Christ

Delegation of Authority: The Holy Spirit

Faithful Stewardship 1 Comment
dove

…the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove…
(Luke Chapter 3)

When we last spoke about how Authority had been delegated to Adam, and that God did not take it back immediately when Adam sinned, I couldn’t leave it alone without pointing out that one of the many awesome truths of the purpose that Jesus came to fulfill was in taking the Authority that man forfeited. We looked at how Jesus had to be born a man, but not from man’s seed (to inherit sin), so the virgin birth was required so that Jesus (the Word Made Flesh) could come and lay down His life:

John 10:11-18 (ESV) 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Praise the Lord! Notice here, that Jesus clearly states His purpose, His Authority, and that He received it from God the Father. Now, remember that our charge is given to us in the Great Commission, but let’s look at it again in Matthew:

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV) 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Notice the “therefore”. A cute little saying I heard growing up in Sunday School regarding taking the time to understand the context of scriptures was, What’s the ‘therefore’ there for? Here, it is telling us that our charge to Go and make disciples of all nations… is based in the fact that All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus… who is then giving us the charge to Go…

Now, let’s talk about the Holy Spirit. In the book of John, we see Jesus making several attempts at preparing the disciples for what was about to take place (crucifixion, resurrection, & ascension). In hindsight, we can see that Jesus was speaking quite plainly. But He knew (and said as much) that they just wouldn’t understand what He was telling them. Let’s take a look at the promise of Jesus to send a Helper:

John 15:18-27 (ESV) 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

John 16:1-15(ESV) 1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit is called our Helper, (the Greek word here is Paracletos, one called alongside to help; or Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor) and the Spirit of Truth. But Jesus doesn’t just identify Whom He will send, but for what purpose, to bear witness about Jesus. But here is something very cool (at least, I thought so)… this was already the role of the Holy Spirit. Only before, He took His marching orders from God the Father.

Luke 3:21-22 (ESV) 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Praise the Lord. What is different now, is that before Christ, God sent His Spirit to speak the Word of the Lord through Prophets, Priests, and Judges over Israel. The Spirit of God was only available to whom God had called for His purpose. Now Jesus is sending the Holy Spirit to all who hear and place their faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, being baptized in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Remember, that God keeps His promises. In Acts 2, the promise of Jesus Christ to send the Holy Spirit takes place on the day of Pentecost. It is a momentous event. Peter’s first sermon is amazing, and I strongly recommend studying it closely. But for this blog, we are going to key in on how the crowd responds to the conclusion of the sermon, and Peter’s response to the question:

Acts 2:36-41 (ESV) 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Praise the Lord! This promise is for us, we who are far off, those of us whom the Lord Our God has called to Himself through His Word! I want to turn quickly to one more passage of scripture before we close this out. Now, remember that role for which Jesus said He was going to send the Holy Spirit. Bearing that in mind, let us look to 1 John 4:

1 John 4:1-6 (ESV) 4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

It is not a sign of doubt, unbelief, or insubordination to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. We are told to do so. Don’t let anyone silence you out of fear of being labeled a “critical person” or worse, for having a “spirit of criticism” simply because you aren’t yielding to the move of every spirit. For the role of the Holy Spirit is not to bring glory to Himself… but to Jesus Christ. Do we rely on our emotions? No. Remember that Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14), so knowing the Word of God is critical to identifying rightly the Spirit of Truth from the many spirits of error. I hope to dive into 1 Corinthians 12-14 sometime, but I will say that spiritual discernment is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the body of believers (the Church), but knowledge of the Word of God is still necessary to properly operate in the Gifts of the Spirit.

I pray you have a wonderful weekend, and that you’ve found some blessing in these bible studies. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His Will,
In Him,
Jorge

Discipleship: Calling, Apprenticeship, & Ministry III

Faithful Stewardship 1 Comment
Apprentice

Repro. of painting by Emile Adan, copyrighted by Braun & Co., N.Y.

To switch things up a bit in this series, I’d like to take a look at one of the Apostles. Today, Let’s take a look at the Calling, Apprenticeship, & Ministry of the Apostle Paul.You might be thinking, “woah, that’s a huge jump from Gideon to Paul”. It is, but I believe that once we’ve finished going through this study, you’ll realize that ultimately, it doesn’t matter whose life we study, what we see is God at work in and through these men of faith. I’m so excited to get into this, because the Apostle Paul went to great lengths to provide us with what we need to know about God’s redemptive work first in Paul and then through him, but all of the work was done by Him.

Paul (formerly Saul)

Our first introduction to Saul comes in Acts 7. But I don’t want to dive right in without some context first. In the first 5 chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, we see the Apostles launch in the Ministry of the Gospel, the Great Commission. We will study this time in the near future, but for now let me just say that these sermons are powerful. The Spirit of God works mightily in His Church. The Church grew so large that the Apostles could no longer see to every detail of the needs of the brethren while also devoting sufficient time to prayer and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, in Acts 6, the Apostles promote seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to be promoted as deacons, so that the Apostles could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. We will also take a closer look at the New Testament model for Church structure. So many projects in the queue, Praise the Lord! But I digress, one of the chosen men was Stephen. Men of various synagogues tried to trip Stephen up but couldn’t, due to the work of the Holy Spirit, so they got false witnesses to testify against him in front of the Sanhedrin. When it is finally Stephen’s turn to respond to the accusations against him… he launches into an astounding sermon beginning in Acts 7:2. How he ends the speech, and what happens next always brings a tear to my eye…

Acts 7:51-60 (ESV) 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 8:1-3 (ESV) 1 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Now take a second look at what is happening to the church in Jerusalem. Had the church done something wrong? No. Is this punishment from God? No. This punishment is from men. The church scattered, the apostles remained. Emotionally, this is a devastating blow to go from the victory, boldness, and blessing that seemed to be the norm in the first 6 chapters of Acts. For they made great lamentations over him [Stephen]. Make no mistake, God is still in control. We would do well to remember these times in Jerusalem when our ears are being tickled with prosperity doctrine that ignores the reality of the Gospel, or when we are encouraged to anchor our faith to our emotions. Our faith needs but One Anchor, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us continue…

Acts 9:1-9 (ESV) 1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

We are pausing here, to note that as yet we do not have the Call of God upon Saul’s life. Only that Jesus saw fit to stop Saul from sinning against Him. Jesus stepped in. Jesus intervened. He made Himself known to Saul, in a powerful, and divine way. Saul needed to repent, as do all who are born in sin. I think it is worth noting that Saul’s response realizing he was woefully in the wrong and persecuting the Son of God. He neither ate nor drank for 3 days (and I think he’d have gone longer had God not sent someone to him). Let’s continue reading…

Acts 9:10-20 (ESV) 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

So many things going on in this passage.  Very clearly, we see the Calling that God has placed on Saul in v15… and just as quickly we see that this would be an extremely heavy burden to bear, where it not for the fact that God is the one who completes the works He has started. Now, remember at the start of this series that I said that these “phases” I’m using to break down the Call, Apprenticeship, and Ministry might not always be distinct phases. Paul wasn’t without training. It’s not like he was all zeal and no substance. His zeal was anchored in his understanding of the scriptures. He was dead wrong because he was dead in sin. Let’s look at how he describes himself later:

Philippians 3:3-6 (ESV) 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Galatians 1:11-24 (ESV) 11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His Grace, 16 was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Paul makes it abundantly clear, time and time again, that he was dead in his sin and it was but by the Grace of God that He chose to reveal His Son Jesus to Paul. Paul needed no further teaching because he had already studied and memorized the Law and the Prophets (as to the Law, a Pharisee) and everything he was doing while dead in his sin he did in accordance with the Law (as to righteousness under the law, blameless) to punish the blasphemy. For you see, there is no middle ground with respect to the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Either He is the Son of God, being equal to God, and having been with God since the beginning, or He is a liar and a blasphemer. There is NO OTHER OPTION. What Paul (then Saul) lacked, was the revelation that Jesus was not a man making empty claims of deity, Jesus is in-fact the Son of God. Once that revelation was given to him by the Grace of God, Paul was then able to accept who Jesus really is. As Jesus spoke identifying Himself as the Bread of Life there is a comment He makes that I feel is reflected in the story of Paul’s conversion, John 6:43-44 (ESV) Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…”

Paul was immediately ready to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And all who heard of Paul’s conversion, glorified God. God uses Paul mightily as His Apostle to the Gentiles. God inspires Paul to write 15 epistles to the churches, two of which contain such marvelous examples of seeing the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Old Testament (Hebrews and Romans). He was not alone in this, for when we look at Stephen’s final sermon, and look at Peter’s sermons, we’ll see that truly all of the Apostles had their understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ grounded in the Law and the Prophets. In closing, I’d like to share a wonderful quote from Graeme Goldsworthy… that I put into a graphic for a different purpose, but I think it works well here, too.

fbbanner

May the Lord bless and keep you always,
In Him,
Jorge

An imperfect picture of the Perfect Love of the Father

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

I’ve been spending a great deal of time reading the Scriptures and praying for understanding of the whole of scriptures in relationship to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There has been a great deal of growth, and yet I feel like I’m only scratching the surface. I hope you can relate to that feeling. Lately, I’ve been trying carefully to re-evaluate every aspect of my doctrine to make sure that what I believe is in line with the Scriptures. I’ll admit, it’s not fun. We usually like to start with those beliefs we didn’t trust, or that we suspected were unBiblical, but when it comes to challenging our own… *sigh*… it can be rough. My personal growth has been what I would call a Renaissance of the Preeminence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all of Scriptures.  I’m learning that a common pitfall in Evangelical circles, is to allow ourselves to somehow graduate from the Gospel and move on toward living a Holy life. The problem is in the false-notion that we can (or should) graduate from the Gospel. There is nothing beyond the Gospel, because the Gospel is everything. Outside of the Gospel, there is no hope of living a Holy life. So, instead of graduating, what happens is we allow our focus to fall from the grace of the Gospel, back under the Law.

Galatians 5:1-6 (ESV)
5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

The Apostle Paul is not encouraging any sense of Lawlessness. I have no desire to encourage or condone lawlessness. So where’s the balance? I can cite several places where Paul is rebuking those who fall from grace and back into Law… and also where James is rebuking lawlessness. I know (intellectually, theologically, scripturally) the answer is, “in Jesus Christ”.  I’d like to share an object lesson I believe the Holy Spirit gave me over the weekend.

Photo of my beautiful daughter

“Daddy… you mad?”

I am the father of a wonderful 4-year-old son, and a beautiful 2-year-old daughter. Lately, my daughter has been pushing the limits of her authority and testing the patience of her parents. She’s always been strong-willed, and quite the ham, but lately she has become very aware of her desires and quite capable to communicate those desires. She has been testing the waters in matching her will against ours. If you have toddlers now, or can remember when your kids were at this age, you know that this is simply a part of growing up. It isn’t rebellion, but it is a resistance to submission of will. Naturally, it is my duty to rebuke, reprimand, and even admonish such willful acts of disobedience, so I must, though it breaks my heart to do so. My son generally just needs a strong word. He may not understand (or even want to) why he was “in trouble” but he acknowledges he was reprimanded and then we have to build him back up. My daughter… will fight. Over the weekend, she disobeyed direct commands (stop that, don’t play with that, come here, pick that up) to varying degrees of defiance. In a few cases, this lead to punishment, tears, and a few instances of “telling on daddy” to mommy. A funny thing also kept coming up… once all was said and done, she apologized, we hugged, and reaffirmed our love for each other… she’d ask me later, “Daddy… you mad?”. I’d tell her, “no, honey, I’m not mad. It makes Daddy mad when you don’t do what I tell you to do, but I’m not mad now, and I still love you very, very much”. She’d smile at me and continue playing, sometimes hamming it up with an overwhelming tackle of a hug. As we were putting the kids to bed this past Saturday evening, and I started thinking about how I relate to our Heavenly Father.

Luke 11:11-13 (ESV) 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

As a father, I am an imperfect picture of the Perfect Love of Our Heavenly Father. Yes, my daughter is learning what it means to please and displease me, her earthly father. But those lessons are being taught and reinforced within the context of my love for her as my daughter. At no time… ever… is there any question that I love my daughter. None. And in my flesh, I am evil. How much more… is a powerful statement. One of the most dangerous lies of the devil, is when he accuses God of malice in His correction/punishment of our disobedience. Do not allow the enemy to twist the consequences of disobedience or the fleshly failings/stumblings that are going to happen, into doubt of your standing with God. Just as my daughter doesn’t stop being my daughter just because I had to correct her wrong doing, we don’t stop being Children of God simply because we failed to be Holy. Our performance was not what saved us in the first place!

Ephesians 2 (ESV)
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. One in Christ 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The Christian life, is a life lived in Christ. We are being built together, joined together, grown into a holy temple in the Lord… but Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. You cannot make (or keep) a wall straight, if you take your eyes off of the cornerstone. When we fall out of alignment (and it will happen while we walk in the flesh), the Holy Spirit will work us back into alignment. Do not mistake the rebuke and correction of the Holy Spirit for malice. There is no room to question God’s love, for Scripture makes it clear that He loved us while we were dead in our sins. We don’t reject the Law and the Prophets, we don’t ignore them one bit, not a single iota, because in doing so we would lose sight of depth and width of that for which Jesus gave Himself as the final sacrifice.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The problem is not the Law and the Prophets, it’s in allowing your focus to move off of what Christ did for us and onto an obligation to fulfill the whole law ourselves, something we are incapable of doing apart from Christ! How does that pan out?

  • theology that declares that God hates you because you sinned
  • theology that limits the forgiveness paid by Christ to only those sins you committed before you were “saved” (leaving you to seek penance through the Law to make up for sins committed after you “received Christ”)
  • theology that declares you “owe it to God” to fulfill the Law
  • theology that tells you that you need to prove to God how much you love Him by performing works of the Law

So, in closing, we should expect to get corrected, rebuked, and punished for wrong doing… as Children of God in Christ Jesus, for the maturing of the Church. We will mess up and He will correct us. But we remain, forever, His children. Bless the Lord for His Love, His Kindness, His Mercy, and His Grace. Amen.

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
In Him,
Jorge

Discipleship: Calling, Apprenticeship, & Ministry II

Faithful Stewardship 1 Comment
Apprentice

Repro. of painting by Emile Adan, copyrighted by Braun & Co., N.Y.

When I felt the push to explore this theme of Discipleship throughout the Old Testament, I had initially purposed to move through the Old Testament chronologically. However, I think that as long as I do a good job of identifying the Calling of each individual, I can skip to the more popularized figures of the Old Testament so that we aren’t always introducing readers to new characters; rather, we can begin with individuals whose stories most Christians feel they know well. In today’s post, I’d like to take a look at Gideon.

Gideon

So, I’d like to move forward a bit into the era of the Judges. The Lord God has led Israel into the promised land under Joshua’s leadership. To this point, however, Israel has failed to fully eradicate the inhabitants of the Promised Land. So after Joshua’s death, Israel sins, God raises up a judge to deliver Israel, and then Israel sins again. Most recently, God delivers Israel from the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan and the land goes undisturbed for 40 years. Now, we pick up our story in Judges Chapter 6.

Judges 6:1-6 (ESV) 6 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.

Oh my… another period of sin. The Lord God gives them over to Midian for 7 years. Discipline often requires punishment. The Midianites and the Amalekites are a ruthless, ungodly people about whom Israel was instructed to completely eradicate. The Lord God waits for His people to cry out for help. The answer He first sends comes in a formal rebuke (Discipline always involves rebuke of wrong-doing).

Judges 6:7-10 (ESV) 7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

Ouch. The Lord God heard the cry of Israel, and He was going to send help, but they needed to understand that their predicament was not “bad luck” or “neglect”; rather, it was punishment. The Lord God making it absolutely clear to them of His Sovereignty, His mighty hand, and His promise. Now, once again, the Lord God will call from among His people a Judge.

Judges 6:11-16 (ESV) 11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor… When men “call” on someone, we are limited in what we know of them, or in what we hope may be in them. The Lord God knows no such limitation. When the Lord God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor, He is not necessarily referring to that which stands before Him (or as some would call “seeing something undiscovered within him”)… threshing wheat in a wine-press rather than on a threshing floor… He is speaking it into existence, for He is with Gideon to make it so. I love how Gideon’s first response isn’t even about the irony in being called a mighty man of valor in his present circumstance, but he struggles to accept the first part of the statement, “The Lord is with you“. He knows full well the history of what the Lord God has done for Israel in the past (perhaps he even heard the rebuke that came from the prophet sent by God?) and he has fully accepted that Israel’s present condition is punishment for disobeying the Lord God. Additionally, notice how Gideon clearly makes the case that he had done nothing… nothing… worthy of the Call of the Lord God on his life. The youngest in his household, the weakest clan of the tribe of Manasseh.  We’ll find out later that his father, Joash, had built an altar to Baal and complete with the Asherah. Evil in the sight of the Lord. God demonstrates a great deal of patience with Gideon, as his response to the Call of the Lord God involves a lot of hesitation and requests for confirmation by signs. Definitely not a prescription for how one should respond to the Call of God… except… that Gideon answered the call and submitted to the calling of the Lord God.

As with any apprenticeship, the Master instructs, tests, admonishes, and rewards the apprentice in his growth. As you’ll read on (please, I urge you to read the rest of chapter 6 and chapter 7 on your own, so that I need not include it within the text of this post), you’ll see that the Lord gives Gideon step-by-step instructions and encouragement so that he will learn to trust in the Lord God and in the Calling God had placed upon him. The Lord delivers the camp of Midian into the hand of Gideon. Now let’s go to chapter 8:

Judges 8:1-3 (ESV) 8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against him subsided when he said this.

With this encounter, Gideon has graduated his apprenticeship and is now walking in his calling (his ministry) as a mighty man of valor. When the men of Ephraim accuse him of basically seeking to deprive others of their share of the glory, Gideon remembers the Word of the Lord, and that it must be known that to God be the glory for this victory. God fulfills His promise to Gideon, and to Israel and saves them from the hand of Midian. At the end of Gideon’s ministry, he again credits everything to the Lord God

Judges 8:22-23 (ESV) 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

Sadly, the nation of Israel does not remain faithful, and even Gideon falters. For you see, what Gideon did right, was to believe in the Lord God. Everything else, was accomplished by God, and through God, to preserve the Promise of God to one day bless all the nations of the earth through the offspring of Abraham, that is, Jesus Christ. And with that thought, I’d like to leave you with this thought from the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 1:1-11 (ESV) 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Amen. I pray you have a wonderful weekend, and may the Lord bless and keep you always,
In Him,
Jorge

And when you pray…

Faithful Stewardship 1 Comment

PrayingIt has been a couple of months since we last looked at prayer. Since then, we’ve been reviewing Sovereignty of God, His Word, the Gospel of Jesus, Discipleship… and I think it is important to revisit the topic of prayer. So, lets start with a quick review of how our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught his disciples to pray:

Matthew 6:7-15 (ESV)
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Notice the first half of the prayer begins in full acknowledgement and praise of the sovereignty of God. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name sets the stage for the foundational basis of prayer. Jesus prayed to His Father in Heaven and He taught us to do likewise (because in/through Jesus we are made free to call the Lord God our Father). The next part of the prayer is where I really want to focus on today. Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Our first request does not come from us. Our first request is that God’s Kingdom come, and that God’s Will be done on earth, as it is done in Heaven. His Sovereignty. His Will.

God’s Will is done in Heaven. Jesus isn’t instructing us to pray that God’s will be done in Heaven, we are to ask that God’s Will be done on earth, in the same way that it is done in Heaven. This is to keep us, and our prayers, firmly rooted in the Will of God. Any attempt to twist this into somehow us giving God permission to execute His Will on Earth is false. The sovereignty of God is immutable. This is an acknowledgement that while we will make our petitions to God in prayer, He remains sovereign, and we acknowledge that above all else, it is His Will we desire to be done on earth just as it is done in Heaven. This is about submission to God, our Heavenly Father, in prayer. Now, I encourage you to take some time to read the context of this instruction fully, so start in Matthew 5 and read all the way through Matthew 7. I believe that the overall theme of this sermon is to clarify the role of Jesus Christ (to fulfill the Law & Prophets Matt 5:15), even to the extend that He clearly makes the case that apart from Him no one has access to Heaven because they are incapable of fulfilling the Law themselves (v22). In Chapter 6, Jesus moves into the need for total submission to God the Father in all things, even our good works according to the Law, and that we stop doing good things for our own glory. Including how we are to pray by specifying that we pray in accordance with His Will.

Matthew 6:3-4 (ESV) 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6 (ESV) 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV) 16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And now, Jesus moves into addressing our motives. So, we’ve seen Jesus address the practice of good deeds not for recognition of men, but in full submission to God who sees in secret. Now he’s moving our motives.

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Interesting. We’ve been taught how to be blessed by God if we improve the way we give to the needy, pray, and fast… and immediately Jesus addresses money. Often, blessings are interpreted as money. Why? We walk in the flesh and are easily tempted. But Jesus makes a very strong point here, that we are NOT to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth; rather, we are to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. You see, when we seek the blessings of God in such a way that demands we receive our blessings on earth, we are trading permanent, heavenly treasures for temporary ones where moth and rust destroy. But it isn’t just about making a poor trade, it’s about who we are submitting ourselves to. No one can serve two masters… Jesus didn’t leave a third option, either you are serving money (wealth, prosperity, Mammon), or you are serving God. Again, you cannot serve God and Mammon.

Jesus moves straight from there, back to addressing the basic needs of mankind. He does so, by highlighting again the Sovereignty of God, but also His Goodness.

Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV) 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Seek first the kingdom of God… and again, take another look at how we are told to pray up in v9-14. “Your kingdom come” is also included in the prayer taught in the account in Luke 11 when the lesson is a response to the disciples asking Jesus how they should pray. That prayer is shorter, and I believe that praying for God’s kingdom to come is praying for God’s Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and no doubt it served as a reminder of the full lesson Jesus taught here in Matthew. Because nothing happens in God’s Kingdom that is not within His Will. Nothing. That is the immutable sovereignty of God.

Whenever the topic of prayer comes up, the enemy will attempt to silence you and your prayers. He does so in many ways, but we’ve seen here a few already

  • Unforgiveness (v14)
  • Vanity/Self-righteousness (v1,5,16)
  • Lust of the eyes (v22)
  • Slavery to Mammon (v24)
  • Anxiety (v25)

These are big items found in this one chapter. Now, let me take a moment to ask you to turn to James 4. You may have read this a few times before, but take a moment now to read what James had to say in light of Matthew 6, 7 (I know we didn’t really cover Ch7 here, but I will leave that for your study, or if God allows, a subsequent post).

James 4 (ESV)
4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

The question or objection that comes up whenever the subject of prayer is discussed generally falls under “yeah, I tried that, I prayed, and nothing happened”. Now there are so many reasons why a prayer may not have been fulfilled, that I generally take a deep breath and wait for a softening in the countenance of the person posing the question (because it’s normally presented as an accusation). Against whom is the accusation being levied? Is it against me? What have I taught that is of myself? Hopefully nothing; therefore, there is no need to be offended, or to take offense at the accusation neither should I worry about defending myself. But I was sharing what Jesus said in Matthew Ch 6. So, is the accusation against Jesus or God, the Father? I don’t need to speak for Him. James cuts to the heart of the matter, and I think it reflects the instruction we received in Matthew 6.

Prayer was an essential part of Jesus’ life, and should be an essential part of our lives. There are no secrets to prayer. There are no secrets to unlocking the key to prayer. Jesus openly taught how to pray, and again gave instruction to His disciples and God the Father ensured that the lessons would be preserved for us in His Scriptures. We must submit to God’s sovereignty, and make our petitions to Him fully acknowledging His Will. We don’t always get our way, because it’s not our will, but God’s Will. Let’s look at Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane:

Matthew 26:39 (ESV) 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

In closing, I don’t want to pluck prayer out as some request roulette mechanic. The goal of prayer must be submission to God, and He does speak to us through His Word and by His Spirit so that we are not left completely unaware of what His Will is. Your kingdom come... He has shared so much with us already if we would just… read… the… Bible. Anyway, I love the way the Apostle Paul closes the letter to the Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 (ESV) 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, too.
FS