9 Pentecost - Monday B

First Posted August 3, 2009

Psalm 145 -- Testifying  about the Lord

I will lift you up in praise and bless you daily, for ever, my God and King. The Lord is great, and worthy of great praise. One generation will praise your works and declare your mighty acts to the next.

I will meditate on your glorious greatness and your wonderful works. People will proclaim the power of your awesome acts, and I will declare your greatness. The fame of your greatness and abundant goodness shall pour forth; all will sing aloud of your righteousness.

“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:9)

All you have created will give thanks to you, and all your saints will bless you. They will praise the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power, to make known to all people the great splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is everlasting, and your dominion is over all generations.

All the words and deeds of the Lord are faithful and gracious. He upholds those who are falling and raises up those who are bowed down. Every creature relies on the Lord for their sustenance, and the Lord provide for them at the right time. The Lord satisfies generously the needs of all.

The Lord is entirely just and kind in every aspect of his nature. “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, who call upon him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear him, he also hears their cry, and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but the wicked he will destroy” (Psalm 145:18-20).

I will proclaim my praise of the Lord; let all creatures bless his holy name for ever and ever.

God has always intended, from the very beginning of Creation, to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey him. This temporal life is our opportunity to seek and come to a personal knowledge of, and fellowship with God (Acts 17:26-27), and this is only possible through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; John 14:6), who has been “built into” the very fabric of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). God designed this creation to give us the freedom to choose whether to trust and obey him or not, knowing that we would have to learn by trial and error. But God is not going to tolerate disobedience forever. He has set a time-limit on this creation and on our physical lifetimes.

We have all sinned (disobeyed God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is God’s one and only provision for the forgiveness of our sin, restoration to fellowship with God, and eternal life in the eternal kingdom of God in Heaven (See God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Everything in this present creation is going to pass away, but we have been created to be eternal (John 5:28-29). The question is where we will spend eternity. Those who trust and obey Jesus will spend eternity in Paradise in the kingdom of God, in fellowship with our God and King. Those who refuse to trust and obey Jesus will spend eternity in Hell with all evil, eternally separated from God (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Worldly people are pursuing every physical thing and pleasure, all of which will pass away. What will eternity be like for eternal souls who are separated from God, who has been blessing and providing us with every good thing we now enjoy?

The Lord is not hard to find. He’s near to all who call upon him in truth (Psalm 145:18). The Lord has promised that every one who seeks him earnestly will find him (2 Chronicles 15:2b; Matthew 7:7-8). 

Every truly “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christian testifies that God’s Word is true, and that Jesus Christ is risen from physical death and is eternally alive, is the fulfillment of God’s Word, and the only way to forgiveness, fellowship with God, and eternal life. 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).

Jesus warns us to seek first the kingdom of God, and learn to do what is right in God’s judgment, according to his Word (in the Bible and in Jesus Christ, the "living Word;" John 1:14), and all the other things we need in this life and in eternity will be provided to us as well (Matthew 6:33). But if we seek first our physical security and satisfaction, we will never get around to finding the kingdom of God.

Church membership doesn’t make one a Christian; nor does participation in some church ritual, like baptism. Christians are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ, to learn and begin to apply Jesus’ teaching in daily life. As believers begin to trust and obey Jesus, they will receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Believers are not to go out and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus in the world until they have been “reborn” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8). One cannot be a witness testifying to something one has not personally experienced. One cannot testify to the goodness of the Lord without a personal relationship with him, by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

We’re at a time, particularly in America, when the older generation has failed to pass on personal testimony about the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness to the younger generation, because in too many instances the “Church” has failed to make “born-again” disciples, and has settled for merely making “members” and building “buildings.” A “Church” which doesn’t make “born-again” disciples won’t have “born-again” apostles (“messengers;” of the Gospel; preachers and evangelists).

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)?

9 Pentecost - Tuesday B

First Posted August 4, 2009

Exodus 24:3-11 -- The Covenant

Moses had received the Ten Commandments and the laws and ordinances from God. He announced them to the people of Israel, and they agreed to do all that God had commanded. Moses wrote God’s words in a book (a scroll).

Early in the morning Moses arose and built an altar to the Lord and twelve pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel, and he sent delegates of the twelve tribes to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood of the sacrifices in a bowl and poured it upon the altar. Then he read the Word of God establishing the covenant which Moses had written in the Book of the (old) Covenant (Testament). The people heard the Word of God and promised to obey all his commands. Then Moses sprinkled the people with the remaining blood of the sacrifice, and declared it the blood of the covenant binding the people to obey God’s Word.

Then Moses and Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was the high priest, and Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons and members of the priesthood, and seventy elders went up Mt. Sinai (Mt. Horeb) and beheld God and celebrated the covenant meal in God’s presence. There appeared to be a pavement like clear sapphire under the feet of God.

Commentary:

God initiated his plan for Creation by calling Abraham to trust and obey God’s Word, promising to make from Abraham’s descendants a great nation. Now God was continuing that plan. He had called Moses to lead God’s people out of Egypt, and Moses had received and recorded God’s Word at Mt. Sinai.

Moses proclaimed God’s Word to the people of Israel, and they covenanted with God to obey all God’s Word. The covenant was sealed by sacrifice, and half the blood of the sacrifice was used to cleanse and dedicate the altar, and the other half was used to cleanse and seal the people of Israel in the covenant. Moses was the mediator of the covenant.

This was God’s plan to prepare the people of God to receive a new and better covenant through the Messiah (Christ; Savior) Jesus. Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (Testament) of Grace (unmerited favor; free gift) through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our “Moses” who leads us out of slavery to sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and (eternal) death in “Egypt,” and through the wilderness of this present world. Through Jesus we experience the presence of God in this present life, and Jesus will ultimately lead us through the river of physical death and into the eternal “Promised Land” of God’s kingdom in heaven.

God has always intended to create an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey him. This present world has been designed to allow us the freedom to choose whether to trust and obey God or not, and the opportunity to learn by trial-and-error that obedience to God’s will is in our best interest. This creation has a time limit; God will not tolerate disobedience forever. Jesus Christ has been God’s only plan, from the beginning of Creation, for the forgiveness of our sins, for restoration to fellowship with God, and for salvation from eternal destruction,  and Jesus has been “built into” the very structure of creation (John 1:1-5, 14).

God wants us to know his will, and has given us his Word, the Bible, through Moses and the prophets, and through the disciples and apostles of Jesus, so that we can learn his will, and learn to obey his Word. God has also revealed his Word in Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment, embodiment and illustration of God’s Word in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14).

God has created a New Covenant (Testament) with his people through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the sacrifice, whose blood, shed on the Cross, cleanses us from sin, and makes it possible for us to come into the presence of God, now in this present world, and ultimately in his eternal kingdom, through 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 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’ body and blood provides the elements of the covenant feast, the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion; the Eucharist), which transformed the Feast of Passover of the Old Covenant of Law into the Feast of the New Covenant of grace (unmerited favor) through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God’s people are obligated to know, trust and obey God’s Word, recorded in the Bible, fulfilled and manifested in Jesus Christ.

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)?

9 Pentecost - Wednesday B

First Posted August 5, 2009

9 Pentecost - Thursday B

First Posted August 6, 2009

John 6:1-15 -- Feeding the Five Thousand

Jesus took his disciples by boat, across the Sea of Galilee, to the vicinity of Bethsaida (according to Luke 9:10; on the north shore of the Sea, east of the mouth of the Jordan River), to a place where he could be alone with his disciples in the hills nearby. The crowd guessed where they were going and walked there on foot, seeking physical healing for which Jesus was known. “Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand” (John 6:4)

Seeing the crowd coming, Jesus, knowing what he would do, asked Philip, as a test of his faith, how they could provide bread to feed the crowd. Philip realized that it would take two hundred days wages to provide enough bread to give each person a small portion.  Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother spoke up saying there was a boy with five barley loaves and a couple small fish, but that was insignificant in comparison to the need.

Jesus told the disciples to have the crowd sit down. It was a grassy place, and the people, about five thousand, sat down on the grass. Jesus took the boy’s loaves, prayed in thanksgiving to God, and then broke the loaves and fish into pieces and told the disciples to distribute them to the crowd. When the people had eaten their fill, Jesus told his disciples to collect the leftovers, so that God’s providence would not be wasted. The disciples collected twelve baskets full of fragments.

When the people realized what had happened they declared that Jesus was indeed the prophet (Elijah) who was expected to return (heralding the coming of the Messiah). Jesus knew that the crowd would take Jesus and force him to be their king, so he went further into the hills and hid himself from them.

Commentary:

Jesus’ healing and feeding miracles were intended to demonstrate that he could also provide spiritual healing and feeding. The people were interested in a political king who could deliver them from domination by the Roman Empire, and could give them free food and healthcare. They wanted one who would serve their needs, rather than serving him.

This Passover was probably the second Passover of Jesus’ public ministry; the year after Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and cleansing of the temple (according to John 2:13-25; Matthew places it at the week of Jesus' crucifixion: Matthew 21:1-13). The Passover feast originally celebrated the “passing-over” of God’s people by the Angel of Death, when God killed the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12:12-13).

Through Jesus, Passover became the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion; the Eucharist), the elements of bread and wine represent Jesus’ body and blood, sacrificed on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). The feeding of the five thousand is a picture of the fellowship with Jesus we have now in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and will have eternally in Heaven.

We can’t take Jesus and eternal life by force (or with money or deception). We can’t force Jesus to do our will, even by praying “in Jesus’ name.” Jesus cares about all our needs, and he welcomes those who come to him in faith (obedient trust). Many who came to Jesus were interested only in what Jesus could do for them physically. Let us not be so focused on physical and material things that we fail to claim and receive the spiritual healing and feeding which leads to eternal life, which only Jesus can supply.

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)?

9 Pentecost - Friday B

First Posted August 7, 2009

Luke 15:11-32 -- The Prodigal Son

Jesus taught in parables, fictional stories of common experiences of daily life to convey spiritual truth. In the Prodigal Son, a man had two sons, and one son asked for his share of the inheritance, so his father divided the inheritance and gave him his share. Shortly after, the son took his inheritance and went to a foreign land, where he wasted it in loose living.

A famine arose in that land, and the son was starving, so he became a servant to a citizen of that land, who put him to work feeding his pigs (the ultimate humiliation for a Jew). He would have gladly eaten the pods the pigs ate, but he wasn’t given any.

He began to realize that his father’s servants were fed and treated better than he. He decided to return to his father, confess his sin and become his father’s servant, since he no longer deserved to be his son.

He rose and returned to his father, but his father saw him while he was still a long way off, and ran and kissed him and welcomed him. The son confessed his sin and unworthiness, but his father, told his servants to bring the son fine new clothes and shoes, a ring (of authority) on his finger, and prepare a feast to celebrate the son’s return.

The older son saw the reception his brother received and was jealous and angry. He felt that his faithfulness went unrecognized. His father told the faithful son that he had always been with the father, and that all that the father had belonged to him. It was right to rejoice and celebrate the prodigal son, for he had been (as good as) dead and is now alive; he was lost, and has now been found.

Commentary:

This parable is a description of the kingdom of God. We are like the prodigal son. God is the father of us all, since he is our creator, whether we acknowledge him or not. God has given us life in this temporal world, and if we stay in fellowship with him by trusting and obeying his Word, (the Bible, and Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word; John 1:1-5, 14), we will live eternally with him in his kingdom in Heaven.

The problem is that we have all sinned (disobeyed God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). We have all taken our (eternal) inheritance and squandered it in “loose living” in the “Egypt” of this present world. We’re starving spiritually, and apart from God’s presence and God’s “house;” we’re spiritually dead. Will we recognize and acknowledge our spiritual need, and be willing to confess our sin and commit to serving the Lord, or will we remain in the “pigpen” and starve to death?

The “faithful” son in the parable is like people who are born and raised in the “Church,” but who aren’t spiritually mature, and don’t share the concern and joy of the father for the “lost” and spiritually needy. Jesus is the faithful Son, the example of spiritual maturity which we are to grow to emulate. Jesus shares his Father’s love and concern for the lost.

Jesus is God’s only provision for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s Word, restoration of fellowship with God, and salvation (from eternal death; Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). If we realize and confess our sin, and return to God the Father through Jesus, we will be welcomed with love and forgiveness into eternal fellowship with the Lord. The father’s response to the prodigal son is exactly his response to all lost sinners who repent. We need not fear God’s anger and punishment if we return and repent; what we should fear is spiritual starvation and spiritual death in the “pigpen” of this world, if we refuse to repent and return to our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ.

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)?

9 Pentecost - Saturday B

First Posted August 8, 2009

Paul warns Christians that it is not those who call themselves God’s people, but those who do God’s will, who are the people of God. Christians are not to presume that being members of the Church, or that baptism, or participation in Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper; the Eucharist) makes one a Christian or saves them from eternal condemnation.

Crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14:22) and being led through the wilderness by the by the pillar of cloud (Exodus 13:21) prefigures water baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Manna (Exodus 16:4-13) and the water from the Rock (Exodus 17:6) were supernatural food and drink prefiguring Holy Communion. The Rock prefigures Christ (John 7:37-39); Christ is preexistent (John 1:1-5, 14). The Triune God (the Trinity; God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) was present with Israel in the wilderness.

Although the Israelites were members of the congregation of God’s people, and participated in the baptism and supernatural food and drink (the spiritual meal of the Old Covenant of the Law of Moses), most of them did not trust and obey God’s Word, and died in the wilderness, failing to enter the Promised Land.

Commentary:

The history of God’s dealing with Israel has been written down in the Old Testament of the Bible as a warning for Christians, who are the “New Israel,” the “New People of God.” God will not tolerate evil, idolatry, immorality, unbelief, or complaining against God in us any more than he tolerated it in them. These things caused them to die in the wilderness, and their punishment for these things happened as a warning against unbelief and disobedience, and is recorded in the Bible for our instruction, so that we can avoid the same sin and punishment. Christians are the spiritual heirs of Israel and this is the end of the ages.

We must be careful not to become too sure of our salvation, so that we don’t fall into temptation. “No temptation has overtaken you which is not common to man[kind]. God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond your strength (to resist), but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Jesus Christ has been built into Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14). He wasn’t an after-though, a “Plan B,” after mankind sinned. God has always intended to create an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey him. This temporal Creation and our physical lifetime provide the opportunity to learn by trial-and-error to know, trust and obey God. God has designed this present world to allow us the freedom and opportunity to choose for ourselves, whether to trust and obey God.

Disobedience of God’s Word is sin, and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is the fulfillment, embodiment and demonstration of God’s Word in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is God’s only provision for the forgiveness of our sins (disobedience of God’s Word), restoration of fellowship with God, and salvation from eternal condemnation and destruction (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

The history of God’s dealing with Israel is intended to also be a parable, a metaphor for life in this world. Jesus is the “Moses” who leads his people out of slavery to sin in “Egypt,” the worldly society, through the “Sea” of water baptism and the Holy Spirit, the “pillar of cloud and fire,” through the wilderness of this present life, through the "River" of physical death, and into the eternal "Promised Land" of God’s kingdom in Heaven.

Only Jesus “baptizes” with the Holy Spirit (John 1:1-5, 14) 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).

This is the end of the ages; God has revealed his eternal plan and his Savior. Jesus is going to return in power and triumph to judge all who have ever lived on earth (John 5:28-29). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life with the Lord in the kingdom of God in Heaven; those who have refused to trust and obey Jesus will receive eternal condemnation and eternal destruction in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

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)?