithful Men.

In the mean time I'd like to refer you to my wife's blog over at She Is Blessed: Loving Your Children - Part 2. She challenges all parents of young children with the importance of shielding them from the details of tragedies such as the Virginia Tech shootings. Obviously there comes a point when they have to be aware of the reality of sin and tragedy, but some of these things instill fear in children and we know that God has not given us the spirit of fear. I also refer you to Tim's blog.

Have a great day in the Lord.

Risking our Lives

In teaching my Sunday School class from the book of John, I was struck by a particular statement that Jesus made in John 12:24-25. He said this: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Those are pretty strong words, aren’t they?

In Mark 8:34, 35 He says something similar: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

Over the next several weeks I encourage you to join me in thinking this through. Do we believe these are statements of absolute truthfulness? If so, why do we continually risk losing it all by trying to hold on to this life so tightly? What are the implications for us as men in the various roles we have in following this admonition? What are the implications in our homes with our wife and children as we apply this in those particular roles?

I would love some feedback on this topic. If you have some thoughts, let's hear them.

Have a wonderful celebration of Christ’s triumphant resurrection tomorrow as you meet together to worship Him.

Sexual Purity

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a series of messages on purity given by Josh Harris. He is the man that several years ago wrote the book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”. Since that time he has become senior pastor at Covenant Life Church in the Washington D.C. area. This is an excellent series for each of us to listen to because it lifts up the importance of sexual purity and magnifies God’s view of marriage. The messages, especially the first three or four, are straight forward and mince no words in the teaching that God created us as sexual beings and set the standards for living pure lives within the boundaries God has designed. I don’t know if I have ever heard this clear of instruction from the Word of God on this topic. I recommend the series for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of God’s intentions for our purity.

The series is in 6 parts and for now at least can be found and downloaded free of charge from the Covenant Life website here:

www.covlife.org/sermons

A Father's Love

One of the things I’m trying to do as I meditate on various passages of Scripture is to think through how it applies to the various roles I have as a man. Besides admonitions to me generally as a man, I consider how it affects me as a husband and then as a father.

If you’ve been following the previous posts you know that we have been thinking together about agape love. Peter had told us to add various traits to our faith with the pinnacle trait being love. We’ve thought a little bit together about this kind of love expressed toward our wife. I now want to think a little bit about what it means for a father to have this kind of love.

Love is patient. It bears long. It is mild and slow in seeking to get even. How are we doing in this area as a father? There’s a fine balance. We are to be patient and to bear long, but we are responsible to give our children the right kind of discipline and that usually means responding in a timely way to their poor behavior or disobedience.

Love is kind. We know what kindness is. Are we kind to our children? What about when they have been disobedient? God disciplines us with kindness. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to bear or doesn’t hurt. We need to treat our children with kindness and respect.

Love does not envy. It is not zealous and angry over some benefit, characteristic or skill the other person has. Are we being a good example in this area in our home?

Love does not puff itself up. A loving man will not act in a puffed up way toward his children. It’s not right first of all, and secondly, we don’t want to be the wrong kind of example for our children.

Love does not boast of ones abilities or extol his own virtues.

Love is not rude. It is not unbecoming and crude. As we relate to our children, we must behave in a way that is appropriate and becoming of a Christian. No rude or crude treatment of our children should be a part of our lives.

Love does not seek its own way. How hard is this one? We are supposed to be the leaders in our homes. We are to be the head. Doesn’t that mean we should seek our own way? The leadership we have should be a godly selfless leadership. This should be true as it relates to our children. We have the position where we could dictate virtually every decision in the family. However, love does not seek its own way. It’s ok to let the children have their way once in a while. I’m not talking about giving in to their misbehavior. I’m suggesting that if the kids want to go to McDonalds but you would rather have a Burger King, it doesn’t hurt to submit your will to theirs.

Love is not irritable. It is not easily stirred to anger nor is it easily riled up. Even though the behavior of my wife or children may be such that would rile up or stir up a natural man, these same events occurring in the life of a loving man will not rile him up.

Love is not resentful. It does not think evil of the other person or what the other person has done. Discipline and punishment should not come from a resentful heart or motive.

Loving our Wife, Continued

I’m still thinking about the importance of agape love in a marriage relationship especially as it relates to the husband’s role. As I read 1 Corinthians 13, my attention is focused on 9 concepts. I may come back and visit these in more detail in the future, but for now a short comment about each one will suffice.

Love is patient. It bears long. It is mild and slow in seeking to get even. So it’s important to ask myself how I am doing in this area. Do I carry grudges? Do I try to make sure everything is evened out? Hopefully not.

Love is kind. We know what kindness is. Am I kind to my wife? …all the time?

Love does not envy. It is not zealous and angry over some benefit, characteristic or skill the other person has. Are we being a good example in this area in our home?

Love does not puff itself up. A loving man will not bear himself in a cocky, arrogant way. He will not act and behave as though the whole world revolves around him. How are we doing guys?

Love does not boast of ones abilities or extol his own virtues.

Love is not rude. It is not unbecoming and crude. This is an area where we men have to be careful. We are not women and it is inappropriate to try to develop the softness of character that a woman has. However, there is no excuse for being rude or crude. Even though men are hardened and tough, we need to be able to treat our wife and family with kind politeness.

Love does not seek its own way. How hard is this one? We are supposed to be the leaders in our homes. We are to be the head. Doesn’t that mean we should seek our own way? The leadership we have should be a godly selfless leadership. We don’t need to get our own way unless our way is a godly way in contrast to a sinful or worldly way our wife might choose. But really, how often does that happen? God humbled Himself and took the position of a servant. This is God’s expectation for us as well.

Love is not irritable. It is not easily stirred to anger nor is it easily riled up. Even though the behavior of my wife or children may be such that would rile up or stir up a natural man, these same events occurring in the life of a loving man will not rile him up.

Love is not resentful. It does not think evil of the other person or what the other person has done. Colossians 3:19 tells us that we are to love our wife and not to be bitter or exasperated toward her.

Take some time to read and reread these basic 9 characteristics of godly, biblical love. How does your level of love stack up against the standard? If you’re like me, it doesn’t come close to being what God would like it to be. And yet, this is what Peter told us we should be diligent in adding our life.

Loving our Wife with God's Love

As I’ve been studying the traits listed in 2 Peter 1:5-8, I’ve come to the last one in the list which is agape love. We men have a tendency to skip over details in the attempt to finish a project. The same thing happens in our study of the Word. Therefore, in order to avoid that tendency, I began to think through what’s involved in adding and increasing this kind of love in my life as it relates to my role as a husband. Scripture of course is not silent on this issue, so follow along as I work through this a little bit.

Ephesians 5:25-28 says the following: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.”

The word “love” in these verses is agape – the kind of selfless, giving love that God has for us. This love does not flow from feelings and emotion, although both may be present. Rather, this is the kind of love that gives without expecting anything in return.

A husband, then, is to love his wife in exactly the same way that Christ loved the church. What Christ did out of love for the church was to give Himself for her. Similarly, we husbands should give of ourselves for our wife. Christ of course gave His life and there is a sense in which we need to be willing to give our life to protect our wife. But probably more difficult than this is the fact that we are to be giving ourselves for our wife all of the time. This means that there will be sacrifice. We will not be able to do all of the things we would do if we were single. Not only will we give up some of the things we would rather do, love does this without becoming bitter or resentful in the process. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love does not seek its own interests. Rather it gives itself for the interests of others.

Continuing in Ephesians, Paul explains the purpose for the self sacrifice—“that He might present her to himself a glorious church …that she should be holy and without blemish.” While we can’t provide ourselves as an atonement for our wife, our goal should be similar. As the head of our wife, we are to love her by helping her to grow in her faith and relationship with Christ. Our efforts should be focused on increasing her holiness and godliness through loving ministry of the Word to her.

If you’re like me, an immediate reaction to this thought is, “How am I supposed to do that when I’m not so sure of my own holiness and godliness?” That thought should bring us to the motivation to become the man God wants us to be in our own relationship with Him so that we will then have the resources to help our wife in her spiritual walk. What a tremendous this responsibility this is. When we say, “I do” on our wedding day, we are taking on this commitment.

The unfortunate thing is that we do not seem to be getting this message across to the young men we are raising in our churches and we do not seem to be teaching our young women to be looking for this desire and characteristic to be present and growing in the life of the men they date.

It would be interesting to get an online discussion going on this topic and the implications for dating and courtship in our society.

Adding Love

The pinnacle of attributes or characteristics to be added to our faith is love. Each one of these traits is built on the preceding ones. Last time we saw that brotherly love was added to the mix. Now, built upon that we have agape love. It is an interesting study to investigate these two kinds of love – brotherly love and agape love – to see what they have in common and how they differ. (William Dicks does a good job of comparing the two on his blog here.) Vine distinguishes them by saying that phileo more nearly represents tender affection. Agape love is one that values and esteems. It is an unselfish love, ready to serve. Vine also says that agape “is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations.”

Paul tells us in I Corinthians 13 that we can have a lot of good attributes and do many admirable things, but if love is missing we are but a sounding brass or clanging cymbal. We may have all kinds of faith, but without love we are nothing and we are profited nothing.

Perhaps then we can see why Peter would put love at the very top of the list. Without all of these traits and love as the pinnacle, Peter says we are shortsighted, even to blindness. (2 Peter 1:9)

My question to us as faithful men then is how do we add this to all of the rest. What steps can we concretely and diligently take to develop this characteristic?

1 John 4:7 (NKJV)7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

First and foremost then is the need to be born of God. We cannot be faithful men and have this kind of love if we have not been born again through the Spirit of God.

If we are born again, then we have experienced the love of God first hand and should be able to communicate that love to others. What steps can we take to develop the kind of love we should have? We just need to practice. God gives us opportunities every day with our families and coworkers and people we meet along the way to practice loving those who may not deserve it. If Vine is correct that this love is not based upon our feelings, we should not wait until it feels right to demonstrate love. We need to just practice. Practice sacrificing your time and energy for someone else just because it is right and good to do so.

May God help us as we practice the diligence of adding this kind of love into our lives.

Brotherly Love - Our Wife

Brotherly love (kindness) and our spouse. Now there’s a topic for you. If we are to add brotherly kindness to our lives, it must fit in somehow with our interaction with those around us and that certainly would include our wife. Brotherly love in the Greek is philadelphia. The kind of love involved here is different from agape love in that it is more like tender affection. It is even used of the love the Father has for the Son in John 3:35. The interesting thing is that this word is never used in a command for us to love God in this way. Brotherly love conveys the thought of cherishing the object of love above everything else and is characterized by constancy. (Thoughts taken from Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.)

So in thinking this through it seems to me that we should exhibit this kind of love toward our wife. We promised to love and cherish her above all others when we said our vows on our wedding day, but how easy it is to get into a selfish mode of living. Other passages we have looked at speak of kindness and giving preference toward one another. Have you ever thought how much easier it is to give preference to co-workers and to be polite and considerate of them more so than it is to have these same characteristics toward our own wife? If you think about it, shouldn’t it actually be the other way around.

May God help us as we diligently add brotherly kindness to our lives, especially toward our wife.

Adding Brotherly Kindness

I’m continuing my series through 2 Peter 1:5-8.

According to 2 Peter 1:7 we are to provide brotherly love for (or in) our godliness. In other words, our piety is not to be such that separates us and isolates us from our brothers in Christ, but is to provide the foundation for brotherly kindness. Sometimes piety takes on a holier-than-thou attitude which tends to drive a wedge between Christians. How different true piety is from this sort of individualistic false piety.

Romans 12:10 gives us some idea of what’s involved in brotherly love. This passage tells us to “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” What this tells me is that brotherly love is more than just being friendly. It involves kindness and giving preference toward one another. I Peter 3:8 adds to that by telling us to have compassion, tender hearted and courteous. I Peter 1:22 adds that we should love one another with a pure heart.

Writing about brotherly kindness seems difficult to me because it seems like such an obvious thing to understand. What is there to explain? However, I think we men have difficulty with this. On the one hand we may develop a camaraderie that is kind of a macho guy thing, but lacks depth and courtesy and honesty. On the other hand we may not have developed any sort of brotherly relationship with other men and are attempting to go it alone. What God wants from us is a relationship that is deep, honest, courteous and having some component of tenderness and affection to it.
What’s a challenge to me in this passage is the fact that we are to be diligent in adding to our faith these various dimensions. How then does one go about adding brotherly love? If you have any thoughts or insight, I would enjoy hearing them.

Adding Godliness

According to 2 Peter 1:6, the next characteristic we are to provide in our faith is godliness. I had originally thought this word meant that our aim was to become like God as much as possible. The word actually means pious or devout. It has to do with a godward attitude that does what is well pleasing to Him. It involves the practice of the reverent disciplines which might be called religious duties. This would include such things as praying, meditation on the Word and participating in the worship and ordinances of the church. This kind of piety also includes a reverent respect for God's created order -- such areas as marriage, family, government and creation.

In 1 Timothy 4:7, the Apostle Paul tells us to reject profane and old wives fables and to exercise toward godliness. In elaborating on this point he writes in the next verse, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

It seems to me that this is an especially important point for those of us who desire to be faithful men. We men normally hold up physical strength as an ideal to be pursued. But even if that goal is achieved it is effective only for the length of this physical life. Usually our strength dissipates well before the end of our physical life. But in this passage we learn that godliness profits now and in the life that is to come. Doesn’t that have something to say about our priorities in life? Just as it takes exercise to increase our physical strength and endurance it takes exercise to increase and improve our godliness. If godliness consists of the religious duties and spiritual practices mentioned above, then to exercise ourselves toward godliness means to work at and make priorities out of such disciplines.

Paul elaborates on this in chapter 6 when he says that godliness with contentment is great gain. We are so easily distracted by what the world holds up as necessary for success and gain in life. Here again the real answer is basic and simple – godliness with contentment. We are to be content with such things as we have. Another component then of exercising toward godliness would be to develop the practice of thankfulness and contentment.
As we look forward to the year 2007, let’s focus on priorities and resolutions that fall in line with God’s will for us. Let’s be diligent in our pursuit of godliness.

Adding Self Control

Continuing our series on 2 Peter 1:5-7 we look at self-control.

The word for self-control is "encratic". The root "crat" is the same as that in autocrat or democrat. It means rule or power. The "en" at the beginning implies inward. Therefore someone who is self-controlled is someone who has the power to rule inwardly. A self-controlled man has power over his passions, appetites and desires. He has dominion over himself. This is the kind of self-control an athlete would have in training and preparation for his event. I Corinthians 9:25 says that everyone who competes for the prize is self-controlled in all things. The athlete in the natural sphere trains for a perishable prize, but we an imperishable one. As Christian men, we should be as self-controlled in our quest for the eternal prize as is an Olympic athlete is in his quest.

Scripture also teaches us that temperance or self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit. That's encouraging to me because it tells me that I don't have to come up with this characteristic on my own. It is a product of the Spirit of God at work in my life. It also tells me that self-control is in opposition to the deeds of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:18 where such things as adultery, fornication, uncleanness and lewdness are listed. These are the natural results of the flesh being in control. When the Spirit is in control, these are replaced by the fruits of the Spirit. The final fruit listed in verse 23 is self-control.
In Acts 24:25 Paul testifying before Felix reasoned about righteousness, self control and the judgment to come. God expects us to live a righteous life. Such a life is very much a life of self control. We are to be ruling over our passions and natural instincts. That’s what makes us men and not animals. All of this is related to the fact that there is a judgment to come when each one of us will give an account of ourselves before God.

Adding Knowledge

The next thing we are to add is knowledge.
This month I'm meditating on what it means to add "knowledge" to the virtue which I am to supply in my faith. Last month we learned that virtue is a visible, observable righteousness, not just an inward goodness. When it comes to the word knowledge, it seems almost too simple to spend time on. However, there has been a great deal of philosophical debate over the years as to what true knowledge is. Knowledge as it is used in the New Testament includes the following ideas: to understand completely, verified , observable knowing. It implies a relationship between the thing known and the knower. Kittel says it is an obedient and grateful acknowledgement of the deeds and demands of God. He also says it develops in the life of the Christian as lasting obedience and reflection
With these thoughts in mind then, what is involved in the diligence of providing our faith with knowledge that has been added to virtue? First it seems to me we need to develop the desire for knowledge. Paul said in Philippians 3:10 that he wanted to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. He said this after he said that he counted all things as loss that he might know Him. Secondly we must spend time in His word. God has revealed Himself through His living Word and it is there that we get to know Him truly. Jesus said in John 17:17, "Thy word is truth." Knowledge of the kind spoken of in scripture is knowledge of the truth. God's Word provides that truth for knowing. As faithful men we must make it our priority to provide our faith with knowledge. If this has not been one of your goals, why not make a commitment to move in that direction today.

Adding Virtue

The first thing we are to provide in our faith then is virtue. But what is virtue? Doing some digging into what this means, I discovered that the word implies moral goodness or excellence. It is the characteristic of being outstanding morally – being eminent. It implies the working of divine power in a person. John MacArthur describes it this way, “…the God-given ability to perform heroic deeds. It also came to mean that quality of life which made someone stand out as excellent. It never meant cloistered virtue, or virtue of attitude, but virtue which is demonstrated in life. Peter is here writing of moral energy, the power that performs deeds of excellence.”
Why would moral goodness or excellence be the first trait that should be provided to our faith? It seems to me that without such virtue, our faith appears worthless. As James tells us, "faith without works is dead." What good is faith if there is no virtue in the life? Also, virtue provides a better soil in which faith can flourish. By this I mean that as a Christian, our faith is better able to produce its normal results when the life is not hindered and distracted by moral failures and weakness. If we are to be diligent in adding virtue to our faith, that means that during each day as we are out and about interacting in our world, we need to make sure that virtue is at the top of our list. When we are at work, we should be virtuous in all we do. When we are at home, our wife and kids ought to be able to see that virtue is outstanding in our life. It should show up in the attitudes we display when helping with the dishes, interacting with the children or making financial decisions. Do we have the courage to turn off the TV when the programs are not characterized by virtue? How can we add virtue to our faith? We do this by learning to be obedient to the Word of God and His Spirit. As we read and understand God's Word, the Spirit shows us where we are failing to live up to who we are as Christians. As He reveals these things to us, we need to repent and take steps to change our behavior or attitudes. In this way we are adding virtue to our lives. As we learn to live this way, we will become increasingly sensitive to areas where virtue may not have its proper place in our lives.

Adding to our Faith

It dawned on me that my last post on perseverance was the latest in a series, but the series started in my other blog. In order to bring some consistency to all of this, I’m going to repost the first parts of this series here.
I’ve been meditating recently on 2 Peter 1:5-7. My goal is to post what God teaches me through this passage. The verses read this way in the NKJV. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
The first thing I’m challenged with is the requirement of diligence. According to an online dictionary, diligence is the earnest and persistent application to an undertaking, steady effort, attentive care and heedfulness. According to 2 Peter 1:5-8 we are to give diligence to add to our faith. This tells me that it will not take place "automatically". Of necessity there will be effort required and that effort will have to be earnest and persistent. In other words we are not to begin the task and then let it just fizzle out. It is something we are to give our attention to so that we achieve the desired results.
What is it then that we are supposed to be doing? We are to add various characteristics to our life and this passage implies a step-wise sequence. To "add" in this case means "to supply". We are to add or supply these traits in our faith. When we are asked to supply something, it is important to take the responsibility to follow through. If someone asks us to supply the pop for a picnic, we need to think through how many people are going to be there, what flavors might be needed and whether we will need to bring ice and glasses. It doesn’t do any good to think that through if we don’t go to the store and actually buy the stuff we need for the picnic. And then buying it doesn’t do any good if we don’t bring it so the people can enjoy it. In the same way we are to supply our faith with certain things. We need to be diligent about examining our life and providing these characteristics in the appropriate measure as they are needed. In addition, there is a specific sequence here and so it is important that we pay attention to the significance of that sequence. I’ll try to follow through in subsequent postings as I work my way through this passage.

Some thoughts on patience

In 2 Peter 1:5, 6, Peter gives us characteristics which we are to diligently add to our faith. First we are to add virtue and to virtue knowledge. To knowledge we are to add self-control and to self-control perseverance. As I am studying through these characteristics, I wanted to take some extra time to delve into the meaning of perseverance.

Perseverance is a translation of the word “hupomone”, which means to remain under. The person who is persevering or enduring is remaining under some circumstance or pressure and he is doing so in such a way that his spirit is not crushed by the circumstances. Perseverance can be the result of remaining under the pressures which God brings directly in the form of discipline. Hebrews 12:7 “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons.” Perseverance can also be the result of enduring the pressures inflicted by the world and its system of evil and persecution. Either way we are to remain confident and strong in spite of the pressures.

In the passage under consideration, Peter instructs us to be diligent to add this trait to the others that are being added to our faith. Diligence means that we will focus our attention on and work toward accomplishing this goal of adding endurance to our faith. Endurance is gained primarily by practice. In order to be diligent in adding it to our faith, we will have to go through various trials and be diligent about taking those trials patiently.

What does the New Testament teach us about endurance? James 1:3 tells us that the trying of our faith produces patience. Similarly, Romans 5:3 tells us that tribulation works patience and patience brings experience and experience hope. This is why James says that those who endure are to be counted blessed. (James 5:11) It is also why he tells us to count it all joy when we come under the various pressures because we know that these trials will produce endurance in us. Perseverance/patience/endurance is a tremendous goal to reach for. Trials bring joy because we know the result will be good.

The word “experience” in Romans 5:3 is an interesting one which would take an entire study of its own. In essence it means proof or evidence. So the patience that comes from tribulation brings about the kind of experience that proves the genuine nature of our Christian life. Experience is not the flimsy, superficial feeling-oriented concept that we have today. It is the documentation of our Christian faith. Tribulation brings about patience which gives rise to the documentation of our genuine faith which then provides hope. Someone has said that hope looks to the future while endurance helps us get there. You don’t get there if you don’t endure. We will see hope in close proximity to endurance throughout this study.

Patient endurance is required of all Christians. The passage under consideration tells us to be diligent in adding it to our faith. Peter also tells us in I Peter 2:20 that when we do good and suffer, it is commendable before God to take it patiently. Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 6:11 that patience is one of the things a man of God is to pursue having fled from youthful lusts and other evils. In 2 Tim 3:10 we find that Paul commends Timothy for having followed his example in the area of patience among other things. An older man who would be a good example to the young men around him must have patience as one of his personal characteristics. (Titus 2:2) Patience is one of the attributes that commended Paul as a minister. (2 Cor 6:4)

The kind of patience or endurance spoken of here is not the simple patience that we normally think of when we say we might need some patience when the car ahead of us is moving too slowly or something like that. Patience is the enduring of a trial whether that trial is directly from the hand of God for our discipline or is being applied by the world and its system in opposition to God and His people. We are strengthened by God Himself so that we might endure. (Col 1:11) It is a goal to be sought after, not avoided. According to James in chapter 5 we are not to grumble against one another while enduring the trials. So rather than grumbling and complaining as we often do when going through hardships, we are to be joyful and accept the trial without complaint. That’s a tough assignment.

God shows his pleasure in this kind of endurance when he commends the Ephesian church in Revelation 2. He says in verse 2, “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.”

Being able to endure trials with endurance and patience is helpful in providing the support and encouragement needed by others coming after us who may face the same or similar trials. (2 Cor 1:6-7)

As I mentioned earlier, there is a strong connection between patience and hope. We already looked at the fact that patience produces the proof in our lives which gives us hope. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians he said he remembered their “patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Patience helps produce hope and hope also strengthens patience. When we have a sure hope, we wait for it more patiently like the farmer does for his harvest. (James 5:7-10) Even though the word is different, Hebrews 6:11 says that “we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” In other words through our patience we demonstrate the full assurance of the hope we have. Romans 15:4 tells us that through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.

One of the things that is most interesting to me is the close connection with endurance and the final reward. Heb 10:36 tells us, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” He goes on to say in verse 38 that the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. In speaking in an “end time” context, Jesus tells us that His followers will be hated by all for His name’s sake. He then adds, “By your patience possess your souls.” In the same kind of “end time” context Matt 24:13 says that he that endures to the end will be saved. 2 Timothy 2:12 tells us that if we endure, we will reign with him.

Our pastor, in preaching on 2 Corinthians 4 called our attention to verse 8 which tells us that though we are hard pressed on every side, we are not crushed. Then in verse 16 we see the evidence of perseverance. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

In a message during prayer meeting he spoke from 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4. It was interesting to see the connection with what we are studying here. Paul boasted of the Thessalonians for “your patience and faith in all your persecutions.” He goes on to say in verse 5 that this is a “manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.”

Patience or endurance then is to be the hallmark of the Christian life. It is the pattern of life that results in God’s approval of our lives. We are told to run with patience the race that is set before us. Jesus said that the seed that fell on good ground are those who heard the word and keep it and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8;15) This is the characteristic of a true believer. Love endures all things. As our lives are marked by the love of God, they will also be marked by the kind of endurance that only comes from the power of God at work in us for His glory.

Worship that Pleases God

Another reason worship must be according to truth is that man’s methods, while sometimes having the appearance of wisdom, do not work. See Colossians 2:20-23. “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” Only the worship that God has commanded pleases Him and accomplishes in us the transformation God expects.Many times, well meaning people teach that we should avoid certain foods or practices and in that cultural setting the admonitions may be very wise. Over time, the culture may change or the setting may change and people hang on to the practice without knowing the history or the intention. Eventually the practice becomes entrenched in the church and people begin to think that this man-made “rule” is actually a biblical one. A doctrine of man has begun to be accepted as though it were a doctrine of God. But, according to Colossians 2, as well-meaning as this rule may have been, it is of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Only the Spirit of God along with the proper application of the Word of God can produce the growth in holiness God requires.

Worship According to Truth

The forms and patterns of worship often result in changes in belief and teaching. Teaching should begin with the truth of the Word of God and that is what should govern practice, but sometimes it happens the other way around. What we may adopt in our worship pattern without Scriptural sanction may in the future cause the people to believe false teachings derived from that practice. In verse 11 of Mathew 15 Jesus tells the people that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes from the heart. Where would the people get the idea that what we ate defiles us religiously? Jesus had just been challenged on the behavior of His disciples in that they did not wash their hands before eating bread as the tradition of the elders dictated. The fact that this tradition had become entrenched caused the teaching to be understood that a person could be religiously defiled by what went into their mouth. This in turn resulted in their not being as concerned as they should have been with the heart where the real problem was located. The point of this portion of the discussion is that in order for worship to be according to truth, it must not add to what God has said He wants in our worship. Doing so puts us at risk of disobedience and potentially introducing false teaching into the church.

Fear in worship?

Leviticus 9 and 10 tell the interesting story of Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu. These men decided to offer fire and incense before the Lord, but the Lord was not pleased and destroyed them. The interesting thing here is that Leviticus 10:1 tells us that they offered fire and incense which the Lord had not commanded. Sometimes in our minds we don’t read what it actually says. It does not say that God had told them not to offer a particular way but they went ahead and did it anyway. What they did was to offer something which the Lord had not commanded. In Exodus 30:9, the priests were told they were not to offer strange incense on the altar. Perhaps that is what they did wrong. But they offered in a way and an offering of fire which came from a source not approved by God. This should cause us to do some serious thinking about our worship of God. Do we invent methods and rituals and assume that God is pleased because our motives are right even though it may be an offering that He did not command? This seems a lot like what Cain did as well. Cain offered the fruit of the ground and God did not accept it from Him. Cain, instead of getting his act together and offering what God required, got angry. But what about us? We don’t have the luxury of God’s immediate approval or rejection of our offerings and worship. Therefore we must be careful to study His Word so that we are sure to be doing things His way. Many people seem to imply that in this day and age it doesn’t matter. But listen to this New Testament passage in Hebrews 12:28,29 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” Our worship is to done acceptably in reverence and godly fear. Why reverence and godly fear? Because our God is a consuming fire. Even though under the new covenant we can boldly approach the throne of grace, we are yet to have an appropriate level of reverence and godly fear. It seems to me therefore that we should be exceptionally cautious about adding components to our worship which God has not explicitly or implicitly specified in scripture. In addition, we should be cautious about conducting worship in a way that reflects our culture more closely than the revealed will of God.

Worship - Part 3

The second point Jesus wanted to convey is that worship must be according to truth. According to truth means it must be consistent with God’s revelation of Himself and His will and His statement of the true condition of things. The only place we can find this is in His Word, the Bible. We must be careful not to lift our own experiences up to the level of His revealed Word and will. We must make sure that experiences we have are consistent with His revealed Truth.
In 2 Peter 1:16 we read, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And we have more sure the prophetic word, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Why did I bring up this passage here? Because Peter is referring to the experience he and two others had on the Mount of Transfiguration. This was a real experience. It wasn’t a dream and it wasn’t an illusion. It really happened on a particular day in a particular place. There have hardly been any other experiences that anyone has had that could top this one. However, Peter, who had been there and had that experience, writes in verse 19 that we have a more sure prophetic word. More sure than what? More sure than the real experience they had had. And what is this more sure prophetic word? He tells us in verse 20 that no prophecy of Scriptre is of any private interpretation. Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. I gather from this that God’s Word is to be believed and trusted more than any experience we may have, even real ones. We should avoid saying things like, “I know what the Scripture says, but I feel that ….” or “I know the Bible says we shouldn’t …., but in this case God has led me to ….” God’s Word is authoritative above our feelings, experiences, inner voices, conscience, etc. This applies to every area of life including worship.

Worship - Part 2

First, then, let us look at what it means to worship in spirit. I Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that there are three parts to man – body, soul, and spirit. Some Christians don’t accept the idea of three parts but rather believe there are just the body and soul. We should still be able to be friends and brothers even though we might disagree on this point. However, I have come to believe in the three-part nature of man for a number of reasons. The first reason is from the passage I have just referred to in I Thessalonians. Secondly, Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” This is telling us that the word of God is able to distinguish and divide between the soul and spirit even though we may not always be able to do so. Third, we are told in Scripture that in our natural state we are dead in trespasses and sins. I take that to mean that our spirit is dead. The soul is usually considered to be the seat of our mind, will and emotions and certainly our soul is not dead before being born again. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. He told him that that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. I assume then that in the new birth, the spirit is born from above and becomes alive.
Why is it important to wade through all of that just to discuss worship? The answer is that Jesus said that our worship is to be in spirit. If there is confusion between soul and spirit, the importance of His statement will not be readily apparent. Often we are stirred emotionally because of something that has occurred in the worship service. This is an emotional response in our souls. This does not necessarily mean that it has affected our spirit. Some events are received through our bodies and are passed “down” to our soul and we have some emotional response or make some decision as a result. Other events, spiritual events, affect are spirit and are communicated to our soul and we have a response or make a decision. It’s not always easy to tell the difference. A true worship event can trigger an emotional response. But the thing we need to remember is that just because we had a strong feeling associated with an experience does not mean it was a spiritual experience. We are easily fooled. Remember, worship must be in spirit AND truth. We’ll get to the truth part later.
Some music and some visual productions trigger responses in our bodies which are then acted upon by our mind, will and emotions. But these events may be focused on and targeted on the body. In that case they may be fleshly and not spiritual. (Notice I said “may be”) We need to be able to tell the difference. Some music and other input can stir us emotionally even though it may not have anything to do with Biblical truth. I listen to classical music quite a bit and some music stirs me almost to tears and yet as far as I know, there is no spiritual truth being conveyed. My point is that we need to be careful and discerning as to whether our worship is in spirit or is focused on the flesh or soul.

Worship - Part I

There are many discussions these days as to how we should worship God. Most of those who I hear talking about it say something like, “I prefer the older music.” Others say, “I prefer the service to be more formal” or “I wish we would sing more upbeat songs.” The thing that seems to be missing here is the question as to what God would want. Isn’t that what really matters? During the next several posts on this blog I hope to express my thoughts and understandings related to worship. This has been covered in more depth by many more competent than I. However, my goal is to take what I’ve learned and express it in a way that makes the issues easy to understand.
Recently I’ve been teaching a Sunday School class on the Gospel of John. We’re currently in chapter 4 where Jesus meets and talks with the Samaritan woman by the well. As I was studying this passage, several verses stuck out to me as they relate to worship. Those two verses are verses 22-24. In this passage Jesus says, “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The first thing that strikes me here is the absolute necessity of worshiping the Father as He specifies. Verse 23 tells us that the Father is seeking people who worship Him in a specific manner. Verse 24 tells us that those who worship Him must worship Him this way. Remember, this is Jesus speaking. He’s the one we claim to follow and obey. I take it then that God has specific requirements for worship and He is looking specifically for those who worship that way. To me this means that I cannot be basing my decisions on how to worship on the whims of my own preferences and emotional needs, but rather I need to base those decisions on what God is looking for.This passage teaches us that the way God wants to be worshiped is in spirit and truth. This reflects the nature and character of God. Jesus specifically says that God is spirit. Therefore worship must be in spirit. God’s character is truth and therefore worship must be in truth or according to truth. Jesus says to God in prayer in John 17:17, “Your Word is truth.” Worship must correspond to God’s revealed truth and it must conform to God’s character.

Continued in Part 2

Goal - To Be LIke Christ

Last Wednesday a men’s quartet from a Christian college came to our church. One of the songs they sang was an old song I hadn’t heard for probably 15 or 20 years. The name of it is, “O to Be Like Thee!” by Thomas O. Chisholm. The words are certainly worth thinking about and so I’m sharing them with you today.

O to be like Thee blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

O to be like Thee full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind;
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find.

O to be like Thee lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee Lord, I am coming
Now to receive the anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine.

O to be like Thee while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and heaven above.

O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

A Quote Worth Noting

I have been reading the book, “Apostasy from the Gospel” by John Owen. The following quote struck me because of the fact that it is possible to receive truth in the mind without receiving it in the heart. Perhaps this explains why so many fall away when persecution or hardships come.
“The danger of apostasy will always be present if men receive the truth only in their minds, but do not love it in their hearts and gladly submit to it in their wills. Unless this enmity is conquered and cast out; unless the mind is freed from its depravity; unless the truth works powerfully and effectively upon the heart and soul; unless the truth is learned ‘as it is in Jesus’, so that men ‘put off their previous behavior, the old man, which is corrupt and filled with deceitful lusts, and are renewed in the spirit of their mind, and put on the new man which in the image of God is created in righteousness and true holiness’; unless they love the truth and value it for the spiritual peace, power and freedom of spirit it brings them, they will fall away in time of persecution and forsake the gospel for other things.” (Page 57 Apostasy from the Gospel by John Owen published by Banner of Truth Trust, 2003)

We Stand in Grace

Not only is salvation by grace, but standing (vs falling) and growing are all by grace through faith and not by works. Galatians 3:1-9 covers this pretty thoroughly. He says in verse 3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Verse 9 says, “Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” I can’t begin to explain how important this is. So many Christians begin the Christian life by faith – trusting Christ’s finished work on the cross for their salvation. But after that, they begin to develop the mentality that the rest of the Christian life is by works. Not so! Colossians 2:6 says, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” You receive Him by faith so walk in Him by faith. In Romans 14 where we are taught not to judge our brothers, Paul asks who we are to be judging our brother. To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand because God is able to make him stand. At the time of salvation, we not only get released from condemnation, we receive the Holy Spirit, a new heart, new motivations, along with the grace and strength to grow and persevere. These all come as a gift of God’s grace. Paul told the Philippians that “he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”(1:6). He also told them that it is God who works in them both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (2:13) The writer of the Hebrews prayed that God would “make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight…” (13:21) We need to be encouraged to know that what God asks of us, He provides all of the resources including motivation, will and strength to do.

Spiritual Living

In the last post I pointed out that as Christians, we are dead to the law. Where then does the motivation and power for living godly, obedient lives come from? According to Romans 7:6, we now serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter because as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:6 “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Righteous and godly living comes from the operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives and our yieldedness to Him. He tells us in Romans 8:3-4 that what the law could not do, God did by sending His son as a sacrifice for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirements of the law would be fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit. (paraphrase) The requirements of the law are written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That is the point of the new covenant that God instituted with His people. The old covenant had not worked. In the new covenant God writes His law directly on our hearts and the Holy Spirit lives out the life of God in us as we yield to Him. It does not come from imposing the law of God on us from outside. It comes from living the life of God from the inside. And that is only possible because we live under the umbrella of God’s forgiveness. The whole topic of the spirit-filled walk in Romans 8 is introduced in verse 1 by the statement that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ bore our sins on the cross. They have been washed away and forgiven completely. We stand in righteousness before God because “He made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Once we recognize that we stand completely forgiven as a gift of God’s grace, we are free to grow and mature in Christ allowing His Spirit to manifest the character of God in our lives.

Grace -- not law

It has been a while since I posted the previous five points in this series so if you have not read them or it has been a long time, it would be worth your while to go back and read or reread the previous four posts. The sixth truth we are considering here is from Colossians 2:14 which tells us that the handwriting of requirements that was against us has been wiped out. It has been taken out of the way and has been nailed to the cross. This handwriting of requirements is the law. The Bible clearly teaches us that we are not under the law but under grace. (Romans 6:14) Now as soon as some of you read this you are going to think that here we have another one of those modern antinomian philosophies that is so prevalent today. If you jump to that conclusion you would be incorrect. Please study along and follow the teaching of Scripture. The issue is, “How can we live righteously and godly in this world?” Paul is very clear in this passage that we can’t do it by keeping the law or by keeping man-made rules. It doesn’t work.
According to I Corinthians 15:56, sin gets its power from the law. Paul says the same thing in Romans 7:8 “But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.” So the key to righteous living is not in adding more commandments because that just gives sin its power. The key comes from the realization of the fact that we are not under the law any more. It has no jurisdiction over us. Check out Romans 7. Verse 5 says, “you also have become dead to the law…” Verse 6 says, “…we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by….” Since God sees us as being identified with Christ, he sees us as having been crucified with Christ. Therefore the law has no more authority over us than it does a dead man. That is exactly the point of Romans 7 in the example about adultery.
Some may be asking at this point, “Where then do the motivation and power for doing right come from?” We’ll look at that next time.

Completely Forgiven

The fifth truth we are to believe according to Colossians 2, is that all of our trespasses have been forgiven (verse 13). Psalm 103:3 tells us that God is the one who forgives all our iniquities and then goes on in verse 12 to say, “AS far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Micah 7:19 says, “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Many times we as Christians carry our sins as though they were not forgiven. Look at the post 3 posts back where I bring up Hebrews 10. We are told in that passage that if the O.T. sacrifices had made the comers perfect, they would have ceased to be offered and the worshipers would have had no more conscience (consciousness) of sins. Christ’s sacrifice did exactly that. The O.T. sacrifices were a constant reminder of sin. But Christ has made us perfect in Him and the sacrifices have ended and to me that means the constant consciousness of sins should be gone. I don’t think that means we shouldn’t have a tender conscience or that we shouldn’t confess our sins, but we need to remember that our sins have been removed from us, the penalty has been paid and they will not be remembered against us any more.

Already there?

The third and fourth truths in this series from the book of Colossians are found in 2:12. We were buried with Christ and raised with Him. One of the great truths of the gospel is that when we come to Christ in faith, we are united with Him and identified with Him in His death, burial and resurrection. God looks on it as though it were our death, burial and resurrection. There is great power for victory in this truth as we shall see. Romans 6:1 asks the question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” The response is that we won’t because we died to sin. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized in His death?” Water pictures this great truth of identification with Christ. When we trust Christ, the Holy Spirit places us (baptizes us) into the body of Christ and we become identified with Him. Water baptism pictures our identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Ephesians 2:5ff tells us that “even when we were dead in trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” So God sees us as having been raised and seated with Christ where He is. Ephesians 1:20 tells us that he is seated at the father’s right hand far above all principality and power. That’s where we are! We need to believe it by faith just like we believed Christ died for us by faith.

Victory over sin?

The second truth we are to believe is that in Him (Christ), the body of sins has been put off. (Colossians 2:11) Romans 6:6 tells us that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed (done away with, rendered inoperative), that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Verse 7 goes on to tell us that “he who has died has been freed from sin.” We died with Christ. Therefore we are to consider ourselves dead to sin also. I Peter 2:24 says, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” The truth here is that even though it often doesn’t feel like it, the body of sin has been dealt with. We died with Christ and therefore sin has no authority over us. If we give in to it, we do so not because it has power or authority over us, but because we choose to give in to it. No matter how powerful it seems, we are able to resist. The Bible says that no temptation has taken us but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. He will not allow us to be tempted above what we are able. With every temptation He will make a way to escape that we might be able to bear it. (Paraphrase of I Corinthians 10:13) Do you believe this truth? If you are a Christian, you are complete in Christ and the body of sins has been put off. Trust God’s Word on this.

Complete in Him

If you haven’t read the previous two posts, it would be good to go back and read them for they provide the foundation and introduction of what we are talking about in this post. Today we are discussing the first truth (in this series) that must be believed in order to give us a firm foundation in our walk with Christ. That truth comes from Colossians 2:10 “you are complete in Him.” In the previous verse Paul wrote that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus Christ is God. All of God dwells in Him. But in verse 10, we are told that we are filled full in Him. In Christ we have everything we need for the life we are to live as Christians. No other revelation, experiences, visions or plans are needed to be what God wants us to be. We are complete in Him. He is the fullness of God and we are full in Him. Paul will argue that legalism, asceticism, or false spirituality do not provide what we need. Look at Hebrews 10, for example. Verse 1 tells us the sacrifices could never make people perfect. If they would have, they would have ceased to be offered and there would be no more consciousness of sins. In comparing what we have in Christ to the Old Testament sacrifices, he writes in verse 12 that after one sacrifice, Christ sat down. There’s the first condition. The sacrifice ceased after just one. In verse 14 he tells us that by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. There’s the second condition. Christ sacrifice took care of the sin problem for all time. We are to be rooted and grounded in this. Just as we receive Christ Jesus by faith to become a Christian, we are to believe this truth by faith. We are complete in Him. Thank God for that today as you go about living your life for Him.

7 Facts for Christians to Believe

Paul tells us in Colossians 2:6 that we are to walk in Christ in the same way we received Him. I take that to mean “by faith”. Faith is believing God, taking Him at His word. As Paul continues His development of how we are to be grounded in Christ rather than being cheated by those who would burden us with false religion, He gives us 7 truths that we need to accept by faith. These truths provide the grounding or foundation we need in our walk with God and are found in Colossians 2: 10-15. These truths are: 1) We are complete in Christ; 2) In Him the body of sins has been put off; 3) We were buried with Him; 4) We were raised with Him; 5) All our trespasses have been forgiven; 6) He removed the law that was against us; 7) He disarmed the principalities and powers. We will look at each one of these in greater detail in the days ahead. In the mean time, it is encouraging to realize all that has been done for us by God. It is in believing the truth that we are set free to be all God would have us to be.

Don't be cheated

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he presents a strong case for avoiding the trap of worldly religion and spirituality. He tells us in chapter 2 verse 8 he warns us to “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” In verse 16 he tells us not to let anyone judge us and in verse 18 not to let anyone cheat us. This cheating takes place when we buy into the world’s concept of religion and spirituality. This false view usually involves one or a combination of three ideas: legalism, asceticism and new age spirituality.
The legalism that Paul was confronting was primarily the legalism that the Jews had settled into. Legalism is the idea that we can earn merit with God by keeping a set of rules and regulations. Sometimes Christians, who believe that a person is saved by faith and not by legal works, take on legalism as a means of spiritual maintenance or growth. Paul refutes this notion here in Colossians as well as in Galatians and Romans.
Asceticism is the idea that by depriving our body and living an austere life we can somehow improve our spiritual condition and gain favor with God.
New age mysticism involves recognizing the god in ourselves. It focuses on spiritual beings such as angels and depends heavily on inner knowledge, visions or mystic experiences to make spiritual gains.
Paul refutes all of this in Colossians 2. His point is that we need to be rooted and grounded in Christ. In Him we have everything needed for a life that pleases God and that is growing and producing the results God desires. These truths will be the focus of the next several posts here on this blog. Stay tuned.

God's Mystery, our Salvation

In Colossians 1:26 Paul speaks of a “mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations.” What kind of mystery would God have that he would keep it hidden for ages? According to Scripture, this mystery has now been revealed to His saints. “Now” means at the time Paul wrote this. That means that for ages past there has been some truth that God purposely waited to reveal until the time was right. In Romans 16:25, Paul tells us that the mystery was kept secret since the world began, but is now made manifest by the Scriptures and made known to all nations. Whatever this mystery is, God already had it in mind when He created the world! We get glimpses of what this mystery is in several passages. Romans 11:25, for example, says that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. In Ephesians 1:9ff Paul writes, “having made known to us the mystery of His will… that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him.” We see further in Ephesians 3:3-6 that this mystery was not made known to men in other ages, but now has been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel. There we have it. In the Old Testament it appeared that God had chosen one people, one nation to be His special people. But now we learn that since the beginning, God intended to bring the gentiles into the blessings of Christ offered in the gospel. In verse nine he continues, “and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It’s amazing to me to think that God wanted to show His wisdom to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. From Ephesians 6:12 we know that our battle is with the principalities and powers in heavenly places. So, it seems to me that God is using this mystery of the inclusion of the gentiles in his eternal plan to demonstrate his wisdom to his enemies – the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This is the plan of salvation that began with the people of Israel in the Old Testament era, but once Christ had come and completed the work of redemption, the mystery was unveiled in all of its splendor as the gospel was announced to all peoples everywhere. I wonder what the principalities and powers thought when once they only had to focus on one small people, but now their doom is sure as they see the manifold wisdom of God spreading like wild-fire throughout the world.

What kind of leader are we?

A passage I was reading in Isaiah stuck out to me because of the implications it has for us as men, especially in our leadership role. Isaiah 9:16 says, "For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed." The next verse speaks of God's judgment on young men, orphans and widows alike because of the failure of the leadership.

It doesn't seem to matter that perhaps the leaders were sincere -- they were wrong and caused the people to err. Perhaps they were weak or uncertain in their leadership. Even so, they caused the people to err. The result was that not only did judgment come to the leader, it came upon those who followed as well. Leadership is a powerful thing as I'm sure you have seen in the events of the Old Testament kings. The fate of the whole nation depended upon the quality and direction of the leadership.
How does that relate to us? We're not kings, presidents or corporate managers. We are just simple men -- husbands, fathers, church workers. Isn't it true, however, that in our positions we are leaders, even if there are only a few who look to us? Doesn't that mean it is crucial for us to be careful not to cause other to err because in so doing we bring judgment not only on ourselves, but on them as well? Let's be faithful men in our leadership roles no matter how many or how few it impacts.

God, the Initiator

I was reading Psalm 65 this morning. I had been trying to keep up with a “through the Bible in a year schedule” and found that even though I didn’t want to do so, I was covering way too much ground for me to really take it in. I’ve decided to continue the plan, but at a much slower pace. I want to gain as much spiritual insight as I can.

I see in this passage an amazing demonstration and illustration of who God is and what He has done. “Praise is awaiting You, O God…” Why? What has God done? You are the one who hears all prayer. You are the one to whom all people will ultimately come. Surely every knee shall bow! But right now, “Iniquities prevail against me.” There is a war going on and life is difficult, but “You will provide atonement.” There is a sin problem. Iniquities abound, but God provides the atonement. He is the initiator of the solution. Heb 10:17 says that our sins and iniquities will be remembered against us no more.
David then goes on to say that the man is blessed whom the Lord chooses and causes to approach Him. As vile and full of iniquity as every man is, God calls some of these filthy ones to approach Him, the living God in whose presence sin shall not come. Furthermore, the man will not only approach God, but will dwell in His courts and be satisfied with the goodness of His house.

Learning our lessons

It as interesting to see in the book of Ezra the different tactics the enemies used to get the work to stop and the way the Jews learned from their experience. In chapter 4, the opposition wrote to the king and told the king to look in his history books and he would see that Jerusalem was a rebellious city and these people would make trouble for the king. The king did the research and found their charges to be true from the perspective of the pagan nations and so the construction was stopped. When the Jews started to build again later on, the opposition arose again and when the Jews were asked what they were doing, they told the officials to check the history books and see that Cyrus gave the orders to build. In sending this information to the king, the facts were checked and it was found that Cyrus had in fact given such an order and so construction was allowed to continue. They had learned the lesson about appealing to historical precedent.
I learn from this that it is not wrong to use logic as well as the legal system and governmental agencies to accomplish the goals of God’s people, knowing all along that it is God who is at work in the hearts and lives of all involved, even the pagan leaders. When Paul was struck, he asked if it was legal to strike a Roman citizen. On another occasion, those who had been jailed publicly were released secretly, but the authorities were challenged that if the arrest was public, the release ought to be public. God’s people used the legal system to make just requests of the authorities. We should not be afraid to do the same thing in the issues that face us as Christians – issues such as abortion, parental rights, etc.