Psalm 103:19 His sovereignty rules over all – Part 1

I begin a series of meditations on Psalm 103:19 in which I will explore this verse and find application to our lives.

“The LORD has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.” Psalm 103:19

The central and essential truth contained in this verse is that THE LORD’S SOVEREIGNTY RULES OVER ALL. The LORD is the King of the universe. From the spinning of the largest galaxy to the function of every atom, all move and exist at His command. He rules and reigns and all circumstances are ordained and orchestrated by His holy and righteous decree. Even all my circumstances have been ordained by the glorious, Holy One. His sovereignty rules over all.

APPLICATION 1: I will trust in the Lord

From Psalm 131, I will not involve myself in great matters or in things too wonderful or difficult for me. Since the LORD is sovereign over the universe, I will let God be God and not try to over-manage the events of my life. The LORD is the one with all wisdom and all power. Therefore, I will trust Him to rule.

From John 18:11 – As the Lord Jesus drank the cup the Father had given Him to drink, so I will drink the cup that the Father has given me to drink. The cup He gives me is lovingly prepared to help me grow in sanctification and usefulness. I will drink and trust Him.

I will cease striving and know that the Lord is God. (Psalm 46:10). Striving implies an anxiety and a restlessness, but when I see that God is sovereign, my striving ceases and I rest instead. I rest in His power and His protection.

I will trust when I am frightened by this hostile universe (Psalm 56:3; Isaiah 12:2; Jeremiah 20:11), knowing that the Lord my God is in sovereign control. I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD is with me like a dread champion and He is able to defend me and protect me.

Because His sovereignty rules over all, my response to fear is to trust the Lord. I will cry aloud to Him (Psalm 142:1-2). I will remind myself of His power and of His sovereignty and remind myself that He is for me (Romans 8:31-39). I will remember that the God who rules the universe is my Lord and I will trust the LORD.

SDG       rmb       8/3/2017

Two Celebrations at My Death

I found this note from my archives. From May 31, 2010:

“I want to live in such a way that the devil throws a party when he hears of my death.”

As some of you will know, this is not original with me (I forget which saint originally penned this), but it does succinctly capture one of my deepest desires. I want to live a dangerous life; that is, I want to live a life that is dangerous to Satan and to his kingdom, a life that demolishes his strongholds. I want my name on hell’s Post Office wall. I want there to be an ongoing APB (all-points bulletin) for my arrest and capture by the forces of this present darkness. I do not want to go quietly. I want my departure from this earthly field of battle to bring a sigh of relief from the prince of the power of the air.

And so that will mean that there are two celebrations at my physical death. There will be one in heaven as I enter into the joy of my Master (Matthew 25:21) and I get to worship my great God face to face with all the redeemed of all the ages (Rev. 7:9). Yes, there will be joy in heaven (Luke 15:7, 10) as I enter in.

And there will be another celebration in hell as this combatant falls asleep and the kingdom of darkness is finally rid of me.

Let’s all live so that there will be two celebrations upon our death.

SDG       rmb       7/21/2017

A Transformational Event

Without a transformational event in our lives; without an occurrence that fundamentally changes us and redefines us, all of us remain chained to our past and remain defined by the mistakes and failures of our past. But if in our lives there has been a transformational event of such power that it changes who we are and how we define ourselves, we will be freed from our past and will have a new point of reference.

In nature, this is pictured in the caterpillar and the butterfly. The caterpillar’s life is chained to it origin and is therefore defined by crawling on the ground, a worm gnawing on leaves. The caterpillar has a physical birth, but it lacks a transformational event. But now contrast this with the butterfly. The butterfly has gone through a metamorphosis, a transformational event, and now the days as a caterpillar are gone and forgotten. Now the same creature is defined by the results of the transformational event. Life is defined not by physical birth, but by the new transformed creature. Now there is the dazzling beauty of glorious wings, the drinking of nectar for food and the journeys of effortless flight going from flower to flower.

The analogy should be clear, for just as a caterpillar needs to be transformed to experience the life of freedom and beauty displayed in the butterfly, so every human needs to experience a great transformational event to rise above their ugly and sinful natural state. But where is such an event to be found? How am I ever to be transformed and rise from my natural misery and wretchedness?

The Bible gives the answer to this question in multiple places expressed in various ways:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus Christ in John 3:3

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My words and believes Him who sent Me . . . has passed from death to life.” Jesus Christ in John 5:24

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  2 Cor. 5:17

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him.   Ephesians 2:4-5

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Ezekiel 36:26

In these verses and more, the gospel message is clear: Encountering Jesus Christ and being transformed by Him is the only event that has transformational power. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be transformed. Other events may change your circumstances, but those changes will leave you a caterpillar. Trust Christ and you will be born again and your new transformed life as a butterfly will begin.

SDG      rmb       7/19/2017

Psalm 145:18-20 – Who Are the LORD’s People?

Here in Psalm 145 in three consecutive verses, the psalmist David gives us three prominent characteristics of those who are truly the people of the LORD. As I review these characteristics, I want to examine my life and be sure these are prominent in my own relationship with the LORD.

145:18 “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him . . . in truth.”

What does it mean to call upon the LORD? There are so many examples in Scripture of this that it is almost overwhelming. It is obvious that our great God wants us to know what it means to call on His name. For example, in Psalm 107, God’s people “cried out to the LORD in their trouble,” and He delivers them out of all their distresses. In Psalm 116, because the LORD has inclined His ear toward him, the psalmist vows to call upon the name of the LORD as long as he lives. Psalm 142 shows us that calling out to the LORD means crying aloud with our voice to Him. And the classic text in Romans 10:13 tells us that “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” But I think that there are two broad categories of calling on the LORD.

  1. There is the INITIAL CALL upon the LORD that resulted in my salvation and inaugurated my eternal life. For the true child of God there must have been an event in my life in which I called out to the LORD for His rescue, an event that marked my repentance and faith in the LORD and that ushered in my new birth and my new life in Christ.
  2. But there must also be the ongoing, daily and hourly calls to the LORD that give tangible proof that there was an initial call and give evidence that the results of that initial call continue until this day. For if I do not call upon the LORD every day, then it probably means there was no genuine initial call at all. A human infant makes an initial cry at the start of life and then continues to breathe moment by moment as their life goes on. Just so, the child of God cries out to the LORD initially and then continues to cry out to Him as their new life in Christ goes on.

145:19 “He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him.”

It is also true that the one who is known by the LORD and who truly knows the LORD is one who fears the LORD. Now some have asked if it is right for the believer to fear the LORD, but Jesus Christ Himself removes all doubt about this issue, for our Lord commands His followers to fear God in Matthew 10:28: “Fear Him who is able to destroy soul and body in hell.” The Old Testament, the Bible that Jesus knew in the days of His flesh, is filled with verses about fearing the LORD. In Psalm 34, the saints are commanded to fear the LORD (“O fear the LORD, you His saints”), and the psalmist teaches what it means to fear the LORD (“Come you children, listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the LORD”). In Proverbs, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (1:7; 9:10).” All the Old Testament believers feared the LORD and trembled before Him (Isaiah 6:1-8; 66:2). The nations are to fear the LORD: “He is to be feared above all gods (Psalm 96:4).” But this is not restricted to Old Testament saints. Paul knew the fear of the Lord, and so he persuaded men (2 Cor. 5:11) to come to faith in Jesus Christ. The believer is to work out his salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). Peter instructs his disciples to “conduct yourselves in fear” during the time of your stay on earth (1 Peter 1:17). The emotion of fear is natural when we understand that “our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29).” Finally, the book of Revelation asks, “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy (15:4).”

But having looked at the biblical evidence for fear of the Lord, we also know that this fear is wrapped in God’s immense mercy displayed supremely in Calvary’s cross. Because of the cross, we no longer feel the terror of standing before a wrathful judge awaiting our final condemnation. Rather, we now feel the embrace of an infinitely powerful and holy Father whose glory and presence and purity and power overwhelm all of our senses.

Our understanding of fear is distorted by our sin and by the Fall. Now all human beings can only come to the Lord out of the place of condemnation where God is the righteous Judge and, because of this, all mention of “fear of the LORD” recalls those years before our redemption when we hid from the Lord and from His holiness. Thus all believers must unlearn the terror of the LORD which marked the days of our unbelief, and must learn the fear of the LORD which the Bible commands. This fear is that orientation toward God’s holiness and wrath that trembles before sin and disobedience and judgment while being confident that, because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, the condemnation and punishment our sins deserve have been forever propitiated by our Redeemer (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Thus it is that God’s people cherish the fear of the LORD.

145:20 – “The LORD keeps all who love Him . . .”

The third characteristic is the most obvious one. Those who truly know the LORD love the LORD. As God has demonstrated His love toward His people innumerable times and has demonstrated it supremely in His giving His Son on the cross to atone for our sins, so our love for God must be demonstrated and displayed if it is real.

Indeed, it may rightly be said that a Christian is a person who loves the Lord and who is loved by the Lord. In Deuteronomy and Joshua, at least ten times the people are commanded to love the LORD their God. Having been loved by the Lord (for the Lord is the initiator), the child of God spontaneously loves the Lord in return. “We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).”

When asked what the greatest commandment was, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30); this is the first and greatest commandment.” Implied in these words is a love for the Lord that consumes us and that dominates every facet of our being. This is the love of the Lord of which the Bible speaks.

How is this love manifested? For we can see that love for God is different than love of people and so is manifested differently. Love for God is most clearly manifested in obedience to the Lord’s commandments. John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, He it is who loves Me.”

Finally, the love of Christ controls us (2 Cor. 5:14) and this love issues forth in our being ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20) and so urging men and women to receive the reconciliation to God which is offered in the gospel. Thus our love for the Lord is a love that labors to see God glorified and sinners saved.

Call upon the Lord. Fear the Lord. Love the Lord.

SDG      rmb      7/16/2017

Jeremiah 26:2. Do not omit a word!

In the early days of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet telling the LORD’s appointed messenger to speak “all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. DO NOT OMIT A WORD!”

Here Jeremiah is to proclaim a message that is so important that the LORD dictates the very words that must be used. This message from the LORD cannot be modified or shortened or embellished. No parts of the message can be left out and no other parts can be inserted. The messenger must communicate the LORD’s message and no other. “Do not omit a word!”

The point of this blog post is to consider the message that Jeremiah preached to the people of Jerusalem in the days before the Chaldeans destroyed that city and see that, in Jeremiah’s message, there are foreshadows and parallels with the gospel of Jesus Christ that we are called to proclaim to the nations.

The essential message that the LORD’s appointed prophet was to herald to Jerusalem is contained in 26:2-6 and 26:12-13. Consider, then, the message that Jeremiah proclaimed.

  • It was a message of warning, declaring to the people that their destruction was approaching. Whether they believed it or not, they would soon be destroyed;
  • Jeremiah’s message told that this destruction was a judgment on them from the LORD because of their sins and because of the evil of their deeds;
  • This was also a message of mercy, for Jeremiah had been sent by the LORD to these people who were doomed to destruction for the express purpose of announcing how the LORD would stop the calamity He was planning to bring on the city. The LORD was willing to be merciful;
  • If the people would listen to the LORD’s voice and would repent of their evil deeds and return to the LORD, then the LORD would spare the city;
  • If the people did not heed the message and did not repent and return to the LORD, then destruction and judgment were certain.

Does this message sound familiar? It should! This outline of Jeremiah’s message is a foreshadow of the essential gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ that believers proclaim today. Let me show you the parallels:

  • In our gospel, we proclaim a warning, telling sinners that God’s judgment is coming soon. Whether they believe they are sinners or not and whether or not they believe that our holy God will judge sin, our gospel warns all sinners that they are under God’s condemnation and wrath and will be judged;
  • Our gospel message declares that God’s judgment and wrath are the result of sins and the result of the evil of their deeds;
  • Like Jeremiah, we proclaim a message of God’s mercy, for we have been sent out by the Lord Himself (Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 2:9; Acts 2:38-39; Luke 24:46-49; 1 Timothy 1:15-16; 2 Corinthians 5:20) to a people doomed to judgment for the express purpose of announcing to them that Christ is a great Savior and that God will forgive all those who place their faith in Him;
  • If our hearers listen to  the message and repent of their evil deeds and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), God will remove His wrath and condemnation from them and will forgive their sin and will give them eternal life;
  • If our hearers reject the Lord’s message of salvation and do not repent of their sins and do not believe in the Lord Jesus, then God’s destruction and judgment are certain (Hebrews 9:27).

So in this passage in Jeremiah we have seen the gospel clearly foreshadowed. But I wanted to think for a second about the sentence in which the LORD tells Jeremiah, “Do not omit a word!”

In the case of Jeremiah’s message, the prophet was speaking to a relatively small group of people in a single city about a temporal destruction and a temporal deliverance. The Chaldeans were threatening Jerusalem with destruction, but if Judah repented, the LORD would deliver them from physical death and destruction. And yet in this situation, the LORD gives Jeremiah the command, “Do not omit a word!” The message must be exactly the LORD’s message.

But if the LORD is that serious about the accuracy of this word spoken concerning temporal salvation to a small group of people, and declares that the message must be exactly what He intends, how much more serious would He be about the accuracy of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only means of salvation available for all of mankind for all time, a message that delivers anyone who believes from the eternal condemnation of God and brings them into eternal life. In other words, if the LORD wanted strict faithfulness to His message of temporal salvation (Jeremiah 26), how much more important is it that the gospel message be accurately proclaimed (Acts 2).

The lesson, then, is that we must faithfully proclaim the whole council of God’s gospel with accuracy and boldness. “Do not omit a word!” When we are faithful with the message that God has called us to proclaim, we will see God glorified and will see God bring people to Himself.

SDG       rmb       7/10/2017

The Defining Moment

Consider the joy and the beauty of possessing a defining moment in life. Because Jesus Christ has bought me as His bond-servant and because I have repented of my sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, all that I do is now focused on Him. My life is defined by my relationship with Him.

My life has a defining moment, a point in time when life that is truly life began, and everything that occurs after that event takes place with reference to that defining moment. All my plans; all goals; all activities; all relationships; all joys and all sorrows; all of my future, both in this life and in the life to come – all revolve around and refer to Jesus Christ and receive their significance in reference to Him.

I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what defines me, but that was not always so. There were 31 years when I did not know Jesus and therefore I had 31 years when my life progressed without anchor or compass. There was no foundation on which to stand and there was no direction in which to head. There was no destination to which I was going. There was no compelling, eternal purpose that was grand enough to live for and was valuable enough to die for. My life lacked definition because I lacked a defining moment.

But then I met the Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious God-Man, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the One who rules heaven and earth. He called me to follow Him (Matthew 4:19) and I obeyed and thus was born again. At that defining moment, my old life was gone and my new life began. From that moment onward my life has been defined by that moment. Now I have a destination – heaven (Philippians 3:20-21). Now I have a purpose – to be an ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20) and a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). Now I have a lifetime task – to make disciples for Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20). Now I have a mission – to proclaim Christ’s excellencies (1 Peter 2:9). At every point in my life, I can find meaning and solid ground because of the defining moment of placing my faith in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul knew this defining moment as well as anyone and he is the Bible’s outstanding example of this (Acts 9), but it is the privilege and the heritage of every believer to define our life with reference to our initial encounter with Jesus. There is a “before Christ” part of our life that may (or may not) be full of events and activity, but is lacking a central theme, and there is an “after meeting Christ” part of our life, which is dominated by the glorious theme of telling of Christ and of exalting Him in our lives.

Now to the day of our physical death we live our lives with purpose, “pressing toward the goal for the prize,” because of the Lord’s grace toward us in giving us a defining moment, that moment when we first encountered the Savior.

SDG       rmb       7/8/2017

Ecclesiastes 9:4 – Better to Be a Live Dog

Ecclesiastes is a book of profound inquiry into meaning and significance, especially in the face of the finality of death. In the course of his inquiry, Solomon makes this observation:

For whoever is joined to the living, there is hope. Surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. (9:4)

This article explores the question, “Why? Why is a live dog better than a dead lion?”

The obvious answer to this question would be that it is always better to be alive than dead, especially if you are only viewing life from the horizontal plane, from the perspective of life “under the sun.” If you cannot see the eternal, then surely it is undeniably true that “a live dog,” whether purebred or mongrel, whether well-groomed or mangy, still has the ability to bark and to bite and to retrieve a ball and to take action, whereas “a dead lion,” however regal and powerful he may have been in life, cannot love or hate or take action of any kind. The legacy of the dead is fixed. “Wherever the tree falls, there it lies (Eccl. 11:3).”

It is from Solomon’s perspective, from the view that the living can still act and can still love and make decisions and make changes and the dead cannot, that I want to answer the question, “Why is ‘a live dog’ better than ‘a dead lion’?”

First I want to consider the believer, the true follower of Jesus Christ. Why for the believer is being ‘a live dog’ better than being ‘a dead lion’?”

The most important thing that you as a believer can do as long as you have breath is to proclaim the excellencies of Christ (1 Peter 2:9). Both Old Testament and New declare that believers are to be witnesses for the Lord (Isaiah 43:10; etc.; Acts 1:8; etc.), so as long as we are “a live dog” we are to testify of His glory. When the demoniac was converted and sent out to preach, Jesus instructed him, “Return to your home and describe what great things God has done for you (Luke 8:39).” There is no reason not to take Jesus’ instruction to this man as applying to all believers. While we still have time on this earth, we are to scatter seed and sow (Matthew 13:3) the word of God. The believer is commanded to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) of all nations, so all “live dogs” should be involved in that task. And we are called to love one another (John 13:34-35) and to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24-25). The perspective of the believer is to be, “As long as the Lord has given me another day to serve Him as ‘a live dog’ here on this earth, I will make the most of my time (Ephesians 5:15-16) and glorify Him.” The believer sees death not as an end to be feared, but as a deadline that marks the completion of their work here on earth, a deadline that limits how much they can do for the Lord here. Because our days on earth are as mere handbreadths (Psalm 39:4-5), the believer labors with urgency while it is still the day (John 9:4), since soon his work will be done and he will become “a dead lion.” So it is better for the believer to be “a live dog,” since the believer can still pour himself out for the Lord.

Now we will turn to the much more dire consideration of the unbeliever, the one who has never truly come to faith in Christ. Why is it better for this person to be “a live dog than a dead lion?” Simply put, it is better to be alive because, as long as they are still alive, they can still be saved. As long as they are joined to the living, there is hope. The one who has never trusted in Christ lives in the perilous situation of being one heartbeat away from a godless eternity, but as long as they are living, there is hope. There is hope that they will hear the gospel and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. O, it is infinitely better to be still joined with the living, because the moment after death will bring judgment (Hebrews 9:27). O, unbeliever, now you are a live dog! Fly to Christ for salvation before it is forever too late. “Seek the LORD while He may be found (Isaiah 55:5).” Now you can still act. Now you can still repent. Now you can still believe. While you are still joined to the living, there is still time to escape from God’s judgment, but if you delay, though you be a dead lion, you will forever feel God’s holy wrath against sin. There is hope now, but you must heed the call and come to Christ. Receive the forgiveness that He gives to all who believe on Him. He died for dogs like you and me, so that we might live forever with Him.

“Surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.”

SDG      rmb      7/3/2017

Verses for the Battle Against Anxiety

Brothers and sisters, here are some verses that will help you in the battle against fear and anxiety. First, acknowledge that this is a battle and so progress will involve warfare. But also resolve that, with the Lord at your side, it is a battle that you will win. Your goal is to so fill your mind with Scripture and be so ready to pray and to recite truth that there is no space for the enemy to insinuate his lies into your mind. Refuse to give the enemy a foothold of any kind.

Psalm 46:1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. THEREFORE we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea . . .”

Philippians 4:6-7 – “Be anxious for nothing . . .” Pray through these verses until you receive the “peace that passes all understanding.”

1 Peter 5:7 “. . . casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” I wrote seven blog posts on this verse on my Website (roybritton.wordpress.com) and they are practical and helpful.

Isaiah 43:1-7 – “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

Isaiah 41:8-16 – “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 12:1-6 – verses 2-3 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will TRUST AND NOT BE AFRAID, for the LORD God is my strength and song and He has become my salvation. Therefore you will joyously draw water from the streams of salvation.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 – “. . . and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” In my opinion this is the key to victory in the battle against anxiety. You have got to grab hold of your thoughts and make sure they do not go where you do not want them to go. Take EVERY thought captive to the obedience of Christ. At first you must consciously do this a LOT and ALL THE TIME, until you break the habit of running down trails that lead to fear and anxiety. STOP THE TRAIN before it leaves the station! Do NOT let your thoughts go to fearful places. Do NOT let your mind play “what if” games!

Jeremiah 20:11 – “But the LORD is with me like a dread champion.” Imagine the Lord standing behind you with His sword out of the sheath as your great defender. The LORD is your dread Champion. He is your Rock, your Refuge, your Defender. Trust Him!

Psalm 34:4, 6 – “I sought the LORD and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears . . . This poor man cried and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.” How does the LORD deliver you from all your fears? Is that even possible? Yes! The Lord delivers you from all your fears by replacing your fears with trust in Him. If you trust the LORD fully, then all your fears will be vanquished.

Psalm 40:1-3 – “I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He pulled me up out of the desolate pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.”

Psalm 27:1-14 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread?”

Romans 8:31-39 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also, with Him, freely give us all things? . . . for I am convinced that neither death not life . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In the midst of a terrifying storm, our Lord stands up in the boat and speaks to the hurricane, “Hush! Be still!” And the winds and the waves heard the voice of their Creator and Master and instantly obeyed and a great calm resulted. Then the Lord speaks to His disciples and asks, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:35-41) O, how many storms do I have to go through before the Lord who has bought me at the price of His own blood will no longer need to ask me that question? O, Lord, let me be one who trusts You no matter how fierce the storm.

SDG        rmb        5/9/2017

Matthew 4:6 – Satan quotes Scripture

In the temptation of the Son of God in the wilderness, Satan employs every means at his disposal in his attack against Jesus Christ, including the quoting of Scripture. In this article I want to only look briefly at the temptation of Jesus, focusing on the irony of the Scripture that Satan chooses to quote.

MAIN POINT: Satan’s attempt to draw Jesus Christ into sin actually points to Satan’s own demise.

From the moment of Jesus’ baptism, His mission on earth was irreversibly set. He would walk a sinless path to His appointed death on the cross to redeem His people from their sin. And from the moment of Jesus’ baptism, Satan’s objective was clear. If Satan could cause Jesus to sin or if he could tempt Jesus to refuse the cross, then mankind would be forever rendered condemned, because there would be no perfect atonement to pay for their sins and thus there would be no basis for forgiveness. This conflict, then, is the context for the encounter in the wilderness, when the Son of God is tempted by Satan. There is so much that could be said about this entire interchange, but I want to focus only on that part of the temptation when the devil quotes Scripture.

Satan tempts the Son of God with the words of Psalm 91:11-12:

“He will command His angels concerning you,” and  “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.” By quoting these two verses, Satan is saying that Jesus deserves to be protected and that God, His Father, is not protecting Him from difficulty and danger. In essence the devil says, “You do not deserve to suffer or go through difficulty. God should protect you! Are you sure that you can trust Him? Surely you deserve better than this!”

But Jesus knows the Scripture perfectly, not only the content but also the intent, and so He is not persuaded by Satan’s taunt. He stops the devil in his tracks, quoting Scripture in reply: “It is written, ‘You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.’”

Where, then, is the irony in this? The irony of this passage is hidden and is subtle, but it has to do with Satan’s taunt from Psalm 91. The adversary quotes verses 11 and 12, either forgetting or not realizing what verse 13 of Psalm 91 says: “You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; The young lion and the SERPENT YOU WILL TRAMPLE DOWN.” Notice the irony of these words.

Satan tempts Jesus with the very words that tell of His mission on earth. Jesus has been sent to earth for the express purpose of trampling upon Satan. (See Genesis 3:15 and 1 John 3:8.) Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil.

Satan chooses to tempt Jesus from the very psalm that explicitly tells of his demise.

Instead of causing Jesus to sin or to be distracted from His mission, Satan’s quote leads to a prophecy of Satan’s being trampled by Jesus’, which points to the cross.

The passage reveals that Satan is clumsy when he quotes Scripture and that his understanding of Scripture is limited and weak. What he meant as a trick to derail the Son of God turns out to reveal Jesus’ glory by showing His victory over the devil. This is the irony of the passage.

SDG        rmb        5/8/2017

Joshua 2: Christ in the Scarlet Thread

MAIN IDEA: The main idea in this writing from Joshua 2 is that the writers of the Old Testament narratives, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wove into their stories pictures of Jesus which foreshadow His life, His salvation and His gospel. And while Jesus Christ appears many times in the Old Testament (Hebrews 1:1; Luke 24:27), He often appears in disguise and here in this passage is a beautiful example of how Jesus Christ and His salvation are hidden in an Old Testament narrative.

In this article I will carefully go through this passage from Joshua 2 showing how Jesus and His gospel are here in disguise. Then I will lay out for you the TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS of these “Jesus-in-disguise” passages so that you can begin discovering them for yourself.

As you read through Joshua 2, the story sounds a little unusual, with the spies coming inside the walls of Jericho and then talking to Rahab, the harlot. Nothing may catch your eye as significant as you continue to read. Then suddenly you see it: the scarlet thread. “Tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window . . . (2:18)” At once you should be drawn to full attention, for the “scarlet thread´ is a big neon sign shouting “Jesus is hiding here!” SCARLET, like the stain of sin that can only be removed by Jesus’ blood (Isaiah 1:18). A SCARLET thread, like a thin trickle of blood running down from where a thorn has pierced Jesus’ sinless brow. A scarlet thread, like the red drops dripping down the rough wood of a Roman cross. Yes, the scarlet thread is an obvious clue intentionally placed in the text to catch the disciple’s attention and to quietly announce for those who have listening ears that the Messiah is hidden here.

Now that the scarlet thread has decisively alerted us that the hidden Messiah is near, we begin the next part of the study, which is to mentally “rope off the passage” (in this case, 2:1-21) and to become a spiritual detective bent on finding all the clues which the Holy Spirit has hidden in this story so that you can clearly see Jesus.

I remember when I was a child there was a children’s magazine that would have a drawing or a picture on one of the pages of the magazine. The drawing was a pencil sketch in its own right, but also in the drawing or sketch were many hidden objects and the point of the game was for the observer to find all the objects hidden in the drawing. This spiritual detective work that we are doing now is very similar to finding the disguised or hidden objects in the picture. In this Bible study, the goal is to find all the hidden clues in the passage until you can see Jesus clearly. Here are the things that I found in the passage.

  • The main character in this chapter is Rahab the harlot, a prostitute in the pagan town of Jericho. Thus she is a condemned sinner from a people who are doomed to destruction. As such she is in urgent need of salvation. So this is a story about a sinner in urgent need of salvation and thus pictures for us all doomed sinners who need to find the means of salvation. Jesus comes to save sinners from destruction.
  • Rahab appeals to the spies for mercy, asking that she and her family will be spared when the destruction comes (2:12-13). (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:20) Even so, we are saved as an act of God’s mercy.
  • Rahab is not spared (saved) by her good works, for she has none. Rather she is spared only because of the scarlet thread and the oath.
  • The two spies are from the people of Yahweh and are the agents of salvation for Rahab. Notice some interesting details about the spies from the story.
    • The spies/saviors are to hide themselves for THREE DAYS (2:16). In my view, this foreshadows the three days the Lord Jesus lay in the ground after His crucifixion. In this case, “three days” is a messianic clue, almost as obvious as “scarlet thread.”
    • When the spies (saviors) will return to Jericho, they will bring a sword of destruction on all those who do not have a scarlet thread in the window of the house. Just so, when Jesus returns, He will bring a sword of judgment (Rev. 19:11ff) on all those who have not believed in Him.
    • The spies explain to Rahab the way of salvation (2:17-20). In this way they are acting as ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) or witnesses (Acts 1:8; Isaiah 43:10). They are messengers of salvation from the people of God.
    • The spies are bound by their oath (2:17-20) to save Rahab from death. In the same way, God through Christ binds Himself with an oath (promise) to save all those who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
  • Only those who are gathered into Rahab’s house, the house with the scarlet thread in the window, will be spared from the sword (2:18-19). (Remember Exodus 11-12 and the Passover. Also remember Genesis 7 and the closing of the ark.) All those who are gathered into the house with the scarlet thread will be saved and all those who are outside will perish, regardless of any other factor. In this same way, all those who are called into the house of God, the true Church, and who truly believe in Christ will be saved and all who remain outside will perish.
  • Rahab’s soul and the souls of her family will be delivered from death because of the oath and the scarlet thread. The oath and the thread are matters of life and death. Even so, believers are delivered from eternal death through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the scarlet thread and faith in Him is the oath.
  • Rahab believes the spies and demonstrates her faith by putting the scarlet thread in her window (2:21). In the same way, those who follow Jesus make their faith visible through baptism and through boldly identifying with Jesus. Figuratively, they display Jesus Christ by placing Him in the window.
  • Rahab must remain faithful to the oath she had accepted (2:20). If she is unfaithful to the terms of the oath then the oath is null and void. This says that there are conditions that must be met to receive the benefits of the oath. Just so, everyone who merely goes through the motions of believing in Christ, but who is never truly converted will not be saved by Christ (Matthew 7:21-23).

Now it is certain that not all of these clues are equally strong. In fact, some of these may be too much of a stretch and may not actually be intended by the Holy Spirit to foreshadow the Lord Jesus. My point is that, in passages where Jesus is intentionally disguised or hidden, there are often many clues that point forward to the coming Messiah.

And what were the results for Rahab? Rahab and all her family who were gathered into her house were spared by the spies (Joshua 6:22-25). “By faith Rahab did not perish along with those who were disobedient (Hebrews 11:31).” Rahab the harlot even finds herself in the lineage of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5).

TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE STORIES:

While all these stories do not follow exactly the same pattern, because our God is an infinitely creative God who writes stories uniquely, there are typical characteristics that mark out these stories.

  • Theme of the story is about salvation, rescue or redemption;
  • Clues are intentionally placed in the text to catch the diligent reader’s attention and to flag the story as needing to be read more slowly and carefully (scarlet thread, three days, MORE
  • The story is often obscure or even odd (Making the story odd or obscure is done as a clue to catch attention.);
  • The story often has almost no historical significance, since it is about people who make no difference in world history.;
  • The story seems almost to have been placed in the text for the express purpose of piquing your curiosity.
  • Study of the passage reveals many images or ideas which foreshadow the life and mission and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the next time that you are reading along in the Old Testament and encounter an odd passage that seems to have an obvious clue (like a scarlet thread) which is associated with Jesus, begin to look for more clues. It could be that Messiah is hidden there.

SDG        rmb        4/27/2017