Category: Articles Page 2 of 11

“7) The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8) The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9) The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10) More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” (Ps. 19:7-10)

In Psalm 19, after a discussion of the gospel of creation that is uttered in every language (v.1-6), the psalmist David then turns his attention to the gospel we have given unto us in the written word of God (v.7-14). We see 6 concise statements from v.7-9, describing the word of God in different ways, the purity of God’s word, and the effects of God’s word. As we consider the amazing value of God’s word in our lives, we must ask ourselves, how much do we really value and love God’s word? Scripture repeatedly declares that we should value God’s word above gold, yea above much fine gold. Do we really value God’s word above material wealth in this world? I’m afraid for many of us (myself included most of the time) the answer is a definitive “No!” We will consider the amazing value of God’s word in our lives and hopefully will treasure God’s word as our most valuable possession in our lives. May we crave the sweetness of God’s word above honey or the honeycomb (or whatever your favorite food is to satisfy your sweet tooth). Let us pray that God will bless us all to fall in love with God’s word together.

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“9) Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10) For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” (Acts 18:9-10)

When Paul arrived in Corinth and was facing some opposition to the gospel, he seems to have gotten afraid and discouraged. The Lord came to encourage Paul with boldness to not be afraid to preach the gospel because God already had “much people” in this city. Not only were there born-again people of God already in Corinth but there wasn’t just one or two; there were “much people” of God in this city who needed to hear the gospel. Knowing God already had a people in this city was not a “deterrent” to evangelism but was a tremendous “encouragement” to greater evangelism for Paul. Knowing that salvation is by grace alone with no action of man contributing to eternal life does not discourage us from preaching, but rather it encourages us to know that God already has a people who need to know that he has saved them from their sins. There are God’s people who are already “ordained to eternal life” (Acts 13:48) in our cities who need to know the gospel. This should be an exciting encouragement to us to boldly preach the gospel in our local communities, knowing there are God’s people there with quickened hearts who need to know that Jesus Christ has already saved them from their sins on the cross.

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“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Cor. 11:3)

In such a complex, busy and fast-paced world we have today, it is refreshing to have a few things that are simple. One of the most important things to keep simple is the church and the worship of God. The apostle Paul was very concerned about the Corinthian church getting beguiled and corrupted by Satan to complicate the “simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3). Thankfully, God keeps things simple in a world that is increasingly complicated and constantly fluctuating.

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“15) And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16) And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. 17) And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” (John 2:15-17)

Jesus Christ was consumed with zeal and passion for his house, and the church today should be consumed with zeal for his house as well. In his first trip to Jerusalem, Jesus was so consumed with zeal for God’s house that he purged it of everyone who was there for the wrong reason. As the disciples of Christ, we must follow Jesus’ example in all things in our life. We must follow Jesus and have a greater zeal and devotion for God’s house. The majority of Christianity today is lukewarm or frigidly cold in devotion to God and to the church. We might go through the motions or give the pretense of religion, but truly we are cold in our zeal for the church. We must heed the admonition to the lukewarm Laodicean church to “be zealous” (get hot, start boiling over) in service to God. Jesus Christ set the standard that we must follow. We must be passionately and zealously consumed with Jesus Christ and consumed with a zeal for God’s house.

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“And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus.” (Acts 4:36)

During this blessed time of outpouring of charity in the early church, there were many that sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the church. One of these men who sold his land and contributed the proceeds to the church was Joses. We know Joses much better in the Bible as Barnabas, which was his surname given to him by the apostles which means “the son of consolation”. Barnabas had a great gift to encourage and exhort the brethren in the Jerusalem church; so much so that the apostles named him “the son of consolation”. We need to follow Barnabas’ pattern to console, encourage, and admonish the brethren in the church. We should be publicly known and identified by our exhortation of others. Even more so, we look to the God of all Consolation and Jesus Christ as our Son of Consolation, to console and encourage our soul.   

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How much knowledge of the events on earth – either in the past, present, or future – will God’s children have when they go to heaven? This is a very common question, especially when a loved one passes away. Unfortunately, some people approach this question with more sentimentality than scripture. Your loved ones are not looking down on you from heaven, disappointed when you make poor decisions or cheering you on when good things happen. Their focus in heaven is not sitting as a spectator in the bleachers watching our lives play out on the earth. No, heaven is consumed with the worship and glory of God. While those in heaven are not focused on the events of earth, scripture does indicate that they do have special knowledge of the events of this world, even knowledge of future events on the earth. We will still have memories of our lives from here in this world, and then we will be able to view those events through the perfect perspective and will of God. Scripture does show that we will know our loved ones in heaven, although our relationships will be different there as the entire elect family of God. While we cannot fully comprehend exactly what heaven will be like, we need to make sure to view heaven through the lens of scripture. We hope to consider some verses together that hopefully can provide a more precise view of exactly how much knowledge of earthly events we will have in heaven.

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“9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10) Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11) Give us this day our daily bread. 12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:9-13)

During Jesus Christ’s sermon on the mount in Matt. 6, he instructed the disciples in the proper manner that we should pray. We read a similar account in Luke 11:1-4 at a later time when the disciples request Jesus to teach them to pray. After hearing Jesus pray unto God, the disciples understandably felt very inadequate in their prayers unto God (Luke 11:1). Could you imagine hearing the second person of the Godhead praying to God the Father? The disciples clearly saw their futility in prayer compared to Jesus Christ and requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1b) The disciples, and certainly us today as well, need instruction and teaching from Jesus for how to better pray unto our Heavenly Father. Jesus is teaching all the disciples of Christ the proper manner of prayer for how we are to communicate with our Heavenly Father in prayer.

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“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)

It is a common Christian cliché today to say that “God will never put on you more than you can bear”. This verse in 1 Cor. 10:13 is typically used to support that statement. However, this verse does not teach that God will never put more on you than you can bear. Actually, a studious reading of this text will find that God typically will put on you more than you can bear by yourself. In the midst of those overwhelming situations, God has promised that he will give us a way of escape with grace sufficient to embolden us with God’s strength to be able to bear up under that trial. The same writer of 1 Cor. 10:13, the Apostle Paul felt that God had previously put on him more than he could bear; he had been “pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8). Paul felt pressured beyond his own strength, pressed beyond what he could bear in and of himself. Moses, Job, and Elijah all felt their trials were too much to bear and requested God to take their life. It often takes fierce, apparently overwhelming, trials in our lives for us to be reminded of our own insufficiency and how dependent we truly are upon God for everything. Truly, without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). However, praise God in spite of our weakness that we are empowered to still do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). When the storms of life are raging, we trust God’s faithfulness and providence to empower us with sustaining strength and grace sufficient during our great times of need.

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“And Jesus said unto [Zacchaeus], This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” (Luke 19:9)

Zacchaeus was arguably public enemy number one in Judea since he was the chief of the publican tax collectors. He was despised as a traitor and probably universally hated in the community. However, we see the genuine repentance displayed by Zacchaeus, not just committing to act honestly going forward but to make full restitution for past offenses and even restore fourfold to everyone he had previously defrauded. As a result of his sincere and radical repentance, Jesus tells him that “salvation is come to his house today”. Salvation and deliverance come to our homes when we humbly repent of our sins and commit to honest service to Jesus Christ in our lives. There is a deliverance when the leaders of our households (especially the fathers) commit to serving Jesus Christ, not just in their lives in general, but commit to making Jesus Christ the Lord of their house as well. We can experience “salvation coming to our house” when we serve Jesus Christ in sincerity and devotion in our homes with our family.

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“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

The Holy Spirit gave God’s people some amazing, comforting truths in the eighth chapter of Romans. However, it has become commonplace in Christian culture today for Romans 8:28 to be used in a very broad and general sense to try to comfort God’s people in tragedy, extending far beyond the immediate context of the verse. Oftentimes, well-meaning believers attempt to use Romans 8:28 to try to explain some bad circumstances that occur in life – a tragic, sudden loss of a loved one, a terminal diagnosis, a global pandemic, wars, violence, crime and unrest, or any number of other bad things in this world. They attempt to teach in a very general way that “God is working all things together for your good”. This incorrect portrayal of this text tells the struggling child of God that the Lord has caused this event, but it’s okay because ultimately God is using this – just like how supposedly God uses all things, all events in this life without exception – to work together for your ultimate good. While it is true that God’s motivations and goals in his actions are always the good of his children and God can use challenging circumstances for your good, scripture does not support that all events without exception are working together for our good. Let us rightly divide Romans 8:28 together to understand that not all events without exception are working for our good, but rather all things that GOD DOES are working together in synergy for the good of his children.

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