God's Warning To Us
Yesterday we discussed how the Lord has certain expectations of us once we are saved and how He has left warnings for us in His Word that we are not to be lazy or apathetic but are instead to always seek to know Him better, to be closer to Him and to know His Word and His Will. Hebrews to me is one of the harder books to understand because we so often misinterpret it out of fear. We are so afraid that we might lose our salvation that we often think that's what this book in particular is saying. We know at least to a degree how sinful and even lazy we are, so we often think that because of this the Lord must be saying we will lose our salvation. Thankfully though, that's not the case. When studying His Word we must remember that the Bible never contradicts itself and that it will always interpret itself. We therefore don't need to interpret it, we simply need to keep praying for understanding and keep studying His Word while He shows us what He is saying in it. So today, we're going to look at another warning we are given in Hebrews and see what it is saying to us.
Hebrews 10:26-38 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”
The first thing I want to draw your attention to is the very first two words in this passage. Those word are, "if we". Now, keeping in mind that the word "if" means that this is a hypothetical situation being discussed and the word "we" means that the author is including himself in what he is saying, go back and read through the passage one more time.
The author is warning them that IF someone who is saved should willfully and knowingly insult the Holy Spirit and reject Christ, literally despise Him and consciously and willfully prevent the Holy Spirit from working in them after they have been saved, then that person would be counted an enemy of God and be under His judgment. The important word in this is the word "If". The author is not saying this has happened, or that it ever will. He is simply saying what would happen "if it did happen". A truly saved person would never reject the Lord or the Holy Spirit. That's why we feel badly when we sin. We know from God's Word that we cannot lose our salvation, so why is the author bringing up this hypothetical situation when he must know that he would be scaring some people out of their wits? The answer to that question is given at the beginning of this letter and all through it, he is trying to warn us to "pay attention" to get up off our behinds and start doing the things that the Lord has called us to do, instead of just sitting on our hands. He tells us over and over again in this letter that if we are not actively growing in Christ, then we are drifting away. He doesn't want us to continue to drift away and possibly lose even what we have already attained. (not our salvation-our rewards). This is the beginning of the passage we started with yesterday where he tells us why he is saying these things:
Hebrews 2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Then, toward the end of the passage we're looking at today he says:
Hebrews 10:35-36 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
In fact, just before he goes into the passage we're looking at today, he says:
Hebrews 10:22-25 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Are you seeing the theme here yet? He is trying to prod us ever onward toward maturity in Christ. He is also letting us know in no uncertain terms that if we are disobedient there will be repercussions. Again, we will not lose our salvation, he was talking about apostasy in order to put the fear of God in us. Being a mother I often think of things in terms of how I raised my children. To me this is similar to when I would tell them that if they ever did such and such that I would "beat them within an inch of their lives"! They knew very well that I never had and never would "beat" them at all, much less within an inch of their lives. They understood that when I said that, I was stressing just how very wrong something was and that they had better never even consider doing it. This is what the author is saying in the first part of our passage today. He is also trying to get them to understand that they will be disciplined however when they are disobedient. He says that the Lord will judge His people. The words in our Bibles are not "suggestions", nor is the bible a "self help" book. God's Word contains His commands to us about how we are to live once we have been saved. There are consequences when we don't obey, and that is really what the author was trying to get across, hoping that by letting them know about the consequences, it would spur them on to obedience. This is also discussed by Peter:
1 Peter 4:17-19 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
From all of this we can see that the author is doing his best to let us know that if we do not obey the Lord there will be consequences. He even says that our knowledge of God after being saved should cause us to be more aware of God's judgment of us and not less. I am not talking about God's "final" judgment, but instead I'm talking about His discipline. Too often people think that because they are saved, nothing "bad" can happen to them and that is an outright lie. God has and will judge/discipline us for our disobedience and we will reap the consequences of His judgment/discipline in our lives.
Right after he warns them this way, he reminds them of their recent past and how they have given up much already for the Lord's sake. After reminding them of how and why they had endured what they had already, he encourages them by saying:
Hebrews 10:35-36 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
He wants them to remember that they are storing up treasure in heaven with every single thing that they go through. He wants us to know that too; remember, God's Word was written for you and me just as much as it was written for those who were actually alive in those days. We are storing up treasure in heaven with every trial we go through, with every sacrifice we make.
Hebrews 10:37-39 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Notice that in the closing statements He calls us His righteous ones. If you look back at the passage from 1 Peter, it too talks about the righteous. Do you recall what we studied yesterday about the righteous?
Hebrews 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
He told us that the teaching about righteousness is something that only comes to those who are becoming mature in Christ. It is not known to those who have been lazy and are still baby Christians and either don't have even the fundamentals down or are still learning them. So here again is a subtle rebuke that they need to be studying God's word harder, and living by faith not by sight. Living by faith is so crucial to our walk that this is repeated several times:
Romans 1:17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 We live by faith, not by sight.
Our Lord wants us to come to know Him intimately. He wants us to increase our faith so that we can walk confidently and securely in that faith throughout our lives here until He comes for us. The only way we can do that is by staying in His Word daily. Not just "reading it" as though it was some kind of obligation or duty to get through as quickly as possible. Not by trying to determine just how little we can get away with reading each day and still be obedient; but rather by constantly being in prayer as we read, asking for understanding and wisdom and discernment. We need to look at our Bibles as letters to us from our God who loves us so dearly He died for us, and who took the time to make sure ALL that we would ever need to know would be available for us in His Word. So let us read our bibles daily, carefully, reflecting on what we read and studying His Word, so that we can become mature in Christ and learn the teaching about righteousness that is from faith.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
God's Warning To Us
God's Warning To Us
Hebrews 2:1-3 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
The world "therefore" in the above passage shows that this warning to pay more careful attention to what we've heard, comes because of what had been speaking about just prior to this. Let's take a quick look at what was being discussed in chapter 1 then:
Hebrews 1:1-4 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
As you can plainly see from these first four verses, chapter one is about Jesus and just how powerful He is and how superior to anyone and anything He is. Now we know that the author is telling the Hebrews that because Jesus is so powerful, because He is God, we had better pay attention to what He says and what He asks of us. He then says that if we don't pay careful attention that we may very well drift away.
Who exactly is being spoken to here? Is he talking to others who are mature in Christ, or to baby Christians or someone in between, or perhaps those who aren't saved? To find the answer to that we have to look ahead a bit further:
Hebrews 5:11-6:3 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.
From these passages we can see that he is speaking to people who are born again and apparently have been saved for quite some time. In fact, they've been saved for so long, he says they should already be teachers themselves!
How many times have you read those passages and assumed that they were being spoken to someone other then yourself? I know that for a very long time I did. I for sure was not a teacher and had no desire to be one! I just wanted to learn for myself. Besides, Paul said that teaching was a gift, and I knew I certainly didn't have that gift! Yet here, (and in many other places as well) it is quite obvious that he is speaking to a general audience of believers; the same audience you might find in any church today. In other words, he is speaking to me, and to you, and to every single person who has been saved who is not yet mature in Christ!
Furthermore, he is not happy with those of us who have been saved awhile and still are not mature in Christ; in fact, he is basically saying that they are being lazy and immature!
He even tells us what is considered to be the basics of our faith which would be the things that even a baby Christian should know. He says going beyond those things, is when you begin to push onward toward maturity in Christ. Let me share the part of the passage again that shows just what the basics are:
Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
So these are the things that everyone should know quite well:
1. the elementary teachings of Christ; or the basic principals of Christianity, which would include the fact that He is God, he came to earth and lived among us and died for our sins and rose again, and that He is coming back. It would include knowing that we are saved by faith in Christ alone and not by works.
2. repentance from acts that lead to death, or repentance of sin and for this particular audience especially it would include repentance of thinking that following the legalistic rules of Judaism would get them into heaven;
3. faith in God; again stressing that we are saved by faith and not by works
4. instruction about baptism,
So all these various areas are considered the basics. What is beyond those is where the author wants us to go. He actually says:
This then is what he wanted to teach them yet couldn't because they were still all muddled up in their understanding of the basics. This then is the reason for his warning to them. Here they were, born again and yet not bearing fruit! He was angry and upset that they could be so lazy when Jesus had given His life for them! In fact, the second passage I posted, is part of his third warning to them! All in all he gave them 5 warnings in this letter. I should say he gave "us" 5 warnings in this letter. To get us back on track however, let me re-post the original warning we were speaking of:
Basically what is being said to us here is that if God exacted punishment for violations of His law in the first covenant, then he will also exact punishment for violations in his new covenant. Now that's certainly NOT something we hear preached about in most churches today!
Yet this is exactly what we are being told we need most to learn and he calls it a:
"teaching about righteousness" in Heb 5:13. Is he talking about us going to hell? No, absolutely not! We can know that because throughout this letter, he is constantly saying "we" and not "you". Since we know for sure that he was saved, we can then safely assume that he is speaking to other believers that are really saved. In the above passages we can see that he is pretty vague about what the penalties will be, but we are told more about this in other places.
What I'd like to concentrate on for this week is the fact that we HAVE been warned. We have been warned by the Lord to pay attention to His Word and to do what He commands. We have been warned that if we do not do this that there will be consequences and that they won't be pleasant ones. He is telling us here that there is MUCH more to being a Christian then simply being born again and showing up for church on Sunday. He is telling each and every one of us that the Lord requires some things of us.
Does this mean the gift of salvation is not free? Not at all! It IS free! The only way I can think of to explain it is the way I used in another recent study. Suppose I give you a gift of a big box of Lego's. Now the gift is really a gift; you do not have to do anything to get it, nor do you have to pay for it. It's yours and I will never take it back from you. So, you accept the gift, and in this scenario we'll say that the acceptance of the gift is you opening the box of Lego's so you can see them. Now you have a choice.
1. you can sit there and stare at those legos as long as you want to and they are not going to do anything more then lay there. If you get bored looking at them, you can stuff the box in your closet and never open it again if you so choose. Those legos will still always be yours and no one will take them away. Or
2. You can reach inside the box, take some legos out and start building something magnificent with them. If you do that, it will be "work" and there will be parts of that "work" that you will enjoy and parts that may seen boring, and other parts that may seem exciting at times, and even times when it's frustrating because they are not doing what you want. Regardless of that, they will always belong to you and no one will ever take them away.
The people who are being spoken to in this letter are like the person in my first example. They are saved but they have never done anything with it. God wants us to be like the person in my second example. He wants us to bear fruit for Him. That is why we have been saved. The only way we can bear fruit however is if we use our legos!
This has already become longer then I intended so tomorrow we'll look at this some more and also hopefully begin looking at what the Lord would have us do to be the people He called us to be and to avoid the punishment that will surely come if we don't use our legos.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Do you feel it too?
For the past week or more I have felt a terrible burden to work even harder to show people God's Truth; to warn them of false prophets, teachers, and churches. In a way, it feels similar to my "mother's instincts" toward my own children. I feel this terrible concern that people are being deceived by the millions and because of that will wind up in hell. More and more I see the truth of what Jesus said when He asked if He would even find any faith left when He returns. There are more people out there that think they are saved but aren't then there are true Christians. They are the ones who are either pretending to be Christian or who perhaps actually think they are Christian and serving Him, but they have been deceived. One awful day will soon come when they will have the shock of their lives. Instead of hearing, "Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord," they will hear, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"
You can see by the very fact that this passage says that they "prophesied in His Name”, that they either really think they are Christians because they have been deceived or they were pretending in order to deceive others. They were never saved, consequently our Lord says, "I never knew you!"
My heart breaks for those who are being deceived and I burn with out right rage for those doing the deceiving. Words really cannot describe the emotions I've been feeling and the "push" to do as much as I can to protect as many as I can from these awful people, and to draw away from them the people who can still really be saved, as well as baby Christians who have begun to listen to them instead of to His Word.
I keep asking the Lord what more can I do? How do I reach them? If I started right this second and tried to list every single false teacher and prophet who is currently out in the world trying to prevent others from being really saved, I couldn't complete it even in a few years there are so many, and every day there's more. Besides which, just a list of them wouldn't be enough. People are very stubborn, they want you to prove it to them--rather then doing the work for themselves as they should have done to start with, and that also takes time. So I felt led to do the only other thing that was possible and was also what the disciples did. Yes, they pointed out error and they pointed out false teachers etc., but at the same time they discipled believers so that they too would become mature and that way would be able to discern error for themselves.
As I told the Lord, I'm already doing both of those things to the best of my ability, and yet I still feel this awful burden and like time is running out. I feel as though I'm trying to beat the clock even though I know the clock is going to win.
I want to stand up a scream at people to "Wake up!!!" the way Jesus does in His letter to Sardis. To me this letter shows part of what's going on today. It shows the false teachers, prophets and churches who are teaching a different gospel and cause people to falsely believe that they are saved when they aren't.
those of us who are really saved and really walk with Him. I have literally been in tears at times over this past week, wondering what I could do to wake people up to this...the time is so very short!
I see people today all wrapped up in their daily lives, getting their kids off to school, getting themselves to work, getting home and getting supper, cleaning the house, getting kids to bed etc; there are doctor appointments, dentists, birthday parties, holidays to celebrate, duties to perform, bills to pay etc., day after day, with little time taken to seek the Lord while He may be found. Even those who are or who profess to be Christians...I don't see them slowing down or hear them speaking of the Lord throughout their daily activities, or seeking His Will when a decision needs to be made the way scripture tells us to.
Instead I see people who are afraid to "rock the boat" so they don't say anything when they see a loved one is living in unrepentant sin; they don't say anything when they see that someone who professes to be a Christian is following after a false teacher or church. What will they say to the Lord when He asks them why they allowed those people to go to hell when they could have told them the Truth? How will they feel when they see those loved ones being sent to Hell on judgment day, all because they didn't want to "rock the boat", they didn't want to speak up and be perceived as a radical Christian, or a "holy roller" or "bible thumper" or "heresy hunter", or any of the other derogatory names that the world has for us who try and do God's Will.
So who are they really showing love for? Not for those loved ones that's for sure, because they may well wind up in hell because they're not told; not for the Lord, because He told us that if we were ashamed of Him, then He would be ashamed of us.
Mark 8:34-38 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Part of me wants to shake people and yell at them to wake up and smell the coffee and the other part--probably my flesh--wants to throw up my hands in disgust and walk away. Yet I know that the reason there's so much false teaching is because the body of Christ has been infiltrated by a huge number of false teachers who serve as so called "pastors" in our churches, and they don't teach people how to be saved, or what their responsibilities are once they are saved, or disciple them so that they can become mature believers. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that if every single person on this board walked into 2 churches today and announced to the congregation that everyone who is saved has certain responsibilities, that they'd either wind up with everyone thinking they'd lost their minds, or be told to leave! I bet there's very few churches left that teach the whole Truth. Most people seem to think that once you're saved that's the end of it and there's nothing left to do but wait till you die and go to heaven.
Since I was too sick to do anything about what the Lord had laid on my heart so hard this week, I've seen a large number of His children talking about this very same thing. For me that's confirmation that we're all hearing the Lord correctly. Time IS short. We need to work harder and longer to try and save those we can from the clutches of these false teachers and churches, and we need to help our fellow brothers and sisters to grow into maturity so that they too can join the fight and so they can spot the errors for themselves. Soon our Lord will return for us and when He does, I want Him to see that I've done my best to do His Will, as I'm sure everyone else here does as well.
Luke 18:7-8 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Fear Of The Lord
I thought that maybe to get us started further, I'd see what some of my bible dictionaries say about the Fear of the Lord.
Fear of the Lord the — is in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety (Prov. 1:7; Job 28:28; Ps. 19:9).
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Psalm 19:9-11 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Job 28:28 And he said to man, ‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’ ”
It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial reverence. (Comp. Deut. 32:6; Hos. 11:1; Isa. 1:2; 63:16; 64:8.) God is called “the Fear of Isaac” (Gen. 31:42, 53), i.e., the God whom Isaac feared.
A holy fear is enjoined also in the New Testament as a preventive of carelessness in religion, and as an incentive to penitence (Matt.
Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
fear of the Lord, the awe that a person ought to have before God (Prov. 5:7; Eccles. 12:13). As such it can be said to constitute ‘true religion’ (Ps. 34:11). This ‘fear of the Lord’ is represented by the ‘fear and trembling’ with which Paul exhorts the Philippians to work out their salvation (Phil. 2:12). It describes the piety of the growing church in Acts 9:31. However, it may also carry overtones of judgment (2 Cor. 5:11; 1 Pet. 1:17).
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (305). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Exodus 19:10-25 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on
Hebrews 12:18-29 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” But you have come to
Matthew 28:1-4 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
Just to give us a bit more to chew on, let me add what a few more things say about this subject:
a. Holy fear
This comes from the believer’s apprehension of the living God. According to Luther, the natural man cannot fear God perfectly; according to Rudolf Otto, he is ‘quite unable even to shudder grauen) or feel horror in the real sense of the word’. Holy fear, on the other hand, is God-given, enabling men to reverence God’s authority, obey his commandments and hate and shun all form of evil (Je. 32:40; cf. Gn. 22:12; Heb. 5:7). It is, moreover, the beginning (or principle) of wisdom (Ps. 111:10); the secret of uprightness (Pr. 8:13); a feature of the people in whom God delights (Ps. 147:11); and the whole duty of man (Ec. 12:13). It is also one of the divine qualifications of the Messiah (Is. 11:2-3).
In the OT, largely because of the law’s legal sanctions, true religion is often regarded as synonymous with the fear of God (cf. Je. 2:19; Ps. 34:11, Moffatt), and even in NT times the term ‘walking in the fear of the Lord’ was used in connection with the early Christians. Gentile adherents of the synagogue were called ‘God-fearers’ (Acts 10:2, etc.; cf. Phil. 2:12).
In the NT generally, however, emphasis is laid on God as loving and forgiving, the One who through Christ gives to men the spirit of sonship (Rom. 8:15), and enables them boldly to face up to life (2 Tim. 1:6-7) and death (Heb. 2:15) without fear. Nevertheless, a reverent fear remains; for the awesomeness of God has not changed, and there is a day of judgment to be met (2 Cor. 5:10f.). Godly fear stimulates the believer to seek holiness (2 Cor. 7:1), and is reflected in his attitude towards his fellow-Christians (Eph. 5:21).
b. Slavish fear
This is strictly a natural consequence of sin (Gn. 3:10; Pr. 28:1), and can come as a punishment (Dt. 28:28). It was felt by Felix when he heard Paul preach (Acts 24:25); it is felt by Christ-rejecters, for whom remains only ‘a fearful expectation of judgment’ (Heb. 10:27, rv, 31; cf. Rev. 21:8). Though not of itself good, this fear is often used by the Holy Spirit for the conversion of men (Acts 16:29ff., etc.).
c. Fear of men
This can be expressed as: (i) a reverential awe and regard of men, as of masters and magistrates (1 Pet. 2:18; Rom. 13:7); (ii) a blind dread of them and what they can do (Nu. 14:9; Is. 8:12; Pr. 29:25); and (iii) in a peculiar sense a Christian concern for them lest they be ruined by sin (1 Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 11:3; Col. 2:1). This kind of fear, and also the slavish fear mentioned in (b) above, can be cast out by true love to God (1 Jn. 4:18).
d. ‘Fear’ as the object of fear
Fear is used in another sense, as in Gn. 31:42, 53, where God is called the ‘Fear’ of *Isaac—i.e. the God whom Isaac feared and worshipped. Their ‘fear’, the thing that terrifies them, comes upon the wicked (Pr. 1:26-27;
Wood, D. R. W. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary (365). InterVarsity Press.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning of Wisdom
The Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning of Wisdom
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Proverbs 2:1-22 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
I asked the Lord what He wanted us to study next and after going through a number of different things, I finally came to this subject and it seems to be what He desires for us to look at. I’d like to attempt to do this a little differently though. I’d really like this to be “interactive” if you’re willing to participate, rather then just me writing what I discover in His Word. So at the end of each part of the study, I’d like to take a day to discuss what we have already done as well as what we can or feel that we should be doing in the future to apply what we learn here. I’d also appreciate it if you would each share any insights the Lord has given you about the subject.
Now, let’s look at see what the Bible says about the fear of the Lord. I’ve noticed this term cropping up in a number of the studies we’ve done lately, so it makes sense for us to take a closer look at it. I think the very first thing that comes to mind when we talk about the fear of the Lord is a verse I’m sure we’re all very familiar with, which says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Psalm 111:10) and in another which says it is the beginning of knowledge. (Proverbs 1:7)
The word translated, “beginning” is actually Rē’šîṯ and means “the start” as well as the “capstone or essence” of something. To me that says that God is the essence of wisdom and knowledge. We know that those who do not have the Holy Spirit, cannot understand the things of God, (1 Cor 2:10-16) so it must be fruitless to simply seek wisdom without first seeking the One who is the very essence of it.
In Psalm 111:10 it says: “all who follow his precepts have good understanding.” A precept is a command or principal, and this seems to be indicating that the fear of the Lord also causes you to obey and follow His commands and live by His principals.
Then in Proverbs 1:7 it says: “but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” This then also brings discipline into the picture. We’ve seen in our other studies that discipline comes up quite a bit in God’s Word too. In fact, for us who are born again, the Bible says:
2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
The word translated “self-discipline” (or sound mind in the KJV) is actually sōphronismos which means disciplined or self-controlled. It often hits me how God’s ways are so much the opposite of what the world teaches us. This is true even of being disciplined. God tells us throughout His Word how only fools say there is no God and talks about people who have gained what we would consider worldly knowledge, really know nothing at all, even though they think they are vastly more intelligent then we are. Let me include some of those verses for us as well:
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
1 Corinthians 1:19-21 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.
To me that says there is no true knowledge or wisdom to be had apart from that which we can only get from the Lord. This world is really stuck on education and prides itself on how educated the people of the world are. Even churches have leaned toward only accepting pastors that have passed certain of the worlds standards for education, regardless of whether or not the Lord has called someone to preach! Yet the Lord tells us that all true knowledge and wisdom comes only from Him, not from our schools! All true knowledge and wisdom comes only from Him and we can only receive that knowledge and wisdom under certain conditions. The first condition He has given is that we must first “fear Him”. The verse from James and the one from Proverbs 2 tells us what the other condition is: we must seek Him and ask Him for it. I especially like how the passage in proverbs puts it because what it is really describing isn’t how we seek wisdom, but how we need to seek the Lord Himself. Compare what it says with these other verses:
Proverbs 2:3-6 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Luke 11:9-10 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
For us, during this age of Grace or Church age as it is sometimes called, the first requirement for wisdom is that we be saved. For it is only through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we can understand the things of God. Again though, salvation is just the beginning of the journey. It appears that our wisdom can only grow as much as our fear of the Lord grows. The fear of the Lord only grows as much as we are willing to put into our search of understanding Him. The more we seek Him, the closer we try to be to Him, the more our fear will grow and the more wisdom we will attain.
Very quickly before we end, I’d like to share an example of the “fear of the Lord”, just to make sure we are all on the same page when we’re talking about it:
Genesis 22:12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
I’m sure we’re all very familiar with this story. It’s a really good example of someone who “feared the Lord”, someone who really did put God above everything and everyone else in his life. What an amazing faith Abraham had! It’s my desire to have that kind of faith. It is that kind of faith that brings wisdom. He must have been one amazing man to know and I can’t wait to have a chance to talk to him when we get to heaven!
For the rest of today and tomorrow then, let’s discuss what all this means to us now; how we either have already applied it to our lives, and/or how we can apply it now; as well as any other insights the Lord has given us about this subject—and it’s a big one too! We’ve already mentioned some of the elements we’ve found about the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as being, discipline, seeking Him, being saved, obedience, etc. May the Lord guide us each as we share with each other and learn what He has to teach us!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
God promises that you will work out your salvation
This week’s promise: God promises that you will work out your salvation
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.
2 Peter 1:3-11 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall,and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today I’d like to finish up by looking at a few other passages from God’s Word about this. To often Christians don’t understand that they have a part to play in their salvation. While we are saved totally by the Grace of God alone and not by anything we do, and while we can not earn our salvation, and we cannot lose our salvation once attained, once we are saved, we DO have work to do! The easiest way to explain it is to view our salvation like a new plant. It must be watered and fed and cared for if it is to grow and survive.
Now let’s look at the passage from 2 Peter. First we are told that the Lord gives us everything we need for life and godliness. He doesn’t give us some of it, but all that we need. Now notice the very next words in that sentence; let me quote it here again:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Do you see what it is that we need for life and godliness? It is through our knowledge of Him that we gain what we need! Now how do we gain that knowledge? When we were saved the Lord both opened our spiritual eyes and our hearts to His Gospel so we could accept it. He then gave us His Holy Spirit to dwell in us and teach us all that we need to know. He gave us His Word, our Bible to read, study and reflect on with the guidance of His Holy Spirit. He gave us the ability to come before Him in prayer to receive help in our times of need. This then is how we gain what we need for life and godliness! There is no other way!
I take that back. In undeveloped countries, the Lord I’m sure puts His Word in peoples minds like He did back in the days before we had a written bible in our language. Back in the disciples time, people memorized the entire Word of God. Today that sounds like an amazing feat, and yet back then it was the norm for everyone. The Jewish people began teaching their children to memorize the Old Testament when they were just toddlers. Regardless of how we get God’s Word though, it is through His Word that we gain what we need for life and godliness. We have been very blessed to have His Word so readily and easily available for us.
I would like to clarify something though. It is not just through the study of His Word, but it through our close personal relationship with Him AND our study of His Word that we get what we need. He and His Word is our strength. Nor can someone who is not saved gain the same things by studying God’s Word. The Lord tells us that only those of us who have been saved and have the Holy Spirit within us understand His Word. Worldly, unsaved people can study God’s Word all their lives and get as many degrees as they want and they still won’t really understand the first thing about it. They can’t. (1 Corinthians 2:10-14 )
Let’s now look at the next sentence in this passage:
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Through what? For that we have to look at the preceding sentence. When we do we see it is through His Word that He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them—through His promises, His Word, we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Does this mean that we become divine like Jesus? No it does not. We are not God and never will be. The word for “participate” actually translates to “become partners”. We become partners with Christ, and when we do that, we become more and more like Him, but we do not become God ourselves. That is a false teaching.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When he says, “for this very reason”, he is referring to being partners with Christ and becoming more like Him, so he is saying, “To be more and more like Christ, add to your faith….” He then gives a list of spiritual fruit that we need to strive for. When he says goodness, he is talking about moral excellence. We are not to be like the world, but instead are to order our lives the way God would have us do. To that we are to add knowledge. He is not speaking here of knowledge that you would attain at school. The word gnōsin refers to spiritual knowledge attained through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. So once again we are told where to get what we need for godliness. He then goes on with more things that are all basic fruit of the spirit that are born from a close relationship with Christ. These he says will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of Jesus, if we possess them in increasing measure. In other words, it is a never ending journey. We are to be always striving to be closer to the Lord, to be more like Him, and to always do His Will. As we persevere and do this, we produce the crop that the Lord tells us those who are truly saved will produce. ( Luke 8:15 )
Then Peter continues and tells us about those who do not have these qualities:
2 Peter 1:9-11 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall,and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Those who don’t have these qualities are still babies in Christ because he says they have been cleansed from their past sins. Peter then encourages them as well as us to make our calling sure, to work out our salvation, to become mature in Christ and not stay little babies who cannot be sure of their salvation and will get no reward and will not ever earn the words we all long to hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant!” I can’t think of a better way to end this study then the way Peter did, urging us to eagerly make sure of our calling so that we will one day hear these most wonderful words:
Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Friday, October 30, 2009
God promises that you will work out your salvation
This week’s promise: God promises that you will work out your salvation
Luke 8:11-15 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Today I would like to look at another of our Lord’s parables. This is the parable of the sower which I’m sure we’re all very familiar with. In this parable the Lord tells us about how people receive the Gospel and how each type of person deals with it differently and what their outcome is.
Jesus says there are 4 groups of people who hear His Gospel. The first are the ones that never accept it or believe because the devil keeps them blind. We’re all familiar with this kind of person unfortunately. They usually think they’re very smart and intellectual. Sadly for them the only knowledge they have is the kind that’s worthless, for they only have the worlds knowledge and not the knowledge or wisdom of God.
The second are those who seems to be saved but then when the going gets rough they fall away. This group didn’t lose their salvation because although they seemed to be saved, they never really were. There are many people in this group. Some of them are great pretenders too. We often call them our brothers and sisters not realizing that they have never really been saved. These are the folks that renounce their faith and then cause all sorts of divisions in the body of Christ because they insist that they really were saved, when in fact they weren’t. They try to convince people that you can lose your salvation but God’s Word is quite plain and clear that someone who is really saved cannot lose their salvation. Therefore, those who renounce their faith, and those who fall away are simply among the group of people who were never really saved to begin with. I tend to think that this is actually one of the largest groups of all.
The third group Jesus says is a group that hears the Gospel, seems to be saved, but they never grow to maturity. They are to wrapped up in the world and what they see to take the Kingdom of God seriously. I think this is another group that is also very large. We often call the members of this group our brothers and sisters too, but again they are not really our brothers and sisters, for they too are not really saved. There is only one group according to our Lord that is really saved and that is the fourth group.
Notice what Jesus says about this last group who really are saved. He says that they hear the Word, retain it and persevere producing a crop. This is the group that grow to maturity and are really saved. None of the others are saved. None of them are our brothers or sisters in Christ. How very sad this is because when we look at the people who fill the churches today, even the pastors themselves, how many are really saved? It seems there are very few and that’s what saddens me.
Let’s look closer at what the difference is in this fourth group that shows that they are really saved.
Luke 8:15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. NIV
First the Lord says they retain His Word. Let’s look at that particular verse in a couple of other translations:
Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. KJV
Luke 8:15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. ESV
This makes it very easy to see that there is more to being saved then simply “hearing the word”. When we are saved, really saved, we “retain the word” or “hold it fast” or “keep it”. In other words, it’s more then just knowing it, we have to use it or perhaps another way of looking at it would be to say that we must obey it. When we do that, the last part of the verse comes into play, because it is only then that we bear fruit, or “produce a crop”. Of course here we are talking about producing fruit of the spirit which we’ve already discussed. This is how we work out our salvation as Paul called it. We hear the word and hang onto it for dear life, obeying it, and putting our Lord and His Word above everyone and everything else in our lives. It means that we study His Word, wanting to know Him better and know His Will better and that we reflect on it, and that we’re always straining toward the goal of our final prize, the redemption of our bodies at the rapture. We want to be more like Him who died for us, we want to please Him and we want that more then we want anything else. Let’s take a look now at how Jesus ended this parable we’ve been studying:
Luke 8:16-18 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
Jesus is telling us here again to consider carefully how we’re listening to Him. If our lives do not reflect that we belong to Him, then we do not really belong to Him but are only pretending to. He warns us that if a person continues in that way, that they will be shown to be a false follower and everyone will know that they are not saved. He warns us that eventually what we really are will be revealed to everyone. His Word warns us too that we should regularly examine ourselves and our lives to make sure that we are living the way He wants us to.
2 Corinthians 13:5-6 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.
Galatians 6:3-4 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,
Once again God’s Word has shown us that following Jesus is a lot more then going to church on Sunday. It means working out our salvation, which is another way of saying we need to grow to maturity in Christ. It is not acceptable to simply say “we believe” if our lives to not reflect that belief. Does this mean that we need to get ourselves busy doing “good works”. Not at all! What it means is that we need to make certain that we daily spend time with the Lord in prayer, spend time daily reading, studying and reflecting on His Word. When we do that, and we are actively listening to the Lord, then our outward lives will automatically reflect our beliefs and show that we are indeed saved and the “good works” that others talk of so freely will come automatically. We will see the fruit of the spirit in our lives more and more and we will find that we care less and less for this world and it’s attractions.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
God promises that you will work out your salvation
This week’s promise: God promises that you will work out your salvation
Matthew 25:14-30 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.“ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Today I’d like to look at the above parable in relation to how we work out our salvation. We know now that working out our salvation is another way of saying becoming mature in Christ, and that this is something that the Lord expects from each and every person who has chosen to follow Him.
In the above parable, Jesus was not talking about money. He was once again telling us what He expects from us! When we are saved, He gives us each a desire to know Him better, and He gives us each particular abilities or talents as well. Everything we have has been given us by the Lord. If we have a high IQ, that’s because the Lord gifted us with it! If we have a great memory, it’s again because the Lord gifted us with it. He also gives us each spiritual gifts as well. Too often we tend to take credit for our own intelligence or other abilities when it was really a gift from the Lord. He expects us each to use what He has given us to serve Him. In the parable the Lord gives different amounts to different people and this is quite true. He gives us each what He alone knows that we can handle. He never gives anyone so little that they are bored, nor does He give them so much that they cannot handle it. He knows us better then we know ourselves, therefore we can trust that if He has given us something to do that we can in fact do it with His help.
Let’s start from the beginning again. First Jesus gives us His gift of salvation, and has given us each other abilities and talents. Then Jesus left for a long time. Isn’t it interesting how He has warned us in several places in His Word that once He ascended that He would be gone a long time in our way of thinking before he returned again? Notice in the parable what the first man did when the Master left? Does it remind you of what happened when Jesus called his disciples? (Remember how when Jesus called each of them, it says in the bible that they “immediately” got up and followed Him? Like that, the first man goes “at once” and put his money to work and earned more, as did the next man. Jesus is showing us here that when we are saved, He expects us to immediately live up to what we have already attained, just as Paul said in Phil 3:16. The only way we can do that is through studying God’s Word. The only way we can “invest” what Christ has given us is also through studying His Word, so that we can then share that knowledge with others. Therefore when we receive this wonderful gift of salvation, our very first requirement is to study!
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
When we study and spend time in prayer, we begin on the path to spiritual maturity. The closer we become to the Lord through prayer and study, the less likely we are to be fooled by false teachers, and the more grateful we’ll be for our own salvation because we’ll actually understand it better! Because we are more grateful and more knowledgeable, our testimonies will be all the more powerful too!
Matthew 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
Matthew 25:33-34 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Now in contrast, the last man hid his money instead of investing it. He did nothing at all with what the Lord had given him! Jesus, instead of rewarding him as he expected in his arrogance, took back what He had given him and cast him into hell. This man is an example of a false follower of Christ. He is a picture of what a “goat” would look like. Once again the Lord shows us that a true follower of His, will seek to do His will, and will exhibit the fruit of the spirit In their lives. There is no “in between”. Either a person IS saved and is “investing” their time for the Lord by studying His Word and spending time with Him and doing His Will, or they are not. They may say they are, like that last man, or like the goats in the other parable, or like the false teachers Paul speaks of, but in fact they are not our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I want to point out one other thing about this parable quickly and that is that it is a picture not only of what Christ expects of us when we are saved, but what He expects of us from the moment of salvation until His return at the rapture. He expects us to be faithful and to use what He has given us; to learn all we can and become as close to Him as we can.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
God promises that you will work out your salvation
This week’s promise: God promises that you will work out your salvation
Philippians 4:2-9 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Today let us look at the rest of what Paul says about working out our salvation, picking up where we left off yesterday. The last words we read from him yesterday were that working out our salvation was what would enable us to stand firm in the Lord. Before we do go further though, I’d like to talk for a minute about what it means to stand firm in the Lord and why it is desirable for us to do so. Let’s look at another verse that talks about this:
Ephesians 4:13-15 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
It becomes clear from reading this that to “stand firm” is the opposite of “being blown here and there by every wind of teaching” Notice that in the above passage it also indicates that as we become spiritually mature we are able to stand firm, and that we become spiritually mature through knowledge of the son of God as we attain the fullness of Christ. We do this through the study of God’s Word, reflecting on it and through prayer.
Now let’s address the very first thing Paul talks about in today’s passage with also coincides with the other one I just posted. The first thing Paul says is that he wants two of his fellow workers to agree with each other. He is talking here about unity in the faith, just as he is in the first sentence of the passage from Ephesians. Remember the other day when he was talking to them he told them that if any of them disagreed with this teaching that the Lord would make it clear to them? It is similar here too. As far as the basics of our faith go, we are to agree with each other. Basics being things concerning our salvation and the Gospel. Something that is not basic would be for example, what color table cloth to use on their alter, or where people should sit, or if they should sit or stand for the blessing, etc. Notice something else too: Paul did not tell them which of them was right. He did not tell them to ask Peter or James or Mark or anyone else about which of them was right. The only directions he’s given anyone concerning when they are unsure is that the Lord will teach them the Truth. It appears from the context as well as from what Paul says about it earlier that these two are contending with each other over something that is not basic to our salvation. This is the other piece of advice he gives concerning this:
Philippians 2:1-5 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Here he advises them to remember their priorities and that they are to put the others interests above their own and be as servants like Jesus was. But where it concerned the Word of God, or doctrine, Paul told them that the Lord would make it clear to them. Paul knew that everyone grows at a different rate and that since everyone wasn’t saved at the exact same time, that each would be at a different stage in their spiritual walk. Therefore he knew there were bound to be differences in opinions, just as there are now and he asks us to help each other to remain united in the faith and not let differences separate us from each other.
Paul next tells us something that seems strange at first and even out of place. He says we are to rejoice in the Lord always! Now, here are these people who are apparently at each others throats, and he’s telling them to rejoice in the Lord always! If you think about it for a moment though it does make sense and Paul certainly had plenty of experience in dealing with “hard times” so he was quite qualified to know what he was talking about when telling others what to do when involved in a difficult personal situation. He says, “rejoice in the Lord always!” Notice he is not saying to rejoice in the problem or the circumstance, but to rejoice in the Lord. What does that mean? It means that no matter what we are going through physically or even emotionally, that we can have inner joy by simply remembering what the Lord has done for us and what He has promised to do in our future. In other words, remembering our blessed hope, the rapture. By doing this, rejoicing in the Lord, it brings our focus off our circumstances, off the current problem or difficulty and puts it squarely back where it belongs: on our Lord Jesus! This is what gives us joy. This is why Paul was able to rejoice even after being beaten half to death and being in prison! The joy of the Lord was his strength! That joy can be ours too and the Lord wants us to use it! That is why Paul reminds them to rejoice in the Lord.
Next Paul advises them to let their gentleness be evident to everyone. If you recall, gentleness is a fruit of the spirit. Fruit of the spirit is what becomes evident in our lives as we mature in the Lord. We mature in the Lord as we work out our salvation. By reminding them to let their gentleness be evident to everyone, it once again reminds them that they are not to act the way they did before they were saved, they were instead to “live up to what they had already attained”.
I realize that as we’ve been looking at what Paul says here, that I’ve been using the word “they” referring to the people that Paul was writing to, but please know that everything Paul wrote to them, was also written to us as well. It has just as much meaning for us as it did for the original people it was intended for.
Now, after telling them to let their gentleness show, Paul reminds them that the Lord is near, meaning that even then they were waiting for the rapture to happen just as we are. The difference here for us is that we are even closer to the rapture then they were! Just as God’s Word says elsewhere, “our salvation (meaning the completion of our salvation which occurs at the rapture) is nearer now then when we first believed. (Rom 13: 11-12)
Next we hear the familiar command that we are not to be anxious about anything. Instead Paul says, we are to remember that Christ’s coming is near and simply present our requests to Him with thanksgiving. Paul wasn’t telling them not to “care” about the things that were happening to themselves or others, but rather not to “worry” about those things. We are to love and care about each other, but not “worry” or be “anxious” about each other or anything else. We are instead to trust God. If we really trust God, then we cannot worry, as worry eliminates that trust. Paul reminds us that when we trust God, that His Peace will guard our hearts and minds, kicking that worry right out the door! Again, this is another measure of our spiritual maturity. The more spiritually mature we are, the more we’ll be able to trust the Lord, and the less we will worry. Do I need to say again how we achieve that spiritual maturity? There really is only one way and no shortcuts to it. It requires daily work on our parts, which is how we work out our salvation.
Finally Paul gives us some more very solid advice as to how to keep our minds from worry and anxiety. He tells us that we shouldn’t be dwelling on evil or sinful things, but rather on things that are good, true, and right. Those are the kinds of things we should be thinking on. God’s Word has quite a bit more to say on this subject so we’ll deal with it another time in more depth. For now though, let us know that thinking on problems is not on the list of things that Paul says we should be thinking on!
Paul ends this part in much the same manner as he ended the others, and I think it’s the perfect way to end today’s study too:
Philippians 4:9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
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