On this occasion, Simon the Pharisee had invited the upstart Rabbi into his house for dinner. He did not really want to invite Him, but common courtesy and religious decorum required that one teacher invite another teacher into their house, and Simon was not one to be rude to an up and coming religious peer. So he invited this Jesus to come to his house to dine.

As dinner progressed, Simon was probably bored and fairly indifferent toward his guest. “He doesn’t seem very impressive to me,” he probably thought to himself. “I don’t see what the big deal is about Him. He’s perfectly ordinary as far as I can tell and His teaching is good, but unremarkable. In fact, He doesn’t even seem to know much about the latest rabbinic ideas at all. Yes, very ordinary, indeed.” Simon has made up his mind about this Jesus, and he sees Him as over-rated and forgettable, and certainly the farthest thing from the Messiah.

As Simon is thinking these thoughts and making up his own judgment about this Rabbi, suddenly the proper and reserved atmosphere of the dinner is disturbed, for a “sinner” has somehow entered the house. Certainly uninvited, this immoral woman has discovered that Jesus is nearby and she has grabbed an alabaster vial of perfume, the most expensive thing that she owns, and pushed her way past the dignified guests to take her place at the dusty feet of the Lord of the universe. It is there at Jesus’ feet that this woman will worship Him. For she, like Simon, has made her own judgment about Jesus, but her conclusion is very different from Simon’s. She has concluded that He is the promised Messiah and that He is the sovereign Lord and that He can forgive her sin. And so this woman, this “sinner” worships the Lord Jesus with reckless abandon. In pure humility and adoration she showers affection on Him, utterly unconcerned about herself or her reputation or what other people may think of her. Her only desire is to worship this holy man, Jesus, with her whole being and with everything in her, kissing His feet and wetting His feet with her tears and wiping His feet with her hair. All the while she is pouring expensive perfume out on His dusty feet. Her worship of Jesus is extravagant and unrestrained, and because of her evident love for Jesus and because of her demonstrated faith in Him, Jesus forgives her sins. Yes, by her faith she is washed clean from all her sins and walks away a forgiven woman.

Luke often contrasts the Pharisees and the “sinners” (5:31-32; 7:36-50; 15:1-32; 18:9-14; etc.), showing that the stoic and strict religion of the Pharisees bears no resemblance to the robust, vigorous new life of the true disciple, while also showing that “sinners” often demonstrated saving faith and were more willing to repent than their religious counterparts. Religious people believe they are good enough to deserve entrance into heaven on their own merits, while sinners are eager to hear of a God who is merciful and gracious and who will forgive the sins of everyone who places his faith in Jesus.

And here Luke also shows that where there is a difference in faith toward Jesus, there is also a difference in worship. So here he contrasts the sort of bored and indifferent treatment that Simon the Pharisee gives Jesus with the unrestrained and reckless adoration given to Him by the “sinner.”

Every one of us must reach his or her own conclusion about who Jesus is, and what we conclude will manifest itself in how we relate to Jesus. In other words, my opinion of Jesus will manifest itself in my worship of Jesus. Do I relate to Jesus with unselfconscious joy and heartfelt worship or do I relate to Him with bored indifference, staying detached and distant and cold? If someone looks at how I worship Him, would they conclude that I love Him with all my heart?

O, that I would worship as this woman worshiped, and not remain trapped in my safe and sedate and refined expressions of love for Him! O, that we would worship the Lord Jesus with the reckless abandon of a sinner who has been forgiven of many sins and adore the One who has told us, “Your sins have been forgiven.”   SDG   rmb  4/25/2016

In the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus, we frequently see the Lord performing astounding miracles of healing or acts of power without the slightest effort or fanfare. What is almost as remarkable is the matter-of-fact tone with which these astonishing acts are related by the gospel writers. What do you think? Does stopping a hurricane with the sound of your voice warrant at least a little notice and maybe a headline? But for Jesus, this was completely routine. When you are the Creator God, there is no act that requires effort.

In the seventh chapter of Luke, there is another such miracle that occurs, this one in the midst of a funeral procession. As we set the scene, we see that Jesus is entering the town called Nain. He is followed by His disciples and also by a large crowd. As this huge entourage enters the city, they are met by a funeral procession coming out of the town. You can imagine what kind of a hush falls over the crowd traveling with Jesus as they meet this funeral procession. Here is a sad and hopeless situation. The only son of a widow is being carried out of the city to be buried. The widow has lost her husband and now has lost her son. Thus she is left with no real hope for the future. How is she going to survive when her husband and her only son have died? The path ahead is black indeed.

But there is no situation that is hopeless when Jesus Christ is there. What happens in Nain? First, Jesus sees the situation and has compassion on the woman. Imagine this, that we have a God who is compassionate toward hurting, desperate people. Jesus not only sees the situation, but He also decides to do something about the situation. But what can be done? The son of the widow has died and no one but God alone can overcome death. There is no human who can overcome the finality of death.

Instead of sadly walking away, however, and showing respect for the dead and the grieving, in the presence of the entire funeral procession and His own large entourage, Jesus walks up to the coffin and stops the funeral procession. The people must have wondered what Jesus was going to do. “Jesus, the guy is dead. Please don’t do anything embarrassing or silly. Let’s just go on and let’s not bother this poor widow.” At this point there is no one in the funeral procession or in the large crowd following Jesus who is not perfectly aware that the young man on the coffin is dead. After all, that’s why they are going in the funeral, to bury this dead young man. “It’s over. Let them grieve and let’s move on.”

What happens next is beyond remarkable and beyond astonishing. In the presence of all these people, with them all hearing His every word, Jesus speaks to the corpse and commands the corpse to get up. Try to grasp what is going on. A flesh-and-blood human being is standing there and is speaking to a corpse, telling the dead man to get up, much like you would tell your sleeping son to get up on a Saturday morning. All the people, who know with absolute certainty that the young man is dead, hear Jesus speak to the corpse. “Is He out of His mind? The boy is dead. There is nothing that You can do, Jesus.”

Instead of submitting to hopelessness, Jesus Christ assumes control of the situation. “Young man, I say to you, ARISE!” The Lord of the universe speaks and none can resist. The One who rules over all and who is sovereign over life and death, commands the boy to get up. Death must yield its grip. His spirit returns to him and the corpse sits up and begins to speak.

How do the people respond when they realize that God is in their midst? They are filled with fear and begin glorifying God saying, “God has visited His people!” Jesus has performed yet another miracle.

LESSONS:

1. Jesus has compassion on those who are desperate and grieving. He calls those who mourn ‘blessed.’ (Matt. 5:4; Luke 6:21) We have a Savior who is compassionate toward ordinary people. “He knows our frame and He is mindful that we are but dust (Ps. 103:14).” Jesus has suffered, so He can understand how painful it is when His people also suffer (Hebrews 4:15; 2:18).
2. Jesus Christ is more powerful than death. Death is subject to the commands of Jesus. Just as He raised the son of the widow of Nain, and just as He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43ff), even so He will raise us from the dead when He returns. Because of Jesus Christ, death has no victory and the grave has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55). The power of death has been broken by Jesus’ death on the cross (Hebrews 2:14-15).
3. The proper response to Jesus Christ is to fear Him with a reverent fear and to glorify Him as our great God.

SDG    rmb   4/18/2016

Unlike every other religious book, the Bible is rock-solidly based on historical facts, and perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in Luke’s writing. In both the gospel of Luke and in the book of Acts there are many historical facts that crowd the chapters of those narratives. Luke writes of real, historical people and even tells about details of their lives and the specific dates when they lived. He also writes of real historical places which either still exist today or have been found in archaeological digs. And it must be remembered that Luke’s gospel was in circulation when the people he mentions were still known. In other words, if these were not real people, then the ones hearing the gospel account or reading the gospel record would know that the names were fictional people and thus the entire account would also be suspect.

This means that Luke’s gospel can be shown to be either truth or fiction. The facts could be validated by those early readers or hearers and they would also be denied if they were false. And the facts prove to be true in every case. Why is this important? It is important because if every historical fact in the gospel account proves to be true, it means that what Luke writes about Jesus is also true. Luke proves himself to be a trustworthy and accurate historian so that his readers will trust what he writes about Jesus. This is Luke’s goal, to arrange his gospel account in such a way that the truth of Jesus, of what He said and did, will be understood and believed (Luke 1:1-4).

As an example of Luke’s meticulous attention to historical detail, read Luke 3:1-2 carefully. Luke gives us at least eight verifiable historical facts of real people to establish the precise time when John the Baptist preached in the wilderness. The timing of this is important because Jesus immediately follows John. Thus Luke establishes the timing of the baptism, temptation and initial ministry of Jesus the Messiah, but more than that, by giving a host of historical facts that prove to be true, Luke is giving no reason to doubt the rest of what he writes.

So what are these historical facts? First, Luke mentions that these events took place during the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. Not merely sometime during the reign of one of the Caesars, but in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius is when these events take place. Next we read of Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea. Here is a name that would have been unknown to history except for his meeting with Jesus. So Luke mentions Pilate. Then Herod, the wicked and sensual ruler of Galilee is mentioned, to further establish the historical setting. Herod’s brother Philip is another historical figure, as is the otherwise unknown Lysanias. Further pinpointing the exact time of these events is “the priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.” This is especially noteworthy, since it speaks of an unusual joint high priesthood, which may have been unique in Israel’s history. By including this minute detail, Luke not only shows an intimate knowledge of the state of Judaism at that specific time, but he also further showcases the painstaking efforts he has taken to capture with precise accuracy the historical context of the events he is going to describe. It is as if he is shouting, “These events really happened. There is nothing that is even slightly fictional about these accounts. There is no way I made this stuff up!” Real names; real dates; real places; thus, real events.

Finally, Luke re-introduces John the Baptist, the son of Zachariah as his last historical marker. John was well-known during his ministry and also after his ministry and his life ended. He thus serves as an historical figure and as the forerunner to the Messiah.

Again, all this verifiable, reliable historical information established Luke as a completely credible writer and witness. His testimony is true and the events he describes really happened. Yes, the Jesus he describes is the Jesus who lived. Jesus taught with authority, He called sinners to Himself, He lived a sinless life, He died on the cross and He rose from the dead. And one day He will return. Will you be ready?  SDG  rmb  4/17/2016

With the death of Christ, the sinless Son of God, death itself became subject to death, for in the death of Christ, death became a transgressor. How did this come about?

From the beginning, our holy God has had a settled hatred of all sin. Sin, all sin, is an offense against the holiness of God and represents cosmic treason against the Holy One, the Creator God. Thus in the beginning, the LORD God appointed death as the appropriate end of all who sinned. In this sense, death became the obedient servant of the LORD, because the LORD demanded death as punishment for sin and death dutifully obeyed. As such, death could make a legal claim on any and every human being who sinned. In fact, death was appointed by God to carry out that role. God had told Adam, “The day you eat of it (the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), you SHALL SURELY DIE.” When Adam and Eve sinned, therefore, according to God’s command and according to His word, death staked its claim on the first two humans. “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin . . . (Romans 5:12).” Because of God’s decree and Adam’s sin, death entered the world. “Death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam (Romans 5:14).” And death reigned because all had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). As soon as any human being transgressed for the first time in their life, they became subject to death and death could legally claim that person. When death claimed anyone who sinned, death was, in essence, being obedient to the role for which God had appointed it. “The soul that sins, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4).” “The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).” “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness . . . (Romans 1:18).” “Transgressors will be altogether destroyed (Psalm 37:38).” Yes, death had a divine command from God to take all who sinned. As such, death was the dreaded, faithful servant of the LORD God, obediently taking away all sinners in death.

But there came a day when death overstepped its bounds and did that which it had no divine command to do. For when Christ came, He lived a sinless life. The Lord Jesus Christ never transgressed the Law of God even one time. He perfectly obeyed the Law of the Lord in His every thought, word and deed. The word of God testifies to the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. “He (God the Father) made Him WHO KNEW NO SIN (Jesus) to be sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21).” Peter declares that Jesus was the One “WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, nor was any deceit found in His mouth (1 Peter 2:22).” The author of Hebrews says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN (Heb. 4:15).” Of course Jesus Himself was aware of His own perfect obedience, for in a dialog with His adversaries (John 8:46) He said, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin?” After this question there was no response, because Jesus had no sin of which He could be convicted. In his first epistle, the apostle John says, “And you know that He appeared to take away sins; AND IN HIM THERE IS NO SIN (1 John 3:5).” The conclusive witness of Scripture is that Jesus Christ had no sin.

So “the wages of sin is death” and “the soul that sins, it shall die,” but what is to be done with this Jesus Christ, for He has no sin? The theological fact is that, since Jesus was not a sinner and had lived a sinless life of perfect obedience, death had no claim on Jesus. God had commanded death to take all sinners, but God had given death absolutely no right to claim a man who had never sinned. For death to take a sinner was for death to be obedient to its divinely appointed role, but for death to take a sinless man was for death to transgress. And so when death claimed the sinless Son of God, death overstepped its divinely ordained bounds. Thus in the moment that death took Jesus Christ away, in that exact moment death became a transgressor. Death sinned in taking away a sinless, innocent Man, and so death, as a sinner, became unrighteous and thus was subject to God’s wrath (Romans 1:18). In the death of Christ, death itself became subject to death, for “the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)” and “transgressors will be altogether destroyed (Psalm 37:38).” Do you see what Christ has accomplished? He fulfilled the Law of God perfectly and thus became our source of imputed righteousness (Isaiah 61:10; Jeremiah 23:6). He died on the cross to pay the death penalty (Romans 3:25) for all who would believe on Him. He destroyed the works of the devil by robbing death of any fear (1 John 3:8; Heb. 2:14-15). But here in this study we have also seen that by allowing death to take Him, He condemned death to death. Now because of the death of Jesus, death must surely die. And we see this brought to pass at the end of time: “And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).” Death will be thrown into the lake of fire because of the sinless life and the death of Jesus Christ. SDG   rmb   4/12/2016

Jeremiah 13:23 – “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” Here Jeremiah speaks to one of the most profound conditions of fallen man. Can anyone really change? O, this is a question that deserves some thought.

First it must be acknowledged that the natural man cannot change. We will forget for the moment the fact that he does not desire to change and we will ignore the fact that he loves his evil practices and his lusts and he eagerly wants to continue in them. For now I just want to talk about the natural man’s complete inability to change. The unbeliever cannot change anything about himself. O yes, a person can change locations and they can change their hair color and their style of running shoes, but the natural man is powerless to change anything within himself, anything of substance. He is trapped in the Cage, the place where his experiences, his environment, and his natural genetic makeup have put him. Thus “the Ethiopian” cannot change his skin, and everyone is born “an Ethiopian,” trapped in his skin. Everyone is born in a cage and is unable to change his behavior. So the first answer to Jeremiah’s question is: “No, the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, the leopard cannot change his spots, and the one who does evil is unable to do good.”

But what happens when God changes the Ethiopian’s skin? The Ethiopian cannot change his own skin, but God can change his skin and can make him new (2 Cor. 5:17). Thus God does the impossible every time a person comes to faith in Christ. The “Ethiopian” (that’s everyone of us) has been changed and thus he can now be transformed, because the Ethiopian has new skin. The Cage that contained and constrained him has been shattered and the chains have been loosed. When Christ sets you free (John 8:34-36), you become free to change and you also receive with your new skin a deep desire to be holy. Thus the believer begins to change from the first moments of their reborn life and he continues to grow and change as he draws closer to Christ. Therefore the believer can change and he or she will change, because the Cage has been shattered and because they have been born again to a living hope, which will certainly result in a changed life. Now, after God has changed his skin, the Ethiopian can begin to do good. SDG  rmb  4/9/2016

In the opening chapter of the book of Daniel we find Daniel and his three companions in Babylon in the midst of a pagan culture with pagan religion and pagan practices. So what is a devout Hebrew to do in this situation? We can learn from Daniel here, because we live in a similar situation. Let’s see what Daniel chose to do and what the results were of his decision. We will see that Daniel had a strategy in mind and the LORD also was going to use Daniel and his three friends to work a great work in the life of Nebuchadnezzar.

“But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine that he drank.” – Daniel 1:8

When Daniel comes to Babylon, he is brought into the court of the king of Babylon, to King Nebuchadnezzar. He has been brought into the highest court in Babylon because he had no defect, he was good-looking, was intelligent and had understanding and knowledge. The Hebrew youths with these qualities were hand-picked for an indoctrination program so that they could be taught the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. The program almost certainly involved introducing the Hebrew youths to the pagan gods of the Chaldeans as well. Another part of this program was eating the choicest of the king’s food and the best of the king’s wine. Nebuchadnezzar planned to make these Hebrews into good Chaldeans to serve him in his court as prizes of his conquests. He would have the best and the brightest of the Hebrews in his service and he would gradually turn them into Chaldeans, with Chaldean thinking and with Chaldean gods.

It would be good to pause here and see that this is exactly what the world would have the follower of Jesus become. The world tries constantly to press us into its mold and to have us eat the choice food of this world. The world would have us lose all those things that make us distinct and set apart to the LORD and would have us instead compromise and blend in with the rest of the perishing. The believer must vigorously resist compromise and resist losing the distinctives that make us holy to the LORD, while at the same time we need to maintain our platform for witness and not be so distinct from the world that we lose touch with the world we are trying to reach with the gospel. It is this balancing act that Daniel performs brilliantly. Let’s see how Daniel does this.

Daniel and his friends are Hebrews, just like all the other hand-picked youths from Jerusalem, but they are not just ethnically Hebrew. They are true followers of the LORD and they intend to live as followers of Yahweh no matter where geographically they live. But also I believe that Daniel and his friends were aware that their lives were being ordained by the LORD and that ultimately it was Yahweh who had sent these young men to Babylon for His purposes. (See 1:2 – “The LORD gave Jehoiakim . . .”) Again offering my opinion, I believe that the LORD intended to make Nebuchadnezzar into one of His followers and He was going to use Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael to do it. These men had been sent to Babylon by the LORD as His ambassadors and, as wise ambassadors, it was their duty to determine how to make the wishes and the glory of their King known to the nation into which they were sent. So while Nebuchadnezzar had hand-picked these fine Hebrew youths for his service, the LORD had long before selected these young men for His service and for the service of His kingdom.

Once again it would be a good idea to pause here and consider what is going on. For just as these Hebrew youths were selected by Yahweh to be His ambassadors in this pagan place of Babylon, even so today He has selected you and me as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to be His ambassadors in the places where He sends us. And as Daniel and his friends considered how they could be effective ambassadors in pagan Babylon, so we need to seriously consider how we can be effective ambassadors in our own Babylon. Your workplace is one of your Babylons, for the LORD has placed you there to be His light in that dark place (Matthew 5:16). How can you be an effective ambassador there? Maybe your school is a place where you are maligned and maybe even persecuted for being a Christian. Take courage and begin to see your situation as your assignment as an ambassador. What is my strategic plan for reaching this school for Jesus or at least for reaching a few of the people in this school for Jesus? Begin to think strategically as an ambassador. “How do I begin in this place? How can I make sure that these people know that I am not just a nice guy/girl, but that I am a follower of Jesus? And once they know that, how can I use that as a platform for telling them about Jesus?” How can we make it clear that we are a Jesus-follower without making them think that we are some out-of-touch religious weirdo? And once we have raised the awareness that we are distinct because we follow Jesus, how do we then use that as an opportunity for the gospel? What we will see with Daniel is that he established the fact that he was not just a Hebrew, but he was a worshipper of Yahweh, and then, when the LORD acted in a mighty way (Daniel 2, 3, 6), Daniel could give all the glory to the Lord.

So what does Daniel do first? He politely asks the commander of the officials if he can be excluded from the king’s choice food and from the wine the king drank. Why does he do this? Daniel does this so that he can make it very obvious to those who are watching that he is serious about obeying the God of the Hebrews. This does several things. First, it makes it relatively easy for Daniel and his friends, when the time comes, to declare that they must obey the LORD and cannot bow down to other gods (Daniel 3). The Chaldeans may object, but they should not be surprised. It also makes clear that not all ethnic Hebrews are true followers of Yahweh. Just because you dress like a Hebrew and talk like a Hebrew does not mean you are a true Hebrew. A true Hebrew is one who is holy and set apart to Yahweh. Thirdly and most importantly, it brings the LORD into the conversation, because it is the LORD that determines what Daniel and his friends will and won’t do. Because Daniel has established that he is a follower of the God of heaven, it is only natural that he is going to talk about that God.

Daniel and his friends, then, accomplish a lot just by refusing to eat the king’s food. The LORD sees to it that they remain healthy and so they are promoted to the personal service of King Nebuchadnezzar. Thus they have direct and personal access to the man they are seeking to win to Yahweh. They have established that they are serious about their service to their God and that they will not compromise and worship the Chaldean gods. This, however, is done in such a way that there is no offense given to the Chaldeans or to the king. Thus Daniel and his friends are in the royal palace as worshippers of the Hebrew God, but they are respected and accepted. They have laid the foundation for their evangelistic ministry to Nebuchadnezzar and have also opened the door wide for the LORD to move in this situation.

THE LESSON TO US: We also need to take this kind of a strategic approach. How can we raise the flag and make clear that I am a Jesus-follower without creating a wall between me and those I am trying to reach? One thing that we must do is live a holy and a righteous life before those who are watching, and we must be careful to do this all the time. We must establish that we are not just nice people, but that we are followers of Jesus and it is Him that we worship. Jesus is the one that changes lives. And once we have established the beach-head (so to speak) of our own personal holiness, we must then consider how the Lord will use this to further the gospel in our world. By following the strategy of Daniel and his three friends in their captivity in Babylon, we can be effective ambassadors for Jesus in our situation.  SDG  rmb  3/31/2016

The book of Leviticus is a treasure of what the LORD commanded to His people regarding sacrifices and offerings. The main theme of Leviticus is the holiness of God and much of the book conveys the clear message that the LORD is holy and anyone who would approach the LORD must come to Him on His terms. Leviticus also contains many pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ in foreshadows and types. Since this is the case and since many believers are unfamiliar with Leviticus, I wanted to begin some blog posts that I am calling “Lessons from Leviticus.”

In chapter 17 the LORD again speaks to Moses and says, “This is what the LORD has commanded.” The LORD then gives commands about the slaughtering of sacrifices and describes what must be done for any sacrifice to be accepted. (Leviticus 17:1-9) Every sacrifice must be “brought to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD” and the priest must approve the sacrifice and the priest must offer the sacrifice. If the exact procedure commanded by the LORD was not followed, “bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man” who offered the sacrifice and the one making the sacrifice “shall be cut off from among his people.”

Several observations should be made here:

1. The sacrifices were governed by the LORD through His priest;
2. The LORD determined what was an acceptable sacrifice;
3. The worshipper can only bring an acceptable sacrifice or he will be cut off from his people.

In any case, it is obvious that the LORD takes these sacrifices very seriously. But here is the question: Why does the LORD make this a big deal? That is, why does the LORD command that all sacrifices must be approved? This is even more curious when we know that the blood of all these bulls and goats could never take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). So why did the LORD command that every one of these ineffective sacrifices; every bull and goat and lamb and ram and calf and pigeon has to be brought to the tent of meeting and had to be approved as an acceptable sacrifice?

The answer is that all the acceptable, approved sacrifices offered in the tabernacle and in the temple by all the priests pointed forward to the one perfect and final sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Every sacrifice had to be approved by the priest and then had to be offered to the LORD in the way that the LORD had prescribed because of the perfect sacrifice that was foreshadowed by every sacrifice. The cumulative blood of all the lambs, rams, bulls and goats slaughtered in the temple could not take away one single sin (Hebrews 10:4), but nevertheless the LORD required that every one of these imperfect and ineffective sacrifices be approved by Him through the priest, because each approved sacrifice pointed to the final perfect and supremely approved sacrifice of the Son of God on the cross. SDG  rmb  3/20/2016

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the challenges that faced you? Have you felt that the decisions you had to make were just too great or the responsibilities were too difficult for you to bear? In those moments, did you long for rest and quiet in your soul? How should the believer respond when confronted with intimidating circumstances or with opponents that are much stronger than they are?

In Psalm 131, David teaches the believer to trust the Lord, especially in those areas that are beyond his area of control or responsibility.

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty,

Nor do I involve myself in great matters,

Or in things too difficult for me.

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul.

Like a weaned child rests against his mother,

My soul is like a weaned child within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord, from this time forth and forever.

It seems to me that this psalm was written when David was in distress. Whether the adversaries are real or imagined, or whether they are objectively overwhelming or just appear to be overwhelming at this time, David’s faith is being tested in this trial. So, like many of David’s psalms, the context here is distress. The Lord has led David into circumstances that are causing him to be anxious and to fear and to worry.

And doesn’t that same thing happen to us? Are there not many times when the Lord places us in circumstances where our stomach tends to get tight and our throat becomes dry and our voice begins to quiver just a little? The Lord has led us to a place of distress to see if we love Him or not. He is always asking, “Do you trust Me now?”

Notice, however, the way David responds to the distress and the testing. David first realizes that his sin of pride is at the root of the problem and is hindering his trust of the Lord. It is always the case, that sin always hinders trust in the Lord. Sin always weakens our walk with Christ and always causes us to depend more on the flesh and less on the spirit. David, therefore, reminds himself that he must smother his pride. He willfully tells himself that he will not involve himself in great matters or in things too difficult for him. It is these great matters that cause the godly man to stumble, either causing him to swell with pride because he handled some great matter or causing him to shrink back in fear and anxiety and unbelief because the matter is too overwhelming.

But what is the result when David chooses to trust the Lord? When David chooses to simply rest upon the Lord as a weaned child rests against his mother, his soul is composed and quieted within him. David has humbled his heart and has trusted the Lord and the rest and the peace come to him from the Lord.

David concludes the psalm with an exhortation based on his own experience of the Lord’s faithfulness. “O Israel, hope in the Lord . . .” If the believer will trust in the Lord, even in those circumstances where the enemies are overwhelming and the responsibilities are much greater than your own resources can address, then your soul will be composed and quieted and your faith will grow and God will be pleased. The Lord is always pleased by our faith and trust in Him (Hebrews 11:6) and will always reward those who trust Him and fear Him.

I want to suggest one quick practical applications for the lessons from this psalm.

First, I personally rely on this psalm and recite this psalm to myself when matters that are “above my pay grade” or are way outside my area of responsibility begin to fill my mind with fear and dread. These fears occur at those times when I do not take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5), but rather allow my mind to muse and to meditate on threatening situations in my world. When my thoughts drift to things like the stock market or like how my financial future will turn out, my fears naturally grow. What will the President do next? Or what will some other world leader do next? Will the world economy collapse? Is my health failing? Is my job threatened, and if that is the case, could I ever get another job again? If I am not careful about this and alert to this type of thinking; if I allow my mind to dwell on these “great matters” or on these “things (much) too difficult for me,” then I will quickly become discouraged and depressed and my soul will be anything but composed and quieted within me.

But if I instead say to myself, “Roy, Stop! Do not get involved with these ‘great matters!’ These are things too difficult for you. These are things that are way outside your area of responsibility. These are all matters that you must cast onto the Lord (1 Peter 5:7) and entrust to Him. These great matters are things you cannot influence and things above your pay-grade. Trust the Lord with them and cease worrying about them and stop thinking about them at all. Entrust these to the Lord and then concentrate all your energies and efforts on those things that you can influence and that you should be influencing. Focus on obedience (doing those things that you are commanded to do) and on trusting the Lord (on those things that only He can do).” When I do this, then my soul will not be anxious or fearful, but will be composed and quieted within me and will be at peace.

SDG rmb 3/16/2016

 

After seeking the LORD, the psalmist says that the LORD answered him. There is something amazing and awesome about this, that the glorious and infinitely powerful Lord of the universe, the Creator-God, actually listens to the voice of His children and answers them. But before we hurry on, I want to take some time to consider this and meditate on this.

Who is this God who answers? The Bible declares that the Lord is the only true God and that all the other gods are mere idols and of no account (Psalm 96:5; Isaiah 43:10-13; 44:6). God dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). He is the One who created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1; Col. 1:16). He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). He is the thrice holy God (Isaiah 6:3), the One who is so holy and so glorious that the angels hide their faces from Him. None of our sin can hide before His piercing gaze (Hebrews 4:13). He is high and holy and pure.

And who am I? I am the one who with Job must repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6). I am the one who has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). I must cry out to Him for mercy (Luke 18:13). I am the one who is wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked (Revelation 3:17). I am the helpless one (Romans 5:6) and the one who is an enemy of God (5:10) and who must somehow be reconciled to God before He will even listen to me.

What we see is that the LORD is infinitely distant from me and is vastly different than me. The Lord is great (Psalm 86:10) and holy (Isaiah 6:3) and so very “other” than me. The Lord is ultimately significant and I am insignificant. The LORD is the Creator of the universe (Col. 1:16-18) and I am but dust in His universe (Psalm 103:14). The Bible declares that this distance and this difference between me and the Lord are true realities, and then the psalmist declares another astounding truth. David “sought the Lord and the Lord answered him.” And we as believers have also experienced this ourselves in our walk with the Lord, that we also have sought the Lord and the Lord has answered us.

But wait a minute, for here we have two truths which seem impossible to reconcile. First the Bible declares the truth that the Lord (YHWH) is infinitely high and holy and cannot look on wickedness (Habakkuk 1:13) and at the same time the Bible also declares the truth that this great God will answer the cries and prayers of sinful men and women. And my question is, “How can these things be?” How is it possible that a creature as weak and as insignificant and as sinful as I am can receive an answer from the Creator-God? What has happened that has bridged the immense chasm between us and that has brought my request to the ear of the living God and has moved Him to answer me? Why would a God so high have any regard for one so low?

The only possible answer to this mystery is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There on that awful cross we who were far away were brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13). Before we knew Christ we were separated from God by our sins so that He did not hear us (Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:1-2). But now we have been redeemed by Christ’s blood (Ephesians 1:7) and have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (Romans 5:10) so that the Lord’s eye is toward us and His ear is open to our cry (Psalm 34:15).

Now through faith in Jesus, God the distant and different One has become my heavenly Father. Now because of Jesus’ blood, the Lord of the universe has become the God who will hear and answer my prayers. Now I can approach the throne of grace with boldness to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Now my seeking is not in vain, but now when I cry out to the Lord, I can anticipate an answer.

And the result of this is that, when I seek the Lord, I can anticipate His answer. I can say with the psalmist, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me.” The high and holy God will hear and answer our cry because of our faith in His Son Jesus.  SDG  rmb  3/5/2016

“For I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.”

Paul is speaking to the Corinthians believers and he is making the clear statement that he is compelled to preach the gospel. He is under compulsion. He must. “For woe is me (this can also mean ‘disaster’ or ‘calamity’) if I do not preach the gospel.” Paul has been called by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to proclaim the gospel (Acts 9:15). As a possessor of the gospel, Paul is obligated to tell others about Christ. Therefore, to not proclaim Christ is not an option. Paul does have the option as to HOW he preaches the gospel: willingly, and he will be rewarded with joy, or unwillingly, and he will be fulfilling his stewardship – but to not preach Christ is not an option. Paul has a stewardship that has been entrusted to him by the risen Lord Jesus and he will be faithful to that stewardship, no matter how he feels.

But as I thought about Paul’s stewardship, it occurred to me that, as in most of the New Testament, Paul here is serving as the model Christian for you and me. In his stewardship of the gospel, Paul is serving as our model, but he is not alone in being a steward of the gospel. In fact, every Christian is a steward of the gospel.

First, let’s consider what it means to be a steward. A steward is responsible to the owner and accountable to the owner for what has been entrusted to him. Having been entrusted with something of value, the steward is then responsible to the owner for seeing to it that the value is increased and multiplied. As long as the steward is managing the owner’s resources, he is under obligation to be a steward.

How does this idea of stewardship apply to the gospel? Paul had received the gospel, the gospel of his salvation, and was called to be a steward of the gospel as he proclaimed it to the Gentiles and to kings. But this same calling really describes every believer. Every believer has received the gospel and has been called to proclaim Christ. Consider Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Corinthians 5:20. Each of these verses applies to every believer of every age and thus we have the same options that Paul had. We can be willing or unwilling stewards and we can be faithful or unfaithful stewards, but we are and always will be stewards of the gospel.

Indeed, the Christian life is a life of stewardship. When we were unbelievers, we were not accountable to anyone but ourselves. (Consider Romans 6:20) We could do what we wanted to do with whatever stuff that was in our sphere of control with apparent impunity. It was our money and our time and our life and our fill-in-the-blank, and no one could tell us otherwise. But then Christ invaded our life and changed the course of our forever. We met the Lord and we beheld His glory and we bowed the knee and gave Him a blank check on our lives. Thus we became His bond-servants. And His stewards. And so now as followers of Jesus, we see that all that we have we have received from Him (1 Cor. 4:7). Since it is all His, we are accountable to Him. We are to take care of the valuables which He has entrusted to us and to see them increase and multiply. That is our obligation as stewards.

Now the gospel is the most valuable thing that God has entrusted to His people. Why do I say that? First, the gospel is the most important stewardship because it cost the most. The gospel cost the very death of the Son of God. To earn the salvation of His people (Isaiah 53:10-11; Acts 20:28), the Lord Jesus poured out His life-blood on the cross. All other costs pale into less than insignificance in comparison. Second, the gospel is the most important stewardship because it has the greatest impact. The gospel is “the power of God for salvation for all who believe” (Romans 1:16). The stewardship of the gospel means the salvation of multitudes of people “from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” (Rev. 7:9). Third, the gospel is the most important stewardship because unless God’s people proclaim the gospel and are good stewards of the gospel, the nations will never hear. God’s people must be stewards of the gospel because God has entrusted His message entirely to us. God’s Plan A for reaching the nations is for His called people to proclaim the gospel to the nations, and there is no Plan B. We are stewards of the gospel because of the cost, the impact and the necessity.

With the apostle Paul, then, we have a stewardship entrusted to us, a stewardship of proclaiming the gospel until they have all heard. Let’s be good stewards of the gospel. SDG rmb 2/23/2016