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Resource Manager

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  1. 04 March 2021 Leviticus 9; 10 Psalms 108; 109 2 Corinthians 1; 2 "FOR WE ARE THE AROMA OF CHRIST" Modern manufacturing and advertising salesmanship has become very ingenious in what they produce and encourage the public to buy – at least that is so in what we call the ‘western’ world. Many of these things are far from essential, for example, the expensive things that are promoted to make us smell nice, to create pleasing aromas of various kinds. This thought came to our minds as we read the opening chapters of Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians. Paul, after his strictures in his first letter about aspects of their behaviour has a number of positive encouraging things to say. He writes, “I made up mind not to make any painful visit to you” [2 Corinthians 2:1], then adds “I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love I have for you.” [2 Corinthians 2:4] This is the spirit of a parent in dealing with a wayward child they still love. When there is need for deserved words, and even actions, of disapproval, all such must still be done with a loving spirit. Paul says, “Thanks be to God who … through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved’ [2 Corinthians 2:14,15] What great examples of a loving attitude should we be toward one another. Even when we feel the need to point out behaviour that is not good, it is essential that we do it with a loving spirit. But what of others who despise and even sneer at the name of Christ? Well Paul says, “we are (also) the aroma of Christ … among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” [2 Corinthians 2:15,16]. Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” [John 9:5] True believers represent Christ in this world and must do their best to be both a “light” and an “aroma” that is evident in the increasing darkness around us. ------- - DC
  2. 03 March 2021 Leviticus 8 Psalms 107 1 Corinthians 16 “LET ALL THAT YOU DO BE DONE IN LOVE” Today we completed reading 1st Corinthians. Two verses about love caught our eye in this final chapter. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let all that you do be done in love” – but in 1 Corinthians 16:22 we read, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” How do we show our love for the Lord? Well, we cannot show love for someone we do not know! We need to have a relationship with someone if we are to love them in a personal sense – love is the cement that binds a relationship together. This verse is a challenge! It indicates there is no middle position- we either love or we do not. Immediately before Paul had written, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” [1 Corinthians 16:13] The only statement there that is not fully clear is the first. “Be watchful” – what are we to be watchful for? When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane he chided Peter saying, “could you not watch with me one hour” [Matthew 26:40] Watch for what? Peter had no idea that they were coming to arrest Jesus! But Jesus said, “Watch with me”, Jesus in the agony of knowing what was about to happen in obeying his Father’s will, would be strengthened, at least in some measure, by their nearness and support. He was still a normal human being at that stage, “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” [Hebrews 4:15] So Paul meant that the Corinthians should “watch” in support of one another, even more so when situations became difficult – surely a message for us!. Finally we should note that, after writing, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed” he immediately wrote, “O Lord come!” This takes us back to the words of Jesus about conditions in the final days; he told his disciples, “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” [Matthew 24:12,13] Let us all endure and say to each other the words Paul used to end this Epistle, “My love be with you all in Christ Jesus, Amen.” [1 Corinthians 16:24] ------- - DC
  3. 02 March 2021 "A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work." Proverbs 11:11 "His standards have been embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was able to say: "I am the Truth". If we want to measure ourselves, let it be in his scales. For here we see single-minded devotion to God’s will, courage, honesty, a man without sham and without duplicity, "a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure" (Deuteronomy 25:15). - L.W. Richardson Divine Weights and Measures (1971)
  4. 02 March 2021 Leviticus 7 Psalms 106 1 Corinthians 15 "THEY MIXED WITH THE NATIONS AND LEARNED …" Today’s Psalm 106 is a remarkable survey and summary of God’s relationship with his chosen people and the lessons they learned or failed to learn in succeeding generations. The survey begins with their time in Egypt when they became numerous but at the same time lost their vision of their patriarchs: “yet he saved them for his name’s sake that he might make known his mighty power” [Psalm 106:8] As a result “they believed his words; they sang his praise” [Psalm 106:12]. But it did not take long before “they forgot God, their Saviour, who had done great things in Egypt … and awesome deeds by the Red Sea” [Psalm 106:21,22]. Those who were faithful eventually arrived in the promised land but the next generation “did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded” [Psalm 106:34] The fatal result was “they mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.” [Psalm 106:35] We look back on history and see how those who started to serve God soon made the same mistake. Religious Jews have repeated this Psalm down the Centuries and verse 47 has been answered! This says, “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.” [Psalm 106:47] God heeded and they have been gathered. But how many today realize it has been an act of God in directing a whole sequence of events? Just a few appear to realize. Christ came 2,000 years ago and in many ways history has repeated itself in subsequent events. Christ’s church started with tremendous enthusiasm so that masses of pagans came to believe in Christ! But the vision faded and was lost, succeeding generations making the same mistakes as ancient Israel. With the printing of the Bible there came a reformation and an extensive rediscovery of the ways of God. But once again people who had become godly have “mixed with the nations”. They now forget that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Philippians 3:20] In all our unavoidable involvement with human citizenship let us have in mind the words of God’s prophet Jeremiah, “I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” [Jeremiah 10:23] ------- - DC
  5. Do You Know Him? There is a well known saying that, “it isn’t what you know, but who you know, that is important.” Let’s analyze this and see what scriptural lessons we can draw from it. We might decide that we could improve on the saying by changing it to say, “It isn’t what you know, but what you do with what you know, that is important.” This is true. There are a lot of people who know a great many things but never do anything with what they know. Knowledge is not power unless it is used. Knowing and not doing can turn out to be a great sin. James tells us that, “to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Peter adds to this by saying, “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” Knowledge does bring responsibility. When we know what is right, we are duty bound to respond by doing what is right. James again instructs us by saying, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving you own selves.” So we could conclude that the revised saying is absolutely true. “It isn’t what you know, but what you do with what you know, that is important.” But let’s go back to the saying that is so well known; “It isn’t what you know, but who you know, that is important.” This saying is often used in the world to indicate that influence peddling is a way of life in business and government. That is true. However, let us now see if we can apply it in a scriptural way in our relationship to our Heavenly Father. Do we know, really know, the creator and sustainer of the universe? The Lord Jesus Christ did. He told the scribes and Pharisees, “Ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his sayings.” From this we can conclude that there are people who think that they know God but really don’t. What Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees made them so angry that they decided to kill him for saying it. What he said was true and it is still true. Just think how many people there are in the world today who think that they know God and yet they are ignorant of His glorious promises. Paul reminded the Ephesians that at one time they had been “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” All the people you know who do not know about the promises are described by Paul as being “strangers from the covenants of promise” and they have no hope and no God. So we can conclude that it is important to know God, what He has said and what He has promised. The “who you know” in the saying ought to be God Almighty. If we really do “know him,” then a lot of the “what you know” upon which the world places so much importance will not be important at all. Let us decide to know, really know, our Father in heaven. When we do, then the “what we know” will be the things concerning “the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” The wisdom of this world will then be foolishness with us as it is with God. Let us pray that we can truthfully say what the Lord Jesus Christ said, “I know him and keep his sayings.”
  6. 01 March 2021 "The secular occupations of Jesus and Paul beautifully fill out this picture: Jesus, the “artisan” in wood and stone and metal, built the framework and foundation of the spiritual tabernacle—the “centre pole” of his work being the cross of wood erected at Golgotha. Afterward, Paul—the New Testament “Aholiab”—was responsible for the “stitching together” of the skins and fabrics (the individual ecclesias?) into whole coverings, to overlay the wooden framework: the “carpenter” and the “tentmaker” working together, according to the pattern of the more perfect tabernacle!" - George BookerThe Carpenter and a Tent Maker (1984)
  7. 01 March 2021 Leviticus 5; 6 Psalms 105 1 Corinthians 14 "A BREACH OF FAITH AGAINST THE LORD" The book of Leviticus goes into great detail about how the people were to become a law abiding people by obeying the laws God was giving them. Tragically, apart from the Levites, the grown up people who had experienced life in Egypt, even though they had been slaves, never humbled themselves to keep faith with the God whose great power they had witnessed. It is most interesting to look back to the time when the Bible was first translated and printed four to five hundred years ago. This was the time when Kings and Queens began to lose their absolute powers and detailed laws began to be put in their place by the Parliaments that were set up. Those formulating the laws often took their guidance from many of the principles in the laws God gave to Moses some 3,000 years earlier. Our generation has forgotten all that - and that God said, “Woe unto them who become wise in their own eyes” [Isaiah 5:21] Today Leviticus 6 starts with these words, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his neighbour in …’” There follows various types of wrong doing – for e.g. “he has oppressed his neighbour or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing (giving an oath) falsely – in any and all the things that people do and sin thereby ” [Leviticus 6:2,3] We need to notice the point that all wrong-doing was seen by God as “a breach of faith against the LORD” In God’s eyes all wrong doing by those who bear his name are sins against him. David immediately acknowledged this when made aware of his sin. [2 Samuel 12:13] So all our wrongdoing is “a breach of faith”, a lapse in the commitment we gave when we committed our lives to serve our Lord - and God became our heavenly Father. A verse in today’s Psalm particularly jumped out as we read it, “Seek the LORD and his strength: seek his presence continually” [Psalm 105:4]. The more we succeed in doing this, the more we will not sin. Remember, all wrongdoing “is a breach of faith.” ------- - DC
  8. Do it Now! “I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow-being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” Penn Today is the day to do it. How often have we meant to send a card to someone sick and put it off until we heard they had died’? The opportune time to do good is now. Samuel Johnson said, “He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything.” A cup of cold water isn’t much, yet Jesus said “Verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” The time to do a good deed is now. Don’t wait for the spectacular. It is the everyday little acts of kindness that please God. Jesus commended the righteous for visiting the sick, feeding the hungry and clothing the poor. They were surprised when they were told that inasmuch as they did it unto the least of his brethren they had done it unto Jesus. James defines pure religion as visiting the fatherless and widows in their af5iction and keeping one’s self unspotted from the world. It has been said that the only thing we can really do for God is to be kind to some of His other children. How can we show our love for God except by loving our brother? John puts it well when he says “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” Love, like faith, is only demonstrated by works. It is difficult to prove we love someone we are ignoring. It is James who makes the point that there is no use saying to the destitute, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needed to the body.” True love will be so busy clothing and feeding the needy that they won’t even have time to talk about it. It’s not he who talks the best but he who does it. There is an old saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” While the Pharisees busied themselves prancing around in their long robes the poor widow was casting her two mites into the treasury. While Simon sat back condemning Jesus because he was allowing a sinner to touch his feet, Mary was busy anointing them and kissing them and wiping them with her hair. Neither the widow nor Mary did very much but they did what they could. Two mites wasn’t very much but it was all the widow had. Mary’s act was a simple act of love. They did what they could. The question we must each ask ourselves is, are we? Are we putting off doing little things waiting for the big opportunity’? Are we holding on to our mites waiting for the big money to give? Are we waiting to do a great deal of good at once and as a result doing nothing? We cannot begin earlier than today but we must not begin later. After all, we will not pass through this day ever again. If there be any kindness we can show, any good thing we can do, let us do it now.
  9. 28 February 2021 "Religious practices and traditions can get absorbed into our worship, for no other reason than that they appeal to us. And the attitudes and priorities of worldly thinking are always a potent influence, because we are naturally inclined towards such thinking. All these, and many other things, can gradually water down or quite alter the things that we believe. So, whilst we need to move with the times, to present the gospel in the most attractive and topical way, we must beware of mixing things up and thus losing our way with God ..." - Tecwyn MorganSolomon – Wise or Foolish? (1999)
  10. Dieting The medical profession likes to tell the story of the matronly patient that was on a strict diet but continued to gain weight. Finally, after weighing her for the sixth straight week only to find that she had put on another four pounds, the doctor asked her if she was eating anything else beside her diet and she replied, “Only my regular meals.” There are many nominal Christians who take their religion just like this lady took her diet. Serving God is fine so long as it does not get in the way of the things they want to do. Everyone who has ever dieted knows that self control and restraint are necessary to lose weight. Everyone who has read the Bible also knows that the natural inclinations of the flesh are as opposed to God as candy is to dieting. We can not truly be in Christ and also be slaves to the flesh. If our faith in God does not change our way of life and produce works for him, then our faith is a dead faith for James tells us, “faith if it hath not works is dead, being alone.” Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” and Paul warned us that “in the last days perilous times would come when men would be lovers of their own selves, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Paul’s words aptly fit our day and generation and if we are not careful they could even fit us. Out of the 168 hours each of us spent this last week, how many were spent for our own pleasure and how many for God? Time spent before TV or on a golf course could only be charged up to our own pleasure. If our days are spent working or keeping house just as our neighbors spend their days and then our free time is taken up with the trivial pleasures of this life, how are we different from the world which Christ commanded us to come out from? This type of self examination is uncomfortable but how much better that we ask ourselves this question now, than wait until our Lord calls us before him to ask us what we have done. If our life is not different because we are in Christ, then Christ is not really in our life. If we eat our regular meals in addition to our diet we are not really on a diet. The reward for dieting will only come to those who are faithful to their diet. The reward Christ has promised will only come to those who are faithful to his precepts. May our way of life so reflect Christ that when he comes he will find us in top condition spiritually, trim and fit, so that we may hear those longed for words, “well done.”
  11. 28 February 2021 Leviticus 3; 4 Psalms 104 1 Corinthians 12; 13 "IN WISDOM YOU HAVE MADE THEM ALL" In today’s Psalm [Psalm 104] we read, “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” [Psalm 104:24] Today, as naturalists and others explore more of the earth, they are discovering more and more living things they never knew existed. It has long been acknowledged that there is an incredible interdependence in nature – what a totally wonderful architect is the Creator! He created innumerable things, trees, plants, animals, insects, birds, etc. They are interdependent in a whole variety of ways, yet human beings, especially the ‘western’ mind, in discovering more and more of this, is more determined than ever to say it is all the result of blind chance. The God-fearing person sees God as the Master Creator behind it all, even the adaptability within species, which men used to call micro-evolution, is part of his overseeing handiwork. So we see God in his “wisdom” has made them all. What kind of “wisdom” is this? We immediately thought of David’s Psalm 139 as he meditated on God’s all seeing eyes; “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” [Psalm 139:6]. Yet the modern God-disbelieving mind refuses in his pride to see the situation from this perspective. When we come to Psalm 111 we will read, “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendour and majesty is his work … the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.” [Psalm 111:2,3,10] Solomon in Proverbs says, “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens” [Proverbs 3:19] Finally our thoughts went to the epistle of James, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom … the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits …” [James 3:13,17] Those who seek and develop this wisdom will one day know far more of God’s creative wisdom for they will then be “equal to angels.” [Luke 20:36]. ------- - DC
  12. 27 February 2021 "To think of God as inhabiting eternity and yet not being far from each one of us and to think of Christ as set down at God’s right hand and yet near to us in our every need, makes a demand on our finite human conceptions which is ultimately beyond them. Our presence is limited in time and space; we cannot be in more than one place at the same time. We therefore think in terms of being either in one place or another and we measure the distance between. Similarly we mark off the passage of time and for us the present is sharply differentiated from the past and the future. Omnipresence and omniscience are divine attributes which do not form part of our human experience. When we are thinking of them, therefore, we need to do so with humility, recognizing that we are considering divine things which are beyond our finite comprehension and taking care lest we fall into the error of making God too small. It is so very easy for us to think and speak of God in terms of our limited experience and so reveal our own little-mindedness. Even the well-worn phrase that God has a plan with the earth smacks of this, as though the Almighty were an architect or a politician. Indeed He is sometimes spoken of as the Great Architect (Hebrews 11:10) of the universe, but like most such figures it is a crude and inaccurate description, not likely to help us to raise our thoughts about God above the shackles of our earthbound environment. An architect who plans and supervises a building remains outside and apart from it: it may indeed bear the stamp of his mind and character, but when it is finished, the architect passes on to design another building. But God never passes on or leaves His creation because He is not only above and beyond it but at the same time within and among it or, in the language of theology, not only transcendent but immanent. However difficult the task may be, this is a truth of which we must never lose sight, for as soon as we do we begin to reduce the glory of God and the wonder of the divine condescension." - E.J. Newman The Life We Share (1962)
  13. 27 February 2021 Leviticus 1; 2Psalms 1031 Corinthians 11 “THOSE WHO FEAR HIM” The phrase “those who fear him,” meaning, who fear God occurs three times in our Psalm reading today. The sense of ‘fear’ is - to be in heartfelt awe of what God must be. This is a Psalm that should reach deep into our hearts; it is particularly encouraging to those who are thinking God has cut off their contact with him because of their behaviour. This Psalm of David tells us to “Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases … who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy” [Psalm 103:2-4]. He adds, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love … he does not deal with us according to our sins” [Psalm 103:8,10] Psalm 103:11 has the first reference to fear. We read, “For as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.” Two verses further on we read, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.” The point is made yet a third time, “the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him” [Psalm 103:17]. God’s steadfast love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness are not for everybody and anybody – it is for those who seek to develop the right attitude of mind toward him. The Apostle John writes, “We love because he first loved us.” [1 John 4:19] God has always had this attitude toward human beings - because “God made man in his own image.” [Genesis 9:6] God said this to Noah and his sons as they were about to repopulate a devastated earth, but we know succeeding generations largely failed to fear God. It is a challenge to us to try to see human life from God’s point of view. He looks out on a “sea” of humanity who create “gods” of their own imagination – or think all life that exists is just the end result of an incredible timeless sequence of “accidents”!! How can God continue to ‘love’ those who have not the slightest thought for him, or who have ‘gods’ of their own imagination? Is not the answer obvious! Another question! Do most who say they believe in God really fear him? How many take his benefits, his mercy, forgiveness, and love for granted? Our Corinthians reading illustrates the wrong attitudes among many believers there: they came together to remember Christ in the way he requested at the last supper. But Paul tells them, “any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself, that is why many of you are weak and ill … when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” [1 Corinthians 11:29,30,32] So many in Corinth had no fear and awe of God because their attitude was all wrong. These are all lessons for us to appreciate as we seek “all his benefits.” Let us try harder to be true children of God and to be among those “who fear him.”-------- DC
  14. Death “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10. There is nothing more common than death, it goes on all around us every day. Most of the time the obituary column contains only names but now and then one of our own family’s name appears, and it is certain that if things continue, in due time our name will also one day find its way to the obituary column. In spite of the reality of death, it is common to find men and women living as if they would live forever. Perhaps because we are optimists, but more likely because we do not like to face unpleasant facts, we tend to put out of our minds the fact that we are walking steadily toward our grave. Most people seem to more or less drift along in the sea of humanity without any real goal until finally they spring a leak and sink into the grave. All their time, all their money, all their thinking has been devoted to trivial and unimportant details. Consider the topics of conversation that interest our, neighbors and fellow workers. Sports, TV, cars, vacations and such like. How true are the words of the hymn, “vain his ambition, noise, and show, vain are the cares which rack his mind, he heaps up treasures mixed with woe, he dies and leaves them all behind.” This is the very thing Solomon is warning us against. Now is the time to find something to do and do it with our might. It isn’t nearly as important how long we live as how we live. Methuselah lived 969 years. Christ lived 33 years. We do not know what Methuselah did in all those years but look what Christ accomplished in only three and one half years of preaching. As long as we are alive, there is work for us to do. It is our responsibility to find it and do it. There is more to it than this. We are to do it with our might. A half-hearted effort will not do. Today there is a tendency to do as little as possible to get by. The idea of doing something with our might is not even considered. Find out what the minimum standards are and aim there. The minimum standards for an entrance into God’s Kingdom is our best. Jesus told us, “When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” Luke 17:10. We need to remember that eternal life is the gift of God but He will only bestow it upon those who have served Him with their might. We know that there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave so we had better find a work to do now, and do it with our might. How much longer we have to live is not important. It is how we live the rest of our life that will determine Christ’s answer to us when he returns to reward every man according to his works.
  15. 26 February 2021 "Unless we keep in constant touch with the word of God we forget both what He has done for us and what He requires of us. It is a good thing, while enthusiasm is great and memory unimpaired "in the days of our youth", to grasp all we can of the word of God ... study the word of God in preference to books about the word ... books "on the Truth" are undoubtedly good and useful, but to let them take preference over the word itself is a grave error ... "If you keep in memory ..." sound advice from the great Apostle, who could speak out of a wide experience, and by which we do well to profit." - James CarterIf You Keep in Memory (1968)
  16. 25 February 2021 "How vitally important it is that we should be busy now in the work of preparing ourselves for that great day when, by the grace of God, we shall indeed be made “equal to the angels”, being filled as they are with the strength and power of the Divine nature, dwelling in God’s presence and beholding His glory as the angels have for countless ages: “His servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:35)." - Graham PeacockMinistering Spirits (1985)
  17. 26 February 2021 Exodus 39; 40 Psalms 102 1 Corinthians 10 "WE MUST NOT PUT CHRIST TO THE TEST" Paul’s comments on Moses and how the people “all passed through the sea and all were baptised into Moses” [1 Corinthians 10:1,2] obviously relate to what we have been reading in Exodus. Paul then states, “For they all drank from the Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” [1 Corinthians 10:4] What does he mean? Their baptism in the sea was symbolic of the baptism to come and which the Corinthian believers had experienced. Moses had, at God’s command, been able to produce water from the rock as we read in Exodus 17. This pointed forward to Christ, Jesus knew this and was to say, “on the last day of the feast” when he “stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ [John 7:37,38] These words related to what he had earlier said to the Samaritan woman that, if she had asked, “he would have given (her) living water” [John 4:10] which he then explained, “the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” [John 4:14] Paul draws a vital lesson in our Corinthians chapter; it is the lesson of the tragic failure of the Israelites in the wilderness, a failure the Corinthians must aim to avoid. Paul writes, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” [v.6] despite the evidence of God’s care and guidance. Paul makes a particular point in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction.” Among the things written down Paul particularly notes, as a common temptation, “it is written, ‘the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did … we must not put Christ to the test ...” [1 Corinthians 10:7-9] Our Master sees the motives we have in our hearts. Near the end of today’s chapter Paul states a simple but profound principle we must all aim to keep, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” [1 Corinthians 10:31]. A final thought: a “rock” cannot literally follow, but Jesus used exactly the same phrase as Paul did when he taught, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” [John 8:12] and again, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” [John 10:27] In following Christ, it means he also follows us, providing for our needs (as distinct from our wants) Let us follow the lessons that were written down for our instruction. ------- - DC
  18. 25 February 2021 Exodus 38Psalms 100; 1011 Corinthians 8; 9 "IF ANYONE LOVES GOD, HE IS KNOWN BY GOD" Love is, above all, an active quality; genuine love causes us to do things: it is a motivation from the heart. The things love causes us to do are not things we do out of a sense of obligation, occasions when we say, “I suppose I had better …” We meditated on this as we read the start of 1 Corinthians 8. Verse 3 tells us, “But if anyone loves God, he (or she) is known by God.” [1 Corinthians 8:3]. When God, who sees all things through his spirit [Psalm 139] knows our professions of love for him are genuine - we are “known by God.” But this is more than a one sided sense of knowing, to truly know God results in a two-way relationship, David’s Psalms show this, we read this morning, “Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his” [Psalm 100:3] We read a few days ago in Exodus, “Moses said to the LORD … you have said, ‘I know you by name … therefore if I have found favour in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you …” [Exodus 33:12,13] Knowing God comes through living and therefore working for and with him and knowing his ways; there comes the wonder of the realization that we are “working together with him” [2 Corinthians 6:1]. One of the wonders of this, Paul told the Corinthians is to realize that “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” [1 Corinthians 10:13] Many believers in Corinth experienced temptations to continue to enjoy the fleshly advantages of “fellowship” in the idol temples and the feasting on the food that had been offered to the idols. In human ways of thinking this food was special having been blessed by Temple priests: we have seen this happening in Indian temples. It is not difficult to see the modern equivalents, especially in prosperous countries in the things that the masses idolize. In Corinth athletic sports were idolized, it is no different today; the spectators idolize those who compete. Paul’s pointed comment is – “Every athlete exercises self control … they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” [1 Corinthians 9:25] He tells believers, “So run that you may obtain it … I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” [1 Corinthians 9:24,27] We can say that the ‘oil’ which ‘lubricates’ all our understanding and ways of thinking and resultant efforts to “run” effectively - is - our love for God and our awareness that we are “known” by God.-------- DC
  19. Drawing Lines There is a story about a little boy walking down a deserted street in his neighborhood when he sees three of the biggest bullies in the area coming towards him. He realizes that he is in big trouble, it’s too late to run for they can all outrun him, so he tries to smile and bravely walk past them. The biggest of the bullies grabs him and shoves him to the ground. As he is getting up and dusting himself off, the bully scowls and says, “I’m gonna give you a whuppin’ you’ll never forget.” He says this while rolling up his sleeves and cocking his arm for the first blow. The little boy quickly stoops down and with a twig draws a straight line between the boys and himself. He then rises to his full height, which is about half of theirs, and says boldly. “I dare any of you to cross over that line.” The biggest bully promptly jumps across the line and glares down at him and says, “And now whaddya gonna do about it?” The little boy smiles, reaches out and shakes the big boy’s hand and replies, “Congratulations, now we are on the same side.” The big bully looks down on him in amazement and begins to laugh; he turns to his former allies and says to them, “Yeah, now I’m on his side.” The other bullies looked surprised and frightened and turn and run, for neither of them want to take on the biggest bully of the neighborhood. The little boy, probably without even realizing it, had demonstrated the truth of many Bible lessons. He had proved that a “soft answer turneth away wrath.” He had also followed the wise advice of Jesus who said, “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him.” He had also proved the truth of the lesson taught by Solomon when he described the incident of the little city with few men within it, “and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man who by his wisdom delivered the city;” Solomon’s conclusion was that “Wisdom is better than strength.” This certainly proved true for the little boy. Are we as wise as the little boy? It was Jesus who told us, “be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Sometimes we get this backwards and we are about as wise as a dove (bird brain) and we are as harmful as a serpent. The little boy made no attempt to fight or defend himself. Do we? Defending ourselves is not limited to the physical but more often it is done verbally. Peter tells us that Christ “when he was reviled, reviled not again;” It was Jesus who told us to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” These are words we all know but are they words we all obey? When was the last time we actually prayed to God for someone who was mistreating us? “Pray for him?” we may ask in amazement, but Jesus not only told us, he did it on the cross. Why is it we know so many facts intellectually but we do not actually put them into practice in our everyday lives? Think of the good that would come to the brotherhood if only all those who are so busy squabbling would stop, and instead pray for those with opposing views and positions. If we all really practiced what Jesus said, we would become part of that group that Jesus described as “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” The lines we draw are all human lines. Let us pray that when Christ comes we will be found on his side of the line, for Jesus has told us that “he that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
  20. 24 February 2021 "In pointing out Biblical teaching, we may be charged with "exclusiveness"; but it is not our exclusiveness—we have no prerogative in the matter. If there is exclusiveness, it is the "Word of God" which has determined the scope of the salvation He offers, and the principles of its application to men. The words of Jesus concerning the Way of Life are "Few there be that find it." - Edmund Green The Grounds of Salvation (1982)
  21. 24 February 2021 Exodus 37 Psalms 96; 97; 98; 99 1 Corinthians 7 "THE LORD REIGNS" Our Psalms today are, in one sense prophetic and we can readily imagine them being sung in the kingdom age when Christ returns to reign from Jerusalem resulting in wonderful rejoicing among the faithful when righteous living is expected of all who are alive. Until that time, Christ reigns in the hearts [Romans 6:6-8; John 14:23] of those who have a conviction of faith in this future and they will read these Psalms for inward rejoicing. “Worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns!’” [Psalm 96:9,10] The Psalm ends, “… for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.” Psalm 97 tells us that “righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne” [Psalm 97:2] How literal is the indication in this Psalm of the way “justice” is dealt out to them who do not want him to reign over them? (Remember Jesus’ words – Luke 19:27) If the words in this Psalm are seen as symbolic, what are they symbolic of? We read “Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around … the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax … the heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory” [Psalm 97:3-6]. There will be new heavens, which means, new rulers, the saints – recall what we read in the first 6 verses of Psalm 50. We know of one mountain that is going to split in two – the mount of Olives [Zechariah 14:4]. There will be trembling among all those who do not believe in the one and only God that he has created them and all that exists – and others who, although they believe to some degree have failed to act on that belief. Psalm 97:10 tells us, “O you who love the LORD, hate evil. He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them …” Let us hate evil – and look in faith for his deliverance. ------- - DC
  22. Don’t Say it Meanly Consider this statement: “Say what you mean and mean what you say, but don’t say it meanly.” Those who take pride in truthfulness often miss this point. It certainly is praiseworthy to mean what we say and say what we mean but all too often we say it in a mean way. We need to be kind and gentle in what we say. Paul tells us how he treated those he loved even though he did say what he meant. “But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children.” Paul told Timothy, “The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” Paul continued, “Those who oppose him, he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” So gentleness and kindness are the watchwords as we say what we mean. It is important we are kind even to those who oppose us. Dogs and very young babies do not have a clue as to what some of the words we say mean, but they certainly understand the tone of our voice. They know when we are being loving and when we are being unkind, not by the words but by the way the words are said. It is even possible to say a loving phrase in an unloving way. The words, “I love you,” can be said with tenderness, but it is also possible to say these exact words in a mean way. “I love you?” can be said harshly as a question to convey the meaning, “Why should you think I love you?” It is amazing how many husbands and wives talk to each other with cutting words in harsh tones. Sometimes we speak to those we love in a way that we would never use when speaking to total strangers. This ought not to be. We need to speak friendly to each other. We can say what we mean, but never say what we mean in a mean way. Boaz spoke to Ruth in a friendly way. She was grateful and replied, “Let me find favor in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid.” It is not always what we say but the way we say it. Let us make sure that when we say what we mean, we don’t say it meanly. Paul gives us the proper approach when he tells us, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
  23. Doest thou well to be Angry? Human nature has not changed since the fall of Adam and Eve. No one likes to be wrong. When someone shows us we are wrong, the natural reaction is to become angry at our teacher. It has ever been thus. It happened even when God was directly involved. When Cain’s sacrifice was rejected by God we are told that “Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” In this case the LORD held a conversation with Cain and asked him, “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?” Of course God knew the answer, but He was giving Cain an opportunity to answer for himself. Either Cain refused to answer God or else his answer is not recorded. The LORD continued speaking kindly to Cain and said, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” God was giving Cain an opportunity to change. But we do not like to change. Cain did not want to change. We would think that if the LORD spoke to us that surely we would change, but Cain did not. One of the characteristics of being wrong is being angry. Cain did not want to change. His defense was to be angry. Jonah was angry. God asked Jonah “Doest thou well to be angry? Jonah replied quite boldly to God, “I do well to be angry, even unto death.” We might add that Jonah’s anger was more deep seated than merely the loss of shade from the gourd. Paul was angry. He was “not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which Stephen spake.” Rather than follow the wise teachings of Stephen, Paul was so angry that he cast his vote to kill Stephen, and by his own admission, later said concerning the Christians, that “he was exceedingly mad against them.” Human nature has not changed. These examples were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. When we find that we disagree with someone and we feel anger welling up within us, it should tell us to stop and examine ourselves. Do we do well to be angry? We usually can canvince ourselves like Jonah did that “we do well to be angry” but we might be surprised to find that we are wrong to be so angry. If we are in the right, there is no need to be angry. Instead of being angry, we should feel pity and compassion for our opponent who is wrong. Since we are in the right and they are wrong, they need our help, not our anger. If it should turn out that we are in the wrong, how foolish to have been both angry and wrong! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people really listened and changed? Wouldn’t it be grand if all followed the request of the Lord when he said, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Here God is asking us to sit down and to be reasonable when we are wrong, and certainly we should be this way when we are correct. This is why Paul exhorts us saying, “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves.” We need to remember this when we are trying to teach the truth to those who have held wrong doctrine all their lives. People do not change easily or quickly. Some never change. Whether they change or not, we must be gentle, patient and meek. When we are trying to teach someone that their soul is mortal, we need to be patient for they have always believed otherwise and do not unlearn wrong things quickly or easily. We need to keep on trying to teach them even though they oppose themselves We keep hoping “Peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” If we adopt this principle with those who are outside the household of faith, then certainly we should be this way with those that are inside. We need to be extra loving, extra patient with those for whom Christ died. There is no room for anger here. If they are wrong we pray that God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. If they refuse to change then we pray that God will be merciful to them and forgive them. It is certain that we also are going to need the mercy of God or we are lost. Who is to say that their wrong is worse than some sin we have committed. We are not without sin. Have we ever thought that there is a limit to God’s mercy? We sometimes talk about how unlimited His mercy is. We often quote the Psalm “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” While this is true, nevertheless the mercy of God is definitely limited. What is the limit of God’s mercy? Jesus tells us. He says, “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” This means we are going to receive mercy only if we have been merciful; we are going to be forgiven only if we have forgiven, so each one of us is placing a limit on the mercy God is going to give us by the mercy we give to others. “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
  24. 23 February 2021 "He who would be the servant of Christ, and the friend of the Son of Man, who "came not to be ministered unto but to minister" (Mark 10:45), must be courteous to all: if we are courteous to everyone at all times we are thereby serving our Master. And who serves Christ does to himself the best of service. "A gracious woman retaineth honour. A merciful man doeth good to his own soul" (Proverbs 11:16-17)." - Claud Lamb Be Courteous (1993)
  25. 22 February 2021 "If we follow the people of God in their affliction we shall follow them into the joy of the Lord promised to those who overcome. Then shall we eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life and it will be sweet to the taste with no after bitterness. "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things have passed away." The bitterness of death has passed." - C.A. Ladson Bitterness and Sweetness (1931)
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