Category: Word of Encouragement

Word of Encouragement

“Lazarus, Come Forth!”- The Day of the Dead Living

Death is the Dark Madman and Killer

Death.

Foreboding black darkness.

Unexpected.

Unnecessary.

Mysterious.

Frightening.

Disheartening sadness.

Mortality

Hell?

Heaven?

 

Everyone likes a birthday party or a wedding, but no one likes a funeral.  We all want to pay our respects to the dead and gather with the family in mourning, but no one can really say they delight in funerals.

 

Funerals remind us of our mortality and finality.

 

I still remember when my friend and a mentor in Christ Charles Waddy who died almost 20 years ago.  I looked into the casket and the man who was once full of life and breath and was an example of Jesus to me was gone.  There was a body, but the man was gone.

 

You will understand this if you recall looking at a loved one in the face while they are “resting” in the casket, or just seeing the outside of the casket, knowing that a loved one is inside.  It saddens us.  “One day here- – next day gone.”  We all say it like this.  “I can’t believe it, he/she was just with us, in this room, speaking, talking…living.”  We then face the future, the rest of our days, without this loved one.

 

This is the pain and anguish Martha and Mary were experiencing in Bethany just after they had lost their beloved brother Lazarus to an illness in John 11.

 

We should hate death with all of our might!  We should weep not only for those who we have lost to death, but weep that death still lives!  Death should make us mad – not mad at God for allowing the death of a loved one, but hate death as a thing, a wicked and dark force to be reckoned with.

 

Death is the result of sin and the fall of man.  Otherwise there would be no death.  Death haunts human beings all their lives, because ultimately they know they have a date set for meeting death face to face.  Have you ever seen Ingmar Bergman’s film the ‘The Seventh Seal’?  It is worth a careful viewing if you are able to see it!

 

In the film, death is seeking the life of a medieval knight returning from the crusades.  The knight challenges death to a game of chess.  If the knight wins, death loses his grip on him; if death wins, he gets to claim the life of the knight.  So death plays chess and pursues the man and even though the man seeks God’s help, God does not seem to answer the man.  His cries are answered by silence in the knight’s estimation.

 

In one scene, the knight speaks to who he thinks is a priest in a confessional about his fears of death, only to find out that he is speaking his confession to death himself.  He says:

 

“My indifference has shut me out.  I live in a world of ghosts, a prisoner of dreams.  I want God to put out his hand, show his face, speak to me.  I cry out to him in the dark but there is no one there…Why can’t I kill God within me?”

 

As death intrudes into the confessional to hear the useless request of the priest for mercy, so death intrudes into God’s creation to take the life of men made in his image.  We must remember that

 

Death is an intruder in the creation: a thief, a robber, a heartless, unprincipled, greedy madman and killer who longs to own us and make us his own.


Death Makes Life Meaninglessness Under the Sun

Have you ever considered that from the moment we exit the womb and enter this world we begin the process of dying?  It is the perspective with which you look at life.  You are either living and growing, or you are dying and decaying.

 

You know, all of us are looking for what we call the “meaning of life”.  Yet as long as death lurks at the end of the road of our life with arms open wide, life will never make much sense.

 

As the Book of Ecclesiastes teaches us all, there is no “meaning of life” only meaninglessness or vanity in this world characterized by sin, misery and ultimately death.  Read carefully portions from Ecclesiastes 8:

 

Ecclesiastes 8:6-17: For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death.

 

There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt. 10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

 

12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.

 

The only hope “under the sun” in this world according to the Bible, particularly in the Book of Ecclesiastes, is that God himself would come “under the sun” to give hope and life to those who would believe and fear him.

 

One Day Closer to Death…or Life!?

In our text from John 11 today, Jesus becomes the solution to the so-called problem of evil, and the man who conquers death, the very thing all men fear- – the very thing that prevents any man from living at peace in this world apart from their Creator.

 

How do you handle the reality of death?  If you want to “lose friends and not influence people” just go into a room of people, particularly at a party and ask them if they would like to talk about death.  It is a strange thing, but we can talk about many other things, but one cannot talk about death.  We even use euphemisms to cause us to forget it: “He passed away”; “He is not with us any longer”; “He expired”.  All these euphemisms are ways people avoid the reality of death- – and they will definitely not speak about it.

 

Yet every one of us, with every tick-tick-tick-tock of the clock is getting one moment, one minute, one hour, one day closer to death.  And what hope do you have?  Some try to face death head on with presumptuous pride and arrogance by doing “extreme sports” or living carelessly.  They think that if they look death in the face head on, that the fear of death will subside and they will find peace- -but they don’t.

 

Some get busy and don’t think about it or talk about it- – “avoid it at all cost!”- -they say.  But in the quiet times and in the good times, there is the dark foreboding cloud of death hanging over them.

 

There are two times when death is most “foreboding”.  When babies are born and when people die.  I think the reason we think of death when babies are born is that we are reminded of life, the beginning, and so we naturally then think of the end.  Also, perhaps more understandably, we think about death when we lose those whom we love to it.

 

Yet no one can get away from death’s pursuit!  We need hope! We need revelation from above! We need a door- -an exit- – an escape out!  So don’t despair becuase Jesus says:

 

“I AM the Resurrection and the Life. He Who Believes in me, though he die, YET WILL HE LIVE.”

Do you believe this? It is your only hope!

 

In our last study, we beheld the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as he revealed himself as the Good Shepherd in John 10.  Jesus was calling his sheep, his own to come to him and find salvation, security, and safe pasture.  Jesus had come for those who hear his voice (such as the man born blind) and have life and life more abundantly!

 

“In JESUS is LIFE…”

Today, we see the height of Jesus’ SIGN-ificant signs and miracles to show that he has life in himself.  As John 1:5 says:

 

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Let us review the miraculous SIGN-ificant SIGNS of Jesus so far in the Gospel of John.  In John 2, Jesus changes water into wine to show that the eschatological feast of the Lamb has begun in him.  In John 4, Jesus heals an official’s son in Galilee.  In John 5, Jesus showsthe glory of God in the healing of the lame man, revealing himself as Messiah who Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 35:1-7:

 

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water…

 

In John 6, Jesus provides abundant bread in the wilderness for the people who are following him, and walks on the water to safely bring his disciples to the other side of the shore.  In John 9, Jesus heals a man born blind.  But now in John 11, Jesus doesn’t merely restore the living in his signs, he revives the dead!  What glory we see in the face of Jesus Christ!

 

Particular Redemption, Resurrection, and Revival

Jesus had heard that “a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany” (John 11:1-5).  This is important.  John begins the chapter with Jesus’ love for his own.  Jesus heard that a “certain man was ill”.  Not just any man, but one whom Jesus loved (John 10:3b).

 

There were many sick and ill when Jesus walked the earth.  Many had died on the very day that Lazarus had died, but Jesus chooses to particularly redeem, resurrect and revive the one he loved and knew by name:

 

Lazarus

But instead of going quickly to Bethany to restore Lazarus while he was living though ill, Jesus purposely waited two more days before he went to him (John 10:6).  Now he had already said to his disciples: “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

 

The purpose of Jesus Christ, the One sent from the Father had a mysterious purpose.  He was content and pleased to tell his disciples that good would come from this, but he would not allow them full knowledge of the mystery of his will.

 

In fact, the Apostle John wants his readers to feel the tension: a man is ill and dying, Jesus says this illness will not end in death, yet in John 10:6 the purpose of Jesus staying a longer period where he was staying was because he loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and he heard Lazarus was ill??

 

“For Those Who Love God All Things Work Together for Good!”

Two things we can remember about this: 1) All things work for the good of those God loves; 2) God does things that are often mysterious from our perspective, but has a infinitely good reason for why he is doing what he is doing!  It is better that Lazarus die, just because Jesus loves him particularly, as well as his family!

 

Remember Romans 8:28 in this context:

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

Just as Job did not understand his affliction, he knew ultimately that God had sent it- – not as a direct result of his sins, for he trusted God by faith- -but because God meant it for his good and that a mediator would aid him in heaven.  Job says:

 

“Although he slay me, yet will I love him…and I know that in my flesh I shall see God!” (Job 13:15; 19:25-26).

What trust Job had in God’s goodness and his merciful wisdom!

 

We should remember this when we go through afflictions and circumstances that we don’t understand.  We will see God- – in our flesh- -We know our Redeemer lives in Jesus!  We know that it is for our good what God has allowed to come in our lives and that is why we are to rejoice and consider it joy and be thankful in all circumstances (James 1; 1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Why? Because we know that God means it for good and has a most wise reason for allowing it.

 

In fact, in the Book of Job the first two chapters point our attention directly to the throne room in heaven before Job goes through the struggles of trying to understand WHY God is allowing his affliction to come upon his life.  In the Book of Revelation, we see the throne room of God in Revelation 4 and 5 so that the persecuted Church throughout the ends of the ages might understand that whatever may come her way, whatever strife and difficulty she may have to endure, God still sits on the throne and has conquered death, hell and the devil (Hebrews 2:14-18).

 

The Living Clay and the Dead Clay of the Master

Jesus then proceeds to visit Bethany (John 10:11).  He tells his disciples that he goes to awaken Lazarus.  The disciples think that he must be speaking of an ill man sleeping and trust that he will recover (v. 12).  At this point, the disciples’ faith seems solid in Jesus’ ability to work with “living clay”, but they are unable to imagine the fact that Jesus can also work with “dead clay”.  They haven’t comprehended this as of yet!

 

So, Jesus tells them plainly: “Lazarus has died…” (v. 14).  Another purpose for Jesus not being “there when Lazarus died” he reveals to be so that they might believe in his ability to work with “dead clay” as well as the “living clay”.

 

Jesus can revive the dead as well and as easily as He restores the living!

Once Jesus gets to Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days.  It is interesting to note the responses of Mary and Martha.  Could it be that Mary is a bit bitter that Jesus has not come as quickly as he could? Is her faith weaker than Martha’s?  Perhaps that is why both of them tell Jesus that “If you had been here, our brother Lazarus would not have died?”  Is there bitterness with God revealed here subtlely?

 

Notice that Martha hears Jesus has come and went out to meet him (v. 20).  She informs him that if he had been there, there would have been no death.  Again, notice the faith of the disciples.  At this point, Martha and Mary cannot conceive of restoration and reviving beyond the grave- -death has had the last word at this point in their minds!

 

Yet Martha still has hope.  She is amazing in her faith when she says: “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”  Do you have faith such as this?  To believe that whatever you ask God for in Christ, he will answer.  All things are indeed possible for those who believe in Jesus!  Jesus answers Martha’s faith that Lazarus will live again (v. 23).

 

It seems that Martha misunderstands Jesus here.   Martha knows that Lazarus is safe in Jesus’ care, for he can pray to the Father and ask him to keep Lazarus safe in death.  She believes that Jesus will raise him up on the last day, but it is still beyond her wildest imaginations that Jesus will raise up Lazarus NOW.  Jesus says to her:

 

I AM the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

As we learned in our last study of John 10, the hope of God’s people in our Good Shepherd is that although we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil- – Jesus’ rod and staff will comfort us!

 

When Martha informs Mary that Jesus is present with them, she quickly gets up and goes to him.  And she says the same thing that Martha had said to him, which reveals that they might have been speaking this way together privately.  She says: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

 

God Weeps and Sympathizes in Our Weaknesses

Mary was weeping and Jesus sympathized with her weakness (cf. Hebrews 4:15-16).  Jesus was “greatly troubled” when he saw the sadness of the mourning over Lazarus.  Jesus asks where the body is located and then he weeps.

 

God weeps over the consequences of sin.  Jesus is greatly agitated, or “greatly troubled” in his soul because of the fact that death has conquered those whom he loves and who are made in God’s image for His glory!

 

Again in 10:37 we see that some of the disciples still believe that Jesus can do great signs, even restore the living, but they have not come to understand that He who can restore the living, can also as easily with Creator-Authoritative power revive the dead!

 

In order to perform this great SIGN-ificant sign, Jesus asks for assistance from those who love Lazarus.  He asks them to take away the stone, and to unbind him and let him go of his grave clothes after he has arisen from the dead.

 

What are we talking about here? A resurrection from the dead? How can this be?  As Jesus stands outside the tomb-cave, he stands in the midst of a great odor (I appreciate the use of “stinketh” in the KJV translation!).  This odor or death-stink reminds everyone of the conquering power of death that steals a man’s flesh and eats up his bones.

 

Jesus, with full power of the Creator, speaks with a divine fiat, or command to Lazarus the dead man and says:

 

Lazarus, Come Forth!


Death, the Dark and Evil Conqueror of Man

Something very important to remember: Dead men cannot hear; they cannot speak; they cannot move; they cannot comprehend; they do not cooperate with the living in any way; they do not wear plaid (a reference to an old film noir).  To say this directly: Dead men cannot do anything but continue to die and perish – to “stinketh”!

 

The dead have no relationship to the living.

 

Yet the Creator of Heaven and Earth in the flesh is at the tomb of Lazarus.  Just as he said “Let there be light” in the creation (and there was light!), so he here says “Let there be life”- – and there was life!  This is a sovereign act on God’s part out of love to resurrect and revive the dead.  Lazarus hears only because God has given him the ability to respond to his command.  In fact, Lazarus could not have NOT responded!

 

Lazarus had no ability to respond while dead, and no ability to NOT respond while dead when Jesus called him!

 

This is gracious, sovereign, irresistible grace- – the kind of grace that only God can give and offer!  Lazarus heard the voice of his Creator-Savior, and he came forth.

 

Now a special point needs to be made.  One that Jesus illustrates here in John 11, but was told to Nicodemus in John 3.  No one can see or enter the kingdom of God, unless he is born again!  Lazarus had to be resurrected, revived, born again in order to be able to hear, see, and enter the Kingdom of God revealed in the Person of Jesus who calls him by his grace!

 

Now think about this!  When the Creator-Savior calls his people forth from the dead, they cannot and do not want to resist.  Do you understand? They have no ability to respond unless called forth from the dead, and once they are called forth they are unable to, and unwilling to resist!

 

When the Apostle Paul says that once we were “dead in trespasses in sins” in Ephesians 2, he means that once we were dead to life in Jesus and alive to sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil.  We had no life toward God, no communion, no hope, no understanding, no hearing, no seeing, no life united to the living God- -but we were separated away from him because of our sins.

 

And in that living-dead predicament, the result of the fall of Adam and sin in our lives, we are resurrected and revived to become the dead-living!  Read carefully the words of Ephesians 2:

 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 

“Living Dead” or “Dead Living”???

Notice a few things as you compare this to the SIGN-ificant sign and illustration of this truth from Jesus in John 11.  The Apostle Paul says those who do not know Christ are “dead in their trespasses and sins”.  They walk according to the world, flesh and the devil (v. 2-3).  BUT GOD (v. 4) made us alive (v. 5) together with Christ!  Why? Because he is rich in mercy (v. 4a); Because He loved us (as he loved Lazarus) (v. 4b); Because of his infinite mercy and grace (vv. 5, 8).

 

Notice something extremely important in this passage.  WHEN did God raise us up and resurrect us in his mercy, because of his love, and infinite mercy and grace?  WHEN we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive! (v. 5).  We had nothing to offer God but death.  In reality, we “stinketh” in our sins!

 

Death was revealed in our sinfulness, rebellion against our Creator, separation from fellowship with God, deaf, blind, shameful, guilty, and awaiting God’s wrath!  Yet in this hopeless, bleak situation, God made us alive!

 

What grace!  How this is illustrated in Lazarus’ cave.  Jesus makes Lazarus alive.

 

In the midst of death, in the midst of decaying flesh, and the beginning of the rotting of his bones, Lazarus hears a voice- – not just any voice- -but the voice of his friend whom he loved.  And this friend of his was none other than his Creator-Savior.

 

Upon hearing his friend and savior’s command to come forth- – LAZARUS CAME FORTH!  To resist Jesus’ voice and grace when he heard the voice of his Creator-Savior would have been as possible as the light penetrating the darkness in the creation saying back to God when he said “Let there be Light”- – “Well, I don’t want to be…”  It couldn’t wouldn’t happen!

 

God’s saving and sovereign resurrecting and reviving grace comes to us by His Spirit through the power of His word and command.  In the cave, dark and lonely that stinketh (KJV), a voice is heard.  It is the Great Shepherd who calls, and the dead sheep named Lazarus who the Shepherd knows by name, hears his voice and comes out into his presence and finds salvation, security, and safe pasture in Him!

 

“In ME I Live and I Move and I Have My Own Being

In John 10, Jesus had just spoken of his death for his own, his sheep.  In fact, he was from this point on in his ministry the focus of the Jewish leaders who wanted him killed (John 10:31ff; 11:45-57).  Yet Jesus, in the midst of being in danger of his own life, offers life to Lazarus.  One important thing we do not want to miss in this passage from John 11:

 

Jesus loves his own so much that he is willing to resurrect his own people, even before he himself experiences death and is resurrected himself!


Jesus shows forth to the world in this unbelievable and magnificent SIGN-ificant sign that in him is life and that life is the light of men (John 1:4).  What does it mean to have life within oneself?  As best as I can put it, it means not requiring anyone or anything outside oneself to have to support you.  In other words, for created beings it is true that “in HIM we live and move and have our being” as Acts 17 teaches.

 

But to have life within oneself and to be able to offer it to others as Jesus can, is to say

“In ME I live and I move and I have my own being”

and all other being and life is possible because of me!  That gets close to what it means to have life in oneself as Jesus does!

 

In John 10:18, Jesus speaks of his life this way: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of may own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”  Here Jesus expands on this reality.  He not only has the authority to take up again his own life, that is resurrect and revive, but He has the authority to take up again other’s lives as well!

 

We see a glimpse in this passage of the final day when Jesus shall call forth all of his sheep, all of his own with a great voice of command and will say:

 

“MY PEOPLE WHOM I LOVE, COME FORTH ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR YOU FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!”


The Apostle Paul describes this day in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

Are you encouraged by these words? Is your hope the same as Job’s or Lazarus’, that your Redeemer lives and you shall see him in your flesh one day? (cf. Romans 8:20-25).  Do you have the same hope as Lazarus?  Are you like Lazarus, spiritually resurrected and revived still awaiting the last day by faith?

 

Resurrection on the Left, Death on the Right, Here I AM stuck in the Middle with Life-Resurrection…

Lazarus would die again, later in his life.  Yet between his resurrection-revival and the end of his life he saw much to inform his faith.  He saw the LORD of glory himself who had resurrected-revived him go to his death only to be raised again to glory!  He would have known of the ascension and lived his life awaiting Jesus to return again for his people as the glorious beings said to the crowds looking on as he ascended:

 

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Lazarus lived his life knowing gratefully from whom he had received his resurrection-revival.  He lived with his eyes toward heaven as he hoped for the final and ultimate resurrection-revival when all of God’s people would dwell and live in the presence of God for eternity- – never to taste death again (Revelation 7:15-17).

 

Never to have to attend another funeral, or shed another tear (Rev. 17:15-17).  You too live between your first and second resurrection if you are a Christian!  As we learned in John 5 (see study from John 5: www.aplacefortruth.org/woe), we who once were literally the “living dead” have now by faith in Jesus become the “dead living”, awaiting our future and final glorious resurrection when he returns.

 

Lazarus lived his life between the two resurrections with great joy and belief that what God said, he would do.  Do you live in such a way that you keep your eyes on the clouds so to speak, while living for Christ here on this earth?  The Apostle Paul teaches us the worth and importance of our labors between our first and our second resurrection-revivals:

 

1 Corinthians 15:51-58: Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 

“Death, Where is Your Victory?”

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting…But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Jesus conquered death, hell and the devil and in Him by faith, you may also conquer them.  Jesus One- – Death zero.  The medieval knight of Bergman’s ‘Seventh Seal’ could not conquer death.  In fact, death took he and his friends.  Yet in Jesus, we find the one who can destroy death once and for all and offer life.

 

Yet death is just a foretaste of eternal darkness and sadness.  Death is just losing one’s life in this world.  Eternal death apart from God is losing one’s life for eternity- -literally losing eternal life.  The Bible teaches that “the soul who sins shall die”.  If we do not have a Mediator, one who died for our sins, then we shall have to pay the infinite price of offense against God for eternity.

 

You choose this day: Life in Jesus Christ for eternity, never to experience pain, sadness, death, or hell ever!  Or, death in one’s self for eternity, never to experience anything but pain, sadness, death, and hell forever.

 

This is not a laughing matter.  Whether you believe it or not, death is stalking you –look behind you- -in front of you—it is close to you- -you feel it’s breath upon you- – one day older, one day closer…do not wait, but turn in repentance to the living God in Jesus Christ by faith- -he alone gives eternal life, and he alone has conquered death.

 

Not in Lazarus’ resurrection, but in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Jesus actually disarmed, then chained death, hell and the devil together as vanquished foes, and marched home to victory carrying behind him his and our conquered foes.  As Colossians 2:13-15 teaches:

 

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.


Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.  Do you believe?  The Apostle John wrote his gospel that we might believe in Jesus Christ and IN HIM, have life in his name (John 20:31).

 

Do you have life in his name? Does Jesus know you by name, or does death know you by name? At the end of your life do you have an appointment with Jesus- – or death?

 

Charles R. Biggs

www.ketoctin.org

“Seeing God…Only for the Pure in Heart”- The Beatitudes

The sixth beatitude, or characteristic of Christ and His people, is being those who are pure in heart.

 

We live in a very compromising world.  As Christians, we want to live uncompromising lives to our Lord because of all he has done on our behalf in Christ.  We want to be pure in heart.

Being pure in heart means to live with an undivided and loving loyalty to the LORD alone.  It means to serve and love only God by His grace and His power that works within us.

Yet we do not have pure hearts completely.  Even as Christians we sin daily and wrestle against our sins (Romans 7:7-25).  Our hearts are polluted and Christ has come to make us pure in heart, so that we might learn to love God alone!

There are many idols that we have in our hearts.  Many things we love more than God.  Yet Christ is committed to smashing these idols as we surrender them to him.

The pure in heart are not perfect people, they are those who have been saved by the LORD Jesus who is pure in heart and who cleanses them from sin.  The great hope of those who will one day be pure in heart is that they shall see God.  It is the greatest motivation to continue to ask him for strength for purity so that on that day we shall see him as He is! (1 John 3:1-3)

As Jesus says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Psalm 24:3-5 says: “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

We know that the One who ultimately ascended the hill of the LORD and stands in God’s holy place is Jesus Christ our Savior from sin, He is the only one who has perfectly clean hands and a pure heart!

Purity of heart

What is purity of heart?  An undivided and loving loyalty from the heart dedicated to the LORD alone!

During each day of our daily walk with God, we experience what is like a walk through a hall of advertisements: everyone selling to us what we “truly need”.  It’s like a walk in vanity fair, where Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress is being tempted by everything to keep him happy and healthy to distract him from fully seeking after God (which is the place also where his partner Faithful is killed!).  It is like a visit to a country with street salesmen, everyone trying to sell you something – Our lives can be great distractions from the one thing needful, as Jesus puts it!

In our world of compromise, we can have literally “everything we want, when we want it” and not have the very thing we need the most: an undivided and loyal love from the heart to the Lord and His Kingdom!

Purity of Heart in the Old Covenant

In the Old Covenant, Israel was taught to approach God through a mediatorial High Priest who approached the presence of God in the Holy of Holies only once yearly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16).  God was instructing the people that if anyone was to approach a Holy God it would be with a perfect and pure heart.  The High Priest approached God with a bloody sacrifice that symbolized the life that was required as a substitute in order to bring purity of heart to sinners so that they might have communion with God again.

In the New Covenant, we see the full significance of the High Priest revealed in the Old Covenant.  Jesus is our High Priest who has shed his precious blood, so that we might be pure and holy, and so we might approach the Living God and all come into his presence.  The Book of Hebrews has much to teach us on this Greater High Priest:

Hebrews 9:24-28: For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

76% of Americans Keep the First Commandment?

God revealed our need of a Savior and our need of a pure heart, or an undivided and loyal love from the heart in the first of the commandments: “Thou shall have not other gods before me!”

In 1993, 76% of Americans said that they “consider themselves completely true to the first commandment”.  What this means in reality is NOT that 76% of Americans are true to the first commandment, but more likely that 76% of Americans don’t fully understand the Gospel!!  None of our hearts are fully devoted to God, and whatever at any particular time is getting our fully devotion and loyalty is an idol.

Now perhaps you don’t have idols of wood, stone, or porcelain as in other cultures in other parts of the world; perhaps you don’t offer incense and prayers to a little porcelain Buddha in your home.  But what does your heart desire and want so much that your heart clamors: “Give me this, or else I’ll die!”

According to secular psychologists (and there is some good we can learn from them- – ALL TRUTH is God’s truth), most people struggle with four main idols (although the secular psychologists wouldn’t call them idols).  These four main idols are like colors, there are many variations and shades of these idols and they can be mixed like colors to form new idols.

The four main “idols” of our hearts are: (1) Power; (2) Approval; (3) Comfort; and (4) Control.

In these four idols, you can find various “sins that so easily beset you” each and every day.  In these four idols, you can find what takes the place of God many times in your life, on any given day.  Meditate upon these four and the many variations of each of them, then try to think about how Scriptures corrects the assumptions of our idols and smashes them as we meditate upon the Word of God and bring our thoughts into captivity to our Lord Jesus!

“Good Old Fashioned” Idolatry

What must you have for life to be meaningful or happy- – money, reputation, position, respect?”  At any given moment, our hearts are ready to be divided in its loyalty according to whatever we think at any given moment, will ultimately bring us happiness!  So, what do you desire that if you do not have, you think you will die?

If you answer this question with anything other than God Himself that “other” person or thing serves functionally as an idol or god to you.  Jesus teaches us what this means in Matthew 6 concerning serving two masters:

Matthew 6:24,33: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 25 …33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

To seek anything more than the kingdom of God and his righteousness is “good old fashioned” idolatry!  We need pure hearts, undivided and loving loyalty to the LORD alone, yet we are all idolaters.  If you cannot think of the idols that afflict you at this moment, read this brilliant insight as to what the first commandment actually means in our daily and momentary practice, written by 120 godly men who wrote the Westminster Larger Catechism.  This answer is in response to the question:

“What are the duties required of all creatures/all mankind (every single human being!) in the first commandment?”

“The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly, by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of him; believing him; trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing in him; being zealous for him; calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience and submission to him with the whole man; being careful in all things to please him, and sorrowful when in anything he is offended; and walking humbly with him.”

After reading this, we are reminded that the “heart” is the seat of all of our affections – we must guard our hearts! After reading the duties required in the first commandment, I am not tempted to commend myself and my filthy works to the Living God, rather I am encouraged to repent and return unto God yet again to seek his loving grace and forgiveness!

As Christians, We Desire to Be Pure and Clean Like Our God…

…and we can be! In Ezekiel 36:25ff, God promised that he would send the Spirit of God to transform our hearts and cause us to love God and His Law.

zekiel 36:25-27: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

The promise of God in Ezekiel’s prophecy was that he would provide pure and clean hearts for his people.  In the fullness of the times, after Christ had earned our salvation and paid our debt for sins committed against God, Jesus received the Spirit and sent it forth to cleanse His people (John 7:37-39; 1 Corinthians 15:20ff).  In fact, Paul says that the work God has begun in us will be completed and accomplished when Christ returns and we are a pure and holy bride for Christ.

ESV Ephesians 5:25-27: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

How Can Our Eyes See God Who is Holy and Majestic?

Jesus says that the pure in heart shall see God. What does it mean that we shall see God?

In Exodus 33-34, Moses the Mediator of God’s people in the Old Covenant, wanted to see God’s face, his glory.  God allowed Moses to behold his glory passing by, but not his face.

Exodus 33:18-23: Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

As an Old Covenant servant of God, Moses had the privilege of talking with God closer than anyone else, but the time had not come for redeemed man to behold God face to face.  No man would behold God face to face until the LORD Jesus, who was God and with God, would walk among us as man.  The Apostle John explains this in John chapter 1:

John 1:1-18: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

As his people who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we now see God with eyes of faith.  We look on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporal, but what is unseen is eternal:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18: So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

We see God now as he is revealed in His Word and we see him with eyes of faith.  One day however, we shall see him as He sees us on the Last Day!  The Scriptures teach us in various places that when God renews all things, we shall behold His glory in the face of Jesus Christ- – and we shall be like him, truly like him – -pure in heart!

1 John 3:1-3: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13: Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Beatific Vision

Historically, this great hope of “seeing God” has been called the “Beatific Vision”: The final vision of God’s glory and truth given to the blessed of the Sermon on the Mount!  The pure in heart shall see God!  What hope!  What a motivation to serve the Living Lord alone with loving loyalty from the heart!

If you have never read St. Augustine’s ‘Confessions’ you must do so as soon as possible (not an understatement!  An extremely important book to read for Christian encouragement!).  Here are some of Augustine’s thoughts as he meditates upon seeing God one day.  When we go through difficult and trying times, when some of the time we desire to give up, we should meditate by faith upon the face of God revealed in Jesus Christ!  And how do we “see” the face of God in Jesus now?  From the revelation of God’s character found in Scripture!

From Augustine’s Confessions:

“Alas! Alas! Tell me of your compassion, O Lord my God, what you are to me.  Say to my soul, “I am your salvation”.  When I hear, may I run and lay hold of you.  Hide not your face from me.  Let me die, lest I die, if only I may see your face.”

Soli Deo Gloria!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Biggs

Next Study: “Blessed are the Peacemakers”

“Blessed are the Merciful…”- Mercy Me!

“Blessed are the Merciful, for they Shall Receive Mercy.”

We often so easily forget the mercy that God has shown to us in Christ. We deserve only God’s wrath and justice for our sins, but he has offered his hand of mercy to us in Christ!  What have you been given by God that you truly deserve (1 Cor. 4:7)?  Be honest!

How do we practice mercy with others, particularly those who treat us indifferently and cruel?  Are we merciful with others who sin against us?  Do we reflect our Father’s goodness and mercy when others sin against us?  Not always!  In fact, we many times ask for others to treat us and to pay us back in a way inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God offers to us mercy, a forgiveness that is unmerited or undeserved!  We ought to offer that same unmerited and undeserved mercy back to other people who upset us– – yet it is so hard for us to do!

It is because we have not truly understood God’s mercy on us!  If we did, we would have not trouble (by His grace) extending hands of mercy to others!

How can we be more merciful and forgiving as a people?  By the power of Christ’s Spirit teaching us the deep and undying love and mercy of God to us!  Let this sink into our unmerciful and unforgiving hearts:

“While we were yet sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for the ungodly!”(Romans 5:6-11)

That’s mercy!  May we come to understand Mercy, mercy, mercy to others.  As Jesus says: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”

“Mercy, mercy me! What an Unmerciful World!”

We live in an extremely unmerciful world!  The most common way of expressing our evil design toward others when we are angry is summarized in the saying: “Don’t get mad, get even!”  Most people in our age are looking out for themselves, “number one” and if you cross them, they will do what they will to get back at you.  The way of Jesus is to offer mercy to those who oppose us and treat us cruelly.  Although this is impossible without the merciful Spirit of God living within us, it is possible by His grace.  The Apostle Paul sums up the Christian’s attitude in Romans 12:

Romans 12:14-21: 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

At first glance, this is seems impossible, but as we reflect on God’s mercy that has been shown toward us in Jesus, so we find the strength by His grace to demonstrate this kind of attitude toward those who are evil toward us.

Sometimes we see others, both believers and unbelievers, whose sins and mistakes have caused them pain.  We glance around and see the consequences of others “reaping what they have sown”.  Do you reach out to help, or do you just say: “They are getting what they deserve?”  Mercy reminds us each day that none of those who know the Lord Jesus Christ are getting what they deserve!  What we deserve is eternal death and God’s justice, what we get by faith in Christ is God’s abundant mercy!  We should remember that the next time we so easily judge another for their sins rather than teaching them to turn from their sins to the Hope we have in Jesus Christ for life!

Forgiveness- – One More Time??

What is mercy toward other people anyway?  Mercy is about forgiveness– – extending a hand of undeserved grace to another-  -and not just one time- – but one more time!

Remember when Peter asked Jesus “How many times shall I forgive my brother?”  He presumptuously answered his own question with what he thought was a very liberal and kind “seven times?” before Jesus answered him.  However, Jesus wanted him to know that if he or anyone else understood God’s forgiveness, undeserving mercy toward us, we would all offer forgiveness and mercy as many times as it is requested.

This means in reality that anytime you have forgiven someone “one more time”, you have not forgiven  them enough.  There will be probably be another time, and you must be just as ready and willing to extend a hand of undeserved grace toanother all over again!  This means that the next time you offer mercy to another (one to whom you perhaps have had to forgive before), you must remember that you cannot think anything like “Well, this will be the last time for them, I’ve had it with ’em!”

If you think like this, you have not understood the number of times daily, no hourly, that you must return to your God with requests of forgiveness.  In other words, you constantly need forgiveness and mercy from God and others will constantly need forgiveness and mercy from you!  Read carefully Jesus’ story in Matthew 18:

A Story of Debt Owed and Forgiven

Matthew 18:21-35: Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. 23

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents (about 15 years’ wages). 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii (a days’ wages), and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Notice in this story the following important points concerning mercy: 1) The amount of debt is great- -it is not merely overlooked!  It costs the king a lot, yet he forgives the debt!  2) The servant could never repay his master! 3) The King was merciful and forgave him his debt!

We could never repay God for our sins!  None of us!  We all owe God eternal death, for Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. Yet God, who is rich in mercy, extends a hand of forgiveness to us in Christ.

“We owed a debt we could not pay; Christ paid a debt He did not owe!”

Remember: Believing and actually doing are two different things!  You may believe this about mercy.  You may even believe that this is Biblical, but do you practice mercy?  Are you an initiator of mercy?  How many “owe” you a debt today that is eating you up inside?  How many are you unwilling to forgive, to even call or write and extend mercy toward them?  Are you greater than God?  We must come to terms with our sins and face them, so that we can turn once again to the mercy of God found in the face of Christ!  We must seek out, be initiators of mercy!

Mercy is a “Weighty Matter” of the Law of God

We often forget that the Pharisees were very good at achieving merely external righteousness.  They “did the right thing” outwardly even if it didn’t come from a pure heart (Matt. 15:7ff; 23:23ff).  Remember that Jesus reminded the Pharisees and his disciples of the “weightier” or more important matters of the Law from the Prophet Micah:

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness (mercy: hesed, translated “lovingkindness of God), and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

“Mercy” or offering an undeserved hand of grace and forgiveness to others who sin against us is a very important and “weighty” matter of the Law!  Why? The Law condemns us all!  If God has shown us mercy and not just wrath and punishment, shouldn’t we show the same to others who may have broken our own personal and social laws against us?

Receivers of Mercy

We have earned God’s just wrath and punishment.  The only thing we have done to merit anything before a Holy God is to earn death and wrath.  But God, who is rich in mercy has offered us grace in Jesus Christ.  Some of the greatest two words ever written are “but God” from Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:1-8: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

The very good news of the gospel is that we are not getting what we deserve because of what Christ did mercifully for us! We have been shown mercy by the Living God.

God shows us mercy and grace so that we might be saved. The Mercy Seat in the Old Covenant is where justice and mercy meet because of God’s love and mercy to sinners!  In the Old Covenant blood is shed on the mercy seat as a substitution for sinners.  In the fullness of time in the New Covenant, Christ himself sheds his own precious blood, not merely on the Mercy Seat, a representation of God’s throne, but lays down his life before the very throne of God itself!

Do you show mercy to others?  Do you say things like: “Well, they deserved it!”?  Or, do you say unmerciful harsh things in more of a subtle manner, such as: “I would forgive them, but I’m not going to forget it!” Or, “I warned them so many times, and now they are getting what they deserve?

The next time you are thinking thoughts such as these, ask yourself:

What about what I deserve before a Holy God?

This reality should seep deep down into our heart and cause us to overflow with mercy and grace to others.  You truly owed a debt that you could never in a million years repay, yet Christ in His mercy to you, paid a debt he never in a million years would have owed to God.  Now, go and offer the same sacrificial mercy to others!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Biggs

Next Study: “Blessed are the Pure in Heart”

Important! Reminder for All Preachers

Recently I’ve been reading Arturo Azurdia III’s book ‘Spirit-Empowered Preaching’ (Mentor, 2010) and have been reminded of some very important truths. What has been most helpful to me as a preacher was to be reminded of the great promise and hope of God’s power when we pray. Additionally, I have been struck with how important it is for the congregation to pray for their preachers, coming expectantly to worship to receive from Christ in each sermon. As the Apostle Paul commanded the Ephesian Christians to pray at all times,for one another, and especially for the preaching ministry of the Gospel of grace:

ESV Ephesians 6:18-20: …Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

The Apostle Paul commands Christians to pray at all times, for one another, and also that “words may be given…boldly” in the proclamation of the Gospel. This call to pray is that the Gospel would go forth boldly from lips and sink into the people’s ears by God’s power and the working of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

I would like to share a few quotations with you from Pastor Azurdia’s chapter on Preaching and the Man of God (pgs. 129ff). Please read carefully and prayerfully whether you are a preacher or a listener to preachers.

“Throughout the Upper Room discourse Jesus is exceedingly consistent: prayer is to be the preoccupation of the man sent out to proclaim the message of the Gospel.

The confession of the apostles was as follows: “We will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4a).

Charles Bridges wrote, commenting on this text from Acts:

“Prayer…is one half of a man’s ministry; and it gives to the other half all its power and success. Without prayer, a minister is of no use to the church, nor any advantage to mankind.”

Bridges continues: The minister sows; and God gives no increase. He preaches; and his words are only like ‘sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal’ (1 Cor. 13:1-3). The minister recites the praises of God; while ‘his heart is far from God’.

It is prayer alone, then, that gives the whole strength and efficacy to our different administrations as ministers of God’s Word. That man ceases, if I may use the expression, to be a public Minister of God’s Word from the time he ceases to pray.”

Calvin Miller wrote similarly:

“The oral side of our career as ministers is visible, but it is never the source of our spiritual power. In fact, our devotional life…is the secret of clout. A friend of mine long ago reminded me that I could not help people if I was always with people….When Harold Fickett, Jr. says, ‘A preacher is the epic poet of his people,’ we must admit that the epic gains its form from silence….Preaching from the silent center is the evidence that we who preach on trust are also living it.

Preaching, in one sense, merely discharges the firearm that God has loaded in the silent place [of prayer]. The successful volley does not mean that we have passed homiletics but rather that we have been with God.”

Edward Payson summarized this aptly: “It is in the [prayer] closet that the [spiritual] battle is lost or won.”

Advice on how to be a faithful preacher (a summary from book):

  • Pray for the vitality and power of the Holy Spirit and guard your devotional life from intruders. He writes: “For this reason, barring emergencies, I do not schedule appointments or receive telephone calls before 1 pm. Like all hard-working pastors, if I pray only when people and circumstances allow it to be convenient, I would rarely pray. To be sure, this kind of priority on prayer can arouse accusations such as the following: ‘Our pastor is unapproachable. It is difficult to get close to him. He is not very accessible.’ Over time, however, maturing Christians will come to appreciate the value of such a discipline. They themselves will be the benefactors of it. Until such a time, a preacher must rest in the conviction that the protection and cultivation of his own inner life is in the best interest of the congregation.”
  • The Minister of God’s Word must prepare himself for preaching by the means of diligent study of the Scriptures. “The Gospel preacher can take great confidence in the fact that the Spirit of God speaks effectually through His rightly divided Word.”

 

  • A minister should daily recognize and confess his inabilities, weakness, and place his total dependence and trust upon God. “The preacher must recognize, and even revel in, his own human inabilities….God will have no competitors. For this reason He manifests His power through weakness. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the Gospel preacher to recognize the overpowering nature of his inabilities; to be able to say with Paul: ‘who is sufficient for these things?’ (2 Cor. 2:16). ‘The strength of the pulpit is in its own conscious weakness, and in God’s almighty power’.”

Let us pray for our preachers that they will be filled with God’s powerful Spirit, that they will be faithful to the hard work of painstaking exegesis of the word of God, and that they would pray, pray, pray. Let us pray that they would be comfortable in their weaknesses, and strong in their trust and dependence upon the Lord Christ! (Eph. 6:10-13)

Let us pray that our preachers would be able to say that almost half of their ministerial labors is invested in study, meditation and learning God’s Word, and that the other half would be willingly and eagerly invested in prayer for the preaching and the people of God.

May we glorify Christ and build His Church by being useful, faithful, self-forgetful, and Christ-centered!

In Christ’s Love,

Pastor Biggs

“Blessed are the Hungry and Thirsty…”- The Beatitudes

“Blessed are those Who Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness, for they Shall be Filled.”

In the last three studies, we learned that the poor in spirit are those who are totally dependent upon the Living God both for life and salvation.  The mourners are not “cry babies” but those who mourn over their own sins and the sins of others who sin against a Holy God.  In our last study we learned about the meek, who are not weak, but truly have a right estimate of themselves in light of their relationship to God Almighty.

Today’s study is about those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Who are these people and what are they like?

A Big Appetite for Righteousness

Those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness have a big appetite for righteousness.  Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness persistently pursue and long for a righteous, Christ-likeness so that they may live satisfied and full lives before the face of God!

It is strange that we find righteousness and holiness to be so strange when we see glimpses of it in others.  When those who don’t believe in Christ see Christ’s followers seeking holiness or righteousness, they are often startled or perplexed by it.

We should rather be startled and perplexed by those who do not hunger and thirst after righteousness.  For in reality, hungering and thirsting after God and His righteousness in our lives is the only thing that will ever satisfy the hunger of the longing of our souls!  Seeking righteousness should be quite natural and normal for all of us!

Righteousness and holiness were the reasons for which we were created because we were created to be in fellowship with God and to show forth his likeness (Gen. 1:26-28).  The first sin of Adam, and the fall of man into sin and misery should have ruined any possibility of hope for those characterized by sin rather than righteousness, but God in His grace held out hope and grace from the very beginning in promising a Seed who would accomplish righteousness for those who believe (Gen. 3:15).

“Better than Life!”

Christ came as representative and Savior of those who believe and he only hungered and thirsted after righteousness.  He sought it with all his heart!  We see glimpses of this desire for righteousness in David’s desires for God expressed beautifully in Psalm 63.

Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.  My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.  On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.  Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

One of my friends wrote to me concerning this psalm in a recent e-mail.  She wrote: ”I love this psalm, which was written when David was in the desert of Judah. Although he does not have much to feast upon  (“in a dry and weary land where there is no water”),  he feasts upon God’s word (“My soul will be satisfied with the richest of foods”), and finds in it all that he needs to sustain himself.”  That’s a living expression of what it means to hunger and thirst after righteousness.

God’s Word teaches us about the righteousness of Christ.  The Word of God reveals Christ to us so that we might come to know him and be saved.  It promises us that if we believe in Him, we shall be united to Him, and we shall be like Him.  As we come to look upon Christ in His Word (through preaching and the Lord’s Supper), we come to persistently pursue and long for more of Him to be formed in us!  Do you long for Christ to be formed in you?

Notice in Psalm 63 that David cries out to God that his love is better than life itself!  David knew, as we should come to learn in Christ, that the only life worth living is the life lived in obedience to God’s Word, hungering and thirsting after righteousness and Christ-likeness.  David, and we who live on this side of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, who have a portion of the Spirit of God given to us, ought to persistently pursue and long for a righteous Christ-likeness so that we might live satisfied and full lives before the face of God!

Eat, Drink, and Truly Be Merry!

Why are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness hungry and thirsty?  Because of the fall into sin and misery, the world is full of sin and selfish disobedience to the Living God.  Righteousness is not found naturally within our own souls or hearts, and definitely not found in others around us.

When we look for glimpses of glory, sparks of divine righteousness around us in our world, we are more likely to find sin and the consequences of unrighteous and unholy living.  In fact, it makes us feel quite unclean, but we are not merely the victims as Christians, we are part of the sin problem.  However, as Christians we struggle with our sinful and selfish tendencies so that we might become more like Christ (Romans 7)!

We want to ask Christ our Lord for more of a hunger, desire, and thirst for the Living God.  Just as our bodies crave food and thirst for water, so our souls created by God long to be satisfied with only God Himself!  Have you ever thought how unnatural it is for us not to pursue righteousness and holiness.  Think of the deer spoken of by David in Psalm 42:

“As the deer pants or longs for the water, so my soul longs after the God.”

Think of this illustration and analogy to the deer.  The deer doesn’t think logically, merely with his mind, “Hmmm, I think it is time for me to drink.”  No!  Rather, the deer is driven to the streams of water so that he might quench his thirst.  Think about when we are hungry.  We don’t say, “I think I will work up an appetite.”  We are naturally hungry during the day (3 times or more?!) and we are driven to seek to eat and drink.  It is natural and normal.  If the truth be known, we can’t work up a hunger and thirst…we don’t make ourselves this way, it happens naturally!

So should our persistent pursuit of Christ-likeness be for the Christian.  As we come to learn of Christ’s loveliness and more of his mercy, we desire to know Him and His Word much better.  We long to truly understand how the Spirit has united us closely to Him and we long to be more like him- -in every way.  The Apostle Paul wanted to know this.  In Philippians 3, Paul exuberantly writes:

Philippians 3:7-14: But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul wanted to leave behind all of his futile and self-righteous pursuits of righteousness in his life as a Pharisee.  What he wanted was the kind of knowledge and relationship with God found only in the Person of Jesus Christ!  He said he counted all of his prestigious pedigree as “rubbish” so that he might gain Christ.  But what specifically did he want to “gain” in Christ?

A Righteousness in Christ

The Apostle Paul wanted to be found “in Him”, having a righteousness that depends on faith (v. 9).  He wanted to know the power of Christ’s resurrection, the sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, so that he could attain the unbelievable hope of the resurrection from the dead.  And Paul was determined to strain forward to attain this by faith alone (v. 13-14).  This is a picture of a pursuit of righteous Christ-likeness through a knowledge of our Savior that is both doctrinal and personal.

What it means that this pursuit of righteousness is both doctrinal and personal is that we pursue the Christ held out to us in God’s revelation of Scripture.  We try to come to a better understanding of how God has revealed himself through His Word to us, and we remember to do this together with all the saints (Eph. 3:18).  Personally, we come to take part in the sufferings of Christ after taking part in His resurrection when we are regenerated and our hearts are made new when we first believe in Christ.

We then walk before the face of God all of our lives, coming to understand better our close bond and union we have with the Living Christ in our lives.  As He is the Vine, so we are the branches.  We draw from his own innate righteousness throughout the Christian life, as we seek to emulate and pursue the same kind of righteousness that he has.  We don’t have an innate righteousness, but when we become Christians he gives us a clothing of his righteousness that justifies us before God.

Then as we live “in Him” and “for Him” in obedience to Him, he works in us that which is good and pleasing, according to his will.  As Paul says in Philippians 3:12, we press on and forward because Jesus has made us His own.  We more and more hunger and thirst for righteous Christ-likeness!

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ultimately long to know and to be like Jesus!  They long to become more righteous as the gnawing in our stomachs from hunger, or the dry, parched mouths desiring water, so the “hungry and thirsty” are looking to only One for satisfaction.

Who Do You Want to Be Like?

Who do you long to be like?  We oftentimes want to be like other people; we have our heroes.  We have people that we know and people that we admire that we want to emulate.  We have heroes and heroines that are not always examples of righteousness, yet we look to them to see how they dress, how they walk and talk, how they interact with others.  We want to be like them!

When we ponder God’s grace and goodness in Jesus Christ held out to us in the Word of God and the Lord’s Supper, and then consciously and constantly meditate upon Jesus as Glorified God-Man, we will long to be like him!  I encourage you to meditate upon Jesus Christ as the ascended Savior at the right hand of God.  We often forget and become functional Greek Gnostics who deny the humanity of Jesus Christ.  However, we must remember that our Mediator, Jesus Christ THE Righteous One, has a human face at the right hand of God!  This will encourage your pursuit of His righteousness.

JESUS CHRIST is the picture of perfection and righteousness for which we all truly long!  Jesus was perfect as Divine Being, but when he took upon himself a human nature without a sin problem of the heart, he learned righteousness and obedience as a man.  It is hard for us to fathom, but when he said “Thy will be done, O Lord”, these were true and sincere words he spoke prayerfully to the Father.

As Divine, Christ was indeed omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, but this Divine One loved His own so much that he clothed himself with flesh and became man.  As human, Christ was not omniscient, but learning; not omnipresent, but local; not omnipotent, but limited.  It is hard for us to fully understand, but it is how God has revealed Jesus Christ to us in His Holy Word!  So why is this helpful to your pursuit of righteousness?  Because He can truly both sympathize with your weakness, as well as, and perhaps more importantly, help you in your weakness and weak pursuit of righteousness (Heb. 4:14-16).

Read carefully Hebrews 5:1-8 to get a glimpse of this righteousness that was pursued FIRST by Jesus Christ himself!

Hebrews 5:1-8: For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; 6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him…

We ought to reflect upon how Jesus learned obedience through his suffering and was being made perfect (vv. 8-9).  As Hebrews 12 says, he is the ultimate example of faith that is set for us.  Yes, He is truly God; Yes, He is truly man.  For those who trust in him and begin to understand their living union with Him, should know that hungering and thirsting after righteousness is set forth for us in the life and death of Jesus.

“Unrighteous Righteousness”

But a lot of people call themselves “righteous”.  There are people all around who do good deeds, think of themselves as “good” and don’t see a need for Christ and His righteousness.  What is the wrong kind of righteousness?  In Matthew 5:20, Jesus warned of the wrong kind of righteousness.  He said that His follower’s righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees.  Now that would have completely shocked the people!

If there was one supposed guarantee in Israel at the time of Jesus, it was that Scribes and Pharisees were going to be in heaven, even if the rest of the world didn’t make it.  They did all kinds of external righteous deeds that impressed people.  But this external righteousness was not good enough.  Neither is this mere external righteousness good enough for people who are trying live this way today.

This kind of righteousness actually kills, according to Jesus.  He said not only that our righteousness must exceed the Scribe and the Pharisee, but he said those whose righteousness did not exceed, would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  There will be plenty of externally righteous people, people with good reputations in society that will have gained the respect of the whole world, but who will lose their own souls on the Day of Jesus Christ.

“Do the Right Thing?”

As Isaiah prophesies, we must repent even of our best deeds because without Christ they are as filthy rags (Is. 64:6).  The wrong kind of righteousness is merely an external righteousness without a true root of saving faith within the heart.  We should remember (as the Apostle Paul learned the hard way), that righteousness is not merely living externally by rules.  Righteousness is not only doing the right thing… (as the Pharisees did fine externally).

The righteousness we are to pursue is not merely an external, “going-through-the-motions” kind of righteousness.  It is an internal disposition created in the human heart by the Spirit of God when we are born again and become new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).  It could be described as a righteousness that is “grateful because of His grace taking away our guilt before God” kind of righteousness!

As I said before, we are not merely to do the right thing, but to be doing the right thing for the right reasons.  What is doing the right thing for the right reasons?  Doing all that we do out of love for God and gratitude for what he has done for us in Christ!   This is an inward change of heart or a “change of appetite”.  One way of checking your attitude is to ask yourself this question: “Do I concentrate on the righteous things I do for God, or do I focus on the righteous things God has done for me?!” This will help you to determine whether you are trusting in God’s righteousness revealed in Christ, or your own righteousness.

The good news for sinners whodo not have any inherent righteousness, is that a righteousness has beenrevealed by God for those whowould look to Christ. The righteousness that we need and want to know is foundin the Person of Jesus Christ:

Romans 1:17: For in it [THE GOSPEL OF JESUS] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.

The Pursuit of Satisfaction or the Pursuit of Righteousness?

Do you pursue righteousness, or do you cry:  “I don’t Get No Satisfaction”?  Have you a desire to have all of your spiritual needs met by the only One who can do it?  We search desperately in this fallen world to find something or sometimes someone who will meet our needs and satisfy our longings.

Only God can satisfy, all other things and others will leave us starving and dry.  The Israelites hungered and thirsted to go back to Egypt rather than trusting in God’s Word and seeking him.  We must watch our tendencies to find in “Egypt” or in this world the fulfillment of our soul’s longings.  Many try, but many come up empty and fail.  We must place our trust in the Living and Righteous Christ who fulfilled and exceeded the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees so that we might be found in him, not having a righteousness of our own, but a righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus!

Furthermore, once we are united to Him, we must be constantly keeping our eyes on this Jesus.  As we continue to seek him, we will long for him more!  As we grow in our knowledge of His righteousness, beauty and holiness, we will desire to have this kind of righteousness.  An although the world might starve and die of thirst because their empty souls can only be satisfied by God alone, those who place their trust in Christ shall be filled!

We will find at the end of our persistent pursuit and longing for Christ-likeness a true filling and quenching of our thirsts.  As David says in Psalm 17:15:

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

The Apostle John teaches us of this great hope of being filled, being like Christ one day in his first letter.  He writes:

1 John 3:1-3: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

As children of the Living God, we know that what we will one day be is not yet, but we know that when he appears and returns for those He loves, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is!  John says that this is our hope “in Christ” and therefore we are to purify ourselves as he is pure!

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall indeed be filled!

Soli Deo Gloria!

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Charles

“Blessed are the Peacemakers…”- The Beatitudes

“Blessed are the Peacemakers, for They Shall be Called Sons of God.”

The angels greeted the shepherds with this great proclamation of peace:

“Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good-will toward those on whom his favor rests!”

The seventh beatitude, or characteristic of Christ and His people, is being those who are peacemakers.

Christmastime is Here!

During the Christmas season we are often reminded of Scriptures from Isaiah 9 and Luke 2 that Jesus is the Prince of Peace who has come to offer salvation to those on whom His favor rests!  We are reminded during the Christmas season that we have One who has come to save us so that we can be at peace with God our Creator.

In an amazing testimony to God’s common grace, we also hear about God’s peace from Linus Van Pelt on the popular Peanuts special as he annually declares on television broadcasts around the world, the good news of the gospel!  Think about it.  Since 1965, ‘The Charlie Brown Christmas’ special has aired on television stations and the gospel of peace has found its way into living rooms in almost every country in the world!

On this show ‘The Charlie Brown Christmas’, Charlie Brown wants to know what Christmas is all about!  Lucy says he’s suffering from pantaphobia, a fear of everything, and when he comes to the conclusion as play director that Christmas is an empty thing if it only means plays, cookies, “Christmas queeeeens”, and artificial Christmas trees, Charlie Brown loses it!

At the point of his frustration, Charlie Brown yells “What is Christmas all about?!”  Linus replies: “I’ll tell you what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.  Lights, Please.”  Then Linus moves into the warm spotlight on the stage and recites Luke 2:

“…And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

It’s important to note that the last phrase “peace, good will toward men” is better translated “peace and favor toward those on whom His favor rests”.  The reason is that unless God has shown us his favor and love in Christ while we were yet sinners, the message of Jesus is not peace and good will, but division and conflict!  But to this reality, we are called by Jesus to declare the good news of God’s peace found in Christ!

Peacemakers in a World of “Wars and Rumors of War”

In a world turned upside down by constant “wars and rumors of war” around the world, we are reminded by the seventh beatitude that in this age there will be times of war, but that we are to be peacemakers as sons of God.  Jesus said that the last days (the time between his first coming and his return) would be characterized by wars and rumors of war (Matt. 24); this was to be expected.  But in this age, peace was to be held out to all men through the proclamation of the gospel despite the response of sinful men!

The gospel is God’s terms of peace with sinful man.  The gospel is what we bring to the table as God’s ambassadors in Christ when we discuss surrender and repentance with those who make war against God (2 Cor. 5:17-21; cf. Psalm 2).  We want to implore men at this table to be reconciled to God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).  We want to remind them that it is not the signing of a treaty that will end their lifelong war against God and His Anointed One, but it will be the Covenant God signed and sealed in His own blood in order to keep his promises and make peace with those who will believe!

Being a peacemaker means placing our sword in its sheathe for now, but being a peacemaker in no way means that we are to be passive in times of war when our country needs us to stand up for our nation’s rights or the rights of our family.  What being a peacemaker actually means is to be reminded that our citizenship is ultimately in heaven (Phil. 3:20-21), and because we know the time is short before Christ returns, we offer the Gospel of peace to all men!  When Christ came, he offered peace.  He came to offer “comfort” and peace to Jerusalem and then to the Gentiles who would believe (Isa. 40; Eph. 2:14-17).

Ephesians 2:14-17: For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

However, Jesus always reminded his disciples that this peace would also divide and bring wars and persecution upon his people.  The world cries for “peace” but the only peace they will ever find is in the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ, who has reconciled us to God our Creator by his death on behalf of sinners.  The truth of our reconciliation and peace with God is taught to us in Romans 5:6-11:

Romans 5:6-11: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We live in an upside down hateful world at war with God and fellow men, yet it was in this context Jesus came to die for sinners…to reconcile us to our God and Creator! We must let that sink into our hearts and minds: Peace has been offered to us in Christ while we were enemies of God. This was not because of anything we did at all; it was all because of God’s love and grace to those upon whom his favor rests.

In our struggle to make this good news, this gospel known to others, we should remember that “while we were enemies of God” Jesus died for us.  Augustine one time said that in some mysterious way, God both loved us and hated us at the same time!  We too were once were at war with God and others; once we were at war within ourselves!

By God’s grace, we need to see the enemies of God, our enemies, at this point in time before Jesus returns, as the object of our evangelism, not the object of our scorn and ridicule.  The day of wrath will come when Jesus returns, but now is the time to offer peace in Christ!

“I Have NOT Come to bring Peace, but a Sword”

But, Peace divides….

That is true!  Jesus, the Prince of Peace said that he did not actually come to bring peace, but a sword:

Matthew 10:34-40: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

Jesus is making the point that although he offers real peace with God and we offer real peace with God in Christ to others, it will bring division and war!  This true peace is not the kind of peace that man wants or desires.  In fact, when we come to the table with the gospel, declaring God’s terms of surrender found in repentance, as well as God’s terms of believing the Gospel of Christ, we find a violent opposition.

The reason for this violent opposition is because the Gospel holds out to us free and eternal life in Jesus Christ ALONE, yet sinful man comes to the table to speak to God about their terms for God.  Sinful man does not naturally want to surrender to the truth of the gospel because they will then have to acknowledge God as Creator and LORD of all.

So, there is a violent opposition between God’s terms of peace in Christ and the terms of peace sinful men bring to the table and therefore until repentance comes in man’s heart, by God’s grace, there will be no peace!

We should remember that Jesus was teaching this blessing of being a peacemaker in the context of Roman rule and violent oppression.  Revolutionaries, bandits, and zealots all wanted to overthrow Gentile rule by force, rather than to wait upon the LORD.  Jesus tells them that they are to be peacemakers now, not warriors!

The REAL War to End All Wars

In other words, we are to be evangelists for now until Jesus returns again!  When the Son of God came the first time he offers peace in his Name with God, but when he returns again those who have rejected Him will see Him in all his wrath and fury.  The sons of God who lived a life of persecution because they lived as peacemakers, will join our King Jesus in war to end all wars.  A final war, or showdown that will bring in an eternal time of peace that will never end!

God has extended peace to those who would believe in Christ.  We should remember, as well as remind others that God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:14), a wrathful God (Nahum 1), who will not pardon the guilty (Exo. 34:6-8), yet he will extend peace and reconciliation to those who look to Christ, the Prince of Peace by faith (Romans 5:8-10).  In fact, those who believe will be called “sons of the Living God”.

Christ will return soon to war against those who do not believe.  On that terrible Day of the Lamb (Rev. 6;19), the unbelievers who have sought peace in everything and everyone BUT the Living Christ, will find a terrible judgment and wrath.  The Lamb will war against those who have falsely cried “peace, peace” when there was no true peace with God!

We as peacemakers want to be constantly reminded of our evangelistic opportunities all around us.  We want to be reminded of the hope and the peace we can truly offer to those who war within their own souls, against our God and against other men!  Right now, we offer peace as the sons of God, but one day there will be a war to end all wars.  Now is the time of salvation and hope, the time of peace extended through the gracious message of the Gospel of the Prince of Peace!  Remember how Paul describes the feet of those who bring the good news of the gospel of peace in Romans 10 (cf. Ephesians 6:13-18):

“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

“….They Shall Be Called Sons of the Living God!”

What grace!  While we were enemies, God justified us, declared us righteous in Jesus Christ!  The good news doesn’t just stop there, but God goes on to adopt us as his children.  We are called “sons”, “children of the Living God” because of THE SON, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus reconciles us to the Father, gives us a portion of His Spirit, so that we might be called the Sons of God.  This should encourage us all when we are being persecuted (the next study) because we are offering God’s terms of peace to the world in Jesus.  No matter how great the struggle and the conflict here in this world, we can always be assured of our right standing before God, our status as his beloved children, and we can call out to our Father who cares in our time of trouble and be encouraged and delivered!  Read carefully the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8 concerning our sonship or adoption!

Romans 8:14-25: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

As children of God wait patiently for our King to return.  By his grace, offer faithfully, despite violent opposition, God’s terms of peace in Jesus, the great gospel of truth that has been declared to us and believed by us!

The Prince of Peace has come!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Next Study: “Blessed are the Persecuted”
Love in Christ,

Pastor Charles

“Courage with Endurance”- John Newton

On Fortitude in the Christian Life by John Newton

Psalm 119 says in verse 67: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.”

What is fortitude? It has been defined as ‘courage with endurance’. When God sends and allows afflictions in our lives, we need fortitude to persevere by his grace- – we need courage with endurance.

We must find this fortitude in Christ Jesus by the power of His Spirit.

Have you ever asked God to grow in grace and then your life seemed to fall apart? Have you ever prayed that God would make you more like him and allow you to give up some of your self-centeredness and pet sins and he placed what seemed at the time to be great pressure and unbelievable difficulty upon your life?

Have you ever had to trust God by faith in His “yes and amen” promises in Jesus Christ, even though it did not seem he was keeping His promises to you in your finite estimation.

If you have, then you have had to believe and hold on by faith using fortitude by God’s Spirit, or “courage with endurance”.

The below poem written by John Newton captures this biblical truth of fortitude extremely well. John Newton lived in the 18th century and has been remembered for writing the hymn ‘Amazing Grace‘.

The poem below displays another aspect of God’s amazing grace.

“I asked the Lord that I might grow

In faith, and love, and every grace,

Might more of his salvation know

And seek more earnestly his face.

/

‘Twas he who taught me thus to pray,

And he, I trust, has answered prayer;

But it has been in such a way

As almost drove me to despair.

/

I hoped that in some favoured hour

At once he’d answer my request,

And by his love’s constraining power

Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

/

Instead of this, he made me feel

The hidden evil of my heart,

And let the angry powers of hell

Assault my soul in every part.

/

Yea, more, with his own hand he seemed

Intent to aggravate the woe,

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,

Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

/

‘Lord, why is this?’ I trembling cried,

‘Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?’

‘Tis in this way,’ the Lord replied,

‘I answer prayer by grace and faith.

/

‘These inward trials I employ

From self and pride to set thee free,

And break thy schemes of earthly joy,

That thou mayest seek thy all in me.'”

– John Newton, ‘Collected Writings of John Newton‘, Vol. 3, Olney Hymns, Book III, 36; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust.

Stop now to pray, and thank God for His grace and mercy in your life.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Charles

“Blessed are Those Who Mourn…”- The Beatitudes

“Blessed are Those Who Mourn, for They Shall be Comforted.”

From our previous studies, we learned that the Beatitudes characterize how a Christian should think and live.  They are ultimately pictures of Jesus Christ our Lord.  As we come to know him by grace through faith, we begin to be conformed more and more to his image.  Jesus’ image and character are revealed in the Beatitudes.  The second beatitude, or characteristic of Christ and His people, is being those who mourn.

Being a mourner is not being a “cry baby”.  It should not be perceived as weak or childish, but extremely godly and reflective of Christ.  Living in a fallen world as redeemed people we are exposed to God’s gracious revelation in His Word of the way things should be in God’s world.  We know the purpose for all people is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever- -and yet we do not see this fully (and sometimes not at all)!

You could say that things are not as they should be, and we realize it.  This causes a tension in our lives.  We know what is good, right, and holy- -that is, what God expects and how God created all things for his glory- – yet we see sin, suffering, and problems in the world.

As Christians, we see and experience the consequences of sin in other people, as well as in our own hearts!  During this time, as we await the return of our Savior, we must be comforted by the reality that our Lord Christ is victoriously seated at God’s right hand, and our eyes should remain fixed on the future when God will renew and restore all things to the way things should be!

Those who mourn in this present age can be assured that they will be comforted by the Spirit NOW, and fully comforted when Jesus returns for all of those He loves!

Mourners are Repentant and Blessed!

It is actually not sad to be a “mourner”, but blessed!  The reason is that a mourner is one who is aware of his spiritual condition before the LORD.  A mourner knows that he or she is a sinner and needs the mercy and grace of the LORD!

Remember the main message of John the Baptist and Jesus when they preached to the crowds?  The message was “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  Mourners are those who live repentant for the Living God. Mourners are those who not only repent when they begin the Christian life, but live a life of constant repentance and dependence upon the Living God.  Mourners know they are sinners, yet they know they have a Savior Who they can go to and confess their sins and be cleansed (1 John 1:7ff).

King David gives us a fine example of a mourner, or how we should respond to our sinful condition as the Word of God reveals more and more of the depths of sin in our hearts.  Notice his approach to God begins with asking for mercy, not what he deserves.  That reminds us as well of two of the characteristics of the Beatitudes: Poor in spirit and the merciful!

Psalm 51: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise…

David’s request as a mourner is to have a clean heart before God, a right spirit within (v. 10).  Mourners know that only God can create this in us, and give to us a right spirit.  Mourners live repentant lives before the Lord, careful not to presume upon His grace, nor to forget their low condition.  Yet at the same time, realizing that God is merciful, forgiving, full of steadfast love for sinners, and one who will cleanse us from our condition (vv. 1-2).

In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, we should remember that the people who were listening in to Jesus’ message to his disciples, would have known the ways of the Scribes and the Pharisees.  These were not mournful people.  In fact, they do not respond to John the Baptist’s message of repentance.  When they come to hear John, he asks them: “Who has warned you to flee the coming wrath?”  He then proceeds to call them “vipers” and tells them to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

His point is that if you are going to enter the Kingdom, you must be made aware of your low position and condition before the Living God (being poor in spirit).  He wanted them to know that the “fruits of repentance” was a mournful spirit that came to God looking for grace, not honor of merit!

Mourning Over Sin

Think about the lack of true and Biblical mourning in our culture today, even among some Christians!  In our world, we either excuse the sin we see in others, or we condemn sinners.  Some in our culture on the one hand, allow others to “do as they please” with no regard to righteousness.  They say “Let the homosexual live freely without conviction of God’s Word”; “Let the rebellious and the lawbreaker alone”; “Don’t judge those who sin”; or “It doesn’t matter what God we worship as long as we worship with faith”.  All of these sayings (and there are plenty more), are sayings that justify or excuse sin!  We should never allow this kind of thinking to blur the righteousness and holiness of God revealed in Scripture.

On the other hand, some of us condemn sinners.  We as Christians see the homosexual, the rebellious, the lawbreaker, and those who are misguided in their worship of  idols and we condemn them forgetting that we were once among them as those far from the promises of God (1 Cor. 6:9-11; cf. Eph. 2:1-4ff)!  Neither of these positions are correct for Christians.  We should neither excuse sin, nor condemn sinners!  Rather, we should weep and mourn in repentance for what we see around us, calling others to repentance and pointing them to the same grace and mercy that we have found in the Lord Jesus!

Our message is one of repentance, and anyone reading this who does not live a repentant life must repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus, but we should never forget from where we came.  Our lives now are all because of His grace!  We should mourn over the lost condition of others, not judge them as if we are any better. 

Self-righteous people are never mourners! The Apostle Paul reminds us of this:

2 Corinthians 6:9-11: 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

This passage to the Corinthians reminds us that we were all sinners.  That should make us continually repentant, but also grateful!  The joy of the LORD is our strength, and that joy is a reality in the midst of our mourning.  This too is the “already, not yet”!  We mourn now, knowing that things are not as they should be in our world (including our own hearts!), yet we rejoice and are comforted because we know that Jesus has overcome the world and made a way to come for cleansing and a righteous robe before the Most High and Holy LORD of Heaven and Earth!

Have you ever noticed how mad and angry we get with others when they sin against us?  Yet we often are not moved to tears and a mournful attitude when we see people sin against a Holy God?  It is strange how we so easily are offended by others, but we don’t think about the offense of our own sins before God!

As mourners, we should reflect upon these things.  We should remember, it was our sins that placed Jesus on the cross!  It was our sins that caused him to die, caused him to be afflicted and cursed by God, taking God’s anger and wrath in our place!  Our sins were placed on Jesus so that he was called “sin”.

Paul says: “He who had no sin became sin in order that we in Him we might become the righteousness of God!” (2 Cor. 5:21).

This statement alone should cause us all to be mourners!  Yet at the same time, Jesus was declared “sin” so that we could be declared “righteous”!  Furthermore, Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to God’s right hand should cause us to be comforted!

Jesus the Mourner

In Jesus’ life here “under the sun”, he visited a world full of sin and misery, so as to redeem those who would come to him by faith!  Yet, when he came to extend his hand of grace and mercy, he was brutally apprehended by sinful men, abused by those undeserving, and put to death by those unworthy of His presence!  Jesus was a mourner!

Jesus mourned over Jerusalem when he saw how many people who called Abraham “Father” rejected him and had not the “faith of Abraham” revealing themselves to be “sons of the devil” (John 8:31-58).  He cried out: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I have longed to gather you as a hen gathers her chicks and you would not let me!”

Jesus mourned over Lazarus when he saw the results of the wages of sin in bringing death to his friend.  Jesus mourned over those who were unrepentant and unbelieving who stood around him mocking him, laughing at him, and grieving His spirit within him!  Jesus mourned over sinners constantly throughout his life!

Yet in Jesus’ resurrection, He was comforted!  Jesus was raised again to new life!  Jesus ascended to God’s right hand upon completion of His heavenly work for sinners and sent a portion of His joyful and triumphant Spirit to dwell with His people until He returns!  He told his disciples “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world (John 16:33)!”

What great news for all Christians!  Take comfort, Christians.  Although we know that things aren’t as they should be, that there is rampant sin and iniquity around us, as well as in our own hearts!  We can be comforted by the fact that we know Jesus will return and restore all things!  He is preparing a place for us know, full of joy and salvation and worship, empty of sin and misery!  We know that the problem of sin has been taken care of in the death and mourning of Jesus Christ!  We know that he who began a good work deep within our sinful hearts, will complete it on the Day of Jesus (Phil. 1:6).

“…They Shall be Comforted!”

Our comfort today as Christians is not in this present age, this evil world full of sin and misery, hating the Creator and Living God who we so long to be like!  Our comfort is found in resting in the power of his Spirit, our knowledge of the God of all comfort, and knowing that he will wipe every tear from our eyes when he restores heaven and earth to the way it was supposed to be, yet in a way that will be beyond what we ever have asked or imagined!  As we close this study, may we be comforted and meditate upon the words of God in Revelation 21:1-6:

Revelation 21:1-6: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

May we as Christians, continue to mourn over our sins and the sins of others as we seek comfort in God’s Spirit, and await the New Heavens and the New Earth where there will only be rejoicing because only righteousness will reign with Jesus Christ, our Glorious Savior, seated on the Throne of Blessed Grace!  Are you longing for the day when you shall see him face to face?  When we shall see him, we shall be like him! (1 Cor. 13:9-13; 1 John 3:2).

Reflect upon the words of Anne Cousin, who wrote the following hymn based on the dying words of the great theologian and suffering preacher Samuel Rutherford; here is a true mourner:

“The sands of time are sinking,

The dawn of heaven breaks,

The summer morn I’ve sighed for,

The fair, sweet morn awakes.

Dark, dark hath been the midnight,

But dayspring is at hand;

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Emmanuel’s land.

The King there in His beauty,

Without a veil is seen:

It were a well spent journey,

Though seven deaths lay between:

The Lamb, with His fair army,

Doth on Mount Zion stand,

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.

O Christ, He is the fountain,

The deep, sweet well of love;

The streams on earth I’ve tasted,

More deep I’ll drink above.

There to an ocean fullness

His mercy doth expand.

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.”

You weep now, but you will rejoice and be fully comforted soon! (John 16:19-24)

Soli Deo Gloria!

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Charles

Next Study: “Blessed are the Meek, not the Weak”

“Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit…”- The Beatitudes

In our last study we learned the meaning of ‘Beatitude’ (here) as well as what Jesus was communicating when he was preaching these “blessings”.  We learned that the ‘Beatitudes’ are ultimately a picture of Christ’s character, and yet as we learn from Christ by His Spirit, these are the characteristics of Christians as we reflect his grace and goodness to us.  The ‘Beatitudes’ show the kind of Christians God will produce through grace and faith in Jesus as we grow and mature!

“Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”

Today, we begin with the first and most foundational ‘beatitude’: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”  What exactly does Jesus mean about “being poor in spirit”?

Simply put, the poor in spirit are those who are absolutely dependent upon God for their spiritual and physical needs.  They are those who are not self-reliant and proud, but humble in heart.

It is interesting that Jesus starts with the characteristic of being poor in spirit as the foundation for all the others ‘Beatitudes’.  The reason is that you cannot know or grow in the Lord Jesus Christ without first understanding your poor condition before the Living God.  We must first know of our sinful condition and great spiritual need for a Savior, before we even begin to see or enter the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. John 3:1-18).

The Poor

In the Old Testament, the poor were often equated with those who were pious.  The reason was that they were those who were without in this world, and thus they were totally dependent upon the Living God for help both physically and spiritually.  This did not mean that the poor were automatically God’s people, but they served as real and living examples in this world of those totally destitute and in need of God’s help.  These were oftentimes contrasted with the rich who were proud, boastful and powerful (Psalm 9:18; 12:5; 34:6; 51; Prov. 29:23; Isaiah 25:1-5; Luke 1:46-48; James 4:3ff).

For an example of “the poor” in the Old Testament, carefully read a portion of Psalm 72:

Psalm 72:12-14: For [God] delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. 13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. 14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.

God’s concern for the poor helps us to remember of his great mercy for his own!  The “poor” in the Old Testament illustrated the importance of what it meant to be “poor in spirit”.  We need the LORD for all things.  We are utterly dependent upon his goodness for the sun and the rain, as well as for all material blessings (Matthew 6:24-33).  In fact, Jesus will later teach in the Sermon on the Mount that God knows of our great needs, and He will meet them and provide for us and so there is absolutely nothing to fear or worry about!

Sometimes our fear drives us, and we refuse to believe that God will provide for us!  We are oftentimes proud of who we are and what we do as our positions in the world, but if the truth be known, we are all utterly needy and dependent upon the Living God for all things we receive in this world.  Most of the time, it is easier to see this utter reliance and dependence upon God in “the poor” than it is in “the rich” (James 5:1ff).

“Nothing in My Hands I Bring…”

Jesus uses the idea of “the poor”, but he specifically speaks of the “poor in spirit” as being “blessed”.  Who exactly are the “poor in spirit”? Those who are poor in spirit are those who know that “nothing in their hands they bring” to be saved, but “simply to Christ’s cross do they cling” as Augustus Toplady’s hymn teaches us!  Ephesians 2:1-8 sums this up well:

Ephesians 2:1-8: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…

The Apostle Paul tells us of the grace of God in Christ Jesus in this passage.  He tells us that we were truly “dead in the trespasses and sins” when God found us.  We were “sons of disobedience” and “by nature children of wrath”.  Then I love the next two words in verse 4: “But God.” Those are two of the greatest words ever written: “But God!”

But God intervened, God saved, God intruded by His Spirit in His great mercy and love and he saved us!!  This should cause all to be constantly “poor in spirit”.

“…Simply to Thy Cross I Cling!”

We have nothing to offer to God.  We must continually repent of even our best deeds and works (Isaiah 64:6)!  Yet God loved us not because of something we did for him- – we were busy being children of disobedience when he saved us!  As Ephesians 2:8 teaches us: “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”  This is our great hope as those who are poor in spirit!

Yet some Christians truly believe that they are saved based on something they do.  They believe that they are saved based on a decision or choice for the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than being saved and then deciding and choosing.  The point that must be remembered by the poor in spirit is that there is absolutely nothing we can do to be saved, because we are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-4), until we are born again.

Jesus taught Nicodemus that one must be born again before he sees or enters the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3).  It is all because of God’s mercy that he saves us, then we believe and decide for Jesus because we are now able to humble ourselves, “poor in spirit”, so that we might be saved.  This is important for us all to remember.  Salvation is all of grace!

Humility before the Living God

Being poor in spirit could be called a kind of humility of which we are aware.  Oftentimes I have been told that if you are humble you will never know it.  However, the Bible seems to indicate that some humility we are aware of.  In fact in the Book of James and Peter, there are two commands to actually be humble.  That would indicate to me that there is an awareness of what is humble and what is not.  It would indicate to me that some do know when they are humble, or poor in spirit, and when they are not.  Notice the following commands from James and Peter, who sat under their Lord’s teaching on being “poor in spirit”, both of whom were there for the entire Sermon on the Mount.

James 4:6-10: But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1 Peter 5:5a-8: Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; 7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…

In both of these passages we have commands to be humble, or poor in spirit, or utterly dependent upon God for grace.  We should remember as Christians that we begin the Christian life as those “poor in spirit” and by God’s grace and the working of His Spirit, continue to learn just how “poor in spirit” or utterly dependent upon God we should be!

Saved and SELF-Righteous?

Yet how easy it is for us to forget from what wretched condition we were saved!  After a few days, a few months, a few years of being Christians, we so easily begin to be “rich in spirit” or proud and look down our noses at “poor sinners”.  Rather than looking at poor sinners with the eyes of Christ’s compassion, we think we are so much better than they are because we are saved!  How low can you go?

This is a really bad place to be in, spiritually speaking.  It means that when we are judging others for being sinners in this way, we are forgetting how sinful and dead we were when the mercy of God appeared to us!  We are forgetting the two important words: “But God!”

The next time you find it so easy to judge another for their sins, and you pat yourself on the back for your great righteousness, or ability to “see through other’s real motivations”, remind yourself that you are not being “poor in spirit”, utterly and totally dependent upon God at the moment, but you are being quite proud of yourself!  Repent and remind yourself of the story Jesus tells about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector which is a great Biblical illustration of what it means to be “poor in spirit”.

A Tale of Two Spirits

Luke 18:9-17: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 15 Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Notice something important from this “Tale of Two Spirits”, it was the one “poor in spirit” who knew of his right standing as a sinner before God who was considered “righteous” and went down to his house “justified”.  Notice the comparison Jesus makes between the self-righteous, proud, “rich in spirit” person and the one who knows his poor condition before God and requests God’s mercy because he knows as one poor in spirit that God is indeed “rich in mercy”(cf. Eph. 2:4-6).

Notice also from the story Jesus tells that in summarizing the story, Jesus says: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  This is another example of how true humility can be known in a person by the way they respond to the Living God.  True humility is displayed throughout a Christian’s life as an ongoing dependence and resting in the Lord Jesus Christ and His grace!

How do you view yourself?  Is it with one eye toward heaven and one toward yourself?  Is it a “balanced” and Biblical view?  What I mean is, do you see yourself as both a sinner and as one saved by grace?  If you do, then this is good.  We never want to underestimate the work God has done in us and is continuing to do in us, yet we never want to forget that we are “works in progress”, “under construction” by his grace!

Therefore, because we utterly depend upon Jesus alone for salvation, we must utterly depend upon Jesus and His Spirit to continue to work in us by faith.  We must continue as Christians to be “poor in spirit” by continuing to trust the Living God, knowing that we are God’s workmanshship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).

Do you believe that it is truly “all of grace”?  Is your life, your salvation in Christ all of grace, because of the two words given in Ephesians 2: “But God”?  We must repent of our self-righteousness, and by His grace continue to be “poor in spirit”.  We are assured that those who are utterly dependent upon God will be part of the Kingdom of Heaven now, but to be fully entered in when Jesus returns for those who are utterly dependent and patiently awaiting his return, which is also all of grace!

Rock of Ages

I shall conclude with the words to Augustus Toplady’s Hymn ‘Rock of Ages’.  You have probably sung this hymn many times, but truly focus on the words to this great hymn!  Do you believe it?  Are you poor in spirit?  The reason why this hymn is such a great illustration of being “poor in spirit” is that it not only speaks of being humbled by salvation, but humbled by death and knowing that our only hope in death is Jesus’ help!  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!”

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.

Next Study: “Blessed are those Who Mourn”

Love in Christ,

Pastor Biggs

Octavius Winslow on Prayer

Hebrews 4:14-16: Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.- ESV

Octavius Winslow:

“The throne of grace is near at hand. You have not to travel far to reach it; there is no lengthy and painful journey, no wearisome and mortifying pilgrimage. It is near at hand. Lying down or rising up, going out or coming in, in the streets and in the house, in public or in private, in the private chamber or in the sanctuary, God is everywhere, and where He is, there is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God.”

Why do we often say that we are too busy to pray? To know that Jesus our Savior is always accessible to us; to know that He loves us and invites us to come to Him often; to know that Jesus tells us to come boldly to Him through His blood.

How could we NOT pray?

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

I think sometimes we forget our great need for Christ in all his grace and fullness. Here’s help to get you seeking Jesus prayerfully. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do you trust God enough right now in your life?
  • Do you love God and others enough?
  • Do you pray enough?
  • Do you forgive others enough?
  • Can you “do” life alone today?

Now, take these questions to the throne of grace, confess your needs, and there you’ll find a loving and merciful Savior, full of compassion and sympathy toward sinners, and one able to help you!

Are you really too busy to pray?

Love in Christ,

Pastor Charles