15 Pentecost

15 Pentecost - Sunday B

First Posted September 13, 2009

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 -- Citizenship in God’s Kingdom

Psalm 15 -- Who will Dwell in God’s Kingdom?

Ephesians 6:10-20 -- Requirements for God’s Servants

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 -- Scripture versus Tradition

Deuteronomy:

Moses gave Israel his farewell speech as Israel was poised to enter the Promised Land after forty years of wilderness wandering. Moses urged them to hear and obey the Laws which God had given Moses (the Scripture of the Covenant of Law; the Word of God; the Old Testament Bible). Moses warned Israel that obedience to God’s Word was the condition for long life and their inheritance and possession of the Promised Land. Moses warned them not to add to or take anything from God’s Word.

Moses told Israel that their obedience to God’s Word would be Israel’s testimony, to the nations surrounding them and displaced by them, of the wisdom and understanding given them by God through his Word. Israel’s obedience to God’s Word would be a testimony to Gentiles (non-Jews) of the wisdom, righteousness, power, and presence of God to answer when Israel prayed, and help when they called upon God.

Psalm:

David was the man that God testified shared God’s heart (concern) and would do all God’s will (Acts 13:22; Psalm 89:20). David, the shepherd boy who became the great earthly king of Israel, had a personal knowledge of, and relationship with God. David testified that those who trust and obey God’s Word and do what is right in God’s judgment, will dwell in God’s presence, now and eternally.

Ephesians:

Paul (Saul of Tarsus) had been confronted by the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus and had been radically converted from a persecutor of Christians to become the prototype and example of a modern, “post-resurrection,” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple (student) and apostle (messenger; of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:1-21). Paul had been discipled by a born-again disciple, Ananias (Acts 9:10-20), and was now, after being filled with the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8), fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission to go into the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20), teaching them to (trust and) obey all that Jesus commands.

Paul was teaching the Ephesian disciples to be equipped for the Lord’s service. The first requirement is to be born-again; we cannot carry on Christ’s mission in our own fleshly strength and ability. Life in this world is a spiritual battle against supernatural forces of evil. We can only know and accomplish God’s will by the power and guidance of his Holy Spirit within us.

Only Jesus gives the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). So disciples must first learn (divine) truth, which is God’s Word, in the Bible and in the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word in human flesh, Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14; John 14:6). Divine truth and divine wisdom are not what the world falsely calls “truth” and “wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:17-25, 2:1-8). God’s truth (and wisdom) revealed in Jesus Christ is the basic garment over which the "armor" of God is applied.

We must be shod with the Gospel of Jesus Christ; we won’t go very far in bare feet. We must know and experience the truth of the Gospel in our own lives. Through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus we receive the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness, by which we are saved from God’s judgment (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). We must take the shield of faith, which will protect us from the flaming arrows the forces of evil will shoot at us. Salvation is the helmet which preserves us for eternal life.

The Word of God is the weapon the Holy Spirit gives us to prevail against evil. Going into spiritual battle without being equipped with the Word of God will not accomplish Christ’s mission and will be spiritually disastrous for ourselves. If we will read the Bible entirely and portions daily, the Word of God will be available to us to accomplish God’s will through the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit (see Free Bible Study Tools, sidebar, top right). The Lord opens the minds of his disciples to understand his Word (Luke 24:45), and recalls it to our memory at the time we need it (Mark 13:11), to accomplish God’s will (which he reveals day by day in his Word by the indwelling Holy Spirit) and to defend ourselves from spiritual attack (Mathew 4:1-11).

Christians are to pray constantly, guided by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26-27). We’re to be constantly alert, like worldly armies post sentries, so that the enemy cannot sneak up on them and catch them by surprise. We are to pray for ourselves and other Christians to be able to proclaim the Gospel boldly, and not to bring criticism of the Gospel in the world by unscriptural behavior.

Mark:

The Pharisees were a leading, legalistic faction of Judaism, and scribes were teachers of Jewish (Old Testament) Scriptures (the Bible). Judaism had become a “ritualistic religion” rather than a relationship with God. The religious leaders were using “religion” to pursue their own worldly interests, instead of seeking to know and serve God’s will. They were more concerned with following the tradition of their ancestors than in trusting and obeying God’s Word.

They criticized Jesus’ disciples for not observing the tradition and ritual of washing their hands before eating. Their criticism revealed their lack of concern for the needs of others and their interest in making themselves look righteous to others by their adherence to ritual and tradition, rather than their responsibility to seek and obey God’s will.

Jesus taught his hearers that it is not superficial things like ritual and tradition which determine whether we are righteous in God’s judgment or not, but whether we seek to know, trust and obey God’s Word. Eating certain foods or abstaining from them won’t save or condemn us in God’s judgment, but whether or not we have sought to know, trust and obey God’s Word will.

Commentary:

There are many examples all around us today of nominal “Christian” churches which have strayed into tradition and ritual and have become “religions” which attempt to manipulate God to do their will, instead of a relationship with God in which we seek to know and do God’s will.

People who claim to be God’s people should trust and obey God’s Word. Calling ourselves Christians doesn’t make it so, but instead it is those who hear and do what Jesus commands. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you” (Luke 6:46). “Not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven” (Matthew 7:21, and see: 22-27).

If we don’t trust and obey Jesus in this lifetime we aren’t going to spend eternity with him in the Kingdom of God in Heaven. There are a lot of people who think that, if they’re “good people,” they will go to heaven when they die, who are going to be terribly, eternally, disappointed and miserable.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

15 Pentecost - Monday B

First Posted September 14, 2009

Psalm 146 -- Praise the Lord!

I will praise the Lord with my eternal soul as long as I have existence.

“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man in whom there is no help” (Psalm 146:3). When a person dies his body returns to soil (from which he was created) and his plans die with him.

Happy is the person whose help and hope are in the Lord his God, the creator of heaven and earth and sea and every thing in them. The Lord’s faithfulness is eternal. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry.

“The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous” (Psalm 146:7c-8). The Lord protects travelers and aliens; he provides support for widows and orphans, but he will destroy the wicked.

The Lord reigns eternally over all generations, the God of Zion (the city and people of God) through all generations. Praise the Lord!

Commentary:

The Psalmist testifies to the faithfulness and power of the Lord to help those who recognize their need and call upon the Lord in faith. In our human nature, we try to be “self-sufficient” and “self-reliant.” When that fails we may turn toothers who are no more able to help us than we are, even though they may have great worldly status and authority.

Worldly security is an illusion! No matter how much we accumulate it’s never quite enough. Trouble is a part of life which comes to all of us sooner or later. Sometimes we need to experience trouble in order to realize our limitations, and to recognize our need for the Lord. When we’re in the midst of trouble it’s hard to trust God to help if we haven’t learned to trust him when things are going well.

Jesus Christ is the Lord who sets prisoners free and opens the eyes of the blind (Luke 4:16-21; Matthew 11:2-6). Jesus physically healed the blind and deaf, and set prisoners free (Acts 12:6-11), but the miracles of physical healing and release were intended to demonstrate Jesus’ power and mission to heal and free us spiritually. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Psalmist’s prophecy, and is the embodiment of the Lord (God) in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28), who lifts up the humble, protects sojourners, and provides care for widows and orphans.

Jesus is also the righteous judge, who has been given all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18) to judge the living and the dead (in both the physical and spiritual senses; John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). Jesus has the authority to give eternal life (“re-birth; by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34; 3:3, 5-8) to his disciples who trust and obey him (John 14:15-17). Jesus also has the ultimate authority to condemn the wicked (those who do not trust and obey God’s Word), who are spiritually “dead,” to eternal death and destruction in Hell (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Jesus demonstrated his mission to make “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples, and trained and commanded his disciples to continue that mission, after they had received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Matthew 28:19-20). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Jesus’ born-again disciples are to continue making born-again disciples by teaching them to trust and obey Jesus, until Jesus returns.

Jesus has promised to return again, at the end of history, in the Day of Judgment. That will be the day of ruin for the wicked, but the day of rejoicing and celebration for Jesus’ disciples.

15 Pentecost - Tuesday B

First Posted September 15, 2009

Isaiah 35:4-7a -- The Coming Savior

Those who are afraid are urged to take courage and not fear. Our God will come with vengeance and will repay each one according to his deeds. He will come and save us.

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart (a deer) and the tongue of the dumb (mute) shall sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:5-6b).

At his coming the wilderness will be transformed; streams of water will break forth. What was once burning sand will become a pool of water and springs of water will rise up to irrigate the thirsty ground.

Those who fear God (who have proper awe and respect for his power and authority) have no need to fear his coming because he will save his people. The Lord is coming with vengeance to punish the wicked oppressors and to restore his people.

The Lord is coming to restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and voice to the mute. His coming will transform the spiritual wilderness of this world into a lush garden. Creation will be restored to its original goodness (Genesis 1:31).

Commentary:

Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Luke 4:16-21; Matthew 11:2-6). Jesus healed the physically blind, deaf and lame, but his real mission is to heal spiritual blindness, deafness and disability. The miracles Jesus did were to demonstrate that Jesus can also heal spiritually, and to reveal that Jesus is the promised Messiah to those who know and believe God’s Word.

Jesus is the only one who can transform this “wilderness” with spiritual springs and rivers of water, and that life-giving and life-transforming water is the “anointing” of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 4:13-14; 7:37-39). Jesus is the rock in the wilderness from whom comes the water of eternal life (1 Corinthians 10:4). Only Jesus “baptizes” (‘anoints”) with the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). The ‘anointing” with the Holy Spirit is a discernable event; one can know for oneself with certainty whether one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13; 19:2).

Isaiah’s prophecy refers to Jesus’ first coming (“advent”) but it also applies to Jesus’ Second Coming, when he will come to judge the living and the dead, in both the physical and spiritual senses (John 5:28-29; 1 Peter 4:5). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in the kingdom of God in a new Creation restored to paradise (Revelation 21:1-4). Those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to trust and obey him will be condemned to eternal destruction in Hell (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Those who reverence and obey the Lord will have no need to fear Jesus’ return; it will be a time of great joy and rejoicing for them. Those who have spiritually blind, deaf, and disabled and have refused to let Jesus heal them will see and hear spiritual truth in that day (Luke 21:27; Matthew 24:30); they will learn and know the fear of God in that day (Luke 21:25-26), but it will be too late to change their eternal destiny.

15 Pentecost - Wednesday B

First Posted September 16, 2009

James 1:17-22 (23-25) 26-27 -- True Worship

Christians are warned to not be deceived. God is the giver of everything good. God is the “Father of lights” (the Creator of the sun, moon and stars; but also light as a symbol of righteousness). God is unchanging in goodness. He has created us according to his will and purpose and Christians have become the “first fruits” (offered and dedicated to God) of Creation, brought forth by the “word of truth” (the Gospel; the Word of God).

Christians are to be quick to listen (to learn the Lord’s Word), and slow to speak and slow to be angry. Anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God in us or in the world. Disciples are to remove sinful and wicked thoughts and behaviors from themselves, like weeds from a garden, and receive the implanted Word with meekness, so that it can grow to spiritual maturity in us, resulting in our eternal salvation.

Christians are cautioned to apply the Word of God in their daily lives. Hearing God’s Word is of no benefit if we do not apply it diligently; those who hear but do not apply are deceiving themselves. Unless we apply God’s Word, it is as fleeting in our memory as one’s appearance in a mirror. Those who look into God’s Word, “the perfect law,” the law of liberty, with the commitment to apply it will be blessed as he does so.

A person who thinks he is “religious” but doesn’t apply its teachings is wasting his time and only deceiving himself. Religion that is pure and acceptable to God is to apply its teachings in daily life; for example giving aid to widows and orphans, and avoiding participation in sinful worldly behavior.

Commentary:

God has always intended from the very beginning of Creation to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey God. This lifetime is our opportunity to seek and come to know God (Acts 17:26-27) and learn to trust and obey him. Jesus has always been God’s plan from the very beginning of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). God isn’t going to force anyone to trust and obey him, and he will allow us to choose for ourselves whether we want to live eternally with him in Paradise according to his rules.

There are lots of false teachings in the world today. Satan is a counterfeiter. There are not “many” paths to salvation; there’s only one and that way is Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). One can go “church shopping” and find a “church” which offers a “better, easier” deal than the requirements of discipleship and daily obedient trust in Jesus Christ. The way to avoid deception is to read the “word of truth,” the Bible, God’s Word.

A Christian is a “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26c) who trusts and obeys Jesus. Only Jesus gives the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit within him does not belong to Christ (Romans 8:9). It is impossible to receive the indwelling Holy Spirit and not know it with absolute certainty (Acts 19:2).

Christian discipleship is a growth process. As we accept Jesus as our Lord with the commitment to hear and obey his teaching, he will cause us to grow in faith as he shows his power and faithfulness to us. What we trust in faith in Jesus becomes certain knowledge (John 6:68-69). This lifetime is God’s garden. He intends for us to receive his Word, the Bible, and Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, God’s Word fulfilled, embodied and illustrated in Jesus Christ, and to allow it to grow to spiritual maturity and eternal life within us individually. We are to remove the “weeds” from our lives so that the implanted Word can grow to maturity and perfection.

Jesus is the righteous judge and eternal king. He has promised to return on the Day of Judgment, and judge those who are physically living and dead (John 5:28-29) and those who are spiritually living and dead (1 Peter 4-5). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom; those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to trust and obey him will spend eternity in Hell in eternal destruction (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

“Religion” won’t save us from God’s eternal condemnation; ritual won’t save us; church membership won’t save us. Only obedient trust in Jesus Christ will save us, through a personal fellowship with Jesus Christ by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit.

“Faith” is not getting whatever we believe if we believe “hard enough;” faith is believing with enough conviction to rely on what we believe and act upon it (i.e. obedient trust). Faith in anyone or anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ will ultimately betray and disappoint us. It isn’t those who call Jesus Lord who are saved, but only those who do what he teaches and commands (Matthew 7:21-27; Luke 6:46).

You have heard the “word of truth;” what are you doing with it? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

15 Pentecost - Thursday B

First Posted September 17, 2009

Mark 7:31-37 -- Healing the Deaf and Mute

Jesus and his disciples were returning from Tyre and Sidon, ancient Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast in what is now Lebanon, north and west of Galilee, to the region of the Decapolis, the Roman Province of the “ten cities” south and east of the Sea of Galilee. A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought by his acquaintances to Jesus, begging Jesus to heal the man.

Jesus took the man aside from the crowd, privately. Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears, and he spat and touched the man’s tongue. Jesus looked toward heaven and said “Ephphatha” (the exact word in the language of Jesus; Aramaic, meaning “be opened”). The man’s ears were opened and he spoke plainly.

Jesus told the people who had brought the man to Jesus not to tell anyone. But the more Jesus told them the more they proclaimed it.

The people were amazed and said “He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak” (Mark 7:37b).

Commentary:

Healing the deaf and mute was one of the signs prophesied in God’s Word which would accompany the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 35:5-6b). Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy and God’s Word (John 1:1-5, 14). The test of prophecy is its fulfillment (Deuteronomy 18:21-22); God’s Word is always fulfilled.

Jesus was concerned with the physical wellbeing of people but his main mission was to bring spiritual healing. Jesus’ miracles of physical healing were intended to show that Jesus can also heal spiritual illness, and spiritual healing is eternally more important. We are all spiritually “terminally ill,” unless we receive the spiritual healing only Jesus can provide (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Jesus took the man aside and healed him privately, and asked him and his acquaintances not to publicize the healing. Jesus was already attracting large crowds seeking physical healing and physical feeding, hindering Jesus’ ministry of spiritual healing and feeding. The man received physical hearing and the ability to speak clearly; what he chose to do with that healing was his decision to make.

The man and his friends thought they were helping Jesus’ ministry by publicizing his physical healing. They were using worldly methods to promote Jesus’ ministry, instead of using their hearing to become Jesus’ disciples and learning his teachings, learning to trust and obey Jesus, and then, after receiving the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5, 8), which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17), using their voices to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Jesus’ Apostles (messengers; of the Gospel).

The healed man received physical healing, but he missed the opportunity for spiritual healing and rebirth because he didn’t listen to and obey Jesus; he was still spiritually deaf and spiritually dead. He and his acquaintances thought they were glorifying God by their “witness” but they didn’t have the spiritual relationship with Jesus which would qualify them to be witnesses; they weren’t filled with, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and were hindering rather than helping Jesus’ ministry. Their testimony suffered from a spiritual “speech impediment.”

There’s a lot of detail in what Jesus physically said and did which led to the healing. One might think one could learn to do what Jesus was doing by watching what he said and did physically. But Jesus’ power came from the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God within Jesus. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism (John 1 31-34; Colossians 2:8-9). There is no “magic” word or “ritual” that we can use to gain God’s favor and power.

Instead of watching the physical details of Jesus’ ministry we should watch and learn the spiritual lessons he teaches about totally obedient trust in God’s Word. People would like to have the power Jesus had, without obedience and discipleship (Acts 8:9-24). His disciples are to learn to be spiritual healers.

15 Pentecost - Friday B

First Posted September 18, 2009

1 Kings 17:8-16 -- The Widow of Zarephath

Matthew 6:24-34 -- Serving Two Masters

1 Kings:

Elijah, a prophet of the Lord, was sent to declare a drought and famine to Ahab, the wicked king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Then the Lord told Elijah to go and live with a widow in Zarephath, a town on the Phoenician coast (now in Lebanon), outside of the control of King Ahab.

Elijah went and found the widow collecting sticks for a cooking fire. Elijah asked her to bring him some water, and as she turned to get it, he asked her to also bring a little bread. She told him that she only had a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil, and that she had been gathering the sticks to make one last meal for her son and herself, before they starved to death.

Elijah told her to go and make a small cake of bread for Elijah first, and then make the meal for her son and herself as she had intended. Elijah declared that the Lord God of Israel promised that the widow’s jar of meal and bottle of oil would not run out before the end of the drought. The widow went and did as Elijah had instructed, and she and her son and Elijah ate for many days, and the meal and oil were not used up, as the Lord’s Word had been declared through Elijah.

Matthew:

The Gospel text is part of the Sermon on the Mount, which is a representative collection of Jesus’ teachings; his typical sermon. Jesus warns his hearers that one cannot serve two masters and satisfy them both. One cannot serve God and “mammon” (Aramaic; meaning “wealth”).

Jesus tells his hearers not to worry about our physical life. This lifetime is about more than food and clothing. God is able to provide for his creatures from his creation. Birds don’t need to sow and reap, nor do they need to store up food; God provides their food. Flowers don’t need to work to produce or buy clothing. If God can provide food and clothing for his other creatures, can’t he also feed and clothe us who are much more precious than sparrows or flowers. Grass and flowers are ephemeral; here today and gone tomorrow.

Jesus teaches us not to worry about physical necessities like food, drink, and clothing. We aren’t to follow the example of the Gentiles (pagans; heathens; unbelievers). God knows that we need these things. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matthew 6:33). So let us not be worried about tomorrow; let us live one day at a time.

Commentary:

Elijah was a faithful man of God in the Northern Kingdom of Israel under a wicked King. King Ahab had made a pagan Phoenician (“Sidonian”) woman his Queen, and she had established temples and priests of Baal in Northern Israel (1 Kings 16:29-34). Prophets of the Lord had repeatedly warned the Northern Kingdom to turn from idolatry and disobedience of God’s Word, but their warnings were ignored.

Elijah faithfully proclaimed God’s Word to Ahab. Elijah trusted and obeyed God’s Word, and God protected and provided for Elijah, and those who believed the Word of God which Elijah proclaimed (1 Kings 17:15). Elijah and the widow are examples of people who trusted and obeyed God’s Word above seeking their own physical necessities, and as they trusted and obeyed, God provided the physical necessities as well. Jesus pointed out that there were many widows in Israel at that time, and yet the only widow who benefited from God’s Word was the “foreign” widow of Zarephath, because only she trusted and obeyed it (Luke 4:26).

The Sermon on the Mount is a typical example of Jesus’ teaching and his call to be his disciples. Jesus warns that we must commit to make the Lord our master and trust and obey him. In our human nature, we want to be “Lord;” we want to be “self-sufficient;” “self-reliant.” If we put worldly food, clothing and security ahead of serving the Lord, we will never get around to it, because we will never achieve worldly security and self-sufficiency.

This lifetime has been deliberately created by the Lord God to be our opportunity to seek and come to knowledge of and fellowship with God, our Creator (Acts 17:26-27). We can only do this through obedient trust in Jesus Christ, because God has intentionally “built” Jesus Christ into the “fabric” of creation (John 1:1-5, 14). No one comes to God except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

If we put serving the Lord ahead of ourselves, and seek God’s kingdom first, we will have security and sufficiency which we cannot have in this world, and the Lord will provide the physical necessities that we need as well. I personally testify to this truth. The Lord has provided abundantly for myself and my family, beyond my expectations, for the last twenty-five years that I’ve been serving him.

This temporal life is “ephemeral;” we’re no different than grass or flowers, compared to eternity. If we trust and obey God’s Word we can come to know with certainty within ourselves that we are in Christ and have eternal life (John 6:68-69). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

15 Pentecost - Saturday B

First Posted September 19, 2009

Galatians 5:25-6:10 -- Life in the Spirit

We are “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8) by the Holy Spirit, provided that we learn to walk according to his guidance. So Christians must not be conceited or provoke or envy others. If a brother (or sister) succumbs to temptation we should restore him with gentleness, remembering that we too are vulnerable to temptation. We are to help one another, thus fulfilling Jesus’ command to love one another.

We must not deceive ourselves, thinking we’re superior to anyone else. Instead of building ourselves up by comparison with someone else, we should examine ourselves honestly and then our evaluation will be on ourselves alone, for each of us will be judged on our own deeds. Those who teach God’s Word should be repaid by those who receive his teaching.

Don’t deceive yourselves; God cannot be fooled. What we do in this lifetime will determine what we receive in eternity. Those who live according to the flesh will die eternally in their flesh; those who live according to the Holy Spirit will live eternally in the Spirit. Let us keep on doing what is right (according to God’s Word) with perseverance, because we will ultimately be rewarded, if we do not succumb to discouragement. So then let us do good to everyone, but especially to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Commentary:

Jesus came to show us the way to eternal life in fellowship with God in God’s heavenly kingdom. When we allow him to be our Lord, our Master, and begin to trust and obey his teaching in our daily lives he will give us the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to know and do God’s will with the expectation that we will follow his guidance and use the empowerment he provides. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

Christians are “born-again” disciples of Jesus Christ who trust and obey Jesus. Christian discipleship is a spiritual growth process. When we commit to being a disciple we need to start learning God’s Word, which Jesus teaches. We need to begin reading the Bible, thoroughly and daily, and we need to start applying Jesus’ teachings in our life on a day-by-day basis. As we begin to follow Jesus, we will be “born-again.” But it doesn’t happen overnight; remember that the Twelve original disciples of Jesus Christ were physically with Jesus day and night for three years, and still they had to “stay in Jerusalem (the Church is the New Jerusalem on earth) until they had been filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8, 2:1-13).

As we trust and obey Jesus, we receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit with the purpose of helping us continue to grow in trust and obedience to Jesus unto spiritual maturity. As we have a personal relationship with Jesus by his indwelling Holy Spirit and as we seek his will, he will lead and empower us to be his witnesses according to his individual will for us.

We cannot carry on Christ’s mission in our own physical strength and ideas. We’re not to use Christian ministry to exalt ourselves or create our own “empire,” as the Jewish religious leaders were doing at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. We can’t testify to spiritual “rebirth” and a personal relationship with Jesus which we have not experienced.