Ask a crowd of people, “Who wants to be content?” Even if they don’t understand what contentment is, likely everyone will, in some manner, say, “I do, I do!” For most, the desire for contentment is simply the self-serving wish to have everything their hearts desire; to be made happy by possessions. Some are simply seeking the emotion of feeling satisfied; that is, for the moment, not being worried or anxious.
Perhaps, some of the people will recall Paul’s words, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” Philippians 4:11. Paul, while thanking the Philippians for their concern, assures them that God’s provision for him is sufficient. Paul is content in the sufficiency of God’s supply. The contentment is not the result of material wealth. Rather, the contentment derives from Paul’s share of God’s grace, which is the source of his supply.
Man does not handle contentment quite as well as Paul did. For when man is content, he tends to forget the source of the supply, becoming not only sufficiently satisfied, but arrogant in the assumption of self-sufficiency. The problem is, man’s presumed self-sufficiency results in self-centeredness, being content only because his selfish needs were met. However, Paul’s awareness of sufficiency being a gift of God’s grace resulted in service to others.
Paul twice speaks of contentment in 2nd Corinthians; once concerning the giving of the Corinthian brethren, the other in finding contentment in his own suffering. From these, we learn that there ought to be an outward intention resulting from the sufficiency of God’s supply, which proves God’s gracious provision is sufficient for all. There is, in the original language, the implication that sufficiency is more than what is needed for one’s self, but is enough to meet the needs of others.
To those whom God’s grace has supplied the financial means to give, Paul wrote, “God is able to make all grace abound to you so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” II Corinthians 9:8. The sufficiency being more than for Paul alone is evident through the emphatic language. God is able to make all, always, all, everything and all grace sufficient for good deeds.
God’s ultimate intention for His sufficiency to the Corinthians was not for their contentment, but for them to pursue every good work to others. “For he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will multiply your seed for sowing and increase your harvest of righteousness… [through] the liberality of your contribution to them and to all” II Corinthians 9: 10,13.
Concerning Paul’s persistent thorn in the flesh, God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you [to be content,] for power is perfected in weakness. Therefore [Paul was] well content with weaknesses” II Corinthians 12: 9f. By Paul’s contentment the power of God would dwell within him, enabling him to proclaim the gospel. Thus, Paul’s contentment in weakness resulted in strength to serve others.
Paul understood the purpose for and the results of contentment. If we desire real contentment, we must also understand its purpose and intended result. God did not intend contentment for selfish ends, but for selfless service. The fruit of contentment is not self-satisfaction, but is service in every good deed, causing others to find contentment in the sufficiency of God’s grace. Thus, the realization of one’s contentment is not the cause for ease, but ought to be the cause for action.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Is "Truly, Truly, True of Me?
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Did you ever wonder about Jesus’ repeated use of the phrase, “I tell you the truth?” Why would Jesus, who in Himself is the very embodiment of Truth, have validated His words with, “I tell you the truth?” Similarly, yet still more intriguing, is Jesus’ often repeated use of the phrase, “Truly, truly, I say to you.” Superficially, the similar phrases would appear to be inter-changeable. Various translations use the phrases interchangeably, but in doing so they dilute and obscure the message.
The words for truth, true or also truly, when used to describe words spoken, derive from alatheia. It means that the words spoken are facts. But, when Jesus speaks the words, truly, truly, it is a different word, aman. Aman means the words which Jesus spoke are not only true words from Him or about Him, but that the message is incarnate and verified within His physical being.
Aman is also the word by which we close our prayers, Amen. We understand Amen as an affirmation of the words prayed and to express the desire for the prayer to be affirmed by God. Thus, Amen has come to mean so be it.
Aman, aman, when spoken by Jesus is also translated as “Verily, verily, I say to you.” Such could be stated as, I who Myself am the Amen, tell you the truth which is verified in Me. It is true because the words are inseparable from Him, and Jesus is speaking the so be it of Himself.
When The Old Covenant was renewed, prior to the people of Israel entering the Promised Land, Aman was the word spoken as the peoples’ response to the Laws. For example, The Levites recited to the all the people, “’Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.’ Then shall the people say, ‘Aman’” Deuteronomy 27:26. By the peoples’ aman they are vowing that the law will be the so be it of their lives. Similarly, any vow or covenant we make with God is made with the will to so be it. The vow must not be left unfulfilled, but must be accomplished and proven so through the evidence of our lives.
When we proclaim that the words of Jesus are true, it is a statement of theology. When Jesus verifies Truth within His own body and actions, it is a statement of autobiography. The words are True because they are verified in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Truly, truly (aman) is the truth (alatheia) in Jesus Himself.
Truly, truly is true of Jesus. Because we are called to be imitators of Christ, truly, truly should be true of us. Therefore, each Christian ought to ask:
“Is the vow I have made to follow Christ a theological claim, or my biographical reality?
Is my obedience a response to a theological mandate, or is it the fruit of my submissive will?
When I repented, was it a required theological step, or has my life verified my death to sin?
Have the commitments I have made to God been verified as the so be it of my life?
When I in the Last Day, say, “Lord, Lord…,” will the Lord find proof of it in my life’s story?
Is my life truly, truly the biography of a Christian? Is ‘Truly, Truly,’ True of Me?”
Did you ever wonder about Jesus’ repeated use of the phrase, “I tell you the truth?” Why would Jesus, who in Himself is the very embodiment of Truth, have validated His words with, “I tell you the truth?” Similarly, yet still more intriguing, is Jesus’ often repeated use of the phrase, “Truly, truly, I say to you.” Superficially, the similar phrases would appear to be inter-changeable. Various translations use the phrases interchangeably, but in doing so they dilute and obscure the message.
The words for truth, true or also truly, when used to describe words spoken, derive from alatheia. It means that the words spoken are facts. But, when Jesus speaks the words, truly, truly, it is a different word, aman. Aman means the words which Jesus spoke are not only true words from Him or about Him, but that the message is incarnate and verified within His physical being.
Aman is also the word by which we close our prayers, Amen. We understand Amen as an affirmation of the words prayed and to express the desire for the prayer to be affirmed by God. Thus, Amen has come to mean so be it.
Aman, aman, when spoken by Jesus is also translated as “Verily, verily, I say to you.” Such could be stated as, I who Myself am the Amen, tell you the truth which is verified in Me. It is true because the words are inseparable from Him, and Jesus is speaking the so be it of Himself.
When The Old Covenant was renewed, prior to the people of Israel entering the Promised Land, Aman was the word spoken as the peoples’ response to the Laws. For example, The Levites recited to the all the people, “’Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.’ Then shall the people say, ‘Aman’” Deuteronomy 27:26. By the peoples’ aman they are vowing that the law will be the so be it of their lives. Similarly, any vow or covenant we make with God is made with the will to so be it. The vow must not be left unfulfilled, but must be accomplished and proven so through the evidence of our lives.
When we proclaim that the words of Jesus are true, it is a statement of theology. When Jesus verifies Truth within His own body and actions, it is a statement of autobiography. The words are True because they are verified in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Truly, truly (aman) is the truth (alatheia) in Jesus Himself.
Truly, truly is true of Jesus. Because we are called to be imitators of Christ, truly, truly should be true of us. Therefore, each Christian ought to ask:
“Is the vow I have made to follow Christ a theological claim, or my biographical reality?
Is my obedience a response to a theological mandate, or is it the fruit of my submissive will?
When I repented, was it a required theological step, or has my life verified my death to sin?
Have the commitments I have made to God been verified as the so be it of my life?
When I in the Last Day, say, “Lord, Lord…,” will the Lord find proof of it in my life’s story?
Is my life truly, truly the biography of a Christian? Is ‘Truly, Truly,’ True of Me?”
"No, Not One"
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“There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, No, not one! No, not one! There’s not an hour that He is not near us, No, not one! No, not one!” When we sing the words, do we truly remember what a unique friend He is? From the writings of John, we know there is truly no friend like Him – not one!
No other friend - "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man” John 3:13.
No other friend – no one can, or so generously will, give “living water” to the outcast sinner who only says, “Give me a drink” John 4:13.
No other friend – no one will continue “to accomplish His work,” even when “no one brought Him anything to eat” John 4:33-34.
No other friend – no one endures, when “not even His own brothers believed in Him;” while mocking Him by saying, “No one does anything in secret when He seeks himself to known…to the world” John 7:4-5.
No other friend – no one stands by you when there is “much complaining…concerning Him” and when “no one [is] speaking openly for Him” John 7:12-13.
No other friend – no one will hold His own as tightly as cherished gifts, promising that “no one will snatch them out of My hand” John 10:28.
No other friend – no one can truly say, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” John 14:6.
No other friend – no one will love you more, for "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13.
No other friend – no one can truly say, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and then assure that you will see the Father because He “will raise [you] up on the last day” John 6:44.
No other friend – no one is always near when you need Him, preserving your place in Heaven by promising, “I am coming quickly… so that no one will take your crown” Revelation 3:11.
Now, when we sing the song No, Not One, we may remember why Jesus is truly a friend like no other. He is the only friend who heals all our soul’s diseases; the only friend whose love, even in the darkest hours, can always cheer us. Indeed, “Jesus knows all about our struggles; He will guide till the day is done. There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one! No, not one!”
- Paul Myers
“There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, No, not one! No, not one! There’s not an hour that He is not near us, No, not one! No, not one!” When we sing the words, do we truly remember what a unique friend He is? From the writings of John, we know there is truly no friend like Him – not one!
No other friend - "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man” John 3:13.
No other friend – no one can, or so generously will, give “living water” to the outcast sinner who only says, “Give me a drink” John 4:13.
No other friend – no one will continue “to accomplish His work,” even when “no one brought Him anything to eat” John 4:33-34.
No other friend – no one endures, when “not even His own brothers believed in Him;” while mocking Him by saying, “No one does anything in secret when He seeks himself to known…to the world” John 7:4-5.
No other friend – no one stands by you when there is “much complaining…concerning Him” and when “no one [is] speaking openly for Him” John 7:12-13.
No other friend – no one will hold His own as tightly as cherished gifts, promising that “no one will snatch them out of My hand” John 10:28.
No other friend – no one can truly say, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” John 14:6.
No other friend – no one will love you more, for "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13.
No other friend – no one can truly say, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and then assure that you will see the Father because He “will raise [you] up on the last day” John 6:44.
No other friend – no one is always near when you need Him, preserving your place in Heaven by promising, “I am coming quickly… so that no one will take your crown” Revelation 3:11.
Now, when we sing the song No, Not One, we may remember why Jesus is truly a friend like no other. He is the only friend who heals all our soul’s diseases; the only friend whose love, even in the darkest hours, can always cheer us. Indeed, “Jesus knows all about our struggles; He will guide till the day is done. There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one! No, not one!”
- Paul Myers
Why Did Christ Die?
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Why did Christ die? To those who belong to Christ, the answers seem obvious? Christ died to redeem sinners, reconciling them to God. Christ died that we may have life more abundantly. Christ died so we may have the hope of an eternal home in Heaven. Surely, Christ died for these reasons, but what is the overarching reason for Christ to die?
Prior to leaving the splendor of Heaven, Christ said to His Father, “I delight to do Your will, O my God; yea, Your law is within my heart” (Ps.40:8; Heb.10:7). The cord woven through every work of Christ is His commitment to fulfill His Father’s will. The food which sustained Christ was His Father’s will. “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34).
It was Christ’s commitment to His Father’s will which led Him to die. “I seek not mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 5:30). Jesus reiterated this conviction, saying, “I come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).
Every deed, every word, every intent of Jesus’ heart was to do the will of the Father. Likewise, we should be compelled to pattern our deeds, our words, and our wills after Christ, for just as we sing, “He the great example is and pattern for me.”
Sweet are the promises, kind is the word;
Dearer far than any message man ever heard;
Pure was the mind of Christ, sinless I see’
He the great example is and pattern for me.
As we strive to be imitators of Christ, we ought to imitate His mindset of having His Father’s will as His highest priority. May we follow the pattern of Christ, purposing our lives as Christ purposed His own.
Certainly, it was an incomprehensible burden when Christ completed the will of His Father by bearing our sins at Calvary. Recall the night before when Christ prayed in the garden, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt 26:39).
Do we see the pattern? No matter the trial, no matter the sacrifice, Jesus sought only to do His Father’s will. In so doing we, indeed, can have redemption; we can be reconciled to God. We have, through Christ’s selfless submission to the Father’s will, the hope of Heaven. May we, in similar selfless submission, pattern our lives after Christ. And, may we also say like Christ, “I delight to do Thy will.”
Why did Christ die? To those who belong to Christ, the answers seem obvious? Christ died to redeem sinners, reconciling them to God. Christ died that we may have life more abundantly. Christ died so we may have the hope of an eternal home in Heaven. Surely, Christ died for these reasons, but what is the overarching reason for Christ to die?
Prior to leaving the splendor of Heaven, Christ said to His Father, “I delight to do Your will, O my God; yea, Your law is within my heart” (Ps.40:8; Heb.10:7). The cord woven through every work of Christ is His commitment to fulfill His Father’s will. The food which sustained Christ was His Father’s will. “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34).
It was Christ’s commitment to His Father’s will which led Him to die. “I seek not mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 5:30). Jesus reiterated this conviction, saying, “I come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).
Every deed, every word, every intent of Jesus’ heart was to do the will of the Father. Likewise, we should be compelled to pattern our deeds, our words, and our wills after Christ, for just as we sing, “He the great example is and pattern for me.”
Sweet are the promises, kind is the word;
Dearer far than any message man ever heard;
Pure was the mind of Christ, sinless I see’
He the great example is and pattern for me.
As we strive to be imitators of Christ, we ought to imitate His mindset of having His Father’s will as His highest priority. May we follow the pattern of Christ, purposing our lives as Christ purposed His own.
Certainly, it was an incomprehensible burden when Christ completed the will of His Father by bearing our sins at Calvary. Recall the night before when Christ prayed in the garden, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt 26:39).
Do we see the pattern? No matter the trial, no matter the sacrifice, Jesus sought only to do His Father’s will. In so doing we, indeed, can have redemption; we can be reconciled to God. We have, through Christ’s selfless submission to the Father’s will, the hope of Heaven. May we, in similar selfless submission, pattern our lives after Christ. And, may we also say like Christ, “I delight to do Thy will.”
God ALWAYS Makes a Way!
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“I know the Lord will find a way for me.
I know the Lord will find a way for me.
If I walk in Heaven’s light, shun the wrong and do the right,
I know the Lord will find a way for me.”
Essentially, the Bible message is that God made a way for man to ultimately return to the beautiful and blissful state of the Garden. God yearns to walk again, side by side, with His children. For, just as Adam and Eve could walk and talk with God, and see Him face to face, He yearns for the same close kinship with each one of us.
For Christians, the message of the Bible is rightly summarized by the first line and the last line of this song, “I know the Lord will find a way for me,” and, “Won’t it be grand to hear Him say, “Well done.” That, indeed, is the message of assurance in this song and throughout God’s word, “The Lord will find a way for us.” And, if we choose to walk in the way, we will hear Him say, “Well done!”
God has always made a way for those who choose to “shun the wrong and do the right.” From the beginning, Noah and his family shunned the wrong and did the right, and God made a way for them to escape the flood’s destruction.
Then God, by a series of terrible plagues, made a way for the people of Israel to be released from Egyptian bondage. And, God, by parting the Red Sea, made a way for his people to escape the Egyptian army.
Then God, by calling Moses to the top of the mountain, made a way to communicate His Law to His people. And, God, through that Law, made a way for His people to be forgiven of their sins.
So plainly throughout the Old Testament, we can see it. God ALWAYS makes a way! And, so plainly throughout the New Testament, we also can see it. God ALWAYS makes a way!
In the early chapters of the book of Acts, we see the proofs of God’s Power. We see that God overcame every challenge which rose up against His plan. We see that God always made a way for His apostles and disciples to accomplish His plan.
From the beginning, while the church was yet very young, oppositions arose and God overcame every challenge. In fact, even before the church had taken her first step, mockers were scoffing at the apostles’ Spirit-given ability to speak in tongues, saying in Acts 2:13, “They are full of sweet wine.” But, God, through the power of Peter’s preaching, made a way to overcome the mockers’ foolish scoffing. God made a way!
Then, when the church had barely taken her first steps, still full of amazement at all which they had seen and heard, opposition arose again. Peter and John were arrested, thrown in jail and threatened against speaking any more about this Jesus. Then God made a way for the apostles’ release “because [the people] were all glorifying God for what had happened” Acts 4:21. God made a way!
But, the challenges were not over, for then problems arose from within the church. The church had barely learned to walk and her own have conceived wickedness. Ananias and Sapphira, each with the full knowledge of the other, conspired to deceive in order to “keep back some of the price” of the land” which they had sold. The Lord struck both of them dead, and thereby, made a way for the church to continue to grow. Again, God always made a way!
So very early in the life of the church, God has proven his power to overcome every challenge. So very early, those in the Jerusalem church, those who would shun the wrong and do the right, can see that God always makes a way!
God has made the way for the lost to come to salvation. God has purposed that it is through the teaching and example of His children that the lost will be shown The Way. We know that Jesus is The Only Way and we must each be willing to do our part to help the lost see Him.
Our willingness to help the lost see Jesus depends upon us acting upon the belief, that the God will ALWAYS make a way for us to reach the lost. Doing so is proof to the Lord that we believe He still has the power to overcome every opposition which rises up against His church. Doing so is proof that we want to again be with God in a beautiful and blissful new Garden. And, doing so is the reason that we can sing:
“Won’t it be grand to hear Him say, “Well done.”
Won’t it be grand to hear him say, “Well done.”
If I walk in Heaven’s Light; shun the wrong and do the right,
Won’t it be grand to hear Him say, “Well done.”
“I know the Lord will find a way for me.
I know the Lord will find a way for me.
If I walk in Heaven’s light, shun the wrong and do the right,
I know the Lord will find a way for me.”
Essentially, the Bible message is that God made a way for man to ultimately return to the beautiful and blissful state of the Garden. God yearns to walk again, side by side, with His children. For, just as Adam and Eve could walk and talk with God, and see Him face to face, He yearns for the same close kinship with each one of us.
For Christians, the message of the Bible is rightly summarized by the first line and the last line of this song, “I know the Lord will find a way for me,” and, “Won’t it be grand to hear Him say, “Well done.” That, indeed, is the message of assurance in this song and throughout God’s word, “The Lord will find a way for us.” And, if we choose to walk in the way, we will hear Him say, “Well done!”
God has always made a way for those who choose to “shun the wrong and do the right.” From the beginning, Noah and his family shunned the wrong and did the right, and God made a way for them to escape the flood’s destruction.
Then God, by a series of terrible plagues, made a way for the people of Israel to be released from Egyptian bondage. And, God, by parting the Red Sea, made a way for his people to escape the Egyptian army.
Then God, by calling Moses to the top of the mountain, made a way to communicate His Law to His people. And, God, through that Law, made a way for His people to be forgiven of their sins.
So plainly throughout the Old Testament, we can see it. God ALWAYS makes a way! And, so plainly throughout the New Testament, we also can see it. God ALWAYS makes a way!
In the early chapters of the book of Acts, we see the proofs of God’s Power. We see that God overcame every challenge which rose up against His plan. We see that God always made a way for His apostles and disciples to accomplish His plan.
From the beginning, while the church was yet very young, oppositions arose and God overcame every challenge. In fact, even before the church had taken her first step, mockers were scoffing at the apostles’ Spirit-given ability to speak in tongues, saying in Acts 2:13, “They are full of sweet wine.” But, God, through the power of Peter’s preaching, made a way to overcome the mockers’ foolish scoffing. God made a way!
Then, when the church had barely taken her first steps, still full of amazement at all which they had seen and heard, opposition arose again. Peter and John were arrested, thrown in jail and threatened against speaking any more about this Jesus. Then God made a way for the apostles’ release “because [the people] were all glorifying God for what had happened” Acts 4:21. God made a way!
But, the challenges were not over, for then problems arose from within the church. The church had barely learned to walk and her own have conceived wickedness. Ananias and Sapphira, each with the full knowledge of the other, conspired to deceive in order to “keep back some of the price” of the land” which they had sold. The Lord struck both of them dead, and thereby, made a way for the church to continue to grow. Again, God always made a way!
So very early in the life of the church, God has proven his power to overcome every challenge. So very early, those in the Jerusalem church, those who would shun the wrong and do the right, can see that God always makes a way!
God has made the way for the lost to come to salvation. God has purposed that it is through the teaching and example of His children that the lost will be shown The Way. We know that Jesus is The Only Way and we must each be willing to do our part to help the lost see Him.
Our willingness to help the lost see Jesus depends upon us acting upon the belief, that the God will ALWAYS make a way for us to reach the lost. Doing so is proof to the Lord that we believe He still has the power to overcome every opposition which rises up against His church. Doing so is proof that we want to again be with God in a beautiful and blissful new Garden. And, doing so is the reason that we can sing:
“Won’t it be grand to hear Him say, “Well done.”
Won’t it be grand to hear him say, “Well done.”
If I walk in Heaven’s Light; shun the wrong and do the right,
Won’t it be grand to hear Him say, “Well done.”
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Are You Going Anywhere?
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Two precious, four year-old girls were sitting up in their beds, still talking long past bedtime. Grammie went in to settle them down for the night. In the dim light from the hallway, the eyes of one still twinkled, but with uncertainty. Her only words were, “Are you going anywhere, Grammie?”
Change had shaken their security. Daddy had recently gone away to war in Iraq. Mommy was gone, having the chance to see him once more before his going overseas. They were as safe as could be with Grammie. But, safety does not equal security, especially in the dark when Daddy is gone and you are only four.
Grammie reassured the girls that she was not going anywhere; promising to be right in the next room. Freshly tucked in, they went right to sleep. All they needed to settle their restless insecurity was the promise that they would not be left alone.
Somewhere along the way, childhood fears subside; or, we don’t express them so plainly. Somehow we become secure in our own care and safety. Then, as God’s children who are not dependent upon Him as we should be, God is asking His children, “Are you going anywhere?”
Though God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us” 1 Peter 1:3, we are prone to choose our own lives and define godliness on our terms.
Though God “has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” 1 Peter 1:4, we are prone to leave at least one foot in the world’s corruption.
Though God has made “the prophetic word more sure…[like] a lamp shining in a dark place” 1 Peter 1:19, by our self-secure ways, we are prone to close our eyes to the Lamp’s light.
Having the assurance of safety, security and light through the knowledge of God and the sacrifice of His Son, somehow we are still prone to return to darkness and insecurity. It is as if we do not care if our Heavenly Father has gone anywhere. And, in the darkness, we forget that He did not leave us, but it is us who left Him. We forget to consider, “Are we going anywhere, and where are we going?” Then the trouble begins.
Through forgetfulness, we are prone to follow “destructive heresies…denying the Master…maligning the way of truth…and [commit ourselves] to the pits of destruction, reserved for judgment” 2 Peter 2:1-4.
Through forgetfulness, we are prone to be “like unreasoning animals…reviling where [we] have no knowledge…forsaking the right way...[and loving] the wages of unrighteousness” 2 Peter 2:12-15.
Through forgetfulness, we are prone to again be entangled in “the defilements of the world…and [when] overcome, the last state will be worse for [us] than the first, for it would have been better for [us] not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the righteous commandment given [us]” 2 Peter 2:20-21.
However, amid Peter’s descriptions of those who have returned to their previous state of wallowing like hogs in the mire of sin, there is also this assurance of escaping the darkness. Even while one is enslaved to corruption, there is a means of freedom to any who want to escape; 2 Peter 2:18-19. Amid this world’s temptations there is escape, just as there was for Lot. “God rescued righteous Lot…for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among [the wicked] felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation” 2 Peter 2:7-9.
Because Lot considered the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked, he could rightly answer the question of which way to go. In the darkness of sin around him, Lot was assured that God had not gone anywhere. Lot was reassured that God was with him; that there was both safety and security in the way of the Lord. Lot knew how to answer the question, “Are you going anywhere?” By Lot’s actions we know his answer; “God, I’m going with you.”
At four years of age, or at any age, our security can be shaken by change. For those who depend upon the Lord, though we may in dark times wonder, we really do not have to ask, “Are you going anywhere, Lord?” With God’s comfort, seemingly as near as the reassuring words of a Grammie, we can know that God is not going anywhere.
Two precious, four year-old girls were sitting up in their beds, still talking long past bedtime. Grammie went in to settle them down for the night. In the dim light from the hallway, the eyes of one still twinkled, but with uncertainty. Her only words were, “Are you going anywhere, Grammie?”
Change had shaken their security. Daddy had recently gone away to war in Iraq. Mommy was gone, having the chance to see him once more before his going overseas. They were as safe as could be with Grammie. But, safety does not equal security, especially in the dark when Daddy is gone and you are only four.
Grammie reassured the girls that she was not going anywhere; promising to be right in the next room. Freshly tucked in, they went right to sleep. All they needed to settle their restless insecurity was the promise that they would not be left alone.
Somewhere along the way, childhood fears subside; or, we don’t express them so plainly. Somehow we become secure in our own care and safety. Then, as God’s children who are not dependent upon Him as we should be, God is asking His children, “Are you going anywhere?”
Though God “has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us” 1 Peter 1:3, we are prone to choose our own lives and define godliness on our terms.
Though God “has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” 1 Peter 1:4, we are prone to leave at least one foot in the world’s corruption.
Though God has made “the prophetic word more sure…[like] a lamp shining in a dark place” 1 Peter 1:19, by our self-secure ways, we are prone to close our eyes to the Lamp’s light.
Having the assurance of safety, security and light through the knowledge of God and the sacrifice of His Son, somehow we are still prone to return to darkness and insecurity. It is as if we do not care if our Heavenly Father has gone anywhere. And, in the darkness, we forget that He did not leave us, but it is us who left Him. We forget to consider, “Are we going anywhere, and where are we going?” Then the trouble begins.
Through forgetfulness, we are prone to follow “destructive heresies…denying the Master…maligning the way of truth…and [commit ourselves] to the pits of destruction, reserved for judgment” 2 Peter 2:1-4.
Through forgetfulness, we are prone to be “like unreasoning animals…reviling where [we] have no knowledge…forsaking the right way...[and loving] the wages of unrighteousness” 2 Peter 2:12-15.
Through forgetfulness, we are prone to again be entangled in “the defilements of the world…and [when] overcome, the last state will be worse for [us] than the first, for it would have been better for [us] not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the righteous commandment given [us]” 2 Peter 2:20-21.
However, amid Peter’s descriptions of those who have returned to their previous state of wallowing like hogs in the mire of sin, there is also this assurance of escaping the darkness. Even while one is enslaved to corruption, there is a means of freedom to any who want to escape; 2 Peter 2:18-19. Amid this world’s temptations there is escape, just as there was for Lot. “God rescued righteous Lot…for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among [the wicked] felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation” 2 Peter 2:7-9.
Because Lot considered the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked, he could rightly answer the question of which way to go. In the darkness of sin around him, Lot was assured that God had not gone anywhere. Lot was reassured that God was with him; that there was both safety and security in the way of the Lord. Lot knew how to answer the question, “Are you going anywhere?” By Lot’s actions we know his answer; “God, I’m going with you.”
At four years of age, or at any age, our security can be shaken by change. For those who depend upon the Lord, though we may in dark times wonder, we really do not have to ask, “Are you going anywhere, Lord?” With God’s comfort, seemingly as near as the reassuring words of a Grammie, we can know that God is not going anywhere.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
God Cannot Forget His Children
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Recently, a rising political star was caught in an interview with her talking points written in the palm of her hand. In the heat and stress of a televised interview, she did not want to forget the three issues from which her campaign was borne. Pundits decried her cheat notes as being like a 7th grader cheating on a math test.
Perhaps, any public figures, politicos, pundits or preaches, at some time fears forgetting the words they most intently want to say. But, on a more personal level, a greater fear would be that we ourselves are forgotten entirely, or that we have been forsaken for another.
God’s people of Israel feared they had been forgotten and forsaken. Recall Isaiah’s testimony of Israel’s fears as his prophecy teaches them that the Holy One is a light to the Gentile nations as well as to Israel. Recall Isaiah’s inspired illustration, reminding Israel that God cannot forget His children; “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne” Isaiah 49:15?
Such intimate words course like blood throughout the message of Isaiah 49. Isaiah himself was “formed…in the womb to be His servant” Isaiah 49:5, and from his “birth [God] has made mention of [Isaiah’s] name” Isaiah 49:1. The words further speak of “children born during your bereavement” Isaiah 49:20, and of far more children being born than when Israel “was bereaved and barren” Isaiah 49: 21. Truly, God did not forget His first children just because He also chose to adopt every child from every nation.
With words akin to the intimacy of Solomon’s Song, what illustration could better described the impossibility of God forgetting His children than the recollection of a babe suckled at its mother’s breast? No loving mother ever forgets the bond borne through such intimate nurturing.
Perhaps, as His children who hunger for righteousness, we first perceive the baby’s longing for life from the breast. But, recognize that there are two sides to this kinship of mother and child. The mother longs for her child as intently as the babe hungers for her breast. A nursing mother, long without her child, hurts for the child; her breast is pained if the child is lost. Neither the mother’s heart nor her breast can forget the child. Neither can God forget His children.
Noteworthy among the words, “Can a mother…have no compassion on the child,” is the word for compassion – racham (pronounced raw-kham’). It continues to paint an intimate portrait of the kinship between mother and child. Its earliest usage meant to fondle and to love by showing deep, kindly mercy for a suffering child. God, with such compassion cannot forget His children.
Isaiah mirrors the maternal illustration with one of the Father, with imagery just as intimate as a Father’s tender hand. When you read, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” Isaiah 49:16; hear the pride of the Father in those words. He is saying, “See the proof! I cannot forget you with your names engraved in My hand!”
Consider carefully the inspired use of the word “engraved” or “inscribed.” This is more than a quickly-inked, cheat sheet scrawled across and hidden in His palm. This is as permanent as words cut into stone. Deriving from the Hebrew word chaqaq (pronounced khaw-kak’), the primitive meaning of inscribe or engrave was to hack; as used for cutting a tomb out of solid rock, in Isaiah 22:16. Chaqaq is also used as describing the work carving names into tablets of stone, just “as a jeweler engraves the signet” Exodus 28:11. And, just as nothing would change regarding Daniel because of the seal of the king’s signet, in Daniel 6:17, nothing will change about God remembering His children.
See the implications of our names being engraved into His hand. Would not the pain of hacking or carving our names into His hand be akin to bearing the pain of hammered nails? And, should we dare to imagine that by extension of the Isaiah’s illustration, the name of each one who becomes His child, still today has his name engraved in our Father’s hand. God cannot forget His children.
But, let us see the real issue of mankind’s kinship with God. It is not God who tends to forget. It is man who forgets. God did not forget Israel, but so often, Israel forgot God. And, His children today are prone to be no better. However, to those who seek Him, God has promised the means to remember Him. Jeremiah prophesied to the Jews and the Hebrews writer repeats to Christians this promise of God. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, " I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10.
Whether or not we forget God depends upon how we answer two questions “Do we yearn for God, His nurture and His sustenance as strongly as a child yearns for the breast?” “Do we remember God as intimately as His name being engraved into our hands?” If your answer to those questions is “Yes,” you will be able to correctly answer the following questions.
Will we forget? Or, when all those around us chatter about and glorify sports or shopping, movie stars or cars, will we remember to glorify God?
When the world around us smirks, calling God a silly myth, will we make a defense for the true hope which lies within us?
When someone says the Bible can’t be true, are we prepared to prove that it is true?
When some brethren claim God’s narrow way is too narrow, will we convince them that the narrow way is also the sure and only way.
When some say that God’s plan for marriage or His design for our worship no longer matters, will we convince them that it matters to God?
When so many distractions and responsibilities clutter our days, will we remember a greater priority, the Great Commission?
If we are still prone to forget God, perhaps, it will help to remember the words which we sing, based upon Isaiah 49:15. “I will not forget thee or leave thee; in my arms I’ll hold thee; in my arms I’ll fold thee. I will not forget thee or leave thee; I am thy redeemer, I will care for thee.”
God cannot forget His children. So, if all else fails, let us write it on our hands, but never let us forget to talk about God.
Recently, a rising political star was caught in an interview with her talking points written in the palm of her hand. In the heat and stress of a televised interview, she did not want to forget the three issues from which her campaign was borne. Pundits decried her cheat notes as being like a 7th grader cheating on a math test.
Perhaps, any public figures, politicos, pundits or preaches, at some time fears forgetting the words they most intently want to say. But, on a more personal level, a greater fear would be that we ourselves are forgotten entirely, or that we have been forsaken for another.
God’s people of Israel feared they had been forgotten and forsaken. Recall Isaiah’s testimony of Israel’s fears as his prophecy teaches them that the Holy One is a light to the Gentile nations as well as to Israel. Recall Isaiah’s inspired illustration, reminding Israel that God cannot forget His children; “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne” Isaiah 49:15?
Such intimate words course like blood throughout the message of Isaiah 49. Isaiah himself was “formed…in the womb to be His servant” Isaiah 49:5, and from his “birth [God] has made mention of [Isaiah’s] name” Isaiah 49:1. The words further speak of “children born during your bereavement” Isaiah 49:20, and of far more children being born than when Israel “was bereaved and barren” Isaiah 49: 21. Truly, God did not forget His first children just because He also chose to adopt every child from every nation.
With words akin to the intimacy of Solomon’s Song, what illustration could better described the impossibility of God forgetting His children than the recollection of a babe suckled at its mother’s breast? No loving mother ever forgets the bond borne through such intimate nurturing.
Perhaps, as His children who hunger for righteousness, we first perceive the baby’s longing for life from the breast. But, recognize that there are two sides to this kinship of mother and child. The mother longs for her child as intently as the babe hungers for her breast. A nursing mother, long without her child, hurts for the child; her breast is pained if the child is lost. Neither the mother’s heart nor her breast can forget the child. Neither can God forget His children.
Noteworthy among the words, “Can a mother…have no compassion on the child,” is the word for compassion – racham (pronounced raw-kham’). It continues to paint an intimate portrait of the kinship between mother and child. Its earliest usage meant to fondle and to love by showing deep, kindly mercy for a suffering child. God, with such compassion cannot forget His children.
Isaiah mirrors the maternal illustration with one of the Father, with imagery just as intimate as a Father’s tender hand. When you read, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” Isaiah 49:16; hear the pride of the Father in those words. He is saying, “See the proof! I cannot forget you with your names engraved in My hand!”
Consider carefully the inspired use of the word “engraved” or “inscribed.” This is more than a quickly-inked, cheat sheet scrawled across and hidden in His palm. This is as permanent as words cut into stone. Deriving from the Hebrew word chaqaq (pronounced khaw-kak’), the primitive meaning of inscribe or engrave was to hack; as used for cutting a tomb out of solid rock, in Isaiah 22:16. Chaqaq is also used as describing the work carving names into tablets of stone, just “as a jeweler engraves the signet” Exodus 28:11. And, just as nothing would change regarding Daniel because of the seal of the king’s signet, in Daniel 6:17, nothing will change about God remembering His children.
See the implications of our names being engraved into His hand. Would not the pain of hacking or carving our names into His hand be akin to bearing the pain of hammered nails? And, should we dare to imagine that by extension of the Isaiah’s illustration, the name of each one who becomes His child, still today has his name engraved in our Father’s hand. God cannot forget His children.
But, let us see the real issue of mankind’s kinship with God. It is not God who tends to forget. It is man who forgets. God did not forget Israel, but so often, Israel forgot God. And, His children today are prone to be no better. However, to those who seek Him, God has promised the means to remember Him. Jeremiah prophesied to the Jews and the Hebrews writer repeats to Christians this promise of God. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, " I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10.
Whether or not we forget God depends upon how we answer two questions “Do we yearn for God, His nurture and His sustenance as strongly as a child yearns for the breast?” “Do we remember God as intimately as His name being engraved into our hands?” If your answer to those questions is “Yes,” you will be able to correctly answer the following questions.
Will we forget? Or, when all those around us chatter about and glorify sports or shopping, movie stars or cars, will we remember to glorify God?
When the world around us smirks, calling God a silly myth, will we make a defense for the true hope which lies within us?
When someone says the Bible can’t be true, are we prepared to prove that it is true?
When some brethren claim God’s narrow way is too narrow, will we convince them that the narrow way is also the sure and only way.
When some say that God’s plan for marriage or His design for our worship no longer matters, will we convince them that it matters to God?
When so many distractions and responsibilities clutter our days, will we remember a greater priority, the Great Commission?
If we are still prone to forget God, perhaps, it will help to remember the words which we sing, based upon Isaiah 49:15. “I will not forget thee or leave thee; in my arms I’ll hold thee; in my arms I’ll fold thee. I will not forget thee or leave thee; I am thy redeemer, I will care for thee.”
God cannot forget His children. So, if all else fails, let us write it on our hands, but never let us forget to talk about God.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
What Can God Do With You?
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God can do with you, perhaps, more than you believe. God “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within” you (Eph.3:20). The real question is, “what will you ASK God to do with you?”
God is able “to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Will you ask Him to give you that inheritance?
God is able to, because of your faith, to do all he has promised, and by your faith credit it to you as righteousness (Rom. 4:19-22). Will you by faith ask Him to fulfill his promises and count you as righteous?
God is able to help you “overwhelmingly conquer” all things, in order that nothing will separate you from His love (Rom. 9:37-39). Will you ask Him to help you be a conqueror, and to hold you in His love?
God is able by His kindness, though you may at some time reject Him, to graft you in again to His tree (Rom. 11:20-25). Will you ask Him to be so kind to you?
God is able, in spite of those who may unfairly judge you, to help you stand if you are standing with Him (Rom. 14: 1-4). Will you ask Him to help you stand?
God is able to fill you with joy and peace so that you may abound in hope (Rom.15:13). Will you ask him to fill you with joy and peace, producing an abundance of hope within you?
God is able to keep you from sin because “He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear… so that you will be able to endure it (I Cor. 10:13). Will you ask Him to keep you from sin by helping you endure?
God is able to comfort you, and then to make you a comfort to others (II Cor. 1:4). Will you ask to both comfort you and to help you be a comforter to others?
God “is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have abundance for every good deed” (Rom. 9:8). Will you ask Him for the grace to accomplish every good deed?
God is able to “grant you the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:16-19).
Thus, we have come to where we began, perhaps, seeing God can do far more with each one of us than we think. And, the real question remains the same; “What will we ASK God to do?
God can do with you, perhaps, more than you believe. God “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within” you (Eph.3:20). The real question is, “what will you ASK God to do with you?”
God is able “to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Will you ask Him to give you that inheritance?
God is able to, because of your faith, to do all he has promised, and by your faith credit it to you as righteousness (Rom. 4:19-22). Will you by faith ask Him to fulfill his promises and count you as righteous?
God is able to help you “overwhelmingly conquer” all things, in order that nothing will separate you from His love (Rom. 9:37-39). Will you ask Him to help you be a conqueror, and to hold you in His love?
God is able by His kindness, though you may at some time reject Him, to graft you in again to His tree (Rom. 11:20-25). Will you ask Him to be so kind to you?
God is able, in spite of those who may unfairly judge you, to help you stand if you are standing with Him (Rom. 14: 1-4). Will you ask Him to help you stand?
God is able to fill you with joy and peace so that you may abound in hope (Rom.15:13). Will you ask him to fill you with joy and peace, producing an abundance of hope within you?
God is able to keep you from sin because “He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear… so that you will be able to endure it (I Cor. 10:13). Will you ask Him to keep you from sin by helping you endure?
God is able to comfort you, and then to make you a comfort to others (II Cor. 1:4). Will you ask to both comfort you and to help you be a comforter to others?
God “is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have abundance for every good deed” (Rom. 9:8). Will you ask Him for the grace to accomplish every good deed?
God is able to “grant you the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:16-19).
Thus, we have come to where we began, perhaps, seeing God can do far more with each one of us than we think. And, the real question remains the same; “What will we ASK God to do?
Boldly Surrendered!
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We recall from old war movies, perhaps, of America’s Revolutionary War, the battles fought at close range; close enough to see the eyes of the enemy. Remember the scenes as rank after rank of soldiers, dressed in their splendid and proud colors, would step forward and fire against the other. As some men fell another rank stepped forward and fired, as still more men fell in battle. Then, amid the smoke and the carnage, when one side could fight no longer, either by the lack of standing men or perceiving the insurmountable odds against them, there would be raised a trembling white flag, frantically declaring the surrender of the defeated.
To the victors went the spoils of war. To the victor’s went the cause for celebration for their cause had proven itself worthy of the fight. But, for the defeated, the ragged few yet standing on the battlefield littered with the dead and the dying, there is only shame, the shame of having surrendered. Once so sure of the rightness of their cause, they are defeated, and worse still they must endure the shame of surrender.
However, let us consider a different view of surrender. Let us consider that surrendering can be the boldest and by far the wisest decision; knowing when the evidence and the odds are so clearly set against us, it is time to wave the white flag of surrender. There is a time to wave the flag, not in shame, but in bold surrender.
What can possibly be bold or wise about giving up the fight which you believe so strongly is right. When you are certain you are right, how can surrendering not be shameful?
Studying at Acts 4, consider the wisdom of boldly surrendering our will to the greater will and power of God arrayed against us. Consider the attitudes of the high priests who, when the evidence of God’s power was so clearly before them, would not surrender. The evidence before them was convincing them, but not converting them.
From the examples of great spiritual soldiers like Peter and John we learn the worth of surrender. The boldly-surrendered hearts of godly men caused them to speak the word of God with great boldness (4:31). The results of that bold surrender came with its rewards, for it resulted in “great power… and abundant grace upon them all” (4:33). Through spiritual soldiers like Peter and John we, indeed, can see that when we have boldly surrendered our lives to God, there is no cause for shame, for God blesses us with power and abundant grace when we have boldly surrendered our lives to Christ. The white flag of spiritual surrender then becomes the boldest banner of victory.
We recall from old war movies, perhaps, of America’s Revolutionary War, the battles fought at close range; close enough to see the eyes of the enemy. Remember the scenes as rank after rank of soldiers, dressed in their splendid and proud colors, would step forward and fire against the other. As some men fell another rank stepped forward and fired, as still more men fell in battle. Then, amid the smoke and the carnage, when one side could fight no longer, either by the lack of standing men or perceiving the insurmountable odds against them, there would be raised a trembling white flag, frantically declaring the surrender of the defeated.
To the victors went the spoils of war. To the victor’s went the cause for celebration for their cause had proven itself worthy of the fight. But, for the defeated, the ragged few yet standing on the battlefield littered with the dead and the dying, there is only shame, the shame of having surrendered. Once so sure of the rightness of their cause, they are defeated, and worse still they must endure the shame of surrender.
However, let us consider a different view of surrender. Let us consider that surrendering can be the boldest and by far the wisest decision; knowing when the evidence and the odds are so clearly set against us, it is time to wave the white flag of surrender. There is a time to wave the flag, not in shame, but in bold surrender.
What can possibly be bold or wise about giving up the fight which you believe so strongly is right. When you are certain you are right, how can surrendering not be shameful?
Studying at Acts 4, consider the wisdom of boldly surrendering our will to the greater will and power of God arrayed against us. Consider the attitudes of the high priests who, when the evidence of God’s power was so clearly before them, would not surrender. The evidence before them was convincing them, but not converting them.
From the examples of great spiritual soldiers like Peter and John we learn the worth of surrender. The boldly-surrendered hearts of godly men caused them to speak the word of God with great boldness (4:31). The results of that bold surrender came with its rewards, for it resulted in “great power… and abundant grace upon them all” (4:33). Through spiritual soldiers like Peter and John we, indeed, can see that when we have boldly surrendered our lives to God, there is no cause for shame, for God blesses us with power and abundant grace when we have boldly surrendered our lives to Christ. The white flag of spiritual surrender then becomes the boldest banner of victory.
The Who, When, and Why of Judgment
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When we become followers of our Lord Jesus, by God’s love and mercy, we receive many blessings and benefits. Among them, we are forgiven (Col. 2:13), and made alive with Christ (Eph. 2:4-5). We are loved (I John 4:10), and we are new creations (II Corinthians 5:17). As Christians, we are also entrusted with the secrets of God (I Cor. 4:1). From this entrusting of God’s secrets, we begin to see that God’s blessings come with corresponding responsibilities. Our handling of those responsibilities determines how we ultimately will be judged.
Considering 1st Corinthians 4:1-5, we learn about three aspects concerning judgment. The who, the when, and the why of our judgment are found within verse five. “Do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come from God” (NASB).
Perhaps, we too quickly and defensively run to the words about passing judgment, assuming that the main point of this passage is declaring God is who will judge or that man must not judge. Of course, God is the One who judges, but that is not the primary teaching. Then we see when the judgment occurs; at a time for which we must wait, that time when the Lord comes again. That is true, but neither is it the primary teaching.
While understanding who and when is vital, we must understand why; that is, the basis for which we will be judged. The central teaching of this passage concerns what we do with the True Word of God, “learning not to exceed what is written” (v.7); and the reward for that. The passages which precede and follow 1st Corinthians 4:1-5, address our responsibility to the Word and that our handing of it will be revealed in the Last Day. 1st Corinthians 3: 10-20 addresses the arrogant foolishness of men who deceive men with their craftiness, with the promise that their error will be revealed. Beginning in 1st Corinthians 4:15, Paul exhorts the brethren to imitate him in the manner which he was a tutor of the Word to them, not becoming arrogant.
The why we will be judged favorably or not is based upon 1st Corinthians 4:1-2. Paul, speaking of himself and Timothy says, “Let a man regard (reckon, conclude, or judge; cf. 1st Cor. 13:11; 2nd Cor. 11:5; 12:6) us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” To highlight the implications of this passage, consider this translation; a combination of the ASV and the NIV. “Let a man so account of us, as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust that man must be found faithful” (italics added).
The word trust (or, similarly the word confidence) is used in scripture roughly 200 times. In the Old Testament, trust, trusts, or trusting is predominantly used as a verb. In the New Testament, trust is almost always used as a noun. Trust is spoken of in the context of those who have put their trust into another, either God, or foolishly into self, riches or idols. In 1st Corinthians 4, God has put His trust into His apostles, entrusting His Word to their stewardship.
We can understand this trust in a legal or financial sense. A Trust is legal title to a property being held by one party for the benefit of another. The one who puts his trust into the other does so with the confidence that it will be administered for the profit of the beneficiary. To be certain, the trust of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in Daniel 3, was not passive or without the expectation of benefit. They with purposeful intent invested their confidence into God as their Trustee, whose obligation to their trust was for their benefit by delivering them from the fiery furnace.
The opposite is apparent in Isaiah 30, where Judah is rebuked for having made an alliance with Egypt. Having put their trust in Egypt leads to their fall, for Egypt was not a Trustee who worked for Judah’s benefit. “Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, ‘Since you have rejected this word and have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them; therefore this iniquity will be to you like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar’” (Isaiah 30: 12-14).
Understand that such a fate, by God’s judgment of our stewardship of His Word, will also be ours if we arrogantly exceed what has been written. We will have broken our trusting (verb) in Him, and the trust (noun) which we first invested into His stewardship for our promised reward.
Understand that the true nature of both Paul’s apostleship and of our Christianity is to be faithful to the revealed Word of God, not to exceed in any way what is written. Understand that we are given a trust, entrusted with the management of that trust for the benefit of Christ’s kingdom.
Understand why those who are not proven trustworthy, those who exceed what is written, will be judged harshly when their motives are revealed? It will be because they have not been faithful trustees of the Trust given to them. They were not faithful stewards of the Word entrusted to them. Therefore, the Word, as they misused it, was not profitable for the benefit of God’s plan.
Who will judge? Christ will judge, according to the Word which has been revealed.
When will He judge? He will judge when he comes to reveal the motives and the stewardship of His trustees.
Why will He judge? He will judge to reveal those who have worked for the benefit of His kingdom. May we, indeed, be “regard[ed] as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God,” both for the benefit of His kingdom and the promised reward of His servants when “each man’s praise will come from God.”
When we become followers of our Lord Jesus, by God’s love and mercy, we receive many blessings and benefits. Among them, we are forgiven (Col. 2:13), and made alive with Christ (Eph. 2:4-5). We are loved (I John 4:10), and we are new creations (II Corinthians 5:17). As Christians, we are also entrusted with the secrets of God (I Cor. 4:1). From this entrusting of God’s secrets, we begin to see that God’s blessings come with corresponding responsibilities. Our handling of those responsibilities determines how we ultimately will be judged.
Considering 1st Corinthians 4:1-5, we learn about three aspects concerning judgment. The who, the when, and the why of our judgment are found within verse five. “Do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come from God” (NASB).
Perhaps, we too quickly and defensively run to the words about passing judgment, assuming that the main point of this passage is declaring God is who will judge or that man must not judge. Of course, God is the One who judges, but that is not the primary teaching. Then we see when the judgment occurs; at a time for which we must wait, that time when the Lord comes again. That is true, but neither is it the primary teaching.
While understanding who and when is vital, we must understand why; that is, the basis for which we will be judged. The central teaching of this passage concerns what we do with the True Word of God, “learning not to exceed what is written” (v.7); and the reward for that. The passages which precede and follow 1st Corinthians 4:1-5, address our responsibility to the Word and that our handing of it will be revealed in the Last Day. 1st Corinthians 3: 10-20 addresses the arrogant foolishness of men who deceive men with their craftiness, with the promise that their error will be revealed. Beginning in 1st Corinthians 4:15, Paul exhorts the brethren to imitate him in the manner which he was a tutor of the Word to them, not becoming arrogant.
The why we will be judged favorably or not is based upon 1st Corinthians 4:1-2. Paul, speaking of himself and Timothy says, “Let a man regard (reckon, conclude, or judge; cf. 1st Cor. 13:11; 2nd Cor. 11:5; 12:6) us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” To highlight the implications of this passage, consider this translation; a combination of the ASV and the NIV. “Let a man so account of us, as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust that man must be found faithful” (italics added).
The word trust (or, similarly the word confidence) is used in scripture roughly 200 times. In the Old Testament, trust, trusts, or trusting is predominantly used as a verb. In the New Testament, trust is almost always used as a noun. Trust is spoken of in the context of those who have put their trust into another, either God, or foolishly into self, riches or idols. In 1st Corinthians 4, God has put His trust into His apostles, entrusting His Word to their stewardship.
We can understand this trust in a legal or financial sense. A Trust is legal title to a property being held by one party for the benefit of another. The one who puts his trust into the other does so with the confidence that it will be administered for the profit of the beneficiary. To be certain, the trust of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, in Daniel 3, was not passive or without the expectation of benefit. They with purposeful intent invested their confidence into God as their Trustee, whose obligation to their trust was for their benefit by delivering them from the fiery furnace.
The opposite is apparent in Isaiah 30, where Judah is rebuked for having made an alliance with Egypt. Having put their trust in Egypt leads to their fall, for Egypt was not a Trustee who worked for Judah’s benefit. “Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, ‘Since you have rejected this word and have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them; therefore this iniquity will be to you like a breach about to fall, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter's jar’” (Isaiah 30: 12-14).
Understand that such a fate, by God’s judgment of our stewardship of His Word, will also be ours if we arrogantly exceed what has been written. We will have broken our trusting (verb) in Him, and the trust (noun) which we first invested into His stewardship for our promised reward.
Understand that the true nature of both Paul’s apostleship and of our Christianity is to be faithful to the revealed Word of God, not to exceed in any way what is written. Understand that we are given a trust, entrusted with the management of that trust for the benefit of Christ’s kingdom.
Understand why those who are not proven trustworthy, those who exceed what is written, will be judged harshly when their motives are revealed? It will be because they have not been faithful trustees of the Trust given to them. They were not faithful stewards of the Word entrusted to them. Therefore, the Word, as they misused it, was not profitable for the benefit of God’s plan.
Who will judge? Christ will judge, according to the Word which has been revealed.
When will He judge? He will judge when he comes to reveal the motives and the stewardship of His trustees.
Why will He judge? He will judge to reveal those who have worked for the benefit of His kingdom. May we, indeed, be “regard[ed] as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God,” both for the benefit of His kingdom and the promised reward of His servants when “each man’s praise will come from God.”
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