Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1]
I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. [Psalm 40:10]
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. [Romans 1:17]
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. [Habakkuk 2:4]
I am finding it hard to walk up to people and have a conversation about Jesus. Do I just need practice, or are my inhibitions telling me something? If I am to preach in season and out of season, if I am to proclaim the gospel, how should I do it? I should not hide God's righteousness in my heart, but declare his reliability and ability to save/heal and not hide God's mercy and truth. What does that look like?
How is God's righteousness revealed? What about his salvation? His mercy? His Truth? Are these all the same things? If not, how are they different? Does it even matter?
Start with God's righteousness.
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith". Wherein is the righteousness revealed? Therein. Wherein is therein? Therein is "the (good news) of Christ". The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel (good news) of Christ. What is the gospel? "(The good news) is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth". The good news is that God has power to save every person that has faith in him. This salvation is more than freedom from punishment and guilt, it is freedom from sin in every way (see Matthew 1:21; 1 John 3:8; don't have time to deal specifically with that here). How can I proclaim that?
One clue is in Habakkuk 2:4 where those who live by faith are contrasted with those whose souls are lifted up within them; the proud. How is the righteousness of God revealed? When people are good out of faith in Jesus not from themselves and they make their motivation for holiness clear in their words. "I did that for you not because I am a good person but because in the Bible Jesus tells me the more I serve the greater I am." "I make these choices about what I consume because in the Bible Jesus tells me that if I abuse the life he gave me I will lose it." These responses are honest and show no sense of personal superiority, they are not the response of pride but the response of faith. If I am paid $1000 to give a beggar $1; it would be despicable for me to take credit for that. If you believe Jesus will reward you in heaven as he says he will, how is it different when you don't declare that vested interest in your charity? Don't forget that despite the Christian-apologetics propaganda; there really are a lot of atheists that do wonderful charity - sorry guys, its true - just doing charity is not enough. We need to stop taking the credit for our charities and give the credit to God.
A bit extreme? Maybe. Unusual? Definitely. Valid? Possibly. Worth further investigation? Definitely.
I suspect as I continue to work through Isaiah 58 I will get more insights on this issue.
Monday, 26 August 2013
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Spare Not
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1]
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. [Psalm 40:9]
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [2 Timothy 4:2]
We need to be ready to proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus with love at any time. That readiness comes from a continual dependence on Christ, it comes from cultivating the habit of speaking. The best time to start forming a good habit is now. There may be negative consequences when you speak up; but speak up. Preach the word. Preach righteousness. Others may despise you and the message and be turned further onto their path of wickedness. That is not your problem; speak up, spare not.
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. [Ezekiel 3:17-21]
I know it's hard, but people are dying and it must be done. Start with something, speak to someone every day. May Jesus give me the grace to do this.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. [Psalm 40:9]
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [2 Timothy 4:2]
We need to be ready to proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus with love at any time. That readiness comes from a continual dependence on Christ, it comes from cultivating the habit of speaking. The best time to start forming a good habit is now. There may be negative consequences when you speak up; but speak up. Preach the word. Preach righteousness. Others may despise you and the message and be turned further onto their path of wickedness. That is not your problem; speak up, spare not.
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. [Ezekiel 3:17-21]
I know it's hard, but people are dying and it must be done. Start with something, speak to someone every day. May Jesus give me the grace to do this.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Speak Up
I feel impressed to switch to Isaiah 58, I will start using the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge for references to go through it in detail.
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1]
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. [Isaiah 56:10]
Jesus wants his servants to speak up, not to be silent because of fear or uncertainty. If I am going to serve God, I am going to need to learn to speak on his behalf when something needs to be said. I am going to need to live to the highest standard or my life will compromise my words. Lord Jesus please help me.
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. [Isaiah 58:1]
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. [Isaiah 56:10]
Jesus wants his servants to speak up, not to be silent because of fear or uncertainty. If I am going to serve God, I am going to need to learn to speak on his behalf when something needs to be said. I am going to need to live to the highest standard or my life will compromise my words. Lord Jesus please help me.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Sorrow and Beauty
Last time I used the Bible app on my computer was a couple of days ago to look up a name for my Hebrew studies. The name was Tamar. I saw the story when I looked at my Bible app just now. That is a name associated with so much sadness. I had to look Tamar up because although I understood the name when I transliterated it, it seemed to come from the wrong place. I was thinking about David's daughter Tamar (2 Sam 13), thinking about that story brings tears to my eyes. Was that really caused by David's sin? How can I harbour any sin if that kind of thing can be the consequence of it? How can I harbour any sin if Jesus suffers for it? There isn't really a good side to that story I don't think, it is just the miserable consequence of sin. Absolom named his daughter Tamar after his beloved sister. I rarely have so much sympathy for Absolom, he did so many horrible things. But he loved his sister, he was just ruled by his emotions, and how many others are like that?
The Tamar I was referred to in the study notes was the original Tamar (Gen 38). I knew about her, but I had forgotten her name. Yet another miserable story caused by sin after sin from men that should have been her spiritual leaders. This Tamar became active in finding justice, but in doing that she did things that must have felt disgraceful. There was nobody else to fight for her and she fought for herself, that must have been a miserable situation. Jesus was descended from this Tamar according the flesh, from Judah. One thing is certain, the world is complex and the Bible does not try to deny that. There are not always simple solutions because the sins of others complicate life. But God holds us accountable for our own sins, we should not compromise ourselves simply because others do.
Tamar is the name of a palm tree according to Euston's Bible Dictionary, you can find a palm tree as a reference for beauty in Song of Solomon chapter two.
Here is a promise and command from our Father:
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. [Psalm 92:12]
We are to look up to him and grow straight and tall in our faith, not to twist around or lazily creep across the earth. Life is miserable because of sin, but don't focus on that. Think about Jesus, focus on him, and look up to him as your example. Jesus will make you a person of beauty and help you through the consequences of sin in this world.
The Tamar I was referred to in the study notes was the original Tamar (Gen 38). I knew about her, but I had forgotten her name. Yet another miserable story caused by sin after sin from men that should have been her spiritual leaders. This Tamar became active in finding justice, but in doing that she did things that must have felt disgraceful. There was nobody else to fight for her and she fought for herself, that must have been a miserable situation. Jesus was descended from this Tamar according the flesh, from Judah. One thing is certain, the world is complex and the Bible does not try to deny that. There are not always simple solutions because the sins of others complicate life. But God holds us accountable for our own sins, we should not compromise ourselves simply because others do.
Tamar is the name of a palm tree according to Euston's Bible Dictionary, you can find a palm tree as a reference for beauty in Song of Solomon chapter two.
Here is a promise and command from our Father:
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. [Psalm 92:12]
We are to look up to him and grow straight and tall in our faith, not to twist around or lazily creep across the earth. Life is miserable because of sin, but don't focus on that. Think about Jesus, focus on him, and look up to him as your example. Jesus will make you a person of beauty and help you through the consequences of sin in this world.
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
God Answers Prayer
Based on Mark 11:24
God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. We should ask things from God believing that he will answer and we should be ready to make record of answered prayer to the glory of his name.
Get a prayer journal and use it.
PS Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with (your wives) according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 Do right to your wife or it will hinder your prayers, just thought that was a good point to mention.
God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. We should ask things from God believing that he will answer and we should be ready to make record of answered prayer to the glory of his name.
Get a prayer journal and use it.
PS Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with (your wives) according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 Do right to your wife or it will hinder your prayers, just thought that was a good point to mention.
Monday, 19 August 2013
The Sinners Prayer
Based on Matthew 6:5-15
As I finish reading this passage I reflect on forgiveness. Jesus seems to go off on a tangent about forgiveness in the middle of his seminar on prayer. It seems forgiveness is pretty important. I wonder what the difference would be if people at church always forgave each other. Could Jesus really mean that if you don't forgive you will be lost? Lose your salvation?
Forgiveness must be important and have something to do with prayer. Pray for those you need to forgive - something simple - and forgive them as often as it takes. If you forgive others, you can be forgiven too. That may sound like salvation by works, but that is what Jesus says.
It's not actually salvation by works. It's quite simple. Faith works through love in the saved. Forgiveness is the result of true conversion. No forgiveness is evidence of no conversion. If you ask God to help you forgive and then do it, you have just proved to yourself that you are saved.
Long prayers and vain repetitions. Both have in common the disorganisation and rambling nature of the kind of prayer I am often guilty of. I need to make my prayer more focused and organised somehow, I'll start by getting a prayer journal.
As I finish reading this passage I reflect on forgiveness. Jesus seems to go off on a tangent about forgiveness in the middle of his seminar on prayer. It seems forgiveness is pretty important. I wonder what the difference would be if people at church always forgave each other. Could Jesus really mean that if you don't forgive you will be lost? Lose your salvation?
Forgiveness must be important and have something to do with prayer. Pray for those you need to forgive - something simple - and forgive them as often as it takes. If you forgive others, you can be forgiven too. That may sound like salvation by works, but that is what Jesus says.
It's not actually salvation by works. It's quite simple. Faith works through love in the saved. Forgiveness is the result of true conversion. No forgiveness is evidence of no conversion. If you ask God to help you forgive and then do it, you have just proved to yourself that you are saved.
Long prayers and vain repetitions. Both have in common the disorganisation and rambling nature of the kind of prayer I am often guilty of. I need to make my prayer more focused and organised somehow, I'll start by getting a prayer journal.
Sunday, 18 August 2013
The Sign of Faith
Based on Romans 4:9-11
Abraham was already declared righteous by faith before he was circumcised, showing that circumcision is not necessary for salvation. Abraham was commanded to be circumcised as a sign of the righteousness by faith that he already had. In the same way we can be righteous by faith today without being circumcised. Some theologians argue that baptism is the Christian equivalent of Jewish circumcision and teach that it was practiced on infants even in the early church. Other Christians teach that salvation is impossible without baptism. These doctrines are related to each other and belong to Romanism not Christianity. Both are addressed in principle by this passage. If baptism is the outward sign of the righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus; baptism comes after faith. Therefore baptism cannot apply to infants and baptism cannot be a condition of salvation (only faith is).
That said; a believing Gentile that wants to be a Jew must be circumcised as an outward sign of faith, and a believing sinner that wants to be a Christian must be baptised as an outward sign of faith. Baptism is outward; a requirement for membership in the church. It is not salvific (able to save) but it is not optional.
In all my dealings I need to behave in a way that reflects the faith I have from the Bible.
Abraham was already declared righteous by faith before he was circumcised, showing that circumcision is not necessary for salvation. Abraham was commanded to be circumcised as a sign of the righteousness by faith that he already had. In the same way we can be righteous by faith today without being circumcised. Some theologians argue that baptism is the Christian equivalent of Jewish circumcision and teach that it was practiced on infants even in the early church. Other Christians teach that salvation is impossible without baptism. These doctrines are related to each other and belong to Romanism not Christianity. Both are addressed in principle by this passage. If baptism is the outward sign of the righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus; baptism comes after faith. Therefore baptism cannot apply to infants and baptism cannot be a condition of salvation (only faith is).
That said; a believing Gentile that wants to be a Jew must be circumcised as an outward sign of faith, and a believing sinner that wants to be a Christian must be baptised as an outward sign of faith. Baptism is outward; a requirement for membership in the church. It is not salvific (able to save) but it is not optional.
In all my dealings I need to behave in a way that reflects the faith I have from the Bible.
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