Jim's Footnotes

A Son Is Given (12-24-06)

A Son Is Given
Bible Study Time 12-24-06

When I tried to decipher in my mind what it is about Christmas that I like the most, my first thought was that the best part of Christmas is meditating on the birth of Christ and then looking at all of the ramifications and consequences of His birth. But then, I realized that that is not something that I really associate just with Christmas. That is something that I like to do pretty much every single of the year.

So I guess that I’d have to say that for me the best part about Christmas is the many opportunities that we have to share Christ with people that we might not be able to reach otherwise. During the Christmas season, the radio stations play Christmas music around the clock and although there are many songs about Santa Claus coming to town or about Santa Claus getting run over by a reindeer, and so forth and so on, there are still many wonderful songs about the birth of Christ that people who never think much about religious things might get a chance to hear. And who knows when the Spirit of God might work to save someone from the darkness of sin.

If you’re living in sin right now or if you’ve ever lived in sin, then you know what I’m talking about when I talk about the darkness of sin. What an opportunity it is at Christmas time to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we just consider the message of the better Christmas carols, we can see what an opportunity we have. We just listened to Silent Night, which says:

All is calm; all is bright; round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy Infant so tender and mild.

That’s great, isn’t it? This song boldly proclaims that the infant born at Christmas time was born of a virgin mother. This doctrine is central to the whole message of the gospel of Jesus Christ; because if Jesus Christ was born to a virgin, how could that happen?

The Bible tells us that He entered into this world through the direct activity and power of the Holy Spirit of God. The angel told Mary,

Luke 1:28-35 (NKJ)
28 . . . "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"
29 But when (Mary) saw (the angel), she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

The Holy Spirit prophesied both directly and indirectly in the Old Testament about this virgin birth which was going to take place. Isaiah prophesied directly about the virgin birth when he told King Ahaz:

Isaiah 7:14 (NKJ)
14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Well, 600 years later, the virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ.

Isaiah spoke indirectly about the virgin birth when he said:

Isaiah 9:2,3,6 (NKJ)
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The Holy Spirit was very specific in His choice of words when He said that the promised Messiah would be born as a child, but He would be given as a Son. Jesus Christ was born as a child, but He was given as the Son.

Through the ages of eternity past, Jesus Christ has always been the Son of God, but He was never a child until He was born in Bethlehem. Unto us a child is born, but unto us a Son is given.

The Spirit of God revealed Jesus Christ in the Old Testament as the Branch, and as the Branch, He was to come forth out of the stem of Jesse. Isaiah said:

Isaiah 11:1-2 (NKJ)
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

However, as the cornerstone of the Kingdom, Zechariah said that the Messiah would come forth from God. Zechariah 10:3 says:

Zechariah 10:3-4 (NKJ)
3 "My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goatherds. For the LORD of hosts will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as His royal horse in the battle.
4 From (God) comes the cornerstone, from (God) the tent peg, from (God) the battle bow, from (God) every ruler together.

As the cornerstone, Jesus Christ came from God, but as the Branch, Jesus Christ came from Jesse who is David’s father. We see both aspects of Jesus Christ in His virgin birth. We see His humanity, and we see His deity.

In the carol, Silent Night, we not only see that Jesus was born of a virgin, but we see that Jesus was born as a Holy child. He was said to be the holy Infant so tender and mild. It is so important for us to see that Jesus Christ was born as a holy infant. He is the only human being who was ever born as a holy child.

All other children have been born in sin. All other human beings have been born with a sin nature. God, on the other hand, has no sin nature. God never sins, and there’s a reason for that. It’s not that God can’t physically do the sin. He can do anything. But God has no desire to sin. Because God is repulsed by sin, He never sins. He has no sin nature.

Adam and Eve were created with an equal capacity to say yes or no to sin. They had no propensity in either direction, but when they sinned, the sin nature came upon them, and from that time on, they saw sin as attractive, and so they had from that time on a tendency to move toward sin.

Everyone ever born since the time of Adam and Eve has had the same attraction for sin. We gravitate toward sin because we view sin as attractive. Everyone who has ever been born has had this attraction for sin except one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was God born in the flesh, and He brought with Him His divine nature.

He never had any attraction for sin when He lived with the Father in the glory of heaven, and He never had any attraction for sin while He lived in His body of flesh. He was tempted to sin in every point such as we are, but He never saw sin as attractive. Because of His divine intelligence, He saw sin for what it is, a satanic conspiracy to destroy the human race. We so often lose sight of that fact, but Jesus never did. Even in the manger in Bethlehem, Jesus had no propensity for sin. He was born a Holy infant.

There is another Christmas carol called Christ is Born, which is a beautiful song, and it talks about Christ being born as the Son of God, but it says,

There He lies, there with the lampkin, only swaddle for His garment, with His holy mother Mary.

Now, this song is beautiful, but we have to realize that Jesus did not have a holy mother. He had a virgin mother, but He did not have a holy mother. Jesus was holy even at His birth, but His mother, Mary, had a sin nature just like the rest of us.

The angel told Mary that she was blessed among women. He did not say that she was blessed among the gods or as a member of the Godhead. Only God is holy.

The angel said that Mary had found favor with God, and this word favor in the Greek is really the word for grace. Therefore, Mary found favor with God even though she didn’t deserve that favor. If Mary had been holy, she would have deserved the right to bear the Son of God, but she did not deserve that privilege. God gave her that privilege by His grace.

Mary was a sinner who was born with an attraction for sin. Her only hope for true holiness was to humble herself before her son, Jesus, and acknowledge Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God.

The song, Silent Night, also acknowledges Jesus Christ as Savior, Redeemer and Lord. It says:

Silent night, holy night. Son of God, love’s pure light,
Radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Alleluia to our King, Christ the Savior is born.

All of mankind is just like Mary in that we need a savior. We need a redeemer. We’re lost in sin because we were born in sin. Jesus Christ came into this world as a human being with a body of flesh, but He never gave up His divine nature. He was righteous and holy from the time he was born, but our only hope for that kind of righteousness is to receive it from Jesus Christ.

When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and the work that He accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection, God gives to us the Holy Spirit. Paul said:

Romans 10:10 (NKJ)
10 . . . with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

When we receive the Holy Spirit, we start our journey toward sinless perfection, but that journey will not end until we receive our glorified body from the Lord Jesus at the time of His appearing. Paul said in Philippians 3:20 and 21,

Philippians 3:20-21 (NKJ)
20 . . . our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

As long as we have a lowly body of flesh, we will always have our sin nature to deal with. The more we yield to the Holy Spirit and walk in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, the more we will see the righteousness of Christ revealed in us. On the other hand, the more we are influenced by the things of this world, the more frustrated we will be in our walk with the Lord. That’s why John said,

I John 2:15-17(NKJ)
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world-- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-- is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

That’s why Paul said:

Romans 12:2 (NKJ)
2 . . . do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

John said:

I John 1:5-7 (NKJ)
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we walk in fellowship with God, the Holy Spirit gives us victory over the sin nature. If we love this world and the things of this world, we will be drawn away from the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and the sin nature will be empowered within us.

It’s hard to image what it will be like to be immortal, but the Bible says that our mortality has a tremendous effect on our attitudes and our behavior. Hebrews, Chapter 2, says:

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NKJ)
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, (Christ) Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and (that through death, He might) release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

It certainly appears that our passion for sin is a consequence of our fear of death. If I knew that I could never die, I wonder how it would change my thinking. I wonder how it would affect my everyday decisions. How would it affect the way I spend my time, my money, my talents.

As the immortal God, Jesus Christ could not die. So, He took upon Himself a body of flesh so that He could die for you and for me. He became a mortal so that we might become immortal, and that’s what Christmas is all about.

I pray that this Christmas your heart will be steadfastly focused upon Jesus Christ and that your heart will rejoice in all of the blessings that we have in Him.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

Friday, December 08, 2006

Introduction to BST (12-10-06)

Introduction
Bible Study Time 12-10-06

A few weeks ago, Joan and I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Grand Canyon, and when I first caught a glimpse of that canyon, I found myself overwhelmed by its vastness. Those of you who have been there know that there aren’t many places along the rim where there is even a railing, but even where there was a railing, I hesitated to get too close to the edge. However, by the next morning, I was starting to feel a little more comfortable standing next to that giant gorge.

At one point on our morning walk, I saw a window in the clouds, and I could almost picture the Lord appearing in that window, shouting to the world, “I will declare my glory to all of the inhabitants of the earth. Who is like unto me? Who can match my majesty and power?”

When we got back home, I was able to finish this year’s Bible reading program, and as I finished that project, I began to realize that, in many ways, the Bible is like the Grand Canyon. Sometimes people are afraid to approach it. They think it’s confusing and hard to understand. They’re afraid to get too close to it. They’re afraid that they’ll fall into a bottomless pit of contradiction and controversy.

But then, if they’re willing to spend a little more time with it and explore some of its well-traveled and better-maintained pathways, they start to behold the glory of the Lord, and they start to rejoice in the magnificence of the word of God.

When we were at the Canyon, it didn’t take me long to realize that its mysteries lie hidden within the details of its valleys and ridges as well as in its various geological layers and rock formations. I watched videos and read books and articles, hoping somehow to tame at least my perception of this awesome portion of God’s creation. I began to sense a oneness with the power of the canyon as I explored its mysteries.

And so it is with the word of God. When we start to sense the glory of the word of God, we will want to learn more and more about it. We will develop an appreciation for the many fine commentaries that are available to us, and we will learn as much as we can from the pastors whom God has given to us.

Gradually, the word of God, which appeared so wild and untamed at first, starts to reveal its mysteries and we sense our unity with the Spirit of God as He reveals to us the heart of God.

As I watched the videos and read the articles about the Grand Canyon, I was amazed, but I knew that what made them so meaningful to me was the fact that I had actually hiked down into that canyon.

In the same way, it’s our personal relationship with God that makes our study of the word of God meaningful to us. Without a personal relationship with God, the Bible is just a book full of empty words.

So every Sunday morning we cherish the opportunity that we have to study the word of God with you, and we hope and pray that our time together is a blessing to you.

Now, we’re going to have a message in song, and then I’ll be back with some thoughts about Galatians, Chapter 4.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

The Elements of the World (12-10-06)

The Elements of the World
Bible Study Time (12-10-06)

Earlier we talked about how important it is for each believer to spend time reading and studying the Bible, and one of the things that we need to be careful about as we study the Bible is the different translations that are on the market today. Sometimes we hear people talk about the literal translations of the Bible as opposed to the paraphrased versions of the Bible. But the truth of the matter is that there is really no such thing as a literal, word-for-word translation of the Bible, at least not that we could understand as we read it.

Some translations are more accurate than others, but every translation has in it certain elements of subjective interpretation. Every culture has within its language idiomatic expressions that don’t literally mean what they say.

For example, when someone says, “thank you,” we politely counter with “you’re welcome” even though we’re not really extending any kind of a welcome. In order to give the proper meaning to expressions such as this, translators have to figure out the intended meaning behind the expression and then come up with a way of expressing the same thought.

Well, the translators of the Bible have had to deal with this very issue ever since the Jewish scholars in Egypt first translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew to the Greek. We have to be diligent in our efforts to understand the original words of the Bible as well as the intended meaning behind the words.

As I started this year’s Bible reading program, I read on the very first day Galatians, Chapter 4, and I noticed something interesting in verse 3. In the New Living Translation, it says:

Galatians 4:3-4 (NLT)
3 And that's the way it was with us before Christ came. We were slaves to the spiritual powers of this world.

I thought that sounded a little different so I went to the King James translation, which says:

Galatians 4:3 (NKJ)
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.

The New King James agreed with the original King James word for word. So why do we see such a difference in the New Living Translation? Was Paul saying that we used be slaves to the spiritual powers of this world, or was he saying that we used be in bondage to the elements of this world?

Even at first glance, we get a clue as to which translation is more literal. It makes sense that the more literal a translation is, the more awkward the sentence structures will often be and the more difficult the expressions will be to interpret. The interpretation of a truly literal translation is a scholarly endeavor indeed.

For example, when the New Living Translation says, “we were slaves to the spiritual powers of this world”, that’s very clear and concise. However, it’s not as literal as the King James. On the other hand, when the King James says that “we were in bondage under the elements of the world,” that was more literal, but it was much more vague.

If this was literally what Paul said, then what did he mean? Was he talking about Aristotle’s earth, air, fire and water when he spoke of the elements? Or was he talking about the elements of our periodic chart? Does one have to be a scholar to figure this out?

Praise the Lord, by seeking the wisdom of the Lord, even non-scholars such as myself can figure this out. Most of the time the context is all we need to gain a true understanding of the passage.

In this region of Galatia, there were saved Jews and saved Gentiles. They had been saved as a result of Paul’s preaching. When Paul told them that Christ died for their sins and was raised from the dead, they believed what Paul said, and they were given the gift of salvation.

When they got saved, they witnessed many outward signs of the Holy Spirit. Paul said that they witnessed many miracles which were done by the Spirit.

However, after Paul left the area, there were some Jews who insisted that the rituals and ceremonies of the Law were necessary for salvation. They were not necessarily opposed to faith in Christ, but they rejected the idea that anyone could be saved without submitting to circumcision and the other rituals of the Law.

Paul reminded them that the Jews who had been circumcised as infants had never experienced the power of the Spirit until they put their faith in Christ, and then he reminded the Gentile believers that they had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit even though they had never been circumcised. He therefore concluded that submitting to circumcision yielded no spiritual power.

With this background, the intended meaning of Chapter 4 and verse 3 becomes clear. When Paul said that they had been in bondage under the elements of the world, he was speaking to the Jews who had labored under the Law. They had been in bondage to the elements of the world, such as the water of the various baptisms and the fires that burned in the altar, as well as the circumcision of the flesh which involves this earthly body.

Paul was comparing the earthly, physical nature of the rituals of the Law to the spiritual power that comes to those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. He concluded that the rituals were impotent, but faith in Christ is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Paul said:

Galatians 4:3-6(NKJ)
3 Even so we (were children) in bondage under the elements of the world.
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

Paul was showing these believers that the Old Covenant Law had been replaced by a better covenant. Those who were under the Law knew God as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but under the New Covenant, believers could know God as Father.

Paul went on in this same chapter to remind the believers of Galatia that Abraham had two sons. Ishmael was born of Hagar, while Isaac was born of Sarah. Hagar was a bondwoman, while Sarah was Abraham’s wife and was free. He said that these two sons represented the Old and New Covenants. Verse 21 says:

Galatians 4:21-24 (NKJ)
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants . . .

Galatians 4:30-31 (NKJ)
30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

Paul could see that the rituals and ceremonies of the Law, which were based in the elements of this world, had no power to change the lives of people. He could see that those rituals and ceremonies were nothing but a source of bondage to those who trust in them.

Paul was afraid that these rituals and ceremonies might actually prevent believers from experiencing the full power and freedom of the Holy Spirit. He plainly told them that they could not have both. He said, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”

Paul felt so strongly about this that he said in Chapter 1:

Galatians 1:8-9 (NKJ)
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Paul knew that if anyone required earthly rituals in addition to faith in Christ for salvation, it could result in eternal separation from God for those who were deceived. Therefore, Paul said that if anyone preaches such a thing, let him be accursed.

Even today there are many people who want to hang on to and cling to religious rituals and ceremonies. Do you suppose that this might have something to do with the translations which blatantly change the teachings of the Apostle Paul and leave out the fact that Paul said that the elements of this world result in spiritual bondage?

As we have seen, the Apostle Paul was warning believers against the rituals and ceremonies, and now we have “translations” which say that Paul was really just warning against the spiritual powers of this world.

That is a legitimate warning, but it’s not what Paul was talking about here. Paul was warning believers about the bondage that so often accompanies rituals and ceremonies. The devil never ceases in his attempts to subvert the truth of God’s word.

All through the centuries, the Christian religion has continued to hold fast to the elements of this world, and spiritual bondage has been the result. In general, the Christian religion says, “You have to do these ceremonies, or you can’t go to heaven when you die.” Then it says, “Only our ministers can perform these ceremonies and you have to meet certain requirements before you can receive these ceremonies.”

“Well, what are those requirements?” you may ask, and the Christian religion says, “We’ll decide that on a case by case basis whether you’re worthy of the rituals and of a place in heaven.”

The interesting thing is that even after the rituals are administered, there is no guarantee of a place in heaven. One has to return again and again to receive the rituals, and anyone who fails to submit to the elements of this world, finds himself in danger of hell fire. This is the bondage of which Paul was speaking, the bondage that relates to the elements of the world.

Oh, don’t you love the truth of God’s word. Jesus said:

John 4:23 (NKJ)
23 " . . . the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

Simple faith in Christ results in the gift of salvation which is open to all who will receive it. Jesus said:

Matthew 11:28-29 (KJV)
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Joshua's Dirty Clothes (12-3-06)

Joshua’s Dirty Clothes
Bible Study Time (12-3-06)

In keeping with Jeremiah’s prophesy, the children of Israel were allowed to return to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Zechariah was born in Babylon, and he must have been just a young boy when he left for Jerusalem with his family of priests.

As Zechariah grew older, he served as a priest under Joshua, the High Priest, and it appears that Zechariah was still very young when the word of the Lord first came to him and singled him out as a prophet of the Lord.

In Zechariah’s book of prophecies, we find the first six chapters dedicated to several visions, which were all given to Zechariah in a single night. These visions relate to Jerusalem, and they declare that God will faithfully fulfill all of His promises concerning Jerusalem and the coming kingdom. What an encouragement his prophecies must have been to the Jews of his time and really to all believers since that time.

However, Zechariah’s vision in chapter 3 sort of stands out as you read through these visions. In this vision, Zechariah sees Joshua, the High Priest, standing before the Lord wearing filthy garments. But Satan is standing right there beside Joshua ready to bring an accusation against him.

Satan is an expert when it comes to spotting filth because when he sees filth, he sees an opportunity to at least stir things up and maybe destroy a few lives in the process. But Satan never really gets a chance in this vision to make his case against Joshua because before he can say a word, the Lord says:

Zechariah 3:2 (NKJ)
2 . . . “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

First, we see that the Lord does not allow Satan to gain any power as a result of his presence. Sometimes believers sense the presence of the devil, and they get all worried and worked up in a frenzy. But the Lord didn’t give that kind of power to the devil. He simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

I’m sometimes amazed at the power that the Christian community gives to the devil and the unsaved world. The unsaved world really gets all upset, and the media goes into a feeding frenzy anytime a public figure gets caught up in a scandalous situation. Well, it’s not too hard to see that this is the work of the devil. The devil loves to stir up these accusations, and we often give Him the power to magnify the result of his evil doing.

We need the power of God to deal with scandal and corruption the way God dealt with it here in Zechariah’s vision. When the devil tried to stir things up, the Lord simply said, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan!”

This kept the devil quiet so that the Lord could offer His true assessment of Joshua. He said, “Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

Well, we all know that those things that go through the fire, if they’re not destroyed, then they, at least, get pretty dirty. But we also know that they have a tendency to be purified and strengthened when they go through the fire. Therefore, the Lord said that Joshua was like a brand plucked from the fire. His garments were filthy, but He had been plucked from the fire before the fire could destroy him, and the process of going through the fire had made him stronger and even more pure.

Satan wanted to disqualify Joshua from serving the Lord, but God had other plans. Joshua’s sins were no problem for God to deal with. God simply gave the order for Joshua’s filthy garments to be removed, and then He gave Joshua the costly, festal robe that is required of the High Priest.

When the Lord gave Joshua this robe, He commanded His ministers to take away the filthy garments, and then He said to Joshua, “I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes." There was nothing that Joshua could have done to rid himself of those dirty garments, but all the Lord had to do was speak the word, and Joshua was cleansed and robed in his priestly attire.

As we look at this vision from our perspective today, we sense that there is something missing. We know that dealing with sin is not an easy thing, even for God. God is holy, and He can have no fellowship with sin. His justice requires that every sin be accounted for and punished with the appropriate punishment.

Romans 6:23 says that the appropriate punishment for any given sin is death. It doesn’t matter which sin; they’re all the same to God. God says that the wages of sin is death because if you’re guilty of breaking one law then you’re guilty of breaking them all. And the wages of sin is death.

However, praise the Lord, Romans 6:23 doesn’t end there. It says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus Christ took our sins upon Himself while He was hanging on the cross. He offered His blood as the payment for sin. Only a righteous man could do that. As God, Jesus Christ was righteous. As a man, Jesus Christ could die. And this is the gospel that God has delivered unto us:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NKJ)
3 . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

However, the death of Christ for sin was still a mystery back in the Zechariah’s day. As far as we know, Zechariah didn’t know the details concerning Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. If Zechariah knew about it, he certainly wasn’t allowed to say anything about it.

I should also mention the fact that the twelve apostles didn’t understand the full ramifications of Christ’s death or the full significance of His shed blood. That was a mystery, which God reserved for the Apostle Paul to reveal. In I Corinthians 2, Paul said:

1 Corinthians 2:7-8 (NKJ)
7 . . . we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

If it had been common knowledge among the Jews that the Messiah was going to be rejected by the Jews and killed for the sins of the world, they would have been much more careful about turning people over to the Romans for execution.

Pilot might have had the courage to stand fast and say, no, to the execution of this Jesus of Nazareth if he had received a message from his wife, which specifically stated that the promised Messiah of the Jews was predicted to die to save those who believe from the clutches of hell. Paul said that if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

So Zechariah didn’t say anything specifically about the Messiah’s death, but God did allow Zechariah to give a hint concerning the work of Christ in his vision of Joshua’s filthy garments.

Joshua was like a brand plucked out of the fire, according to the Lord, but who was it that plucked Joshua out of the fire. Only the Lord Jesus could have done that. As Peter said:

Acts 4:12 (NKJ)
12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

As we apply this vision to our own situation, we see that it was Jesus Christ who was willing to reach into our fiery condemnation to take us by the hand and lead us to life everlasting. Only Jesus Christ had the power to raise us up into the heavenlies to bless us with all spiritual blessings.

If we reach for something in a fire, we know that we can expect two things to happen. First, we can expect to get dirty, and second, we can expect to get burned. And this is exactly what we see in Zechariah’s vision.

When Christ reached down into the fire to pluck us out, He took the filth of our iniquities upon Himself, and He was burned by the fires of hell so that He could save us from the judgment that we deserved. Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.

We’ve been looking at Joshua in this vision as a picture of all believers who have been saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, but I need to mention that as a matter of interpretation, Joshua is actually a picture of the nation of Israel.

Israel was sent away into captivity because of her sin, and the people suffered immensely during that time. Psalms 137 says that while the children of Israel were in captivity, the harps were hung upon the willows for there was no room in their hearts for a song. They experienced nothing but heartache and despair.

After their return to Jerusalem, God called Zechariah to encourage the people to continue their work of rebuilding the temple and the city of Jerusalem. This was the Lord’s work, and God was going to provide for their every need as they did this work.

Zechariah’s vision of Joshua’s filthy garments was given to show the fact that, yes, they were guilty of many transgressions against the Lord, but now God was ready to forgive their transgressions. It was God who had reached down and plucked them out of their captivity, and it was God who was now preparing them to receive all of the promises of God.

God wanted them to know that He still loved them, just like He loved them when He called them up out of Egypt. In Deuteronomy 7, the Lord said:

Deuteronomy 7:6-9 (NKJ)
6 " . . . you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7 "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 "but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

God still loved Israel in this same way. He couldn’t tell them everything about the work of the Lord Jesus, which He was planning, but He did tell them that He was planning to take away their iniquity and that He was planning to give them the robes that belong to the priests of God.

At Mt. Sinai, God had promised them that they would become a nation of priests. He said:

Exodus 19:5-6 (NKJ)
5 'Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' . . .

God’s promise to Israel was that someday they would be the priests of God, serving the Gentile nations of the world, and revealing to them the righteousness of God.

In Zechariah’s vision, after the Lord gives Joshua his priestly robe, the Angel of the Lord says to Joshua:

Zechariah 3:8 (NKJ)
8 'Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.

This word BRANCH is expressed in all capital letters, and it refers to Israel’s Messiah. The angel said to Joshua that God was going to bring forth this BRANCH, and one of the best signs that God was actually going to do this was the fact that God had brought Israel back to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity.

The angel said, in effect, if God is powerful enough to bring you and all of your people back to Jerusalem from Babylon, then He’s powerful enough to send the promised Messiah and fulfill all of His promises to Israel.

All of the promises of God were dependent upon God sending forth His Servant, the Branch of David, even Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of God’s plan and purpose for Israel.

When Christ shed His blood on the cross of Calvary, it was the blood of the New Covenant, which provided all that was necessary to redeem believers and the creation from the curse of sin. Therefore, after the death of Christ, everything was ready for the kingdom. The problem was that after the cross, Israel still refused to accept Christ as her Messiah. She refused to recognize Jesus as the promised Branch of David.

As a result, God set Israel’s kingdom program aside, and He started calling out a new body of believers who operate under a totally different program. Believers today belong to this body of believers known as the Church which is the Body of Christ. We have no expectation of entering into Israel’s earthly kingdom.

Someday, we will be caught up to be with the Lord in heaven, and then during the tribulation period God will once again offer the kingdom to Israel. Israel will at that time believe in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ will return to the earth, defeat the antichrist and then rule and reign over the earth for a thousand years in a kingdom of righteousness and peace.

When I think of all these things, I have to say with the Apostle Paul:

Romans 11:33-36 (NKJ)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?"
35 "Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?"
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Thanksgiving 2006 (11-26-06)

Thanksgiving 2006
Bible Study Time (11-26-06)

In the book of Romans, Chapter 1, the Apostle Paul looks back at the time before the flood of Noah’s day, and he documents quite an impressive list of grievances that God still holds against the people of that day. Their bodies have long since returned to dust, but the record of their sins still remains. God is longsuffering, but His judgment is sure. Paul said that:

Romans 1:18,21 (NKJ)
18 . . . the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were (they) thankful, but (they) became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Some estimate that there were as many people on the earth at that time as there are today, and it seems clear that they had become very prosperous. Jesus said that they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark.

God had continued to pour out His blessings upon the descendants of Adam and Eve all through the years. Oh yes, they knew God, but they refused to glorify Him as God, and they refused to recognize Him as the giver of every good and every perfect gift. We see in these people one of the distinguishing features of people who have turned their backs on God. They were not thankful to God.

We have just experienced our Thanksgiving holiday, and I hope that each one of you had the opportunity to reflect upon all of the blessings that you have received from the Lord. One of the things that I am thankful for is the Thanksgiving Holiday itself. I’m thankful to live in a country that sets aside a time for thanksgiving. It sends a wonderful message to our children and to all of the world that we recognize our own insufficiencies, and we give the glory to God for anything and everything that He is able to accomplish in and through us.

When I think of our nation giving thanks to the Lord, I can not help but think of Psalms 100 where the Psalmist says:

Psalms 100:1-5 (KJV)
1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Of course, this literally refers to a future day when the Lord Jesus Christ will rule over the nations of the earth in a kingdom of righteousness and peace. The Psalmist calls all of the nations of the earth to serve the Lord with gladness and to come before His presence with singing. He tells them to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.

What a blessing it is to serve the Lord, but it’s an even greater blessing when we learn to serve the Lord with gladness. I’m sure that many people serve the Lord out of a sense of obligation or duty, but the real blessings of the Lord come to those who serve Him with the strength and power that accompanies the joy of the Lord.

Zechariah, Chapter 14, describes the return of the Lord to the earth and the subsequent kingdom. It says that:

Zechariah 14:4 (NKJ)
4 . . . His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.

Zechariah 14:9 (NKJ)
9 . . . (and) the LORD shall be King over all the earth . . .

Zechariah 14:17-18 (NKJ)
17 . . . it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

It appears from this that even in the kingdom some nations will serve the Lord out of obligation, while others will serve the Lord with gladness. The second Psalm confirms this, saying:

Psalms 2:10-12 (NKJ)
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

So the true blessings of the Lord will belong to those nations that learn to really trust the Lord, but thanksgiving is not just expected of those who will live in the kingdom. It’s commanded of us today as well. The Apostle Paul instructed the believers at Colossae, saying:

Colossians 3:15 (NKJ)
15 . . . let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be (ye) thankful.

Then in the book of Philippians, Paul tells us about the secret key that he had found to a thankful heart. He said in Chapter 4:

Philippians 4:11 (KJV)
11 . . . I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

Philippians 4:12-13 (NKJ)
12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Paul had learned to be content regardless of the circumstances of his life. Paul knew what it was like to have nothing but the shirt on his back, but even circumstances like that could not keep him from being content.

Paul also knew how to be content even when he had more than enough. And you know, sometimes that’s harder for people than being content with nothing. So often, the more people get, the more they want.

Paul had learned to be content whether he had a lot or whether he had nothing. It didn’t really matter to Paul because he had learned how to be content in Jesus Christ. He knew that the Spirit of Jesus Christ was living within him. He knew that Jesus Christ was always with him and that Jesus Christ would supply his every need.

Therefore, the Apostle Paul could always be thankful, and Paul saw no reason for any believer to be unthankful. In the sixth verse of this same chapter, Paul had already instructed the Philippians to:

Philippians 4:6 (NKJ)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

In other words, when you come before the Lord, enter into His gates with thanksgiving. Come with a realization of the many blessings that you have in Christ. Come reminding yourself of all that God has done in your life and all that God has promised to do in your life.

Then Paul says that if you do this:

Philippians 4:7 (NKJ)
7 . . . the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The devil is just looking for any point of spiritual weakness so that he can exploit it and capitalize on it. If we allow ourselves to throw a pity party in honor of ourselves, the devil is sure to crash that party and use that self-pity to separate us from the power of the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, if we bring our requests to the Lord with thanksgiving in our hearts, the peace of God will protect us. The peace of God will keep our defenses strong so that the devil will have no area of spiritual weakness to exploit. In fact, the Holy Spirit will then be able to fill our minds with all that is true, and pure, and praiseworthy.

What a fantastic way to live your life, realizing your blessings and rejoicing in your victories. That’s the kind of life that God wants us to live, and that’s the kind of life that He has provided for us through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians, Chapter 1, spells out the blessings that God has provided for us today. In fact, he begins by saying that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Later in Chapter 2, Paul explains that believers today have been raised up with Christ and have been made to sit together with Christ in the heavenlies.

Now this is a unique blessing for us today. No other group of believers in the Bible has ever had this privilege. To be seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Accordingly, we are blessed in the heavenlies because we are positioned in the heavenlies. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.

Then Paul goes on in Chapter 1 to say that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. As Paul says this, he is actually facilitating one of his later prayers, which is that God will enlighten the eyes of our understanding. Paul wanted us to understand why we are here. He wanted us to understand the purpose for our existence.

Some people go through life asking, why was I ever born? What is the purpose for my life? In this verse, we see the answer; at least we see the answer for all believers. God knew about each one of us and had a plan for us even before He laid the foundations of the world, and His purpose for us is that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Well, you might ask, what does that accomplish? Ephesians 4 tells us that one of our purposes is that we might make known the manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. In other words, when the angels in heaven see the righteousness of God in us, when they see that we are holy and without blame before the Father, the manifold wisdom of God is revealed and heralded throughout the universe. II Corinthians 5 says:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NKJ)
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ
21 For (God) made (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We are holy and without blame before the Father in love, and our very existence proclaims to all of the beings of the universe the manifold wisdom of God.

Ephesians 1:5 goes on to tell us that we have been accepted in the Beloved. This means that we have no reason to fear rejection. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being rejected. It’s too painful. But this verse tells me that I have been accepted by God because I am in the Beloved.

That means that I can live my life without fear of rejection because I have been accepted by the One who really matters. I have been accepted by the creator of the universe. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Paul said, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Therefore, we have no reason to fear rejection. We have been accepted in the Beloved.

Well, how is it that we have been accepted in Jesus Christ? Isn’t it true that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God? Ephesians 1:7 says:

Ephesians 1:7
7 In (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Our sins have been forgiven because the blood of Jesus was offered as the payment for our sins. Yes, it’s true that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And it’s true that the wages of sin is death, but it’s also true that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus Christ redeemed us through His blood, and God’s offer of salvation is open to anyone who will receive it by faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

But now the righteousness of God is revealed, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and upon all who believe.

John 3:16 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Well, we certainly have much to be thankful for, not just at Thanksgiving time, but every day of the year. I hope and pray that your heart is rejoicing in the abundant life that God has provided for us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

I see that our time is gone for this morning. It’s been a pleasure studying with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

Thursday, November 09, 2006

The Miracles of God (11-19-06)

The Miracles of God
Bible Study Time 11-19-06

Last week we looked at the fact that God is still doing miracles today just as He did throughout the years of the Old Testament and through the early years of the New Testament. First, we saw that God is a loving God who continuously does miracles for saved and unsaved people alike. He causes the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. Many of the things that we see around us day-by-day come straight from the hand of God, but we so often take them for granted and fail to praise the Lord for them. Our health, the crops that grow, our ability to learn and reason, all of these things are miracles of God.

Then we saw that God has a specific plan and purpose for the earth, and we saw that God always has and always will use His mighty power to accomplish His plan and purpose. God saved David from the bear and the lion and then from Goliath, and He did so because God had chosen David to become the greatest king that this world has ever known. God parted the waters of the Red Sea to deliver Israel from the Egyptians because God plans to make Israel the centerpiece of His eternal kingdom. For this very reason, we know that God will continue to protect and preserve Israel all the way through our present age and through the years of the tribulation period for this very reason.

Therefore, if we, as believers today, want to see God doing great miracles in our lives, we have to be moving in concert with God’s overall plan and purpose. A few weeks ago, we saw the great rebellion of King Ahaz in Judah. He got so angry at God that he drug the altars of the temple out into the streets of Jerusalem and then he locked the doors of the temple. Needless to say, Ahaz lived a life of miserable failure, and he saw none of the mighty miracles of God.

However, his son, Hezekiah, dedicated his heart and his kingdom to God. He opened the doors of the temple, and he commanded the priests to serve the Lord in accordance with the laws of God. As a result, Hezekiah witnessed many of the greatest miracles of God. When Sennacherib, King of Assyria, came with his army and laid siege to Jerusalem, Hezekiah went before the Lord to ask for deliverance. He said:

II Kings 19:19 (NKJ)
19 "Now therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from (the hand of the kings of Assyria), that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God . . . "

Because of Hezekiah’s prayer, God sent a message to Hezekiah through Isaiah that said:

II Kings 19:32-34 (NKJ)
32 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return; and he shall not come into this city,' says the LORD.
34 'For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.' "

Then the Bible says:

II Kings 19:35-36 (NKJ)
35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses-- all dead.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh.

Later, Hezekiah became sick to the point of death, and Isaiah told Hezekiah:

II Kings 20:1 (NKJ)
1 "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.'"

Then the Bible says that Hezekiah “turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD.” Then Isaiah came back to Hezekiah and said:

II Kings 20:5-6 (NKJ)
5 Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.
6 "And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.”

So we can see from this that Hezekiah was a man who had dedicated his life to the Lord, and he was moving in concert with the plan and purpose of God. As a result, he enjoyed the blessings of God, and he saw the Lord do many great miracles.

It is such a blessing to look back at these events that took place in Israel’s history. In these historical events, we see the power of God, and we see the great and mighty things that God can do in and through people who dedicate their lives to the Lord.

However, we do have to be aware of the fact that the nation of Israel had a different relationship with God than we do. God had made a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai and in that covenant, God promised them that if they would serve Him wholeheartedly, He would bless them with health and peace and prosperity. That was a promise that our nation does not have today.

Even in Israel that promise was given to the nation as a whole, and we should not conclude that every faithful Jew in the nation of Israel became rich or that they were shielded from all adversity. The prophets are a good example of faithful men who had to suffer greatly for their testimony. Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day:

Luke 11:47-48 (NKJ)
47 "Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 "In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.

As it was then, so it is today. Many faithful believers throughout our present age have had to suffer great hardships because of their faithfulness to Christ. But even as we suffer for the Lord, we are comforted in our knowledge that God is sovereign and that God is a miracle-working God. When we suffer, we know that God has a purpose for our suffering, and He will reward us for our faithfulness.

When we suffer, we can pray with full confidence for a miracle from the Lord, knowing that He is able to do miracles, and we can rest assured that God will use all of His mighty power to accomplish His perfect plan for our lives.

If we, in times of trouble, were to seek our own will instead of the perfect will of God, we would find ourselves in a position of rebellion against God. Many people in times of rebellion have steadfastly and doggedly pursued their own desires, seeking their own will, and some have accomplished great things in the eyes of the world. Nevertheless, they have found no blessing from God in their accomplishments, and they will find no reward when they stand before Him on the Day of Judgment.

When Jesus came to the earth, introducing the message of the New Covenant Kingdom, He went before the people with the power to do miracles. He had the power within Himself to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to do all kinds of other miracles. One woman simply touched His garment, and her body was healed. Jesus didn’t do any surgery. He didn’t give her any medicine. She simply touched His garment, and the Bible says that Jesus felt the healing power as it left His body and went into her body.

Jesus gave the power to do miracles to His disciples, and Luke 9 says that “they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” Now we know that God does miracles today, but this passage brings us to a totally different question. Does God give the gift of miracles to individuals today? Does God give individuals the gift of healing, or the gift of discerning spirits, or the gift of prophecy, and so forth and so on?

When we rightly divide the word of God, we see that there is a big difference between what God was doing in the gospels and during the Acts period and what He is doing today. Those differences relate to the fact that in the gospels and during the Acts period, God was offering the New Covenant Kingdom to Israel while today He is not.

In Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, he said that he wrote as a minister of the New Covenant, and in I Corinthians he said:

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NKJ)
7 . . . the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Now as we get over into the epistles that Paul wrote after the Acts period, we see a different story. In Ephesians, Chapter 4, Paul said that:

Ephesians 4:8,11,12,13 (NKJ)
8 . . . "When (Christ) ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Here we see no gifts that relate to miracles. We see no gifts of knowledge or healing. If someone comes to you and says that God told them to tell you the reason for your sickness. Don’t believe it. That’s a trick of the devil to manipulate you. If they say that they know the very sin in your life that has caused your children to be sick, don’t fall for that. Those special gifts of knowledge and discernment do not exist today.

If you are a believer, then you have the Holy Spirit living within you. God has promised to speak to you through the Holy Spirit as you read the written word of God, and the Holy Spirit will speak to you as your pastors and teachers preach and teach the written word of God.

Paul mentions apostles and prophets in Ephesians 4 only because, as he wrote that epistle, the word of God was not yet complete. Since we now have God’s completed word, we no longer need apostles and prophets. We no longer need anyone to speak the words of God with the infallible authority of an apostle or a prophet.

When pastors and teachers teach the word of God today, we should do so with the understanding that we are fallible, that we are learning and growing in our understanding of the word. We do not speak with the authority of an apostle or a prophet.

God has determined that for the Church today to grow into a perfect man, into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, all we need is the word of God, the Holy Spirit and people who are gifted as pastors, teachers and/or evangelists.

In the Old Testament, God gave the prophets the ability to do miracles so that the people would know that they spoke with the authority of God. Moses did the signs in the sight of the people, and the people believed. Elijah called down fire from heaven, and the people cried out, “The Lord, He is God.”

When Jesus Christ came to the earth, preaching the New Covenant Kingdom, He did miracles to validate His message. He told the people that He was the very Son of God, and He did miracles to prove that His message was true.

The Apostles went out during the Acts period, preaching the hope of the New Covenant Kingdom. God gave them the power to do miracles so that the people would know that they were true apostles, speaking with the authority of God. They were asking the people to believe that Jesus had come back from the dead and that He had been taken up into heaven. As you can imagine, that message needed some extraordinary proof, so God gave them that proof in the form of miracles, miracles that were done right in front of their eyes.

When Paul was called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, he went out during the Acts period as a minister of the New Covenant. He went out telling people that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins and that He had been raised from the dead to give them eternal life. His message was validated by miracles. As Paul wrote to the Galatians during the Acts period, he said:

Galatians 3:5 (NKJ)
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?--

The miracles that Paul did during the Acts period confirmed the fact that Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. Therefore, all of the Apostles were confirmed by miracles, but when Israel’s New Covenant program was rejected by the nation of Israel at the end of the Acts period, God set aside the New Covenant program and with it He set aside the gifts that were related to the miracles.

Today, we live under the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ. No preacher or teacher or evangelist speaks today with the authority of an apostle or a prophet because we already have the completed word of God. God still does mighty miracles, and every day we should expect to see the Lord working in miraculous ways, but we need to recognize that today God does not give the gift of miracles to individual believers.

Thank you for studying with me this morning. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

God of Miracles (11-12-06)

God of Miracles
Bible Study Time 11-12-06

Last week we talked about the fact that God is sovereign over all the universe. No one is more powerful than He. No one is wiser than He. He is powerful enough and wise enough to accomplish any task on His agenda. No one tells Him what to do, and He is accountable to no one for the things that He does.

This concept, this doctrine of God’s sovereignty is so important to us because, ultimately, the one thing that God requires of us is that we trust Him and believe what He says. With this in mind, how could we trust God if there were certain things that He could not do, if there were certain limitations to His power or to His knowledge and wisdom?

Can you image how your view of life would change if you thought that there were things that God could not understand or that He could not do?

Abraham trusted God implicitly. He believed in God. Abraham had a relationship with God and had the hope of eternal life because He believed what God said. When God said, “Abraham, you’re going to have a son even though you’re 85 years old,” Abraham took God at His word and believed what God said. As a result, God accounted Abraham as righteous.

David grew up hearing about the mighty power of God. He heard stories about God parting the waters of the Red Sea so that his forefathers could cross on dry land. Then his own personal faith grew as a result of his own experiences with the Lord. On two separate occasions as a shepherd, David had to do battle with a bear and a lion. At one point, he told King Saul that when the lion rose up against him, he grabbed it by the beard and stuck it with a mortal blow.

David was delivered from the lion and the bear and then from the terrifying giant named Goliath. Ultimately, David was delivered from all of his enemies, and he said:

2 Samuel 22:31-34 (NKJ)
31 As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; he is a shield to all who trust in Him.
32 "For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
33 God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.
34 He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.

David knew the joy that belongs to all those who know how to trust the Lord. He knew what it was like to come to the end of the day and say, “Lord, thank you for being with me today. I can see that You are the One who was directing me every step of the way. When I was exhausted, You gave me strength. When I was about to say something stupid, You held my tongue. I thank You and praise You for who You are and for the things You have done.”

Abraham trusted the Lord, and David trusted the Lord, and they both witnessed the mighty miracles of God. But there are those who ask if God is still doing miracles today, and I guess that if someone were to say that God is no longer doing miracles, they would have to come up with some kind of Biblical evidence to support their claim. If they say that they have never seen God do a miracle, that would not be very good evidence that God is not doing miracles. Maybe God just doesn’t want to do miracles for them.

From a Biblical perspective, the Old Testament scriptures are full of the accounts of God miracles, and the New Testament scriptures bear witness to all of the miracles that Jesus and the apostles did, but is there any evidence that God is still doing miracles today.

I think that as we look at the scriptures we see ample evidence that God is still doing miracles today, and the fact that God is still doing miracles is even supported by science and history. First, the Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God still has the power, and He still has the desire to help us and provide for us. Paul said, “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” and we can rest assured that God will not hesitate to use all of His mighty power to provide for our needs.

In fact, I think that God loves doing miracles in our lives. God loves it when we open our hearts and allow Him to work. He wants to do great and mighty things, and He wants to glorify His name through the miracles that He does.

We often limit God’s ability to do miracles because we suffer from a lack of faith. It may be that we have not because we ask not. We often settle for less than God’s best simply because we do not believe that God is willing and able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that God works in us.

God loves to show His miraculous power, but there are times when we are not only reluctant to ask for miracles but we also fail to acknowledge the miracles that God is doing. Without a doubt, we can all praise the Lord right now for the mighty miracles that He is doing in our lives, but are we doing so?

Let’s take the area of personal health. We often think of miracles in terms of God healing people from one disease or another, but just think of the thousands of miracles that God is doing in your body right now, this very minute.

There are countless numbers of infectious agents that are attacking your body right now, and any one of those organisms could actually kill you. Do you know why they don’t kill you? It’s because God is miraculously protecting you. He is working in and through your body’s immune system to kill those microorganisms before they can kill you.

God is miraculously saving your life and my life right now. How often do we stop to praise the Lord for His continuous, ongoing miracles?

When we feel sick and we go to a physician, we often think or hope that our physician will be able to heal us of our disease. But the truth is that no physician has the power to heal. That is God’s area of expertise, and it’s wrong to give His glory to another.

Researchers can set up experiments to show the various ways that the human body responds to this procedure or that medication. Then based on these observations, physicians can base their practice of medicine on what is hopefully a high probability of success. But even with all of this research and all of this knowledge, physicians still do not have the power to heal.

The farmer is in a similar situation in that the skillful farmer takes it upon himself to learn as much as he can about the physical laws that govern the earth, but one of the first things that he will learn is that he does not have the power to make a seed sprout and then grow into a productive plant. Only God can do that. Every time a crop is harvested, we see evidence of God’s miracle working power.

Farmers know the conditions that are conducive to causing a seed to sprout, but what is it that’s inside the cells of that seed that make it all of a sudden decide to sprout. That is a mystery that only God knows, and God is the only one who can make it happen.

Farmers plant the seed and supply the fertilizer. They might even provide some irrigation, but they cannot control all of the variables that have to come together to produce a crop.

Every once in a while God will change some little something in the physical environment which we may not even notice, but that little change will result in a bumper crop on the one hand or possibly a crop failure on the other. It seems that God likes to remind us now and then that we are totally dependent upon the miracles that He does on our behalf.

Even our ability to learn is an astonishing miracle. Who is it that gives the researchers the ability to design an experiment that will yield meaningful results? Who is it that gives them the ability to interpret those results in an accurate way? Anyone who has taken a course in statistics knows that not just anyone can do that, and such gifts are truly miracles from God.

We cannot even begin to comprehend all of the miracles that God is doing today, but some would say, “Yes, but these things are things that God does for everyone. Even people who have absolutely no faith in God are the beneficiaries of many of these miracles.” And that’s a great point, but it is a point in which we should all rejoice.

God heals the bodies of even unsaved people. God causes crops to grow for even unsaved farmers. Some of the most brilliant minds of all time have been the minds of unsaved people. Aren’t you glad that we serve a God like that. The fact that God does miracles even for unsaved people shows the amazing love and the amazing grace of God. When God sends the rain, it falls on the just and the unjust. God loves all people whether they are saved or unsaved.

Sometimes Christians have a tendency to think of miracles only in terms of those things that God does for saved people who have extraordinary faith. We think of things like God parting the waters of the Red Sea for the Israelites only to allow those waters to come crashing back down upon the Egyptians. Or we think of God causing the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down so that the Israelites could go in and destroy the wicked citizens of Jericho.

Is God doing those kinds of miracles today? I think He is. God always does whatever is necessary to accomplish His plan and purpose. There was no way that God was going to allow David, for instance, to be killed by a lion or a bear. God had great plans for David’s future. And today, we can safely conclude that God is not going to allow the nation of Israel to be destroyed. God’s plan and purpose will not allow it.

God’s overall plan and purpose for planet Earth is the same today as it has always been. At the time that God pronounced the curse in the Garden of Eden, God told us that the Seed of the woman would destroy the devil. The scriptures teach us that when God does bind the devil in the bottomless pit at the end of the tribulation period, the creation itself will be set free from the curse of sin.

Then, after the thousand year reign of Christ, the devil will be cast into the lake of fire, and at that time our present heaven and earth will pass away but a new heaven and a new earth will appear which will have no sin and will have no corruption. God promised Abraham and David that the Seed of the woman would be one of their descendants and that the nation of Israel would serve as a nation of priests in the restored earth.

Through the years, God has done many extraordinary miracles in order to bring this plan to fruition. He divided the waters of the Red Sea so that the nation of Israel could escape from Egypt where they faced certain destruction. God caused the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down because it was His plan to give all of the land of Canaan to the nation of Israel, and against all odds, God gave the nation of Israel victory over all of the Canaanite nations.

Is God doing miracles such as these today? Yes, He is. Whenever something needs to be accomplished today to set the stage for the tribulation period and the future kingdom of the restored earth, there is no power on earth and there is no power of Satan that can prevent God from doing all that is in accordance with His plan.

Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but the nation of Israel is still around. That’s a miracle. When God gave the nation of Israel a homeland in Palestine after World War II, that was a miracle. The fact that Israel has been able to survive in the hostile political environment of the Middle East for the past 58 years is a miracle.

In 1967, Israel learned of an eminent attack by Egypt and launched a pre-emptive attack against Egypt’s air force. As a result, Jordan attacked Jerusalem. Enemy forces surrounded Israel, but six days later the war was over, and Israel had gained control of the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Now you tell me, is God still doing miracles today? I think that we would all have to agree that He is.

Furthermore, God does not just do miracles for Israel. Two hundred and thirty years ago, a handful of rebels in the British colonies of the new world decided to declare their independence from England.

England was the most powerful nation on the earth as that time but seven years later, the British signed the Treaty of Paris and agreed to withdraw from America. I think it is no coincidence that those British colonies have now become the greatest and most powerful nation on the earth and also happens to be the primary supporter of Israel in the Middle East.

God is doing miracles today, and He is doing them in exactly the same way and for exactly the same reason that He has always done miracles. God will do whatever is necessary to accomplish His overall plan and purpose.

At the same time, let me say this, God never has and never will set aside His plan in order to grant us something that we pray for. God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt after hundreds of years of suffering. God told Moses that He had heard their cries and that He was aware of their suffering, but still He did not call Moses until it was just the right time according to His plan and purpose. God had told Abraham 400 years earlier that his descendants would remain in Egypt until the iniquity of the Amorites was complete.

Daniel confessed the sins of Israel and prayed that the glory of the temple worship might be restored, but God sent Gabriel to tell Daniel that the kingdom in all of its glory would not be reestablished for at least another 490 years.

I see that our time is gone for this morning, but next week I’m planning to talk a little bit more about the miracles of God. It’s been a pleasure being with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

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