Resource Manager Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 01 August 2011 2 Samuel 18Jeremiah 22Romans 9 "MY CONSCIENCE BEARS ME WITNESS" Today’s chapter in Romans [Romans 9] starts with these words by Paul, “I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for … my kinsmen according to the flesh” [Romans 9:1-3] Paul’s conversion had not only turned around his thinking about who Christ was, but it had given him a very active conscience, he was now a very emotional man. Previously he had been hard hearted in his zeal to serve God in the letter of the Law after the legalistic manner of the spiritually blind Jewish leaders around him. Now he was the opposite and he now grieved for them and their lack of conscience. The spirit of Christ now filled his heart; he was now a compassionate man, grief stricken at the continuing blindness of so many of his fellow Jews. Our own conversion should have been such that it reflects our appreciation of the love of Christ in calling us into his service. We will soon read in Jeremiah the letter he wrote with God’s message to those who had been taken into exile. God said “you will … find me when you seek me with all your heart.” [Jeremiah 29:13] In today’s chapter [Jeremiah 22] God’s message through Jeremiah reflects on the time when their father’s did “do justice and righteousness. Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and the needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD” [Jeremiah 22:15,16] Note the significance of the phrase, “Is not this to know me?” You prove you know God by the sense of compassion in your heart – and the actions it leads to. Those in Jeremiah’s generation had forgotten this. Paul, in contrast, had learnt this and was earnestly seeking to see this spirit in others. To have a “conscience” of this nature means you “know” God. Let us all aim to have this kind of conscience. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 02 August 2011 2 Samuel 19Jeremiah 23Romans 10; 11 "GOD HAS THE POWER TO GRAFT THEM IN AGAIN" Chapter 11 of the letter to the Romans starts with the question, “Has God rejected his people?” The answer is, “By no means!” This question was being asked because the Jewish people had killed God’s son, and their chief priests had declared, “We have no king but Caesar” [John 19:15] so it is a reasonable question to ask. Paul says that “at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.” [Romans 11:5] and Paul was one of them. But he also sees that, at a future time, “they, if they do not continue in their unbelief will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.” [Romans 11:23] and that the Gentiles should “not be arrogant toward the (natural) branches” [Romans 11:18] Then Paul declares that “a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” [Romans 11:25]. In Romans 10, also our reading today, Paul praises those “who preach the good news” and that “their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” [Romans 10:15,18} words he quoted from Isaiah 52:7 and the Psalms 19:4. God’s words have now reached “the ends of the world” – all the Gentiles have now heard! What we also read today in Jeremiah will soon take place, indeed it is in process now! “God said, “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to my fold and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more …” [Jeremiah 23:3,4] The prophet is also caused to write of the time when the LORD looks “to see … who has paid attention to his word and listened … The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.” [Jeremiah 23:18,23] Let us make sure we pay attention to his word and that our attention affects the way we decide to live our lives. We ignore “his word” as our peril. Note: It is of great interest that those Jews who look for the return of Jesus now run a website and magazine. Those interested should look at http://www.israeltoday.co.il -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 03 August 2011 2 Samuel 20; 21Jeremiah 24Romans 12 "OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD" The above are the last words of today’s chapter [Romans 12] in Romans. It sums up the entire chapter. Human nature is inclined to react to bad actions toward them with bad actions themselves, thus we have increasing incidents here of what is called “road rage” toward another driver when he does something which causes damage to us. Remember Proverbs 15. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” and Proverbs 15:18 “A hot tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” The whole chapter in Romans is about how true followers and lovers of Christ should live their lives. It is quite a contrast to all the trouble that King David is now experiencing as we read today in 2 Samuel 20; 21. David is reaping a harvest of trouble, even after being restored as king after the death of Absalom. If we “set the mind on the flesh” [Romans 8:6] even if only for a period as David did, we must not complain about the resulting problems, but humbly try to see the way forward back to God as David did. Joab was a great supporter of David but he was not a godly man and his actions caused difficulties for David, until his sin, David had controlled him. Looking again at Romans 12 we see it lists all the attitudes will exist in a community that sets its mind on spiritual ways. Paul wrote, “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” [Romans 12:5] The unity among David’s followers had been destroyed by his bad example - but the unity among true believers in Christ should be wonderful because of his perfect example. “Let love be genuine,” writes Paul, “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” [Romans 12:9-12]. And how much more in these evil “last days” should we be constant in prayer to gain the strength to “overcome evil with good”-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 04 August 2011 2 Samuel 22Jeremiah 25Romans 13; 14 "DISASTER IS GOING FORTH FROM NATION TO NATION" The records of the prophecies of Jeremiah are not in chronological order and today’s chapter [Jeremiah 25] was probably one of the last, if not the last, that God caused him to write. They are about God’s anger and judgements on all nations – and in our days, now that God’s words are at last available and can be read in all known languages, the Creator with his all-seeing eyes and power, may be ready to bring about their fulfilment! Remember that only 2 days ago we noted the words, “in the latter days you will understand it clearly” [Jeremiah 23:20] Those who are seeking God with their whole heart will have confidence in this time of “disaster.” We read today, “ everything written in this book which Jeremiah prophesied against the nations … Thus the LORD, the God of Israel said to me, ‘Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.” [Jeremiah 25:13,15]. It was physically impossible for him to go to all the nations named, especially as the long list of nations [Jeremiah 25:17-26] ends with the statement, “ … and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth” [Jeremiah 25:26] - so its final fulfilment can be understood as only happening now in the 21st century! The initial focus is on Jerusalem as the centre of the crisis. Jeremiah 25:29 tells us, “For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth… The clamour will resound to the ends of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against all nations … Thus says the LORD of hosts; Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation.” [Jeremiah 25:30-33] The disaster that begins in Jerusalem is described in Zechariah 12 where the LORD says he will “make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples” and then “On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples … and all the nations of the earth will gather against it … on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” [Zechariah 12:2,3,9] Let us make sure we are spiritually strong at this time – and surely that time is beginning NOW. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 05 August 2011 2 Samuel 23Jeremiah 26Romans 15; 16 "THE SWEET PSALMIST OF ISRAEL" The above phrase occurs in the first verse our 2 Samuel 23 reading today. It has often been quoted about David. Although there are many Psalms not written by him, he laid the foundation for the hymns that were sung in the Temple that Solomon built. David, as well as collecting vast quantities of material that was used in the construction of the Temple was also inspired to prepare its initial spiritual content. The Psalms, together with the Proverbs of his son Solomon, have in centuries past been the first parts of the Old Testament to be translated and printed. Until printing was invented, there is evidence of some Psalms being committed to memory; indeed there are accounts of individuals in the First Century who could recite all the Psalms from memory. We are the poorer – spiritually – these days for our total reliance on reading books and electronic devices – unless we also make an effort to put some of what we read into the memory bank of our brains. In today’s chapter David says, “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.” [2 Samuel 23:2] He uses a wonderful illustration that “The God of Israel has spoken … he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.” [2 Samuel 23:3,4] God’s words are like rain, they are essential for our spiritual growth – together with the son’s rays. Our minds must be regularly watered. Our grass lawns soon show when they are not watered by rain or our hose! But we are not so immediately conscious when our minds are lacking spiritual water. David marvels that God “has made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?” [2 Samuel 23:5] The answer is obviously – YES! Let us make sure that God, because of our reading and positive meditation on His word, is with us to be ‘all our help and desire’ and will fulfil the covenant we have entered into with him. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 06 August 2011 2 Samuel 24Jeremiah 27Mark 1 "BUT DAVID'S HEART STRUCK HIM ... " Today we read how David, deciding he needed to know how many fighting men he had, pressures Joab to do this. When David receives the final tally we read, “But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, ‘I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foolishly” [2 Samuel 24:10] God does not need a large number to accomplish his purpose, there are several Scriptures show this – even just one person! We start reading Mark’s Gospel today and soon see what a remarkable impact John the Baptist has! “All the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him” [Mark 1:5] and Paul on his travels, years later, encountered “about twelve men” in Ephesus who had been baptised by John. [Acts 19:3-7] Returning to our Samuel reading we pondered the mystery of the chapter’s opening words that “the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go number Israel …’” The mystery deepens in the parallel record in 1 Chronicles 21:1 which says, “Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.” How are we to understand this? It is the first time ‘Satan’ occurs in our English Old Testament, but in the Hebrew original it has already occurred 8 times, often being translated as “adversary” and naming who the adversary is! But note this, looking again at Mark 1 we see that after John baptised Jesus and “the Spirit descending on him …” that “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was … tempted by Satan” [Mark 1:10,12,13]. As we meditated on these strange verses, and thew Spirit’s action, seeking to see them in harmony, we concluded that God in seeing what men, even men such as David, will do in moments of spiritual blindness, allows it to happen, seeing how he can weave the event into his overall purpose – allowing adversaries that test us. Only Jesus, using and quoting the word of God was able to conquer all his human inclinations, setting us an example of how to call an appropriate Scripture to mind – “it is written” to overcome the “Satan” within. We read that Christ “in every respect has been tempted as we are” [Hebrews 4:15]. Let us pray for support every day to resist the temptations, and to “lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely” [Hebrews 12:1]. Finally, we note 2 Chronicles 32:31 of how God allowed King Hezekiah to be tested! The record says, “God left him to himself to test him and to know all that was in his heart.” This happened to David! It surely happens to us!-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 07 August 2011 1 Kings 1Jeremiah 28Mark 2 “HAVE YOU NEVER READ” Addressing the religious leaders the Lord Jesus said more than once, “Have you never read”? He was referring to items in their Scriptures, the Old Testament. Of course they had read these divinely inspired words again and again, it was an essential part of their “job.” These were the foundations from which they taught the people to behave as God required – and to understand the blessings God was prepared to give in the future. The tragedy was that they were not satisfied with its plain meaning; they embellished some parts of it. This leads Jesus to take them to task over their complaints that his disciples were “doing what was not lawful on the Sabbath.” [Mark 2:24] What were the disciples doing? As they walked through the grain fields they plucked a few heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands and ate the corn. Jesus responds to the Pharisees, “have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, and those with him … ” [Mark 2:25] What the Law said was that they should not “work” on the Sabbath Day – and these Pharisees had added to the Law by saying it was “work” if people plucked a few ears of corn to have a nibble as they passed by on the Sabbath. The final verses of Deuteronomy 23 show that what the disciples did was allowable under the Law. But the law did not allow people to take a bag and pluck grain for future eating. So there is a challenge in what Jesus said, of course they had read, but their devious minds had read into the Law more than was written. When we come to Mark 12 next week we come across a more serious example in an encounter Jesus had with the Sadducees. He rebuked them saying, “You neither know the Scriptures nor the power of God” [Mark 12:24]. Again, they must have read them, but they distorted their obvious meaning to fit what they wanted to believe. In their case they refused to believe there was to be a future resurrection. Sadly today we can point to examples of the same thing. The daily prayerful reading of God’s word is our safeguard against having Jesus say to us on that day, “Have you never read?” Tragically, it will then be too late to get our understanding and actions right, let us read and act in the right way – NOW. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 08 August 2011 1 Kings 2Jeremiah 29Mark 3 “THAT YOU MAY PROSPER … WHEREVER YOU TURN” Today we read of David's final words of advice to his successor - Solomon. Two weeks ago we read of Solomon “and the LORD loved him" [2 Samuel 12:24]. Today we noted David’s parting words to him, "Be strong, and show yourself a man. and keep the charge of the LORD, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes his commandments ... that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn" [1 Kings 2:2,3] These words are appropriate for all human beings to take to heart. It does not mean strong in a physical sense. Recall what we read recently in Romans about Abraham. "No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised" [Romans 4:20,21]. David also provides many examples of being strong in faith, an attitude of mind that constantly thinks and has the vision to see that God is in overall control. We must recognise this and pray for his oversight of our lives remembering that "whatever is not of faith is sin" [Romans 14:23]. We will read tomorrow (Mark 4) of the seed that is scattered, it either produces more seed or it doesn't, there is no third option. Thus those who develop a genuine faith in God and his oversight in their lives will win through whenever life for a time become difficult, maybe even very difficult. While there is opportunity we must be strong and live in the right spirit. Jesus was still looking for workers in his vineyard at "the eleventh hour" [Matthew 20:6] WE are now living in the eleventh hour so let us live so that we may prosper wherever we turn in serving our Lord! -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 09 August 2011 1 Kings 3Jeremiah 30Mark 4 "THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES" How are riches deceitful? Is the answer all that obvious? Well, Jesus said they were! It was a point he made in our reading of Mark 4 today. Jesus was explaining the parable about the sower sowing seed – and the different results it produced according to the soil it fell into! The different places in which the seed tried to grow are likened to the hearts of human beings. All too often the seed that Jesus, the sower sows, has to compete with other things growing in the hearts of men and women. Everyone has to decide on the main purpose of their life! The seed which Jesus sows offers them an eternal purpose, for that seed is “the word” [Mark 4:4] that brings life to those who let it grow in their heart – but only if they let it complete its growth “growing up and increasing and yielding …” [Mark 4:8]. Some seed fell in hearts where it had to compete with other things that were growing there. Weeds and thorns come in various guises and Jesus, in explaining the parable said, “they are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word” [Mark 4:18,19] Those who have sought and obtained riches have their minds attracted and then distracted by what they can do with those riches, the passing pleasures they can bring. We also read today of Solomon’s response to God’s invitation to “Ask what I shall give you” and his response in asking for “an understanding mind to govern” wisely [1 Kings 3:9]. As a result we have the Proverbs of Solomon one of which says, “Do not toil to acquire wealth, be discerning enough to desist. When you eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings …” [Proverbs 23:4,5] There are people in the world anxious about their “riches” this very day! There is, however, one kind of “riches” we should value. Paul tells us about it in Ephesians 1:7, “the forgiveness of our trespasses (wrongdoing) according to the riches of his grace.” -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 10 August 2011 1 Kings 4; 5Jeremiah 31Mark 5 "BEHOLD THE DAYS ARE COMING" From a human perspective, the days have taken a long time to come! That is, since the LORD caused Jeremiah to write, “Behold, the days are coming declares the LORD when I will …” [Jeremiah 31:31] – and those days have not yet come! But Peter wrote, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” [2 Peter 3:8] and today as we see situations around the whole world developing that threaten total chaos, we cannot see how life as we know it will continue for many more years. So what follows these words of God to Jeremiah? “Behold the days are coming declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” What is the nature of this new covenant? “This is the covenant that I will make … after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” [Jeremiah 31:33,34] God had caused Jeremiah to prophecy that they would return from captivity after seventy years, as we read 2 days ago (Jeremiah 29:10) but the prophecy we read today was not fulfilled then – or at any time since. But in today’s chapter God also states, “Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and stars by night … if this fixed order departs from before me … then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever” [Jeremiah 31:35,36] We see how the Jews were sent into captivity again after they rejected their Messiah – and Jerusalem was destroyed again. That is true, but God said through Isaiah, “In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people … He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel … from the four corners of the earth” [isaiah 11:11,12] How many are recognising that “signal”? The survival of the people of Israel as a distinct people is a sign of God’s foreknowledge! It is a reason to have confidence that “the days are coming” What will be your position when those days come? Many prophecies say they will come “suddenly.”-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 11 August 2011 1 Kings 6Jeremiah 32Mark 6 "OVERLAID WITH GOLD" We read today (1 Kings 6) of Solomon building the Temple. It took 7 years and he started in the 4th year of his reign (1 Kings 6:1). From 1 Kings 6:11 we read, “Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, ‘Concerning this house (Temple) that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel …'" As it nears completion everything in the Temple is overlaid with gold. “The inner sanctuary … he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of cedar. And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished.” [1 Kings 6:20-22] Even “the floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms” [1 Kings 6:30] We presume people took off their shoes as they entered – as happens today if you enter a Mosque although the floors of the ones we have seen are of stone or marble – only God’s Temple was of gold! Now the thought occurred as we listened to this morning’s news about the continuing great anxieties in the world financial scene, we noted the comment that gold was now selling for $1,788 (US) an ounce (16.4 grams) as people become more desperate to try to keep their wealth secure! This made us think of the words of Peter. He told believers they were “being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ” [1 Peter 1:5-7] The “genuineness of your faith”! But you cannot buy faith like you can gold! How do you get it? Is not this the most important question in life? Faith can be said to be having absolute trust in something or someone – something you are totally convinced about. How precious is your life to you? When it is no more – what then? Endless oblivion? To have genuine faith in Jesus means he must be totally real to you – leading to an absolute conviction in the future he predicted – a golden future. May we all read God’s word every day and develop that conviction. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 12 August 2011 1 Kings 7Jeremiah 33Mark 7 "SOLOMON WAS BUILDING HIS OWN HOUSE" Today, our reading in 1 Kings 7 provided abundant detail of “Solomon building his own house” [1 Kings 7:1] a project which took him 13 years compared to the Temple which took him 7 years, as we read yesterday. Other building projects followed, such as “the house of the Forest of Lebanon” [1 Kings 7:2] Also he “made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment” [1 Kings 7:7] “Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken in marriage.” [1 Kings 7:8] He possessed a very industrious mind, this is even more evident when we take a look at the book of Ecclesiastes which he wrote. He states there, “I made great works … and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees … I also had great possessions of herds and flocks” [Ecclesiastes 2:4,5,7] and adds, “I kept my heart from no pleasure … and this was my reward for all my toil” [Ecclesiastes 2:10] But his final perception is – and this is most likely at the end of his life, especially when God raised up adversaries against him (1 Kings 11:4-14; 11:23) because his foreign wives had drawn away his heart to worship other gods, he had a final reflection on life’s meaning writing, “So I hated life, because what is done under the sun is grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.” [Ecclesiastes 2:17]. In the end, his total pre-occupation with the material things of the moment – only gave satisfaction for that moment. There is a lesson in this for a great many today. In our Jeremiah reading [Jeremiah 33:10] the prophet deplores the state of the holy city that all “is a waste without man or beast … the streets of Jerusalem … are desolate.” But God gives him a vision of the eternal future when, says God, “I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David (Jesus) and he shall execute justice and righteousness … in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness’” [Jeremiah 33:15,16] Let us share in this vision of the future with the hope that, by God’s grace, we will be there.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 13 August 2011 1 Kings 8Jeremiah 34Mark 8 "FOR WHOEVER IS ASHAMED OF ME AND OF MY WORDS" What a challenge it is for young people growing up today in Australia and similar prosperous countries (but how do you measure prosperity?) to be bold in making it known that they believe in Jesus, except among the circle of their fellow believers! Even more than this, not only to declare they believe he existed 2,000 years ago, but to show how his teaching changed the way a great number of people thought and acted. In fact, that his teaching, despite opposition, turned the beliefs of the ancient world upside down! Now in achieving this it caused many traumatic moments that tested the faith and the convictions of those converted and cost some their lives. Let’s compare this with today. The opposite conviction is flooding the world, at least, that part of the world that considers itself intelligent and well informed. Those who openly declare their belief in Jesus face increasing ridicule and this makes the words of Jesus we read today in Mark 8 very relevant. “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him (or her) will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” [Mark 8:38] How challenging were his words both to the disciples and the crowd, “If anyone would come after me; let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man (or woman) to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” [Mark 8:34-36] Most people today (in Australia at least) think this life is their only life. They try to “save” this life as much as they can! But those who follow Jesus “deny” themselves by turning away from the unessential things that fill the minds of those who want nothing to do with believing in Jesus. He said, there are two gates, two pathways and one has never been more evident - and “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many.” [Matthew 7:13] Those who enter by the narrow gate simply must strengthen themselves with daily reading and thought on life’s true realities - for only these lead to eternal life.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 14 August 2011 1 Kings 9Jeremiah 35Mark 9 "LET YOUR HEART THEREFORE BE WHOLLY TRUE" Our Old Testament readings today tied up with each other. Our chapter in 1 Kings contains God’s response to Solomon’s prayer of dedication which we read yesterday. Today we read, “The LORD appeared to Solomon … The LORD said to him, ‘I have heard your prayer and your plea … I have consecrated this house … My eyes and my heart will be there for all time … But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children … the house that I have consecrated by my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.” [1 Kings 9:2,3,6,7] Tragically, this happened. In the last verse of yesterday’s chapter of Jeremiah [Jeremiah 34] we read, “Behold, I will command, declares the Lord, and I will bring them (the Babylonians) back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire.” Within 2 or 3 years this happened and the City and its Temple were destroyed. The casting out of the people and the destruction of the Temple occurred some 330 years after its dedication, what an utter tragedy. Yet Solomon’s prayer remains true and is as meaningful to us as it was to the sincere God fearing men and women that heard it. Notice how Solomon, after he had offered his prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God, then prayed for the people, saying, “The LORD our God be with us … that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways … Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people … Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD … ” [1 Kings 8:57-61] We are just like the people Solomon prayed for! May our hearts be wholly true to the LORD. May we worship in God’s future Temple. In 2 days time we will read how Jesus quoted God’s words through Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7), “My house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations”. One day soon this everlasting Temple will be built - for God’s Kingdom will be here.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 15 August 2011 1 Kings 10Jeremiah 36Mark 10 “THOSE WHO HAVE WEALTH” A verse in Mark 10, today’s reading, says how “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” [Mark 10:23] It set us thinking as to what constitutes wealth today? There would be different answers in different countries! The young man to whom Jesus said this “had great possessions” [Mark 10:22]. The previous verse told us, “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him” Why did Jesus love him? Well, firstly Jesus sees more than the outside appearance! We read that he “ran up and knelt before him” [Mark 10:17]; running indicates his eagerness, kneeling, his submissiveness. In the conversation that followed about the commandments of God he replied, “Teacher all these I have kept from my youth” [Mark 10:20]. But the young man had “great possessions” and he went away “sorrowful” when told to “sell all that you have”. Does this mean that if you have few or no possessions and no money in the bank you are going to be in the kingdom of God? Of course not! James, in his epistle, writes, “Listen my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom” [James 2:5]. This is the heart of the matter – “rich in faith” – and James then writes (James 2:14-17) how we show our faith by how Christ-like we become and in what we do with our lives. Now back to our first question – what constitutes wealth today? We live in a vastly different world to the First Century. The great majority have forms of “wealth” which attract them to occupy their minds in spiritually unproductive ways day after day. Jesus invited the young man to “come follow me” after he had disposed of his wealth. There is a theory, that cannot be proved, but is interesting; that the young man did end up following Jesus; he is the one who “sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet” [Acts 4:37]. Let us put the “wealth” of the things that attract and distract us today to one side and lay up “treasure in heaven.”-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 16 August 2011 1 Kings 11Jeremiah 37Mark 11 "AND THE LORD WAS ANGRY WITH SOLOMON" Today we read in 1 Kings 11 of the sad end to Solomon’s life – of his failure to remain steadfast in his service to the LORD of all the earth. It is such a contrast to his prayer of dedication in the newly built Temple we read only 3 days ago when he prayed that God would , “render to each whose heart you know according to all his ways, for you know the hearts of all …” (1 Kings 8:39) who pray in or toward the Temple. However, nearly 30 years later this sad picture emerges! This is a lesson for all who seek to serve their heavenly Father. 1 Kings 11:4 in today’s readings tells us that “when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God as was the heart of David his Father.” In 1 Kings 11:9 we read, “And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away …” It seems that at least some of his many wives were the result of marriage alliances with the “royal” families of other kingdoms that had submitted to his rules or with whom he had formed a relationship. This should make us realize that a time of “peace” can be more dangerous than a time of war from a spiritual point of view. The first marriage alliance was to a daughter of Pharaoh and he built a house specially for her. It is hard to comprehend the situation of multiply wives, it was not so from the beginning and the first mention of a man having two wives was a descendent of Cain (Genesis 4:19). Noah and his sons only had one wife. When the Jewish leaders question Jesus about divorce he took their minds right back to the beginning, as we read yesterday, “from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall be one flesh” [Mark 10:8] and Paul’s comments on marriage in various places (mainly 1 Corinthians 7) makes it obvious that followers of Christ saw the only right way to life was for a man to have only one wife) The tragedy of Solomon is a lesson to us to never lose our vision of God so that we remain faithful to the end and not allow anything in our lives that we “worship” in whatever way which takes us away from our commitment to serve Christ. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 17 August 2011 1 Kings 12Jeremiah 38Mark 12 "SO THE KING TOOK COUNSEL" An important lesson from our reading of 1 Kings 12 is how different people “took counsel.” Solomon was dead and the leaders of the people came to his son Rehoboam saying, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father … and we will serve you.” [1 Kings 12:4] It’s rather like people telling a political party to lighten our tax burden and we will vote for you! Solomon’s burden must have been heavy with all the things he had undertaken and was financing. Rehoboam “took counsel with the old men” who had served with his father and they say, “speak good words to them.” [1 Kings 12:7] But Rehoboam then asks the young men who had grown up with him and they gave the opposite advice so he “abandoned the counsel that the old men gave” [1 Kings 12:8] and responded “according to the counsel of the young men.” [1 Kings 12:8] This results in a rebellion and the formation of a separate kingdom of the 10 northern tribes who appoint Jeroboam, who had been their spokesman before Rehoboam, as their king. Now it is Jeroboam’s turn to seek counsel for he “said in his heart, ‘Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple … at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again … they will kill me and return to Rehoboam’.” [1 Kings 12:26,27] “So the king (Jeroboam) took counsel” [1 Kings 12:28] and as a result he made “two calves of gold” for the people in the north to worship as the “gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” [1 Kings 12:28]. Tomorrow we will read of the condemnation “a man of God” came and made to him because he did this! There was no attempt by any of those seeking counsel to seek it from the Lord. In Jeremiah we read today of how “King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah” for his counsel, but the prophet said, “If I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” [Jeremiah 38:15] How few seek counsel from God today! If they would carefully read his Scriptures that is where they would find counsel, but as Paul wrote to the Romans, quoting from Psalm 36, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” [Romans 3:18] Let us make sure the fear, that is the awe of what God must be, is in our minds and that we seek counsel from his word to guide our lives. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 18 August 2011 1 Kings 13Jeremiah 39Mark 13 “YOU DO NOT KNOW WHEN THE TIME WILL COME” Today we again read what is known as ‘The Olivet Prophecy’; we read it every 2 months, is it TOO familiar to us? This teaching of Jesus is specifically to his disciples as they sat on the Mount of Olives where they could look down on the Temple. He had shocked them by saying the Temple was going to be destroyed. They were bewildered, they were expecting him to very soon assert his rule as king with a miraculous demonstration of power. Much of our chapter today (Mark 13) is primarily about the coming destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem and the extreme plight of the people at that time. This happened in AD70. But in places Jesus extends his visionary words beyond that time to his second coming when there will be a an even greater time of trouble for the whole world, but centred on Jerusalem. Some of his words apply to both that time (AD67-70) when, according to Josephus a million Jews died, but some of his words apply specifically to that final time of trouble, “such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be (again).” [Mark 13:19] Christ’s words end with a personal message and parable for all true believers. “Be on your guard, stay awake. For you do not know when the time will come” [Mark 13:33]. Jesus talks of a “man going on a journey”(himself) who “puts his servants in charge, each with his work” [Mark 13:34] What is the work of these servants? They are in charge! In charge of what? The answer is that they should be representing him, they are in charge of his message, although they “do not know when the Master will come” [Mark 13:35]. On another occasion Jesus answered a query by Peter by warning that some servants would think “My Master is delayed in coming” and begins to beat fellow servants “and to eat and drink and get drunk, and the master of that servant will come … (at) an hour he does not know” [Luke 12:45,46]. The lack of diligent Bible reading today by the servants the Lord has left in charge is becoming more evident. Yet the world knows it is facing an impossible future and more and more people, especially young people are living for the moment, which is all they care to think about. Are you a servant of the Lord? If so, hear Jesus’ words, “Be on your guard, stay awake,” serve him by making his word known to any who will listen. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2011 19 August 2011 1 Kings 14Jeremiah 40Mark 14 "WATCH AND PRAY" Today in Mark 14 we read Mark’s moving account of the events in the Garden of Gethsemane. That evening they had been together in what is known as the “upper room.” This was when what we call “the last supper” took place. As the bread and the cup were passed around (Mark 14:22-25) the disciples would not have accepted in their minds what it was all about! Now use your imagination as to the kind of emotion they would experience in the weeks that followed his ascension especially when joined with thousands who had been “cut to the heart” on the Day of Pentecost. Let’s open up our mind’s eye on the heart felt emotion of such occasions - this creates a most heart stirring personal meditation. After that last supper “and when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” [Mark 14:26]. It is quite a climb and Jesus initiates a conversation about them denying they know him. This leads Peter to declare, “If I must die with you I will not deny you.” [Mark 14:31] It is now late evening and they come down from Mount and “went to a place called Gethsemane” and Jesus “began to be greatly distressed and troubled.” He tells them to “remain here and watch” [Mark 14:34] What are they to watch for? They have no thought that a band of soldiers will come! After emotionally praying to his father he returns and finds them sleeping and “he says to Peter, ‘Simon are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?” [Mark 14:37] Their minds were closed to any thought of his imminent arrest – and if they had been aware – would there have been any value in watching for the event to happen? Jesus next comment is significant, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [Mark 14:38] Jesus means – watch yourselves! Check out your strength – of faith: a lesson for us: this could well be needful soon when the god of mammon collapses like Dagon of old. In seeking “to interpret the signs of the times” [Matthew 16:3] a phrase Jesus only used when addressing the Pharisees, the emphasis must be on watching ourselves, of which our prayers are an essential part - to maintain our strength of mind so we do not fail as the disciples did - but are ready when “the angels (come to) gather his elect” as we read yesterday [Mark 13:27].-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 20 August 2011 1 Kings 15Jeremiah 41Mark 15 "THAT WE MAY SEE AND BELIEVE" What does it need before people believe anything? Today we have more means of obtaining convincing evidence to prove something than ever before! There is more evidence of the incredible marvels of creation than ever before - yet more than ever people have their minds so set on believing there is no God, no Creator, and that all that exists is the result of pure chance. Indeed, to believe that all life forms came to be – out of total nothingness! Part of the responsibility for the emergence of this attitude of thinking must rest upon the poor image of the fractured churches. Over the centuries they become fractured and factionalized and worship often became a ritual instead of a conviction of the heart arising from a diligent reading of God’s word. Only when the Bible was first printed and the ‘ordinary’ people could read it themselves was there a real spiritual awakening. Such awakening is a personal matter; the scriptures tell us that the Creator has power to see the hearts of all and knows those who are genuinely seeking. How tragic when he finds none! We are reading in Jeremiah the tragedy that befell Jerusalem and it reminds us of Psalm 81 about the attitude of God. “My people did not listen to my voice … so I gave them over to their stubborn hearts” [Psalm 81:11,12]. Now we meditated in this way after reading the words quoted at the top of these thoughts. They occur in today’s reading of Mark 15. Jesus is on the cross and “the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross that we may see and believe.” [Mark 15:31-32] They had closed their minds to all the remarkable things he had done. When many believed in Jesus because of the raising of Lazarus these men even planned to put Lazarus as well as Jesus to death (John 12:10). This demonstrated the fact that when human beings lock their minds into a way of thinking then no amount of evidence to the contrary matters. Paul wrote, “we walk by faith, not by sight” [2 Corinthians 5:7] but our faith rests upon an abundance of evidence– and one day, maybe very soon, our faith will be turned to sight! But for those, like the scoffers at the cross, who say they will believe only when they see - it will be too late! Are there any unbelievers reading this? May they learn to “walk by faith.”-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 21 August 2011 1 Kings 16Jeremiah 42Mark 16 "TREMBLING AND ASTONISHMENT" Today we completed reading Mark’s Gospel and the verse which arrested our attention was, “they went and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them” [Mark 16:8]. The tomb was empty, an angel, a man in a white robe, was there! The three women (Mark 16:1) had come and “brought spices so that they might go and anoint him.” Their minds had been completely closed to any other thought. Imagine how the total focus of their minds had been on the task ahead. Now let’s switch the scene of thought to something that has not happened yet, but which is most likely to cause us “trembling and astonishment.” There are many scriptures which relate to events at the moment Christ returns and who would dare to say they know how they all fit together and what the actual reality will be of the situations they describe. Just 3 days ago we read the words of Jesus, “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven … Be on guard, keep awake (and pray)” [Mark 13:31-33] Why the reference to both a day and an hour? What heaven and earth will pass away? The present unrighteous order of things! Peter wrote that “the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar” [2 Peter 3:10] With a roar!? A few verses earlier in Mark we read “And then he will send out his angels to gather the elect” [Mark 13:27] Both Matthew and Luke record how Jesus compared his return with the flood and how life was going on as normal, until endless rain started. “They were unaware until the flood came … so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be …” [Matthew 24:39-41] We might ask – taken where? Taken out of danger? Taken to the place of Judgement? But what about the one left … like the ones left behind. The scenario looks like that when Noah and Lot escaped God’s angry judgement on the godless. Even those taken could well experience “trembling and astonishment” – Lot and his daughters surely must have done. Finally we thought of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, the foolish forgetting to bring enough oil for their lamps. They were all waiting for the bridegroom to come, but did not know when that would be. Oil was the source of the light and they did not have enough. God’s word produces light in our minds. David wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” [Psalm 119:105] Let us all make sure we have enough light. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2011 22 August 2011 1 Kings 17Jeremiah 431 Corinthians 1; 2 HOW GOD USES BAD MEN Yesterday and today’s reading in the Book of Kings shows how God made use of bad men to deal with other bad men. We read [1 Kings 16] how the prophet Jehu was sent by God to warn the “house of Jeroboam”, that is, Jeroboam’s descendants. They were the kings of the 10 northern tribes of Israel which was established after the death of Solomon, a result of the arrogant attitude of Solomon’s son Rehoboam which split up the nation. Baasha, the grandson of Jeroboam had been removed from being king after reigning for 24 years [1 Kings 15:24]. The message to him had been “I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people … but you have made my people to sin.” [1 Kings 16:2] He refused to realize he was there because of God’s actions behind the scenes. His son Elah became king but after reigning just 2 years he was killed by an army commander when he was “drinking himself drunk” [1 Kings 16:9] This commander then began to reign and immediately killed every “single male of his (Elah’s) relatives or his friends.” [1 Kings 16:11] Zimri was this man’s name but he did not see himself as acting for God - and his reign only lasted 7 days!! If there had been radios, TVs and newspapers in those days – imagine the headlines! They would compare with today! The man who killed Zimri was Omri wand he reigned for 12 years and then his son AHAB became king and married the infamous Jezebel! This brings Elijah on the scene and today’s chapter starts with his declaration to this evil king, “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” Is it any different today? Weather patterns are becoming extreme. We hear and see on TV dramatic events, we sometimes suspect the hand of God is behind it all. Local and overseas news are often accounts of evil behaviour, some of it violent, in other cases, very immoral. God is allowing it, using bad men to create chaos for other bad men. The Palestinians with Egypt’s support are a hotbed of hatred toward the Jews . The whole of the Middle East is in disarray; God is leading godless nations into chaos – because they do not believe in him. Let us live by faith – and one day – maybe soon – our faith will be turned to sight. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 23 August 2011 1 Kings 18Jeremiah 441 Corinthians 3 "THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD IS FOLLY WITH GOD" Our readings in 1st Corinthians contain some of the most thought provoking in the Bible. Yesterday’s chapter (1 Corinthians 2) ended with the words, “But we have the mind of Christ.” Those who truly absorb the teachings of Christ see life from a totally different perspective. Paul had written earlier in the chapter, encouraging the Corinthians that “your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” [1 Corinthians 2:5] The scriptures that have come down to us are the result of God’s inspiring power resting on the writers. We begin by feeding on the milk of God’s word, as babes, but those in that situation should note the frustration in Paul’s words to the Corinthians that they were still “people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready” [1 Corinthians 3:1,2] What stage are we at? Believers in Christ need to see themselves as “God’s fellow workers” [1 Corinthians 3:9] building on the foundation of Christ that Paul and other apostles had started to build upon. It is essential that builders have the right kind of wisdom. Paul writes, “Let no one deceive themselves … If anyone among you thinks he is wise” beware “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’” [1 Corinthians 3:18,19] Those words reminded us of a documentary we chanced to watch at the weekend. It was about the Big Bang theory that scientists have made – reasoning that everything that exists originated with a Big Bang out of nothing! This exploded out to become the entire universe. These scientists were admitting that recent observations did not fit this theory because there was a large stream of movement in one distant part of the universe all heading in the one direction. So they have recently come up with fresh theories to explain this phenomenon. These theories are unprovable but they seemed satisfied with them because they cannot begin to think there is a Master Mind, a Creator. Oh the follies of “the wisdom of this world”! Paul concludes today’s chapter, “Let no one boast in men. For all things are yours … the present or the future – all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” [1 Corinthians 3:21,22] For this to be true for you – you must build your life on the right foundation.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 24 August 2011 1 Kings 19Jeremiah 45; 461 Corinthians 4; 5 "FEAR NOT ... O ISRAEL, FOR BEHOLD I WILL SAVE YOU" It is evident that the book of Jeremiah is not in chronological order. This does not matter but we must not let it confuse us. The original documents do not, of course, exist, but the Jews in ancient times carefully copied and preserved Jeremiah’s messages as a most sacred book. Six different scrolls containing various parts of this prophecy were found in the Dead Sea Caves. It was also translated into Greek about 200 years before Christ and this version has come down to us; complete manuscripts of it that are about 1600 years old exist. Today’s chapter [Jeremiah 45] is about the early part of his ministry, but Jeremiah 46 is about the climax of his ministry when he accompanies the remnant of the people down into Egypt. They have refused to accept the LORD’s message (Jeremiah 42:18-22) that they should not go to Egypt. They would be safe if they stayed in their own land even though it is under Babylonian control and soon Egypt will suffer the same fate! Egypt’s glories are all in the past, Jeremiah writes of the present leader, “Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, noisy one who let’s the hours go by.” [Jeremiah 46:17] Words, but no action seems to be implied; how many people are like that today! A lesson for us – not to be like that! The greatest lesson of this chapter is the vision Jeremiah is given of Israel’s ultimate future, “Fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel, for behold I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity, Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid” [Jeremiah 46:27]. These final words have not been fulfilled as yet, but they will. The chapter concludes with another remarkable statement, “Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure; I will by no means leave you unpunished.” A remarkable statement, Assyria and Babylonia were great powers that vanished! Genuine believers must “Fear not” what their future holds. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 25 August 2011 1 Kings 20Jeremiah 471 Corinthians 6 "DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT ... " Four times the above phrase is used by Paul in our chapter of Corinthians today [1 Corinthians 6]. Many believers there were spiritually blind to the follies of the behaviour that they had slipped back into doing. It happened then, it happens today, especially among those who proclaim that once you are saved you are saved for always regardless of the nature of your future sins. That point is specifically made in Hebrews 10:26-31. Now it is true that God is merciful and forgiving and David is the supreme example of this, but it is folly to think he turns a ‘blind eye’ to sins, especially serious specific moral failures such as were happening in Corinth. We read, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived” [1 Corinthians 6:9]; yet such is human nature we can indulge in self deception. Now while we acknowledge the truth of his condemnation of “the sexually immoral … adulterers nor (those) who practice homosexuality” we must not overlook that his list also includes “..nor the thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” [1 Corinthians 6:9-10]. Then Paul comments, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” [1 Corinthians 6:11]. Sexual misbehaviour is a special target of his concern and he makes the point, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” [v.13]. This takes us back to what we read in 1 Corinthians 3, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you” [1 Corinthians 3:16] There is a sense in which we have the Holy Spirit! But that sense is that his Spirit watches over and possesses us! Returning to 1 Corinthians 6, we now note 1 Corinthians 6:15, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then make them members of a prostitute? Never!” In 1 Corinthians 6:18 we read “Flee from sexual immorality” – don’t just avoid it. Finally, and most significant of all we come to the last 2 verses; “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in you body.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20] Do you not KNOW? It is not head knowledge is it! It is heart knowledge! Do you possess it? -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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