Tag: faith

NEHEMIAH: LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP

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Leadership lessons from Nehemiah” Great godly leaders exhibit these qualities: Links to an external site.

1) Prayerful, depending on God for success, for wisdom to handle conflict, to get strength from God, to confess sin, etc. Great leaders pray, depending on God, in everything they do. 

Here are the times when Nehemiah prayed: 

Nehemiah 1:4-11 When he heard that there were no walls in Jerusalem

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

I was cupbearer to the king. 

Nehemiah 2:4 Before he asked the king if he could go to Jerusalem

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven

Nehemiah 4:4-5 When the work was ridiculed by the enemies

4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

Nehemiah 5:19 When he dealt with charging interest to fellow Jews

19 Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.

Nehemiah 6:9 When threatened by the Samaritan enemies

9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”

Nehemiah 6:14 When betrayed by fellow Jews and false prophets

14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me.

Nehemiah 9:5-38 When confessing the sins of the nation

5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.[aLinks to an external site.]”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[bLinks to an external site.] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By dayyou led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon[cLinks to an external site.] king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. 24 Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subduedbefore them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight.Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

Nehemiah 13:14 When tithes were not payed to support the Levites

14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.

Nehemiah 13:22 When the people were violating the Sabbath

22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

Nehemiah 13:29 When rebuking some for marrying foreign wives

29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

2) Develop a God-inspired vision.Links to an external site.

Ch 1 Nehemiah had a cushy job as cupbearer to the king of Persia, but he had a vision of doing something great for God. Jerusalem and the temple had been rebuilt but there were no walls and the city was defenseless. Nehemiah had a vision of going to Jerusalem to rebuild those walls. Great leaders have great visions of what God can use them to accomplish.

3) Plan diligently, trust faithfullyLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He gets to Jerusalem and the first thing he does is to secretly at night inspect the walls to come up with a plan before he talked to the people. Great leaders trust God but they use their wisdom to come up with a good plan to accomplish their mission.

4) Lead with courage and dependence on GodLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He must be very nervous when the king asks him why his is sad. The king’s cupbearer is supposed to always be cheerful around the king. He can’t be showing his own personal sadness before the king. So Nehemiah prays and then shows great courage in telling the king about the walls and how he wants to take a leave of absence and go rebuild them. That took courage. The king could have become angry and had him removed as cupbearer. 

Ch4 He showed great courage when the Samaritan enemies threatened the builders on the walls. He stood up to them and prayed to God for courage. The people were getting discouraged and afraid. The enemies planned to make several attacks on the builders at different places, but Nehemiah found out about their plan. He got the people back to work, carrying a defensive weapon in one hand and a bulding tool in the other. 

4:

9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.

10 And so [amLinks to an external site.]in Judah it was said:

“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much rubble;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”

11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

15 Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. 19 And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us [arLinks to an external site.]removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.” 

Great leaders must have great courage and trust in God when their followers become discouraged and afraid. Nehemiah did.

5) Build and empower teamsLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He inspired the men to join with him in his vision. 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.

Ch 3 He appointed different men to each rebuild a small part of the wall or a gate in the wall. He delegated the work. He did not try to do it all by himself. He built teams of workers to accomplish the task. 

6) Address conflicts with wisdom and compassionLinks to an external site.

Ch 5 He had compassion on some whom he heard had been charged interest on loans and were having difficulty paying the interest. Jews were not supposed to charge interest on fellow Jews but many were doing that. Nehemiah addressed this conflic which could have divided the workers among themselves and hindered the work on the walls. Often groups can be doing a good work for the Lord but start fighting among themselves and the work gets stopped. Great leaders know how to wisely handle such internal conflicts. 

7) Maintain integrity and transparencyLinks to an external site.

Ch 5 He said that for 12 years he had payed to feed 150 of the leaders to eat at his table.  There was a “governor’s allowance” that he could have used to pay for this, but he did not. Neither did he buy any land for himself. He showed great integrity. He sacrificed a lot to lead the project. Great leaders are not in ti for the money. They usually end up spending their own money to do the Lord’s work. 5:

14 Furthermore, since the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. 15 But the previous governors who were before me [azLinks to an external site.]laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of my fear of God. 16 I also [baLinks to an external site.]applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table 150 Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep; also birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all sorts of wine were provided in abundance. Yet for all this I did not request the governor’s food allowance, because the forced labor was heavy on this people. 19 Remember me, my God, for good, in return for all that I have done for this people.

8) Stay focused despite distractionsLinks to an external site.

Ch 4 The enemies ridiculed the work on the walls. 4:1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the [aeLinks to an external site.]wealthy people of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox were to jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!” Nehemiah did not let this ridicule slow him down. 

So they continued the work till the wall was built up to half its height. 4:6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 So all of them conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.” 

These distractions did not stop Nehemiah. He stayed focused on the work. Nothing could stop him from fulfilling his vision.

Ch 6 As the work on the walls was nearing completion with no gaps in the walls but no doors in the gates (the finishing touch), the enemies were desperate and sent letters to him 5 times offering to meet with him, supposedly to have “peace talks” with him, but really they were planning on killing him. They came up with false rumors that Nehemiah was trying to get himself made king and rebel against the Persians, which wasn’t true. Nehemiah stood up to them despite all the distractions to the work. 

Ch 6 One of his fellow Jews to try to scare him into going into the temple for safety which would have been a sin since he was not a priest. He refused to enter the temple and trusted God for his safety. He then discovered that his fellow Jew had been hired by the enemies to get Nehemiah to enter the temple and sin. They could have then used that to discredit him as a leader and get the work on the walls stopped. 

Ch 6 Because of his leadership, the walls were completed in 52 days despite all the distractions (6:15). The enemies lost their confidence. But some of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah, a leader of the Samaritan enemies b/c they had intermarried with some of the Samaritans. They had been corresponding in letters with Tobiah the whole time, betraying Nehemiah. They tried to praise Tobiah when with Nehemiah. Tobiah sent more letters to frighten Nehemiah, threatening to cause him to lose his leadership position since many of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah. None of this stopped Nehemiah. 

9) Celebrate milestones and give glory to GodLinks to an external site.

Ch 7:1 Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had installed the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed. He is getting the people ready for a great celebration over the finishing of the walls.

Ch 8 Nehemiah gathers the people and has Ezra read from the book of the Law (the Pentateuch, the fist 5 books of the OT). They made a podium for him to stand on. The people stood as he read from early morning to noon! 8:6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Other leaders explained what Ezra was reading in more detail. The people were crying as they heard the reading and realized how much they had sinned in not keeping the Law like they should. BTW this was the reason for Ezra making the 2nd return from Babylon, i.e. to get the people keeping the Law better. Nehemiah told them to quit weeping but instead to go get ready to celebrate a joyful feast, the Feat of Tabernacles. Ezra read to them that it was the time of the year to celebrate that feast. So they gathered branches and palms to make little booths to live in for 7 days, reading from the Law the whole time and celebrating with food and great rejoicing. The people had not celebrated this feast as they should since the days of Joshua! On the 8th day they came together for a solemn, reverent assembly. 

Nehemiah inspired the people to enjoy doing God’s work, to obey God fully, and to give God the glory for success. Great leaders know how to bring people together to enjoy doing God’s work. 

10) Commit to ongoing spiritual renewalLinks to an external site.

Great leaders are not just about getting the people to start a building program to build a new church building or an addition. They are more concerned about spiritual reforms needed among the people. It is easier to get people excited about building a building than it is to confessing and repenting of our many sins.

Ch 9 Nehemiah persuaded the people to confess their sins. 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers. 3 While they stood in their place, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.”

Then comes a long summary of the history of the Jews up to that point in time. It mentions all that God had done for Israel (the plagues, the conquest of Canaan, etc.) but how that over and over the people disobeyed God. Ch 9 is a prayer of confession of the sins of Israel in their whole history up to that point in time. But it repeatedly said that God had compassion on them and asks God to have compassion on them again as they commit to have a revival and keep God’s laws.. 

9:16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in mercy;
And You did not abandon them.

9:Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them,
For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Nehemiah and Ezra inspired them to make an agreement, a covenant, in writing to obey God and the Law (9:38). The leaders all signed it. 1) To obey all the Law. 2) To divorce foreign wives they had married and not give their children in marriage to foreginers.. 3) To not buy and sell on the Sabbath. 4) To pay a yearly temple tax to support the sacrifices and work in the temple. 5) To give the firstfruits of everything they grew to the Lord to support the priests and Levites. 6) To move 1 of every 10 Jews in the land to live in the city of Jerusalem as 9/10 of the people lived in other cities. The leaders already lived in Jerusalem. 

Ch 12 This led to another celebration and “dedication” of the completed walls. 12:27 Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the dedication with joy, with songs of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres.” There were 2 choirs of singers on top of the walls. 

Ch 13 Nehemiah made a trip back to Susa. No doubt he told the king about the rebuilding of the wall and how God had blessed the work. But when he returned to Jerusalem, he found several issues and addressed them. 1) Some of the Jews who were related by marriages to Tobiah, the Samaritan enemy had made a room in a chamber of the temple for Tobiah to stay in. Apparently Tobiah had fallen out of favor with his fellow Samaritans. Nehemiah kicked him out of the room. 2) He also remanded the people for not paying tithes to the Levites. 3) He rebuked them for buying and selling on the Sabbath and ordered that the gates to the city be shurt at sundown on Friday and not opened until the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday. 4) He severely rebuked some for marrying foreign women and made them swear to stop doing that. 13:25 So I quarreled with them and cursed them, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.” 

ROMANS 6:12-23

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Romans 6:12 Therefore sin is not to reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your body’s parts as instruments of righteousness for God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the Law but under grace.

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? Far from it! 16 Do you not know that the one to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of that same one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and after being freed from sin, you became slaves to righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your body’s parts as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relation to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The “therefore” in verse 12 is a follow up of 6:1-11. Since we have died to the power of sin to kill us then we should not allow sin to use our body parts to sin! Even if you do sin, sin will not become your master getting you to sin continually. You have been freed from your former master sin who controlled you by getting you to break whatever moral law you were under. You are freed from the power of the master sin and are now “under grace”. That grace forgives you of any sin 24/7 by the blood of Jesus.

Someone might think, “since I am saved by grace and sins forgiven 24/7, then I can just continue to sin willfully b/c I am now under grace” (6:15). Paul then says that reasoning is wrong (6:15).

1) 6:16 He states an obvious fact: “you are the slave of the one you obey”. Picture 1st century slavery in Rome. You would know if someone was a slave to some master b/c that slave would be obeying his master 24/7.

2) 6:16 If you choose to continue obeying your former master sin after becoming a Christian, then you make yourself a slave to master sin. That would put you back under the power of master sin which would lead to you falling from grace and sin being able to condemn you again.

3) 6:17 Thankfully you chose to leave your old master sin. You chose to become a slave to righteousness instead of master sin. It is ironic that we are “freed” from the slavery of our sin master and his power to kill us spiritually, and yet we chose to become slaves to obey Jesus 24/7.

4) 6:19 So, as slaves to righteousness, present your body parts to obey your new master Jesus. This will result in “sanctification”. I’m sure AI took this from some article, but I thought it was really good.

“In the Bible, sanctification refers to the process of being set apart and made holy, a work of God’s grace that transforms believers into more Christlike individuals. It’s not just a one-time event, but a progressive journey of spiritual growth and becoming more like Jesus. 

1. Initial Sanctification: This refers to the moment of conversion or being born again, when a person is declared righteous in God’s sight through faith in Jesus Christ. This is often compared to being “washed” and “set apart”. Hebrews 10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

2. Progressive Sanctification: This is the ongoing process of becoming more Christlike, involving growth in holiness, purity, and righteousness. It involves the believer actively choosing to obey God’s Word, submitting to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and putting off sin and putting on Christlike character. Eph 4:20–24 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality.”

3. Future Sanctification: This refers to the ultimate perfection and holiness that believers will experience in heaven when they are united with Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In essence, sanctification is a journey:

Becoming like Jesus:The goal of sanctification is to be more like Christ in character, thoughts, and actions. 
Setting apart for God’s use:Like the vessels used in religious rituals, believers are set apart for a specific purpose in God’s plan. 

Being holy:Sanctification involves striving to live a life that pleases God, avoiding sin, and growing in holiness. 

5) 6:20 When you were the slave to master sin, you were free from obeying master Jesus. But what benefit did you get from obeying master sin? Spiritual death is what you received as the reward for your obeying master sin.

6) 6:22 But now with your new master Jesus and grace, what benefit or reward do you receive? Sanctification and eternal life.

7) 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is really a profound statement. The word “wages” implies something that you earn by working. The wages of obeying master sin will be spiritual death and either eternal annihilation or suffering. But notice that eternal life is not called “wages”. Instead it is called “the gracious gift of God”. The Greek is charisma: Gift, grace-gift, spiritual gift (usually used to refer to miraculous spiritual gifts in the early church). But in 6:23 the charisma or gift is eternal life. I don’t believe that we still have those miraculous gifts of the early church, but we have a gift far greater, i.e. eternal life. You can’t earn the “reward” of choosing to become a slave to Jesus. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” That doesn’t mean there aren’t any conditions or commands to be met on our part. We are told to repent, be baptized, obey Jesus’ commands, do good works, bear fruit, etc. We are told that if we don’t bear fruit, we will be cut off (John 15). But obedience to Jesus’ commands doesn’t mean that you have “earned” eternal life. If I extend my hand with a $100 bill to just give you as an unearned gift, but then I tell you that to get it you will have to reach out and take it out of my hand. When you do that and get the $100, does that mean that you have earned it b/c you obeyed my condition that I stated that you had to obey my command to reach out with your hand to take it out of my hand??????? No. It is the same with our salvation. You must obey the command to repent and be baptized in order to be saved, but when you do so it doesn’t mean that you have earned salvation in any degree. It is just a “condition” required to be saved, not a work to earn salvation. Remember Namaan the leper. He had to obey a command or condition in order to be cleansed of leprosy: he had to dip in the Jordan River 7 times. He finally did that and was cleansed of leprosy. His dipping in water did not earn his cleansing, but he had to obey or he would not have been cleansed.

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! God gave us His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. He gave us eternal life as a gift for choosing to believe and obey Jesus. We all get excited when someone gives us a gift that we really like. How excited are we about the gift of eternal life that God gives us through Jesus?

ROMANS 6:1-11

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

I don’t know if I can do justice to this chapter in which Paul has some deep, deep statements about our being “dead to sin”.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for the one who has died is freed from sin.

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

I want to make this really simple and applicable to our struggle with the flesh and sin. But it’s like laparoscopic surgery: AI “A surgical procedure where the fix is simple but requires access to deeper body parts could be described as a minimally invasive surgery or a laparoscopic surgery according to Yale Medicine. These procedures use small incisions and specialized instruments, allowing surgeons to reach the area needing repair with minimal disruption to surrounding tissues. It is frequently used for abdominal procedures, including hernia repairs and other conditions requiring access to the abdominal cavity. Surgeons insert a laparoscope (a thin, lighted tube with a camera) through small incisions, allowing them to visualize the surgical area and perform the repair.” A very simple repair but the surgeon has to get deep into the body to do the repair. In Romans 6 Paul takes us deep in order to give us a simple fix to the power of sin in our lives.

Paul made a statement in chapter 5 that led to the discussion in chapter 6. Romans 5:20 The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Grace covers all sin. Jesus said in Luke 7:47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” Two sinners are both forgiven by the grace of God: one has 1,000 sins forgiven, the other has 100. One might be tempted to say that the one forgiven 1,000 sins received more grace, which is true in a way. But then someone might say, “well, if you get more grace when you sin more, then now that I have grace to cover my sins then why not just sin more and get more grace. It grace covers us no matter how much we sin, then why not just sin more after you become a Christian.”

Technically, you would be forgiven more if you sin more as a Christian. So why not just keep sinning and get even more grace. But Paul refutes the temptation to think like this. Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” Paul goes on to say 3 times, “you died to sin”. When did you die to sin? When you were buried with Christ in baptism. The word “baptism” in the Greek means “to immerse, to dip”. It is not a sprinkling or pouring of water over a person. It is a burial, just as Jesus was buried in the tomb. Someone might say, “what difference does it make how much water is used?” Ask Namaan the leper that question. He hesitated when told to dip in the river Jordan 7 times to be cleansed of his leprosy, but he finally humbled himself and obeyed and was cleansed. The fact is that Jesus said, “he that believes and is baptized (immersed, dipped in water) shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). That’s enough for me! I chose to be immersed in water in my baptism just to obey Jesus and be safe. I did it when I was old enough to know what I was doing. But baptism is more than just a command to be obeyed. It is a beautiful picture of our old “body of sin” was buried and then raised from the water (again, implying immersion first) to “walk in newness of life just as Jesus’ dead body was buried but then raised to live again, never to die again. Paul said in Ephesians 2:1 “you were dead in your trespasses and sins” but in 2: 5 even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him. When we are baptism we are raised from the dead spiritually. We have eternal life and, unless we fall from grace (which is possible), we will never die spiritually again. Our new resurrected body will contine to live eternally even when we die physically. We will have “immortality” which is only promised to believers in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:53-36). John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies (physical death), 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die (spiritually).”

So why should I try so hard to not sin after being baptized if grace will cover me (unless I fall from grace) no matter if I keep on sinning a lot? This is a mental thing. I have crawled under my 2 foot high crawl space 50 times (it seems) getting out buckets of water from a terrible irresponsible plumbing mistake when the house was first built 17 years ago. I crawled in the mud trying to pull the plastic vapor barrier back and dry out the mud that dumping many gallons of tub water poured directly into the crawl space because of that mistake. When I finally dried out most of the mud and pulled the plastic vapor barrier back over the mud, my pants and shirt (I always used the same ones to crawl under with) were so caked in mud that I asked my wife if she should wash them for me (she still washes my clothes, sorry ladies if that bothers you!) or if I should just throw them away. She said “throw them away” and I did. My old clothes went into the garbage bin outside and were carried far away to the dump a few days later. It felt so good to get rid of those muddy clothes once for all. Do you think that I even wanted to go get them back out of the garbage bin and wear them again? Do you think that I ever wanted to go to the city dump and retrieve them and wear them again? Of course not.

Ok, we did the spiritual laparoscopic surgery. We got deep, and now the fix is simple. The fix is a mental thing, howbeit hard to apply in real life. My old self (the muddy shirt and pants) were thrown away at baptism. You will be forgiven for future sins after that (unless you fall from grace), but why would you ever want to put that old self of sin back on again. Of course, the reason you might want to do that is because of your flesh and lusts that are always tempting you. But every time you are tempted to sin, you must say “no, I am not going to put those old muddy clothes back on; I am done with sin”. Our lusts still have the power to get us to sin after baptism, but sin no longer has the power to kill me spiritually. Hebrews 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” 1 Corinthians 15:54 But when this perishable (our physical body)puts on the imperishable (eternal life spiritual body), and this mortal (physical body) puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “Death (spiritual death) has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O Death (spiritual death) is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 John 5:18 We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” The devil, even if he is still active (which is debatable since he was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed), can get you to sin (maybe just indirectly through his getting you to sin by yielding to your lusts). James says in James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death (spiritual death).”

This is not a one time surgery like repairing a hernia with laparoscopic surgery, solving the problem permanently. This is a constant ongoing war of the flesh and the spirit with many battles (losing a lot of those battles). Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.” This is a constant ongoing war, often losing many battles, for mind control. Romans 7:21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [y]the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Romans 8: 5 For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

That’s where the Spirit of God comes in to help you win battles and win the war with sin. I was never really tempted to go get those muddy clothes out of the garbage bin, but I am often tempted to put back on my old self of sin and its many lusts. Paul said that we are “freed from sin” (Romans 6:7). He is not saying that we are freed from ever committing sin, but that we are freed from the power of sin to kill us spiritually ever again (unless we fall from grace). Hopefully we will never make the “practice of sin” a habit in our lives after baptism. 1 John 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.” Again, a mental thing. I still help coach volleyball. It’s one thing to go to the gym and hit a few volleyballs, but it’s another thing to start volleyball practice where we want to keep hitting volleyballs because we enjoy volleyball and want to get better at it.” John makes a strong statement in these verses. The truly born again baptized believer will not practice sin or sin “continually” (NASB). He will sin, but he will fight the flesh and try not to sin, certainly not to practice sin. John even says he “cannot sin” continually. He is not saying that one truly born again is no longer capable of committing sin or that the Spirit will keep him from ever sinning again after baptism. John had already said that it was possible for us to sin after being born again: I once had a neighbor who said that he (and his fellow church members) could not sin. He said that even if he commited adultery, it wasn’t a sin (he told his wife that) b/c he was filled with the Spirit. 1 John 1: 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” John is saying that a truly born again believer just can’t practice sin or sin “continually”. His new resolve will just keep him from doing so. Not that it is impossible for him to do so, but that he will draw a line and say to his lusts, “I just can’t do that; you got me to yield to you a few times, but that’s it: I’m putting my foot down; I just can’t and won’t keep yielding to you! Jesus died to save me from sin and gave me a new nature and practicing sin goes against everything that Jesus did for me!” You have to talk to your lusts!

In the meantime while you are talking to your lusts and rebuking your lusts, the Spirit is telling you, “stand up to your lusts! Practicing sin is not your new self, your new forgiven nature.” The Spirit keeps reminding you how muddy and yucky those old muddy clothes were and asking you “why do you want to get them out of the garbage and wear them again?” It’s a mental thing. The Spirit is telling you, “Do you remember what it felt like wearing clothes caked in mud? How yucky you felt? How glad you felt to take them off and throw them away and take a hot shower?” The Spirit is our counselor to help us fight the battle of the mind control, the war with sin. But we must always be listening to the Spirit talking to us through the word and in whatever way that you feel that the Spirit speaks to you.

Peter gave the qualities of the Christian growth ladder in 2 Peter 2 and then said: 2:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For the one who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” Do you remember how great it felt to get saved from your sins when you were baptized? You came up out of that water with a smile, hugging everyone. You probably made a resolve to try to never sin again. Later you do sin, but hopefully you feel sorry about your sins b/c you know Jesus died for your sins, and you repent of any sin and ask forgiveness. But Peter is saying that through the practice of sin and the lack of practicing righteousness that you have “forgotten your purification from former sins”. You have forgotten how yucky the muddy clothes felt. You have forgotten how sorrowful you once were over your sinful condition. You are “short-sighted” or “nearsighted” spiritually. AI: “Nearsightedness, also known as myopia, is a condition where you can see objects close up clearly but have difficulty seeing objects that are far away.” You can see your sin really close up, you feel the urge to sin, your lusts are actively working on you can’t see or remember how bad that sin made you feel long ago when you decided to seek forgiveness for sin. “Spiritual nearsightedness, spiritual myopia.”

I know this has been long. It just kept growing one thought after another. The fix to keep us from practicing sin is a mental thing, but it is hard to apply in real life. After writing this article, I am going to try to “practice what I preach”. Every time I am tempted to give in to my lusts, I am going to try to listen to the Spirit telling me to stand up to my lusts and rebuke them. Have you ever had lustful sinful thoughts and emotions and yet you just kinda hid them b/c no one could see them, no one knew about them except you? So you didn’t really fight those sinful lusts and emotions. You just let them hang out in your mind and heart. Eventually those thoughts and emotions will lead to sinful action. I want to put those lusts out of my mind and replace them with pure thoughts. Paul talked about that. Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” The peace of God, spiritual peace that comes from knowing the you have been saved by grace through the death of Jesus, will “guard” your heart (your emotions) and your mind (your thoughts). A guard stands at a house not allowing anyone or anything bad to get in the house. But the key is to replace those lustful thoughts and emotions with things that are pure, lovely, etc. I am going to try to do that.

What about you? Can you hear the Spirit telling you right now to let Him help you win the war?


 

PROGRESSIVE REVELATION OF SCRIPTURE

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” My daughter gave me a 12k flashlight that is amazing! It will blast up to 12,000 lumens of bright light up to 721 feet away. But I thought, “when will I ever use a flashlight that bright?” Well I found out “when” I started crawling under my 2 feet high (3 block high) crawl space b/c the plumber 17 years ago did not even connect two tub drain pipes and we were pouring many gallons of water directly onto the crawl space! 1st world problem but one that has to be dealt with. God has blessed me to find the problem before it got even worse. Fortunately we didn’t use those two tubs much at all since we built the house 17 years ago.

Back to the flashlight. That 12k brightens up the whole crawl space! I can see clearly how to crawl all over setting my my fans, checking wood moisture and humidity, avoiding hitting water lines, examining the drains and plumbing. God’s word is like that. It is not just a lamp and light, but a brilliant shining light that will clearly show you exactly what God wants you to do and what His promises are for you.

1 Corinthians 14:33 “God is not a God of confusion”. Many think that the Bible can’t be understood. There are passages that are hard to understand. Peter said “our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3) “Hard” but not “impossible”. The “untaught” and “unstable” will take the hard to understand passages and distort them to their own advantage (to gain power, sex, or money). But the basic truths that we need for salvation, wisdom, and guidance are not hard to understand.

God reveals Himself and His plans in His word. There is “general revelation” from God in nature. Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (NASB) Paul is saying that it should be clear to all that there is a supernatural creator God. There is no excuse for someone being an atheist. Intelligent design of the universe, the human body, DNA, the periodic table, etc should convince the greatest skeptic that there is a creator God.

But perceiving that there is a creator God does not tell you what that God is like or what His plans are. In Hinduism, Brahma is the creator god. He is part of the Trimurti, a trinity of supreme divinity that also includes Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer). In Zoroastrianism, the primary deity is Ahura Mazda, the “Wise Lord,” who is the creator and sustainer of the universe. So God had to reveal Himself to man. He did so through His messages to the prophets who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” There’s that “lamp” (Psalm 119:105) that shines showing us what God is like and what His plans are for us. The prophets made known the nature of God, what kind of a God is he? AI: “While not constantly fighting in a war-like sense, the Greek gods in mythology were prone to conflict and rivalry. They often argued, quarreled, and even fought among themselves over various issues, including power, love, and honor. These conflicts were a defining characteristic of Greek mythology, making the pantheon a dynamic and entertaining collection of characters.” Is the creator God like that? From bible.org “he attributes of Sovereignty, Holiness, Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Immutability, Wrath, and Love, set God apart from the false Gods of pagans.” God is holy and just, and He must punish sin. But His great love and mercy has provided forgiveness for sin through the sacrifice of Jesus His son on the cross. He is opposed by Satan and evil demonic princes but He has conquered them through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  in Jewish tradition, God is often described with 13 attributes, also known as the “13 Middot” (ways). These attributes, found in Exodus 34:6-7, emphasize God’s compassion, mercy, grace, and other positive characteristics. The Lord told Moses as he hid behind the rock, 6 “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth; 7 who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” 

So the prophets told man what their creator God is like, His attributes. But what are His plans for man? The Bible is “progressive revelation”. AI: “the concept of progressive revelation suggests that God revealed Himself and His plan to humanity gradually over time, rather than all at once. This means the Old Testament provides foundational truths, and the New Testament, especially through Jesus and the apostles, builds upon and clarifies those truths. It’s not that the Old Testament is wrong, but rather that the full understanding of God’s plan and nature is revealed more completely in the New Testament.” The Law of Moses of the Old Testament was never intended to be God’s permanent plan of salvation for all mankind. Paul told the Jews who were under the Law: Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we (Jews) were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” AI: “Progressive revelation doesn’t imply a change in God’s character or plan. God’s nature is constant, and His plan unfolds progressively. Understanding progressive revelation can help us interpret Scripture more fully, recognizing that earlier revelations were foundational and preparatory to the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ.”

So we come to the New Testament.  AI: “The doctrine of justification by grace through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, and the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s plan are examples of truths that are hinted at in the Old Testament but are more fully revealed in the New Testament.” God’s primary revelation of His final plan of salvation comes through His Son Jesus in HIs teachings. Hebrews 1:1 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days (i.e. the last days of the Jewish Age from 30 AD to 70 AD) has spoken to us in His Son”. (NASB) Jesus tells us that He is “the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). He predicts that He will suffer, be “lifted up” in his death (crucifixion) like the bronze serpent in the wilderness, and be raised from the dead. He tells us that we can have eternal life if we believe in Him, God’s son. He tells us that His kingdom is “not of this world” but a spiritual kingdom, the church (John 18:36; Matthew 16:16-18). The Spirit of God confirms that He is God’s Son and spokesman. Acts 2:22 “Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst.”

But God’s progressive revelation continues after Jesus ascends to heaven. He left the Spirit with the apostles to complete progressive revelation. John 16: 13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” They delivered the final truths of God’s plans through their preaching and writings in the New Testament book of Acts and the Epistles. Paul wrote 13 of those epistles defining justification, redemption, and sanctification through Jesus. He gave the central core message of eternal life: Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast”, and defended that core teachings against the constant legalistic threat of the Judaizer Jewish Christians who kept trying to make Gentile converts keep the Law of Moses. He explains what it means in daily practical living what the Christian “walk” is (Ephesians 4-6). He gives rules and guidelines for Christian assemblies.

Paul says that the apostles’ teaching and writing are from the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” Thus the concept of “verbal plenary inspiration”: AI “Verbal plenary inspiration of scripture is the belief that God inspired every word of the Bible, not just the ideas, and that the original manuscripts were perfectly preserved, making the Bible God’s authoritative and inerrant word.” We don’t have those original manuscripts, but the copies and translations have been shown to be totally reliable. AI: “While there’s no universally agreed upon percentage for the accuracy of the Bible, many scholars believe that we can be reasonably confident in its accuracy, with estimates ranging from 95% to 99.9%. This confidence stems from the vast amount of textual evidence, internal consistency within the texts, and external confirmation from archaeological and historical findings.” You can trust your translation of the Bible.

Finally, the finality of “progressive revelation”. After the New Testament writing of the apostles, did God continue to give more revelation after that first century (all the NT gospels, Acts, and epistles were written before 70 AD)? Did He continue to speak after the apostles through the Pope? Paul told us what the miraculously gifted leadership of the New Testament was: Ephesians 4:11 And He (Jesus) gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors (elders of the churches) and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love.” Notice there is no pope as the head of the church in 4:11. Don’t you think that there would be a mention of any such office if God was going to continue to speak through a pope for the next 2,000 years? Paul is telling us that the teachings and writings of the apostles and prophets are totally sufficient to keep Christians unified (Ephesians 4: 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all). They are sufficient to keep us from being carried away by false teachers and prophets.

So there is no pope who continues to give progressive revalation after the first century. But is there “apostolic succession”? AI: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), commonly known as Mormons, claims to have a valid apostolic succession. They believe this line of succession was restored through Joseph Smith, who they claim received priesthood authority from biblical prophets and apostles.” In choosing a replacement for the apostle Judas, Peter gave the qualifications of an apostle: Acts 1:21 Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection (and an apostle).” I once asked 2 Mormon elders: do your apostles meet these qualifications? Paul was the only apostle who was not with Jesus from His baptism to His ascension but Jesus made a special post resurrection appearance to Him on the road to Damascus, qualifying him to be an apostle (1 Corinthians 15:7). Paul claimed equal authority to the other original apostles. 2 Corinthians 12: 11 “Actually I should have been commended by you, since I was in no respect inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody. 12 The distinguishing marks of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs, wonders, and miracles.” His miracles prove that he was equal to the original apostles even though he became an apostle years after the others did. It always amazes me to hear some say that Paul’s writings are not authoritative for us today. That mainly comes b/c his writings clearly condemn homosexuality and many don’t want to accept that (the LBGQT movement).

There is no more “progressive revelation”. The Spirit can still speak to us individually but there are no more inspired writings of scripture after the first century. There are no more inspired prophets who give us direct messages from God. A prophet was always confirmed by his ability to predict the future with 100% accuracy and there are no prophets today who can do that. There are no “latter day prophets”. The Mormons claim to have latter day prophets, beginning with their founder Joseph Smith, with equal authority to the apostles and prophets of the first century. Thus they claim that the Book of Mormon is equal in authority to the New Testament. There have been many “latter day prophets” over the past 2,000 years, all claiming to have messages from God separate from the original scriptures. They have started many cults. Such as Ellen G. White of the Seventh Day Adventists, David Karesh of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, Jim Jones (the Guyana tragedy), Rutherford and Russell of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mary Baker Eddy of Christian Science, and many, many more. These latter day prophets always made predictions of the future, especially of the 2nd coming of Jesus, that failed to come to pass, thus proving them to be false prophets. They introduced doctrines not in the New Testament and contrary to the teachings of the original apostles. Nowhere did Jesus or the Scriptures give authority to them to speak messages from God. So complete was the final progressive revelation completed with the writing and collection of the New Testament that Jude would say: Jude 3 “3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints.” The Bible claims 2 things: 1) The “once for all time sacrifice of Jesus”. Hebrews 10:10 ” we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.” 2) The “once for all time” completion and delivery of the final NT writings in the first century (Jude 3).

I hope this helps in some way. So we need to follow the example of the Thessalonians as Paul preached the gospel to them: 1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe.” We need to follow the example of the Bereans: Acts 17:11 Now these people were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” We need to heed the advice of the apostle John: 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

We do need to keep studying, not only the basic core teachings of the Bible, but also those “hard to understand” sections like those dealing with eschatology and the Book of Revelation. Why? B/c there are so many false prophets predicting the 2nd coming of Jesus and the fulfillment of Revelation in events occurring today. You can refer to my other articles dealing with that. Yes, we need to keep studying doctrinal issues like Calvinism. Does God really only predestine a. certain number to be saved and sinners can not just be converted by their own free will choice (as Calvinism claims). Will saved sinners never fall from grace (as Calvinism claims). What is the nature of Jesus (fully God and fully man?)? But even if you never come to an opinon on the fulfillment of the book of Revelation, that’s ok. You don’t need that to be saved by the blood of Jesus. Basic faith in Jesus and Christian living is more important than understand eschatology (the study of last times).

END OF THE SPEAR (2005 MOVIE)

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Jim (1927-1956) and Elisabeth (1926-2015) Elliot

From Kindred Grace magazine (by Chantel): “Jim and Elisabeth met in college, but they didn’t get married until they separately went to Ecuador to minister to the Quichua. They married in Quito and moved to a more remote area to try to make contact with the Huaorani tribe (called the Aucas by the Quichua). Jim and four other missionaries were later killed by the tribe they were trying to reach. After her husband’s death, Elisabeth returned and spent two years ministering to the tribe that killed him. Elisabeth Elliot is one of the most known and loved women missionaries in the last few generations. Through her extensive speaking and many beautiful books, her legacy and inspiration will live on in the hearts of all who read them.”

If you have never watched the movie End Of The Spear (filmed in Panama) , I encourage you to do so. It will fill in the whole amazing story of these 5 missionaries who gave their lives trying to reach “unreached people groups” in Ecuador. Just when the missionaries thought they were making progress in befriending the Quichua, several Quichua natives became suspicious and speared them to death when they landed their plane by the river.

The follow up story is amazing. Eilsabeth Elliot was the wife of Jim Elliot. What would you do if your husband was speared to death by hostile natives in a foreign country. Grieve to death? Be filled with 2nd thoughts about trying to convert these “unreached people groups”? Be bitter and angry: how could God allow this to happen? Well, this is what she did. Two years “after her husband, Jim Elliot, was killed by the Waodani tribe, Elisabeth Elliot returned to the Ecuadorian rainforest to live among the tribe, choosing forgiveness over revenge, and later became a prominent author (over 20 books) and speaker, sharing her experiences and knowledge. In 1958 Elisabeth Elliot, wife of Jim Elliot, and Rachel Saint, sister of Nate Saint, made peaceful contact with the Huaorani tribe. They came to live with them, learned their language, and taught them the Bible. A native, Mincaye, soon converted to Christianity. He was one of the ones who speared the 5 missionaries.” (AI) Elisabeth died at age 88. Mincaye preached the gospel to fellow tribesmen in Ecuador until his death in 2020. I recently saw a picture of Waodani Indians being bapized exactly 50 years after and in the same river where the missionaries were speared. What a legacy? There is the song (and movie) “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me, with Bar Millard imagining meeting his father in heaven. Can you imagine these 5 missionaries meeting Mincaye in heaven as he introduces them to some of those he converted after the missionaries died?

When you get through watching the movie End Of The Spear, watch Beyond The Gates Of Splendor” documentary film (filmed partly in Ecuador, released in 2002, was based on Elisabeth Elliot’s best seller book written in 1957). Watch it on youtube. “Through Gates of Splendor (the book), ” the story of Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Jim Elliot, was first recorded in 1956 by Jim’s widow, Elisabeth in her best selling book. The story is told through the eyes of Elisabeth Elliiot. Decades later, its story of unconditional love and complete obedience to God still inspires new readers.” (AI) The documentary film Beyond The Gates Of Splendor documentary film (filmed partly in Ecuador, released in 2002, was based on Elisabeth Elliot’s best seller book written in 1957). Watch it on youtube. “Narrated by one of the missionary’s sons, Steve Saint, Beyond the Gates of Splendor not only documents the harrowing events of that fateful January day, but also reveals the dramatic changes in the Waodani culture that came as a result of the missionaries’ deaths.” (AI) In the film, the picture of the widowed Elizabeth in the canoe with her daughter, Valerie, heading back to the Huaorani​ with the gospel has inspired many missionaries to try to reach “unreached peoples groups”. I am watching Beyond The Gates Of Splendor film right now as I write this article.

I feel a little unworthy to even write this article. My mission work back in the 70’s was nothing in comparison to the work of these 5 missionaries and later their wives and children. My wife and I did spend 5 years doing mission work in Trinidad, West Indies (3 years) and Cali, Colombia (1 1/2 years). For some reason, as a teen my dream was to do mission work. I felt like it was a special calling. People living in the U.S. hear th gospel over and over in many different ways, but I felt like Paul did: “Romans 15:20 “And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation”. Although we taught and baptized many Trinidadians and started several churches there, we were not working with “unreached peoples groups”. To be honest, I don’t think I would have had the courage to do what those 5 missionaries did in Ecuador, risking their lives to share the gospel. I don’t think I would have had the courage or desire of Elisabeth to go back to convert those who killed her husband. I am still pleased withour mission work, however. I recently got a whatsapp call from the first sweet lady whom I baptized in starting a church in Siparia, Trinidad. She had 5 children and has been a strong leader in the church in Siparia since her conversion. It brought me great memories and joy to talk to her. I also recently talked to Eman Tobas and his wife Joan, one of the church leaders in the La Brea church with whom we worked closely. Eman is in the last stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. I know God is pleased with what we did in Trinidad as well as what they did in Ecuador. My wife and I went to Ecuador, actually, on a few mission trips to a Christian orphanage and school. We passed through the capital Quito just as Jim and Elisabeth did in the 50’s.

Maybe you don’t feel that God is calling you to do mission work in any foreign field. That’s all right. You can share the gospel right where you are. But you can still support mission efforts to share the gospel with the “unreached peoples groups”. “an unreached people group refers to an ethnic group without an indigenous, self-propagating Christian church movement. Any ethnic or ethnolinguistic nation without enough Christians to evangelize the rest of the nation is an “unreached people group. It is estimated that of the 8.08 billion people alive in the world today, 3.42 billion of them live in unreached people groups with little or no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The latest estimates suggest that approximately 7,400 people groups are considered unreached. That means over 40% of the world’s people groups have no indigenous community of believing Christians able to evangelize the rest of their people group. With over 1.3 billion people living in unreached people groups, India has the largest population living in unreached people groups.” (AI)

Jesus’s command to his followers in Matthew 28:19-20, known as the Great Commission, instructs them to “go and make disciples of all nations”. Are we doing that today? Less than 3% of mission work is with unreached peoples groups. I think if Jesus was with us today, he might be turning some tables over. Matthew 21:12 “And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”

“This might surprise you. For every $100,000 a Christian earns, only $107 on average will go to world missions. And roughly 1% of that money will support the 3.1 billion people who live in unreached people groups.” (AI) Check your church’s budget. About 75-80% of contributions collected goes to staff and buildings. A small % might go to missions of some kind but a much smaller % goes to reaching the unreached peoples groups (if any at all). Churches should, in my opinion, focus on using the vast majority of their contributions to spread the gospel and help the poor and oppressed peoples of the world. Unfortunately, once you get into the “church business” stage of church organization, you end up with a budget mainly for buildings and staff.

As I have done before, I would encourage you to donate some of your tithes to organizations that work with helping the poor worldwide and spreading the gospel, especially among the unreached peoples groups.

Who are your heroes? Today, it is often famous athletes, movie stars, or musicians. Kinda like Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink.” The wrong kind of heroes in culture. There are many different “halls of fame” of athletes, musicians, actors, etc. The Bible “hall of fame” is in Hebrews 11 is often called the HEROES OF FAITH, the Bible “hall of fame”. There are quite a few people who make it into this “Hall of Faith” and some of these include Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sara, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Samson and David. Who are your heroes?

I hope these articles on courageous, sacrifical misionaries have inspired you in some way. Do you share the amzing stories of these missionaries with your children and others. Do they know Gladys Aylward, Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, and many others as well as they know Taylor Swift and LeBron James?

WILLIAM CAREY: FATHER MODERN MISSIONS

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William Carey (1761-1834) was a shoe cobbler in England who preached on Sundays and studied Latin, Greek, and French. But he was burdened with the desire to preach the gospel to the heathen. He challenged the local preachers, “was the command given to the Apostles to tech all nations not obligatory on all succeeeding ministers?” The chairman of the meeting told him “sit down, young man,sit down. You are a miserable enthusiast. Certainly nothing can be done until another Pentecost…When the Lord wants to convert the heathen He will do it without your help or mine.” Such was the thinking of Baptist Calvinists who believed that the Holy Spirit worked directly on converting people (the “I” irresistible grace in “TULIP”. In spite of the opposition, he started “the particular Baptist society for propagating the gospel among the heathen.” It took 5 months on a ship to get to India. He never saw England again. Poverty, illness, and loneliness in India took its toll—hardships compounded by the fact the Thomas family (the doctor who came to India with Carey) was living in relative affluence in Calcutta. William complained in a letter that Dorothy and her sister were “continually exclaiming against” him. His wife had a mental breakdown adn died and she was often described as mad or insane. His child died. He lost his monetary support from England. He faced an India full of the Hindu caste system, superstition, and squalor. 9/10 of the population lived in poverty.

He saw the practice of suttee. Wives were tied to their husband’s dead body as they both burned on pyres of wood in open air as she also died. Or widows were even buried alive with their husband’s dead body. Many girls from 8 to 12 years oldd were married off by their fathers receiving a dowry from the marriage. Carey was eventually able to end suttee. He saw infant sacrifice, infants put in baskets in the trees exposed to the weather and deadly ants, or even torn from their mothers and thrown to alligators and sharks. He was able to stop infant sacrifice. He saw a leper burned by his mother and sister. He started a leper hospital to take care of lepers. But “Carey saw India not as a foreign country to be exploited, but as his heavenly Father’s land to be loved and saved… he believed in understanding and controlling nature instead of fearing, appeasing or worshipping it (as the Hindus did); in developing one’s intellect instead of killing it as mysticism taught.” (From Wikipedia)

From AI:”Carey arrived in India and spent 41 years in India without a furlough. His mission included about 700 converts in a nation of millions, but he had laid an impressive foundation of Bible translations, education, and social reform. He has been called the “father of modern missions” and “India’s first cultural anthropologist (one who studies human cultures.” He was a botanist who taught the people many methods for growing better crops. He was a postmillennialist Calvinist Baptist, probably doing his part to make society better for a thousand years after which Jesus would supposedly return.

“As the Danish pioneers had found a century earlier, Indian converts came slowly—from both Hinduism and Islam. Carey himself did not baptize his first convert, Krishna, till December, 1800—seven years after his arrival in India.” Most of his sermons were met with indifference, amusement, or hostility. He built Serampore, a college for the training of native ministers of the gospel.

“Appointed in 1801 to teach Bengali, Sanskrit, and Marathi at Fort William College, Carey translated the Bible into Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Hindi, Assamese, and Sanskrit. He also translated parts of it into 29 other languages and dialects.” India eventually came to honor Carey’s accomplishments in India by putting his image on a stamp in 1993.

There is no telling how many Indian people were converted to Jesus as a result of his translations of the Bible into native Indian languages. Can you imagine taking your shoes to a poor cobbler to get them worked on, not realizing that the cobbler would one day be called the father of modern missions? He had, for the most part, much suffering and grief during his 41 years in India but never gave up.William Carey’s famous motto was “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God“. 

AI: “Although there had been other Protestant missionaries before him, particularly among the Moravians, and the Catholic church never ceased mission work, Carey is called the father of modern missions because his eloquent plea, and personal example, inspired Protestants everywhere to mission endeavors. His efforts and writings, particularly his essay “An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens,” are seen as foundational to the modern missionary movement.”

I have become cynical about churches in the U.S. Should spreading the gospel not be the primary mission of the church? “While the exact percentage varies, studies suggest that a significant portion of church contributions, around 11%, are spent on missions, with a smaller portion, around 6%, specifically allocated for overseas missions. “Only 0.1% of all Christian giving is directed toward mission efforts in the 38 most unevangelized countries in the world.” – Barrett and Johnson, 2001. Churches spend a significant portion on personnel (49%), facilities (23%), programs (10%). I would encourage you to give your tithe (I hope you are at least tithing which only 12% of born again American do; most give 2-3%. to charity or church) to one of the many organizations that help the poor and oppressed all over the world, especially in 3rd world countries, like Healing Hands. Several of them print Bibles and children’s Bible story books, like EEM.

I was especially impressed with my long time friend Rex Watson and Baja Missions. They already have many churches they work with in the northern Baja, but Rex wants to expand to all the Baja, which would include sending 2 missionaries to work full time in the south Baja. They are raising money to fund that project if you can help. Baja Missions has a website at https://www.bajamissions.us/ if you want to check it out. They have many projects in the Baja to help the poor with clinics and they are spreading the gospel there.

It’s kinda ironic. Those Baptist preachers who discouraged Carey from going to the heathen, saying that the Holy Spirit would evangelize India without their help if the Holy Spirit wanted that done! B/c of their Calvinistic beliefs,they couldn’t see that the Holy Spirit was working through William Carey to get them to send missionaries to the heathen in India. That’s what happens sometimes when we let our theology blind us to the working of the Holy Spirit all over the world. Not just Calvinism. In the church I was raised in, preachers told us that the work of Billy Graham all over the world preaching the gospel was not valid b/c he didn’t preach baptism like my church taught. Some would say that Mother Teresa was not even a Christian b/c she was baptized as a baby and not as an adult. My church would say that a church that didn’t do the Lord’s Supper every Sunday or that used instrumental music in their worship was not the true church. All that was due to legalistic theology.

So, “expect great things from God, attempt great things for God”. Maybe you are just a stay home mom, a teacher, a mechanic, a construction worker, a janitor. Carey was a cobbler and look what great things he was able to accomplish for God. Let your mind imagine some great thing that God could use you for. Focus on that instead of the daily trivia that we deal with.


PANIC ATTACKS

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I am having a panic attack as I write. Have you ever had a panic attack? More than one? Often?

I googled, “did anyone in the Bible have a panic attack?” AI said David did in Psalm 55. He had all the symptoms of a panic attack. AI: “A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear or discomfort, often accompanied by physical symptoms like a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling.”. Psalm 55: 2 “I am restless in my complaint and severely distracted. 4 My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.” What caused David this panic attack? He mentions an enemy, someone wicked who holds a grudge against him. He mentions a “confidant”, someone he had sweet fellowship with, who had betrayed him. Many think the enemey here is David’s son Absalom who tried to kill David and take his kingdom from him to make Absalom king. His friend who betrayed him might be Ahithophel, his counselor who betrayed David and became Absalom’s counselor, helping plot how to kill David. David prayed morning, noon, and night for God to rescue him from his enemies.

David’s final plea, 55:22 Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.” I’m doubt that this removed all his panic attack symptoms, but it is all that we can do when we are having a panic attack. God did remove his enemy, Abaslom whom Joab pierced to death as he hung by his hair in a tree. God avenged the betrayal of Ahithophel as he ended up hanging himself b/c Absalom listened to the counsel of David’s counselor whom David planted as a spy in Absalom’s court and Absalom did not listen to the. counsel of Ahithophel. God answered David’s prayer.

God might or might not remove what is causing us to have a. panic attack as an answer to our prayer for help. He might just give us the strength to handle whatever trial we are facing. It doesn’t have to be a person who is an enemy. Whatever causes you to lose your peace of mind is your enemy. You can try the tips on how to handle a panic attack. Take deep long breaths, hold, release, focusing on the breathing. Use the 5-4-3-2-1 method that might bring you back into reality: Name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, 1 you can taste. Find a quiet place to pray and turn things over to God, meditating on God’s promises. 1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.” The things you are having a panic attack over may be trials that can make you stronger in your faith no matter how they turn out. Try to think positive: “this too will pass”. Think of the worst case scenario that could happen: it usually isn’t the end of the world.

Try to make it through the night. The nights are the tough part of panic attacks to me. Then, when the night is over, go on Sunday morning at 7 am to get your Egg McMuffin and senior coffee. As a friend of mine said after the Auburn loss last night, today is a new day! The “what if’s” of the past will haunt you. Move on.

WHO KNOWS?

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You probably know the story of Esther. King Ahasuerus of Persia had deposed Queen Vashti b/c she wouldn’t come to his drunken feast to display his beauty for all to see. Beautiful women out of 127 provinces were auditioned for the king and Esther, a Jew, was chosen to be the next queen. Haman was the king’s head minister and all were commanded to bow down to him. Mordecai, also a Jew and a cousin to Esther, would not bow down to him (he said that he would only bow to his god, Yahweh) and Haman was filled with rage, not only against Haman, but also against all the Jews for Haman was a Jew. Haman offered to pay into the king’s treasuries 10,000 talents of silver if he would issued an edict to kill all the Jews on a certain date, and the king did so. Mordecai heard about the decree and sent word to Esther, asking her to go before the king and beg him to spare the Jews (including Mordecai and Esther). Esther sent word to Mordecai that there was a law that anyone who approached the king without being summoned would be killed, even the queen herself, and that she had not been summoned to the king for the last 30 days, indicating that she was not in particularly close contact with the king at the time. Here is Mordecai’s reply to Esther. Esther 4:13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” Esther did decide to go to the king and was graciously accepted by him. He offered to grant any wish she had. She asked for the king and Haman to attend a banquet she prepared. They did. She asked them to attend a 2nd banquet (I don’t know why it took 2 banquets). They came. She then revealed to the king that she was a Jews and Haman’s plot to kill all her people. The king was enraged with Haman. As Haman was begging Esther to spare him, the king accused Haman of assaulting the queen and ordered him to be hung. They hung him on gallows 50 cubits (75 feet) high that he had prepared to hang Mordecai on. The king could not retract the decree to kill all the Jews, so he issued another decree that the Jews could defend themselves on that day. The Jews did defend themselves on the set date and killed many of their enemies and Haman’s 10 sons were hanged. The Jews celebrated a feast for the victory, which then became the yearly feast of Purim. The Jews still celebrate still celebrate Purim every year, often with a Purim play re-enacting the events of the book of Esther (including booing Haman). The king promoted Mordecai to 2nd in the kingdom.

Back to what Mordecai told Esther: 4:13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” The phrase “who knows” is interesting. To our knowledge, God had not told Mordecai that Esther was to be the one to save the Jews. As a matter of fact, the name of God is not used in the entire book, which almost kept the book from being accepted into the Jewish Old Testament canon. Surely Mordecai would have said, “Esther, God told me to tell you to go beg the king to save the Jews” if God had told him that. Instead, he said “who knows?”. Mordecai is using his own prayerful reasoning in this situation but apparently he himself wasn’t sure what God’s plan was to save the Jews. He told Esther that if she didn’t go beg the king that rescue of the Jews would arise another way not even involving the queen. But he threw out the possibility to Esther that perhaps she had been chosen to become queen just for this moment to save the Jews.

Mordecai obviously had a lot of confidence in the providence of God, the unseen working of the hand of God, even though he wasn’t sure what God’s plan was. I find all this interesting b/c I believe that usually we are in that same situation. We usually don’t get a voice from God (though some might) telling us what His plan is and what our part in the plan should be. We use our own reasoning to assess the possibilities involved, and decide to act upon our assessment of the situation, trusting in God’s providence to use us to work out His plan. We are open to changing our assessment and going in a different direction (just like Mordecai was) if it appears that our plan wasn’t God’s plan.

So how do we know if our plan is God’s plan? How do we know what God wants us to do to work out His plan? How do we know God’s plan even is? Most of the time, I don’t think we do know. We know God’s big plan, i.e. God “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). But we don’t usually know the specifics of His big plan. Does He want me to work with a certain person to convert them to Jesus? Does he want me to go into a foreign mission field (a decision my wife and I made back in the 70’s)? Does he want me to get involved in a particular ministry helping the poor? Which job does He want me to accept? Who does He want me to marry? What church should we go to? Maybe you hear the voice of God giving you special instructions, but I don’t and I don’t believe that we have prophets that give us such instructions as in the Bible times. So we are left to a lot of reasoning, just as Mordecai was, although we do have the completed word of God to guide us. But I do believe that if we trust in God’s providence that He will providentially let us know that we are doing what He wants us to do, or not. We look for signs, but we are also careful not to just look for signs that confirm our reasoning but to also look for signs that discourage our reasoning. I do believe that, the closer we are to God, the better the odds are that whatever we choose will be in harmony with God’s plans for us. It is called “discernment”.

Some might think that we don’t even have to try to think of a plan to help do God’s plan. When William Carey, the father of Protestant Missions, decided on a plan for the churches in England to take the gospel to the heathen in India, the church preachers said there was no need to do that, that if the Holy Spirit wanted that done then the Holy Spirit would do it without British church help! Carey ignored them and took the gospel to India, mainly translating the Bible into the Indian languages, resulting in the conversion of hundreds of thousands. So we can think of a plan to do God’s plan, then act on it. Trust the providence of God that He will steer you in a different direction if need be. Or He might even go with your plan and change His plan due to your faith and initiative. But mainly trust in the providence of God.

Do you look at every moment of every day to see what God might be doing and if you can fit into His plans? A great verse to close with. Philippians 2:12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.”

AMY CARMICHAEL

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Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)

“Perhaps not many people thought that Amy Carmichael had much of a chance at being a missionary. Suffering from neuralgia, Amy was often weak and in pain so great that she was confined to her bed for weeks at a time. But Amy knew that God had called her to mission work. And with the encouragement of a few, she did go. Landing in India in 1895, she found her life calling, and spent her remaining 55 years there without ever going home. Her life was dedicated to ending child prostitution and giving a home and a future to India’s many orphans. Amy was also a prolific author, and her many books have encouraged and inspired many throughout the years.” From Kindred Grace magazine

There are so many stories out there of little known people who did great things for God, even under much suffering and sacrifice. Amy Carmichael is one of those. She never married, although there were proposals, because she thought marriage would hinder her work for the Lord. AI: “For most of her life, she suffered from a nerve condition called neuralgia, which caused chronic pain, fatigue, and migraines. Then, due to a spine injury, she was bedridden and in severe pain for the last twenty years of her life. In 1931 while touring a medical clinic that was being built, Amy had fallen into a hole and was severely injured. She never recovered full physical mobility, but from her bed she wrote 35 books that are still widely read today, such as If, A Rose from Brier, and Candles in the Dark.”

An interesting story about Amy dying her skin. “The truth of what went on behind the temple scenes (i.e. forcing young girls to be temple prostitutes) was so hard to get people to understand, that Amy found she must pretend to be an Indian and visit the temples herself. She would dye and stain her light skin brown with coffee or tea bags, and her brown eyes helped her fit right in as a Hindu.” From Wikipedia: “Carmichael founded the Dohnavur Fellowship  in 1901 to continue her work in India. Carmichael’s fellowship transformed Dohnavur into a sanctuary for over one thousand children. Carmichael often said that her ministry of rescuing temple children (from temple prostitution)started with a girl named Preena. Having become a temple servant against her wishes, Preena managed to escape. Amy Carmichael provided her shelter, thus beginning her new ministry (that helped hundreds of girls). Temple prostitution was outlawed in India in 1948.

Her famous quotes from https://www.azquotes.com/author/17654-Amy_Carmichael:

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”

“Let us not be surprised when we have to face difficulties. When the wind blows hard on a tree, the roots stretch and grow the stronger, Let it be so with us. Let us not be weaklings, yielding to every wind that blows, but strong in spirit to resist.”

“When I consider the cross of Christ, how can anything that I do be called sacrifice?“

“We have all eternity to celebrate the victories but only a few hours before sunset to win them.”

Sometimes when we read the words of those who have been more than conquerors, we feel almost despondent. I feel that I shall never be like that. But they won through step by step, by little bits of wills, little denials of self, little inward victories, by faithfulness in very little things. They became what they are. No one sees these little hidden steps. They only see the accomplishment, but even so, those small steps were taken. There is no sudden triumph, no spiritual maturity. That is the work of the moment.“

“Our loving Lord is not just present, but nearer than the thought can imagine – so near that a whisper can reach Him.“

“If the praise of others elates me and their blame depresses me; if I cannot rest under misunderstandin g without defending myself; if I love to be loved more than to love, to be served more than to serve, then I know nothing of Calvary love.“

“Thank God, He doesn’t measure out grace in teaspoons.“

“Joy is not gush. Joy is not mere jolliness. Joy is perfect acquiescence ~ acceptance, rest ~ in God’s will, whatever comes.“

“Prayer is the core of the day. Take prayer out, and the day would collapse.“

“It is not the place where we are, or the work that we do or cannot do that matters, it is something else. It is the fire within that burns and shines, whatever be our circumstances.“

“Now you are deep in what seems to me a peculiarly selfless service. The spiritual training of children must be that. You work for the years you will not see. You work for the Invisible all the time, but you work for the Eternal. So it is all worthwhile.“

“A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred.“

“Give me the Love that leads the way The Faith that nothing can dismay The Hope no disappointments tire The Passion that’ll burn like fire Let me not sink to be a clod Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.”

“I would rather burn out than rust out.“

“God bless you and utterly satisfy your heart…with Himself.“

I really can’t imagine such a positive attitude from someone who suffered so much in life and wrote 35 books while suffering and bedridden the last 20 years of her life. I suggest that we meditate on these great quotes from this great servant of God. Think of all the hundreds of girls that she rescued from temple prostitution.

I hope you are enjoying these blog articles about missionaries. I have enjoyed researching them. Usually I just copy AI b/c it does such a good job!



FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

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I have recently been dealing with plumbing issues that dominated by thinking. I won’t go into detail, but terrible plumbing mistakes when we built our house 17 years ago left two major problems that led to dumping water into my crawl space. It has been very frustrating. Searching for a dependable, reasonably priced plumber is not easy. God has guided the process, helping me find the problems before they became major problems (and they could have), and then finding a good plumber.

That is typical of “first world problems”. “First-world problems” refers to minor inconveniences or frustrations experienced by people in developed countries, often considered trivial compared to the serious problems faced by those in less developed regions. Examples: Slow internet speeds.  Long lines at the coffee shop. Difficulty choosing a restaurant. Poor mobile-phone coverage.  Phone battery dying.  Television remote not working.  Not being able to find items in a shop.  Getting a bad haircut. Water drain stopped up. Car won’t start. Misplaced air-pods. Nothing in the pantry or fridge that you want to eat. (You can add your first world problems to this list).” AI

Before thinking about 3rd world problems, I wondered “what are 2nd world problems?” AI: “The concept of “Second World” was a construct of the Cold War and the term is still largely used to describe former communist countries that are between poverty and prosperity, many of which are now capitalist states, such as Eastern Europe.” Examples might be Romania, Poland, or Hungary.

“3rd world country” is often used to refer to countries that are less economically developed, facing challenges like poverty, and inadequate infrastructure. Examples of 3rd world problems: Poor household amenities. ✦The lack of basic services like a clean water supply, rubbish collection and sewerage disposal mean that the risks of disease are very high. ✦Poor hospital facilities especially in far-flung places ✦No access to support, information and services.” Countries like Sudan .

I found this on wellsonwheels.co.uk

“Here, we share 5 third-world struggles that people from developed countries take for granted:

Education – without the right education, the path to progression is difficult. Adequate educators are needed in order for communities to reach their full potential. There are countless stats out there that show the incredible powers of education, but one of the most staggering is that each additional year of education can increase a person’s future income by an average of 10%. More income means more access to water, food, healthcare, and so on – so path toward socio-economic development starts here.

Water– it may come as a surprise that women of all ages still carry most of the world’s water which, over time, can lead to chronic neck and back pain as well as musculoskeletal disorders. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see women and children walking some 2 miles a day to collect water, carrying as much as 10kg buckets on their head. We’re tackling this problem head-on, offering a unique invention called The Water Wheel which carries 5x more water per trip without the need for heavy lifting.

Hunger – studies estimate that 1 in 9 people are affected by hunger worldwide. Factors that affect this are poverty, war, economy and even climate change. In developed countries, we are spoiled with nutritional facts on the labels, but in third-world countries, there are missing out on nutrition full stop.

Healthcare – from simple GP visits to hospital stays, developed nations have the best medical facilities available. Compare that to others less fortunate that don’t have the medical supplies, let alone not having the required medical staff to administer them.

War – war-torn areas aren’t safe for anybody to inhabit. Imagine fearing for your life each and every day in places with social unrest and lack of protection. For those who suffer these hostile environments daily will be affected not only with their physical well-being but also their mental health.”

So I had to remind myself that dealing with issues with our 3rd and 4th bathroom tubs is a 1st world problem. But this is not about giving us a guilt trip b/c we live in a highly developed 1st world country or that we have many, many luxuries that we consider to be needs, not luxuries. It is simply to get us to put our 1st world problems in perspective. One little book someone gave me was titled “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff”.

We should of course be grateful for what we have even when 1st world problems arise. Be grateful to God that you have a house, sewage disposal, clean abundant water (that we waste), electricity, cars, jobs, good income, good health care, plenty of food (that we waste), clothes (closets full), shoes (many pairs), furniture, hot water (my favorite), internet, cell phones, peaceful countries, police and fire protection, etc.

Use our resources, time, and energy to help others in need. Maybe a local food bank. Our church has 2 “closet days” each year where they give out tons of clothes. We can donate to many different organizations that are working with underdeveloped countries to provide food, clean water, health care, and education. The average church going Christian only gives 2-3 % of his/her income to charity or church. What about you? Do you at least “tithe” (10 %)? “For example, one study found that 13% of evangelicals tithe, while half give away less than 1% of their income annually. Estimates suggest that if all American Christians tithed, religious organizations would gain an additional $139 billion to $165 billion annually.” (AI) I am not suggesting that you tithe to a church which uses on average about 75 % of contributions on buildings and staff. I give all my contribution money to organizations that use at least 90 % of donations to drill wells for clean water, provide food, etc. That is where I would suggest that we give our charitable donations. On the average, churches use less than 20 % on helping 3rd world countries.

Of course, it is not enough to feed the poor and given them clean water. That should be a means to “remember the poor”. Multiple Bible verses tell us that God expects us to help the poor worldwide. https://www.brighthope.org/blog-stories/serving-the-poor/20-inspiring-bible-verses-about-helping-the-poor/ We should do that whether they become Christians or not. Jesus did have a time where he quit doing miracles for those who were only seeking miracles instead of seeking spiritual food (John 6). But it is important that we share the gospel with those who are given food and clean water. Many organizations do that. Missionaries follow up with the sharing of the gospel to those helped. Many are converted to Jesus. That is why I give to organizations that print Bibles in most of the major languages. One group (EEM) prints and distributes children’s Bibles. Some groups like VOM (Voice of the Martyrs) are dedicated to helping persecuted Christians worldwide.

So the next time you start to worry or complain about a “1st world problem”, go back and read this blog. I need to go back and read my own blog article on this every day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!