ABOUT
In Proverbs 2 the wisdom from God’s Word is likened to Hidden Treasures. The more time we spend in His Word, the more treasures we find. The greatest Treasure we can find is Christ Himself, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3 Until we know Christ personally, spiritual truth is hidden from us. It is foolishness to us according to I Corinthians 2:9-11
I encourage you to discover God’s greatest Gift to you, the Lord Jesus Christ. You’ll find Him throughout this web site. God’s Spirit, who comes to live in you when you receive Christ as your Saviour and surrender to Him as your Lord, will unlock the Treasure Chest of His Word to you.
RECENT POSTS
Gotta Go! is the newest post under category WAR. Read this touching, inspiring account of one of America’s finest!
Why Earthquakes and Natural Disasters? See Acts of God category.
On Passion Week category read of The Lynch Mob as we follow Jesus journey to the cross.
How does our brand of Christianity today compare with the Christians of the first century? To be challenged to stand courageously for Christ, go to The Suffering Church Victorious under the CHURCH ategory.
Day in and day out, we find ourselves in the monotony of life; self help books, work, family, friends, cars, house, medications. Most of us are simply trying to life a “normal life.” Have you ever found yourself wondering whether or not the goal of life should be normalcy? Now is the time to Stop and Think.
Here’s a great web site to show you how to share the Gospel. http://www.livingwaters.com
Why has our nation radically changed over the past sixty years? For a historical and theological perspective go to category KINGDOM and read “The Kingdom of God in America”,
May a Christian live in his sins and not be affected eternally? See OVERCOMERS, found under the SALVATION category, for a Biblical answer.
A grandson video taped my unrehearsad piano concert from our living room, complete with an interuption by our coo coo clock and my wife trying to keep our dog quiet . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8AbzBQdHJs Enjoy!
See “Libertinism”, in Philippians category which deals with our freedom in Christ and warns of a danger Christians face related to that freedom. See revision of this article as of 12/27/09.
Marriage is about so much more than romance! Planning to get married? Get off to a good start. Take time now with your spouse-to-be to read and discuss together our series on MARRIAGE, on the VIRTUOUS WOMAN and on DIVORCE. Having trouble with yours? It’s not too late. Read and discuss together this series.
Having problems raising your kids? Read the series on FAMILY. You don’t have to experience “the terrible twos” nor “teen rebellion”.
For my biographical sketch go to MY TESTIMONY. To learn how God has used others to touch my life through the years, go to INFLUENCE.
Often in my reading, I come across outstanding, sometimes life-changing thoughts that beg to be shared. See GEMS category for the list.
See A MERRY HEART for much more than a smile.
HOW TO GAIN THE MOST FROM THESE STUDIES
I encourage you to approach these studies prayerfully, as you should studies from any preacher or Bible teacher, asking God for discernment to distinguish truth from error. Use your Bible as you check the references scattered throughout these articles.
You may not agree with everything I have written. That’s fine. I don’t totally agree with every preacher I read; however, I have found that those who hold to the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible and to the deity of The Lord Jesus Christ and love Christ and His spiritual Body, the Church, and are intent on building up the Body of Christ and not seeking to divide it; usually have something worthwhile to share with me.
It’s my prayer that this web site will be a blessing to you and that God will use it to draw people to Christ, encourage fellow Christians and be a help to faithful preachers. Sunday School and Bible class teachers. If you find this site a blessing to you, I encourage you to share it with others.
COPYRIGHTS
Anything I have written in HIDDEN TREASURES may be copied and used for the glory of God. If someone should misuse it, they can answer to God for that.
“What? Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God and you are not your own; for you are bought with the price, (the precious blood of Jesus). Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I Corinthians 6:19-20 Christians have no rights but to live for Christ and be a blessing to others.
Jesus sent His disciples out to serve Him, saying to them, “Freely you have received; freely give.” Matthew 10:8
“The things that you have received of me, the same commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.” Paul taught young Timothy in II Timothy 2:2. So the truths that I have learned from reading and studying the Bible and from the works of faithful men of God, have become a part of me and I pass them on to you.
My greatest joy will be to learn one day in Heaven that the things God has taught me through faithful men and women have been passed on to multitudes around the world. Who cares who gets the credit as long as souls are saved, Christians are edified and Christ is glorified.?
Mal Bicker
Pastor of Alameda Bible Church since 1990
Albuquerque, NM
The Lynch Mob
When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane by a lynch mob of religious leaders and was bound with ropes and taken to the palace of Annas and his son-in-law, Caiaphas, the High Priests, and judged by His enemies; it was the worst travesty of justice in human history. Our holy God, in the person of Jesus, stood before the judgment seat of sinful men.
A travesty of justice
This judgment of Jesus took place sometime around midnight and continued until about 5 in the morning. That in itself was illegal; for according to the Mosaic Law, people were to be judged only during daylight hours.
Though God’s Law given in the Old Testament for the conduct of trials and the treatment of defendants is extremely fair and merciful; the Jewish religious leaders broke every law in the Old Testament concerning the treatment of prisoners and the conduct of trials when they tried Jesus. They punched him and slapped Him and spit in His face, They blindfolded him and scoffed Him. They hired false witnesses who could not even agree on their stories. The lynch mob that arrested Jesus hated Him with a passion and were determined to find some cause to present to Pilate to warrant his execution by crucifixion by the Roman soldiers.
Since the Roman Empire now occupied Palestine, the responsibility for capital punishment by stoning was no longer in the hands of the Jews. Now only Rome had that responsibility.
The only charge they could bring against Him was that He claimed to be God in human flesh, a fact that all genuine Christians accept as true; but a fact that Israel as a nation rejects.
Several hours later Jesus was murdered by the people who hated Him. His blood was shed by God the Father, as a final and perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. Those who by faith, whether Jews or Gentiles, receive that blood as the sacrifice for their sins are saved for eternity. Those who reject that sacrifice continue in their sins, lost for eternity.
The final and ultimate event that led to Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.
A few weeks before Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, an event occurred in Bethany that eventually brought this shameful treatment of Jesus to pass. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Read the story in John 11.
As many witnessed this supernatural event, it had a huge impact on the people. As the news spread, the crowds grew and it led to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The masses of people were ready to receive Jesus as their Messiah and King.
The Jewish religious leaders were furious with Jesus. They called a Council to determine what action they should take to bring a halt to this worship and adoration of Jesus by the crowds. They determined that day, a week before the crucifixion, that Jesus must be arrested and executed.
Read John 11:47-53 to understand the thinking of Caiaphas, the High Priest, as he reasoned with the Jewish religious leaders concerning Jesus. His reasoning was that Jesus must die, or the nation Israel would die, and the religious leaders would lose their position and power with the people.
Actually, Caiaphas as High Priest was prophesying a truth he did not even understand. ” Jesus must die to save the nation- (and the world)”
The mockery of a trial before Caiaphas
The arresting mob bound Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and took him first to Annas, the former High Priest and then to his son, Caiaphas, the current High Priest. It was more of a lynch mob than a trial. They could not even get false witnesses to corroborate their stories. Finally, the basic charge was determined that Jesus was making Himself the Son of God. Of course, if that were not true, then Jesus was guilty of blasphemy, deserving to die. But if Jesus was indeed the Son of God, then the crowd was being blasphemous. Regardless, no defendant should have ever been treated as Jesus was; slapped, beaten, spit upon and mocked.
These Jewish leaders who knew well the Law of Moses had to know that they were breaking every law in the Book concerning trials and the treatment of defendants.
At the conclusion of this mockery of a trial before the High Priest, they asked Jesus if He was indeed the Christ or the promised Messiah. Jesus answered in Luke 22:67-71 “If I tell you, you will not believe and if I ask you, you will not answer Me nor let me go.” Then Jesus announced His future return. “Hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God.”
Then said they all, “Art Thou then the Son of God?”
And He said unto them, “You say that I am.”
And they said, “What need we any further witness? For we ourselves have heard of His own mouth.”
With that conclusion, they led Him to Pilate to be sentenced to death by the Roman Empire.
Peter’s Denial
Peter was no coward. He was loyal and zealous in his love for Jesus and he was head-strong and confident that he could take on any of Jesus’ enemies.
He promised to stand with Christ, as did the rest of His disciples; and he meant it! Listen to him in Matthew 26:35 as he boasts to Jesus, “Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.”
He was even ready to fight with his sword at the drop of a hat, so to speak. Imagine the courage he showed as he lashed out with his sword in the face of the angry mob that came to arrest Jesus! However, his fleshly struggle to defend Jesus only added to Jesus’ burden.
Some Christians have fighting spirits. They, like Peter, enjoy a good fight and they’re ready to fight at the drop of a hat. But they are of no help to Jesus until they understand that warfare is not physical, but spiritual; fought with the spiritual weapon of prayer. Read II Corinthians 10:3-4 and Ephesians 6:10 on this.
In the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus we learn how over-confidence in himself, following Jesus afar off and sitting by the fire with the enemy led to tragic failure. I encourage you to read the full story of Peter’s denial of Jesus from the four Gospels. You’ll find Peter’s trial and Jesus’ trial intermingled in the four accounts in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 18.
The contrast is that Peter’s trial evidenced his weakness. Jesus’ trial evidenced His almighty strength.
The story of Peter’s denial actually begins at the table in the Upper Room with Jesus and His disciples. There Jesus, knowing Peter better than Peter knew himself, warned him of his coming denial and encouraged him concerning his restoration. When Jesus warned Peter that he would deny Him, Peter immediately replied to Jesus. (The words aren’t there, but this is what is implied.) “Jesus, you don’t know me as well as I know myself. You have me wrong. I would NEVER deny You! Others may; but not me!”
Jesus continued with Peter. “But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. When you recover, strengthen your brethren.”
Time proved Jesus right about Peter. After Peter repented and returned to Christ, God used him to preach that first sermon to the new Church at Pentecost and 3000 souls were saved and added to the Church. Later God used Peter to write two inspired Epistles which we have in our Bibles as I & II Peter.
So Peter’s fall began with over confidence in himself. The warning is given to each of us in I Corinthians 10:12 “Let him who thinks he stands, beware lest he fall.”
You may remember when the crowd, led by Judas. came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane; that Peter, in his over confidence in himself and also perhaps to prove how loyal he was to Jesus, took his sword to kill one of the men. It turned out that Peter only got his ear. Jesus restored the man’s ear to his head, perfectly healed.
Then Jesus gently reproved Peter, reminding him that those who commit murder; whether it is to try to protect Jesus, (and we could add) or who kill abortion doctors to try to prevent further abortions, face capital punishment, which is a responsibility of human government. See Capital Punishment link on this web site for more on this.
Peter’s Decline
Briefly now, let’s trace Peter’s spiritual decline.
First, his revulsion with Jesus’ message about the cross. This is found in Matthew 16:21-28
Second, his desire for glory rather than the shame that comes with identification with Christ. Luke 9:28-35
Third, his brashness and self-confidence in the Upper Room. Luke 22:31-34
Fourth, his lack of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:45
Fifth, his blundering zeal without direction in Luke 22:22:49-50
Sixth, his desire to follow Jesus from a distance. Matthew 26:58
Seventh, warming himself by the enemies’ fire that cold night while Jesus shivered in his blood and perspiration soaked robe as he stood before Caiaphas, the High Priest, and his blood thirsty cronies. Mark 14:54, Luke22:54,
All of this led to his three denials of Christ, denying even that he knew Jesus and denying with an oath. Matthew 26:69-74
At the time of his third denial of Christ, the cock crowed, just as Jesus had told him it would happen. At that moment Jesus looked at Peter, and Peter melted into shame and wept bitter tears of repentance. That moment marked the beginning of Peter’s restoration to fellowship with Christ and the opportunity to serve Christ in the future, as it does for us when we are broken before God in repentance.
Peter’s Restoration
Thank God for Peter’s restoration. Jesus had told him he would be restored. It happened on the shore of the Sea of Galilee one morning following the resurrection of Christ.
At a breakfast that Jesus had prepared for some of the disciples, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Just as Peter had denied Jesus three times, now Jesus gave him the opportunity to confess his love for Christ three times. That morning, Jesus commissioned Peter to feed his sheep and his lambs.
By God’s grace, Peter turned out to be a faithful Apostle whom God greatly used in the early church and who was given the privilege of writing two epistles to the Church.
There in I Peter 1:1-8 Peter is able to write by his own experience as well as by divine inspiration that the trial of our faith, though difficult at the time, eventually brings praise and honor and glory to Christ. For that reason, we rejoice with unspeakable joy.
Thank God for the encouragement Peter is to us as we so often stumble in failure as we seek to faithfully serve our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Gotta Go!
The sound of Taps mournfully resounded across the hills of Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Greenville, S.C. as Geoffrey Alexander Whitsitt was laid to rest this afternoon. This ended a lifelong dream of a young man who was born on February 5, 1988, in Travelers Rest, S.C. As a young boy growing up, he often voiced his desire to serve in the military. His brother, Steven, serves in the U.S. Navy; Geoff served in the U.S. Army.
Geoff was one of two soldiers killed Wednesday, January 13, when their vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device at Combat Outpost McClain in central Afghanistan’s Logar province, south of Kabul. He was assigned to the 118th Military Police Company (Airborne), 503rd Military Police Battalion, 16th Military Police Brigade at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
The back of the bulletin at the funeral reads as follows: “Geoff was a believer. He was a believer in America and a believer in the King of all creation, a citizen of the freest, most blessed land in the world, and a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
“Geoff wanted that kingdom to come. He prayed for that kingdom to come. He worked for that kingdom to come. He served for that kingdom to come. In the end, he went there before the invisible became visible here.
“He will always live in the hearts of his mom and dad. They love him, led him, admired him, and gave him up for the rest of us. Their gift reminds us of the gift of all gifts- a Father who had sovereign control over all aspects of His Son’s substitutionary death, and who gave Him up for us all.
“Geoff lives in the nail-pierced hands of that Savior, and no one can snatch him out of those hands”
These paragraphs closed with these words taken from of a note which he had handwritten:
“Gotta go. Love you guys! Love, Geoff “
In the homegoing celebration which was held for Geoff, a special resolution was read by the Honorable Bob Inglis, U.S. Congressman from Greenville, S.C. Moving testimonies were given by his mom and dad, and his brother, Steve. Steve, who serves in the Navy, admonished those in the audience who had never accepted the Lord as Savior to do so today. A special friend and buddy in the army, Ryan McClymonds, gave a fitting tribute to one who served with him in the Army.
One of the things which his father said will always remain in my memory: he and Geoff were conversing by phone a short while ago. Geoff told his father that he had killed a man. The thought that went through his mind was “I have killed someone’s daddy.” Even in war, Geoff was tenderhearted. This is so sad, but it is a fact of war. I have often wondered what a soldier goes through when he is faced with the reality of pulling the trigger when a man is in the site at the end of the rifle barrel.
Geoff was buried in a special section at Woodlawn Memorial Park reserved for men and women who have served in the military. Two parts of the committal service were especially moving: (1) the folding of the flag. I wonder what thoughts were going through the minds of Geoff’s parents, Steve & Debby Whitsitt, as they watched the soldiers in military precision folding up the flag which had covered Geoff’s casket; (2) the 21 gun salute- a fitting tribute to a young man who had given his all for us. With that, he was laid to rest.
In all my years, this was the first military funeral which I had ever attended. The military precision, the sharp looking young men, and the camaraderie of those serving our country together, made me feel proud and grateful. While it was terribly sad realizing that a young man’s life had been snuffed out, it was also a joyous occasion knowing that his was a life well-lived. I am sorry that I never had the privilege of knowing him in this life, however, I knew his grandfather, Harry Bains.
Geoff died in the service at a younger age than I was when I served in the U.S. Air Force. He was 21 and would have been 22 on February 5, 2010. I was 22 when I joined the Air Force in November of 1956. Ever since I had the distinct privilege and honor of serving my country and my God in military service, I have always deeply admired our young men and women who unselfishly give themselves to fighting for and defending our rights and freedoms. I get very upset when I hear people speaking disparagingly of our military men and women. If I could live my life again, and if the Lord would allow me, I would gladly give my life in service as a military man. I think that serving in the military is the one of the finest thing a young person can do.
What a sobering fact to realize that when we moved to Greenville in June of 1988, Geoff was a babe of four months in his mother’s arms. Now at age 21, he lies in the arms of his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, but his body lies entombed in the cold red clay of the Carolinas. There, awaiting the call of the trumpet and the resurrection, his body lies in repose, but his spirit has departed to be forever with the Lord.
Are we mindful every day of the supreme sacrifice which hundreds of young men and women have made for us?
Written by Mel Lacock, a fellow classmate who graduated with me from Bob Jones University in 1956
TURKEY
To learn of an effective ministry to the people of Turkey worthy of your prayers and support I encourage you to visit this web site. www.two-fot.org
Jesus Betrayed
There’s probably not a more despicable word in the English language than the word “traitor”. No one wants to name their child Judas. We don’t even name our pets by that name. How horrifying and repulsive is the kiss of a traitor. We recoil in horror and disgust at what Judas did. This is such a crucial moment in Jesus’ life that it is recorded in each of the four Gospels: Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-52, Luke 22:39-53 and John 18:1-13.
Jesus extended evening in the Upper Room with His disciples had ended. Judas had gone out into the darkness to consummate his arrangements with the High priest for betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave.
After they had sung a hymn Jesus led His disciples out to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives just east of the city of Jerusalem. There near the entrance of the Garden, Matthew 26:36-38 records that He asked His disciples to sit and wait. He chose, Peter, James and John, to go with Him a little further, asking them to watch and pray with Him.
Then sensing the need to be absolutely alone with His Father in Heaven, Jesus asked the three disciples to wait there and pray while He went a little further. There He fell on His knees and prayed as a man; for though He was God in human flesh, He was also fully man and felt the fear and terror that we would feel. So He prayed, “Father if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.” With the weight of the world’s sin on Him, and facing total separation from His Father as He hung on the cross for our sins, He possibly would have died right there in the Garden; but God the Father sent an angel to strengthen Him for what was yet to come.
What He experienced next was more than any human could grasp. With the sins of the whole world settling upon Him it was as if His heart was being squeezed to death. Blood from His broken capillaries was oozing with His sweat from His pours.
When He rose up from prayer, He returned to the three disciples sleeping from sorrow and emotional exhaustion. Matthew 26 records that He repeated this three times and each time He found them sleeping.
The third time, He said to them as they were waking up, “Sleep on now and take your rest; behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold he is at hand that doth betray Me.”
While He was speaking, Judas approached, leading a great multitude with torches, lanterns, swords and clubs from the chief priests and elders of the people. John 18 records that there were Jewish officers sent to arrest Jesus.
As pre-arranged with the Jewish leaders, Judas approached Jesus boldly and brazenly, exclaiming, “Hail Master!” and kissed Him on the cheek.
Jesus then stepped forward and faced the murderous mob and asked them, “Whom seek ye?”
They answered, “Jesus of Nazereth”.
Jesus then spoke two words, “I AM.”
Immediately the entire multitude of perhaps over a hundred people fell backward to the ground as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
“I AM” were the very words that Jesus had spoken earlier in His ministry as recorded in John 8:58. Those were the words with which He claimed that He was God. It had infuriated the Jews and they would have stoned Him right there, but He disappeared from them at that time. It was not God’s time for Him to die then. Now He had pronounced that name again and like a stun-gun, it stunned them to the ground.
Peter, in reckless boldness, remembering that Jesus had warned him that he would deny Him three times before the cock crowed in the morning, no doubt thought, “I’m going to prove my loyalty to Jesus.” Or perhaps he did not think at all, but rashly lashed out at Jesus’ enemies. by drawing his sword, trying to cut off the head of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest. Malchus, no doubt. ducked and so Peter got his ear instead of his head.
Jesus immediately touched his ear and he was instantly healed. Then He addressed Peter. “Put up your sword into its sheath, the cup that My Father gave Me, shall I not drink it?”
What was Peter thinking? Well, he had remembered Jesus talking about the need to buy a sword just two or three hours earlier in the Upper Room.
Jesus continued to reprove and teach Peter- and us. “For all that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” So what does the Bible teaching about self defense and avenging ourselves?
Killing in self defense is Biblical. That’s why in the Upper Room Jesus advised His disciples to buy and carry swords.
Killing to avenge ourselves is murder. No individual has the right to avenge himself. See clear teaching on this in Romans 12:17-21
No, rather than avenge ourselves, we are to leave vengeance to human government. If is the responsibility of human government to put to death anyone who purposely kills another. That is clearly taught in Genesis 9:6 and in Romans 13:1-7. Learn more on this topic by going to CAPITAL PUNISHMENT on this web site.
Jesus continued to teach Peter- and us, by explaining in Matthew 26:53 that at that moment He could have called twelve legions of angels to come to His aid. How large is that? One legion is six thousand. Twelve legions are seventy-two thousand angels. What did one angel do? In II Kings 19:35 we learn that one angel killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night.
Why then did Jesus not call on angelic help at this time? Matthew 26:54 gives the answer. Jesus, referring to His arrest and crucifixion said, “It must take place. Jesus did nothing to stop the progress of these most painful hours of His life. He must die to pay man’s penalty for sin.
At this point in Jesus life, all His disciples, including Peter, James and John, fled for their lives, leaving Jesus to the angry mob. The Prophet Zechariah in Zechariah 13:7 had prophesied that over four hundred years earlier.
As the disciples fled, Peter did not go with them. Instead he distanced himself from Jesus, but kept his eye on Him. Peter loved Jesus intensely, but at this moment he was probably rather disgusted that Jesus did not allow him to at least try to defend Him. Already, Peter had forgotten that Jesus had warned him that before the cock crowed that morning, he would deny Jesus three times. As you read the rest of the story in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 18, you read of the shameful way Peter denied his Lord. The question for us is how many times have we denied that we know him since we’ve been Christians? How many times have we been silent when we should have shared the Gospel with others? How many times have we followed Jesus “afar off”? How many time have we sat by the fire with Christ’s enemies to warm our hands?
Note finally, Jesus question and answer in Luke 22:52-53 to the crowd that arrested Him? His question was, “Why did you wait until now to arrest me? Why didn’t you do it when I was teaching in the temple during this last week? You had opportunity to do it. I was right there out in the open. Why didn’t you do it then?
Then Jesus answers His own question. “That was not your appointed hour to capture Me. You didn’t have the power and authority to do it. BUT THIS IS YOUR HOUR. THIS IS YOUR POWER OF DARKNESS!” It was now time for Jesus to be arrested and die for sinners. He would die on the 14th day of Nisan, the day of the Passover, when lambs were being slain throughout Israel. On this day, not a day earlier or later but on this day, God would allow Satan to do his dirty work and move the mob to arrest and crucify Jesus. That was the day that God’s promise in Genesis 3:15 would be fulfilled. Satan would bruise Jesus heel by having him crucified.
But there is coming another day when Jesus’ hour comes. “And He shall bruise or crush Satan’s head.” Will you be there in the redeemed crowd described in Revelation 19 and 20 when Jesus crushes Satan and brings an end to sin and brings in everlasting righteousness?
The answer to that question is that you will be there only if now in the age of grace you have humbled yourself before God as a sinner and received the sacrifice of His shed blood as your only atonement or covering for your sins? You and I cannot face God in our own righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 says that it stinks in His nostrils as bloody, rotten rags. We must have His imputed righteousness. Read Romans 3- 5 and settle this matter today.
Swords and Christianity
Christians have always lived in a world hostile to Christianity. In the early centuries Christians were thrown to the lions in the Roman Coliseum and burned on stakes. Even to this day, Christians are being persecuted and killed throughout the world, perhaps more than at any time in the past 2000 years.
In America where there is still a quiet tolerance for Christians, the pressure continues to mount for Christians to be silenced. America has already thrown the Bible out of public schools, where once the Bible was read and honored and taught.
There is a constant move among enemies of Christ to silence, or at least control what a preacher can preach from his pulpit. These enemies of Christ consider preaching what the Bible says about sin as “hate speech”.
Whereas some religions are advanced by the sword, true Biblical Christianity does not and has never been advanced by force.
Why then does Jesus tell his disciples in his last conversation with them in the Upper Room, as recorded in Luke 22:35-36 to buy a sword and carry it?
He reminds them that throughout their three years as His disciples, they did not have money nor extra clothes; just the basics. They did not have to carry swords. He was there to protect them and supply all their needs.
Now, as Jesus is preparing them for His departure back to Heaven, He teaches them to start preparing to take over the responsibility for their own needs, including a wallet, money and a bank account to pay their bills. He even encourages them in verse 36 to do whatever is necessary to purchase a sword for their own protection. They would be traveling in dangerous places and would need to defend themselves from hostile men and wild animals.
Does that mean that we Christian today should do the same thing; carry swords or guns for our protection? I personally have never carried a weapon. I’d rather trust my protection to government which is given the responsibility of protecting and avenging us from our enemies. That is clearly taught in Romans 13. Government does us a terrible disservice when they fail to avenge us when we have been harmed or lost a loved one to murder. See my article CAPITAL PUNISHMENT elsewhere on this web site to learn what the Bible says about it.
Understand this! Christians do not advance the Gospel of Christ with guns. They never have and they never will. False Christianity has done that in past centuries, but Bible Christianity is never advanced by force. We have a much greater power than mere weapons. The Bible itself is described in Hebrews 4:12 a being sharper than a two-edged sword which pierces the heart and exposes sin. That’s why you find the Bible throughout this web site. Throughout my ministry of over fifty-four years, I have never trusted in my ingenuity or opinions or psychology to change lives; but I have learned to use the Bible to accomplish what I could never accomplish.
Not only do I use the Sword of the Lord, the Bible, but I am also clothed in the armour of God as described in Ephesians 6:10-20.
Jesus, in His final conversation with His disciples in the Upper Room, warned them of the hostility they would face from a hostile world. Read of it in John 15 and 16. In fact, going back to the beginning of His earthly ministry in His Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5,6 and 7. Jesus reminds the people in Matthew 5:10-12 that they are blessed of God when they face persecution for Christ’s sake.
Christ is now in Heaven. The sinful world can no long harm or even touch Him. But we Christians remind the world of Christ and for that reason they pour out their hatred on us. “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in Heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
2010
How sobering is the thought that as we enter a New Year, whether we want to or not. ready or not, we can’t stop time.
What will we face as we enter 2010, now a decade into the twenty-first century?
CHANGE
Change that undermines our Constitution and American Republic we must stand against.
Change in our churches that undermines our Biblical foundation, we must courageously resist.
Change that brings progress we should welcome. Change, just for the sake of change, we should question.
Like it or not, new events will unfold on a personal, national and world-wide level.
New choices and decisions will have to be made that we have never made before.
We will be faced with new temptations to compromise on moral issues and disobey God.
It is possible that new victories over sin will be experienced.
New opportunities and responsibilities may be thrust upon us.
New phases of our character will be developed.
New trials and disappointments will be thrust upon us which we have never faced before, for no Christian is exempt from them.
New sorrows may come upon us, but we sorrow not as the lost with uncontrollable and unrelenting grief. I Thess. 4:13
New friendships will be formed as we get to know and love strangers as friends,
New fresh mercies of God will be bestowed upon us every morning for the next 365 days. Lamentations 3:21-23 promises that, Expect them and watch for them and thank God for them daily throughout the year.
Changes will take place in our lives and perhaps in our church; changes that will impact us for the rest of our lives.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF CHANGE AS LONG AS GOD IS LEADING US.
For Israel. it was a change of leadership from Moses to Joshua, but God was still overseeing and in full control.
This year will be a year of growth, victory and blessing, or it will be a year of backsliding, defeat and misery. It’s our choice!
Most exciting of all, this may be the year Paul writes about in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 when we are all caught up to Heaven to meet the Lord and be with Him forever in sinless, glorified bodies.
God wants to do wonders in our midst. Joshua. 3:5 I’m not talking about cheap, empty, emotional experiences that give temporary highs. I’m talking about a church auditorium filled each Sunday morning and evening with men and women, boys and girls who love the Lord and are growing in Christ and making a godly impact for Christ on the people all around us.
We have a growing nucleus of such people here right now, including: children, teens, and early twenties who are excited about living for the Lord.
I envision a church and school, not hindered by lack of staff or finances who are ready and willing to do whatever God calls us to do.
How do you feel about God doing wonders in your church? What is your response? Does that excite you?
Let me let you in on a secret. It will probably involve change. Perhaps it may involve you sharing some of your responsibilities with others who are gifted and have the time and energy to accept new responsibilities. Perhaps it will involve you who are sitting on the sidelines getting involved.
HOW DID ISRAEL FACE CHANGE?
Many fear change and uncertainty? Let’s see how Israel faced change, as recorded in Joshus1:1-9
First, note the events leading up to it. In Numbers 13 twelve spies were sent out from Israel to check out the land and people of Canaan. Ten of the twelve brought back an evil report, insisting that the invasion of Canaan was too dangerous.
Two spies, Caleb and Joshua, brought back a good report that God was strong enough to conquer their enemies. The ten other spies brought back an evil report of pessimism and discouragement. They insisted that the enemies were too strong for them. Taking Palestine was impossible even though God had promised it to them.
FORTY WASTED YEARS
In Numbers 14:1-35, God pronounced Judgment on Israel for their unbelief. They were sentenced to wander in the wilderness for forty more years until the old generation was dead.
When we come to Deuteronomy 1:3-8; the forty wasted years of wandering in the wilderness have been served.. The older generation is dead, except for aged Caleb. It’s time to go up. Joshua is challenged in Joshua 3:4-5 to lead the people to victory in Canaan.
In the light of the fact that they had not passed this way before, how comforting is was to know and rest in the following promises.
CHRIST KNOWS THE WAY AND GOES BEFORE US.
The Ark of the Covenant, a symbol of God’s presence, would lead Israel on their wilderness journey to Canaan. So God’s presence leads us through life.
Joshua 3:4 & 5 explains the reason Israel needed to be led by the Ark of the Covenant, which symbolized God’s presence. They needed and we today need His presence, His leading and His direction because “we have not passed this way before”. Israel was to “sanctify themselves or separate themselves to God, for the next day God would do wonders among them.”
So Psalm 23 and John 10:4 teach us that the Good Shepherd goes before us, His sheep. As we go, God promises to do wonders among us.
FACING THE FUTURE
God goes before us guiding us into our futures. Thankfully, He does not show us our futures in advance. It we knew, we would fear to take another step; but because we do not know our futures, but only know that He is our Shepherd, we need not fear. We can fully trust Him with our lives and with our futures.
James 4:13-15 teaches us how to face the future and live each day. He starts by warning us be cautious about being dogmatic about our plans for the future. Our future is not totally under our control. It is under God’s control. “:Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow.”
Then he likens our life to a puff of steam coming from a tea kettle of boiling water. It’s here one moment and gone the next. Instead of speaking with dogmatism about our futures, we must understand that even as we make our plans, they are subject to change under the sovereign will of God who controls all circumstances in our lives.
We rest in the truth of Psalm 31:15 “My times are in Thy hands.” Though we don’t know our futures, we know He holds our future in His hands.
WE HAVE GOD’S PROMISE OF HIS PRESENCE
As the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence, was carried by priests, who led Israel in their journey to Canaan, so God leads His own by directing our circumstances, if we are surrendered to Him.
Listen to the wonderful promises of God’s presence He gives His own.
“My presence shall go with thee and I will give Thee rest.” Exodus 33:14
“Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.” James 4:8
Read the 139th Psalm, filled with promises of God’s presence throughout our lives.
WE HAVE HIS PROMISE OF HIS PROVISION FOR EVERY NEED.
Finances Phil. 4:19
Strength for each day Dt. 33:25, Isa. 40:28-31
Fullness of joy Ps. 16:11
Protection Ps. 91
Grace for every trial II Cor. 12:9
Wisdom for decisions James 1:5
We have the assurance that God is using every change, every disappointment, every challenge and every difficulty to conform us to His image and make us more useful to Him.
OUR CHARACTER
God is more concerned about developing our character than in our service
we offer to Him. Our service is no substitute for character.
His will for us is our sanctification. I Thessalonians 4:3 Before God could use Israel, they needed to be sanctified or set apart for His purpose. Before He can use you or me, we must surrender our own wills to Him and let Him mold us as He sees fit.
I remind you of what God wants to do through us. As He reminded Israel in Joshua 3:4b-5 “You have not passed this way before.” so He reminds us. As He challenged Israel, “Sanctify yourself” That is, set yourself apart for God’s use, confessing your sins and being right with Him, ”For tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
What a great promise for us as we face this new year before us!
Merry or Miserable Christmas
Christmas is that wonderful time of the year filled with warm traditions, special foods, excited children and pleasant memories. It all merges into something we call the “Christmas spirit”.
If Christmas is a happy time, why is it that so many people are depressed and miserable at this time of the year? Why do so many experience discouragement, fatigue, anxiety and unhappiness? Why do suicide rates jump sharply during this season? Why do so many need psychiatric care?
Even Christians who know the real meaning of Christmas are not immune to problems during the Christmas season. They fall into two categories:
1. Stress and 2. Loneliness
Note, those same two problems in the Christmas story.
STRESS
Nearly all of us are familiar with pressures and the stress it brings during this season of the year: shopping deadlines, intense traffic, letters and cards to write, homes to decorate, extra church activities.
Added to that, the frustrations of pressures at work, political unrest and a depressed economy.
JOSEPH AND MARY EXPERIENCED STRESS
In that first century, the Jews experienced the stress of Roman oppression with their heavy taxation.
Mary, no doubt, was in her late teens when she was confronted with an angelic announcement that totally changed her life. A virgin, espoused to Joseph, she was looking forward to the consummation of her marriage to him. Suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared to her and made an astounding announcement that would change her life. You can read it in Luke 1:26-38.
He explained to her that God wanted to use her to become the mother of Jesus. God’s Holy Spirit would supernaturally inseminate her, enabling her to bear God’s Son in a totally human body. The whole idea was mind-boggling! She would bear Jesus, the God of creation, in a totally human, yet sinless body.
In total submission to God, she answered, “Be it unto me according to thy Word.” You can read more about this in my article Virgin Birth, which you will find under the category JESUS. Can you imagine her stress? How was she going to explain this to her beloved Joseph and to all her family and friends?
Several months later as her pregnancy became obvious, Joseph’s heart was broken. His beloved Mary was pregnant. Can you imagine his stress? What should he do about this? Have her stoned? No, he loved her too much for that. He would as privately as possible dissolve the marriage and try to remove her from his life.
While he was considering these options, the same angel Gabriel who had appeared to Mary a few months earlier now appeared to him. with an explanation of what had happened. You can read about that in Matthew 1:18-25 This was, no doubt, stressful to him at first. But he, as Mary, surrendered to God’s amazing plan for their lives.
Eight months passed and in the ninth month, Mary and Joseph began their sixty mile journey from Nazereth to Bethlehem on foot or perhaps riding a donkey. Either way it would probably be over a week’s journey and very difficult for Mary, heavy with child.
Upon arriving in Bethlehem, Mary went into labor. You remember in Micah 5:2 the prophet declared by inspiration of God that the Saviour would be born in Bethlehem. God would not allow Mary to go into labor until she was in the right town at the right time.
Crowded with people coming to register for the Roman taxation, Joseph could find no room for his beloved Mary, to deliver her baby. Finally he found a place in a cave where cattle and sheep were bedded down for the night. There, in the straw, Mary had her little Lamb, the Lamb of God who would about thirty years later, willingly go to the cross and shed His life’s blood for the sins of the world. There she made a bed for the baby in a manger where animals come to feed.
Note that the stress placed on Mary and Joseph was not of their own making. Much of the stress we face is not of our making. It just comes upon us as a part of life.
Sometimes, though, through our own ignorance, foolishness and selfishness we bring unnecessary stress on ourselves by procrastinating concerning our responsibilities, such as students failing to do their homework, or wives failing to do their housework or failing to pay our bills on time, or getting in debt over our heads.
By insisting on having our own way or making foolish decisions, God usually allows us to experience the painful, stressful consequences of those decisions in order to teach us life’s important lessons.
How did Joseph and Mary handle their pressures? Mary submitted herself to God and Joseph trusted God.
The question is, how should we handle our stressful situations? Read Isaiah 54:11-17, Romans 8:28 and I Peter 5:7 to learn of the humble, submissive attitude we must have to face anything the Lord allows us to experience.
LONLINESS
Another source of stress and anxiety is LONLINESS. It has been a problem through human history.
A century ago most American lived in rural areas and small towns. Though people lived a mile or two from each other, there was community closeness. Everyone knew and helped their neighbors when in need.
As people moved from rural areas into the big cities and metropolitan areas, they lost that neighborliness and closeness. Walled up in their crowded apartments and row houses, people became detached and lonely.
In this modern technological age surrounded by our cell phones and lap tops, we’re more lonely than ever, as we reach out to one another in an impersonal way with emails and Face Book and My Space, etc. In this age our cyberspace friends come and go with the click of a mouse and we remain lonely.
CHURCH, A LONELY PLACE TO BE
For many, going to church is one of the loneliest experiences of life. Why is that?
In most churches, regardless of size, there is an In-group, made up mostly of middle class married couples and families. They attend most of the services and do most of the work. They are, for the most part, emotionally and financially stable.
But scattered through these congregations are many lonely people. Some have physical and emotional problems. These are often misunderstood people. We often feel uncomfortable in their presence and seldom go out of our way to get to know them. Perhaps we would just as soon they leave and go and bless some other church.
Some of these new people are newcomers to town with no family or friends. Some are single, widowed or divorced. Some are from foreign countries and difficult to understand. Some are young college students or service men and women, looking for friendship and acceptance.
Some are independent thinkers and do not fit our molds for “normal”. Some wear rings in the weirdest of places, some come with purple or green hair. Some are dressed outlandishly and immodestly. What do we do? Give them the cold shoulder and hope they never return?
I would hope not. These are people for whom Jesus died. We are called to love and accept and befriend them as they are and share our lives with them as well as the Gospel of Christ.
Certainly we preachers are called to give them the truth of God’s Word, but our love for them makes the truth more palatable.
TO YOU WHO FEEL LONELY AND UNACCEPTED
Remember, Jesus, who lived in a human body and was as human as you are, but sinless, totally understands your pressures, your loneliness and your grief. He’s been where you are. Read Luke 9:58 and Hebrews 4:14-16.
If you lack salvation read John 5:24 and receive Jesus by faith
If you are a wayward Christian. burdened down with unconfessed sin which is destroying you; confess it to God alone and receive His forgiveness today and discover the joy of a clean heart and a clean conscience. Forgiveness and cleansing are promised in I John 1:9.
If you have few or no friends, open yourself up to the overtures of friendship from the church family. We want to love and accept you, but you cause us to step back when you rebuff that friendship.
If you are feeling sorry for yourself, look to Jesus. Let me read to you a picture of Jesus in Isaiah 53:1-3 from The Message, a modern paraphrase of the Bible in modern English by Eugene H. Peterson.
“Who believes what we’ve heard and seen? Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
The servant grew up before God- a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered and knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried-
Our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
That God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him.
That ripped and tore and crushed him— our sins!”
“
God With Us
In Matthew 1:15-23 God’s angel spoke to Joseph concerning Mary, his espoused wife, concerning the conception of the baby in Mary’s womb. The virgin birth of Jesus, as well as His name had been prophesied 700 years earlier by the prophet in Isaiah 7:14. There we read that the baby’s name would be Immanuel.
In the Matthew 1 account that virgin birth of Jesus was explained to Joseph, who would naturally be concerned about it. In that account the name Immanuel is confirmed, but this time the spelling is with a capital E. The main thing about this baby’s name is that it means “God with us.” In verse 25 of Matthew 1 we learn that Joseph called the baby’s name, Jesus. To see the connection of the name Jesus with that of Emmanuel, read the message, under this CHRISTMAS category, “Who is the Christmas Child?”
Truly Jesus is “God with us”. Those of us who have received Him as Saviour and Lord, know His presence in our lives very intimately. We have no question as to who Jesus is. He is not only our Saviour and Lord, but He is our very life. He is more real and precious to us than anyone or anything on this earth.
JESUS IS GOD OUR CREATOR.
God was with us human beings long before He was born as the baby Jesus in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. This same Jesus who was born in a manger and who died on a cross for our sins, is God the Creator of the heavens and the earth. This creation, a mass of atoms, is held together by Christ Himself, according to Colossians 1:13-17.
Preaching Christ in Athens as recorded in Acts 17:28-31, The Apostle Paul announces that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” The natural man now, as then, blindly seeks after his own idea of God, but ignores and rebels vociferously against the God of the Bible, “though He is not far from any of us.”
Even as Jesus ministered to the people, performing miracles in their presence; they blindly rejected Him as God incarnate. It’s true that in a personal way, Jesus is not with the unbeliever; although He keeps unbelievers alive by His power.
SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD.
Note in Isaiah 59:1-2 that our sins have separated God from us. Isaiah 53:1-6 teaches us that our sins have separated us from God. Though the atoms of the unbeliever’s body are held together by the power of God, the unbeliever has no sense of God’s presence. He is a stranger and outcast to God. The only way a sinner and God can be in fellowship is for the sin problem to be settled first. God has settled the sin problem by coming to this earth as the man Jesus and dying on a cross, paying the full penalty that we deserved to pay for our sins.
Those who receive Christ as Saviour are instantly brought into fellowship with God. Those who reject the Saviour are banished from His presence now and through eternity. The unbeliever’s problem is not an intellectual one; it is a moral problem.
The natural man rejects Jesus and wants nothing to do with Him. The hatred is emotional and irrational. I’ve never seen nor heard a rational man get angry and upset about Santa Claus or the Easter bunny, which they know is pure fiction. Yet even in the natural man’s denial of Christ, he is consumed with irrational hatred towards Him and towards those who preach the need to receive and trust Him as Saviour.
Ultimately it took the shedding of Jesus’ blood on Calvary’s cross and His bodily resurrection from the tomb to save us. We must admit our need of Him as sinners and trust His sacrifice for our sins. John 1:11-13 explains it as receiving Christ as Saviour.
The repentant thief on the cross did so and was with Christ in Heaven that day. The Roman centurion who directed the crucifixion of Christ, also received Jesus as God. and I believe, Saviour.
What sent the shepherds back to their sheep in the field that first Christmas night? They recognized that baby in the manger as the Son of God, their Creator and Saviour.
GOD CREATED US TO BE WITH HIM AND ENJOY HIM FOREVER.
When God created the universe and mankind, He did it for His pleasure. Read Revelation 4:11, Psalm 147:10-11, Psalm 149:4
God gets no pleasure In the death and the punishment of the wicked in Hell. Read the question in Ezekiel 18:23 The implied answer is “Of course not!” Rather, it is God’s pleasure to give us the Kingdom. Luke 12:29-32. God saved us for His pleasure, according to Ephesians 1.
FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
Adam and Eve were created to walk daily with God in the Garden of Eden. Sin broke that fellowship and Adam and Eve tried to hide themselves from God. God found them and provided a blood sacrifice to cover their sins temporarily. Eventually, Jesus the Lamb of God, was the perfect and final sacrifice for sin. Thos who receive Him are saved. Those who reject Him are lost.
Christians are saved to enjoy constant fellowship with God. However, sin hinders that fellowship. Only as we confess our sins to God, does He forgive us and restore us to fellowship. That’s the messages of I John 1.
In our perfect, sinless state in Heaven. we will live in constant fellowship with God. Satan will be in hell and unable to tempt us. We will have glorified bodies, incapable of sin. We will enjoy total intimacy with God. That was the Psalmist’s desire in Psalm 42:1-2. That was Paul’s and is our desire as Christians. Philippians 3:10. That will be our experience throughout eternity. Revelation 21:3.
IMAGINE! FOREVER IN HIS PRESENCE! WHAT WILL THAT MEAN?
In Heaven we shall see Him.
We can’t see Him now in these physical bodies. John 1:18, I Peter 1:8
At best, we see Him darkly now through His Word. I Corinthians 13:12
He is presently unapproachable now in His glory. I Timothy 6:16
Moses saw a glimpse of His glory. Exodus 33:12-13
The pure in heart will one day see Him. Matthew 5:8
One day we shall be like Him. We are presently being made ready to live in His sight through the process of sanctification. I John 3:1-3, Psalm 17:1,15 Even now, through the process of sanctification we are being gradually changed from one degree of glory to another as we spend time in His presence in His Word and in prayer. II Corinthians 3:18
In Heaven we shall adore and worship Him perfectly. That adoration and worship ought to be going on now constantly 24/7/365,
Libertinism
The Philippian Christians were faced with two dangers: two dangers that all Christians down through the ages have faced.
1. Paul warned them repeatedly of the Judaizers who taught that works must be added to faith in order to be saved. Phil. 3:2-3
2. He also warned them of the Libertines in Phil. 3:18-19 who taught that how they lived their lives after they were saved was not important. They taught the people that they were free to live as they please, since they were saved by faith and not by works.
These two false, sinful extremes have plagued the Church these past 2000 years.
WHAT ARE YOUR VALUES?
The godly Christian is focused on God and eternal values.
The worlding, carnal Christian is focused on the cosmos, the fleeting values of this world system. His purpose in life is to squeeze from it all the fun and satisfaction it has to offer and have all his desires and needs met. He believes that when his desires and perceived needs are met, then he will be satisfied and happy. Deceived by Satan and living in a euphoric dream world, eventually he learns that nothing really satisfies. When it comes time to die, he comes to the realization with Solomon, that it was all vanity and worthless.
THE MESSAGE OF SELF WORTH
False teachers misuse the Bible to teach that our goal in life to be self- fulfilled and self-satisfied. Their gospel is the message of self worth, the good news of being significant and prosperous.
Instead of preaching the message of the crucified life, as found in Romans 6 and Galatians 2:20 and 6:14 and the mortification of the flesh nature, as taught in Colossians 3:1-5; they preach the message of the need to have a good self-image and a high opinion of one’s self-worth,
No, the ultimate goal is not self-satisfaction and self-fulfillment. The ultimate goal is that Christ be satisfied with me, that my life be centered in Christ, as Paul testified in Philippians 1:21. “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE IS MORE THAN JUSTIFICATION
Some Christians get so focused on the wonderful truth of justification, that we are saved by grace alone and not by our works that they carry their liberty in Christ to a sinful extreme. They fall into the error of libertinism. They rightfully rejoice in Christ’s righteousness which makes them fit for Heaven. They rightfully rejoice in their freedom in Christ; but how they live their lives is their business and no one else’s. This is the careless, sinful attitude that since our spirit is saved and since we can’t lose our salvation, it doesn’t matter how we live. We can give in to our fleshly desires and live as we please because God sees only Christ’s righteousness when He looks at us.
They falsely brand preachers who preach holy living as legalists.
But the Christian life is more than simply our standing in Christ. It involves the pursuit of godliness, the pursuit of Christ-likeness. That’s the doctrine of sanctification, a very unpopular message with most Christians; and yet it is the only path to true self-fulfillment.
CHRISTIANS ARE SAINTS
As a king’s son is born a prince, so we are born again as saints; but as a young prince knows very little about being kingly, so we know very little of saintliness. It takes time in God’s Word to become saintly, just as it takes time and training for a prince to become kingly.
I John 2:6 challenges that if we are Christians, we are to learn to walk as Christ walked.
Paul travailed for young believers in Christ as he wrote in Galatians 4:19 that Christ would be formed in them.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:29 that our calling as Christian is to become conformed to the image of Christ. That’s perfection! We will never attain it in this life. If we think we have attained it, I John 1:8-10 informs us that we are deceiving ourselves and the Truth is not in us and we are calling God a liar. Nevertheless, though we will never attain it until we are in Heaven, it is to be our life-long goal to become more like Jesus.
Of course, only a genuine Christian can even begin that journey, for until we have come to the end of ourselves and put our trust in Christ; the Holy Spirit does not yet live in us. Only as He lives within us and we are surrendered to His leading, can we even begin that journey of sanctification.
SO HOW DO WE ATTAIN CHRIST-LIKENESS?
1.Through faith in Christ’s blood sacrifice on the cross, God not only frees us from the guilt and penalty of sin; but He imputes to our account the very righteousness of Jesus. But God has more for us beyond judicial righteousness. He wants to impart to us His practical righteousness that changes the way we think, the values we hold and the way we live.
2. We attain Christ-likeness by hungering and thirsting after His righteousness and feeding on His Word, the Bible, as Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:6
3. We attain that righteousness by submitting ourselves to the control of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, as Ephesians 5:18-21 teaches us.
As Christians, we are complete in Christ, Colossians 2:10 says. That is, we have all that is necessary to live the victorious Christian life.
Only in Christ can we as Christians find our self worth and purpose in life. All else is vanity and results in a wasted life, Solomon concluded in Ecclesiastes.
PRACTICALLY, HOW CAN WE ATTAIN CHRIST-LIKENESS?
I could tell you to follow the example of Jesus, but that seems so unattainable, After all, Jesus is God, and He is sinless. How can we possible follow His example? A more practical way of growing in godliness is to find someone who is living a godly life. Hopefully your parents or your pastor, or some other person who evidences Christian virtue.
That’s why Paul repeatedly challenged people to follow his example. Though imperfect, as he admitted in Philippians 3; yet he lived the Christian life with integrity. So it is safe to follow the example of another Christian just so long as they are living faithfully for Christ. Test your mentor by the plumb line of the Bible and follow him as long as he is true to the Word of God.
That is what church leadership is all about. Pastors, elder and deacons are not to boss you and command you, but we are to be examples of the believer to young Christians so they can safely follow our examples.
BE YOURSELF
Understand that when we teach you to follow godly mentors, we are not teaching you to try to mimic their personalities. Christian are not to be clones of their pastor or other Christian leaders. How silly that would be. Be yourself. Express your own personality, but make sure it is under the control of the Holy Spirit.
INTEGRITY
Make sure that your walk is consistent with your talk, that your walk is integrated with your talk; that’s integrity!
What Biblical warnings are given to Christians concerning this carnal attitude?
Read these verses carefully. They show us that Christ is concerned about more than our justification.
Romans 16:17-18 Follow godly preachers. Their lives and examples are more important than their ability to communicate in the pulpit.
Galatians 5:13-26 Verse 13 is perhaps the most important passage in the Bible on the issue of libertinism.
Philippians 3:17-19 Faithful pastors, teachers, Mothers and Dads will not hesitate to encourage their children to follow their example. SHAME on the father who commands his children, “Do what I say. Don’t do as I do!” For example, watching R and X rated moves while at the same time forbidding your children to do so, or perhaps allowing your children to watch them with you.
I Timothy 6:3-6 Another solemn warning to avoid and flee from hypocritical pastors and teachers.
James 4:4 Stern language to Christians who love the world’s life-style, as exemplified in movies and television and in night clubs; more than Biblical preaching and godly Christian fellowship.
II Peter 2 Here Peter blasts selfish, carnal preachers who lead their congregations into sin through their vile sinful examples.
I John 2:15-17 Verses that you won’t hear preached in many churches today.
Jude 3-4 A warning to beware of preachers who in the name of Christian freedom, give their congregations license to sin.
WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION!
Rejoice in the wonderful salvation you received by the grace of God apart from any works of your own. You and I don’t add to our salvation by our works, but we work it out as Paul taught in Philippians 2:12-13, so that others can see it operating in our lives and can be drawn to our Saviour and God can be glorified.
Jesus summarizes it all in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:16. Read this, memorize it, meditate on it and let it soak into your heart and mind. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.
Triumphant in Trouble
Trouble is the lot of each of us. No one escapes it. When I look at a tiny, newborn baby, it is with a mixture of joy and sadness. I share the joy of the parents in the birth of their baby, but I also am saddened when I think of the life of trouble facing the baby.
Eliphaz, one of Job’s miserable “comforters” tried to comfort Job in Job 5:7 by making him face the fact that trouble is just as certain for all of us as sparks fly up from a fire. Trouble is not just the lot of the unsaved, but we Christians have been warned by Christ Himself that “in the world we shall face tribulation.” At the same time, Jesus encourages us, ” but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 In John 14:1-3 Jesus encourages with these words, “Let not your heart be troubled.” In that same passage He reminds us that Heaven awaits us at the end of this life on earth.
Understand, dear Christian Friend, the Christian life is not the absence of trouble; rather, it is the presence of God in the midst of many trials and tribulations. It is the comfort of our loving Father in the midst of the trials.
In our study of Luke 22 we’ve seen that Jesus has just observed the last Passover with His disciples in an upper room and has instituted the first Lord’s Supper which we Christians observe regularly.
Though the evening started out to be a quiet, peaceful time of last minute reflection and teaching with His disciples, the evening was marred by increasing trouble.
Would you note that God always triumphs in the midst of trouble? From the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, God announces the course of history for mankind and in spite of the trouble that Satan causes; Christ is triumphant to the end. God is always triumphant in trouble and because He lives in us believers by His Holy Spirit, we also can live triumphantly in all our troubles.
Let’s look at the trouble Jesus faced that evening before His crucifixion the next day.
TROUBLE FROM JUDAS
First, there was Judas who betrayed Jesus. The plan to betray Jesus had been hatched with the chief priests and scribes a little earlier. Judas had consented to betray Jesus in the darkness of night for 30 pieces of silver. Luke 22:21-22 informs us that this betrayal took place as pre-determined by God. Yes, ever detail of Jesus’ betrayal, trial and crucifixion progressed like clock-work according to the eternal plan of God. Nevertheless, God’s predestination does not void human responsibility. Those who took part in this nefarious plot were simply carrying out God’s eternal plan for our salvation. But all of them are still held accountable for their sin.
Remember the truth in Psalm 76:10 when you are faced with the wrath of others or with any trouble. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath Thou shalt restrain.” What a comfort that is to us. God never wastes the wrath of man. He always uses it for His glory and restrains the rest. Though we can’t always understand that, we accept it by faith that our God is a good God and limits the evil of men towards us to that which brings Him ultimate glory.
Judas is unmoved. He has no conviction of sin, His conscience is as hard as nails. He is cursed of God and bears the full responsibility of his sins.
Note the timing of his departure from Jesus and His disciples. It is after the supper. It is after Jesus has washed his feet along with the other disciples. Jesus has identified this traitor sitting next to him. John sits on one side of Jesus and Judas on the other side. Jesus dips the sop (a piece of bread in the wine) and hands it to Judas as a token of true friendship. Judas receives it and then gets up and walks out of the room, out from the presence of Jesus and His eleven other disciples. The Bible forebodingly announces that as Judas walked out of that room, “It was night!” It was not just dark outside. Judas walked out into eternal night and damnation.
It was after Judas had left the group that Jesus began to teach the intimate truths of being a disciple of Christ as recorded in John 13-17, Judas missed out on all of this. These truths can only be comprehended and appreciated by those who truly belong to Christ through faith in His blood sacrifice.
TROUBLE FROM THE REST OF HIS DISCIPLES
When Jesus announced that someone from the group would betray Him, each of them were doubtful of their own faithfulness to Him. They began asking the question of themselves, “Is it I?” That is a good attitude for us to have as we think of our own weakness and faithlessness. It was an attitude of genuine humility. But it wasn’t long before this humility had turned to pride and selfishness as they began arguing among themselves as to which of them was the greatest. Such pride and insensitivity to be quarreling at a time like this when their Friend and Saviour was preparing to suffer unspeakable torment and shame hanging on a cross in a few more hours!
It wasn’t the first time they argued like this. They had done it on several previous occasions. See Mark 9:33-37 and Luke 9:46-48
The situation was not looking good for Jesus. He had spent three years pouring His life and teachings into His disciples and here they were arguing and fussing about who was the greatest just hours before His death. What would become of the Church under the leadership of these seemingly carnal and weak disciples? It was looking hopeless. But Christ was not discouraged. Isaiah 42:1-4 prophesies of the gentleness and assurance of Jesus as He works with His own and eventually brings this world under His rule in the Kingdom Age. Jesus knew that shortly after His death and resurrection He would empower His disciples with His Holy Spirit and they would do exploits for Him.
Note Jesus’ response to His disciples arguing over who was the greatest.
He reminds them in Luke 22:25 that the world operates differently from Christians. The world is into power-struggles and forcefully imposing their wills on others. Jesus reminds them in verse 26 and in Matthew 20:26-27 that we operate with servant attitudes. Jesus had earlier in the evening illustrated this servant attitude by washing each of His disciple’s feet. Peter later wrote of this servant attitude as being essential for pastors, elders and other church leaders. Read about this in I Peter 5:2-3.
TROUBLE FROM PETER
Talking about Peter, that reminds me of the third problem Jesus had and that was with the devil as he sifted Peter and the rest of Jesus’ disciples; but Peter especially. Speaking to Peter in Luke 22:3`-32 Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has desired, (a better translation would be, demanded) to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not: and when you are converted or turned around, strengthen your brothers.” Note that when Jesus said, I have prayed for you, the you is plural. He was praying for all His disciples that they would have courage in the coming sifting of Satan.
Note also that whenever Satan touches or attempts to harm one of God’s children, he always has to get permission from God. He had to get permission before he touched Job and again we see him getting permission from God to sift Peter. You can be sure that he also has to gain permission from God to sift you if you are a Christian.
Never forget that God is always FOR you; never against you. Read Romans 8:31-39 and be encouraged. Listen to Him pray for you in John 17:6-15. Listen to Jude’s benediction in Jude 24-25.
Peter is well known for his denial of Christ. Thank God Jesus prayed for him in advance. If you belong to Christ through faith in His shed blood for your sins, thank God Christ will keep you from falling also and present you faultless before God through His righteousness imputed to you.
Thank God that though Jesus faced much trouble, He came through triumphantly and because He came through triumphantly, He will also bring you through whatever test He allows in your life. Claim the promise in II Corinthians 2:14. “Now thanks be unto God who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ, and make manifest the savor or perfume of Christ” As others smell Christ on your personality, if they are fellow Christians, they are blessed. If they are unconverted, they sense the conviction that they are lost and need a Saviour. Be there for them, brother or sister in Christ. Don’t fear persecution or trouble. God is getting ready to bless you and make you a greater blessing to others. Look what He did for Peter in Acts.
Read I & II Peter and see what God did through Peter, that former bungling, braggadocios, cowardly denier of Christ.
GEMS
As I read books and listen to preachers and others speak, occasionally I read or hear a gem of truth that is so outstanding and powerful that it merits being remembered and shared with others. Watch this link for new gems as I unearth them.
A woman’s heart
“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ
That a man should have to seek Him first to find her.”
– Oswald Chambers
God’s Plan vs Satan’s Plan
The crucifixion and death of Jesus was no horrible accident nor plans gone awry. Jesus was not the victim of circumstance. He was in full control of His life to the smallest detail. Consider God’s plan versus Satan’s plan.
God’s plan was for Jesus to die on a cross, shedding His blood on the appointed day, the 14th day of Nisan and the hour when Passover lambs were being slain. As the sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus sacrificed His blood and then rose from the dead to save those who trust Him.
In fact, according to Revelation 13:8, that was God’s plan for His Son before He had ever created the world and before man had sinned and before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Satan’s primary plan was first of all to keep Jesus from ever being born. When that failed, His secondary plan was to keep Jesus from ever going to the cross and dying for our sins. Satan knew that if Jesus died, shedding His blood for our sins and if He ever rose again from the dead, he would be defeated and bound for eternity in Hell fire. God had told him in Genesis 3:14-15 that His head would be crushed. Thank God, that promise is as good as fulfilled. God said it! It will be accomplished!
So the Old Testament story is a story of Satan trying his best to destroy the line of Judah which would ultimately produce the Saviour of the world. Throughout the Old Testament we see God protecting the royal line of Christ so that the Saviour could be born.
The Royal Line of Christ
Follow with me as we trace through the Old Testament Satan’s vain attempts to destroy the royal line of Christ.
After Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, they died spiritually and eventually died physically. In the Garden of Eden God confronted them, saved them with a blood sacrifice of an animal and pointed them to the Saviour who would one day come into this world as the final, perfect sacrifice for sin. God also outlined the course of history and the final destruction of Satan in Genesis 3:15, the key verse of the Bible.
Now banished from the Garden of Eden, the first two sons of Adam and Eve were Cain and Abel. Cain murdered his brother Abel over God’s acceptance of Abel’s blood sacrifice and God’s rejection of his own sacrifice of his works, Adam and Eve had a third son, Seth. Though they had many more sons and daughters, God chose Seth through whom the promised Seed (Saviour) would come.
From Seth’s line eventually came Noah. You remember the story of Noah and the Flood. When God destroyed the entire human race because of sin, He spared Noah and his family, through whom the promised Saviour would come.
From Noah’s three sons and their wives, God chose Shem to continue the promised royal line of Christ. As we follow Shem’s line through Genesis 10-12 we learn that God chose Abraham’s seed to produce the promised Saviour. That promise is the heart of God’s Covenant with Abraham, as recorded in Genesis 12.
Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. God chose Isaac to carry on that line, as recorded in Genesis 17 and 21.
Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau, the oldest son, should have inherited the blessing, but he despised it and eventually Jacob through trickery, but also through God’s sovereignty, inherited the blessing. That very interesting story is recorded in Genesis 25 through 28.
Genesis 32 records the story of Jacob who wrestled with a human manifestation of Christ and through persistence won. God changed his name from Jacob, which means trickery, to Israel, which means prince with God.
Jacob had twelve sons. One of those sons was Judah, through whom God promised the royal line of Christ would continue. See Genesis 49:8-10. So now as we continue our study of the Old Testament, we can rule out all other families and focus our attention on the line of Judah through whom the Saviour would come.
Genesis 38 tells us the sordid story of how Judah got involved with sexual sin with his daughter-in-law, Tamar. Because of God’s curse on such behavior, Deuteronomy 23:10 records that no one could reign in Judah’s royal line for ten generation. So don’t look for any king or Messiah for at least ten generations.
Though Boaz, the second husband of Ruth was from the line of Judah, he cannot reign. Go to Ruth 4:18-22 and note that from Judah to David was ten generations. So from Judah through Jesse, the father of David, we can look for no king.
The nation Israel jumped the gun. In their insistence to be like other nations and have a king, God allowed them to have Saul as their first King. He was not from the royal line of Judah, but from the line of Benjamin. His reign turned out to be a failure.
Finally, in God’s time, David the tenth generation from the line of Judah became the first king of God’s choice. As you read through I and II Samuel and I and II Kings, you learn of the royal line of David. I Samuel 7 records God’s covenant with David that through his line the promised Messiah would come.
David’s royal line continued through Solomon and on down to little Joash. His story is found in II Kings 11. There we learn David’s royal line continued down through King Jehoram of Judah. Jehoram did a foolish wicked thing by marrying Athaliah, daughter of Israel’s king Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. Jehoram married Athaliah, who turned out to be perhaps more wicked than her mother Jezebel.
Jehoram and his wife Athaliah had a son Ahaziah who had a number of children. Then Ahaziah died and his mother, Athaliah, scrambled to try to usurp the throne. Actually, one of her grandsons was rightful heir to the throne. So Grandma Athaliah began murdering all her grandsons.
Ahaziah’s sister, Jehosheba courageously hid her little nephew, Joash, thus saving him from his grandmother’s rage. If little Joash had been murdered with his brothers, the royal line of Judah would have become extinct.
Because of courageous Aunt Jehosheba, little 7 year old Joash became king of Judah. So one of the major themes of the Old Testament was God’s protection of the line of Judah through whom the Messiah and Saviour of the world would one day appear. Satan vainly attempted to destroy it and God intervened, protecting that royal line.
The Importance of the Virgin Birth of Christ
The Genealogy of Mary
The Genealogy of Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus, is found in Luke 3. Heli, in Luke 3:23 is Mary’s father and the father-in-law of Joseph, the step-father of Jesus. His genealogical line can be traced back to Nathan, one of the sons of King David who was in the line of Judah. His line can be traced back through Abraham to Adam.
This shows that Jesus was a man in the same sense you and I are men and women; totally human though absolutely sinless, for God the Father caused Mary to supernaturally conceive the child, Jesus.
The Genealogy of Joseph.
In Matthew 1 we have the record of the genealogy of Joseph, the husband of Mary and the step-father of Jesus. He had no sexual relationship with Mary until after Jesus was born. To Mary and Joseph were born several sons and daughters who are mentioned in Matthew 13:53-56. That rules out the false teaching of the perpetual virginity of Mary, doesn’t it.
Joseph’s genealogy can be traced back to King Solomon, another son of King David, who succeeded his father as King of Israel before Israel and Judah divided under the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, who remained King of Judah while Jeroboam became King of Israel.
The Curse of Coniah
As we read Matthew 1, we read the generations of Jesus starting with Abraham in verse1 and through King David in verse 6. But here the genealogies of Mary and Joseph divide. Whereas Mary’s line continues through Nathan, the son of David; Joseph’s line continues through Solomon, the son of David. In verse 11 we find King Jechonias, one of the last kings of Judah before the people of Judah were taken into Babylonian captivity in 597 BC.
A study of II Chronicles 3, 36, II Kings 24. brings us to the conclusion that Jechonias, the son of King Jehoiakim, is also known by two other names, Coniah and Jehoiachin. Perhaps in Babylon, the prefix JE, which refers to Jehovah, was removed from his name.
Whatever the reason for these multiple names of the same king, Jeremiah 22:24-30 records a curse on the line of Coniah. No one from his line can ever reign on the throne of David. Since Joseph, the step-father of Jesus, was in that line, Joseph and his biological sons are ruled out from ever reigning on the throne of David.
If Joseph had been the biological father of Jesus, Jesus would have been barred from ever reigning on the throne of David and the Davidic Covenant of II Samuel 7 would not have applied to Jesus.
Not only that, but if Joseph had been the biological father of Jesus, Jesus would have, as all of us, inherited a sinful nature from his father and thus could never have been our sinless Saviour.
The Virgin Birth is an essential doctrine of the Faith. To deny it is to deny the deity of Christ and His efficacy as our Saviour from sin.
As we continue with this series, Lord willing, we will continue to see how every detail of Christ’s trial and death on the cross was being fulfilled like clock-work in God’s plan of the Ages.
Not a Victim
Long before Jesus was crucified, He had forewarned His disciples, but the warnings went right over their heads. In Luke 9:22 Jesus plainly declared to His disciples, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain and be raised the third day.”
In the same chapter, verses 44-45 Jesus said, “Let these sayings sink down into your ears; for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.” But they (His disciples) understood not this saying, and it was hidden from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask Him of that saying.
Not only did they not understand, but they were so crass as to change the subject and reason among themselves as to who was the greatest. Amazing! But let’s not be too hard on them. We can be just as dull of hearing when we are faced with spiritual truth that it goes right over our heads and our hearts, while are minds are focused on mundane and selfish matters.
Furthermore the disciples feared to ask Jesus to explain Himself. They really didn’t want to hear such depressing news.
Why was this conversation recorded back then. It’s important for us to know that so that when His crucifixion actually occurred, we could be assured that Jesus was not blind-sided by unexpected circumstances and that He did not lose control. It was all in the eternal plan of God. Jesus was not a victim of circumstances!
Revelation 13:8 assures us that Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Before the world or man was created, before man had ever sinned, God knew the course of history. He knew man would sin. He knew He would send His Son as the Passover Lamb, to be slain for our sins.
John 10:17-18 and 19:10-11 clearly show that Jesus actively and purposefully laid down His own life. No one took it from Him.
No one could harm Jesus nor take His life until the appointed hour on the cross.
From His birth He was under divine protection all His life. As an infant His life was spared from Herod who sought to kill every baby boy in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary were directed by God to take the child down into Egypt where they stayed until they heard the news that Herod had died.
Early in Jesus’ ministry when He spoke things the people did not like, they attempted to throw Him over a cliff and kill Him, but Luke 4:28-30 tells us He passing through the midst of them went His way. He was invincible throughout His short life, until the time came for God to slay Him.
From man’s point of view, Jesus’ crucifixion was the greatest miscarriage of justice in human history, but from God’s point of view, every detail of His life and death took place on God’s time table right on schedule.
Galatians 4:4 says, “He was born in the fullness of time” and the Word of God shows us that He died on the appointed day at the appointed hour just as it had been prophesied from the beginning.
God did use man’s wrath and man’s will to carry out His divine will. Treacherous Judas, the hateful Jewish leaders, cowardly Pilate who knew he was sentencing a righteous man to death, the Roman soldiers who followed orders; all of these tools God the Father used to slaughter His own Beloved Son so that we might be saved from our sins. Isaiah 53 clearly shows that God slew His own Son on Calvary.
God’s amazing Grace is poured out on sinners who accept His gracious Gift by recognizing and receiving His salvation wrought through Jesus death and resurrection. God’s wrath is poured out on those sinners who reject Christ as their Saviour from sin.
Plan of the Ages
When we come to Luke 22, understand that we have come to the major theme of the entire Bible, the trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Everything else in the Bible is preparatory to this. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of the Gospel that had been typified and prophesied throughout the Old Testament. The life story of Jesus in the four Gospels comes to its climax in the last chapters of each of these four records.
The sacrifice of Jesus’ blood is a crucial necessity. This is the reason for the incarnation of Christ. That is, our creator God, came down to this earth and was born as a human being of the virgin Mary. God Himself caused Mary to conceive the holy child, Jesus.
It was not enough for Jesus to teach us how to live a holy, pure life. None of us could ever attain to His standard of perfection. We’ve all fallen short and as a result are condemned sinners facing the wrath of God.
But God in His amazing love and mercy devised a plan before He ever created the world whereby our sins could be forgiven and blotted from our records and we can one day stand before our Holy God in Heaven, through faith in His provision of His Son Jesus who died on the cross, shedding His blood as the one and only perfect atonement for our sins. Those who receive Christ are eternally saved. Those who reject Him are eternally lost and doomed to eternity in hell.
The cross was the heart of Paul’s preaching and it has been the heart of my preaching now for over fifty-three years. Like Paul, my motto as a Christian and as a preacher is to know nothing but Christ crucified and risen again as our Saviour from sin.
The sacrifice of Christ’s blood for our sins is not new in the Gospels. It is pictured and typified and symbolized and prophesied all through the Old Testament. Read the prophecy of His death and resurrection in Psalm 16:8-11.
Christ is first foreshadowed in the animals, no doubt lambs, that were killed and the blood shed for Adam and Eve’s sin of disobeying God. The skins of those animals were used to clothe their nakedness.
Christ is also seen in the ark that Noah and his three sons prepared for the Flood they had never seen, nor could even imagine. Those within the ark were saved when the flood came. Those without drowned. Christ is our Ark of deliverance from the coming judgment on all unbelievers.
In Genesis we read of Abraham and his willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son, Isaac, on an altar. Isaac is a type of Christ whom the Father sacrificed for our sins. But there’s another picture of Christ in this chapter. Though Abraham was willing to trust and obey God in this matter, God did not allow Abraham to kill his son. Instead, He provided a ram caught in a thicket to be the sacrifice instead of his son. That ram is also a picture of Christ who was our substitute. He took the judgment of God in our place.
In Exodus 12 we read of God’s institution of the Passover for Israel. They were to offer a lamb on the 14 day of Nisan which became the beginning of the year for Israel. There are many wonderful details in that story that you can read for yourself. They all picture Christ, who was sacrificed as our Passover Lamb. I Corinthians 5:7 teaches us that Christ is our Passover Lamb.
In Number 20 we read of how Israel traveling through the desert thirsted and God provided water from a rock. That rock, I Corinthians 10:4 tells us, is a picture of Christ who was smitten on Calvary that we might drink the water of life freely.
Boaz, the husband of Ruth, is a type of Jesus, our Kinsman Redeemer, who takes us, His Church, as His Bride. Read A Love Story under the category, LOVE on this web site to read this wonderful story.
Jesus alone is that perfect sacrifice who:
1. Satisfies divine justice Isaiah 53:10-11
2. Atones for our sins. Leviticus 17:11, Romans 5:8-11
3. Propitiates or appeases the wrath of God on us because God has already poured out His wrath on Jesus in our place. Romans 3:23-28, and I John 2:1-2.
When Jesus appeared at the Jordan River as a young man, John the Baptist announced Him with these words, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29 Christ’s blood was sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole world, but it is efficacious only to those who receive Him and trust Him as their Saviour.
And so the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John present the life and ministry of Jesus, culminating in His death, resurrection and ascension for our sins.
The Book of Acts gives a history of the Early Church as they took the Gospel of Christ to the known world.
The Epistles give us a theology of the cross and explain our wonderful salvation.
The Revelation, the final book of the Bible shows us Christ as the Lamb of God, victorious over sin and Satan and worshipped by His Redeemed throughout eternity.
So in our next message in this series we will begin our journey through the final days and hours of Jesus as He fulfilled the purpose for which He came into this world, to die and rise again for our redemption.
Born to Grow
When a baby is born it begins to grow and mature. Actually it has been growing from conception, nine months earlier.
Why does a baby grow? Is it because it decides to grow? Of course not. It does not even understand the concept of growth. Because the baby is alive, it hungers for milk and later solid food. It has no awareness of growth as an infant, and yet it grows and develops and eventually comes to maturity.
So Christians grow; not because they decide to grow or help themselves grow. They grow spiritually because they hunger for and feed on the Word of God. Growth happens because we feed on God’s Word and obey what we understand.
What are evidences of spiritual maturity in any Christian?
The first evidence of spiritual maturity is found in Philippians 3:10-11. It’s an insatiable hunger to know God through reading and meditating on His Word. It’s not just an intellectual hunger to know Him. It’s far more than that. It’s a hunger to know the power of His resurrection in our lives. It’s a hunger for true holiness, even to the degree of being conformed to His image.
We’re thankful for His imputed righteousness through God’s act of justification. We know we stand perfect in His sight. But we want far more than that. We hunger for His imparted righteousness, the truth of sanctification. Yes, Christ is our sanctification, but we crave more than this intellectual understanding. We long to see it worked out in our lives. We long to love righteousness as Christ loves it. We long to hate sin as God hates it. As verse 11 states, we long to attain that practical holiness and perfection we will have when we rise from the dead. We can’t wait until we attain that perfection. We long for it now.
The second evidence of spiritual growth is found in Philippians 3:12-15. That second evidence always follows the first evidence. It is a holy dissatisfaction with our present attainments.
Yes, we’re satisfied with Christ and our righteousness in Him. But we’re not satisfied with ourselves nor our spiritual attainment. We trust Christ for what He is doing in us, but we don’t trust ourselves. We despise our sinful self-nature. As Philippians 3:3 teaches, we have no confidence in our self -nature. It is no sign of spiritual maturity to be self confident in our spiritual attainments. In fact, that is a danger sign. “Let him that thinks he stands beware lest he falls.” I Corinthians 10:12
Rather, we ought to have a holy dissatisfaction and hatred of our sinful self nature. Paul, one of the greatest and most victorious Christians who ever lived describes in Romans 7:12-24 his hatred and struggle with his sinful self nature.
That’s why Paul in Philippians 3 and the writer of Hebrews 12 describe the Christian life as a race. Every Christian is in this race. The finish line is the moment we enter Heaven. We have not yet reached the finish line in our present fleshly bodies on this earth. I’ve met and you will no doubt meet some Christians who think they have already crossed the finish line and have attained perfection in this life, but I John 1:8-10 makes it clear that they are deceiving themselves and making God a liar.
So to recap, the two evidences of spiritual maturity are:
1. An insatiable hunger for righteousness and to be like Jesus.
2. A clear understanding that we have not and will not attain that perfection until we are in Heaven.
Many churches today do not teach holy living. They may focus on evangelism and leading people to Christ. That is certainly a part of the Great Commission and a church is failing if that is ignored.
They may focus on teaching the doctrines of the Faith. That also is an essential responsibility of a church. But if a church is not modeling holiness and teaching it, they are failing as a church. If a pastor is simply known as a great Bible teacher, but is not modeling holiness nor teaching it, he is failing.
The spirit of this age is to despise such preaching, calling it legalism. Christians do not want to feel guilty. They want to feel good about themselves, as so they avoid any preacher or church that deals with their sins.
Why is spiritual growth so essential? Why must it be our goal?
1. Christ-likeness glorifies God. Ephesians 1:12 ”That we should BE to the praise of His glory.
2. Christ-likeness evidences that we have been born again. Understand, that Christ-likeness is not the way to be saved. Faith in Christ alone saves, but Christ-likeness evidences that regenerated life. Remember, we are not talking about perfection here. That comes in Heaven. One can be Christ-like in this life and not be perfect.
3. Christ-likeness adorns the Gospel we preach. Titus 2:10 There is nothing so ugly as a preacher or a church that preaches the Gospel and lives like the devil. When we adorn the Gospel we preach, it makes it attractive to the lost. Christ-likeness enhances our witness to the lost and thus promotes true evangelism.
Remember, perfection is a goal and a pursuit; not an achievement in this life, though it is our position in Christ. The only option to spiritual growth is a defeated, wasted life. That should be an intolerable option to every true Christian.
The Suffering Church Victorious
- 1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
- Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
- Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
- Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
- Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 3. For the Apostles’ glorious company,
- Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
- Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 4. For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
- Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
- Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 5. For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
- Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
- And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 6. O blest communion, fellowship divine!
- We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
- All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 7. O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
- Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
- And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 8. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
- Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
- And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 9. The golden evening brightens in the west;
- Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
- Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 10. But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
- The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
- The King of glory passes on His way.
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
- 11. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
- Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
- And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
- Alleluia, Alleluia!
William Walsham How 1864
To Know Christ
Luke, in his account of Saul of Tarsus (Paul’s) conversion in Acts 9, gives us the external details of that conversion. Paul, in Philippians 3:4-9, shares the internal realities of his conversion. the change that took place in his heart, emotions, mind and will. He contrasts the surpassing value of knowing Christ with the vanity and emptiness and powerlessness of mere religion which he trashed as refuse and even excrement! His personal knowledge of Christ far surpassed what religion could do for him.
What did Paul gain when he put his trust in Christ and committed His life to Him?
1. The knowledge of Christ Philippians 3:8
We know God personally and intimately through our saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We see everything as loss in comparison to the knowledge of Christ. Any allegiance is nothing compared to Christ.
We know Christ experientially; not just facts about Him. In John 10:4 Jesus likens that personal knowledge to a sheep knowing his shepherds voice.
In His prayer in John 17:3 Jesus likened eternal life with knowing Christ. Salvation is the personal experience of knowing Christ. That knowledge is a personal loving knowledge of Christ much like that of a husband knowing His wife and a wife knowing her husband. “In Him” Paul uses that little phrase 164 times in His epistles. That knowledge and intimacy is as intimate as a branch being in a vine and bearing fruit. John 15
2. The righteousness of Christ. Philippians 3:9
All his lifetime Saul of Tarsus had worked to try to attain the righteousness of God through his worthless self effort. He gladly gave up his stinking self-righteousness which Isaiah had described as “filthy rags”. Isaiah 64:6 Later, Paul wrote in Romans 3:19, “By the deeds of the Law shall no flesh be justified.” Read Paul tearful burden for His own people, the Jews, in Romans 10:1-4
3. The power of His resurrection. Philippians 3:10
He had long forsaken any power in the Law or in his flesh. God’s Law could not save him. It could only show him he was a sinner. His flesh was too weak to save him.
Christ’s resurrection power working in Paul gave him power to conquer temptation, serve Christ effectively, overcome trials and be a witness for Christ. That power, Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:20, works in and through us.
4. The fellowship of His sufferings Phil. 3:10
When Paul experienced sufferings as a Christian, he knew he was simply sharing in the sufferings of Christ and he felt highly honored. He knew, as Hebrews 4:14-16 teaches us, that Christ knew, understood and cared, for He fully understands personal suffering.
The world goes to the psychologist, psychiatrist or the pharmacist to find relief. We find that blessed comfort and relief in our prayer closet with Christ. We learn to lean on Christ in every temptation and in every weakness for we know that ” He Knows, He Loves and He Cares”.
5. The knowledge of Christ also enables us to obtain His glory.
One day we will leave these weak bodies of flesh and be glorified in His presence. No more Satan to tempt and taunt us. No more failure and sin.
Is it worth giving up your trust in self and putting your trust in Christ for salvation to have:
Peace with God. Romans 5:1
Purpose in living. Philippians 1:21
Daily victory over sin. I Corinthians 15:57
And joy unspeakable and full of glory? I Peter 1:8
