Tag: Kaiserslautern

Some Thoughts on the Deceiver

June 15th, 2016
Mt Vesuvius

There is nothing behind this, but just some thoughts I had about our adversary, the deceiver, the accuser, the serpent.

John 8:43-44 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the Father of lies.”

Notice that it is not that our adversary didn’t know what truth was. He was created in truth, created in light, but he did not hold to the truth. He rejected truth, he renounced light and embraced darkness. No this isn’t a StarWars movie, this is supernatural history. The serpent emptied himself of light and truth.

His desire – John 10:10 tells us what it is, to steal, kill, and destroy.

From the beginning – Adam and Eve sinned on their own, but our enemy was instigator, thus resulting in their death.

No truth in him – “truth” spoken by the devil is always for the purpose of deception, so it is a lie. “Truth” when it is designed to deceive is a Lie. Wrestle with that for a minute. Slander is truth told to mislead about someone, and so thus the truth becomes a lie. That’s what he does.

Jesus does say that he lies, he says that he is a LIAR. He lies all the time. The way you can tell if satan is lying, is that his lips are moving. When he isn’t talking, he is planning a lie. He is the Father of lies – that is he is the Pater – father, originator of Lies. So every lie finds its progeny in him and also finds his pleasure.

So, just a couple of thoughts about what to do with deception vs truth, a couple of questions
1. Ask: What are the lies here? a) what is their purpose? Fear? Discouragement? Destruction? b) what is their result?
2. Ask: What is the Truth? a) what is the purpose? helps us find if “truth” might be a lie. b) reject the place of “truth” that is designed to deceive, divide, or destroy. Jesus said I came that you might have life. Discipline can be for the purpose of life. Truth sometimes is in the form of disciple and correction and that is good. But if this is for the purpose of the above desires of the Liar, then reject their place. c) Embrace truth designed to correct and respond with positive action. d) Embrace truth that encourages and that eliminates fear.
So, not a bottled up finish … but just some thoughts, if deception is your foe, think on these things

Selah …
A Picture of Christ in the Old Testament

May 24th, 2016

This is Chapter Seven of a New Study I developed at Faith Baptist Church on Wednesday Nights. I’d love to hear what you think.

Session Seven: In the Major Prophets

—-

Well … through the beginnings, through the Law, through the History books, Through the Poetry and Wisdom … Jesus. Jesus has always been there. He is the Image of the invisible God. He is God with us, God to us, God for us.

So we turn to the Major Prophets. They are not major because they are better, but because they are bigger.

Isaiah, the son of Amoz wrote the book of Isaiah to Judah and Jerusalem, during the reign of the kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Those bookend of Kings would have both been heroes for Israel and for Isaiah.

His prophesy begins by saying “Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owners manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.’ Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord: They have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.”

So … the people had been unfaithful … they had forsaken God … Jesus told the Pharisees once that they search the scripture thinking that by their knowledge they would have life, but they refuse to come to HIM … the One the scriptures testify about … to HAVE Life.

So, when Isaiah was called by God, Uzziah was King. Uzziah was a king for 52 years. Mostly he was a good King. He was faithful to God. But one day he got out of order, tried to do the work of a priest. He was corrected but did it anyway. He went into the temple and tried to offer incense. Remember to obey is better than sacrifice. So he was struck with leprosy. Most commentators say that Isaiah was related as a nephew or cousin to Uzziah. He was the country’s hero, but he was a special hero to Isaiah. He died in the separation and shame and shame of leprosy. And in that year when he died, no longer having glory, no longer having rule, no longer having majesty, Isaiah saw The Lord

Isaiah 6:1-10

Who did Isaiah see? The Lord – Adonai – Remember we have said that 1 Timothy 6:16 says no one has or can see God. So who did he see?

John says about Isaiah, John 12:41 “… he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”

Isaiah saw JESUS …

How did he See the Lord?

On a Throne …

Psalm 146:3–4 (NIV84) Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. ⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Psalm 146:10 (NIV84) The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.

Uzziah no longer sat on a throne, he was already buried in the place where every King goes … the ground. But there was Jesus … ON the THRONE …

High and Lifted Up – this was not the essence of God – that is Father, but the dominion of God, his authority given to the son. John’s connection of Jesus to this vision is clearly the proclamation of his divinity, his eternity, and his superiority.

Train filled the temple – interestingly, Isaiah doesn’t have a description of Jesus’ appearance because this was a vision to show his Immensity, his Expanse, his Glory, which is beyond description. All he really saw was the hem of his garment … oh but the power of that hem. Do you remember the woman with the “issue of blood” in her stomach? She had sought doctors for years, she had spent all she had, but she saw Jesus was coming through town. She pushed her way through the crowd, and threw herself at his feet touching the HEM of his garment. She was like the Canaanite woman that asked Jesus for crumbs from the table. Isaiah saw Jesus, filling the universe and his robe hem came down and filled the temple. Similarly, there is a very mysterious encounter between Aaron and the Elders of Israel on Mt. Sinai. Before Moses received the law from God’s hand they had been consecrated and God gave them a little taste …

Exodus 24:9–10 (NIV84) Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up ¹⁰ and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.

They “saw the God of Israel” … but the only thing they “saw” was the pavement under his feet. It was sapphire … clear as the sky … What was it fully? Don’t know but it sounds like God’s Glory was shining out everything else, and all then could see was what was under his feet. Oh it was beautiful … but it was all they could see …

What was Around Him?

PRAISE – Don’t get a small picture here. Everything about this vision is HUGE. So don’t just see two seraphs. It just says “… seraphs, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another …” If your mind is too focused you might only see a pair of angels. But I see innumerable pairs of angels calling to each other … surrounding our Jesus with Words of Praise … calling to one another … Oh I believe when we get to heaven we will be in awe and there will be a lot of this going on … “Do you see him, Do you see Him? He is amazing, he is wonderful, he is majestic, he is like no other, like no other, mighty, mighty, mighty, the whole earth is just FULL of his GLORY.”

And so these Angels cried …

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory”

And the doorposts shook at their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke …

Smoke comes from the prayers of the Altar of Incense …

Smoke comes from the fires of the Altar of Sacrifice …

Jesus is the Answer to our prayers

Jesus is the Answer to our sin

He is the Deliverance we seek

He is the Forgiveness Provider for our Sin

Oh Holy, Holy, Holy, like no other, is our God. Who else so wronged by rejection, stubbornness, so just, so righteous, and so able to judge; would himself become our Way-maker? Who would himself become the vehicle for grace?

What did he do?

He saw himself as he was.

Oh when Peter realized it was Jesus he said “Lord I am sinful”. Another time he realized it was Jesus on the shore and he covered himself up. Why? Because Jesus in front of us shows us how we are. Just like Uzziah was leprous, when he thought he was an untouchable King, so Isaiah saw himself as he was … “WOE to ME!” – owy – woe, alas … oh he said “I am a dead man” … I am ruined (NIV) I am undone (KJV) I am lost (ESV) = damah = destroyed

Remember when Samson’s Father realized he had seen God and he said “we are going to die”?

I am a sinner not just in the general, universal situation, I am a sinner in a specific fashion. When we see God, see Jesus, there is no more pretending, beating around the bush, we come clean. “I am unclean … in my lips” … specifics don’t matter, but he knew and God knew.

Why did he know he was unclean? Because he saw the Lord of Hosts – Jehovah Tsaba – the Commander of the Hosts of Heaven … Oh that’s who Joshua saw overlooking Jericho

What did God do?

He did NOT leave him that way

“A seraph flew to me with a live coal … from the altar … touched my mouth … SEE … your guilt is taken away and you sin atoned for”

Oh hallelujah … God didn’t look the other way. He didn’t just clean him up but leave him with the guilt. He didn’t reform him, he pardoned him. But Pardon is not without a price. Your sin is atoned for – kaphar = purged, atoned for, annulled, blotted out, forgiven – those are the words used in the English by different translations to translate this beautiful action of God. Oh my sin is so great that one word cannot even describe all that God has done to take it away. I have been purged, removed of the root, I have been atoned for, paid in full, annulled and blotted out, like it was never there, that’s justification. I am forgiven, as he has borne the weight of my sin.

What God Said

Whom shall I send, who will go for US – who is the US? Father, Son, and Spirit. This is not simply the hosts of Heaven. Because the hosts of Heaven serve God, they are not part of God’s dominion. God always has a mission. He always has a plan. As he reconciles us to himself, he then gives us the ministry of reconciliation. You have been saved to tell, saved to share, saved to minister him to others. 1 Corinthians 1 says that we comfort others with the comfort we have received. 2 Corinthians 5 says we have that same ministry of reconciliation that came to us. You were always called to call. We will never fail to hear the voice of God to go, if we hear the voice of God to come.

How Isaiah Responded

HERE I AM – Literally BEHOLD or SEE ME … he was there with hand raised, voice lifted, “Lord pick me, pick me, I’ll go, send me!”

Have you seen him? Have you worshiped him? Have you been Cleansed? Have you gone for him? If answer to question #4 is NO … then you better go back to #1-3 because you missed something.

Prophesies in Isaiah

Isaiah 7:10 “Ask the Lord for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights”

Now this is God speaking to an ungodly king. And offering to him an opportunity to prove himself. Listen, when God says “Tell me what you want and I will do it” … you should take him up on the offer. It is rude not to, but more than that you miss a chance to see God’s Glory right in front of you. And Ahaz says I will not put the Lord to the test … that sounds spiritual, and that’s a scripture answer, but if God offers a test take it. But he didn’t want a test because he didn’t want to be accountable to the proof. If the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, we have to taste to have the proof. Once we taste then we have to be willing to consume it if it proves good. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. But we often say
“NO, I don’t want to taste, I don’t want to be accountable to the taste.”

7:14 – the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel

The Promised One, The Christ, had been promised since Genesis 3:15 … and Isaiah affirms that he WILL come … but just to make sure you understand and do not confuse him with any other … he will be born of a virgin. He will be born Supernaturally.

He will be called Immanuel – His name would not be Immanuel, but his call, his duty, his purpose will be to be God with Us …

Matthew 1:21–25 (NIV84) She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

But Israel was experiencing gloom and defeat because of people that followed the way of Ahaz … what was God’s word for them?

Isaiah 9:1-7

We like to go straight for verse 6 and then only at Christmas – FOR … to us

FOR … ki = because, as, surely, verily, indeed – For what?

Isaiah 9:1–7 (NIV84) Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— ² The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. ³ You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. ⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. ⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. ⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

To Us … To those who will see him and know him … The Angel in Luke 2 said this was good news of great joy for ALL people

A child is born … he is LIKE us … a child, and born of us, in our condition

A son is given … a son has the authority of his Father, a son has the blessing of his Father, a son has the inheritance of his Father … and his Authority, Blessing, and Inheritance is GIVEN to us …

Government upon his shoulders – Oh rule is his because he is the only one good enough, mighty enough, loving enough, to bear the weight of rule.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor – Wonderful – pele’ = Oh do you remember that God told Samson’s parents that his name was too wonderful to say? That is this same word. Counselor – yoes – counselor, advisor … where are you looking for the plan? He has it

Mighty God – Gibbor – Manly, vigorous, hero, CHAMPION – Oh stick with a winner

Everlasting Father – Abi = chief, father, ancestor, progenitor – oh he is the beginner of all things … In the Beginning God … He started, the First, and he will finish, the Last …

Prince of Peace – shalom = peace, prosperity, success, welfare, state of health, friendliness, deliverance, salvation – Yes Please … I need it all, I need health, I need peace from my war with God, I need a friend of God, I need deliverance from this judgment of death … Save me Prince … Save me

Of the Increase … there will be no end … His Rule, His Peace is without end. Listen, God made us to live for eternity. Eternity is the destiny of ALL … the question is what address will we take up? If we let him rule us … he will rule us in peace and we will know that peace for eternity. If we choose to be at war with him, reject him, his government will still never end, but we will place ourselves outside the borders of Peace.

On the throne of David to establish and uphold it

Psalm 89:4 (NIV84) ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’ ” Selah

With Justice and Righteousness … again … there are two sides to his glory, compassion and judgment … which side we are on depends on our obedience to the call … Exodus 34:6-7

Oh but how can we pull this off? You don’t have to …

The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts will DO THIS …

Isaiah 11:1

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesus … Olive trees grow in a funny way. They go down into the ground and come up and come up and come up. So they have these funny looking trunks when they grow a long time. But also if you cut a tree down, if the roots still have nutrients, the shoot will go underground and come up another place, another time.

So … remember Rahab, she believed the word of God. She feared the Lord, she obeyed the instruction of God, and God saved her through a scarlet cord out of her window in Jericho. And she became part of God’s people. And she married Salmon and they had a son named Boaz. Boaz, took in another woman from outside Israel who was committed “your people my people, your God my God” … and They had a son, Obed. And he had a son Jesse, and he had a son David. David had a son Solomon, but Solomon’s son Rehoboam splintered the Kingdom. Eventually Judah lost their Rule over their own land, but God keeps his promise. It would seem that the tree of Jesse, was cut down … but God was still at work …

From his roots a Branch will bear fruit

What is the picture of Jesus? One indwelt by the Spirit of God … v2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him …

Here is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit really? Yes the Holy Spirit living in and dwelling, working, empowering Jesus

When Jesus was baptized, God gave a visual of it. The Holy Spirit descended like a dove and landed on him.

So, this is the Holy Spirit? Certainly

Revelation 1:4–5 (NIV84)

⁴ John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

John sees this vision and writes to the 7 churches of Asia … and who is this Message from? God.

V4 God the Father – Him who is, and who was, and who is to come

V5 God the Son – from Jesus Christ … faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, ruler … who loves and has freed us from our sins by his blood

So … where’s the Holy Spirit

V4 God the Holy Spirit is – from the seven spirits before the throne

Revelation 4 … God the Father is seen on the Throne … God the Son will appear taking the scroll, a Lamb who was slain … but there also is the Holy Spirit

Revelation 4:5 (NIV84) From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.

So back to Isaiah 11:2

Isaiah 11:2 (NIV84) The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—

Did you count them? The Spirit of …

1… of the Lord

2… wisdom

3… understanding

4… counsel

5… power

6… knowledge

7… fear

Jesus will delight in the fear of the Lord

John 17:4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do

V3 `He will not judge by what he sees … or decide by what he hears …

V4 but with righteousness he will judge

V5 righteousness his belt … faithfulness the sash … sounds sort of like the Armor of God we are to take up … Ephesians 6

V10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious

V12 he will raise a banner for this nations and gather exiles …

Isaiah 12:1–2 (NIV84)

¹ In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. ² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

Ok … we need to move on …

Isaiah 53 – Suffering Savior

Psalm 98:1 (NIV84) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

Isaiah 59:16 (NIV84) He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.

Isaiah 63:5 (NIV84) I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me.

So this arm is seen not as a Mighty Arm, but as an outstretched arm on a cross

Isaiah 52:10 (NIV84) The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

Isaiah 52:13 begins the discourse

Isaiah 52:13–15 (NIV84) See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. ¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him— his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness— ¹⁵ so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Jesus was lifted up … it was appalling … after beating, spat upon, beard plucked, crown of thorns, blood stained face … grotesquely forced onto a cross … and like the blood of the sacrifice sprinkled on the altar and on the mercy seat … so he will sprinkle many nations … and kings will shut their mouths … Whether they close their mouths in disbelief or in repentance, there was nothing else to say.

Peter boldly proclaimed Christ at Pentecost and before the priests in Acts 2 and 4 … but they could not make any statement against the truth he proclaimed … that Jesus was this one …

Who has believed our message?

V2 a tender shoot … (Isaiah 11:1, 10)

V2 no beauty, majesty, to attract – Moses was described as “no ordinary child” – he must have been a beautiful baby to catch the heart of the Pharaoh’s daughter (Acts 7:20, Hebrews 11:23). David was a handsome young man, obviously a leader to come when he was anointed. 1 Samuel 16:12 … but Jesus was ordinary, nothing to attract us to him. We draw these beautiful pictures … but he was simply ordinary.

V3 he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, like one from whom men hide their faces … What a powerful image of Jesus. I think we think Jesus had a great, easy, carefree life … even ministry, and then a rough final few months, a terrible last week, and then death, then resurrection. “Oh I could do that, we might dare to think.” NO … it was a life of misery with joys scattered within. But he was never focused on personal happiness but in the joy that is fulfilling the plan of God, joy that comes from setting captives free. So like a Hero, who lays down his life to set captives free and is bruised, bloodied, destroyed in his efforts, so Jesus was … the only beauty is the beauty of the task completed.

V4 Surely he took up our infirmities

The God who made everything with his word, the God who had all power, laid that down. Oh he may have walked on water, and healed sickness, but he lived in the confines of our fallen world in its fullness. He took it up … borne … nasa – to carry, to lift, to raise, to take away …

He carried our sorrows – Yet we just thought he was hated by God … “what bad luck this guy has, how misguided he is he must be sinful to be afflicted such by God …”

But he was Pierced for our transgressions

He was Crushed for our iniquities

The Punishment that brought US peace … was upon him …

Atonement … Break that word apart … we are separated from God by our sin …but the death of Christ in our place has brought … At ONE ment – between us and God. Jesus came because we were already condemned and enables us to be at one with God again.

We … like Sheep … have gone astray … like stupid, wandering, meandering sheep …

We have turned to our own way … And the wages of sin is death

V6 and the Lord has LAID on him the iniquity of us all. So what is our sickness?

Transgressions – the actions of the flesh

Iniquity – actions of the heart

And v5 by his wounds … we are healed … not of physical but of sin and iniquity.

This is NOT a verse to use talking about any physical healing … because it is Not the nature or purpose of the prophesy.

He was oppressed and afflicted

Yet he did not open his mouth

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter – And as sheep before the shearers is silent So he did not open his mouth

He was cut off from the land of the living …

For the transgression of my people he was stricken

He was assigned a grave with the wicked … with the rich …

And they buried him in Joseph’s Tomb … and New Tomb

YET … Oh I live the contractions of Scripture

But God … here … Yet …

It was the Lord’s will to crush him … to suffer … make his life a guilt offering …

V11 after the suffering of his soul … he will see the light of life and be satisfied

Oh on the cross the light at the end of the tunnel was LIFE Eternal for you and for me

He will justify many

He will bear their iniquities

V12 THEREFORE … I will give him a portion among the great … because he poured out his life unto death … for he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors …

Tonight we must stop there … Read the Rabbi’s Dilemma on Jews for Jesus website

http://jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/v02-n05/isaiah53

No time for Isaiah 37:36; 2 Kings 19:35 where The Angel of the Lord strikes their enemies from Assyria

Jeremiah 7:11; Matthew 21:13

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-12

Jeremiah 31:31–35 (NIV84) “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. ³² It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. ³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ³⁴ No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” ³⁵ This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name:

Oh Daniel is also full of Jesus

From the 4^th man in the Fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo … one who Nebuchadnezzar said looks like the Son of God

Daniel 3:35 – a Rock that became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth … v45 a rock cut not by human hands … that will endure v44

Daniel 7:13; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62

Daniel 7:9,13; Revelation 1:13-14 – thrones set in place and the Ancient of Days took his seat, clothed in White, hair like what wool, flaming fire, wheels ablaze – thousands upon thousands, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him … books opened …

Daniel 9:26 accurately predicts when he will come and when he will be cut off

Daniel 12 – The Ancient of Days, is the Man Dressed in Linen, righteousness telling Daniel that the mystery yet unfolding is too wonderful for him to see.

Jesus is there open your eyes and see him come alive

One more chapter next week.
A Picture of Christ in the Old Testament – Chapter Five – In the History Books – The Kings – Ruth – part 3

May 12th, 2016

This is New Study I developed here at Faith Baptist Church on Wednesday Nights. I’d love to hear what you think.

So … 1 Kings 19 … Elijah

We find an interesting encounter with a man in the depths of depression … but how did he get there

In 17:1 Elijah prophesied to the King of Israel, Ahab. This is the northern Kingdom which NEVER worshiped God after splitting from Judah. He prophesied

1 Kings 17:1 (NIV84) Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Why? 16:29 Ahab became King and

1 Kings 16:30 (NIV84)Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.

He considered the evil of kings before him as trivial and “married Jezebel”.. Her name means “unchaste, without obligation, unmarried”. Make what you will of that but most say this was not a marriage covenant with God, but a joining of two evil hearts and lives. It was not a true marriage before God.

Ahab erected altars to Baal and Asherah v33 then says

1 Kings 16:33 (NIV84) Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.

He rebuilt Jericho …

Joshua 6:26 (NIV84)At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.”

And so he lost his firstborn while laying the foundation and his youngest when he finished. But he didn’t care and pushed on all the way through building his idol to himself. He continued IN GOD’S FACE.

So … God took away the Rain and the Dew

But what does the prophet do now?

1 Kings 17:2–6 (NIV84)Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ³ “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵ So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

God will care for his own. He is provision in the dry times … the brook in the wilderness.

But then the brook dried up. So God’s Word came vv8-9 – “Go At Once to Zarephath”

“Would you bring me a little water” … he says to a widow … “and some bread”

V 12 “I don’t have any bread … only a handful of flour and a little oil … a few sticks … make a meal … we will eat and die”

Have you ever made a list for God? flour, oil, sticks, cook … die …

V13 he says “don’t be afraid … do as I have said … but make me a small cake 1^st … then something for you and your son”

OH REALLY … Wait there is more

V14 for this is what the Lord says “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land”

V15 so there was food each day for Elijah, the woman, and her family

V17 her son died … REALLY … But Elijah prayed and he was restored .

Reminds me of the passage we will preach on Sunday John 11 … “Lord if you had been here … Lazarus wouldn’t be dead” But Jesus said “I am the Resurrection and the Life”

So … then … still NO RAIN …

So then in Chapter 18 one of the greatest encounters in History. A place I still want to see in Israel. Elijah challenges 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah to a God Contest.

They fail …

Elijah Prays in v36 after building an altar and dousing it in Water …

1 Kings 18:36–37 (NIV84)At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

1 Kings 18:38–39 (NIV84)Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

It hasn’t rained in three years but in v41 Elijah says to Ahab … you better run because there is the sound of heavy rain

So he goes back on top of Carmel … bows down, head between knees … He tells his servant to look toward the sea and look for rain … Nothing … just blue water and blue skies

6 times … nothing … but the 7^th time … a cloud the size of a man’s hand rising …

Hitch up your chariots before the rain stops you

V45 black clouds, wind rose, a heavy rain came and Ahab rode for Jezreel …

V46 the power of the Lord came upon Elijah … and he ran 25 miles, a marathon and beat Ahab to Jezreel.

Wow God is Great … God is Amazing … I can do ANYTHING with Him … RIGHT …

But wait

The greatest lows come often after our greatest highs. Previously he ran in victory … now he’s going to run for his life. Jezebel threatens his life and 19:3 – Elijah was Afraid …

I know after I preach I am completely drained so I can’t imagine Elijah now. He has had this encounter with the prophets of Baal and prayed for rain, and run a marathon … he is Spent …

But in FEAR he runs 150 miles to drop off his servant and then traveled another day to Beer-Sheba where he is IN the DESERT and he finds a Juniper Shrub a Broom Tree and it is a SINGLE tree … And he Prayed … Ok … Finally … The Last time he prayed God sent the first Rain in 3 years, just before that he called down Fire from heaven …

This TIME … he prayed that he might DIE. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t always answer our prayers? I have had enough Lord … take my life” then he lay down and fell asleep

Well I guess so …

Behold an angel touched him … Behold or All at once … The word hinneh can mean “look, lo, or certainly”. This being in no uncertain terms a TOUCH nagá = to touch violently, to strike” He smacked weary Elijah and says “arise and eat” and there was Hot Bread and a Jar of Water.

And he slept some more

V7 The Angel of the Lord came back. “get up and eat for the journey is too much for you”

Who baked that bread for Elijah? The same one who said “I am the bread of life, he who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” And So … there beside him fresh baked bread and fresh water … not a glass but a JAR …

Aren’t you glad our Lord is a God of all comfort?

Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest

Like the breakfast in John 21. Like the fish he commanded into the empty nets of the fishermen. Like the cakes at the widow’s house and the ravens at the brook …

He is a God of all comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3 (NIV84)Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,

You just THINK you have had a time … the Journey has just begun …40 days he traveled on to Mt Horeb / Sinai. Wouldn’t you like to know about those 40 days and nights? But some things are just between man and God.

And the Word of the Lord came to him

What are you doing here?

Where? In a Cave on Mt Sinai.

Hmmm could it be that it is the same cave where Moses stood and God covered him with his hand before revealing his Glory? Hmmm

Here? Physically

Here? Emotionally

Here? Spiritually

How did he get here?

V10 I have been zealous for the Lord … I am the Only One … they want to kill me

V11 Go out and stand … for the Lord is about to pass by

Then there was a powerful wind … Tornado

Not the Lord

Then there was an earthquake …

Not the Lord

Then came a Fire

Not the Lord

But those are the ways that God has manifested himself before … but not this time. He keeps looking for God … We need to keep looking for GOD … not just the THINGS we think he has done … Look for the Lord

So I picture him in and out of the cave 3 times looking for God … now v12 Came a Gentle Whisper”

V13 when he heard it” – Wait … I know that voice … have you ever forgotten what someone sounds like … but as soon as you hear the voice you know it? And so Elijah knew it … and he covered his face with his cloak … went out and stood at the mouth of the cave …

NOW Jesus is REALLY going to speak to me … Here is the Word of the Lord … Ready?

What are you doing here?

I have been zealous for the Lord …”

Can I tell you why Elijah is HERE? He has been zealous for the Lord but he wasn’t sure if God was zealous for him. So he RAN

I am the only one left … they are trying to kill me …

Wait, haven’t we already had his conversation? You ever had God speak and you didn’t respond and you are looking for the dramatic, but when you finally hear him, it is the same message?

Why did you run? Why are you scared? Why aren’t you 300 miles away from here serving me?

I am zealous for the Lord …

Great … Glad for that

Go back the way you came … to Damascus and anoint a King in Aram … to Israel and anoint a King … to Elisha and anoint your successor

Oh and Elijah is Not the Only One … these men are going to be used by God. Ahab’s servant, Obadiah has been devout to the Lord his whole life 18:10 and he had 100 other prophets hidden away. God says here that he has 7000 who have not bowed to Baal.

So maybe some were in hiding, but they had stayed true in their hearts. Don’t judge someone else’s faithfulness by the measure of your call.

Elijah didn’t have to spend 6 weeks and 300 miles … When Jezebel threatened … he could have asked “God, what are we going to do?” And God’s answer would have been the same and his provision the same …

Oh and by the way … Elijah never got an answer to the struggle, nor a magic pill to deal with his depression, simply a word from God to go and do …

The Story of Ruth … A Type of Christ …

Ruth was from a pagan people, Moab, but she had met and married the son of Naomi and Elimelech while they lived in Moab after leaving Bethlehem because of famine. The sons died, the father died leaving three widows. After the famine ended, Naomi decided to return home. Ruth decided to return with her. No husbands, no servants, not much to live on … But Ruth made a great confession of Faith

Ruth 1:16 (NIV84)But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Everyone was excited to see Naomi back after many years … but she says “don’t call me ‘Naomi’ (pleasant) call me ‘Mara’ (bitter) … For the Almighty has dealt very bitter with me … I left full but came back empty”

Oh listen, it is understandable to feel that way, but you don’t know what God is doing …

So … here is the TYPE of Christ

Naomi had a relative, a man of standing (NIV) a worthy man (ESV)

So, Ruth went to glean … pick up the leftovers behind the harvesters

V3 “… As it Turned Out” Oh the Blessed Coincidences of God. How many God moves in your life and “it just so happens”. And so “accidentally” she ends up in the field of Boaz.

And v4 “Just Then” “accidentally” “fortunately”, Boaz shows up RIGHT THEN … Oh a Blessed Coincidence …

Whose woman is that? Translation – “wow she is cute, who is she married to?”

Let her work … Tells her to stay with his servant girls and drink from his water supply

V10

Ruth 2:10 (NIV84)At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

Oh the beauty when a “foreigner” realizes that God has taken notice. He says that he has heard how she committed to Naomi and to Israel

Ruth 2:12 (NIV84)May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Oh Yeah … Boaz is TOAST

V14 at dinner time he invites her to eat with him and told his workers to purposely leave behind more grain for her.

Naomi then gets the story and she knows that this is promising … it is a beautiful story … The Pleasant aroma is rising and the Bitter taste is fading … Mara is whithering and Naomi is flowering again.

Ruth 2:20 (NIV84)“The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”

He isn’t just a distant relative. He can do something for us … he has no one … “fortunately” … Oh do we know his Mother / Father?

Salmon and Rahab … Oh can God tell a story? Who might be soft toward an outsider? Perhaps the son of a pagan woman who placed her faith in the word of God and a Scarlet Cord in the Window …

So … on the Threshing Floor … again … Naomi tells her how to make her submission and availability known toward him. So at the right time, she laid at his feet in the night. When he woke and saw her, he asked

3:9 Who are you? – Ruth – Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsmen redeemer

V11 – do not be afraid … I will do for you all you ask …

Then he goes in public, not trying to negotiate in the dark. He goes to the only one with rights and negotiates his release of rights. The man removes his shoe … a sign that he gave up his right to tread on the land and Boaz would keep it as proof of the transaction

A Kinsmen-Redeemer – A Type of Christ …

They would be a blood relative, They could protect the weak of the family. But specifically, they could marry a relative’s wife to keep offspring in the family. They could buy back one sold into slavery. They could buy back land and keep it in the family

So Jesus came to this earth, he became one of us, flesh and blood. He became subject to our infirmities. We were sentenced to death, subject to the slavery of sin, this land subject to decay, without a husband

He didn’t try to do something secretly but he went to the public square and was committed to the full transaction, death. Then outside the gate, he died, our Redeeming Kinsman. He came to Redeem us from slavery to Sin. He came to Redeem a bride for himself, the people of his church. He came to redeem this earth which has been subject to decay and is groaning, Romans 8, for redemption.

So, he purchases slaves, redeemed at the cross freed upon our request

Lord spread your wings over me

And we become his redeemed bride

And he also will redeem his land and restore it in the Millennium and restore then a New Heaven and New Earth in Eternity

And the Women said to Naomi in Ruth 4:14

Ruth 4:14 (NIV84)The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!

Why? Because He … Jesus … is our Mediator …

Job 9:33–35 (NIV84)If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, ³⁴ someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. ³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

IF ONLY

IF ONLY

If ONLY there were a Mediator … a Kinsman Redeemer …

Isaiah 47:4 (NIV84)Our Redeemer—the Lord Almighty is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.

Jeremiah 50:34 (NIV84)Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

Lamentations 3:58 (NIV84)O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life.

1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV84)For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

What did Job Learn?

Job 19:25 (NIV84)I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

Job 33:28 (NIV84)He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.’

Keith Green used to sing

There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One
Jesus my redeemer name above all names
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah oh, for sinners slain

Thank You oh my Father for giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit ’til the work on Earth is done

When I stand in glory I will see His face
And there I’ll serve my King forever in that holy place

Thank You oh my Father for giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit ’til the work on Earth is done

There is a redeemer, Jesus, God’s own Son
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One

Thank You oh my Father for giving us Your Son
And leaving Your spirit ’til the work on Earth is done
And leaving Your spirit ’til the work on Earth is done
A Picture of Christ in the Old Testament – Chapter Four – In the History Books – Judges to the Kings – part 2

April 28th, 2016
This is a New Study I developed at Faith Baptist Church on Wednesday Nights. I’d love to hear what you think.

A Picture of Christ in the Old Testament

Session Four: In the History Books

Judges, The Kings

So we talked about Joshua, Rahab, and the Commander of the Army of God.

Then we talked about Gideon and God’s patience with him as he was trying to place his faith but struggling with confidence.

in the Judges period

Chapter 13 introduces us to Samson. A man named Manoah, from Dan, was husband to a woman without children.

13:3 The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and said ‘you are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son … see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink that you do not eat anything unclean … you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

V6 a man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome (yare’ inspiring fear)

And she tells him everything he said …

I LOVE this … then Manoah prayed

Lord I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy

V9 the angel of God came again to the woman … but her husband … was not with her

She ran and got her husband …

They asked God in v12 how to order their son’s life.

V13 the Angel of the Lord confirmed what he had told the woman. A Nazirite

V15 stay and eat with us …

V16 I will not eat any of your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to The Lord

(did not realize it was the Angel of the Lord)

V17 What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?

V18 why do you ask my name … it is WONDERFUL – piliy/paliy = secret, wonderful – Oh my goodness … it is the same word as to us a child is born a son is given and his name shall be called WONDERFUL Counselor, Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6)

Matthew Henry says Angels often gave their names in scripture like Michael, Gabriel, but this Angel has a name “too Wonderful” … it was a SECRET … that would be Revealed in Jesus Christ

And The Lord did an Amazing thing – Yahweh Yehovah … did an amazing thing

Samson was to be a man with singular devotion to the Lord, and to God’s strength, so no wine, no vanity, no rich foods … his strength his focus was to be on God …

V20 and the Angel of the Lord went UP in the flame … and they fell on their faces on the ground …

They knew that he was the Angel of the Lord

What do we do with the Revelation of Jesus? In John 9 what did the Blind man do, proscyneo, fall on our faces and worship him, listen to his voice, be convinced of his direction, and follow …

God doesn’t reveal himself to kill us, as Manoah thought, but to include us in his plan.

Samson was born and grew and the Lord blessed … And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him …

Samson was called and empowered by God. it was affirmed by Jesus and he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. Over and Over it says “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him …”

Of course, Samson is most famous for being strong and for having long hair that was cut by Delilah. After Delilah cut his hair, we know that he lost his strength. But his strength was not in his hair. His strength was in the Spirit of the Lord; and the Spirit of the Lord was with him in his obedience to the commands of God.

He was commanded before birth, to never cut his hair, never eat anything unclean, never take fermented drink. And one of the saddest verses in scripture is Judges 16:20 … He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”

But praise the Lord he doesn’t leave us as we are, if our heart is toward him.

So even then in his captivity, bound in bronze shackles, his eyes gouged out, there is a beautiful simple verse, 16:22 but the hair on his had began to grow again after it had been shaved. The moment the hair started to grow he had a chance to obey God by not cutting it.

Oh we may go into the far country of rebellion, but we can come to ourselves in the pig pen. We can return. It wasn’t the hair that strengthened him, but it was obedience to the commands of God.

And so Samson prayed v28 O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes

What is RIGHT about his prayer?

It is focused on God. “Sovereign Lord” – God is on the throne and in charge, including of my life … God I know you are the boss not me.

“Remember Me” – Lord turn your face toward me. Lord don’t forget me in my justified judgment.

“Please” – there is no demand, but a petition, a request to a ruling God, if it please him. “Strengthen me” – my strength is in you not in me, not in my hair, not in my muscles, my strength is in you

Psalm 84:5 (NIV84)

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

So, the Final Judge then was Samuel. His mother Hannah was barren and married to Elkanah, who was married to two women but deeply loved Hannah. Hannah prayed to the Lord for a son and promised to give him to the Lord if the Lord would give to her. God answered her prayer and gave her a son. She weaned him and brought him to the priest Eli and left him there. She looked after him, probably visited him often, but gave him to the Lord. In response, the Lord gave her 3 more sons and 3 more daughters.

So 1 Samuel 3 … v1 says in those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions

Why? Because the people, the priests, were not obeying God so God wasn’t speaking to them.

The Lamp of God had not yet gone out – like Eli’s eyes were growing dim, so the ability to see God was growing dim … but that was about to change

Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle “where the ark was” … Like Joshua who stayed in the Tent of Meeting while he was servant to Moses, so Samuel stayed close to the Lord. Whether this means he was in the Holy of Holies or just in the Tabernacle which was where God’s Ark was … most likely the latter. He was close to the Lord

Then the Lord Called Samuel – no one comes to God unless God calls him. Yes I believe we have the ability to hear God and respond to him, but it is HIS Gracious choice to call us into relationship with him and to reveal his work as he invites us to join him.

He ran to Eli – thinking it was Eli who called “Here I am; you called me” v5 – “I did not call … lie down”

V6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel” – Oh don’t forget he knows your name. Remember when God spoke to Hagar she was shocked that God knew her … “He knows my name, he knows my ev’ry thought …” and he went to Eli again, “Here I am …” “I did not call you”

V7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him”

V8 the Lord called a third time … “Here I am; you called me” THEN Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.”

How do we respond to the voice of God? v9 “if he calls you, say, ‘Speak Lord, for your servant is listening’”

V10 … The Lord came and stood there, calling “Samuel, Samuel” – The Lord doesn’t call to us from an unreachable place. Yes the Father lives in unapproachable light, but Jesus is God WITH US and he can be experienced by us. His kindness doesn’t CALL us to Repentance, Romans 2:4 says it LEADS us to Repentance … The Lord is a Shepherd, not an owner … he is there … and so he CAME and STOOD – yatsab = to present oneself – Calling – qara’= to shout, to call, to name, appoint, summon, proclaim, announce

Unique thing here that doesn’t always happen is that Samuel’s call to KNOW God came WITH his Call to Ministry … and it is NOT a Good word that God gives the Boy … how old, not sure but young, he slept on the floor, he served in little outfits made by his mother.

V11 – Behold – See – Samuel had never seen, understood the Lord … but that was about to change … The word of the Lord is often like this … it is like the word in Revelation that is sweet to the mouth but sour to the stomach. It is a wonderful thing to hear the Lord’s word, but proclaiming it, receiving it, can be so hard. This judgment against Eli is spelled out in chapter two by an unnamed prophet.

V15 says that this guilt cannot be atoned for … I do not think that this means that an individual cannot be saved after sin. I believe it means that some actions could cause us to lose a place or a blessing. Just like the generation of Israel that came out of Egypt lost out on the Promised Land, it didn’t mean that they LOST God … he stayed with them, even in the wandering, wilderness, judgment, but they lost the promised earthly gift.

Then Eli calls v16 and asked v17 what God said … hearing the word of the Lord is easier than delivering it … take my word for it.

But Samuel told him and v18 “he is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes”

V19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground

Isaiah 55:11 (NIV84)

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

V20 Israel recognized that Samuel as a prophet of the Lord … and v21 he revealed himself to Samuel through his word

Samuel led the people through God’s word as the last Judge.

But the people wanted a King.

We often would rather be led by people than led by God. We can fight against people, but don’t want to fight with God.

We can complain to people, but not to God … people are easier rather than strive against God and his word.

Saul was the man chosen then by God. He was good, handsome, humble, but he took his eyes off God. Just as Israel was and did.

Saul, against the Amalakites looked at the treasures and he wanted them. He wanted to show himself strong. God wanted quiet obedience and to destroy those things, but Saul wanted a lavish elaborate display … even calling it worship … but God said To Obey is Better than Sacrifice. You can’t disobey and call it worship.

So David was anointed to be King.

David, as much as any in Scripture, is a type of Christ … Just in the Story of Goliath we see it.
1. He fought a battle with Goliath on Behalf of the whole Nation (1 Sam 17)
– Jesus fought our battle with Sin (Rom 5:19)
1. He was Israel’s Representative (1 Sam 17)
– Jesus is ours (Rom 5:18-19)
1. Sent By His Father (1 Sam 17)
– So Christ (1 Jn 4:14)
1. Rejected by his Brothers (1 Sam 17)
– So was Christ (John 7:5)
1. His Victory was Israel’s Victory (1 Sam 17)
– Christ’s Victory is Our Victory (Rom 5:19)
1. David Then was in Exile before he became King (1 Sam 22:1-2)
– Christ has ascended to the Father but will Reign in person after the Tribulation (Col 2:15; Rev 11:15)
1. Gathered the Troubled (distress, discontented, indebted, disoriented) (1 Sam 22:1-2)
– Jesus says come to me all who are weary and heavy laden – they were harassed and helpless (Mt 11:28 – Mt 9:36)
1. He Rewarded those who worked in building his Kingdom (1 Chron 11&12)
– There will be crowns for us at the Marriage of the Lamb (Rev 22:12)

Oh Our enemy is Too Big for us to fight alone

He is Loud and Powerful

He has Large forces behind him … Goliath even had four brothers at home (2 Sam 21:16-22; 1 Chronicles 20:5-8)

Comes a Simple Shepherd to Defeat Him

With a Small Stone he defeats him and cuts off his head … Jesus will crush the head of the serpent …

So, a great man, a King Forever … promised seed will come through him.

But I want us to see The Angel of the Lord in a terrible episode in his life.

2 Samuel 23 talks about David’s Mighty Men, his Thirty Special Fighting Men.

But in 2 Samuel 24 David orders a census of his Army. It results in the judgment of God. What’s the big deal? Is this a sin? Obviously it is a sin … let’s read it

2 Samuel 24:1-4

1 Chronicles 21

So … why was this a big deal? Matthew Henry lists many possible reasons
- He didn’t count those under 20 (1 Chr 27:23-24 so it wasn’t legal)
- He did not require them to pay the temple tax Exo 30:12 as a ransom for their souls
- Or perhaps he DID but kept the money for himself instead of giving to God
- God had not ordered it
- This was counting God’s people who were to be innumerable
- But the WORST was Pride
He was not numbering his sheep so he could care for them. He was numbering them to brag about what he had. God used satan to cause David to do this, which says that the issue in his heart was already there.

The glory of Israel was not in her numbers, not even recounting how they had been blessed, but their glory was in the Lord Alone

So, David sought to offend God by drawing attention to their number. We don’t have to prove the blessing of God, but LIVE IN it.

Joab even purposely left out Benjamin and Levi because it was offensive to him.

V7 this was evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel

M.Henry “If God’s dearest children do amiss, they must expect to smart for it.”

– David was a man after God’s own heart, so it is not that he didn’t sin, but his heart was soft and he responded to correction

V8 David said to God “I have sinned greatly … done a foolish thing”

God then proclaims 3 options for discipline
- 3 years of famine
- 3 months swept away by the sword of enemies
- 3 days of the Sword of the Lord – a plaque – the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel
Decide …

What do you think? What would be The Results of Each?

Discuss

V13 – I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord. For his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men

We are safer in the hands of an angry God than ungodly men

V14 – The Lord sent a plaque – 70,000 died

Angel sent to destroy Jerusalem

V15 The Lord was grieved … Don’t ever think for a minute that God delights in Judgment or discipline. No! He Delights in Showing Mercy and Compassion

Micah 7:18–19 (NIV84)

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. ¹⁹ You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

And God says Enough! Withdraw your hand

The Angel of the Lord was standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite

Oh my, the Sword of God drawn by Jesus … If he is WITH you it is a beautiful thing … if he is against you, what a dreadful thing it is.

Remember Joshua asked Jesus, while overlooking Jericho, when he saw this man with sword drawn “are you for us or against us” and the reply “neither … I am Commander of the Army of God”

Remember Abraham Lincoln said he wasn’t near as concerned whether God was with them but whether they were with God.

Revelation 19:11–21 (NIV84)

¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords. ¹⁷ And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.” ¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

How dreadful for those on Earth, but how glorious for those of us riding with him. His robe dipped in blood will have washed our sins away, but his robe will be dipped in the blood of those who stood against him.

Then David, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.

Repentance and sorrow is where healing begins.

V17 “was it not I … I am the one who sinned … they are but sheep … let your hand fall on me, but not remain on your people”

David understood that he deserved it, but also that he could TRUST GOD

Job said “even if he slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15)

V18 The Angel of the Lord said “go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah

This is on Mt Moriah … what happened there? Abraham tied down Isaac, offering him to God. There a Ram was in the thicket and there the blood of the substituting ram was received in place of Isaac.

So here,

V20 Araunah and his 4 sons saw The Angel of the Lord and HID

V22 Let me have your site, threshing floor, to build an altar … sell it to me for full price

Remember God appeared to Gideon on the threshing floor too. What is it about the Threshing Floor? The Threshing floor was a place of “winnowing”, the place where true and false are separated, where fruitful and fruitless are separated, so it is where we meet God and Truth reveals itself.

V23 – Take it Lord King …” Think he was scared?

God’s glory on display, sword drawn … “O King, if you can make it stop … do it … I will give you the oxen, wood, wheat … make it stop.”

But David replies … NO

V24 – “No … full price … I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that which costs me nothing”

V25 – Built an altar, sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Oh Listen our sin has to be addressed but so does our fellowship with God which is broken. And then he CALLED on the Lord. And the Lord answered him with Fire from Heaven on the altar.

V27 – The Angel put his sword back into its sheath

Then David makes a decision …

22:1 – The house of the Lord God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel

So, Abraham’s altar, David’s altar, and then the Altar of Solomon’s Temple were on this place. Perhaps too this was the same place on which Christ was crucified, as the Temple of Solomon was torn down and then a temple was built later on a different site. But it was the same mountain range

And so Christ, because God’s Sword was against us, did not come to Condemn us (John 3:17) but to save us because (Jn3:18) we were condemned already. So, Jesus emptied himself of glory, like the King took off his Regal Robes, and took up the nature of a servant as David donned Sackcloth.

Though he had not sinned … He who knew no sin (2 Cor 5:21) became sin for us. So like David, he said “Let your hand fall on me” and like Paul told Philemon “If Onesimus owes you anything, charge it to me.” So Christ took up our iniquities, that God’s wrath might not remain on us.

And so on that hill, they didn’t know it, but at the sight of Abraham’s Altar, and David’s Altar and the Altar of Solomon’s temple, they erected an altar where Jesus would not offer anything that cost him nothing. And God did not offer something that cost him nothing, but he gave his one and only son, Jesus, that whoever believes in him will have everlasting life. Jesus was beaten, bruised, stripped bare, nailed to a cross and raised up. And again the blood flowed on Mt Moriah and where the blood flows, forgiveness flows. And again God was pleased for a propitiation, an atoning sacrifice to be offered. Then the Lord Jesus said “It is Finished”, it is “enough” and God put away his wrath and he answered with an earthquake and the veil was torn and the separation between God and man was removed, so that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Oh the blood of Jesus

Oh the blood of Jesus

Oh the blood of Jesus

It washes white as snow
Men of Faith – Taking the Lead

October 6th, 2015

Men of Faith Breakfast
Taking the Lead
Ephesians 4:31-32

I asked Troy what God was saying to him for today and if there was a theme or focal scripture for today. So, he wrote me back and pointed me to Ephesians 4:31-32
Ephesians 4:31–32 (NIV84)
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
And then Troy said his reason is that if a man is head of the household, then he must Lead with Faith.

So you see there two lists: Don’ts and Dos … but Paul in these verses puts them in two categories “get rid of” and “be”.
The phrase “get rid of” means “to take away, to withdraw from the bank”. So we are saying here … Where will you spend or deposit your resources? Where will you deposit your wealth and what will you have when you come back for a withdrawal. So, bad accounts to deposit your wealth are in the first list
Get Rid of
– Bitterness – that is a frame of mind that is resentful, thinking we deserve better than we get
– Rage – is excessive anger that becomes a flashpoint
– Anger – not definitive anger, but distorted by uncontrolled passions
– Brawling – anger acting out physically
– Slander – it isn’t always lying but it is evil speaking about someone in order to hurt them or their reputation
– Malice – Wuerst says this is the root of the rest, a hateful feeling
Those are the bad accounts … where we deposit our resources, passions, actions

Be – ginomai – Become = Abandon one thought for another. Change Banks for your Deposit
– Kind – good, kind, easy
– Compassionate – displaying felt affection, tenderhearted
– Forgiving – this is not forgiving in the sense of bearing the sin in atonement but charizomai – comes from the same word charis … Grace. To do a favor … not deserved, but pleasant, benevolent …
So … simple list of dos and don’ts … we know what we are supposed to do …
But Troy said he was interested in these verses because WE are supposed to LEAD
So, what is this about taking the lead? What is Paul teaching us? We don’t learn it from just two verses. Hopefully today I’m going to make you think. Hopefully I’m going to make you go back and read the entire section.

What are we learning about leading our families?

1. Leading Comes From an Understanding of Position

4:1 says “As a prisoner of the Lord … live a life worthy of the calling … be humble, gentle, patient bearing with each other.”
Why? Because I am a Prisoner of God’s Grace
Every other instruction is based on this understanding.
Jesus is Sovereign Lord of All, Creator, Redeemer, the One who gave his life to purchase yours … if you have never surrendered to him, you will be a frustrated Leader at best or a cruel dictator at worst.
Our position is that we serve under authority. We can’t lead without understanding that
The worst leaders are those who want no accountability
The worst leaders are those who think they world revolves around, rises and falls with them.
Great leaders understand their position, those over them, those under their responsibility.
I have heard recently retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey saying “my job is not to create policy, but to recommend and implement the plan to carry out the policies and objectives we are given.”

So, I belong to Christ. I am under authority, so I cannot just do whatever I want.

So as we continue to Read this Chapter and Understand

2. Leaders Understand More is Caught Than Taught

Paul says that God has given us church leaders to help us become mature so we aren’t tossed about by the waves. You don’t get there alone. Submitting to and welcoming instruction and mentoring
Paul talks about Actions, Attitudes, and Accountability in this chapter. If our kids are rebellious, angry, selfish, … where did they get that?
I’m not saying we can’t lead unless we are perfect men, but we have to be transparent with our family. When we ignore the rules that we don’t think are important, our family is watching. If your kids obey YOU, but not your wife, maybe they are catching it from you. Do you follow? Do you speak respectfully? Do you process and control your anger or do you rage? They are watching. Do you always act like everyone owes you something? Actions, Attitudes and Accountability. I can’t just do what I want.
Ephesians 4:22–23 (NIV84)
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

I must get rid of the one list and become the other because I am accountable to our God and Savior and because I am leading others. V30 says “do not grieve the Holy Spirit” … We are accountable to the Spirit who lives in us. What does that mean?
1 Thessalonians 5:19 calls it “putting out the Spirit’s Fire”. It hinders the fire of transformation in our lives as well as for those we lead, beginning with our family.
I won’t develop it, but if you want to Fan the Flame instead of quenching the Spirit … it is found there in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 … Read it later, but here are the cliff notes
• Rejoice Always
• Pray Always (without ceasing)
• Give Thanks Always (in everything)
• Test Everything
• Always abstain from every kind of evil

So … as we understand it is Caught more than Taught …

The Last thing on Taking the Lead then is

3. Leadership Has a Clear Vision

Be, Live, Say …

If you continue chapter 5:1 it says “Be Imitators of God as Dearly Loved Children”
– Be Imitators of God as dearly loved children
Lift your eyes. Lift your target. Your family is going to follow YOU first, so don’t compare yourself to someone else, aim higher, imitate God
How?
As Dearly Loved Children
Stop saying I will do this as soon as I’m good enough, mature enough, it fits your schedule or personality.
No, as Loved Children – don’t you love it when your children try and imitate you? How do children imitate? The word is to mimic.
Imitate God like Loved Children
• What God does, You just do it because you are imitating God
• You don’t care how it looks, you just do it, imitating God
• You don’t care if it fits or looks cool, just do what God does
• You don’t care if you are good at it, you just imitate God
Like a child loving Daddy, knowing Daddy loves them

Be … Live …

– Live a Life of Love
Live a LIFE … not occasionally, weekly, monthly the word peripateo means walk, behave, conduct, in a manner of living
Make your life … LOVE – agape … This is not sensual love that makes me feel. This is not conditional love that asks what have you done for me? This is DEVOTION. We do it because we choose TO. How do we live this manner of life love.
• As Christ loved you … don’t miss that what he has done for you is a past action, a present reality, and a future expectation. Love like Christ, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
• He gave himself up … It is not enough to bring your children here to be taught God’s Word. And Send them to school to learn, and to a coach to be trained … You give them YOURSELF … it is the best you will give them, particularly if you are seeking God
• As a sacrifice … God loves it because he loves you … do it as an act of worship

Be … Live … Say …
– Say … back to 4:29 … we have to watch what comes out … Only let out what is beneficial. Only allow what is:
• Helpful
• For Building Up
• According to their needs

Men your wives, your children, need to hear your voice. But is what they hear helpful (good, fair, generous) Helpful to building up? Is there a positive future for those words? Is there a useful structure? According to their Needs?
Understand me men. I’m not saying you have to go around saying sweet nothings …
Sometimes correction is needed
Sometimes discipline
Sometimes Grace or Mercy
Sometimes it is an Apology that is needed from US
But Always it is with Love and an Expressed Vision of the Desired Future
That is Taking the Lead
So
Ephesians 4:31–32 (NIV84)
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

You know where do you get rid of it and where do you get what you need? His name is Jesus
An Honest Prayer From an Intimate Fellowship

April 21st, 2015

A “prayer life” is something that many seek, but fewer really experience. We talk about a prayer LIFE … but the use of that definer talks of something deeper than just a simple time of talking to God
You’ve heard “a friend must show himself friendly” . Many people want friends, they want relationships but they don’t want to do the work of intimacy. They are afraid of rejection, disappointment, or openness. To have a relationship we have to relate.
Well, a prayer life is just that, it is a course of life. We all pray. Whether you are blessing food, giving God a daily list of your concerns, or breathing a simple “Lord help me”, those are all prayers. But a prayer LIFE is an intimate engagement with God. It is the sharing of hurts. It is give and take, speaking and listening, crying, sharing joys, and so much more. Just like a relationship involves an honest exchange, even when not beautiful or warm and fuzzy, so is a prayer life.
David had a relationship that fostered a prayer life. It was most likely born of parents that taught him of God’s love, concern, compassion. It was developed, no doubt, in the loneliness of the life of a shepherd. David, alone with his sheep, his rod and staff, perhaps his lyre strapped over his shoulder, learned to relate to God because there was no one else but sheep to talk to. So David shared, probably his fears, frustrations, joys, and sorrows with his sheep, but more importantly HIS Shepherd, The Lord. He knew the Lord’s “rod and staff”. He knew the Lord’s provision and the possibilities. He know the Lord’s overshadowing even in the shadow of death. He knew the Lord’s Table even in the presence of enemies. He knew that his dwelling place was with God.
So, when you read David’s Psalms you see that intimacy. Intimacy is able to be honest. Most of the time, we don’t really get honest with God because 1) we don’t know how he will respond because a) we don’t know his character, nature, because that comes from education and experience or b) we haven’t been honest enough before to find out. And 2) we don’t want him to be honest with us, knowing that if I’m honest with him,, i have to let him respond and be honest with me. Remember when Job asked God for an answer and God said “brace yourself like a man and I will answer you”.
But David had a prayer LIFE. He had a relationship with God.
Look at Psalm 55
Verse 1 – “listen to my prayer O God, do not ignore my plea”
Verse 2 – “hear me and answer me”
David came to God expecting interaction. He didn’t require anything from God other than the natural expectation of interaction
David was Open and Honest
Verse 2 – ” … my thoughts trouble me and I am distraught”
Verse 3 – “the voice of the enemy … the stares of the wicked …”
How honest are we about what we are struggling with?
Verse 4 – “my heart is in anguish … terrors of death”
verse 6 – “Oh that I had the wings of a dove …”
I remember hearing the great preacher EV Hill say of this verse “But David you don’t have the wings of dove you are a man, you can’t fly away, you have to stay”
Verse 9 – “Confuse … Confound”
Ask God for specific actions … My old pastor John Brady used to say “when we pray generally, generally nothing happens”
Verse 13 – this was personal these were attacks from a friend, from a fellow worshipper
Verse 16 – “But I call to God and the Lord saves me”
Where do you take your complaints, who is your “go to guy”? The Lord?
Verse 17 – evening, morning, noon … that’s LIFE

Verse 21 – His Speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart, Words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords”
Have you been there? I have been there
What am I supposed to do against this “smooth criminal”, this Velvet Adversary?

Verse 22 – “Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you, he will never let the righteous fall”
If I hold onto my burdens, they weigh me down, throw it off, let the Lord hold, measure, contain you because he will never let the righteous be yoked or shaken by challenges
Cast is in the imperative … you must. Do you ever need to encourage yourself, do a self-talk?

Verse 23 – “You God will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption”
David lifts his eyes here off the immediacy of his problem and looks to the end and it gives him hope for today.

Verse 23 – “As for Me, I will trust in you”
We have to set our hope and confidence in the one in whom we are in relationship
Not, … I will … but a statement of fact … I TRUST … active tense right now
Trust yes is a life choice from life experience by a man with a prayer LIFE
Team Me David …
Remember, prayer is not so much about me changing God, but God changing me
Present Your Requests Philippians 4:4-9 – Going Deeper

January 30th, 2015

This past Sunday I preached a message in Philippians 4:1-9 as we continue through the book of Philippians. You can find the video online at the church link and media page if you are interested.

I received several emails and questions for going deeper regarding how we guard against worry/anxiety when we PRESENT our requests to God …

So, as I answered that with someone via email, I decided to copy you all on these thoughts today and as a BONUS, I’ve attached the entire sermon manuscript below about learning to Practice Joy

I believe this passage in Philippians 4 is very useful and practical in the battle for our mind and hearts and keeping us in peace.

So to the questions asked via email was … “you said I know I have some things that I have “presented” to God but then have taken back, and I’m ready to let them go. But, I don’t know how. I can pray about things and ask God to take them from me and what not. But does giving them to God mean not ever thinking about the problem anymore? In that case, is giving something over to God praying about it and making a conscious effort to not think about it anymore, just as we have to make a conscious effort to be joyful?”

It really is a constant struggle … Let me enlarge on the idea of “Presenting” these things to God

1) Presenting it does have to start with actually praying about it and seeking God’s answers regarding the issues.
Often we talk about, even complain about, our problems or struggles with everyone except God. We don’t actually get alone with God and lay them before him. One way to do this is to take a notepad with you and pray about your concern. Start by Praising him and recounting his deeds for others and for you. This will build your faith and understanding that God can and has in the past. Then present your request to God. Write down what you are asking from God … sometimes as you write it down you will realize that the request isn’t right and you will need to reword it or refocus it. After you are satisfied with what you have written then be quiet, sit in silence saying “Lord speak to me and I will listen” … If God impresses something on your heart write it down. Sometimes God says “what you are asking is something I am not going to do” perhaps it doesn’t fit his nature, other times it doesn’t fit his plans. If you clearly hear God say “no”. Write that down, thank him for answering you and give that desire to him and ask him to replace that desire with something that is in his will. If God says “I will do this, but not yet.” Then thank him again, and pray for patience to trust him in the intervening time. If God says “yes, I’m going to do this and will do this alone” then sit back and believe his word and watch for his answer. If he says “yes I’m going to do this, but I have action for you” write down your action, ask someone to hold you accountable and do what he said, then trust him for his part Remember God always answers … but He may say “no”, “yes” or “wait”. All of those are still answers from a loving God
2) Giving it to God does NOT mean it may not still be on our heart or mind. But it DOES mean I will continue to verbalize that it belongs to God and not to me and that I will trust him.
Giving it to God also means that unless he gives me a clear action that is my responsibility, then I will not CHASE AFTER these things. In Matthew 6:31-32 Jesus talks about some of our basic needs for necessities, concern for tomorrow etc and says that “pagans run after such things”. You know pagans had “gods” too, so why did they run after their concerns? It was because their gods weren’t real. God knows and God loves … so present your request to him and then unless he gives you a clear instruction, then commit to trust him with the outcome instead of chasing after it. Example: If I’m asking God to send me my mate … then I’m going to trust him to bring that person to me and not try and orchestrate this but trust God to bring them to me. However, when he brings that person to me and says “there she is …” now it is time for me to move and respond to what God is doing.
3) Is giving it to God consciously not thinking about any longer?
Not necessarily but it is certainly not being WORRIED / ANXIOUS about it anymore. It is natural to think about something that I want, or something I know God is doing, but not be worried about it. In 2009, the Lord made it clear to Mrs Lisa and I that we would be leaving our church at some point and going to another church. I didn’t start working hard trying to find a church to go to, I just trusted the Lord to bring about those circumstances. In the meantime, I had a job from the Lord to do, to be the Pastor to the church where I currently was called. I continued to work hard to preach, serve and care for the people, cast vision for the future to lead them where the Lord wanted them. Two years passed. Some churches would contact me or friends would recommend me to places, I would answer their requests, but had to trust the Lord, even when doors closed for inexplicable reasons. It was CONSTANTLY on my mind, but we committed to not be anxious. In August of 2011, I came in contact with the search committee of my current church. I knew they would be our church. But I couldn’t work their process I had to wait. In the meantime I was still preaching, caring, serving. I led our annual Leadership Conference at the other church. I helped think through important decisions for the future, knowing that at some point I wouldn’t be there. Finally in November the committee here said “we think you are our next pastor”. I shared this with my church where I was and then came here for review and a vote. I finished my ministry in St. Louis at the end of January 2012 and started ministry here in March of 2012 … that’s 2 ½ years of constant THOUGHT, but constantly GIVING it to the Lord and not letting anxiety take control.

I hope this helps … It is important and valuable to have someone to help hold you accountable to what the Lord is saying. It helps keep you true to what the Lord says and what he expects from you

Present your requests, with Thanks Giving and the peace of God will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus …

BONUS … here is my sermon manuscript from this message

Philippians 4:1-9
Practicing Joy

Paul finishes chapter three with an admonition to follow his example as he seeks to follow Christ, to know him in the Power of the Resurrection, Fellowshipping in his suffering,, conformed to his death.
Knowing that we may be residents of this world but not citizens of this world, and that Christ will return and set everything out of order, in order, Paul says “Therefore”

So, let’s read his next instruction. Notice in particular, the disciplines and instructions that allow Joy to reign in our lives …

READ 4:1-9

Yes, we have that glorious hope … that hope enables us to stand firm in the Lord …

The place you stand will determine your joy source. If you stand on your career accomplishments, then your joy will rise as you rise and fall when you fall. If you stand in your human relationships these too will eventually let you down … But Paul says, if our hope … our place to stand … is in the Lord, then we stand firm.

Christ in You … you in Christ that is our hope. Jesus prayed in John 17 to the Father saying “you are in me, I am in you, may they also be in us so that the world may believe …”

So as yokefellow with Paul … that is people committed with him to the advancement of the Gospel … how do we live out Joy?
Here it is in what I believe may be the most practical, yet under practiced passages in scripture.

Whether distracted by depression or stalked by sorrows or simply living life … How do you battle these messengers of satan?

It begins with

1. Perpetual Rejoicing

Rejoice in the Lord Always, I will say it again: Rejoice!”

This is not a suggestion, or even a proverb but this is

A. A Command

The word, chairo = rejoice, be glad, welcome – is in present active imperative 2nd person tense

So this sentence is “You Understood” … “You, right now, must, Rejoice, be glad, Welcome Joy”

The reason we are often not joyful is because we often don’t seek joy, we don’t foster joy, we don’t welcome joy.
Paul says, in every circumstance, on every day, welcome joy, Today, YES, but …

B. Always

Rejoice in the Lord … when convenient? … no Always …
Rejoice in the LORD … the word used here is Kyrios = Master, Lord

I can welcome Joy, as I welcome the Sovereignty and Lordship of Christ over the Universe, but also over my life and circumstance

Joy is not welcome in my life as I argue with God over the direction and outcome of the road he lays out for me. I don’t like where I am, who I am, and so joy is not welcome

There is nothing wrong with bringing questions before the Lord, but if I do not welcome his lordship, I will not welcome joy when his will is different than mine.

Rejoice in the Lordship of Christ, Always – pantote = at all times … in good times and bad times, the first time and the last time. In successful times and in times of failure. In happy and sad times, Rejoice … welcome joy

Job, in facing the greatest challenge of his life, when it seemed God was not giving him a fair hand, said in chapter 27 “as long as I have life … my lips will not speak wickedness … I will maintain my righteousness … (of the wicked he says) will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon you at all times?”

At all times …
David said
Psalm 34:1 (NIV84)
1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
Psalm 62:8 (NIV84)
8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah
Psalm 119:20 (NIV84)
20 My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.

If I Praise the Lord at all times
Trust the Lord at all times
And Love the Word of the Lord at all times …
Then I will Welcome Joy at All Times

And then Paul encourages
C. Repetition
Again I say – palin = again, on the other hand
Some of us want to rejoice when it feels right, but on the other hand … we will not rejoice …
But Paul says “rejoice and on the other hand, also continue to Welcome Joy in the Lord”

If we are going to welcome joy, we have to look in the mirror sometimes when our face has fallen, when your heart is discouraged, when complaints arise, and
Welcome, make a place for, open the door for Joy
Rejoice …
Again, today, now, Rejoice!

That’s the command and it often takes decisive though not desired action … but what are the disciplines that help me welcome joy?

2. Patient Petitioning

V5 says let your gentleness, or forbearance, or tolerance in the face of all things, at all times, your joy, show the nearness of God

Too many Christians face challenges like either a frightened child who doesn’t believe God will come through or like a spoiled child who believes what they want is more important that what the father decides best.

But the child of God who welcomes joy makes their request of their Sovereign and Master but does so in a patient manner …

A. Do Not Be Anxious
The word is merimnao –

Jesus uses the word when he says in Matthew 6:31-32 Do not worry saying what shall we eat … drink … or what shall we wear for the pagans run after all these things … your Father knows that you need them
So then v33 says Seek First the Kingdom

Worry is evidence that we are not standing in, trusting in, the Lord and welcoming Joy.
Patience doesn’t “run after” things that God will provide for me …

What is on your prayer list? Do you pray in fear or in faith?

A patient petition doesn’t ask for them and then chase after them … Jesus says not to chase after clothes, food, drink, tomorrow, but chase after, seek first, place in primary order, the Kingdom of Heaven and His Righteousness …
Does that mean that a joyful heart doesn’t ask for anything temporal? No, of course not, but I don’t set my heart on those things. So, then, our prayers that Welcome Joy are …

B. Grateful Petitions

Prayer and petitions, with thanksgiving
Prayer – proseuche = approach God
Petition – deesis = entreaty, supplication, want, personal desire
Requests – speaks of the specific things

When we approach God …
and we MUST approach God … we often, and by we, I mean me, often talk about things we want or need, but don’t actually come before God with those desires …
Come before God with our desires with the actual thing that we want but there is an overriding emotion that welcomes joy … it is Gratitude … Paul says Come Before with Thanksgiving
We used to sing “I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his court with praise, I will say this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice for he has made me glad.

He has made me glad … If I need the thing I seek to “make me glad” I can’t rejoice at all times. Oh don’t get me wrong, I want what I am requesting, I might even be convinced I need it, but HE has made me GLAD … Apart from anything else … He is enough to make me and keep me glad

Practicing Joy comes with that perspective.
It is not worried for tomorrow, but grateful for today.
It is not worried about what I will eat or drink but grateful for what already fills my stomach.
I am not worried for what I will wear but grateful for the clothes that fill my closet

So I come before God with my desires in

C. Worshipful Prayer

Paul says do not be anxious … but in everything … Present to God

I am mindful of a couple of things with that word “Present” or “Present”

Prayer is an act of Worship … I give it to God and I leave it in his hands. Talking about it isn’t presenting it. Complaining isn’t presenting it. Pretending it doesn’t exist is also not presenting it. But, Joy comes as I present my request to God …

Giving it to Him is
Believing He Cares … that he wants to know what he wants what is for my good and
Believing in his ability to meet my needs,
While trusting his Sovereignty to transform me into his image and to work all things for that good thing.

Then I can sing the 100th Psalm of David
Psalm 100 (NIV84)
A psalm. For giving thanks.
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Shout for Joy
Worship the Lord
Come before Him
Enter with Thanksgiving and praise
For the Lord is Good … love endures … faithfulness continues …

When I pray like that I find I am

D. Protected By Peace

V7 the peace of God … will guard your hearts and minds

Peace – Eirene = freedom from worry, peace, welfare
Peace OF GOD … knowing that I am free from being tied to this world, tied to a need for anything material or earthly guards me from my most dangerous and deceptive things, my heart and my mind.
Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things
2 Corinthians 11:3 says our minds can be lead astray …

Without the guard of the Mind of Christ, without the Breastplate of Righteousness and the Belt of Truth, my passions, desires, and understandings can deceive me

But when I am free from the need for anything but God … that Peace with God guards my heart from wanting anything but the will and rule of God and guards my mind from bringing requests beyond his will and I am able to welcome joy
To Practice joy … and with a guarded heart and mind … I am free for

3. Joyful Thinking
What IS joyful thinking? It is a decision … it is

A. Disciplined Thinking v8
Finally – loipos = lastly; from now on
Living the practices of joy requires taking captive every thought and making it obedient to truth
2 Corinthians 10:3–5 (NIV84)
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

You and I are attacked every day … when we recognize that our battle is not a flesh and blood Ephesians 6:12 … and we do not fight like the world fights … then we have to join in the battle for our mind, our will, our emotions
satan would discourage and defeat you, he would have you keep your heart and mind set on things below
Colossians 3:1–3 (NIV84)
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Paul tells us how we do that … how we take captive everything thought … He tells us what to think on …
As the battle rages … fight to dwell ONLY on
Whatever is …
True – alethis = sincere; real
Noble – semnos = worthy of respect, dignified
Right – dikaios = righteous, just
Pure – hagos = innocent
Lovely – prosphiles = pleasing
Admirable – euphemos = commendable
Excellent – arête = excellence of character
Praiseworthy – epainos = praise

Only These things …
Logizomai = think about, credit, consider, dwell on
THESE Things …
For Joy to be Welcome, these things must rule … other thoughts must be taken captive and surrendered to the rule of Christ

Make a list of These Things .. and put it on the margin of your computer screen, on your fridge, on your mirror, on your TV set … and Think on THESE things … put aside anything that doesn’t pass this test … and then Joy Can Reign …

Disciplined Thinking leads to

B. Disciplined Action v9

Whatever you have learned … received … heard … seen … PUT INTO PRACTICE

Not just today, but for 12 messages now we have lit the path for Joy … but you must commit to walk the path … to put it into practice …
The word prasso = do, accomplish, make your business; a practice of habit

And when you make these things your practice …
When you pray in grateful worship
When you take captive thoughts and make them obedient to truth
You look and find you are not walking this path alone … but are

C. Accompanied by Peace
And the God of all peace will be with you

What was prophesied of Jesus, he will be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

If you walk in his way, thinking his thoughts, if peace doesn’t accompany, comfort, and guide you then you are not walking his way, or he is not able … and Oh he IS able …

This is Jesus … I’m not telling you that this is the way to get Jesus INTO you … That is by Grace Through Faith …
But Paul is teaching us how to let the Christ IN You Get OUT of you …

When I welcome Joy and Patiently petition him, and live according to the disciplines of Joyful thinking and living, then Christ in me, is reflected OUT of me and …
He walks with me and he talks with me
And he tells me I am his own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

When we dwell on Jesus, the Truth … Then we Know Peace
When we Know God … we Know Peace …
But if we have NO God, then we have NO Peace
Who Is God?

November 25th, 2014

Who Is God?
That is the question I have ringing in my head through this week’s incidents that boil to the top of a pot that has been recognized again since the August killing of Michael Brown. I say “recognized” because the pot is there, has been there, it just gets pushed aside, buried on the back and comes to the top every so often but is never really dealt with.
I lived and ministered in Ferguson for 11 years. We raised our sons there. I love North St. Louis County. I learned a lot in Ferguson, Missouri. This isn’t something new for St. Louis. It is a place of great division. It is a place of silent separation. It is a place where history said one man wasn’t a man because his skin was a different color and the Supreme Court made a judgment that he had no rights.
Who is God?
It is a city where people were turned back running from race riots and killings in Illinois because Missouri didn’t want to deal with the problem.
Who is God?

Who is God?
Where is God from?
Did God create us or did we create God?

So, shots rang out again months ago.
What happened? We aren’t completely sure, if we are honest.
We are told that a shop may have been burglarized
We are told that an authority told someone to stop
We are told that hands were raised
We are told that we want justice
Who is God?

Is Education god? then all else will bow to my pursuit of degrees

If money is god, then I will seek to acquire it at all costs. Interesting that when money is god it doesn’t matter what it costs someone else as long as I appease the god of acquisition of wealth in my own life. So if my workers live below the poverty level while I am a billionaire then so be it. If I can acquire wealth legally or illegally and if other lives are destroyed along the way, it matters not to my self-indulgent god. If I am a multi-billionaire discount shop owner, if money were not my god, how far would say 1 billion redistributed among my work force go for them? A long way. How much would it really hurt me? Nothing … unless wealth is my god, then it demands all
Who is God?
Is Justice god?
If so, then I will determine how I define that word and everything else I believe, do, say, will bow down to what I believe this god would have me do. If I believe rioting satisfies the god of justice, then a sacrificial riot I will offer. If I believe the god of justice demands the sacrifice of a burned down business, then I will do it. If I believe justice demands disregard of human decency I will do it. If I believe justice demands lethal force instead a non-lethal wound then I will do it.
Who is God?

If Activism is god, then be active make speeches, stir the pot, worry not if the pot boils over because activism is god. Sacrifice to god.

Who is God?
Where does God come from?
If WE created god, then we can decide what has value. If we created god, if man is not the product of God, then man has no more value than any other being. If we created god, then man, horse, ape, and house fly all have the same value and somewhere along the way we will work harder to protect the creature hiding in the thicket than the infant hiding in the womb. If we created god.
If we created god, then there is no such thing as authority.

I watched a young man on TV this week playing a fun but ultimately silly game. Standing before him was a man in a striped shirt. That man represents every rule of the game. That man represents authority. That man represents all that must be respected. That man stood with his hand outstretched in the universal symbol for STOP. Stop in the name of the law, stop in the name of love, stop in the name of decency, stop please. But no, that quarterback, wanted to do what he wanted to do. He didn’t care that authority stood in front of him. He didn’t care that rules stood in front of him. He didn’t care that there has always been a zone around the official that we dare not enter or touch and if even accidentally we cross into that space, we immediately apologize and beg forgiveness … No the quarterback cared only for his plan, only for his desire, and so he put his hands on authority, he put his weight behind his selfish desire to fulfill his own purpose and pushed authority out of the way. Not once, but twice, he pushed until authority gave way … and on the field seven other officials did nothing. On the sideline a coach did nothing. In the campus office, they did nothing, in the conference office they did nothing. There was a day when every person in the stands would have called the penalty. Every flag on the field would have been thrown. There was a day when the coach would have pulled his own player and sat him down on the bench for disrespect of the rules. The player, by the rules, should have been penalized, ejected, and thus suspended for the next game, but no one did anything.
Yes, it is JUST A GAME … but who is god? Money, Players, Coaches … SELF?
YES YES YES YES
Does a game really matter? NO … but it IS that hand that is up …
We are hearing a lot about “Stop My Hands are Up”
But if a hand up to stop doesn’t mean anything from the man in the authority uniform, then the hand up of surrender doesn’t mean anything either. At the root of the problem is that no one respects authority any longer, each does what he thinks right in his own eyes.
Who is God?
If we created god, then he is no god at all. If we created god, then we can create our own definition of reality
But if God is the Creator of man, if God had a plan and created this world and created man as the highest order of his creation, then everything changes
Where did God come from?
Is He from time or from Eternity?
John 1:1-3, 12, 14 (speaking of Jesus) – “in the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God. He was in the beginning with God. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that was made
12 – To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God –
14 The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of Grace and Truth”

Jesus is Eternally God, Creator of all, who became flesh and dwelt among us that we might become the children of God
If HE is God and we are not then we cannot take vengeance into our hands because we aren’t God … Scripture says “Vengeance is mine says the Lord”
Vengeance is not our prerogative nor our possession.
The reason that vengeance belongs to GOD is because He is the ONLY ONE who is HOLY enough, JUST enough, WISE enough, and LOVES enough to administer it. When we take vengeance into our sin-stained hands we never get it right.

If we wonder why “hands up” no longer mean anything, look to that silly game this past weekend. That young man has seen hands held up in his face for the last two years and they meant nothing to him, not a girl’s hands saying “no”, a merchant’s hand saying “pay”, common decency’s hand saying “don’t say that outloud”, nor an official’s hand saying “wait” … and so he did this weekend what he has done, what has made him a winning football player, he shoved that hand out of the way.
So we live in a world that shoves everything out of the way except what we want, and that is true on both sides of the equation, and so we see an officer not respect hands up either and another life is wasted in the pursuit of a life with no God, a life with no restraint
So while hands of authority are being shoved aside,
While hands of surrender are being ignored,
God’s hand out too is ignored.
God’s invitation is ignored.
God’s hand is not just a hand up saying “no”
His hand is a hand held out that says “come”
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest”
“Come to me all who are thirsty and I will give you living water”
“Come to me all who are hungry and you will be filled”

Who is God? He is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Second person of a Triune God
Jesus is God, whether we accept it, reject it, ignore it, or embrace it, God He will be
He is God
God Help Us
God Help Us
I Know Child

November 9th, 2014

Suffering?

I know child,

I know you’re suffering the frailty of humanity. I know you were born in the suffering of sin. I know you are suffering in loneliness, longing for me; I know child,
I know.

Healing will come, health will renew.

But for now you are suffering ,
I know.

Your suffering may be self-inflicted. Your suffering may be the human condition. Your suffering may be human injustice. Your suffering may be so that one may believe.

No matter,
I know child,
I know.

Whether you suffer in silence,
Whether you suffer alone,
When you suffer in the light of persecution and a martyr’s blade;

I know child,
I know.

Look to the manger and see the glory of the universe’s king suffering alone the indignity of poverty and humanity.
Look to the hills of Galilee and see him suffering rejection and disbelief of a message too hard for some and misdirected for others.
Look to Pilate’s courtyard and see him suffering the lashes of an angry establishment.
Look to a hill called Calvary, and see him suffer the greatest pain as mercy is provided and grace paved the way;

“Where are you Father?”; “Why am I alone?”; “Why have you forsaken me?”;

I know child,
I know

In the darkness and silence of the tomb,
Hear him say “I know child, I know”.
In the fear of the upper room, disciples hiding frightened and ashamed

I know, child,
I know

Oh but a light dawns
The earth shakes
The stone rolls
And the Father says

I know, child
I know

Whatever you face,
Looking back at the sun setting on a Resurrection yesterday
I see the glowing light of a dawn in the east …
I hear the faint rustling of a trumpeter preparing his mouthpiece, taking his stand, as God says

I know child, I know!
Today you suffer no more!

Hallelujah, I know!
When is the moment of salvation

October 1st, 2014

When Does Salvation Take Place?

I have always lead people to pray a prayer of salvation, but is that always when salvation takes place?

J. as a man I got to know in Belton, Texas in the middle 1980s. He told me that after years of fighting God and arguing with preachers and church people, he walked the aisle of the First Baptist Church and publicly “confessed Christ”. He signed the commitment card and was official. But he told me later that he wasn’t saved, he wasn’t in Christ.
You see, for years he had been the one that everyone prayed for in church. His wife and kids were in church and he made the occasional appearance but he wasn’t a follower of Christ. He didn’t embrace Christ as Lord. He was that guy who is in every church community in their radar.
J told me, as we talked one night 30 years ago, “Jim, I wasn’t truly ‘saved’, born again, not until I stepped into the Baptistry.” Wait, what? I’m a Southern Baptist, we believe in baptism, by immersion but it is a symbol of an inner reality. We do not believe that the act of baptism is slavific, or has saving efficacy. So, what did he mean? J went on to explain. He said that walking down the aisle wasn’t about surrender to and faith in Christ as Lord, but just about getting his wife and the church “off his back.” He thought that would be the end of it.
But then, of course, the pastor started coming over to talk about baptism and church membership. “Baptism, I walked the aisle, signed the card, prayed the prayer, leave me alone.” Some time went by, and he resisted not wanting to be baptized. He resisted because he wasn’t truly saved. He had done a work but not an act of faith. There was no surrender.
Finally J told me “when I truly ‘got saved’, when I was born again, was when stepped into the baptistry. It wasn’t the water. It wasn’t the aft of immersion. It was that at that moment he exercised faith and surrendered to God’s plan for salvation.
When the Israelites stood at the Jordan river before they entered Canaan, it was not a quiet river but a raging springtime river, perhaps a mile across. God told them he would stop the river. They believed he would but it still flowed until the priests at the front stepped into the river, then it was stopped far upstream and the walked across. So then the river of Judgment and separation between us and God is before the non-Christian. Christ had died for us, we know that we can be forgiven, reconciled to God, but until we truly surrender in faith and believe, receiving his Grace for ourselves, it isn’t ours.
Do I mean by this that baptism saves people? No.
Do I believe a simple prayer, words, even the right words save people? No.
But I do believe that it is an act of faith,understanding our sin, and surrendering to Jesus as Lord of our lives. That aft may require explanation, “what must I do to be saved?” Upon explanation they confess Christ and receive him by faith. Some may not come to that point until a later date as something else triggers it, like Mr. J Others may know and be resisting, yet the simple turn of the heart in a worship service, the act of stepping out is their moment of faith, before any prayer has ever been offered, or words said. Should we help them verbalize it in a prayer, definitely but, the simplicity of Romans 10 is still true though complex to in experience.
V8 – the word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart
V9 – that if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
V10 – for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
V11- … Anyone who trusts in him will never be out to shame
V13 – everyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved
Oh what a beautiful mystery and complete certainty is the salvation Of man by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
So
V14 – how can they call on one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in one they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching?
V15 – and how can they preach unless they are sent?