The Marks Of The Christian

Posted on April 9, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Child walking in lion's prints
Photo by Hugues de BUYER-MIMEURE on Unsplash

Turn with me in your Bibles to

Colossians 1:21-23 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (22) In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (23) If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled,and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel,which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

What marks a Christian, a Christian? What are the signs or evidences in the life that stand as proofs that you are sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus? It is not the man made denomination that makes a Christian, but God does this when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Apostle of Love wrote:

John 1:12-13 But as many as received {Jesus}, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Position Of The Christian Is Different To
The Position Of The Lost

A Christian is distinctly different to a non-Christian. A Christian is a “Son of God”. Someone once asked, “But doesn’t God have any daughters?”. Well yes, He does. But “Son of God” is a technical term for the genuine Christian.

When Jesus Christ was incarnate, He became the Son of Man. But Jesus is eternally THE Son of God. Satan acknowledged this.

Matthew 4:3 And when the Tempter came to {Jesus}, he said, if Thou be THE Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Satan addressed Jesus two times in the wilderness as THE Son of God (Matthew 4:6). When Jesus walked on water to His disciples, the Bible says:

Matthew 14:33 … they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

When on trial before the Sanhedrin, the High Priest Caiaphas asked Jesus,

Matthew 26:63 … I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be THE Christ, THE Son of God.

The Messiah, the High Priest knew, was prophesied to be THE Son of God. When Jesus affirmed that He is indeed the Son of God, the High Priest pronounced Jesus guilty of blasphemy, “He is guilty of death” (Matthew 26:66).

Jesus Christ is THE Son of God. We who believe on Him are born again of the Spirit of God, and are ourselves sons of God, different from the lost world.

Colossians 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works..

Let’s see how the Apostle develops this. “And you, that were sometime”. The word rendered “SOMETIME” is the Greek particle ποτέ poté, {pronounced pot-eh’}, which means “in past time” or “at one time”. There WAS a time that the Christian was “alienated”. This is the Greek παλλοτριοω, apallotrioo, {pronounced ap-al-lot-ree-o’-o}, which means “to be permanently separated from [God]”. You were far from God because you did not view sin as God did.

To the world, the son of Adam, sin is anything that we do not like. But to the son of God sin is anything that God does not like.

Sin takes us positionally far from God. The Prophet said:

Isaiah 59:1-3 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 BUT your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

The lost person does not have the same frame of reference that God has. What God considers “sin”, the lost consider “free choice” and “human rights”. The sons of Adam are apart from God “in [their] minds by wicked works”. When God corrects them, they will not heed God, because they put themselves and their desires above God. A good example of this is found in the life of Cain and Abel. Both Cain and Abel brought an offering to God.

Genesis 4:3-5 … in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.

What was the difference between Cain’s offering, and Abel’s offering? Cain was a farmer, so he brought the “fruit of the ground” to God as an offering. Abel was a stockman, so he brought “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof”, or an animal sacrifice. They both brought a tithe of their increase to God. But God only received Abel’s offering. Why? At this point I can go into detail and tell you that God taught Adam and Eve that only an offering of blood would cover or atone for sin (see Genesis 3:21). This shedding of blood taught Adam and Eve the severity of sin, and how only an innocent outside of the sinner could make payment for sin. God would later tell Israel:

Leviticus 17:11 … the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

The offering of blood in the Old Testament was symbolic, and looked forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the New Testament we are told:

Hebrews 9:11-12 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Under the old Covenant until Christ was crucified, God demanded that there be shedding of blood. The Bible says:

Hebrews 9:22 … almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission {of sins}.

That is why God received Abel’s offering, and not Cain’s offering. Abel was a son of God by faith, and brought the blood offering that God showed his parents in Eden. Cain, however, brought what he thought was best. When God rejected his offer, Cain’s response was just like every son of Adam’s response:

Genesis 4:5 Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Rather than repent, and do what God said, Cain got angry.

If he had a social media account, Cain would have unfriended God, and blocked Abel.

God encouraged Cain to do the right. God said:

Genesis 4:6-7 … Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Cain was “alienated and enemies in [his] mind by wicked works”. The word translated “enemies” is the Greek εχθρος, echthros, {pronounced ekh-thros’}, which comes from a word εχθωechtho which means “to hate, to be hateful or actively hostile to”. When God corrected Cain, Cain did not repent, but his hatred of God spilled over onto Abel, so much so that he murdered his own brother. The son of Adam is mentally and positionally far apart from where the mind of God is. The Bible says that:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

The lost person or the son of Adam not only sins, but comes “short of the glory of God”. The lost person has no desire to bring glory to God, but wants to bring glory to themselves. When corrected by God, the lost respond with negative emotion, being hateful toward God and toward the sons of God. They do not love God, especially when God rejects their standard of living. They reject the Law of God, preferring instead to be a law unto themselves. The Christian is in a different position:

Colossians 1:21-22 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (22) In the body of his flesh through death,

The Christian is no longer a son of Adam, but is reconciled to God. The word translated “reconciled” is the Greek ἀποκαταλλάσσω apokatallássō, {pronounced ap-ok-at-al-las’-so}, which means “to bring into harmony with God”. Jesus Christ died on the Cross of Calvary to provide a permanent covering for our sin, thereby making us at peace with God. When we receive Christ as Lord and Savior the Bible says:

Ephesians 2:14-16 For {Jesus} is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between {us and God}; 15 having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 and that he might reconcile both {us and God} unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

The Christian is reconciled or at harmony with God. We are no longer in the position of enemies, but are NOW sons of God. We were permanently separated from God and enemies in our wicked works. This was a permanent and total separation, and we could do absolutely nothing about this. Then God made a way.

God the Father sent Christ to give His life for us, and once we receive Christ as Savior, God the Father sends God the Holy Spirit to bring us new birth and a new position in God. We are positionally reconciled!

Because Of Our Positional Change,
We Now Pursue What Pleases God

Colossians 1:21b-22 …yet now hath He reconciled, {22} In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Because the Christian is no longer a son of Adam, but a son of God because of THE Son of God, our outward expression changes. The Apostle said in another place:

2 Corinthians 5:21 {The Father} hath made {Jesus} [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The Christian is no longer HATEFUL to God in works, but is HOLY unto God. When God called the ancient Israelite out of Egypt, He told them:

Leviticus 20:7-8 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I [am] the LORD your God. (8) And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I [am] the LORD which sanctify you.

The Israelite position was changed from that of a slave to Egypt, to that of a servant of God. They were called into a new position and a new relationship with God. God fed them in the wilderness, loved them, cared for them. They were a people reserved unto Himself – therefore God required that they remember this and follow Him.

In like manner you are holy, dear believer. You are holy because the Blood of God was shed for you. You are holy, set apart for God’s own use. You are His purchased possession –and you are therefore to serve Him with all your hearts. The devil will – just as he did with Jesus – tempt the believer to wander away from God our Father. The devil will do with us as he did with Jesus, saying:

Matthew 4:9 … all these things {the kingdoms of the world} will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me …

Our answer must be like the Master’s answer:

Matthew 4:10 … Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

As sons of God, we are to live our lives to please and glorify our Father. We do not belong to the sons of Adam. We are God’s cherished possession. The Scripture says we are not to follow in the pathway of sexual sin as the sons of Adam do:

1 Corinthians 6:17-20 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Dear Christian, we belong to God. Let us “Flee fornication”, πορνεία porneia, that is “sexual sin”. Many Churches today encourage sexual sin by minimizing it or normalizing it. It is certain that the lost will visit our local Churches. However, we are to stand firm in what God has said is true, and not accept into the membership of the Church those engaged in open sexual sin. The Apostle said in another place:

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Sexual sin is incompatible with holiness. Son of Adam freely engage in sexual sin, but sons of God do not. We live as those who belong to God. The Apostle said:

1 Corinthians 7:22-23 … he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. 23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

Because of the Blood of Jesus and because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, every believer lives so as to please God, and not man. We are, in God’s sight:

Colossians 1:22 … holy and unblameable and unreproveable

Jesus took the blame for my sin on the Cross. I am unblameable, the Greek ἄμωμος ámōmos, {pronounced am’-o-mos}, which means “without spot or blemish”. Because Jesus was:

1 Peter 1:19 … a Lamb without blemish and without spot

and I have received Him as Lord and Savior, I am “without blemish and without spot”. The blood of animals only provided a temporary covering for sin. But Jesus Christ came, being a permanent solution for our wayward position.

Hebrews 9:14 … How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Christian is not a Pharisee, outwardly righteous but inwardly dead (Matthew 23:27-28). The Christian is a good tree that brings forth good fruit (Matthew 7:17-18).

Time Will Tell Your Position

Now we come to one of the Ifs of Scripture:

Colossians 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel …

The proof of the Christian is that the Christian abides in Christ. The Bible makes it very clear that you become a Christian by the operation of the Spirit of God, by “new birth” or “being born again” (John 3:3; John 3:7; 1 Peter 1:23). The Christian has encountered “the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself” (Ephesians 1:5). The Christian has received the Spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15), the adoption of sons (Galatians 4:5). We are internally and positionally changed from sons of Adam to sons of God.

The faith that saves cannot help but endure, for God is in it. False faith falls away. Genuine faith “overcomes”.

The Apostle warns:

1 John 2:18-20 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. (20) BUT ye have an UNCTION from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

The child of God has an UNCTION, a χρῖσμα chrîsma, {pronounced khris’-mah} or ANOINTING from God. The Holy Spirit has touched the genuine son of God, and in that touch has permanently changed us. Genuine faith endures. The Christian is HOLY and UNBLAMABLE and UNREPROVABLE in God’s sight. We live our lives pleasing our Lord and Savior. When we err and sin, we confess our sins to God, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Dear Christian, we live our lives as sons of God. We live our lives to please God. If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I plead with you, call upon Him today. He can change you, and make you into one of God’s sons. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Colossians, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Jesus Unclothed So We Can Be Clothed

Posted on April 4, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Pisit Heng on Unsplash

Turn with me in your Bibles to John 19.

Last week we looked at the crucifixion of Jesus. Darkness was over all the earth from the sixth to the ninth hour.

Luke 23:45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

In the midst of the darkness the veil of the Temple was torn into from the top to the bottom. The Evangelist Mark tells us:

Mark 15:37-39 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. 39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

The Centurion in charge of executing our Lord had seen many men and women executed by crucifixion in his lifetime. Most died begging for mercy. Some begged that their lives be ended quicker, for the agony of crucifixion is horrid. This Centurion heard Jesus as He quietly hung on that Cross. He heard Jesus tell the thief to His right, “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). He heard Jesus, caring for His mother Mary, put her in John’s care (John 19:25-27). This hardened soldier heard Jesus say “It is finished” (John 19:30). But what moved that soldier’s battle hardened heart was our Lord’s final words:

Luke 23:46 … Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Jesus’ last words were not the words of a defeated Man. They were those of a soldier Who had fought and died on a battlefield for His nation. The Centurion said:

“Truly this Man WAS the Son of God” (Mark 15:39)

Jesus Christ, Clothed In Humanity
Became An Unclothed WAS For Us

The Bible tells us that God made man:

Hebrews 2:7 … a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

Humanity was made in God’s image, and in God’s likeness (Genesis 1:26). Humanity was placed in a perfect Garden, in a perfect world, to follow a perfect and loving God. But Adam sinned, and caused humanity to fall. But God was not satisfied to leave us alone and undone. Jesus Christ, Himself infinite God (John 1:1-3), was made like us. Jesus “was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death … that He, by the Grace of God, should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).

Jesus WAS born of a Virgin. Jesus WAS a man, a Perfect Man, Who died for our sins. The crowd looks on the body of Jesus. To them, Jesus WAS.

John 19:37 … And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced ..

The crowd which earlier called for Jesus’ crucifixion now are awakened by God. God prophesied:

Zechariah 12:10 … I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Jesus has become a “WAS”. The Centurion speaks again, glorifying God,

Luke 23:47 … saying, Certainly, this WAS a righteous Man …

Satan’s fever had passed from the people. God opened their eyes. Here was Jesus, a Man Who only did good to others. Because of Jesus …

Luke 7:22 … the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

The ones who drove the nails into Jesus now are awakened. He was innocent, righteous. Jesus is now a “WAS” because of them. And the people? The Bible says:

Luke 23:48-49 …. all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned. 49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

Preach It! It amazes me that today some so called scholars believe that Jesus did not die on that Cross. He was pierced, and blood and water ran from His side (John 19:34), a clear sign of death. The Centurion had killed many – was he now stupid, uneducated on the nature of death? He did not achieve his rank by being sloppy. Jesus “WAS”. He is no longer. He is dead. All that is left is the cleanup.

What do you do with a naked Someone Who WAS?
You bury Him.

John 19:38-40 And after this Joseph of Arimathæa, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

As God moved in the hearts of the people, He changed the heart of Joseph of Arimathæa, a wealthy man who was secretly a disciple of Jesus. A naked, bloodied Jesus who WAS hangs on the Cross. Joseph’s fear is gone. He goes to Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. Jesus WAS. There’s only a broken, empty shell of the Messiah. Another man, Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, comes out of hiding. Jesus’ body is unclothed. Look to John 19:23-24!

John 19:23 … when they crucified Jesus, took His garments … and also His coat … that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast lots …

Jesus’ body is naked. He was unclothed for our sins. He, the Son of God, became a WAS so that we could become Sons and Daughters of God.

1 Peter 3:18 … For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh…

Jesus WAS. His body is naked. He must be clothed for burial. Nicodemus comes, bringing with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. What is this myrrh and aloes for? The Jews used this paste on a person who WAS to wrap the body for burial. As Mary His Mother helped wash and wrap her Son’s body, I imagine her tears mingled with the wash water. Mary would remember her little baby boy, Jesus, on the day that the Wise Men came bearing gifts (Matthew 2:11), ONE OF THOSE GIFTS BEING MYRRH. As Mary His mother helped wrap the Jesus Who WAS, she would be reminded how, the night when He entered this earth, she …

Luke 2:7 … wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger …

The body washed, John 19:40 … Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Word Study The phrase “in linen clothes” is the Greek ὀθόνιον othónion, {pronounced oth-on’-ee-on}, which means “strips of linen cloth used for swathing the dead”. As the body was wrapped with strips of linen, the paste of myrrh and aloe was used on those strips to bind them to the body. The Free Bible Commentary states, “This was according to Jewish customs described in the Talmud (i.e., Betsah 6a).”

Jesus’ body, now clothed for burial, is laid to rest …

John 19:41 … in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, “Whereon never a man set” (Mark 11:2). Jesus’ body was carried to a tomb, “Wherein was never man yet laid” (John 20:41)!

The stone of the tomb was put in place, sealing the Jesus who WAS into that place. That should have ended things. But the Pharisees and Chief Priests were not done with Jesus. Matthew, a Levite, tells us:

Matthew 27:62-66 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64 Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can..

The Jewish Leaders who sought Jesus’ execution wanted to make sure that the Jesus Who WAS would be kept in the Tomb. Jesus had told them that He would stay in that Grave “for three days and three nights, just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40; Jonah 1:17). They wanted to make sure that this Jesus Who WAS stayed in the WAS state. They wanted to ensure that His disciples would not come along and steal the body and say that He had risen. Jesus must remain a WAS. Armed guards were placed on the Tomb.

Matthew 27:66 So they went, and made the sepulcher SURE, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

Jesus WAS. He was going to stay WAS. But He didn’t.

Three days and three nights have passed, and the women go back to the Tomb of Jesus. The Evangelist tells us:

Mark 16:1-4 … when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

This was not what the women expected. They expected to get to the sealed Tomb, and hoped that they could get someone to roll the stone from the doorway so they could further anoint the Jesus Who WAS. Mary Magdalene was most heartbroken over the discovery. We read:

John 20:1-2 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. 2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.

Mary believed that “They have taken away the Lord”, supposing a final act of cruelty by the Jewish Pharisees and Priests. While the Disciples of Jesus were in the Levitical Sabbath (that Sabbath day was A HIGH DAY1) Mary assumed that the enemies of Christ had come and taken Him away.

John 20:3-4 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher. 4 So they ran both together …

The commentaries note “that other disciple” is traditionally believed to be John. Peter and John had a foot race to the tomb, and John got there first.

John 20:4-5 and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

This part of the Scripture is very important. Jesus’ body had been wrapped with strips of linen, secured with about 100 pounds of a myrrh and aloe paste. When John looked into the tomb he saw the linen strips “lying” there. Had Jesus’ body been stolen, as Mary supposed, then they would have taken the body with the strips, as the myrrh and aloe paste acted as a glue.

John 20:6-7 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7 and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

Though John was the first to the tomb, he waited until Peter went in. It was well known that Peter was the Chief Apostle, and I believe John was deferring to him. Peter saw the linen strips, and saw the head covering rolled up neatly, and in another place in the tomb.

Jesus was wrapped, as a baby, in swaddling clothes. When He ceased to be a baby, these wrappings were removed. Jesus’ body was wrapped with strips of linen and a hundred pounds of embalming paste. Had grave robbers taken Him, the head covering would not be rolled up, nor the linen strips present. The Soniclight Commentary notes:

“That Person who had “rolled up … the face-cloth” had apparently been the resurrected Jesus. A grave robber would not have taken the time to fold the head covering neatly, but would have left it lying in a heap. Neither would friends who might have removed the body done this; they would have hurried away from the tomb as quickly as possible to avoid being apprehended. It is not clear whether the head covering lay where Jesus’ head had lain. What is clear is that someone had folded (“rolled”) it up carefully.

Why did the grave clothes lie as they had been before the body of Jesus exited them, and why had the face-cloth been carefully folded and laid aside? One explanation is that these were deliberately given as two different witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection.”

John 20:8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed. 9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

The Apostles knew that Jesus said He was going to rise from the grave, but knowing a thing and actually believing are two different things. John saw the two mute witnesses – the burial clothes and the face covering – and believed that Jesus rose from the Grave. Jesus passed through the grave clothes and through the rocky tomb. An angel rolled back the stone so the disciples could see that Jesus had risen (Matthew 28:2), not to let Jesus out!

Over the next 40 days Jesus will appear again and again to His disciples. Jesus has defeated death, and the devil. Beloved, in order to be saved you must believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Jesus Christ “bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). He died on Calvary making payment for our sins. But Jesus went farther than this. The Bible says:

Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Jesus died on Calvary to save a wretch like me. But He rose from the grave, and is at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for those who are His people. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely integral to the salvation of the believer. The Apostle said:

1 Corinthians 15:14-23 … if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

The empty tomb of Christ tells us as believers that:

  • Jesus Is Who He Says He Is:The Bible says in Romans 1:4, “Jesus Christ … {was} declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, BY THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. Death cannot hold Jesus. Since He has defeated death, and told us “whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall NEVER DIE” (John 11:26), I know His guarantee is true. Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah 25:8, saying “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the lord hath spoken it.”
  • The Afterlife Is What Jesus Says It Is: There is indeed a Heaven and a Hell, and Jesus alone leads the way to God. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; No One cometh to the Father but by Me”. Jesus is the Door to Heaven. He said in John 10:7-9, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
  • Proper Life Is What Jesus Says It Should Be: No person is sinless but Jesus (John 8:7; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 9:28). No Christian is sinless. But once we are saved by faith in the resurrected Christ, we are “born again of God” (John 3:3,7; 1 Peter 1:23), “not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever”. We who are saved are resurrected creatures, heading toward a future resurrection. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 tells us “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ”. The “born again” believer views sin differently from the lost son of Adam. It is sin that killed our Master. It is sin that Jesus paid for, very painfully, on the Cross. When a “born again” believer sins, he or she are convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit, and will repent, confessing that sin unto God for Christ’s sake. The Apostle was quite adamant on this. He said in 1 John 2:4, “He that saith, I know {Jesus}, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him”. Our Lord Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”. Jesus Christ was unclothed on Calvary so that we could be clothed in the light and righteousness of God. We used to be children of darkness – now we are to “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). “Our old man is crucified with Jesus, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (Romans 6:6).

Do you know Him? Do you know my Jesus? He gave His life for you and I, so that we can begin to live life the way the Lord intended. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I beg you, receive Him today. We who are Christians now serve an amazing Savior, and are headed toward a wonderful eternity, filled with “joy unspeakable”. May God the Holy Spirit use His Word to move your hearts to Christ. Amen and Amen!

___________________Note On The “Sabbath”_____________________

1 “High Days” are annual holy days or annual Sabbaths as defined in Leviticus 23:7, 8, 21, 25, 28, 31, 32, 35, 36 & 39. These are special Sabbaths not to be confused with the weekly Sabbath. There were seven annual Sabbaths in addition to the weekly Saturday Sabbath:

  • The first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread
  • Pentecost
  • Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah in Hebrew)
  • Atonement (Yom Kippur)
  • The first day of Tabernacles (Succoth)
  • The Last Great Day.

The “High Day” of John 19:31 is the first day of Unleavened Bread, which falls the day after the Passover (Nisan 15).

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Touch Me Not

Posted on April 4, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Sunrise
Photo by Lefty Kasdaglis on Unsplash

In our 8:30 service today we’re going to be looking at the empty tomb of our Lord. We’ll be in John 19:38-20:10. For our Sunrise Service I wanted to look at the verses that come after this. Having seen the burial clothes of Jesus in the empty tomb, Peter and John go back home:

John 20:10-13 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. 11 But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, 12 and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers!

“But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping”. Peter and John saw the empty tomb and the clothes left behind, but Mary lingered. When she first found the tomb opened she ran back to the disciples, telling them:

John 20:2 … They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.

Mary had not found Jesus’ body, so she was not satisfied. Someone must have taken Jesus’ body!

Mary was often found sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing Him teach (Luke 10:38-39). When Mary’s brother Lazarus died she told Jesus, while weeping,

John 11:32 … Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Her weeping and hurt caused Jesus Himself to weep, though He would raise Lazarus from that grave in short order. Mary wanted Jesus. Peter and John looked in the tomb and saw Jesus’ grave clothes, but Mary looked in the tomb and saw “seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain”. They ask her “Woman, why weepest thou?”, to which she replies “they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him”.

God has promised in His Word:

Jeremiah 29:13 … ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Mary sought Jesus with all her heart. Peter and John were happy with empty grave clothes, but Mary wanted Jesus. So Jesus came! We read:

John 20:14-15 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

There is Jesus! Mary is being driven by FEELINGS right now, and she does not recognize that this is Jesus speaking to her. How is that possible? It is very early in the morning, and waning darkness is difficult on the eyes. I also believe it is because the resurrection body is so glorious, so different than the earthly bodies that we now have, that it will amaze us when the Lord gives them to us. The last time Mary saw Jesus He was beaten so badly that the Prophet said:

Isaiah 52:14 As many were {astonished} at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

Isaiah 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

The Jesus that stood before Mary now was in His glorified eternal state. She supposed He was the gardener. But then, Jesus called her name:

John 20:16 … Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

When God the Son called her name, the tears were chased from Mary’s eyes. Mary knew this was Jesus. It is such a blessing when God calls your name – that is, when you are seeking him. In the Garden of Eden …

Genesis 3:9 … the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

On that day Adam and his wife hid from the Lord, knowing that they had sinned against His command. On that day Jesus told the serpent, that old Devil, also called Satan (Revelation 12:9):

Genesis 3:15 … I will put enmity between thee {you old Serpent} and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This was the very first prophecy that a Messiah would come, being born of the woman. This Messiah would be bruised by the devil – and oh, how our Savior was bruised! But this Messiah would also crush the head of the serpent. “It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”, but only His heel would be hurt. Jesus is alive.

Jesus appears to Mary early on so that we can see that God always keeps His promises! What God said in Genesis is fulfilled in John. Our God is faithful!

Touch Me Not, For I Have Not Ascended

John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Why did Jesus tell Mary “Touch me not”? One of the stupidest explanations I ever heard was that “Jesus’ wounds were still sore, and He didn’t want to be touched”. Let’s look to the text rather than to fantasy.

Word Study The word TOUCH is the Greek ἅπτομαι háptomai, {pronounced hap’-tom-ahee}, which means “to fasten one’s self to, adhere to, cling to”. Mary wasn’t just touching Jesus – she grabbed Him and held on! In Matthew 28:9 we are told “they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him”. Mary grabbed hold of Jesus and didn’t want to let go. But Jesus had to go. His mission was not fully completed. Jesus said “I am not yet ascended to my Father”. The Resurrected Christ must ascend to the Father. For what? The Book tells us:

Hebrews 9:11-14 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Our Jesus, a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 6:20-7:3; Hebrews 7:17, 21), entered into the Heavenly Holy of Holies “by his own blood”. It is His Blood that and His Blood alone that was accepted by the Father God as payment for our sins (Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:7; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:13). The Lamb of God paid our sin debt in full. The Scripture says:

Romans 4:20-24 {Abraham} staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.

Jesus Christ was delivered to the Cross “for our offenses”.
Jesus Christ was delivered from the tomb “for our justification”.

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15). The grave could not hold Jesus, so Mary must not hold Him now. But He will return many times over the next 40 days showing us that death and the grave are defeated, along with sin, for all who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit this wondrous Resurrection Sunday. Amen and Amen!

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The Praying Christian

Posted on April 2, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by David Beale on Unsplash

A little boy went to Church with his mamma and daddy. He promised his parents he would behave if he could sit in the “big” service, rather than go to the Children’s Church he usually attended. As the little boy watched the service unfold, the preacher began to pray. As the preacher ended the prayer, he said “We ask this in Jesus’ Name”, and sat down. Without thinking, the little boy blurted out:

“You didn’t say AMEN”!

Does Your Prayer Hang On An “Amen”?

There’s really nothing in the Bible that says “you must say ‘Amen’” for your prayer to be acceptable to God. The word “amen” comes from both Greek and Hebrew. In Greek it is ἀμήν amēn (pronounced am-ane’), and the Greek itself came from the Hebrew אָמֵן ʼâmên, (pronounced aw-mane’). The word means “this word is true, this is sure, so be it, of a truth”. The Greek Lexicon states:

“At the beginning of a discourse – surely, truly, of a truth. At the end of a discourse – so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled. It was a custom, which passed over from the Synagogues to the Christian assemblies, that when he who had read or discoursed, had offered up solemn prayer to God, the others responded Amen, and thus made the substance of what was uttered their own.”

Jesus often used a double amen in His sermons, quite apart from prayer. The King James often quotes Jesus’ amens as “verily”, as in:

John 1:51 … verily, verily (amen, amen) I say unto you …
John 3:3 … verily, verily (amen, amen) I say unto thee …

Jesus uses “amen, amen” some 25 times in the Book of John alone. The doubled “amen” makes what Jesus says emphatically strong. So “amen” does not have to be in a prayer, but is a statement of affirmation. What DOES have to be in prayer?

Healthy Christians Frequently Pray

Prayer should not be something you do just every now and then, or only during special times (like before a meal or prior to bed). Prayer should be frequent. In fact, the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17,

“Pray Without Ceasing”

The Christian’s lifestyle should be thoroughly interlaced with prayer. We live in a rough, fallen world. Beloved, if we would pray more, we would worry less. Prayer reminds us that not only is God in control, it tells us that we are weak, and desperately need His presence in our lives.

When Peter was imprisoned for preaching the Gospel, the Bible says that:

Acts 12:5 … prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him …

The Church prayed together, remembering that Jesus promised “where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). When God’s people come together and pray, the power of God comes to earth. The Church prayed for Peter, and called an angel from Heaven to let him out of prison.

Prayer moves mountains.
Prayer calls angels.
Prayer stirs the heart of God.

The Apostle Paul had power with God because he prayed. He told the Church at Rome:

Romans 1:9-10 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; 10 making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you

Paul also prayed for his disciple Timothy, telling him:

2 Timothy 1:3-4 … without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 greatly desiring to see thee

Defining The Concept: When the Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing”, I do not think that it means we should never stop praying. There are times when we must interact with other people, at the store, at work, and in our homes. Though Paul said he “prayed without ceasing”, we know that God used him to write scripture, and to preach the Gospel. So it is certain there were times when Paul was not praying. I think the intent of “pray without ceasing” is that we should never be far from our God, and never be lacking in addressing Him. The praying Christian is the joyful Christian.

When we pray, we are not doing so for show, or to be seen of men. We are praying to our Heavenly Father. Jesus said:

Matthew 6:5-6 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

“When thou prayest”. Jesus doesn’t say IF you pray,
but WHEN you pray.

Prayer is something that every Christian should do. Jesus tells us that when we pray, we are not to be praying so as to impress a fallen world. Prayer is communication with the Almighty God. Do not pray just so that others can hear you.

Some have taken Jesus’ statement, “when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door”, to mean that no one should ever hear us pray. This is not the Lord’s emphasis. He doesn’t mean that we should never pray publicly, but that we should never pray to be seen of others. Prayer is not a stage performance.

However, there are times when public prayer is perfectly acceptable. Herbert Lockyer’s “All The Prayers Of The Bible” notes there are 650 prayers listed in the Bible, and that Jesus Himself prayed 25 different times during His earthly ministry. One of Jesus most well known prayers is recorded in John 17, often called “Jesus’ Priestly Prayer for the Church”. Jesus obviously prayed publicly, else the prayer would have not been recorded in the Bible. We may pray publicly, but only if we can do so and keep our mind focused on God and not on those who might be around us.

Prayer speaks to God.
Good prayer always has a purpose.

Jesus tells us:

Matthew 6:7-8 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

What Jesus calls “vain repetitions” is a reference to just mouthing words, over and over, thinking that this serves some purpose. God knows what our needs are, and yet wants us, as His children, to ask Him for things. James said:

James 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

We who pray are not to use words with no purpose, but are to always remember we are speaking to a Person in prayer. God is Almighty, but He nonetheless is a Person. He does not want us to say just a mouthful of words without purpose. Let us “ask in faith, nothing waivering” (James 1:6).

Pray Specifically and Purposefully

When we pray, let us pray specifically and purposefully until we get a definite answer from God. Jesus illustrated this in:

Luke 18:1-8 {Jesus} spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

There are times when we pray that God does not answer our prayers immediately. What should we do? We should keep approaching the Throne of Grace. We should pursue God in prayer just as this widow pursued the unjust judge. God will answer our prayers, but we must seek His face until we get an answer. In the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus prayed three times:

Matthew 26:39 … O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Jesus knew that the Cup of Divine Judgment would be poured out on Him at Calvary. Jesus prayed three times that this cup pass, if it were possible. It was not possible. After the third prayer (Matthew 26:44) Jesus got up, and with purpose told His disciples:

Matthew 26:46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

Once the prayer is answered, Jesus goes on to do the Father’s will. We should do like Jesus. We are to pray, knocking on the door of Heaven, until we get an answer. Once we get an answer, let us move forward, crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. Let us live for God!

Jesus’ Model Of Prayer

It was after a session of prayer that:

Luke 11:1-4 … one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Matthew records the more familiar format of the Lord’s Prayer we are acquainted with:

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

Proper prayer always honors God first. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus started by emphasizing that “Our Father God is in Heaven – and we want to hallow or glorify His Name”. Many times when we pray, we immediately turn to our needs. Jesus tells us that before we address our needs, we are to address God’s glory. We pray that “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”. We acknowledge that we will receive God’s answer to prayer and rest in that answer, whether it is according to what WE think it should be. God is ultimately in control – that is His nature. If it is God’s will that we suffer, then it is for the best that we suffer, for God always knows best.

The Apostle Paul recounts this time in his life:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 … lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

We do not truly know what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me” was. We know that Paul sought God three times that this thorn be removed. God’s response? “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness”. God told Paul that he would have to live within this valley. Paul, rather than being bitter, recognized truly that what God was doing was for his own good. The Apostle then began to praise God for the thorn in the flesh, as well as for other “infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, {and} distresses for Christ’s sake”. Paul truly believed the Scripture that:

Romans 8:28 … we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

After seeking the glory of God in prayer, the believer is supposed to pray for his needs. Jesus simply said:

Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.

This part of the prayer focuses on our present needs. Notice that this part of the prayer is very short, and to the point. We pray directly to God our Father, asking Him for our needs for that day. But we also pray for our yesterdays.

Matthew 6:12-13 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil …

We pray for our failures before God. We all fall short of His glory, of His desires for our lives. So we ask our Lord to forgive us, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer Demands A Forgiving Spirit

But our forgiveness is conditional on how we ourselves have forgiven others. Jesus said:

Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

If we are carrying grudges or hardness in our hearts toward others, then we will not be forgiven. God wants us to forgive as we have been forgiven. Though we fail daily, our God never fails. We are to forgive even our enemies. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:44-45 … But I say unto you, 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; 45 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

If we want our prayers answered, we must be sure to forgive those who have wronged us. This includes – but is not limited to – our spouses. The Apostle said:

1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Carrying grudges against anyone, especially toward a spouse, definitely hinders our prayers before God. The marital relationship is supposed to reflect the same love that Jesus Christ has for His Church, and the Church has for Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:25-28). The Bible says:

Colossians 3:17-19 whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

After praying that God will forgive our sins against Himself just as we have forgiven sins against ourselves, we close our prayers by acknowledging our desperate need of the Lord’s guiding hand (13) “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. Some versions read “Deliver us from the Evil One”. As believers we need God’s daily intervention in our lives. I am so frail and subject to failure that I feel like that old song said:

Oh Lord, I can’t even walk without you holding my hand
The mountains too high and the valleys too wide
Down on my knees that’s where I learned to stand
Oh Lord, I can’t even walk without you holding my hand

Christian, Pray With Confidence, For God Is Faithful

Our God is faithful to His promises. He tells us:

1 John 1:5-9 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God is faithful to forgive sin, but only when we confess sin in Jesus’ name. God is faithful to bless His children, but only when we pray in Jesus’ name. Jesus said:

John 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Some people believe that this means to just tack a “in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen” at the end of a prayer. It means much more than that. To pray in Jesus’ name is to love and believe what Jesus has said about Himself. Jesus told the Pharisees,

John 8:42 If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

God the Father sent Jesus to be the payment for our sins. He also sent Jesus to be our King and Lord. Jesus said, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). When you hear the Word of Jesus and do not do it, you are not living in Jesus’ name. Jesus said:

John 14:21, 23 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. … 23 … If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

You are praying “in Jesus’ name” when you are living according to His Word and His directives. Jesus said, “he that loveth Me NOT keepeth NOT My sayings” (John 14:24). When we as believers live in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, then our prayers will be heard of God. When you, dear Christian, depart from the Way of Truth, repent! Confess your sins to your Father above, and ask forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. Live your lives walking the path of righteousness, doing as Jesus has told us. Practice praying as you go through your day – “{constant} in prayer” (Romans 12:12). If you keep God close to you as you move through the day, He will be close to you when you pray.

God honors the one who prays while sitting (2 Samuel 7:18), standing (Mark 11:25), kneeling (Daniel 6:10; Luke 22:41), laying prostrate (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:35), or with uplifted hands (1 Timothy 2:8). God honors the humble prayer that honors the name of Jesus Christ. God honors the prayer that is submissive to His glory. But God cannot honor the prayer from a sinful son, nor from a procrastinator who will not take the time to pray. Christian, we desperately need to be people of prayer. Let’s make a commitment to seek our God’s Face daily, “without ceasing”, for the glory of the Father and the honor of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen!

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What Love Looks Like

Posted on March 29, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

Turn with me to Matthew 27.

The world struggles to see what “love” is. You hear it’s cry in secular songs. The Rock Group Foreigner sang, “I Want To Know What Love Is”. Tina Turner sang “What’s Love Got To Do With It? What’s Love But A Second Hand Emotion?”. Elvis Presley “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. Dolly Parton sang “I Will Always Love You”. For Willie Nelson, “You Are Always on My Mind”. Heavy D is happy, “Now That We Found Love”.

If you want to see what true love is, then you need to look at Jesus Christ. Look at Him as He willingly laid His life down for us. Jesus said in:

John 10:17-18 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.

God laid His life down willingly for us, that we might be saved. This is love. We see what love is when we look at Jesus, and how He responded to the Cross.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

As Jesus laid His life down, He calls us to lay our lives down. He laid His life down for us on Calvary. He expects us to lay our lives down for Him. If we are to be friends of God, we must have this type of love. A sacrificial love. A willing love. Jesus said:

John 15:13-14 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Love is not about me, and getting my way. Love is to sacrifice myself for the blessing of another.

I heard a worship song the other day where they kept singing:

And oh, how He loves us, oh
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us all.
Yeah, He loves us.

It is true that God loves us. And we are to love Him as He loves us. We are to love others as He loves us. That is what love is. It is not a carnal satisfaction found in a feeling. Love is defined by the Cross. Love is a willing surrender to elevate another. “To us there is but One God, the Father, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we in Him; and One Lord Jesus Christ, BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we by Him” (1 Corinthians 8:6). Jesus willingly chose to “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10) by going to the Cross for us. Let’s look to the Cross.

Love QuietlyDied Took My Cross

Matthew 27:21-26 The governor {Pilate} answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. 22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. 23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. 24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. 26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Barabbas had previously been found guilty of both insurrection and murder (Mark 15:7). An insurrectionist is someone who violently rebels against lawful authority, and Barabbas had done it and got caught. We don’t know much about Barabbas. His name means, according to Hitchcock’s Bible Dictionary, “a son of shame”. Barabbas may not be a name, but a description of this terrible sinner. He was a prisoner, a number, a nameless criminal, a murderer. Stripped of his name, the “son of shame” waited to be executed.

Matthew 27:16 and they had then a NOTABLE prisoner, called Barabbas.

The Romans – and in particular Roman soldiers – took great pleasure in public executions. Barabbas was waiting for death in a dank cell.

According to Roman custom, the accused was
made to create his own cross.

Though he had not wanted to make it, I am sure the soldiers scourged Barabbas, and beat him, until he made his cross. Now he waited to be nailed to it, to die for taking another’s life. Someone comes to the door of the cell. It is a soldier. “Barabbas, get up! It is time.” He comes out of the darkness, and hears the cry of the crowd.

“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

I’m sure Barabbas thought it was for him they cried. But as he came into the light, Pilate asks, “We have Barabbas, the son of shame, and Jesus. Which shall I release?” The crowd, egged on by the Jewish Court called the Sanhedrin, says “Let Jesus be crucified”. Pilate cries out, “What evil has He done?” The crowd does not answer. They just shout, “Let Jesus be crucified!”. When Pilate saw that there was no way to do otherwise, he washes his hands of the verdict, saying

Matthew 27:24 {Pilate} took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

Focus It is interesting that only Matthew records Pilate “washing his hands” when passing verdict on Christ. Matthew was Jewish, and the Priests washed their hands before making a sacrifice.

When the Pharisees were debating whether to betray Jesus to Pilate, the High Priest Caiphas said in John 11:50, “{It is} expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” This was an inadvertent prophecy that Jesus Christ would be sacrificed for the greater good of humanity. When Pilate washed his hands before sacrificing Jesus, it was an eerie parallel to the priest who would kill a lamb for the people. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God! (John 1:29).

Throughout this entire episode our Jesus does not complain nor defend Himself. This is as the Prophet some 700 years before wrote:

Isaiah 53:7-8 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Jesus was innocent of any sin, and yet He willingly went to the Cross. He had every right to complain, and yet did not. Jesus knew before He ever went to Jerusalem that last time that He was going to be sacrificed – and yet, He went anyway. He had earlier told His disciples:

Matthew 20:18-19 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 19 and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Jesus died instead of Barabbas. Remember the cross that Barabbas made? On that day, Barabbas was set free, and Jesus took Barabbas’ cross. The Jewish court unlawfully “denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life” (Acts 3:14-15). As it was with Joseph in the Old Testament, “they thought evil against Jesus, but God meant it for good, to save many people to life” (my paraphrase of Genesis 50:20).

Jesus died for Barabbas. We are all Barabbas.

We are all, like Barabbas, guilty of sin. The Bible says:

Romans 3:23 … all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Now you might say, “But wait a minute, preacher. I’m a sinner – but I never murdered anyone.” You may not have physically murdered anyone, but we are all guilty of sin. Jesus said, “anyone who looks at another with lustful intent has already committed adultery in their heart” (Matthew 5:28). Sin is not always an action. It is a thought. “whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22). Sin is anything that is against the order or design of God. Sin starts in the heart, then moves outward from there. We are all born sinners. The Bible says:

Romans 6:23 … the wages of sin is DEATH

God warned Adam in Genesis 2:17, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The wages of sin is death. Adam sinned, and brought spiritual death on himself, and on all his progeny (that’s us). We are all Barabbas. Our hands formed the crosses that will kill us. But Jesus took our cross. He took our penalty on Himself. We stand, in our own selves, condemned before God, sinners, lost and undone. But Jesus, in His great love, took Barabbas’ cross. He died in our place. What a wondrous love this is! The Bible declares:

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

2 Corinthians 5:21 For {God} hath made {Jesus} to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

That day an incredulous Barabbas walked free. He should have died for his sin, for God said in Genesis 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. ” Barabbas deserved death. But he was freed because Jesus took his place. We are freed because Jesus took our place.

John 6:29 … This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Love Does Not Strike Back, But Trusts God

Jesus is delivered to the soldiers to be crucified – but they must first have their sport. The Bible tells us:

Matthew 27:27-31 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

Jesus Christ as the Son of God is indeed the King of Heaven,

1 Timothy 6:15 … the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords

It is Jesus Who, “in the beginning was with God, and was God” (John 1:1), alongside of Father and Holy Spirit, created all things. The Bible says of Jesus:

John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus Christ is the revealed Member of the Godhead. God cannot be seen by man, but Jesus is God manifest and seen. Jesus is:

Colossians 1:15-17 … the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

The word “CONSIST” in our above text is the Greek συνιστάω synistáō, {pronounced soon-is-tah’-o}, which means “to pull together” or “constitute”. Jesus not only made all things, He designed all things. He knows their order. He is the Ultimate Ruler. When the Sanhedrin came to get Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told Peter that He did not need his sword:

Matthew 26:53 {Peter}, Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

Jesus had an immense force waiting for His beck and call. Considering that it took but one angel to kill 185,000 armed men in one night (2 Kings 19:35), had Jesus called 12,000 angels to His side, the earth itself would have been destroyed. Here is immense power in the Person of Christ.

And yet struck, He did not strike back. He was capable of striking back, more than capable. But He did not. They clothed Him on as scarlet robe so as to mock Him, and crushed a crown of thorns down on His precious Head. All of Heaven watched, and waited for his call. And yet, love bore up. Scripture must be fulfilled. The Promise of God must be kept. As Jesus said,

“But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”

The Lord told us to

Matthew 5:44-45 … 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; 45 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

The Son of God could easily have struck back. But He loved the soldiers. He loved us and loves us even when we are unlovable. “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). Jesus “bore His own Cross” (John 19:17), but at one point fell under the load. The soldiers “found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.” (Matthew 27:32).

Matthew 27:33-38 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34 they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 and set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.

As they nail a naked and beaten Jesus to that terrible tree, the soldiers gather at the foot of the Cross. They are not there to look upon Him Who is dying for them, but to game for His clothing. The Bible tells us that this was yet another fulfilled prophecy, spoken of in:

Psalm 22:14-18 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Jesus is thirsty before He is nailed to the Cross. As a “kindness”, they offer Him “vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink”. His tongue stuck to the roof of His mouth. As He is nailed to the Cross and dropped into the socket of the earth, His dripping blood makes His thirst more acute. Yet Jesus says nothing. He does not cry out for mercy, nor curse His tormentors.

Love Becomes A Curse For Our Sake

Pastor R.C. Sproul wrote: “When on the cross, not only was the Father’s justice satisfied by the atoning work of the Son, but in bearing our sins the Lamb of God removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. He did it by being cursed. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). He who is the incarnation of the glory of God became the very incarnation of the divine curse.”

In Psalm 22, often called “The Crucifixion Psalm” or “The Psalm Of The Cross”, we have a very vivid description of what our Lord went through as He hung, naked and bleeding, for us. Jesus was mocked by those who watched Him suffer.

Matthew 27:39-44 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

What happens to Jesus is again prophesied in Psalm 22.

Psalm 22:6-8 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

They mock Jesus. They spit on Jesus. Again, Jesus could have come down from that Cross. But had He done so, we would yet be dead in our trespasses and sins. As Jesus suffers, He says not a word. Peter says of our Master:

1 Peter 2:22-24 {Jesus} did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Jesus has said nothing. No groans are even recorded. But suddenly, the atmosphere of Golgotha (aka Calvary) changes. The sun blots out. Darkness falls in the midst of the day.

Matthew 27:45-46 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

After three hours of darkness – unnatural darkness – Jesus cries out. The words that Jesus says were prophesied over 1000 years before this moment. “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”. If you remember, this is not the first time we see Psalm 22, often called “The Crucifixion Psalm” or “The Psalm Of The Cross”, fulfilled. The first words of Psalm 22 are:

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Jesus knows why the Father has turned His back on His Son. Our sins are being poured out on Christ. Jesus – dying for Barabbas – dying for us – hangs on a borrowed Cross. He dies not for His sins, but for ours. Pastor Jon Courson says “Great is the mystery (of godliness) that God became a man (1Timothy 3:16). But greater still is the mystery that the MAN became a LAMB (Jn 1:29) and the LAMB became a WORM to save you and me!” That is so very true!

Beloved, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I beg you to come to Him this very day. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation”? (Hebrews 2:3). Jesus Christ went through hell on earth so that you can inherit God’s Heaven beyond time. Will you not believe on Him. I close with this little poem I found in the devotional Streams In The Desert by L.B. Cowman:

The day when Jesus stood alone
And felt the hearts of men like stone,
And knew He came but to atone
That day “He held His peace.”

They witnessed falsely to His word,
They bound Him with a cruel cord,
And mockingly proclaimed Him Lord;
“But Jesus held His peace.”

They spat upon Him in the face,
They dragged Him on from place to place,
They heaped upon Him all disgrace;
“But Jesus held His peace.”

My friend, have you for far much less,
With rage, which you called righteousness,
Resented slights with great distress?
Your Savior “held His peace.”

–L. S. P.

Jesus suffered and died for us, so that we might live. Let us live through love of Him.

Surrender your souls to Jesus, for
He surrendered His soul for you.

May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Eyes Of The Lord Do Not Change

Posted on March 29, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Ankhesenamun on Unsplash

1 Peter 3:12-20 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

The Whole Bible Is The Christian’s Moral Guide

Many professing Christians today refuse to read the Old Testament. They think that the Old Testament is obsolete, no longer valid, because of Jesus Christ. Many preachers believe that the various statements made in the New Testament, statements like …

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under Grace.

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness come by the Law, then Christ is dead in vain.

… erase the Old Testament. They do not. The Old Testament is the foundation upon which the New Testament rests.

We who are Christ followers are no longer under the portions of the Law that relate to animal sacrifices, special feast days, dietary laws, or laws determining cleanliness.

We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
Jesus is our High Priest and we are a Kingdom of Priests
(Revelation 1:5-6)

Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial and symbolic aspects of the Law
(Matthew 5:17)

The New Testament believer is freed from the law of circumcision, because we are “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of our sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11).

The New Testament believer celebrates the Sabbath on the day Jesus rose from the grave, Sunday (the first day of the week), the same day the early Church worshiped (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10).

Yet Christians are STILL under the moral codes
found in BOTH Testaments.

When our Lord Jesus and His Apostles referred to sinful or godless behavior, they used the Old Testament moral codes as the standard. The New Testament writings frequently refer back to the Old Testament. In fact, our focal text today reminds those who profess Christ as Savior that we are under the SAME MORAL STANDARD the Old Testament believer was under.

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

For instance, this statement from the Apostle Peter. Did he just make this up? No! Peter is quoting:

Psalm 34:15-16 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

The words are not exactly the same, because Peter is writing in Koine Greek, and quoting Old Testament Hebrew. But the words are evidently a quotation from the Old Testament.

What was morally evil in the Old Testament is
still morally evil in the New Testament.

God is watching ALL of us. Though it may seem at times that God is absent, the Bible is very clear that He watches, and He will intervene when He believes the time is right. Solomon wrote:

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

God is there, and He is not silent. The witness of creation shouts that He is there, ever watching, ever ordering. Humanity has, from Adam’s day, often walked far away from God, justifying and excusing sin and evil. The ostrich buries its head in the sand, and the unbeliever buries his head in the sands of time, saying:

Psalm 14:1 … there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good.

Whether Old or New Testament, God hears those who walk with Him, who walk RIGHT or RIGHTEOUSLY. God hears the prayers of the RIGHTEOUS. But to those who reject His moral design, His face is against them.

1 Peter 3:13-14 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer

The believer will suffer for Christ, for to walk in the light of God is terribly offensive to the darkness. We who are God’s Children are to …

Ephesians 5:1 … followers of God, as dear children …

Whether Old or New Testament, the Lord tells us to …

1 Peter 1:15-16 … But as He which hath called you is holy, so BE YE HOLY in all manner of conversation {or way of life}; 16 BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN, Be ye holy, for I am holy …

Once more the Apostle quotes the Old Testament (Leviticus 11:44; Leviticus 19:2). As we serve the Lord we are “be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts”. Our driving force must not be political correctness nor cancel culture nor the fads of the social justice warriors. Our driving force must be to please the Lord. We as Christ followers need to

1 Peter 3:15-16 … be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good {ἀναστροφή anastrophḗ, [pronounced an-as-trof-ay’] way of life} in Christ

Word Study Our answer to the dark world is not to be characterized by arrogance or superiority, but is to be “with meekness and fear”. The word translated “meekness” is the Greek πραΰτης praÿtēs, {pronounced prah-oo’-tace}, which means “a gentle spirit, or a spirit of humility, not of superiority”. When Jesus told the disciples that they would all betray Him, Peter said “though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended!”. This is not praÿtēs, which Peter later found out. We are all broken – we need not brag that we have been changed, but we are to glorify the God Who changed us. We are also to respond in “fear”. Not in fear for the darkness, but in fear of God. Jesus said “fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

If we are reviled by the world, we are still to do good toward those who do badly toward us. The Scripture says:

Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Do the right thing, even though you are the only one doing it.

1 Peter 3:17-18 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit

Jesus suffered for doing good so that He could bring others to God. When we suffer for doing good, we are imitating Jesus at the highest level. This is true whether in the Old or New Testaments. As believers in Christ, we are to cling to Him. If we suffer for Him, we will ultimately be blessed.

The Old Testament Gave Shadow Teachings
Related To Jesus Christ

Jesus told the Pharisees who constantly hounded Him:

John 5:39-40 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

As Jesus said these words, THERE WAS NO NEW TESTAMENT. “the scriptures” that Jesus referred to was the Old Testament. Jesus said the Old Testament TESTIFIES or IS A WITNESS to Him. Jesus went on to say:

John 5:45-47 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

It is MOSES who wrote – under the inspiration of God – the foundation of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jesus said that Moses’ writings “wrote of me”.

This is why much of the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament writings. This is why much of the Old Testament history is recounted in the New Testament writings. For instance:

1 Peter 3:20 … which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

The Bible tells us that, in the days of Noah,

Genesis 6:5 God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

God determined that the best way to act would be to destroy His creation. And yet, the scripture says:

Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD Genesis 6:8.

Noah saw God in creation, heard the call of God, and was saved. After being saved by faith in Him the Lord told Noah “Build a large boat, an ark, and get ready – for judgment is coming”. Noah had a relationship with God by faith – but he proved his faith by his works. He immediately began to build exactly as God directed. God’s design was going to be turned upside down. Water would drown all who would not get on the boat, judgment would claim any who rejected that which God said. Noah built a boat, an Ark, and got on the boat.

My friends, those who are going to Heaven do not just say “Lord, Lord”. The saved are those who repent, who turn away from their old way of life and turn strictly to Jesus Christ by faith. The saved are those who – like Noah – find Grace in the eyes of the Lord. But after they find Grace the saved do as God their Creator directs them to do. When God says “build a boat” they build a boat. When God says “get on the boat” they get on the boat”. They do not merely mutter the words “Lord, Lord”. The Christian believes what God the Creator has said. The Christian trusts the God Who has made all things to get him to Heaven. The Christian, like Noah, lives his life under the Lordship of God his Savior, doing as God has directed no matter what the world may say.

God established a covenant of faith with Noah and his family. Those who believed would get on the Ark. Those who believed had a relationship with God. They were in covenant with Him. In a covenant two parties are in relationship with one another. God said, “You believe Me, Noah – a flood is coming. I know you’ve never seen rain. I know you’ve never seen a flood. The ground is watered by the dew – but I’m going to show you a new thing. Believe Me, build the Ark, and get on it – and you will be saved.

Noah’s Ark is an Old Testament shadow of the New Testament Jesus. God judged sin, and promised to rain down destruction on the world. But God gave people plenty of time to repent. God said:

Genesis 6:3 My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

For 120 years while Noah built the Ark, the Spirit of God through Noah called the world to repentance. The Spirit of God strived with man – but people rested in their sins rather than in God. God offered mankind ONE WAY to escape condemnation, and that way was to GET ON THE ARK with Moses and his family. In the same way, God today offers ONE WAY out of eternal condemnation – and that way is by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

John 14:6 I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No {one} cometh unto the Father but by Me.

Noah was raised above Divine Judgment and certain destruction because of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God commanded the Ark, and Noah made the Ark his own. He trusted in God, and got on the Ark, which lifted him and his family above divine judgment. Those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have the promise of God:

John 3:15-18 … whosoever believeth in {Jesus} should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

To Be Saved, You Must Get On The Ark

It is so terribly important that you get on the Ark if you will be saved. Noah’s Ark was a shadow of what Christ has now done on the Cross. The Ark was man made but God directed. The Cross was man made but God directed. When you believed in Noah’s day, you got on the Ark. You made the Ark your own. When you believe today, you get on the Cross. You make the Cross your own. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:38 … he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

And Matthew 16:24 … If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Noah could have chosen his own path, but had he done so, he would have perished with the rest of creation. The saved get on the Ark. The saved take up the Cross. The saved follow the Lord.

But what about those who are too young to follow the Lord? What about the children who do not understand? In today’s world, the youth have departed the Church and the Christ because their parents have not been faithful to follow the Lord. Oh Beloved, the Bible warns the parent:

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

God’s earliest commands to His people was that they train their children to love Him. God told His people:

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 … thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…

Parents, you must put your children on the Ark. You must teach them the things you have learned of God. God illustrates this great truth in the life of Moses.

When Moses was a baby, the Egyptian Pharaoh decided that he would have all male Israelite babies killed. Pharaoh was determined to do this! But little Moses’ mother made up her mind that she wanted her child saved. When he was born, his mother Jochebed kept him hidden. But in time babies cannot be hidden. The Bible says:

Exodus 2:3 And when {Jochebed} could not longer hide him, she took for him an ARK of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

This is the Second Ark we see mentioned in Scripture, the Ark that saved baby Moses.

Noah’s Ark saved mankind from God’s judgment.
Moses’ Ark saved God’s people from man’s judgment.

Had Jochebed listened to Pharaoh and allowed Moses to be aborted from the womb or murdered after the womb, God’s people Israel would have never come out of Egypt. Had Moses never been born, we would not have our Bible as we know it today. Oh Beloved, the children are so precious, with so much potential. Love your children enough to put them on the Ark. Love your children enough to train them in the ways of Jesus Christ.

It was Godly parental training that led Daniel to believe in God. Cast into the Lion’s den, Daniel rested in Jesus, and trusted God for life. It was Godly parental training that led the Hebrew Children to trust in Jesus, even in a fiery furnace. It was Godly parental training that gave the Shepherd David the courage to face Goliath. While others though Goliath too big, David believed God was bigger, and that Goliath was too big to miss.

Have You Trusted In The Ark That Is Christ?

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

The greatest Ark in the Bible is Jesus Christ. God is going to judge this world one day. If you have believed in Jesus, if you have a relationship with Him by faith, you will be above the judgment of God. Jesus Christ the Just suffered for the unjust. He hung on a wooden Cross to make payment for our sins that He might bring us to God. Put to death in the flesh, He was quickened by the Spirit. Those who have believed in Him shall rise above the judgment that God has – in righteous wrath – reserved for this world.

If you are in Christ then you are in the arms of Jesus.

John 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

God’s watches over His little lambs with as much care – nay, with more care – than Jochebed watched over little Moses. If you are in Christ The Bible says:

Matthew 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

No matter what the world will throw at you, be it Pharaoh or even someone more evil, God is in control! If you are His, you are guarded. Christ is your Ark.

And finally, dear Christian, as Christ is your Ark, follow Him all of your life.

If you are in the Ark, you are with the Ark no matter where you go. Are you in the Ark that is Christ?

Follow God first, live under His Lordship, and no enemy can conquer you.

C.H. Spurgeon said:

“ From whom did Christ suffer? Mark how unlimited is the text: “Christ also hath once suffered.” From men falsely accusing him, and slandering him? Yes; and that is the comfort of his slandered people; but he suffered not from wicked men alone, but even from good men; the best of his disciples cost him many pangs, and sometimes made his heart ache. He suffered from devils, he suffered from the Father himself. There it stands, — a sky without horizon, — a sea across which I look, and see no end or bound: “Christ also hath once suffered.” I think that Joseph Hart spoke well when he said that Christ — “Bore all incarnate God could bear, With strength enough, and none to spare.” So we leave this part of our theme; it is a statement without any limit: “Christ also hath once suffered.”1

If you do not know Him, then come to know Him today. May God the Holy Spirit compel you to surrender to Him, the last Great Ark of God, and so be saved. If you are saved I beg you to let your lives be so bound up in God that He is more real to you than those around you are. Follow Christ in your heart first, then in your actions. If you do so, you are bound to Infinite God. You can never be defeated while trusting in Him.

Like Noah’s Ark, cling to Jesus.
Like Moses’ Ark, rest as a child in His arms.

May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit. Amen and Amen!

1 UNPARALLELED SUFFERING. NO. 2573, INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S-DAY, JUNE 5TH, 1898, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S-DAY EVENING, MARCH 4TH, 1883.

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The IF Of Salvation

Posted on March 23, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash

Turn with me in your Bibles to Colossians 3.

Colossians 3:1-3 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

We often skip the little words in the Bible – but these little words add so much to the text. Take, for instance, the word “IF”. The dictionary says that the word “IF” imposes a conditional clause. When I told mama “I wish we weren’t eating liver tonight”, she replied, “IF wishes were horses, beggars would ride”. I didn’t know what that exactly meant when I was a kid, other than the fact was I was to shut up and eat the liver. Daddy would say, “IF you’d study harder, your grades would be better”. Then I’d be sent to my room to study – a room that had no television, no radio, no internet, nothing but two twin beds and a table and a chair to use for study.

The word “IF” occurs in the King James Version of the Scripture 1,595 times in 1,420 verses. The first use of the word “IF” occurs when Cain was upset that God would not accept his sacrifice. God told Cain:

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

God was emphasizing to Cain that He expected Cain to bring an animal sacrifice, not the fruit of the field. Had Cain done that, the Lord would have accepted it. God demanded animal sacrifices because, as we later learn in Scripture, these animal sacrifices pointed out that human works cannot permanently cover our sins in God’s eyes. We all needed Jesus Christ as the “Lamb of God” to come and give His life for us. Jesus is “the Lamb without spot or blemish (John 1:29), “Christ our Passover sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Cain refused to listen to the IF of God, and murdered his brother Abel. Cain not only lost the possibility of salvation, but lived the rest of his life a marked man for the evil he did.

IF is used so many ways in the Scripture:

Noah released a dove to see IF the waters were receding (Genesis 8:8)
Abraham by IF gave grace to Lot, allowing him to choose (Genesis 13:9)
IF God found just ten righteous in Sodom, they would live (Genesis 18:32)

Some of the great IF statements come from Jesus.

Matthew 16:24 … If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Matthew 18:8-9 if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

Or one of my favorites:

Romans 10:9-11 if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

The Christian faith is built on an IF. It is certain that Jesus is the Lamb of God that “taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:26). But to be included in this saved group you MUST have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. You MUST repent, and come to Him and Him alone to be saved. You MUST follow Him if you are saved. One of the great Evangelists, Billy Graham preached at Earl’s Court (in London, England, On June 27, 1966):

“Religion without a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ will not save the soul, and will not bring the peace that your soul longs for. … You’ve got to know Christ for yourself. And when you come to know Christ for yourself, there is a peace and a fulfillment, and life takes on a purpose, and there’s a sense of forgiveness of your sins, and there’s a joy unspeakable, and full of glory..”

I had the privilege of hearing a young man’s testimony just last Sunday. In it, he said he “walked the aisle” at the age of 9, but it was not until just before his 16th birthday that he was actually saved. The same was true of me in my life. “Saved” and baptized at 9 years old, there was no change in my life. I walked the aisle, but never committed my life to Jesus. It wasn’t until I was 17 years old that the Lord spoke to me during a youth service at a Church I was visiting, and I gave my life to Jesus. Beloved, you need to …

Take Heed Of The “IF” Of Salvation

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ

The Apostle, as he writes the Church at Colossae, does not assume everyone at that Church is saved. He uses the DIVINE IF. The lost person is a lost person because they have wandered from God. God made everyone in His image – we are all His creation. But Adam brought sin into the world. All of Eve’s children have one thing in common, and that is SIN. Whether you are red, yellow, black, or white, the universal truth is …

Romans 3:23 … for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We humans are born into this world “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in us” (Ephesians 4:18).

We are all quite naturally broken. Apart from Christ we are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Humans are born believing themselves complete in themselves, but we are not. We are broken, and in need. The animal sacrifices – performed over and over – reminded ancient humanity that we are broken, and cannot fix ourselves.

We need God.

We were made to walk with God, but are born walking away from God. But, praise God, when we were unable to fix ourselves ….

Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

He died on Calvary for the sinner. He died for people like you, and people like me. God loves His creation, but cannot draw us into union with Himself unless our sins are covered. Since we were unable to save ourselves, the Lord made a way through Jesus Christ to save us. The Bible promises:

Romans 5:8 … God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

But here is the IF of salvation. We must receive Him as He is.

John 1:10 {Jesus} was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The IF of salvation is “Have YOU received Him?” Not the Church, not the denomination, not me, but HIM. He is to be RECEIVED as both SAVIOR and LORD.

Jesus as Savior died for our sins.
Jesus as Lord roseto commandHis people.
The Saved OBEY The Savior!
Jesus SAVES us, as Savior.
Jesus LEADS us as Lord.

Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living.

Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Jesus did not die on Calvary, and rise again to no reason. He died for our sins, to cover our sins, to make payment for our sins. Then He rose again from the dead that He might calls us to Himself, a people who are risen from the dead.

Colossians 1:21-23 And you, that were {in past time} alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 23 if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard

Because you have had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, you are now in God’s eyes “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight”. God sees you as His Child. But this is only true “if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard”.

True salvation has permanence. Judas Iscariot followed Jesus for 3 ½ years, but was never saved.

Genuine faith OVERCOMES THE WORLD.

1 John 5:4-5 For whatsoever (πᾶς pâs, {pronounced pas} literally “whosoever”) is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

The day the Christian is saved, that old lost person DIES. The IF of salvation says:

Colossians 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ

The Christian is a person who died with Christ. On the day I was saved, the old David died with Jesus on Calvary. Sin is no longer a joy, but it was sin that drove the nails that killed my Savior. I hate my sin, because I hate those nails!

Illustration I am sure you all heard of the terrible shooting that was perpetrated by Robert Long in Atlanta, Georgia on March 17, 2021. One of the headlines I saw was, “Christian mass shooter Robert Long was tired of ‘temptation’ posed by massage parlors: police”. Something is missing from this headline. It is the word “PROFESSING”. The 21 year old who murdered eight people is scripturally NOT a Christian, regardless as what he may say. He is no more a Christian that Judas Iscariot was. If you are saved, you walk in the light with Christ. The Bible says:

1 John 1:5-7 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 but If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Again, you see the IF of salvation. IF you are saved, then you walk with Christ, loving others, loving even the unlovable. The old you dies the day you are saved. We say, along with the Apostle:

Galatians 2:19-20I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The Christian loves Jesus. The Christian walks with Jesus. The Christian may sometimes step into the darkness, but God is in us, and will not leave us in that dark, evil place.

The Christian Is Quickened TOGETHER With Christ

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

When the Christian believes on Jesus Christ, God causes us to be “risen with Christ”. We are “quickened” or made alive by God. The Christian is no longer spiritually dead to God, but is now alive to His leading.

The spiritually dead person follows darkness.
The spiritually alive person follows Christ.

The day you called upon Jesus the Holy Spirit of God visited you and made you spiritually alive. The Bible calls this “quickened” or “quickening”. We read:

Ephesians 2:2-6 …. in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The believer is QUICKENED by God, RAISED UP with Christ. The Christian is called into a “new and living way” (Hebrews 10:20). God the Holy Spirit indwells us. We are no longer dead in our trespasses and sins, but are “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath {God the Holy Spirit} quickened together with {Jesus}, having forgiven you all trespasses …

Yes, you are still enclosed in this “body of sin”. Yes, this weak and mortal flesh still holds us. But Beloved, the God “Who searcheth the hearts” (Romans 8:27) no longer considers you a child of hell, but willingly and freely accepts you as a Child of Heaven, an Eternal Son, one who has been promised a great promise:

1 Peter 1:4-5 … an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

You belong to God, dear one, if you are indeed saved.
Sin nor Satan is your master.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 … {you have} turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven…

The living should not walk with the dead.

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, SEEK those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Word Study The word translated “SEEK” is the Greek ζητέω zētéō, {pronounced dzay-teh’-o}, which means “to make a priority, to pursue until you reach it, to set your mind on to get”. The same word was used by Jesus to explain what He expects of us. He said:

Matthew 6:31-34 {Do not worry about} what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (for after all these things the {lost} seek:) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. 33 But “SEEK” ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We as believers are to passionately pursue the things of God. Where is our passion? Too many who profess to be Christian have turned from a passionate seeking of God. We are to:

Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

We are to be like old Enoch. Do you remember Enoch? Enoch had a living relationship with the Living God. Enoch walked with God until he was …

Hebrews 11:5 … translated, that he should NOT SEE DEATH; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation {Enoch} had this testimony, THAT HE PLEASED GOD.

Living Creatures are supposed to serve the Living Lord. We are to live for the Lord, to please Him in all that we do. We are to be like Jesus, who was always “about My Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). Jesus passionately served the Father. His love for the Father exceeded even His desire for food. “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).

Jesus took the high road so that we might be saved. We are to take the high road so that others might find Christ through us. The Bible tells us:

Ephesians 5:7-10 Be not ye therefore {partners} with {the lost world}. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Our God is watching. Our God will judge this world. Let us live knowing that Jesus could return at any time, taking the Church from this earth.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-5 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

The Lost Are Dead To God, But Alive To Sin
The Saved Are Dead To Sin, But Alive To God

Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The lost person pretending to be saved will have an inordinate affection for the things of this earth. The saved person will have affection for some of the things of this earth, but their greatest affection will be on God and the Word of God. The saved person is a different person than a lost person is. The saved person is different in their spirit. The Apostle said in:

Philippians 2:3-5 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Before the Apostle Paul knew Jesus Christ, he was very religious. His focus was on pleasing the Pharisees, and on following the traditions of men. But once he was saved, life changed for him. He said:

Philippians 3:7-10 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death

Christian, you will stand before Jesus one day, and your works will be judged. You will not be judged for salvation. If you are a Christian, your salvation is secured by the Blood of Jesus Christ. But your works will be judged. The Apostle said:

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no {one} lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any {one} build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 every {one’s} work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every {one’s} work of what sort it is. 14 If any {one’s} work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any {one’s} work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Your salvation is a FOUNDATION, a very important foundation. God gave you the riches of Grace in Christ. You have been given eternal life if you have received Christ as Lord and Savior. But another great gift was given. God calls you to partner with Him in this life, sharing Christ with others. How you live your lives will impact the Kingdom of God on this present earth. People watch the Christian. You are the Bible that the unsaved will read.

Chuck Swindoll told this story in his book, The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart:

“After His Sunday messages, the minister of a church in London got on the trolley Monday morning to go back to his study downtown. He paid his fare, and the trolley driver gave him too much change. The minister sat down and fumbled the change and looked it over, counted it eight or ten times. And, you know the rationalization, “It’s wonderful how God provides.” He realized he was tight that week and this was just about what he would need to break even, or at least enough for his lunch. He wrestled with himself all the way down that old trolley trail that led to his office. And finally he came to the stop and he got up, couldn’t live with himself, walked up to the trolley driver, and said, “Here you gave me too much change. You made a mistake.” The driver said, “No, it was no mistake. You see, I was in your church last night when you spoke on honesty, and I thought I would put you to the test.”

The Christian is being put to the test in America and throughout the world, much more today than ever. The darkness looms. Will we shine for Jesus? What we do today will effect the state of our nation tomorrow. May God lead us all to live as risen creatures, saved by the glorious power of our God. May God the Holy Spirit touch your hearts with His Word this very day. Amen and Amen.

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Being A Sober Minded Christian In A Sin Soaked World

Posted on March 19, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Nick Rickert on Unsplash

1 Peter 4:1-7 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: 4 wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. 6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer …

Being A Sober Minded Christian
In A Sin Soaked World

I want to start out by focusing on verse 7 of our text. The Apostle says, “The end of all things is at hand”.

Romans 6:23 … For the wages of sin is death …

The Roman Empire, much like America today, had given itself fully over to sin. The wages of sin is death. Sin unconfessed, sin renamed, sin justified by humanity, sin is a disease much worse than the Coronavirus ever was. It was sin that brought about a world wide flood in the days of Noah, sin that caused Adam and Eve to leave Paradise.

America shares much with the ancient Romans, as sin is cherished by many in our nation. We are today living in a post-Christian America. As a nation our leaders are making bad decisions, decisions that are not supported by the God of the Scripture. I believe, as Peter believed, that “the end of all things is at hand”. Believing this, Peter exhorted the Church that Jesus loves to

“be ye therefore SOBER and WATCH unto prayer”

Word Study Let’s focus on these key words. Be “SOBER and WATCH”. What do these words mean? The word translated SOBER is the Greek σωφρονέω sōphronéō, (pronounced so-fron-eh’-o), which means “to be in the right mind, to be sane, of sound mind”. The word translated WATCH is the Greek νήφω nḗphō, (pronounced nay’-fo), which means “to not be drunken, be discreet, calm and collected, temperate, careful in disposition, watchful”.

Christians Are Not To Be Part Of The Problem,
But Part Of The Solution

Christians are to be “of sound mind”. The Bible says, “we have the mind of Christ”. To be “of sound mind” or “in your right mind” is to share the same mind that Jesus had.

Christians are also to be “temperate, not drunken, or controlled by outside influences”. Believers are to “walk in the Spirit of God” (Galatians 5:16).

Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit

Christians are not to be controlled by outside influences, but by the Word and the Spirit of God. This command to be sober minded is not just in Peter, is a theme carried by other Biblical writers.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-11 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober {nēphō}. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober {nēphō}, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Though the Greek “nēphō” can be used to address those intoxicated with alcohol, neither Peter nor Paul are using it the word in that sense.

Paul tells us to “be sober”. We are “sober” when we …

Recognize WHOSE We Are

The Christian belongs to God. We are by nature different from the non-Christian. If you are saved by faith in Christ, then,

“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”

Though all people are broken, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ brought us out of the darkness of this lost world, and into the Kingdom of God. Last week we heard that:

Colossians 1:13 {God the Father} hath delivered us FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS, and hath TRANSLATED us into the Kingdom of His dear Son

We belong to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, not the Kingdom of Adam or the Kingdom of Satan. We are translated, what we call positionally sanctified. God has, because of Christ, given us “the adoption of children” (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:15). We are called, as God’s Children, to be

“putting on the breastplate of faith and love;
and for an helmet, the hope of salvation”

The “breastplate” of the Roman warrior protected his heart, lungs, and stomach from damage. Our faith in Christ and in God’s sure Word, the Holy Bible, covers our hearts. We love God with all our hearts, and love Jesus more than anyone else. The “helmet” that covers the head – and the brain from damage – is the “hope of salvation”. We who are saved have a KNOW SO salvation. If I KNOW that I am saved, then I am to ACT as if I am saved. The Apostle tells us:

1 Peter 1:13-16 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober (nēphō), and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The sober believer strives to be like the One Who save him, to be like Jesus. We do this by focusing our minds on what Jesus did for us on the Cross. We meditate on Him Who died for us.

1 Peter 4:1-2 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

When tempted to follow the crowd, fill your mind with the picture of Christ on the Cross. See Him …

Isaiah 53:3-5 … despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

It is the “blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). See Him hanging on that Tree called a Cross. See Him, “smitten of God, afflicted, wounded for OUR transgressions, bruised for OUR iniquities”. It was His “stripes” that healed us, His suffering, His torment. Knowing what it cost Jesus to make payment for our sins, to bring us into the Family of God, then we …

“no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God”

We who are saved are “bought with a price”!

1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

We are to serve God, not the world. We all know that:

1 Peter 1:18-21 … ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

As Pastor John Piper said:

“We were not bought with the wealth of nations,
but with the wounds of love!”

Jesus Christ came in the flesh to “give Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). Jesus “loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Recognize WHOSE You Are Not

1 Peter 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

There was a time when we all “walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:”. We walked according to the direction of the darkness. We went along with the ways of the world. However, we have changed because of Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:19 … we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

We no longer walk with the darkness, but wrestle against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12-13). At one time we followed “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), but now we follow Jesus. We do not lust, but love. We walk in peace with God. A judgment day is coming. The lost will consider the Christian peculiar …

1 Peter 4:4-5 they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead

… but a Judgment Day is coming for all. Are you ready? Peter warns us:

1 Peter 5:5-9 God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 8 Be sober (nēphō), be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

We are not to give in to the devil, but are to “resist him in the faith”. We are not to give in to the things that the world promotes. The world did not die for my sins. Jesus Christ died for my sins. I belong to Him, and to none other.

Let Love Reign In Your Lives

1 Peter 4:7-9 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

Love is more than just a word. Love is a verb. To be sober minded is to love on another in practical ways. Your salvation is a stewardship, not something to be used selfishly. We are saved from the Law of God so that we might serve God. The Apostle said:

Romans 6:12-18 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

As servants and sons of God, we are to serve God by love as Christ served God by love. We are not to live selfishly, but selflessly. Our salvation and our lives are gifts from God. We represent God on this planet earth. Live so as to please the God Who saved you. Jesus told us:

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

The Christian is supposed to be different than the non-Christian. We are to love one another as Christ loved us. This is a sacrificial sort of love. The Apostle says:

1 Peter 4:10-11 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

How we live our Christian lives are to bring glory to God Himself. “We are His people, the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3). Pastor John Piper again notes:

“The sober minded recognize and embrace the costs along the path of love. They expect to be disappointed, offended, betrayed – and they keep loving anyway. They keep showing hospitality, even when it is inconvenient …

1 Peter 4:9 Use hospitality to one another without grudging …

… They keep speaking the truth in love, even when it would be easier to say nothing (1 Peter 4:11). They keep serving, even when it costs them far more than they receive”.

We who belong to Christ keep on loving others, even when we are hurt in the process. Jesus Christ kept on loving, even though He was betrayed by all. We are to love others, and leave the judgment and the vengeance to God. It ruins the sober mind to carry a grudge against another. Instead we are to trust in our God, and do good to those who do badly to us. The Apostle said:

Romans 12:17-21 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Do good to those who do bad. Love as Jesus loves. Trust that, in the final analysis, God will make all things right. Stay in your right mind. Be sober minded. Do not take of the accursed thing. Achan dishonored God by taking of the accursed thing (Joshua 7:1), and brought disaster upon Israel. Turn from what God has rejected, and toward what God endorses. Fill your minds with the Word of God, and do the things that Christ has commanded. Remember the Word of the Lord:

Romans 13:12-14 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit. Amen and Amen!

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Christ Before All Things

Posted on March 15, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Colossians 1:9-18 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Big Idea: The Church Exists To Please The Lord

Tonight we’re in the Book of Colossians. Colossians is an interesting Church, for it was one that the Apostle Paul wrote to, but never actually went to. The Apostle spent two years establishing a Church in Ephesus…

Acts 19:10-12 … this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

The Church at Colossae was a Church Plant from Ephesus, probably started by …

Colossians 1:7-8 … Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; 8 who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 4:12 … Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Colossae was a major commercial center, known for the production of colossinum, a beautiful dark red wool cloth. The Church at Colossae was predominantly Gentile, a gathering where Christ was worshiped though all about it pagan religions and philosophies abounded. The Apostle from prison …

Colossians 1:9-10 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord

If the Colossian Church would reach Asia Minor, it had to be “filled with the knowledge of HIS will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”. The same is true of this Church. We must be “filled with the knowledge of HIS will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”. We must not be filled with the false teachings and creeds that the lost follow. We as God’s people are not to walk

Ephesians 4:17 … as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (or emptiness) of their mind, having their understanding darkened … alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them …

But to “walk worthy of the Lord”. Pastor Michael Youssef (Church of the Apostles, Atlanta, Georgia), recently stated in a Christian Post interview:

“Bowing to woke culture allows you to avoid rejection by culture and society. It’s a very, very popular message that is now being preached from many evangelical pulpits… I believe people are in a state of confusion and need a clear word from Scripture.”

Saved by grace, we as God’s people are to “walk worthy of the Lord”. You can only walk worthy when you understand the Word of God, and apply it to your life. We are to

Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing

“Unto all pleasing”. Who are we to be pleasing? We are to be pleasing our God first and foremost. We are not to be ugly to those around us, nor are we to be self righteous. But we are to:

1 John 1:7 … walk in the light, as HE {God} is in the light …

Heaven is a place where “those which are saved walk in the light of it” (Revelation 21:24). We do not compromise with the darkness, but walk as God directs. Jesus said:

“Ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake” (Matthew 10:22)

Compromising with the world will not bring more blessing, but less. When we compromise in order to please others, we add to the darkness. Jesus Christ Himself was hated for preaching the truth. He told us:

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

We are to love our enemies, to do as the Apostle did.

Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

We are not to be warlike or hateful to the darkness – but we are never to say what God said is right is wrong, nor to say what God said is wrong is right. God establishes the standards by which we live. The Gospel message must not be modified in order to please people. Those who would enter the Kingdom of God must repent, and receive Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior. Receiving Him, you begin to do as He says, as He has directed. The Apostle said:

Galatians 1:9-10 … If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

When a false Gospel or a false message is preached in the Church, it robs God of His glory, while diminishing Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Proper Preaching & Teaching Puts Jesus Christ
BEFORE All Things

Colossians 1:17 And he {CHRIST} is BEFORE all things …

The Greek text is καί αὐτός ἐστί πρό πᾶς which is He IS before ALL. Jesus Christ is before all. He should be before all in the life of every person. God said through the Prophet:

Isaiah 45:5, 21-23 … I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me … a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

Only God is able to save, for only God can forgive sin.

Sin is an affront to an eternally holy and righteous God. Sin offends God, and only God can forgive sin. So what did God do? God sent His Son to this earth to make payment for our sin. Had God not done this, there could be no salvation. “Look unto Me, and be saved”, God has said. No one can save but God. It is God Who delivers from sin.

Colossians 1:12-14 … giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Word Study God the Father “delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son”. The word “delivered” is the Greek ῥύομαι rhýomai, pronounced rhoo’-om-ahee), which means “to rescue”. The same word is used in:

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 … ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

God DELIVERED or RESCUED us from darkness, and TRANSLATED us into the Kingdom of His Son. How? Through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is in Jesus “we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins”. Why does God forgive us when we receive Christ Jesus the Lord? Because Jesus Himself is God, revealed God, manifest God.

Colossians 1:15 {Jesus} is the image of the invisible God, …

Jesus Christ is eternal God the Son. The Father, Who is God, sent the Son, Who is God, to make payment for our sins. Christ is before all things because Jesus is Creator God. Jesus is not just a man, He is Perfect God become Perfect Man. The Bible says:

Hebrews 1:1-3 God … hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high

Jesus is the heir of all things. Jesus is the One BY WHOM God made the world. Jesus is very God of very God, the express image of God. Return to our context for a moment:

Colossians 1:15-16 {Jesus} is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

“All things were created by him, and for him”. The world was not created for us, but for Him. We were created for Him. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. The Father said of Jesus:

Hebrews 1:5-6, 8 Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. … 8 … unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.

Jesus Christ was not just a Rabbi. He is God incarnate, God in the flesh. John said of Jesus:

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. God sent. God redeeming. God Who came to be the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). When John saw Jesus, it was with wonder and awe he said:

John 1:36 BEHOLD THE Lamb of God!

Jesus Christ, God the Son, redeemed us by dying for us. Jesus Christ is …

…loved of the Father before the foundation of the world (John 17:24)

… Chosen of God to die for us before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20)

For Whom did Jesus come? For sinners like you and I.

Romans 5:8 God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 …. we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Jesus was not born exactly as others are born. The baby born normally begins its history with its first breath. But Jesus Christ was made. The humanity of Christ is a product of the Holy Spirit. The Angel Gabriel told Mary:

Luke 1:35 The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Jesus was made. He Who made all things allowed Himself to be made. He was not made for a palace. He was made low, little esteemed, so that He might reach the lesser and the least.

The Christian Is SANCTIFIED/ Set Apart By Christ Jesus

Jesus Christ is God. The Father “hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (vs 13) because our sins are covered. Not by our works, but by His work of Calvary. The Bible says:

Hebrews 2:9-10 But we see Jesus, who was MADE A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS FOR THE SUFFERING OF DEATH, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Let’s talk about SANCTIFICATION for a moment. SANCTIFICATION means to be “set apart by God, for God”. Before we were saved by faith in Him we were:

Colossians 1:21 … {“sometime” the Greek ποτέ poté, [pronounced pot-eh’], better “in times past”} alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works …

Before you met Jesus, and received Him as Lord and Savior, you were “alienated from God by wicked works”. But now, because of Christ, you are SANCTIFIED. You are SET APART from the world to serve the Living God. When you find the words

Holy
Sanctify
Saint
Sanctification

in your Bible, these are derivatives of the Greek hagios. The Christian is SANCTIFIED in three ways by the Blood and the Spirit of Christ:

  1. The Christian is POSITIONALLY Sanctified.Because of Christ’s Blood you are no longer seen by God as a sinner. Your position has changed. You are now a SON of God. You are now a SAINT of God. You are set apart by God in His eyes because of Christ’s Blood. Though the Church at Corinth had a number of carnal Christians, they were nonetheless POSITIONALLY Sanctified.

1 Corinthians 1:2 … to them that are SANCTIFIED in Christ Jesus, called to be SAINTS …

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 … Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (malakós, [pronounced mal-ak-os’] “those soft to the touch”, catamites), nor abusers of themselves with mankind {arsenokoítēs, [pronounced ar-sen-ok-oy’-tace] “homosexuals”}, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

  1. The Christian is PROGRESSIVELY Sanctified. The Holy Spirit of God begins working in the life of the Christian, making the person more like Jesus. We become, as we are told in:

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

“God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). As the believer interacts with God through prayer and reading of His Word, the Holy Bible, we become more and more like Jesus, more and more sanctified (John 17:17). We who are saved by faith in Christ DO that which Christ says to DO. The believer is to take off the old man, and put on the new man. We are not to be like the world.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

If you are saved, “your old man was crucified with Christ, that THIS BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DONE AWAY WITH, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin (Romans 6:6). When the Christian sins, the Christian acknowledges the sin to the Father, and forsakes the sin as being unworthy for a child of God. We do not justify nor hide sin.

POSITIONALLY or in the eyes of the Father, we are children of God.
PROGRESSIVELY or to the eyes of others, we are manifested as children of God.

  1. PREVAILING or PROSPECTIVE Sanctification is what each Christian looks forward to. This is when we are once and for all cleansed of sin, and stand before our Lord in Heaven as His Children. We are told in:

1 John 3:1-3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

We are sons and daughters of God, heading toward Heaven. We shall never die! Jesus died on Calvary so I will not have to die! The Scripture says:

John 3:15 Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 11:26 Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die!

We are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6-7). We belong to God. And God will ultimately possess us as His own, for He is ours and we are His.

The Christian Is Now Member Of Christ’s Kingdom – Forever

Colossians 1:18 And he {Jesus} is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The Christian is an AMBASSADOR for Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:20

The focus of the Christian is the Kingdom of Christ. Not what the world thinks, but what our Redeemer has said. We are to follow Christ Jesus first and foremost. HE is the Head of the Body (the Church).

The false “Progressive” argument often raised in our world today is, “Jesus never addressed homosexuality – not even one time – in the Gospels. I thought you Christians were suppose to follow Jesus!”. But Jesus did address homosexuality. He addressed homosexuality in Matthew 5 and Matthew 19 when He spoke of Marriage. Jesus told the Pharisees:

Matthew 19:4-6 Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Jesus quoted the Book of Genesis, noted that God made them “male and female”, and said that marriage was when “man left his father and mother, and cleaved to his wife – they became one flesh”. That is a very clear teaching on marriage, and on homosexuality. Jesus said, “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder”. God is the Author of Marriage – not mankind, but God.

Further, you cannot separate the Father from the Spirit. I have proved from our text that:

Colossians 1:16-17 … all things were created by him, and for him: 17 and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

If “ALL THINGS” were created BY Jesus and FOR Jesus, as our text tells us, then Jesus was there when Adam and Eve were made. Jesus had a hand in creating Adam from the dust of the ground. It was Jesus Who took a rib from Adam, and made woman, or Eve. It was Jesus Who made man/ Adam the leader of the family, not Eve. If Jesus is God the Son,

Colossians 1:15-16 … the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 for by him were all things created

…then Jesus was involved in the writing of both the Old as well as the New Testaments. Jesus authored the Book of Leviticus. The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Spirit. The Apostles were Christ’s Apostles, and their writings were written as “holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit”.

Beloved, we must not back away from the Gospel truths in order to be pleasing to the lost world, the dark world. God’s Word is truth. Jesus is before all things – and we are to love Jesus more than anything or anyone. Do you remember this?

Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Why would Jesus, if He were but a Rabbi, make such a bold statement? It is because Jesus is much more than a Rabbi. Jesus Christ is God. And you all know, the greatest commandment, the commandment that is before all others, according to Jesus is …

Matthew 22:37-40 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Jesus Christ is God the Son. We are to follow Him, if we are indeed saved by faith in Him. We belong to His Kingdom, not to another. Christ is before all things! May God touch your hearts with His Word and His Spirit this very day. Amen and Amen.

Posted in Colossians, General, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Failing Forward

Posted on March 14, 2021 by bibleteacherorg
Photo by Hugo Fergusson on Unsplash

After Jesus had celebrated the Passover Meal with His Disciples, and instituted the “Lord’s Table”, we read:

Matthew 26:30-32 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. 31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. 32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

“All shall be offended”? Not just Judas Iscariot, but all the disciples who followed Jesus for 3 ½ years shall be “offended”. This is an interesting word our Lord used here. It is the Greek σκανδαλίζω skandalízō, (pronounced skan-dal-id’-zo), from which we get our word “SCANDALIZED”. It means “to be morally offended, shocked at, to be brought into reproach, or to be maliciously or falsely spoken of”. We have all seen scandals in the world, and even in the Christian community. Not too long ago we learned that a noted Bible Scholar and Preacher was involved in a scandalous relationship with women. A well respected Pastor I knew many years ago was accused of, and convicted of, child molestation. That was a scandal. We have all heard of scandals. Jesus said, “All will be scandalized because of Me this very night”.

Jesus’ Ministry Was Scandalous

From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus was known as a scandalous person. Those who did not believe in Him thought Him to be a mad man. Hear a few of His statements:

John 6:38 … I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him (the Father) that sent me.

John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

John 18:37 … for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Mark 2:17 They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Nearly every word that Jesus spoke scandalized the Pharisees, Sadducees, the Priests, and the Lawyers. Jesus spoke as if He were somehow preexistent with God. Jesus was not secretive about His mission. “I CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38). What! The Pharisees said, “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know His mother and father. What does He mean by “I came down from Heaven” (John 6:42).

Throughout His ministry, Jesus sought to change how people thought of God. He knew that His time was at hand. Jesus always knew – and told His disciples – that as Messiah “he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matthew 16:21). He would do this for our salvation. And Jesus would walk this path alone. Jesus knew that each and every one of these men, men who ministered alongside of Him for 3 ½ years, every man would abandon Jesus. Jesus knew that He would betrayed because “it is written”. He quoted the prophesy of …

Zechariah 13:7 … smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered…

Jesus must go the Way of the Cross, for this is what God has decreed in His Word. The Old Testament wrote of the coming of Christ, as Jesus told His disciples.

Luke 24:44-46 … These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. … Thus it is written, and thus it {was necessary for} Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day…

Jesus is going to be falsely judged by man, but appropriately judged by God the Father. Jesus will be “the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And Jesus will go to the Cross alone, God the Son giving Himself for the sons of Adam. Why? Isaiah said it this way:

Isaiah 59:15-16 … the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

Humanity was fallen, and there was none who could help it back up. A sinner cannot make payment for sin before an immortal and everlastingly Holy God. So God must clothe Himself with flesh. God must come down from Heaven, a one Man Calvary to save “whosoever believeth on Him” (John 3:15-16; 11:26).

We Are All Broken, Like Peter

Matthew 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

There is a little Peter in all of us. We think we are strong enough. We think we are good enough. “Though every one else betray You, Jesus, I will NEVER be scandalized”. We all nurse this self righteous, “I am good enough” mentality. I always hear it when someone public falls. The self righteous amongst us take shots at the fallen because, after all, “I would never do that!” Beloved, we are all broken. We all fail.

The beginning of spiritual power with God only comes when we realize I AM BROKEN and I DESPERATELY NEED JESUS. Not just every now and then – but daily. Daily!

  • It was self righteousness that caused Sarah to send Hagar into her husband Abraham, so she might have a surrogate child. No need to wait on God. Let’s “do it yourself”. It was self righteousness that later caused Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, to brag to Sarah how much better she was because she had a child. Self righteousness! Oh, how horrible it is.
  • It was self righteousness that led to the first murder in humanity. Abel offered an appropriate sacrifice to God, but Cain did not and would not. Rather than repent, he murdered his brother – and Abel’s blood cried out to God!
  • It is self righteousness that is evident when people will not repent, and turn to Jesus for salvation. Self righteousness is a “smoke in God’s nostrils, a fire that burns all day long” (Isaiah 65:5). The self righteous person is warned of God:

1 Corinthians 10:12 … let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

We all desperately need Jesus to be both our Lord and Savior. We need not be self righteous. It is foolish. Let us look to Him Who loved us, and gave Himself for us (Galatians 1:4; 2:20).

Jesus tells Peter:

Matthew 26:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

You ought to be happy when Jesus reminds you that you are NOT perfect! Jesus knew the nature of humans. Not only is Jesus Creator God, but He is God become Man. He has lived among humanity for some 30+ years from His incarnation. “Jesus knew what was in mankind” (John 2:25).

Jesus knew my heart before He called me to salvation. He knew I was imperfect, and would remain broken until the day I see Him face to face. And yet He loves me anyway. Jesus loves Peter, and all His disciples. When Jesus told Peter and Andrew his brother:

Matthew 4:19 … Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

He knew that Peter and Andrew were imperfect. When Jesus told the Tax Collector Matthew:

Matthew 9:9 … Follow Me ..

He knew Matthew was imperfect. But this is the reason Jesus called the broken. Jesus does not call “many wise people after the flesh, many mighty, many noble ones” (1 Corinthians 1:26). Jesus calls the broken. The marred. The sick. The sinner. He calls us from our brokenness to follow Him.

But Peter wants to argue with Jesus:

Matthew 26:35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

Peter was leading the “Holier Than Thou” Choir – and after he sings, the Choir backs Him up!

“None of us will fail You, Jesus. You just wait and see!”. But they do fail – they fail in first of all the simplest thing they can do.

The Disciples Fail Jesus In Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36-38 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

When Jesus prepared to do a hard thing, He prayed. He sought the Father’s will and the Spirit’s power. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with Him into the inner part of the Garden. Jesus needs their companionship as He prays. So Jesus asks them to Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. This is not a hard thing. And yet, they cannot do this simple thing. We read:

Matthew 26:40-41 And {Jesus} cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Jesus has prayed about an hour – and Peter, James, and John are fast asleep. Our Lord tells them to “Watch and Pray”. The word “WATCH” is the Greek “γρηγορεύω grēgoreúō, (pronounced gray-gor-yoo’-o)”, which means “WAKE UP!”. They were supposed to be vigilant.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant {grēgoreúō, “Wake Up!”}; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

After rebuking them, Jesus goes back to pray, and returns a second time.

Matthew 26:43-44 … {Jesus} came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. 44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed …

Jesus didn’t wake them up this time, but returned to prayer once more. After He has finished praying, Jesus wakes them, and they are immediately betrayed by Judas, and surrounded by the Chief Priest’s men. Jesus is taken, for we are told:

Matthew 26:56 … all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

It was just as Jesus predicted. His men all betrayed Him, and ran away. But we are told:

Matthew 26:58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

What caused Peter to follow at a distance? Could it be that he remembered Jesus’ words:

Matthew 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

And guilt drove him? Some commentaries say it is because Peter was curious, and wanted to see what happened to Jesus. I don’t think so. I think Peter was regretting abandoning Jesus, and so he decided to follow, but from a distance. But as Jesus told him before:

vs 41 the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak

Peter, James and John should have spent more time praying in the Garden, and less time relying on their swords. As Peter watched, he saw the priest’s followers:

Matthew 26:67 … spit in {Jesus} face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,

… making a game of tormenting Jesus. “Who slapped You, Jesus? Prophesy this!” Peter, who said he would never deny Jesus, stood in the darkness. But Jesus knew. Peter has given the devil a foothold – and now he will be stepped on. We read:

Matthew 26:69-70 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.

A young girl was the first to test Peter. “I saw you with Jesus of Galilee”. In the first denial, Peter says “I don’t understand what you mean”. Strike One, Peter! You have denied the Lord for the first time. Peter quickly moves to another area, a porch.

Matthew 26:71-72 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.

A young girl accused Peter the first time. “You were with Jesus of Galilee”. Now a young woman accuses Peter. “You were with Jesus of Nazareth”. Notice the difference in their words. One saw Peter with Jesus while He ministered in Galilee, the other in Nazareth. Peter’s betrayal becomes stronger:

Matthew 26:72 … again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.

Jesus told His disciples to never take oaths:

Matthew 5:34-37 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Peter has begun to drift into sin, and the farther he drifts, the darker he will become. To the young girl he said, “I don’t know Him”, but now his denial is stronger, an oath, taking God’s Name in vain. In addition, Peter says,

“I don’t know – and here he uses the Greek ἄνθρωπος ánthrōpos, which means “that person” or “the human”!

This is the same Peter who, in Matthew 16:16 said to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the son of the Living God!” See how far he has fallen! Meyer’s New Testament Commentary states, “Alas, such is the language, cold and distant, which Peter uses with reference to his Master!” The Pulpit Commentary notes, “He calls his Beloved Master ‘the man’!”, and Vincent’s Word Studies notes, “As if he did not know Jesus’ name”. But Peter’s test is not done.

Matthew 26:73-74 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

Pinned down, this time Peter “curses and swears” as he says “I know not that person (anthropos)”. The Bible says that with this denial, the cock or rooster crows. What makes this more tragic is, that as the rooster crows …

Luke 22:61-62 … the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly (see also Luke 22:62).

Peter wept bitterly {πικρῶς pikrōs, [pronounced pik-roce’]}, “with great grief”. What is interesting is that this word is only used here, and in Luke 22:62, which also speaks of Peter’s bitter grief. Peter denied the Lord, but had a singular repentance over this denial. Peter is now brought to the realization that he is broken, just as we all are broken.

When you repent and acknowledge your brokenness, it is then and only then that God can work in and through you. The Bible says:

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

We are all subject to fall. God knows this. This is why Jesus Christ came. He did not come to us because we have it all together. He came to us to give us the treasury of salvation. The Apostle said:

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 …For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We do not preach ourselves. We preach Jesus. We are all broken, like Peter – and we are but jars of clay. What Peter did was awful, and he grieved over it. But even in Peter’s failure we see the sovereign Grace of God. Peter’s failure became a part of the story of the Cross, teaching us that the Grace of God is limitless.

The Aftermath Of Failure, Or, Failing Forward

What happened to Peter after this gross betrayal? Was he now unusable by God? Well, let me ask you – what happened to King David after he took another man’s wife, and had that man murdered? David repented, and God used him in a mighty way. And so it is with Peter.

After Jesus died and was buried, three days later He rose from the Grave. When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus with Mary the mother of James and Salome,

Mark 16:4-7 … they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

Did you get that? “Tell his disciples and Peter”. Peter has been beating himself up for three days, in misery over his betrayal of Christ. The Lord told His angel to make sure that Peter specifically knew that he was still in the plan of God. When the Apostle Paul talks about the resurrection appearances of Jesus, he says:

1 Corinthians 15:5 … {Jesus} was seen of Cephas {a name Jesus gave to Peter}, THEN of the twelve:

Jesus appeared to Peter FIRST following His resurrection. One of the most beautiful pictures we have of the Resurrected Jesus is when He ate fish with His disciples. Following the meal, Jesus asks Peter:

John 21:15-17 … Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 {Jesus} saith to him again the SECOND time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17 He saith unto him the THIRD time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the THIRD time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Jesus never directly confronted Peter for his betrayal. But, as Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” When Peter said, “Yes, Lord, I love you more than anything”, Jesus told him “Feed My sheep”. Do what God has called you to do. If you are saved by faith in Christ, but have failed Him, may I say His Grace is sufficient to cover your sins. Run to the arms of the Savior. Love Him above all else. And do as He commands you to do, for the glory of God. Returning to Jesus, strengthen your fellow believers (Luke 22:32). May God’s Word and His Holy Spirit drive this message deep into your hearts this day. Amen and Amen!

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