Noon at Night

Persevere in teh Faith

2011-01-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 18:36-50) You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets. You delivered me from strife with the people; you made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses. The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation-- the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me, who delivered me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you rescued me from the man of violence. For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.

(Romans 11:29) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

One of the doctrines that came out of the Protestant Reformation is the perseverance of the saints. Simply, this means that once a person is born again, he will not turn away from the Lord. Perseverance means steady persistence in a course of action in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. Is it by our own strength or by God's own strength that we persevere in our faith?

In these and similar passages throughout the scriptures, God speaks, not so much of our own perseverance, but of His perseverance in our calling. God does not save us, give us an assignment, and then sit back to see if we will sink or swim; He is actively involved in our perseverance. David says "You gave a wide place for my steps", "You equipped me with strength for the battle", "You made those who rise up against me sink under me.", "You made my enemies turn their backs to me", "You delivered me from strife", "You made me the head of the nations", "You gave me vengeance", "You subdued people peoples under me" (paraphrased), "You delivered me", "You exalted me", "You rescued me".

God's gifts and God's calling are irrevocable. God will persevere in carrying us through today and keeping us on track to accomplish what He has called us to accomplish.

Questions For Discussion

In what way does God equip us for the calling or task to which He assigns you?

Explain a Christian who falls away from the Lord.

What does perseverance in the faith mean?

Hold Your Shield High

2011-01-26T06:30:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 18:31-35) For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?-- the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.

(Ephesians 6:16) In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

Through your faith you are saved. It is not empty faith, or faith in the cosmos, or faith in something about which you know nothing. It is faith that has been given to you by the almighty, supreme, and sovereign creator; it is faith in Him. There is power in faith but the faith itself does not produce or provide the power; it is He who gives you the faith who is, produces, and provides the power.

Your faith is from God, in God, and for God. Your faith is your shield and your shield is your salvation. Through it you are able to accomplish what God has given you to accomplish, you are able to resist temptation and win every battle against the enemy, you are able to persevere.

Your strength is in your faith but remember that it is not your own faith but the faith God has given you and that the source of your strength is not your faith and the source of your faith is not yourself; it all comes from God. To rely on others is futile because others fail you; to rely on yourself is futile because you fail yourself, but to rely on God is effectual because God never fails.

Walk into every battle today with your shield held high and you will overcome.

Questions For Discussion

Why is a Christian's faith effectual?

What is the source of your strength and your faith?

How do you hold your shield high?

Be Weak

2011-01-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 18:28-30) For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God--his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

(2 Corinthians 12:9-10) But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Who alone can lighten darkness? What one person can run against an entire troop of soldiers? Who can leap over an enormous wall? No one can do these things of his own strength, anymore than a person can save himself from his own sins or sanctify himself to the image of Christ. It is only by God's infinite strength that any of these things can be accomplished in you. When God accomplishes these great things in a weak vessel like you, His strength is displayed and He is glorified.

Your weakness highlights God's strength. When you are too weak to accomplish something yet you accomplish it, the accomplishment is the Lord's and it becomes obvious that you are operating in the Lord's strength and not your own. His strength becomes your strength in your weakness. Your strength is God accomplishing that which is impossible for you to accomplish on your own. The great temptation is to take credit for His strength as your own and the greater temptation is to actually believe that His strength is your own strength and not your own weakness. Resist this temptation by always giving God the glory for anything good in your life.

Recognize your own weakness in the challenges you face today and rely upon the Lord's strength to overcome and accomplish them; then you will be strong!

Questions For Discussion

What does it mean, "For when I am weak, then I am strong."?

What can you do to resist the temptation to take credit for God's strength in you?

What is the first step in relying upon the Lord's strength in all areas of your life?

Live a Godly Life

2011-01-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 18:20-24) The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

(Titus 2:11-12) For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

David was a man who committed many sins throughout his life. There were times when he was unfaithful to the Lord and times when he did not rely upon the Lord's strength and wisdom when faced with certain difficulties. There were times when David acted foolishly. Yet he says that he kept the ways of the Lord and did not wickedly depart from God, and God refers to David as a Man after His own heart. David sinned but he was not characterized by sin; he did not follow sinful patterns of behavior throughout his life; he did not constantly repeat his sins. David learned by his sins.

God has saved us from our sins, not so we can just continue sinning and rest in the fact that all of our sins are forgiven. No more than God's purpose for saving the Israelites from Egyptian oppression was to have them eternally march around mount Horeb with the confidence that they would have manna to eat everyday. God's purpose in each trip around Mount Horeb was for the Israelites to turn away from their sins and His purpose for us is that we would turn away from our sinful patterns of behavior.

Concentrate today on renouncing ungodliness and not continuously repeating the same sins. Concentrate today on living a Godly life.

Questions For Discussion

What is the difference between being blameless before God and being perfect?

How do you think God characterizes a person?

What does repeatedly committing the same sin say about your perspective on that sin?

Work On the Eternal

2011-01-20T05:58:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 17:13-15) Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

(Luke 12:19-21) And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

Many around you are rich and have much in the way of materialistic possessions and physical security. David saw the same thing; he looked around himself and saw many who were rich in wealth, who stored up bountiful treasure for themselves and their children, but were far away from the Lord. David was committed to the Lord's desire for His people: to be satisfied with God's likeness. To be satisfied is not just to accept your lot in life, but to truly understand the magnitude of the wealth God has given you in conforming you to the image of His Son. All of the possessions, wealth, and security of this world can't compare with the riches God has given you and that are stored up for you in heaven.

To work and expend your energy for the temporal things of this world (that would be anything outside of God's desire) is futile. Any pleasure these things might bring has no substance and is short lived, even in this lifetime.

Today and everyday, put forth your effort and use up your strength working on and toward the things that God desires; store up your treasure with God and know that on that final day your treasure will not be burned up in the fire but will be taken with you into heaven for eternity.

Questions For Discussion

What is the greatest inheritance one can leave to his children?

What is the Lord's purpose for His people?

How do you know that the pleasures of this world have no substance?

Live According to God's Word

2011-01-19T06:12:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 17:4-5) With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.

(Romans 5:20-21) Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You know you sin because God's Law shows you your sin; it defines your sin; it shines the light on your sin so that you are able to see every contour and detail of your sin. The more you absorb God's Word and the more you bury God's Law in your heart, the more you are aware of your sins. This is how David avoided sin and this is how you are to avoid sin. But knowing about your sin and even avoiding sin is not enough to save you or redeem you. It is God's grace alone that drew you into God's kingdom, that empowers you to live according to God's Word (i.e., avoid sin and do what is right in the eyes of God), and that assures you of eternal life with God in heaven; all of this through the sacrificial blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To live according to God's Word is your participation in God's act of conforming you into the person He desires and designed you to be; in short it is your part of your own sanctification. It is God who saved you, it is God who conforms you, and it is God who is leading you to heaven.

Each time that you are tempted to sin today, remember that God has filled you with His Holy Spirit both saving you from your sins and empowering you to sin no more.

Questions For Discussion

What does it mean to bury God's Word in your heart?

Why is avoiding sin and doing what is right in God's eyes not enough to save you?

What is sanctification?

Felloship with Saints

2011-01-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 16:3-11) As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

(1 Corinthians 15:33) Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."

King David emphasizes his delight in those who walk in the ways of the Lord. He draws attention to the fact that those who seek and worship any other god are counter-productive in their quest for happiness and contentment; that their sorrows will actually increase. He says he will not participate in their activity and that he will not even speak of them. By saying that he will not speak of them he is speaking of them but this is not a contradiction. The meaning here is that he will not speak favorably of them; he will not find delight in what they do against the Lord.

Paul gives the Corinthian church a warning not to enjoy or find favor in the evil deeds of others. Paul puts emphasis on the corrupting power of heart-level association with those who do evil. Fellowship, which is the heart-level connection and enjoyment of others, is designed by God for those who are like-minded in their knowledge and love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you just simply enjoy the company of those who do evil in the eyes of God, you run the serious risk of being spiritually influenced by there lifestyles. You are to associate with unbelievers for the sole purpose of sharing the gospel, showing God's love, and demonstrating the holiness of God. Any other association is as counter-productive as their own running after other gods.

Do not separate yourself from the unbelieving world, for God has placed you here as a light in a dark world. Instead, differentiate between your relationships with saints and unbelievers; fellowship with saints and evangelize unbelievers.

Questions For Discussion

What is a saint?

What is fellowship?

How should you differentiate between your relationships with saints and unbelievers?

Remember to Whom You Belong

2011-01-17T06:34:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 16:1-2) A Miktam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

(2 Corinthians 1:8b-9) For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

David realized that the circumstances of his life were far beyond what he could deal with. He took refuge in the Lord and recognized that there was no good in him apart from the Lord and that the Lord was the sole source of his strength.

The Lord wants you to rely on Him and Him alone in the same way His servant David did. He superintends your life and takes you through specific, sometimes difficult and unpleasant, circumstances as a way of communicating with you. He guides and directs you, encourages you, gives you opportunities to practice His principles, and even forces you along His path; all through the circumstances of your life. You had the sentence of death and were pardoned by the Lord. He paid the price for your death sentence and your life now belongs to Him.

Today, remember to whom it is you belong and to whom you owe your life. Submit to His will and authority but at the same time, enjoy the safety, security, and confidence that He is in control.

Questions For Discussion

What does it mean to superintend?

Could you learn the Lord's principles without being taken through difficult and unpleasant circumstances?

What do you think about belonging to and owing your life to the Lord?

Live According to God's Word

2011-01-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 12:1-8) To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, "With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?" "Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the LORD; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs." The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

(1 Peter 1:3-7) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The world seems full of unbelievers who hate, oppress, and persecute God and His people. They consider themselves wise, self-sufficient, strong, and independent from God, and quite often they appear that way even to those who walk in God's light.

The reality is that through God's strength we are like the solid granite boulders that waves continuously pound against but on which have absolutely no affect. The wicked are like crashing cymbals that make tremendous noise but have no real substance. Fear of the wicked is lack of faith and trust in the Lord, as everything of this world, even gold that is tested by fire, will ultimately perish, but what God has stored up for us in heaven is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

Place your faith and trust in the Lord and not in the world. Find your confidence in knowing that you are living according to God's Word and thus pleasing Him. Be strong by standing on the solid rock of Jesus Christ who will live forever.

Questions For Discussion

What is faith, trust, and confidence?

Why does the world and its ways seem so strong and the Lord and His ways seem so weak?

When will you as a believer be vindicated?

Build the Kingdom of God

2011-01-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 11:1-7) To the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

(James 1:12) Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

The Lord tests His people to stretch them, to mold and shape them, to sanctify them. When the wicked experience suffering and trials it is a foreshadow of judgment from the Lord for their evil deeds. When the righteous experience suffering and trials, it is from the intense love God has for them; it is always for their greater good, and it is ultimately for the purpose of their sanctification which is building the kingdom of God.

Giving thanks for trials and suffering is difficult when you have your eyes focused on yourself. Christ would not have endured what He did if He was focused on Himself. If you keep the eyes and ears of your heart oriented to the Lord in all circumstances, you will be thankful for the trials knowing that you are participating in the building of God's kingdom.

Know that the difficulties and trials the Lord takes you through actually reflect His great love for you. Remember and remind yourself that there is a tremendous and significant difference between the suffering of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous. Build the kingdom of God by fully embracing and participating (from the Lord's perspective, not your own) in the life circumstances the Lord brings to you.

Questions For Discussion

Who are the wicked?

How are trials and suffering expressions of God's love?

How can you participate in the building of God's kingdom through your own sanctification?

Be Thankful

2011-01-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 9:1-2) To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

(Hebrews 13:15) Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

When David says my whole heart he means his entire being; what he feels, what he doesn't feel, what he thinks, what he says, what he does, and the choices he makes. He means that he will give thanks to the Lord even when he does not feel thankful. He will be joyful and happy at all times, not because of his circumstances but because of the wonderful things that the Lord has done. This is possible by continually meditating upon and speaking about the Lord's wonderful works.

In the Hebrews passage, continually is translated from the Greek word dia (G1223) which literally means the channel or vehicle of an act. The Lord intends for you to be a vessel of praise to Him meaning that you are not to just offer praise but you are to become the actual praise yourself. This indicates that every fiber of your being is to be praise to Him. Remember that thankfulness is and expression, not a feeling. You can (and should) express thankfulness through appropriate thoughts, words, and deeds, even when you do not feel thankful. Both of these verses indicate that you are to worship the Lord with all of your being all of the time. That leaves absolutely no time, place, or circumstance in which you are free to not be focused on the Lord and worshiping Him.

Express thankfulness to the Lord today by thinking, speaking, and acting according to His Word. Think less of your own circumstances and more of the Lord's steadfast love and faithfulness to you.

Questions For Discussion

Do you ever not feel thankful for the things the Lord has given you and done for you?

How can you express thankfulness when you do not feel thankful?

What is the difference between being thankful and being the thankfulness itself?

Thank God

2011-01-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 8:1-9) To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

(Romans 1:20) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

God is not hiding. He has made who He is and what He is obvious and plain to see by everyone since the very beginning. No one has any excuse not to believe in God or not to attribute all glory to Him. Even those who never have the gospel clearly explained to them or who are never properly educated in the scriptures know of God's existence through the work of His mighty glory.

Unbelief is a smokescreen for rebellion. Those who do not want to honor God and give Him the glory that is due His name, claim not to believe.

Thank the Father today for clearing the smoke and opening the eyes of your heart to acknowledge His glory and honor. Thank the Father today for giving you a heart to not only believe in Him but to have faith in Him. Thank the Father today for saving you!

Questions for Discussion

Why do unbelievers not believe?

Can you convince an unbeliever to believe?

Why does this give believers greater reason to thank the Father?

Spend Today In the Presence of the Lord

2011-01-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 5:4-7) For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

(Hebrews 4:16) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

King David was speaking prophetically. At the time, only the High Priest was allowed to enter the Lord's dwelling place, and then only under certain conditions and at a certain time. King David was referring to a future time as described in Hebrews when the sacrifice of God's only Son would open the way for believers to enter God's house and to worship Him face-to-face. David was prophesying, looking forward to, the day of salvation.

Today is that day. You are able to enter into His presence and truly be in His presence because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. You do not have to look forward to the day or perform any specific duties, works, or rituals. Through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ you are constantly in His presence and more; His Holy Spirit abides within you!

Spend all of today and everyday in the presence of the Lord. Worship Him at His holy temple all day long through all you think, say, and do.

Questions For Discussion

Where is God's Holy Temple?

In what way are you in a deeper presence of the Lord than even the High Priests of the Old Testament were?

From where do you draw your confidence to draw near to God even when you sin?

Begin Your Day with the Lord

2011-01-05T06:33:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 5:1-3) To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

(Mark 1:35) And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

The morning is a very special time. You are fresh from the nights sleep with no distractions yet from the day. It is the beginning of your day and what you do first thing in the morning sets the tone for your entire day. It is said that one hour with the Lord in the morning is worth two in the evening. As a disciple of Christ, it is not optional to spend quiet focused time with Him every day; it is absolutely necessary. Beginning each day with the Lord leads you to spending your entire day with Him which is the very definition of worshiping Him.

Although the morning is not the only time or the commanded time to have this quiet special meeting with your savior and King, it is the best. The Lord Himself began His day in the still, quiet presence of His Father. What better example to follow than the Lord Jesus Himself. If your lifestyle does not permit this time with the Lord, consider changing your lifestyle!

Do as David and the Lord Jesus Himself did and begin each day in the presence of God. If not an hour, take at least a few minutes at the beginning of each day to speak to the Lord, prepare your daily sacrifice for Him, and to hear His voice to set the tone for your day.

Questions For Discussion

Why is it important to spend time everyday with the Lord?

Why is first thing in the morning the best time of day to do this?

What should this time with the Lord look like?

Offer Him Sacrifices

2011-01-04T06:48:00.001-08:00

(Psalms 4:1-8) To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him. Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. There are many who say, "Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!" You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

(Hebrews 13:15-16) Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

God has promised to love, protect, and bring joy to those who do not neglect His instructions and who offer right sacrifices to Him throughout their lives. In war, it is difficult to rest and even more so to sleep; for it is these times that you are most vulnerable to your enemy. David placed his complete confidence in the Lord's promises when he said that he would both lie down and sleep. David had this confidence because he knew to what God had called him, he trusted the Lord to provide and care for him, and he offered right sacrifices to the Lord in all that he did.

Your daily acts of righteousness and obedience to God's Word are true worship and praise. These acts are only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit living within you through God's act of salvation. What He has called you to, He has equipped you to fulfill; therefore through your worship, all glory and honor is given to Him.

Please God today by offering right sacrifices to Him throughout your day; seek Him and test what you think, say, and do, before you act. Trust in the Lord and know that He alone makes you dwell in safety.

Questions For Discussion

What are right sacrifices to Lord?

What results in following the Lord's directions and offering right sacrifices to Him?

Where should you look first if you have a difficult time resting or sleeping?

Feel Safe In All That You do

2011-01-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 3:1-8) A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah

(Romans 8:28-31) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

It is true that you can not trust your feelings to guide you in the way God wants you to go. It is true that you do not always feel like doing what you know should do. It is also true that you do not always feel the way God wants or intends you to feel but know this: God does intend you to feel and He intends you to feels particular ways.

God loves His people; so much that He gave His only Son--truly He gave Himself--for you. He has had you in His mind and heart since before creation, and he has ordained and superintended all of creation to bring you to the place where He has you today. God watches over you, He protects you, He guides your every step. He will not let your foot stumble or let you fall. If you trust in Him He will sustain you. God has a plan and a purpose for each of His people and He will see to it that you accomplish yours. Your part is to cooperate with Him in all ways. If you trust in the Lord, there is no need to be afraid; if you are afraid, you are probably not trusting in the Lord.

Do not be afraid of anything today. Feel safe in all that you do today because God is for you and anyone or anything that tries to come against you will ultimately fail.

Questions For Discussion

What is your part in God protecting you and not letting anything outside of His plan happen to you?

Why does God allow His people to have wrong feelings?

How do you turn wrong feelings into right feelings?

Lay Your Difficulties Before the Lord

2010-12-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 59:3-4) For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Awake, come to meet me, and see!

(1 Peter 5:7-11) casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There are varieties of difficulties in the life of a believer; many or few, severe or minor. You may have experienced many or you may have experienced few. You may have experienced severe difficulties or you may have experienced minor ones. The most difficult might be behind you or might lay ahead of you. Your difficulties might be deeper, longer, and more challenging than the believers around you are experiencing or, in comparison, yours might not feel like difficulties at all. Only the Lord knows what difficulties He has called you to endure and what the outcome will be. What you know for sure is what the Lord has revealed in His Word. That is, that you will endure hardships and difficulties for His namesake, that these difficulties will sanctify you, bring glory to His name, and that He has empowered you to respond to these difficulties appropriately and endure them.

Your blessed assurance is that the Lord will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you either in this life or in heaven. You do not know when or how, but you know it will be done and that is the rock solid hope that you have to endure and enjoy your life as a believer.

Resist the temptations the enemy uses to trip you, stand firm in your faith, and know that other believers around you are experiencing the same types of difficulties. Know that God alone holds dominion over everything.

Questions For Discussion

Why are the difficulties of some believers more severe than others?

What are some of the difficulties that you face as a believer?

What is the hope that you have to endure difficulties throughout your life?

Build Your Character Through Adversity

2010-12-29T05:32:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 59:1-2) To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.

(2 Timothy 4:17-18) But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

There is much said in God's Word about enemies seeking to harm and destroy God's people either en masse or individually. This is because as a member of God's kingdom and God's family, you have an enemy who is always seeking to harm and destroy you. He never rests and he never sleeps. He is always looking for a weakness, an opportunity, a time when your guard is down. He attacks you blatantly and he attacks you subtly; he attacks you directly and he attacks you indirectly but he especially attacks you when you are least expecting it.

Ultimately, the enemy can not harm you because God has assured your salvation by accomplishing it once-and-for-all on the cross. The enemy can however, affect your sanctification and your effectiveness in sharing the gospel or good news of Jesus Christ. To be able to thwart attempts at sharing the gospel is an area of particular delight for the enemy. Your only safe and sure defense against the enemy's attacks is the power of the Holy Spirit within you.

Be on your guard today especially at times when you least expect the enemy to attack and at times when the Lord gives you opportunity to share His good news of salvation. Ask the Lord at the beginning of each day and at the moments of attack, to strengthen you with His strength which is the power of His Holy Spirit.

Questions For Discussion

Why does the enemy attack you when he knows that he has already been defeated on the cross?

When do you need to be most on your guard against the enemy?

What is your defense against the enemy?

Know That The Lord Will Avenge

2010-12-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 55:15) Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

(Matthew 26:24) The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

God is a caring and loving father, wants the best for His children, and is always watching over and protecting them. Why then does He allow those He loves so dearly to be hurt by others, especially other believers? There are certainly specific reasons God has as He works in each individual's life, but overall God's purpose is to bring unbelievers to repentance and believers into deeper levels of sanctification.

From your perspective, when you are wronged you have the opportunity to rely on God's grace (to forgive the one who wronged you), God's mercy (to comfort you), and to be drawn into deeper relationship and reliance upon Him; in a word, sanctification. For the unbeliever who wrongs you know this: his action will either be the cause of his condemnation and eternal punishment (which should lead any true believer to a point of compassion) or the conduit through which the Lord brings him to repentance and salvation (which should lead any true believer to rejoice). For the believer who wrongs you, know that your response has a direct effect on his sanctification; either your forgiveness will display Christ's love and draw him closer to the image of Christ, or your unforgiveness will lead him to further hurtful actions toward you or others.

Today, know that the Lord takes proper and adequate vengeance on all wrongs committed. Your wrongs and the wrongs of other believers have been paid for by the blood of Christ on the cross. The wrongs of unbelievers will be paid for through eternity in a way that you deserve but will never experience.

Questions For Discussion

Why does God allow His children to be hurt by others?

How does being hurt by others end up a benefit to you?

How does the Lord work through you to benefit those who hurt you?

Trust That the Lord Will Always Be Faithful

2010-12-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 55:12-14) For it is not an enemy who taunts me-- then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me-- then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God's house we walked in the throng.

(Luke 22:47-48) While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

The psalmist recognizes that his counselor is a false friend. Someone that he trusted and who knew him well. Someone whom he had been close to and who knew his strengths and weaknesses. Someone in whom he had confided, shared intimate thoughts with, and whom he trusted. The Lord Jesus experienced betrayal at the hand of a close friend. Judas walked with Jesus, was taught by Jesus, and was intimately aware of Jesus' innermost thoughts. In each of these examples, the closeness of the friendship is what made the betrayal possible.

This type of deception comes in many forms. Certainly, as was the case with Judas, it comes in the form of out-and-out betrayal of a friend but it also comes in far more subtle forms. Sometimes when a friend is in the midst of a difficulty or pattern of sin, he may desire to pull you into it as a means of justification or to have company in his misery. Other times a friend may give bad counsel with good intentions; as when he tells you whatever it takes to comfort you even if what he tells you or the way he counsels you leads you away from where the Lord is directing you.

First and foremost, your truest and most loyal friend—and your most trusted counselor—is the Lord Jesus Himself but that does not mean you should not trust or be vulnerable to others. The key is to always weigh what others tell you against God's Word, and to go to those who will give you good and wise counsel, not those who will tell you what you want to hear.

Trust your friends and at the same time trust that the Lord will always be faithful even when those closest to you are not.

Questions For Discussion

Why would trusted close friends ever betray you, lead you astray, or give you bad counsel?

Is deception or betrayal from friends ever your own fault (or at least partially your own fault)?

What should you do in light of the possibility of being betrayed or deceived by someone you trust?

Flee from Unrighteousness

2010-12-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 55:8-11) I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest." Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.

(Matthew 7:24-27) "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

When you find yourself in the midst of unrighteousness, whether it has been inflicted upon you or by your own doing, the answer and only appropriate response is to flee. David says that he hurried to find shelter, meaning that he did not stroll away from danger. He did not waste a moment or linger around to bid his friends and acquaintances farewell; he fled and he fled quickly!

Paul warns the Corinthian church that bad company corrupts good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33). He did not mean that we should never associate with individuals who are unrighteous, but that we should not participate—in any way and on any level—in their unrighteous deeds. The Lord's intention is for the righteous to bring the unrighteous into their righteousness, not for the righteous to immerse themselves in unrighteousness in order to influence the unrighteous.

When you find yourself in the midst of unrighteousness, whether it be in the privacy of your own thoughts or in the company of others—even believers—flee and flee quickly lest you be influenced by the unrighteousness

Questions For Discussion

How are unrighteous situations inflicted upon you?

What are some ways the enemy entices you to linger in an unrighteous situation?

How does the Lord intend for you to respond to unrighteousness, even in the midst of believers?

Do Not Envy

2010-12-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 49:16-20) Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed --and though you get praise when you do well for yourself-- his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

(1 Peter 2:1-3) So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Envy is one of those very subtle sins that creeps into believers lives slowly, many times unnoticed at first. It is another one of the enemy's favorite tactics. It plants itself and then begins to grow, also very slowly. It begins to bear fruit like discontentment, attitudes of entitlement, and eventually frustration and anger towards man and God. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church in Rome, groups envy with murder, strife, deceit, and maliciousness.

Envy is the antithesis of longing for the purity of God's Word. As newborn babies cry out for milk, believers long for and desire either what God has for them or what they see that others have and they do not. Remember that what God has in store for you is eternal; meaning that you will have it and it will be part of you forever. That which you seek outside of God's will is temporal and will draw you away from and distract you from your real treasure which is what God's intends for you.

Do not envy others or what they have. Be ever thankful for what God has given you, ever mindful of how blessed you are, and cry for more of God's will in your life.

Questions For Discussion

What is some of the fruit that envy bear?

What is the opposite of envy?

Why is what God has for you always better than what you do not have?

Drink From the River

2010-12-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 46:4-7) There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

(Revelation 22:1-3) Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

Prior to the time of the industrial revolution, the major consideration in deciding where to settle was proximity to water. This, of course, was due to the fact that water is the sustainer of life. In addition to the sustaining of human life, it is necessary for livestock and farming alike. The preference was always a stream or river of some type because moving water meant a constant supply and a constant replenishment. To settle in a place where there was no water readily available was considered by all to be foolish and almost assured failure.

The Lord describes Himself as the river of the water life. He has used water, especially flowing water, to illustrate Himself, His presence, and His life-giving attributes, throughout scripture. To settle or abide, even for a short period of time anywhere but as close to the Lord as you can possible get, is nothing short of foolishness. Those who dwell or stray away from the Lord, like those who settle far from water, inevitably become thirsty, parched, and will die. Dwelling near the Lord and drinking from His river provides the life sustaining elements to produce the good fruit God intends for your life.

Drinking from the river of the water of life is done through the reading and studying of God's Word, communing with God individually and corporately on a daily basis, and worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. Today, stay close to the river and drink deeply of the sparkling water from the Lord God Himself.

Questions For Discussion

Why do you think the Lord uses water to describe Himself?

Why do believers stray away from or settle far from the river?

In what way can you drink from the river of the water of life?

Suffer For His Namesake

2010-12-16T06:52:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 44:17-22) All this has come upon us, though we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps departed from your way; yet you have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart. Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

(1 Corinthians 15:53-58) For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

In our last devotion we discussed the Lord taking us through or allowing us to experience severe and extreme difficulties as a form of discipline to get us back on the right path. This can be a result of having ignored multiple opportunities to repent or because of the importance of your life assignment. Sometimes the Lord takes you through or allows you to experience these severe and extreme circumstances even when you have not strayed from His path; even when you have remained faithful in your service and worship.

In these cases you must also realize that God is after your attention. Here it is for the purpose of deeper sanctification and a closer relationship with Him. These types of circumstances in your life as a believer, when you are on the right path, should be viewed as exceedingly honorable. The Lord is counting you worthy to suffer for His namesake. He trusts you to endure these hardships without turning away from Him. He is taking you to a deeper level of spiritual growth and understanding of Him, a greater ability to serve Him, and a deeper intimacy of relationship with Him than most believers are capable.

When you experience severe and extreme difficulties begin with examining yourself. If you are right with God, consider the deeper and more intimate place He is taking you and count it a blessing, honor, and all joy to endure what you endure for Him.

Questions For Discussion

If God loves His people, why would He allow those who are faithful to Him to suffer?

How does experiencing extreme and severe difficulties take you to deeper levels of spiritual growth and understanding of God, greater abilities to serve Him, and deeper relationship with Him?

Who do you know that has suffered in this way?

Consider Where You Are With God

2010-12-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 44:9-16) But you have rejected us and disgraced us and have not gone out with our armies. You have made us turn back from the foe, and those who hate us have gotten spoil. You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations. You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face at the sound of the taunter and reviler, at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

(Romans 11:1-6) I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

God's love and mercy for His people extends far beyond their ability or intentions to honor and obey Him. In order to contend with open rebellion, God will at times—when necessary—take His own to a place where it seems as though He has forsaken them. If you ignore God and continue to disobey or ignore His commands, He will disgrace you, strip you of all you have and care for, allow the natural consequences of your actions to take their toll on you, and humiliate you in front of your enemies and the brethren.

These are extreme measures and are never God's first choice. They are not done in anger or frustration but with a specific purpose in mind: repentance! God will not be mocked nor will He be ignored. God executes this type of discipline for one of two different reasons. Either you have strayed so far from His Word that it is necessary to get your attention and get you back on track, or His assignment for you is so important to the Kingdom that He will not allow you to stray too far or for too long.

If you find yourself in the type of situation described in today's Psalm, stop and consider where you are with God and what His purpose is for your life. Regardless of the circumstances, stop what you are doing and get yourself right with God—regardless of the cost. At the same time, remember that it is all out of the extreme love God has for you and is ultimately to save you from ruin.

Questions For Discussion

Why does God allow His people to go through severe and extreme difficult circumstances?

Does God ever reject or turn away from His people?

What are the two main reasons for God executing extreme discipline?

Leave Vengeance To the Lord

2010-12-14T06:48:00.000-08:00

(Psalms 40:14-15) Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, "Aha, Aha!"

(Romans 12:17-19) Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

Whether it be people or cosmic power and spiritual forces that seek to harm or destroy you, Jesus has already been victorious over them and vindication is His. Those who come against you, as a child of God, in the end will be put to shame and disappointed in their efforts. The key here is to have an eternal perspective and not to attempt to seek your own vengeance but leave that to the Lord.

Seeking your own vengeance (revenge) or vindication (proving yourself correct) is a tactic the enemy uses to pull you away from the Lord and divert your attention from the Lord to yourself. The Lord desires you to turn away from vengeance and vindication for two main reasons. First, so that those around you (and those from whom you seek vengeance or vindication) will see the love of Christ in you and be drawn to Him. Second, so that your attention will remain on Him and you will not be consumed with selfishness.

Today, leave vengeance where it belongs: with the Lord. Trust that the Lord will punish those who need to be punished and vindicate those who need to be vindicated. Focus your attention on demonstrating the love of Christ to everyone the Lord places on your path, especially those who seek your harm.

Questions For Discussion

How do you (realistically) go through life not focused on vengeance and vindication?

Why does the enemy love you to seek vengeance and vindication?

What is the Lord's purpose in assuring you that vengeance is His?

2010-12-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

Seek The Lord For Deliverance

(Psalms 39:7-13) "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool! I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand. When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!"

(Titus 2:11-15) For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

It is a good place to be when you are no longer focused upon your own sorrows but are crying out to God and begging forgiveness for your sins. Compare your sorrows and difficulties with you sin and you find the only room in your prayer is for deliverance from those sins. Humility, submission, and subservience before the Lord result in your greatest desire being to shed the clothes of the old man, to turn away from the sins you practice, and live more like Christ.

What comfort and security there is in knowing that on the cross Jesus Christ has accomplished your redemption and paid the price for your sins. When you seek forgiveness you know it has already been given and when you cry out for deliverance you know the one to whom you cry is ready, willing, and able to deliver you. It is this type of surety that everyone in the world seeks but seeks for in vain; for no investment and no relationship could every provide the type of surety provided by Jesus Christ on the cross.

Forget your hardships today and focus on the ultimate hardship Jesus Christ endured on the cross for you. Cry out to God for deliverance not from your difficulties but from your iniquities.

Questions For Discussion

What happens when you compare your sorrows and difficulties with your sins?

How are humility, submission, and subservience related to turning away from the sins you practice?

Why is seeking anywhere else the type of security God has provided done so in vain?

Meditations On the Gospel of John 1:35-42

2008-04-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

John 1:35–37
35Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said*, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Two of John’s disciples saw and heard Jesus; they left John (they were his disciples) and followed Jesus. They must have recognized what John had been preaching: Jesus was the greater and John was the lesser. The disciples leaving John to follow Jesus was not an act of unfaithfulness to John, but truly an act of faithfulness to both John and Jesus. The very nature of John’s ministry and his hearts desire for all of his disciples was for them to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and to become His disciples. John knew that once Jesus came onto the scene, Jesus would become the greater and he would become the lesser. This was the goal for which John strove. John never tried to hang onto his disciples or his ministry for his own glory. The very nature of John’s ministry involved a handoff to the Savior of all who followed him.

John 1:38–49
38And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said* to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39He said* to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

Without identifying Himself to them, the two disciples (just by hearing Him speak) recognized Jesus as a teacher. There is a two-fold statement being made in these verses. First, Jesus taught by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Second, when the spirit speaks, all recognize His authority, even those who do not follow Him. The wicked try to hide from Him and even try to convince themselves that they don’t believe in him, but all recognize Him. We see this when Jesus sailed with His disciples to Gerasenes (near Galilee) and was approached by the man possessed by a legion of demons; the demons recognized Jesus and called Him the Son of the most high God (Luke 8:27-28). We also see this when we are told that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Philippians 2:9-10).

John 1:40–42
40One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He found* first his own brother Simon and said* to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). 42He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

After being with Jesus for just one day, Andrew recognized Him as the Messiah.

Jesus once again demonstrates His deity in knowing Simon without being introduced. Jesus did not merely know who he was but He knew him; this is indicated by the way Jesus renamed Simon, Cephas (Peter). Before even speaking to him, Jesus knew that it was upon this man Cephas (Peter, which means rock) that He would build His church.

Matthew 16:18 (18) And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

This was not a lucky guess on Jesus’ part; this was not a hunch based upon Simon’s physical appearance; this was foreknowledge that only God Himself possesses. It is this same foreknowledge that God has regarding each one of His elect.

Ephesians 2:10 (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Meditations On the Gospel of John 1:29-34

2008-04-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

John 1:29
29The next day he saw* Jesus coming to him and said*, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus came to us when He was born a human and accomplished our salvation on the cross. He comes to us at the moment of our salvation for it is He who seeks us not us who seek Him. Jesus also comes to us and is truly with us every second of every day in His Holy Spirit. Do we constantly “see” Him in our lives and acknowledge Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?

John 1:30
30“This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’

John continues to speak of Jesus’ deity in saying that “He existed before me.” John reiterates confirmation that Jesus is God at many times and in many ways throughout this book. Anyone who refutes the deity of Jesus Christ will have a very difficult time explaining the many passages John has given us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

John 1:31-34
31“I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” 32John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33“I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34“I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

John states here that he did not recognize the Lord prior to His baptism and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him as a dove. In Matthew 3:13-17, John is clear that he did recognize Jesus as the Lord before His baptism.

Matthew 3:13-17 (13) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. (14) John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" (15) But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. (16) And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; (17) and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

This is not a contradiction. John received his assignment from God, as we all do. He did not arbitrarily decide on an assignment himself. He was given the grace (spiritual gift) by God to recognize the messiah before he was even born. When Mary (pregnant with Jesus) came to visit her cousin Elizabeth (pregnant with John), John leapt within Elizabeth’s womb when he was in the presence of the unborn messiah. God gives confirmation of the authenticity of Jesus as messiah through John’s declaration. John declares to his disciples, that it is not by his own testimony that they should believe Jesus is the Christ, but by the declaration of God Himself. God declared that Jesus is His son by having a dove descend upon Him at His baptism and by speaking the words “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” In the same way God gave John his assignment and the grace to perform it, He gives us all the ability, through our spiritual gifts, to perform the assignments He gives us.

Meditations On the Gospel of John 1:24-28

2008-03-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

John 1:24–25
24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

The priests and Levites recognized baptism as identification with their faith in, and covenant with, God. They were questioning John’s authority to baptize, and into what he was baptizing people. The Pharisees, Priests, and Levites were knowledgeable in the scriptures, and knew and understood the prophecy that Isaiah had made regarding one preceding the Messiah.

Isaiah 40:3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

The question was most likely a result of the Pharisees lack of knowledge regarding John’s ministry, not a lack of knowledge of the scriptures.

The Pharisees had sent priests and Levites to John to question Him. In those days there were many self-proclaimed religious cult leaders who would rise up and call themselves sacred. The Pharisees could not personally investigate every one. Most were short lived and never received the attention of the Pharisees. When one would last longer than usual or gain more attention than usual, the Pharisees would begin by sending delegates with certain questions that would help the Pharisees gauge whether or not there was any real threat. The majority of the Pharisees were so self-absorbed that they probably did not seriously consider that any of these cult leaders were Biblically legitimate. The appropriate response from educated religious leaders would have been to go to the scriptures first to see if any particular cult leader bore any Biblical relevancy. The questions sent to John the Baptist were probably pretty routine questions. The answers the Pharisees received were most likely less common and certainly not anticipated. We see in later accounts that the Pharisees themselves visited John and asked Him questions personally. What we can learn from this is that even though we are no longer looking for or anticipating the coming of the Messiah, we should view all of our life circumstances from a Biblical perspective first. We must realize that all of life’s circumstances are ordained by God for our growth and sanctification. We would probably avoid most of our difficulties and problems if we maintained this perspective.

John 1:26
26John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.

John states that he baptizes in water. In verse 33 he speaks of the Lord who will baptize in the Holy Spirit, emphasizing that this is a greater baptism. Baptism in water is the sign and symbol that identifies us as belonging to Jesus. It is important, even critical, but it does not change us. Baptism in the Holy Spirit changes us; it draws us into true communion with God. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is God dwelling within us; it has been God’s goal and purpose from the beginning to dwell with His people. Christ’s accomplishment of redemption on the Cross has made it possible for God to dwell in us as Holy Temples.

John boldly proclaims what he was sent to proclaim. He does not consider or worry about the social or political impact it might have on him. He also, as in so many other accounts, gives all the glory to God alone. Throughout John’s life and ministry, he had many opportunities to build his own little “kingdom”, but he never wavers from his assignment or his role. This must have had a lot to do with the Lord himself exalting John to the position of being the greatest man alive.

Matthew 11:11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John 1:27–28
27“It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The same as in the preceding verses, John acknowledges his assignment and position. He does not take advantage of an opportunity to exalt himself above the position in which the Lord has placed him. What a great lesson for so many of today’s shepherds. So many of today’s Pastors and Church leaders lose sight of this principal and fail in this respect. I know of local churches that do many good and wholesome things, but put little (or no) emphasis on discerning the Lord’s specific assignment for their lampstand and focusing on that. Unfortunately there are many churches today that put very little focus on the basic principals of the purpose for the Church God has laid out in His Word. One area in which this becomes painfully obvious is in the structure of church government most churches today have adopted.

Meditation On the Gospel of John 1:19-23

2008-02-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

John 1:19–23
John 1:19-23 (19) And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" (20) He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." (21) And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." (22) So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" (23) He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

This is a very interesting and meaningful portion of scripture than can easily be dismissed as insignificant and irrelative to our lives today. During his ministry, John had many disciples and he had multitudes coming to him confessing their sins and seeking to be baptized. When an individual has this type of popularity and what we would refer to today as fame, the temptation to give into pride is great. John must have felt the tug of pride tempting him to take at least some of the glory that he was proclaiming as his own. We have a record of Satan tempting Jesus in this area, I know that I have been tempted in this area many times; I’m sure John was not impervious to it. He may have been tempted but he did not fall. Mark the first chapter, verses 4–8 record John’s view of his own assignment.

Mark 1:4-8
(4) John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (5) And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (6) Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. (7) And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. (8) I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

John viewed his assignment from the Lord’s perspective; not from his own, and not from the worlds, but from the Lord’s.

How often do we see today in the wider Body of Christ that men, whom God has called to serve Him, end up serving themselves? Pastors push the Lord aside to build great buildings that by design don’t look like churches, they structure services to attract the masses and not offend anyone by teaching too long, teaching about the sinfulness of man, or the need for the blood of Jesus. Worship songs are constructed without the use of minor keys because they don’t make people “feel” good, and the words are watered down to eliminate anything about God that the masses might not find palatable. All of these things draw people closer to whom, God? No, these are specifically designed to draw the masses to the people who are leading them.

There is a flip side to this temptation also; just as we can over-inflate our calling, we can under-inflate it also. One example in our society today that comes to mind is women who choose to spend all or the majority of their time making a home, caring for their husbands, and teaching and training their children—homemakers. It is a sad but true commentary that these women are not honored, revered, and justly rewarded by our society; they are mocked, ridiculed, and treated as lower-class citizens. An even sadder testimony is that the Church generally treats them the same as society does. What an overwhelming temptation it must be for these courageous women to buy into the lie and feel lowly about themselves; to be embarrassed to say what they do out loud, or to make excuses.

John the Baptist gave us a model of the perfect balance between not thinking too highly or too lowly of our calling. He modeled for us viewing our assignments from the Lord’s perspective.

Another very interesting element of this portion of scripture is that the priests and Levites were not able to determine who John was by the scriptures; or at least they did not suggest that to him if they had thought of it. They were in the unique position as men educated in the scriptures to not only discern who he was but to testify from the scriptures of his legitimacy. Again, how often do we see this same scenario being played out in today’s church environments. God’s Word is watered-down, manipulated, or out-right ignored, because it does not line-up with the objectives of those in leadership.

Meditations On the Gospel of John 1:15-18

2008-02-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

John 1:15
(15) (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'")

John acknowledges that Jesus is greater than Himself and that Jesus’ ministry is greater than his own ministry. That which comes first is greater than that which follows. The teacher is greater than the student; the master is greater than the apprentice. John also testifies of the eternalness and deity of Jesus. Each human being begins his existence at the moment of his conception. Prior to conception, a person just simply does not exist. John is older than Jesus yet he testifies that Jesus “was” before he (John) was, even though John was born (and conceived) first. Jesus clearly existed prior to John, which means Jesus existed prior to His own conception.

God becoming man was a unique event in history. Even in God’s created order, He has never had one type of created being become another type of created being (e. g., an angel has never become a human being). He has had angels appear or manifest themselves as men, but their essence remained that of an angel. This unique event of God becoming man was necessary in order to procure atonement for mankind because only a man could pay the price of sin for mankind; only a man free of any and all sin; a truly spotless man. This perfect man would also need to be eternal in nature since the offense committed against God (sin) is an eternal offense. Mankind was completely unable to procreate a man free from sin and eternal. An angel, or any other created being, could not simply manifest himself as a man and then offer himself as atonement because he would not be a man in nature but just a manifestation of a man. Any create being is also not eternal in nature. This seemingly circular equation could only find its answer in the one truly perfect, spotless, and eternal being in existence: God Himself.

John 1:16–17
(16) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. (17) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Fullness is translated from the Greek word pleroo, which means to make full or to complete. Jesus came to complete or fulfill the law, not to replace or abolish it. The Law and Jesus are not juxtaposed but are truly complimentary. The Law, by its very nature and design, was incomplete. From the very beginning, it needed to be completed or fulfilled; Jesus, from the beginning was that fulfillment. Likewise He came to complete us in a way that only He could. We could never complete ourselves or restore ourselves to the glory in which we were originally created. We (i.e., believers) were created and predestined to salvation for a specific purpose. From the moment of our conception until the moment of our salvation, we existed but not in the fullness of God. When the Father drew us to Christ and replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh, we were made full—in Christ! God’s sovereign grace is unending. We are given His grace in order to believe in Jesus and be saved. He continues to extend His grace throughout our walk; He extends grace, we fail, He extends grace, we fail, He extends grace, etc., etc. His grace is truly never-ending. His never-ending grace was (and is) given for His purpose, not for our purposes, enjoyment, or entertainment. We derive a tremendous amount of pleasure and enjoyment as a result of His grace, but that is not His purpose. He has had a purpose for each one of our lives from before creation; His grace empowers us to accomplish all of which He has assigned to us throughout our lives.

John 1:18
(18) No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

God is invisible and remains invisible. God is glorious in His nature beyond the point of where we are able to look upon Him. Since God never changes, it is us who must change in order to see God face-to-face. This change in us will take place through the grace of God at the end of history. Any attempt at placing a visible image onto God or assigning any type of visible image to represent God is offensive to His very nature. This is the essence of the second commandment.

Exodus 20:4-6 (4) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, (6) but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Jesus reveals, to those who know Him and listen to His voice, all that we in our current state are able to know and understand.

Meditations on the Gospel of John 1:14

2008-01-23T07:14:00.000-08:00

John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John has been describing, supporting, and demonstrating what he summarizes and crystallizes in this verse—God became a human being. The creator entered into and willfully became part of His own creation. From the very beginning, God desired to dwell among His people. Under the Old Covenant and through the rituals of the Old Testament sacrificial system, God dwelt among His people but He had to veil Himself because of their unrighteousness. In this action of becoming part of His own creation, He will forever remove the veil between Him and His people by imputing His own righteousness onto His people through the sacrificial death and resurrection of His son Jesus Christ.

The Greek word (doxa) translated to glory, literally means opinion. The glory that Jesus shone—that John describes here—is literally the Father’s opinion of Jesus (Matthew 3:17 “…and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.") Jesus was absolutely perfect in every respect; in a way no other human being could ever be.

His grace and His truth is what we were able to see in the person of Jesus Christ. In Genesis when the Lord gave Moses and (by extension) Israel the second set of tablets containing the Ten Commandments, He did so out of covenant-keeping gracious love. It is this abundant love and grace that is now revealed in Jesus. Jesus goes on to do what the Law, and the Old Covenant sacrificial system, could never do; provide for His people a way of salvation from their own sin.

John links grace and glory; emphasizing Jesus’ deity (ultimate and sovereign power and authority) and His grace upon His creation. God Himself was the only being qualified to atone for the sin of mankind (i.e., glory), and He chose to do it because of His great love for us (i.e., grace).

Meditations on the Gospel of John 1:11-13

2008-01-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

John 1:11-13
(11) He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
(12) But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
(13) who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John is referring to all of the world and to all of Israel when he says “his own”. He is speaking from a particular perspective when he says this. Jesus came to live and die for the sins of those specific people the Father draws to Jesus; those whose hearts of stone are removed and replaced with a heart of flesh; those whose names were written in the Book of Life from before creation; the elect. Jesus also came to be a light to the entire world and to all of Israel; this is the perspective from which John speaks. Jesus came first to Israel, but all of Israel did not accept Him; the leaders especially. They were expecting and anticipating and wanting a different type of Messiah. They wanted a Messiah bigger than life. A king clothed in battle clothes ready to fight, conquer, and destroy. One who would come with force and deliver them from the oppression of Rome. Instead, Jesus came as a humble man by humble means; the son of a carpenter; a nobody. He was not received by most. But to those who did recognize Him; those who did receive Him; those whom the Father drew to Him; those are the ones for whom Jesus came and lived and died and rose again.

The entire world belongs to Jesus’ just as all that a man possesses belongs to him to use and posses; his car, his house, his money, etc. Believers belong to Jesus in the same way a man’s wife and children belong to him; to love, care for, and enjoy.

The reference to Jesus “coming” to Israel as “His own” and Israel not receiving Him implies that there was an expectation for Israel to receive Him. Israel had the oracles of God, His written Word. They were told beforehand when to expect Him, where to expect Him, through what tribe and family to expect Him, and even through what circumstances to expect Him. Israel should have recognized and received Him before He ever spoke a word, but they did not. Even after His teaching, clear explanation, and even signs and wonders, they did not receive Him. Only those whom the Father specifically called and drew to the Lord; those born not of man’s will but those (born again) of God’s will received Him. It is those to whom He granted the gift of becoming children of God.

Meditations On the Gospel of John 1:9-10

2007-12-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

John 1:9-10
(9) The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

John speaks of the true Light which enlightens every man. The same Greek word (photizo) translated to enlighten is used elsewhere in the Bible to describe salvation, but it is also used in Hebrews (Hebrews 6:4) to describe people who tasted of the heavenly things but were not actually saved. I believe John is tieing this to verse 7 in which he describes Christ coming into the world to save all those that the Father had predestined.

Was coming indicates that John was speaking about something different from the birth of Jesus. Had John been referring to Jesus’ birth, he would have stated has come. It seems clear that John was referring to the earthly ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ in this particular reference to Jesus as the true light, not just the physical presence of Jesus on the Earth. This distinction is drawn for this passage only, since Jesus, in all forms and in all respects, is the true light.

Combined with the true light, the Greek word ho seems to be used as a defining or restrictive pronoun distinguishing Jesus from other self-proclaiming prophets of the day. Given the context of the sentence, that (vs. which) would have been a better English word in which to translate ho.

John 1:10
(10) He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

The world in which the Lord walked is the same world that He Himself created. John reiterates the deity of Jesus as He walked and ministered on the earth. He does this not just to drive home the point, but truly as words of deserved worship and exaltation. John came from the perspective of a believer, a disciple, and of a close and intimate friend. We should learn from this and pattern our lives in the same fashion by taking every opportunity to proclaim the attributes, name, holiness, and deity of our Lord in our daily lives, even in our routine conversation and when making simple references to Him. The very first elements of what we refer to as The Lord’s Prayer are to proclaim His authority as the Father (creator) of all, and that His very name is holy. We should never let His name escape our lips without acknowledging His majesty in heaven and on Earth.

John reminds us that although Jesus became an actual part of the very creation He created, His creation, as a whole, did not recognize Him as the sovereign creator. We know that those the Father draws, and only those the Father draws, are given the particular grace to recognize Jesus as the creator and to know Jesus as our mighty redeemer.

Meditations On the Gospel of John 1:6-8

2007-12-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

John 1:6-8
(6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

John’s spiritual assignment was ordained before the foundation of the world and was prophesied in Isaiah 40 centuries before John was born. John was sent by God with an assignment from God as we all are but in a unique way—his assignment was to prepare the way for the Lord; the coming messiah.

John’s spiritual assignment—proclaiming the coming of the messiah—contains both common and unique elements. It is common in that every believer has a specific and particular spiritual assignment from the Lord; a calling or specific purpose in the Earth. It is unique (or at least not common) in that John knew his assignment and received the grace to accomplish it before he was even born. John recognized and proclaimed Jesus when they were both still in the womb (Luke1:41)

John 1:7
(7) He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

John was sent as a witness but as a man John did not exist before his conception so he could not have known Jesus in a natural sense. A witness is one who testifies of that which he knows. This combined with the fact that John acknowledged the presence of Jesus while they were both still in their mothers’ wombs indicates that God must have given John a super-natural knowledge of Jesus; the grace to perform his assignment.

John refers to Jesus as “The Light” three times in these passages. Jesus was the light of life coming into a dark (dead) world. His purpose was to shed light into a dark place; to raise people from death (darkness) to life (light).

“All” must refer to specific individuals that God had targeted to believe during John’s lifetime. It could not be referencing all people until the end of time, all people alive during John’s time, or even all people whom John proclaimed the coming messiah; not all of these people ended up believing.

John 1:8
(8) He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

John was sent by God, not as the light but as the one to bear witness about the light. This is a difficult role to fulfill; imagine proclaiming the greatness and majesty of one coming after you, getting the crowds and multitudes enthusiastic and excited in advance, and then stepping to the side as the one you have been proclaiming comes onto the scene. Imagine redirecting those who are choosing to follow and exalt you, to the one you have proclaimed. How tempting it would be to maintain even a small following for yourself; to hold onto just a small portion of the glory and admiration for yourself. How often today do men fail in this calling? Pastors and ministers so often lose sight of this fact and build enormous congregations, beautiful facilities, and a plethora of church programs, all to their own glory—not the Lord’s. What we are meant to take from this is that all glory and honor is the Lord’s. The Church belongs to Him and all we do, we do unto Him.

Meditations On the Gospel of John 1:1-5

2007-12-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

John 1:1–2
(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(2) He was in the beginning with God.

John uses the Greek word (arche)—equivalent to the Hebrew word (reshiyth)—that we translate to “beginning”. In The Beginning is a phrase that means “when creation began” or “before creation”. The Greek word (en) translated to “was” indicates before creation or before creation began. John’s phrase “In the beginning was the Word” is a statement that the Word existed in eternity past, was not part of creation, and was therefore, never created. Verses one and two form a statement and a testimony communicating that Jesus and the Father are one and the same. John’s statement is a contradiction if viewed from the human perspective. A human being cannot be a particular person and be with that same person; I cannot be myself and be with myself at the same time. John, however, is not describing a human being; he is describing the infinite and triune God. From this perspective, God being Himself and being with Himself makes perfect and logical sense.

In the beginning God was alone, but He had (perfect) fellowship—with Himself. There was absolutely no lack in God before creation. He was perfectly content; He did not create man to fill a void within Himself or because He was lonely. He had a great purpose in creating man but it was not to make the imperfect perfect, for He was truly perfect and complete in the beginning.

John 1:3
(3) All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

This verse is a testimony of Jesus’ deity in that if Jesus is a created being, as many false religions claim, this is a circular argument; if He was made, how could all things that were made be made through Him (which came first, the chicken or the egg?). This is not a circular argument but a beautiful expression of the harmony, majesty, and perfection of the triune God. God is the only being in existence that was never created (i.e., has always existed). God is also the only creator in existence. If all things that exist were created by the Word, the Word must be God. The Word (Jesus) was with God before anything was created because He himself is God and created all things.

John 1:4-5
(4) In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

All of creation was given life. All, outside of God, was dark, formless, and void before creation. In creation, life was given to everything that now exists. The sun, the moon, the sky, the stars, plants, animals, the oceans; all was dark, formless, and void prior to receiving life. Jesus never received life; in Him was life, meaning before life was given to anything created, Jesus contained life. That life—creative life—shone into the darkness as the light of man. Just as the sun shines into the darkness of night and makes it day, Jesus shone into the dark, formless, void and gave it life, which is His light.

Adam and Eve knew the light of Jesus and turned to the darkness of sin. Now, sin overshadows the world and affects everything in creation but can not overcome the light of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus shinned His light into the dark, formless, void and gave life to all creation, He now shines His light into the darkness of sin and gives new life to those the Father has called.

On Assignment: John the Baptist

2007-06-15T10:53:00.001-07:00

God has given each and every believer a calling or a life assignment; a specific purpose for being here and for being saved. God does not save His people to just wander the earth aimlessly, to do as they please throughout the course of their lives, or even to perform good works and serve Him the way in which they choose to do so. Contrary to what many Christians believe and, unfortunately, many Christian teachers, elders, and pastors teach, believers are not moral free-agents. God grants us many freedoms within our salvation but where and how we serve and worship Him are not part of those freedoms. This applies to all believers, as each believer has a specific assignment; some believers might have multiple assignments but every believer has at least one.

With each assignment God has associated and given a particular spiritual gift (i.e., grace).

Romans 12:3–8
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

The purpose of the spiritual gifts God bestows upon us is to enable and equip us to perform and accomplish our assignments, not for our own benefit, pleasure, or pursuit of happiness.

Scripture states that God prepared good works (assignments) for us to perform and that He created them beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Earlier in the same letter Paul says that we were chosen before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:4
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.

God created us, not physically but certainly in His heart and mind, before the foundation of the world, and He chose us and predestined us for salvation at that time. At the same time He determined our specific assignments in which we were also predestined to walk. We were predestined to salvation for particular and specific good works.

God created us in His mind and heart before the foundation of the world; we were not physically created, however, until the moment of our conception. In the same way, God determined our assignments and our spiritual gifting before the foundation of the world but does not actually give them to us until we become physical beings; at the moment of our conception. Many believers operate on an ongoing basis not knowing what their assignments are, or believing that they have not received their assignments. The reality is that God gives us our assignments and the associated grace to perform and accomplish our assignments at the moment of our conception. Believers who don’t know or fully understand the concept of God assigning specific tasks to each of us, walk through life never realizing the purpose, or the blessing, that God has for them. Believers who do not know what their assignments are need to be seeking God and asking that question. There is also the very important element of God’s timing involved. Although God gives us our assignments and associated grace at the moment of our conception, God and God alone determines when they become visible to us. Let me borrow a word from the world of photography to illustrate my point—Latent Image.

A latent image is an image that is produced on a piece of paper or film that has been specially treated with a silver compound and then exposed to light under particular conditions (i.e., through a camera or enlarger). The latent image is produced and is actually there; it’s not symbolically there; it’s not conceptually there; it is actually there; however, it is not visible. Try as you may, there is nothing (well virtually nothing) you can do to see that image. When and only when the photographer decides, the paper or film containing the latent image is submerged into a liquid chemical and suddenly the image emerges and is visible to all. Our assignments and associated spiritual gifts are like latent images.

This is an important concept to realize and to understand, especially if you do not know what your assignment and spiritual gift is. When believers are first introduced to this concept, many experience discouragement and can easily fall prey to misunderstanding that God has somehow passed them by or has no assignment for them. This can lead to deeper feelings of discouragement and even depression. The enemy wants to keep believers deceived in as many areas he can and he has a strong desire to keep believers away from knowing, embracing, performing, and fulfilling their assignments. If you find yourself in this category, do not buy into the lie of the enemy. Know that God has given you an assignment and the grace to perform and accomplish it; that it might still be a latent image. Focus your prayers on God developing that latent image into a fully visible image that is apparent to you and all around you.

The remainder of this article is focused on three very specific and particular elements of performing and accomplishing your assignment. There is so much more that can and should be said, but these three elements can be key to a lifetime of performing and accomplishing your assignment to the glory of God.

I draw from the life of John the Baptist to illustrate each of these three elements.

John The Baptist

John the Baptist was a great man in history. Our Lord Himself speaks very highly of him. In Matthew the 11th chapter, verse 11, the Lord refers to John as the greatest man alive.

Matthew 11:11
Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

The Lord was making a point in this passage that is different from the point I am making, but that does not change what He said and meant about John—that he was the greatest man alive!

John had a unique life assignment that John the Apostle describes to us in the first chapter of his book.

John 1:6–7
There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

John’s assignment was to bear witness of the coming Messiah, and the purpose of John’s assignment was that all might believe through him. The purpose of John’s assignment is defined by the connecting words “so that”. These connecting words establish God’s purpose by linking John bearing witness of the coming Messiah with all those who truly believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. The word “all” is not a universal “all”, but a focused group of individuals who would come in contact with John during his ministry and that the Father had predestined to salvation.

John’s assignment was, as all of ours are, ordained before the foundation of the earth. In Matthew the 17th chapter, verses 9–13, Jesus refers to the prophecy of John the Baptist from Isaiah 40. These passages do not necessarily establish John’s assignment being ordained from before the foundation of the earth, but they do establish that his assignment had been prophesied of long ago. Linking these passages with Ephesians 1:4 and 2:10, I believe does establish a consistency of assignments being establish before the foundation of the earth.

Luke the first chapter, verses 39–41 describe a scenario in which Mary (pregnant with Jesus) enters the house of Zacharias and greets Elizabeth (pregnant with John). At the moment Mary greets Elizabeth, the unborn John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb. This is the first record of John performing his life assignment of bearing witness of the coming Messiah. It also demonstrates that our assignments (at least John’s!) are given prior to our birth and that we perform and accomplish our assignments by the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit, not by our own talents, as John was not even able to know Jesus on his own yet.

The following three aspects of how John the Baptist carried out his life assignment are well worth our study. My prayer is that every reader would understand each of these aspects, embrace them, and incorporate them into his or her own walk and service to the Lord.

Do Not Be Afraid

John’s father, Zacharias, was a Levitical priest and based upon bloodline, John his son was called to be a priest. The community was perplexed and put pressure on Zacharias when John was first born, even concerning his name. Everyone present at John’s birth naturally expected Zacharias to name the child after himself. When he announced (via a written note) that the child’s name was to be John, what was the response? Why John? There is not even anyone in your family named John. Zacharias did what God directed him to do, not what the community expected him to do. John continued his father’s steadfastness as he grew up. I would imagine that there was some peer pressure when all the other Levitical young men John’s age were preparing for temple service and John was wandering around in the desert wearing strange clothing and eating strange food. John did not allow peer pressure or community pressure to move him from God’s path for his life. John was not afraid of what others thought or said; his concern was on performing and fulfilling the assignment God had given him.

In Matthew the third chapter, verses 7–10, John takes a very bold step. He was preaching repentance in the Judean wilderness when he saw a group of Pharisees and Sadducees coming towards him to be baptized. John could have very easily welcomed them, quickly baptized them, and sent them on their way. He could have rationalized this by claiming that it would have served the greater good by keeping good relations with the temple officials and given the multitudes a greater level of confidence in what he was preaching. The Pharisees and Sadducees were a powerful group and even had influence with the Roman government, so this would have better ensured John safety and continued ability to perform his assignment. John did not rationalize inappropriate behavior but stood firm and called the Pharisees and Sadducees to repentance even though it required him to publicly rebuke them. John was not afraid of what trouble or harm the angered Pharisees and Sadducees could cause him. He did not let fear control his actions.

Matthew records another very bold step that John takes in Matthew the 14th chapter, verses 3–5. Herod, a Roman Tetrarch, had taken his brother Philip’s wife. John approached him, rebuked him, publicly accusing him of immorality, and called him to repentance. Herod was a powerful Roman official, much more powerful that the Pharisees and Sadducees, and actually had the authority to have John killed for what he said. In fact, it was only Herod’s fear of the multitudes of John’s disciples that withheld Herod’s hand from having John executed and put in jail instead. I am reasonably sure that John felt at least some minor temptation to just ignore what he knew about Herod. After all, he was only one man. John could have ignored Herod’s immorality and peacefully continue his ministry, his calling, his assignment from the Lord. He could have easily rationalized this, but again we see John not letting fear control his actions. His assignment was to bear witness of the coming Messiah by calling people to repentance and that is what he did even when infringed it on his own personal safety.

These are just three examples of John not letting fear control his actions by not being afraid and doing what God called him to do. The lesson to be learned here is that when we are performing our assignment, operating within our gifts, and doing what God has called us to do, we are literally invincible. The Lord will always sustain our lives until we have accomplished what He has assigned us to do.

I think of a situation in my own life when I flew from Los Angeles to Maryland. I was onboard the plane and while we were taxiing down the runway I remembered the many times I had flown from Los Angeles to Seattle and back on business. I have never been much of a flying enthusiast and my fear was usually heightened during take-off. On this particular trip to Maryland I was traveling to a leadership conference hosted by a Christian affiliation of churches with whom my church was considering joining. I was traveling with two of my fellow elders to learn more about the affiliation. When the plane’s engines began to roar as we accelerated down the runway, instead of my usual heightened fear, I felt a complete and confident calmness; I knew at that moment I was doing what the Lord had called me to do and I had no fear of harm but perfect confidence in the Lord—I felt invincible!

View Your Assignment From God’s Perspective

As we discussed earlier, John the Baptist was a great man—considered the greatest by the Lord. During his ministry, John had many disciples and he had multitudes coming to him confessing their sins and seeking to be baptized. When an individual has this type of popularity and what we would refer to today as fame, the temptation to give into pride is great. John must have felt the tug of pride tempting him to take at least some of the glory that he was proclaiming as his own. We have a record of Satan tempting Jesus in this area, I know that I have been tempted in this area many times; I’m sure John was not impervious to it. He may have been tempted but he did not fall. Mark the first chapter, verses 4–8 record John’s view of his own assignment.

Mark 1:4–8
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. 8 “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

John viewed his assignment from the Lord’s perspective, not from his own, and not from the worlds, but from the Lord’s.

John the Baptist gave us a model of the perfect balance between not thinking too highly or too lowly of our calling. He modeled for us viewing our assignments from the Lord’s perspective.

Have Resolve

The third and final aspect of how John the Baptist carried out his life assignment that we will look at is to not doubt that you are accomplishing or have accomplished your assignment—have resolve!

Doubting that we are accomplishing or have accomplished our assignment from the Lord is an easy trap to fall into, and it is a trap the enemy keeps set for us at all times. Discouragement is a powerful tool in the enemy’s hand and it is easily accomplished when we doubt the Lord’s effectiveness through our good works. Believing we are performing our life’s assignment when we are far from it is another trap many believers fall into, but remember that the Lord wants us to know our assignment and wants us to exercise our gifts and will not withhold them when we live Coram Deo (before the face of God)!

The actions of John the Baptist at the end of his life as recorded in Luke the 7th chapter, verses 18–23, sum up how he viewed the effectiveness of his life’s work toward accomplishing his assignment.

Luke 7:19-23
19 Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” 20 When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’” 21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. 22 And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

On the interpretation of this particular portion of scripture, I disagree with many theologians, commentators, and great men of God that I hold in high esteem. John was in prison for having publicly rebuked Herod for immorality concerning his brother’s wife. He undoubtedly knew that his life was very near its end. We do not know how long John had been in prison at this point, but it would not take long in the prisons of that day to become distraught in mind and body. Prisoners were not given three square meals a day, a sanitary environment, cable TV, a gym, and access to the internet; they were basically thrown into a cave or stone cell and left there for family or friends to take care of. Apparently John’s disciples visited him and ministered to his needs because scripture states that he “summoned” two of them. He instructed these two disciples to go to Jesus and ask the question, “Are you the expected One, or do we look for someone else?” On John’s purpose for sending his disciples to Jesus with this question is where I part company with many in the Christian community. It is a very popularly held interpretation that John was in a state of doubting whether Jesus was the promised Messiah and whether he (John) had accomplished his assignment. I strongly disagree with this interpretation! When I look over the life of John the Baptist I see a man who from the very beginning, literally before he was born, was gifted by the Holy Spirit to discern the very presence of the Messiah. In everything that is recorded about his life we see a solid and growing knowledge of who the Messiah was and what his own assignment was in relation to the Messiah. When John sent his disciples to Jesus, he was not doing so out of doubt; he knew without question that Jesus was the Messiah and that he (John) had accomplished what the Lord sent him to accomplish. This was his final action in performing his assignment. He was not holding on to his disciples for his own comfort and assurance until the bitter end, he was sending—as he had sent everyone during his ministry—his disciples away from himself to the Lord to become Jesus’ disciples now. He had his disciples ask the question not for his own reassurance, but for theirs! Maybe he chose these two specific disciples because they were weak in their belief, or maybe he chose them to symbolically represent all of his disciples; I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter. The point is that if John doubted that Jesus was the expected Messiah and that he (John) had failed in his assignment, he would be reacting in a way that was very inconsistent with what God has recorded about John’s life and it would be very uncharacteristic of the type of man John was.

The Lord has given us two very powerful events in the life of John the Baptist to serve as bookends of a life spent in complete dedication to the assignment he was given: Luke the first chapter, verses 39–41, where John leaps in his mother’s womb when he comes into the presence of the Messiah, and Luke the 7th chapter, verses 18–23, where at the very end of his ministry and life, he sends his disciples away from himself and to the Messiah.

From the very beginning to the very end of his life, John the Baptist was a man who was not afraid and did not let fear determine his actions, who viewed his assignment from the Lord’s perspective, not his own or the world’s, and who had resolve in performing and accomplishing his assignment.

—David S. Spaggiari

Freed From the Slavery of Sin

2006-12-08T06:56:00.000-08:00

John 8:3–11
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Through the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus Christ, we have been declared “Not guilty”; we have been freed from the guilt of our sin.

No human being (with the exception of Jesus Christ) will ever be able to stand before God on the merits of his or her own righteousness, for none possess righteousness on his or her own. If that were the case, then there would have been no need for Christ’s atonement.

Isaiah 64:6
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Born-again Christians sin between the time they are saved and the time they die but upon death, they do not and can not enter the presence of God spotted and mired with that sin. God does not somehow look the other way or ignore that sin. One must be sinless to enter the presence of God and the one and only way to that purity is through the imputation of Christ’s pure righteousness.

Born-again Christians, true believers, no longer posses a sin nature. Ezekiel prophesied that God would replace our heart (the center of a person’s nature. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”) of stone with a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26–27
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

God’s Word is very clear that the old sin nature died on the cross with Christ and that a new creature now lives in Christ.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

1 Peter 2:9–10
But you are a chosen race, A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Romans 8:9–17
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Sin, however, still exists in the world and it is a very powerful temptation. Sin is desirable, at times very desirable, if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be a temptation. My kids are never tempted to sneak a brussels sprout or piece of red bell pepper from the refrigerator, but if there is an open cookie jar on the counter, well that’s a different story!

Prior to the cross, we were enslaved to sin. Sin was our master and we obeyed our master. Christ’s victory on the cross defeated Satan and stripped him of his power to hold us captive and to enslave us to sin.

Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, certain individuals and groups of individuals were regarded as property in this country. They were enslaved to their masters and were forced to obey their masters. The law of the land protected the rights of the masters to do whatever they wanted to with their slaves, and forced the slaves to obey. The Emancipation Proclamation set these slaves free. They were freed from the power of their former masters. The masters, however, did not let go so easily. They tried to hold on to their power over their former slaves. Many former slaves knew no other way of life; they were not taught and indoctrinated into the new life that the Emancipation Proclamation provided. Therefore, even though these former slaves were no longer legally bound to their masters, they were still enslaved by ignorance and helplessness, and ended up continuing in their life of slavery by their own choice. The Emancipation Proclamation removed the legal power that masters had over slaves, but it did not remove the masters themselves or their desire to captivate their former slaves, nor did it empower the former slaves to resist their former masters.

Like the Emancipation Proclamation, Christ freed us from our former master. We are now free! Satan, sin, and the temptation to sin, however, all still exist. Unlike the Emancipation Proclamation, God has provided each believer power, through the Holy Spirit, to resist and turn away from our former master. We are not ignorant and helpless when faced with sin. We have an advocate who is greater and stronger than our former master.

Through Christ’s blood, our sins are forgiven, but forgiveness is not the full extent of the power of the cross. God does not merely forgive us and then leave us spiritually unchanged. If that were the case, we would continue living in and repeating the same sins we did according to our old nature. We are changed; we are new creatures. This new creature possesses the ability to choose not to sin. The old creature (our sin nature) died with Christ on the cross and no longer controls us. The power of what Christ accomplished on the cross has a transforming influence on our lives that begins with forgiveness and then carries us further into the death that Christ died. We experience His death ourselves. He died for our sins and we die with Him to sin. Do we sin? Yes, of course. We have the inertia of our old life that tempts us to return. We have the enemy who is constantly tempting us to follow him. But we are not enslaved to sin, as the “old man” was. When we die to sin, our old relationship to sin is broken. We experience sin differently from before our salvation.

Before we were born again, we sinned by nature. After the new birth, when we sin we sin against our nature. There is not an old man and a new man living within each believer. I was the old man. Now I am the new man. The new man is not perfect, but he is actually new.

We are now free from the guilt of sin, but also free from the power of sin. Because of the blood of Jesus Christ; because of what He accomplished on the cross, God, through His Holy Spirit, gives us the power to resist and turn away from sin. When Christ died on the cross for our sins, He became the conduit through which the Holy Spirit liberates us from the power of sin. When we are saved we become sharers in God’s own nature. We do not in any sense become God or gods, but we share in His holiness and righteousness. We are changed at a core level; our very nature is change so that we are able to share real fellowship with God who is holy.

2 Peter 1:4
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

If we walk with Christ, we (hopefully) are sinning less and less as we mature and grow in Him. We will never achieve perfection on our own, but when we are saved, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit through the atoning blood of our Savior to strive for it and to perform the good works for which God has predestined us. God has freed us from the bondage of sin; we are no longer bound to sin; the Holy Spirit who dwells within us empowers us to turn away from sinful acts.

We will never be able to enter into the presence of our Holy God on our own merits, but only through the atoning blood of our Savior. We will never be able to serve God apart from the Holy Spirit enabling us, which was accomplished on the cross.

If you are a believer, then taste of the forgiveness of your sins and feel the freedom from the power of sin.

If you are not a believer; if you do not know Jesus Christ as your savior, then acknowledge your sinfulness and recognize Jesus Christ as the only deliverer from your bondage and slavery to sin. Moreover, in the words of our Lord, “Go and sin no more!”

—David S. Spaggiari

Laying On of Hands—The Biblical Perspective

2006-11-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

Introduction

Throughout church history, denominations, churches, and individuals have adopted many practices and traditions. Some are biblically based and some are not. Some are found in scripture but are not practiced the way scripture describes them or the way God intends.

I have described a scenario below that I believe most Christians have experienced, participated in, witnessed, or at least heard about at one time or another in their walk.

Scenario

There is a gathering (formal or informal) of Christians, such as a bible study, a prayer meeting, a retreat, or just a gathering in someone’s home. It comes to the attention of the group that one of its members is experiencing some type of a serious difficulty in his life. It could be the loss of his job, a deep personal struggle, a health issue, or any number of other serious difficulties. Someone in the group suggests, “Let’s pray and lay hands on this person and ask the Lord to deliver him from this difficulty.” Everyone in the room gathers around this person, stretches out their arms and places a hand upon this person. Prayers are offered for the deliverance of this brother from his difficulty, the huddle breaks up, hugs are given, everybody takes their seats, and the meeting continues.

This type of scenario is fairly common in many churches today, especially within (but not limited to) Pentecostal circles. The question is, is this an appropriate expression of the laying on of hands. The purpose of this study is to answer this question by finding the biblical perspective on the laying on of hands.

I approach this subject as I approach all biblical subjects I study and especially ones that I teach: with a reverent fear. A little bit more so in this particular case because the instruction I am giving regarding the Church exercising laying on of hands, I am presenting as the biblical perspective, not a biblical perspective, or my perspective. I’m not giving a lot of wiggle room on this subject. There is probably more the Bible has to say about this subject than I am presenting in this study I would be arrogant to say, in an absolute sense, that I have captured everything that God has said about this or everything that God thinks about this and that no one could ever add anything of value to what I have written. I do, however, have a firm belief and strong conviction that the content of the instruction I am presenting in this study is God’s perspective on the subject. I am not claiming this as divine revelation, but as knowledge gained from a solid study of God’s Word on this subject.

I began my study on this subject by searching the scriptures for all of the occurrences of laying on of hands, compiling a list, and then systematically studying each occurrence. I place Hebrews 6:1–2 at the top of the list even though it does not contain an actual occurrence of laying on of hands and it provides no instructions about laying on of hands. It does, however, tie together all of the instructions and examples of laying on of hands throughout the bible.

Hebrews 6:1–2
1Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

Context of Scripture

The author was rebuking the Hebrew believers for having become “dull of hearing” and for not being further along in their understanding of the fundamental things of God than they were. He admonishes them that at this point in their walk that they should have a firm grasp on the basic fundamental teachings of the faith. Many of them had been believers for 25– 30 years. He exhorted them to learn the fundamentals and then to move on to the more complex elements of their walk and faith. He gives them (and us) a list of fundamental teachings and describes them as being a firm and solid foundation for a Christian walk.

It is in this context that he lists the laying on of hands as being an elementary teaching.

Definition

The Greek word that has been translated to elementary is Arche (G746)

Arche literally means beginning.
In classical Greek it always signifies primacy.

The term was used to describe the first cause or beginning point of a subject; the most basic, foundational, or fundamental concepts of a subject; the basic elements of matter.
It does not convey a random or arbitrary selection of something being first, such as the order in which you pile your plate in a buffet line. Where you begin and the order in which the items are selected has no significance as to the outcome.
It conveys a systematic and essential selection of something being first as in mathematics. Each topic is built upon the prior topic. If the first topic is omitted, then each topic that follows will not be understood or will be misunderstood. The significance of misunderstanding a topic in this instance is paramount. Once a topic is misunderstood, each subsequent topic learned is learned through a filter of misunderstanding. This increases the possibility of continuing to misunderstanding subsequent topics which further skews the end result.

When translators translate from Greek to English, they often times translate one particular Greek word into several different English words, based upon the context of the word and what they thought the author intended. The New American Standard Bible, Updated Version contains 39 occurrences of Arche. Of those 39 occurrences, 38 of them are translated to “beginning” and only once is it translated to “elementary”. I find it somewhat confusing as to why they chose “elementary” for this particular occurrence; I think that “beginning” does a far better job of conveying the overall meaning of the passage.

There are two important elements of this passage that we need to understand:

There are essential aspects of the instructions about laying on of hands that we should study, learn, and understand.
This is a subject that God wants us to understand and He wants us to understand it from the beginning of our walk

Obviously the practice of laying on of hands is not an essential of the faith, but we can not ignore the fact that the writer of Hebrews included the laying on of hands in the following list of fundamental teachings that he describes as a firm and solid foundation for a Christian walk.

Repentance from dead works
Faith toward God
Instruction about Washings
Instruction about the Laying on of Hands
Resurrection from the dead
Eternal judgment

This list includes certain essentials of the faith: repentance, faith, resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment. Each of these six items deserves its own in-depth study and writing.

The emphasis the author places in this passage is not on the act of laying on of hands but on the instruction about laying on of hands. I have come to certain conclusions as to why the author included the laying on of hands in this list, what element of laying on of hands qualifies it to be placed in this list of essentials of the faith, and how that relates to God’s instructions in the appropriate use of laying on of hands.

I stated earlier that I have a firm belief and strong conviction that the content of the instruction I am presenting in this study is God’s perspective on the subject, so I am throwing down the following challenge:

If, after reading this study, you disagree with my conclusion regarding the practice of laying on of hands, take the list of occurrences I have provided below, read and study each one, and then provide me with a biblical defense of your position.

Why Study the Laying On of Hands

I have a desire to diligently, faithfully, and accurately exercise the gifts the Lord has given to me for His glory
I also desire the ability to rightly discern the actions of others and to exhort, encourage, admonish, correct, and instruct (as appropriate) those over whom God has given me spiritual responsibility and authority.
God’s Word declares that the instruction of laying on of hands is foundational to our walk with Christ

What does the laying on of hands symbolize?

The laying on of hands is symbolic in nature; there is nothing magical that takes place when hands are laid on someone. Physical touch is not necessary in order for God to accomplish His goal; however, it is a practice that has been ordained by God and should be studied, learned, and practiced accordingly.

It is interesting to me how certain groups have embraced opposite extremes when it comes to the physical touching aspect of laying on of hands. They miss the rich symbolism of the act because their practice demonstrates a belief that there is some inherent power in the touch of ones hands as if an electrical charge is being transferred from one body to another. Many of these same groups have adopted a variation of laying on of hands in which ones arm is stretched out and the hand is just simply pointed toward the individual. These and other misinterpretations usually come from a lack of thorough study of God’s Word.

The laying on of hands symbolizes the following:

Imputation

Transferring—It symbolizes the transferring of something from one entity to another.
Authority—It symbolizes authority (the one laying hands on another represents God—from whom the blessing originates)
Submission—The one having hands laid on must allow it and must be in right spiritual orientation to God’s authority.

Identification

The one laying hands on someone is identifying with that person or agreeing with that person’s request, direction, and spiritual condition.
It is equivalent to saying amen after someone prays.

The General Biblical Purpose of Laying On of Hands

The act of laying on of hands is an image of God blessing His people and His people submitting to His authority.

God has ordained structure in which His blessing always flows from greater authority to lesser authority, all originating from Him the greatest authority. The biblical imagery is that of water which always flows downhill.

Revelation 22:1
1Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb

God gives us this image in which the water of life, representing His blessing, is flowing (down) from His throne, representing His authority.

Ezekiel 47:1–7
1Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. 2He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side. 3When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. 4Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. 5Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded. 6He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. 7Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

This is essentially the same imagery as in Revelation 22:1, but in Old Testament terms. The water (God’s blessing) is flowing (down) from the threshold of the house (the Tabernacle) indicating that it is coming from within. Inside the tabernacle (where only the priests were permitted) were the Holy Place and the Holy of Hollies which contained the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant represented the Throne of God which symbolizes His authority. The water became deeper and deeper with each thousand cubits the man would walk from the house, indicating that the water was flowing downhill.

Each of these passages gives us beautiful images of how God wants us to stand (or kneel) in the river of the water of life and receive the blessings flowing from his throne. This is richly symbolized in the laying on of hands when practiced appropriately.

Specific Biblical Purposes of Laying On of Hands?

Impart Spiritual Blessings (Genesis 48:10–16)
The bringing forth of miracles (Acts 14:3)
Impart the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1–6)
Transfer Sin (Leviticus 4:3)
Physical Healing (Acts 28:8)
Cast Out Evil Spirits (Luke 4:40–41)
Raise the Dead (Matthew 9:18, 25)
Impart Spiritual Gifts (1 Timothy 4:14)
To Set Apart for Service (Acts 6:1–6)

The Church Today

Should the act of laying on of hands be practiced in the church today?

In some respects, the purpose of laying on of hands has ceased. For example, there is certainly no need to lay hands on sacrifices as in the Old Testament (Hebrews 10: 5–14).

In other respects, because its symbolism has rich and deep meaning for the church today, it is still appropriate to practice the laying on of hands in an appropriate manner.

One tendency is to make the practice something other than what God intends; another can be to ignore it all together. God desires obedience and that equates to practicing the laying on of hands, but practicing it appropriately.

Who should minister the act of laying hands upon others?

When one person lays hands upon another, he is doing so as a representative or ambassador of God and in so doing is fulfilling a role of spiritual authority. The bible does not illustrate or teach the laying on of hands as something that is to be practiced among peers. To do so negates the rich symbolism of the authority of God; it would symbolize equality with God which is in essence rebellion to God.

To avoid any possible misunderstanding in this matter understand that from one perspective we are all peers and God sees us all the same. There is no distinction drawn when it comes to our salvation. God does not save us based upon nationality or sex. There is no distinction when it comes to praying. No individual or group of Christians is set above another when it comes to prayer. God hears all of our prayers and calls us to pray for one another. From another perspective God has ordained a particular structure or hierarchy to His kingdom, as in the church or in a family.

Husbands are to lead their wives; wives are not to lead their husbands.
The church is to be lead by male leadership, not female.

These are but two examples, but it is from this perspective that we are to lay hands on based upon distinction.

The following is a list of appropriate expressions of the laying on of hands:

Husband to wife
Parent to child
Elder/pastor to church member
Believer to unbeliever

On Whom Should Hands Be Laid?

1 Timothy 5:22
Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.

Paul is instructing Timothy, who is in Ephesus, regarding elders; he is not instructing elders. By the context of this sentence it is clear that Paul is telling Timothy to be careful when appointing elders; to be sure that they are qualified and capable of serving, and to carefully examine their lives before laying hands on them to appoint them as elders.

This warning relates to the laying on of hands for any reason. Care should be taken before laying hands on someone to ensure his or her spiritual condition warrants it. One’s heart must be in right orientation with God—a place of embracing God’s authority—in order to rightly receive God’s blessing. The one laying hands on someone is identifying with that person or agreeing with that persons request, direction, and spiritual condition.

For What Specific Purposes Should Hands Be Laid?

Ordaining those who serve
Sending out of apostles and evangelists
Healing

The bible gives us specific purposes for laying on of hands but do not confuse the biblical act of laying on of hands with an act of compassion such as putting an arm around someone’s shoulder or holding someone’s hand during prayer. God calls us to love one another as we love ourselves; showing compassion for and comforting each other certainly falls within this command.

Conclusion

The laying on of hands is itself a symbolic act of spiritual authority because something of greater spiritual value is being conferred from one (a representative of God) to another (a recipient of God’s blessing).

Having hands layed on is an act of submission.

The beautiful images of how God wants us to stand (or kneel) in the river of the water of life and receive the blessings flowing from his throne are richly symbolized in the laying on of hands when practiced appropriately.

This act is a picture God’s people submitting to Him; this is an essential of the faith. We cannot be in right relationship with God without submitting to Him. If we are not submitting to God, we are rebelling against Him; we cannot be true believers if we are in rebellion to God.

It is this element of the instruction about the laying on of hands that is an essential of the faith and what qualifies this act to appear in the list given by the author of Hebrews. This element makes the proper use of laying on of hands critical in the church today. If we do not properly and appropriately understand and practice the laying on of hands, then we symbolize rebellion to God, not submission.

Biblical Occurrences

Testament	Book and Verse	Person Laying on Hands	Person Having Hands Laid On	Relationship	Purpose
Old	Genesis 48:14, 17-19	Israel	Manasseh and Ephraim (Joseph’s sons)	Grandfather/grandsons	Impart blessing
Old	Exodus 29:10–21	Priests	The bull and the ram to be sacrificed	Priests/Sacrifice	To consecrate the priests
Old	Leviticus 3	Priests	Lamb/Goat	Priests/Sacrifice	Transfer of sin
Old	Leviticus 4:4	Priests	The bull about to be sacrificed	Priests/Sacrifice	Transfer of sin
Old	Leviticus 4:13–21	The elders	The bull about to be sacrificed	Elders/sacrifice	Transfer of sin
Old	Leviticus 8:14	Aaron and his sons	Bull	Priests/Sacrifice	To consecrate the priests
Old	Leviticus 8:18	Aaron and his sons	Ram	Priests/Sacrifice	To consecrate the priests
Old	Leviticus 8:22	Aaron and his sons	Ram	Priests/Sacrifice	To consecrate the priests
Old	Leviticus 16:21	Priests	Goat	Priests/Sacrifice	Transfer of sin
Old	Leviticus 24:13–16	All who heard someone curse the name of the Lord.	A person who cursed the name of the Lord.	Witnesses/criminal	Warning
Old	Numbers 8:5–11	Sons of Israel	Levites	Sons of Israel/Levites	To set apart for service
Old	Numbers 27:18-23	Moses	Joshua	Leader/successor	To set apart for service
Old	Deuteronomy 34:9	Moses	Joshua	Leader/successor	To set apart for service
Old	Daniel 10:10-21	An angel of the Lord	Daniel	Angel/Man of God
New	Matthew 19:13-15	Jesus	Children	The Lord Jesus	Impart blessing
New	Matthew 20:34	Jesus	Two blind men sitting on the road	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Matthew 8:14–15	Jesus	Peter’s mother-in-law	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Matthew 8:2–4	Jesus	Leper in a crowd	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Matthew 9:18, 25	Jesus	Daughter of a synagogue official.	The Lord Jesus	Raising of the dead
New	Mark 1:41	Jesus	Leper in a crowd	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Mark 10:13, 16	Jesus	Children	The Lord Jesus	Impart blessing
New	Mark 16:18	The Lord’s commissioned disciples and those who were saved through the disciples.	Unbelievers	Believer/unbeliever	Physical Healing
New	Mark 5:23	Jesus	Jairus’s daughter at his request.	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Mark 6:5	Jesus	A few sick people in Nazareth	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Mark 7:32–33	Jesus	Deaf and mute man from Decapolis	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Mark 8:23–25	Jesus	Blind man in Bathsaida	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Luke 13:11-13	Jesus	Woman in synagogue on Sabbath.	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing; removing evil spirits
New	Luke 22:50–51	Jesus	Centurion guard	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing
New	Luke 4:40, 41	Jesus	Those who were sick and demon possessed in Capernaum.	The Lord Jesus	Physical Healing; removing evil spirits
New	Acts 13:3	The elders	Barnabas and Saul	Leadership/members of the congregation	To set apart for service
New	Acts 14:3	The apostles	Undisclosed	Apostles/Christians	Bring forth of miracles
New	Acts 19:6	Paul	Ephesians (new believers)	Apostles/Christians	Impart the Holy Spirit
New	Acts 28:8	Paul	The father of Publius	Apostle/unbeliever	Physical healing
New	Acts 5:12	The apostles	Undisclosed	Apostles/Christians	Bring forth of miracles
New	Acts 6:5, 6	The apostles	Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas; the seven chosen as deacons.	Leadership/members of the congregation	To set apart for service
New	Acts 8:18	Peter and John	New Christians	Apostles/Christians	Impart the Holy Spirit
New	Acts 9:10-12, 17	Ananias	Paul the Apostle	Believer/unbeliever	Physical healing and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
New	1 Timothy 4:14	The elders	Timothy	Leadership/members of the congregation	Impart spiritual gifts
New	2 Timothy 1:6	The elders	Timothy	Leadership/members of the congregation	Impart spiritual gifts
New	Hebrews 6:1, 2	N/A	N/A	N/A
New	James 5:14	The elders	Those having asked to have the elders pray	Elders/congregation	Physical healing

Did God Create Sin?

2006-08-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

I have heard this question many times: “did God create sin?” This is a favorite among cynical unbelievers, and among many believers who just don’t fully understand God’s sovereignty. If God created sin, then how can He not be responsible for it; if He didn’t, then how can He be sovereign?

Most (if not all) Christians agree that God is not (and can not be) responsible for sin, so the only viable conclusion (using this logic) is that God is not sovereign. If something exists and functions outside of God’s control, He could not possibly be sovereign, right?

This is a classic straw-man approach that unbelievers love to throw at unsuspecting (and unprepared) believers. They pose this question well aware of Christian’s strong belief that God is Holy and, therefore, could not be responsible for sin. This paints many Christians into a corner of not being able to adequately defend the biblical position of God being Holy, sovereign, and completely un-responsible for the presence of sin in the world.

This is also a question many true believers ask because of a lack of understanding the sovereign nature of God.

Hopefully this article will assist Christians in understanding and defending the biblical position and will quiet those cynical unbelievers in a fallacious argument.

Definition

The first thing we need to do is to define sin. Sin is the act of transgressing (acting in violation of) or perverting (to interpret incorrectly; misconstrue or distort) the law of God.

Genesis 3:1–6
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

1 John 3:4
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

Sin is not a creation; it has no substance; it is not being, spirit, or matter. This is a matter of semantics so I will address what I believe to be the heart of the issue. I believe the real question to be, “Did sin enter the world through God?” or “Is God responsible for sin in the world?” I will continue to address the question in this light.

Creation

Next, let’s look at God’s creation. At the conclusion of each stage of creation, God stated that what He had created was “good”. The Hebrew word used is tob, which means to be pleasing or good. This indicates that God was pleased with what He had created and that He found no fault in it. When God completed creation He looked at all He had created and stated that it was “very good”. The same Hebrew word is used here for good with the modifier meod, which means abundance. This indicates that God was pleased with all that He had created and that in it was nothing that displeased Him; that there was nothing evil or corrupt in His creation.

Can God Sin?

Next, let’s look at God’s nature in relation to sin. Can God sin? This is a question that must be addressed because sin could only have entered the world through a sinful act. I think that all Christians will agree that God can not sin. I also think, however, that it is well worth our time to take a look at why God can not sin. The essence of why God can’t sin is wrapped up in His nature as the creator, not because He is forbidden to sin or because He restrains Himself from sinning. Sin is disobedience or opposition to God. God can’t disobey or be in opposition to Himself; when God declares something, it simply “is”. Things exist through the thoughts, words, and breath of God. For God to sin against Himself is impossible not because He is bound by some arbitrary set of “natural laws” or even by a set of laws He has set in place, but because God’s actions are creative in nature. Things “are” or “become” because God declares them. God can not sin because if God did something evil it would not be evil, it would be good because God did it, since God Himself is the definition of good. In other words the concept of goodness is defined by God’s nature, not the other way around. God is not compared to an arbitrary standard called “goodness” and then deemed good because He measures up. There is no measuring stick with good on one side and evil on the other and when compared to it God is good. God is the measuring stick. In Philosophical terms, Godness is good and un-Godness is evil. Goodness is good because it reflects God’s nature. Anything that does not reflect God’s nature is evil.

God’s Creation Sinned

God created man in His image. This means that man shares, in a finite way, the communicable (capable of being transmitted from being to being) attributes of God (e.g., personality, spirituality, rationality, morality). This does not mean that man is exactly like God in every way. Man, being created in God’s image, is similar to a person viewing himself in a mirror. What he sees is an image of himself, but the image is not the substance. Likewise, man was not created with the same substance or capacity as God.

God does not have the capacity to sin (refer to Can God Sin). Adam was created in God’s image but because he was a creation he possessed the capacity to sin. Adam was like God in that he had personality, spirituality, rationality, and morality; he was different from God in that God is the creator and Adam was a creation. Because we are a creation, we have the capacity to disobey God (the creator). God does not have that capacity because He is the creator and what He says, thinks, or breathes, becomes (i.e., He is the measure of what is good and anything opposing Him is evil).

So, Through Whom Did Sin Enter the World?

God is sovereign but He did not create sin. He allows sin, He controls sin, He uses sin for good and causes good through sin in spite of itself. Adam was created with the capacity to sin or not to sin, and he freely chose to sin. Adam was like God (personal, spiritual, rational, moral); therefore, he could choose to obey God or disobey God. He was different from God (creation not creator); therefore, his choice could be sinful.

When Adam disobeyed God, he sinned and sin became part of his nature; all of his descendants inherited his fallen nature.

Conclusion

Sin entered the world through the sinful act of Adam disobeying God (transgressing God’s law).

Sin was conquered through the sinless life of Jesus fully and completely obeying God’s law.

—David S. Spaggiari

Headship in the Home: Daughters Transition to Womanhood

2006-05-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Fathers play a very important, in fact a vital, role in the raising of girls. A father’s responsibility is to teach, train, affirm, protect, and defend his daughter. Key in a father’s understanding of the role he plays in the life of his daughter is to understand his wife and the role God has for her in the earth. Since we are (or should be) raising our daughters to be wives and mothers, understanding our wives and the role God has given them is essential. Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not saying that all women must be wives and mothers. What I am saying is that God’s plan and design for women is to be wives and mothers. God is certainly able to make exceptions in the lives of particular individuals, but as a default we must teach and train our daughters to become wives and mothers unless and until the Lord directs us otherwise.

Relationships

That being said (or written, as it were), let’s look at the role God has established for our wives and daughters.

We were all created by God as subordinates. A subordinate is simply one who is under the authority of another. We are all subordinates under God’s authority. Under His headship, God designed various levels and types of subordinate roles and relationships.

Genesis 1:26–28
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

We see in this account that mankind has authority over all creatures and that all creatures are subordinate to man. There are other subordinate roles and relationships in creation. One of the most significant relationships in all of God’s creation is the man-woman, or more specifically, husband-wife relationship.

Helper

Genesis 2:18–23
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Here we read of how God created woman, which is different from how He created man. Man was created from the dust of the earth. Woman was created from a rib that God took from the man. Woman was created to be a helper to man.

I want to spend a little bit of time and develop this idea of a “helper” before we move on. The word or concept of “helper” has somewhat of a negative connotation in today’s environment. In many industries and businesses today a helper is seen as an insignificant member of the team; someone who is expendable or easily replaced. God’s perspective on this concept is very different; it is not negative but very significant. God declared at the end of each day of creation that what He had created was “good”. At the conclusion of creation, He looked at everything He created and said that it was “very good”. In Genesis 2:18 He states that it is “not good” for man to be alone. God had a specific purpose in creating woman; a purpose that is significant and essential to His creation and His plan. Woman changed the situation with man from being “not good” to being “good”. It’s important that we hold an appropriate perspective on this concept.

The transliterated Hebrew word used that we translate to helper is Ezer (ay’-zer) which means a helper, assistant, or one who affords assistance or relief. Ezer appears 21 times in the Old Testament. A brief survey of how the writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, used this word begins to show the significance that God places on this concept.

Scripture	Reference
Genesis 2:18	Reference to woman
Genesis 2:20	Reference to woman
Exodus 18:4	Reference to God
Deuteronomy 33:7	Reference to God
Deuteronomy 33:26	Reference to God
Deuteronomy 33:26	Reference to God
Psalm 20:2	Reference to God’s action
Psalm 33:20	Reference to God
Psalm 70:5	Reference to God
Psalm 89:19	Reference to God’s action
Psalm 115:9	Reference to God
Psalm 115:10	Reference to God
Psalm 115:11	Reference to God
Psalm 121:1	Reference to God’s action
Psalm 121:2	Reference to God’s action
Psalm 124:8	Reference to God’s action
Psalm 146:5	Reference to God
Isaiah 30:5	A non-description of Egypt in a warning to Judah.
Ezekiel 12:14	A description of those who assisted Israel
Daniel 11:34	Reference to help that Babylon was to receive from neighboring nations
Hosea 13:9	Reference to God

The breakdown of the occurrences of this word in the Old Testament is as follows:

21 appearances

2 refer to woman

2 refer to nations around Israel

1 is used to juxtapose Egypt’s interaction with Israel

16 are used as references to God or His actions.

The fact that the same word is used to describe woman’s purpose and role in the earth as is used to describe God Himself or His actions is very significant and should be the backbone of what forms our perspective of this concept. The concepts of slaves, hired servants, and workers are all introduced in the Old Testament, but completely different words are used to describe these concepts.

The Bible teaches that wives are subject to their husbands; they are under the authority of their husbands, and that authority has been given by God. Women are not (and were not created to be) slaves, servants, hirelings, or workers. Women were created to help, to assist, to come along side their husbands in the assignment their husbands have been given by God in the earth. The implication is that man could not fulfill his role in the earth without woman. Woman’s role is a role that can be filled by no other. We saw that in the garden when every living being was brought to Adam but none was found suitable to be his helper.

The Lie

Genesis 3:1–7

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

The enemy has fed the world a lie that women who fulfill their God ordained roles are second rate, insignificant, unimportant, less important, slaves, servants, hirelings, or workers. How women fulfill their roles have a direct and profound impact on how men (their husbands) fulfill their roles. We see that in the garden when Satan tempted Eve who then led her husband into sin. The enemy can have a deep, negative impact on the kingdom in the earth if he can convince us to believe this lie.

Roles

Now what does all of this have to do with fathers and daughters? I’m getting there.

As Christians it is essential that we understand and fulfill the roles that God has established for us. In order for us to fully accomplish our assignments, we must fulfill our roles.

God created man to rule and lead in the earth. This was His plan, purpose, desire, and pattern (i.e., His criteria) from the beginning. In the husband-wife relationship this means that husbands are to lead their wives. The bible describes this as the husband being the head of the wife. Consequently, woman was not designed to be self-sufficient or independent from man. (Genesis 2:18–24, Ephesians 5:22-24, 1 Corinthians 11:1–12)

If the husband is the head of the wife then certainly he is the head of all that comes from his wife (i.e., children). Women were created to be subordinate to their husbands; by implication children are subordinate to their fathers.

What happens as children mature; does this change? Certainly not. God’s criteria transfer from generation to generation; from (generational) household to (generational) household. Children grow and mature; they are taught and trained under the headship of their father. As they mature, they mature into the roles that God has established for them. When a child matures and is ready to move out from the headship of the father, he or she is to establish a new household based upon these criteria that God has decreed. A son moves out and becomes a head; a daughter moves out and becomes subject to another head. Douglas Wilson’s euphemism illustrates it nicely: “Sons leave; daughters are given”. This is the way God intends it (Genesis 24:50–51, 1 Corinthians 7:36–38).

Transition

This raises questions regarding certain practices in today’s western culture. What about mature children transitioning into adulthood who want to move out of their father’s household to live on their own, go away to school, or even serve in the military?

Let’s start with young men. When a young man is ready to move out from his father’s household and establish his own household, what is he to do? There are essentially three options a young man has:

Marry and live with his wife.

Live by himself.

Share a household with friends (male).

If a young man marries and lives with his wife, they have established a household of which the young man is the head. This meets God’s criteria.

If a young man lives alone, he is the head of his household; a household of one. This meets God’s criteria.

If a young man shares a household with friends he might or might not be the head of his household. If they are all in agreement with “house rules” then it is possible that each young man could be considered the head of his own household. I think that in most cases, this meets God’s criteria.

Now let’s talk about young women. As with young men, there are essentially three options a young woman has:

Marry and live with her husband.

Live by herself.

Share a household with friends (female).

If a young woman marries and lives with her husband, they have established a household and she is living under the headship of her husband. This meets God’s criteria.

If a young woman lives alone, she has no spiritual head (male: father or husband). She is acting as her own head. This does not meet God’s criteria.

If a young woman shares a household with friends (female) she has no spiritual head (male: father or husband). She is acting as her own head. This does not meet God’s criteria.

By today’s secular standard the resulting conclusion of this view is seen as ridiculous and archaic. After all, are young women not to live on their own; are they not to go away to school; are they not to serve in the military? Living by God’s criteria in a world where God is mocked and those who follow Him are ridiculed and persecuted is not easy. Remember the words of our Lord, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household”.

Conclusion

The answer is simple and the answer is clear: we are to live our lives by God’s criteria which mean we are to raise our children by God’s criteria. A Woman needs the headship of a man. They begin under the headship of their fathers and they transition to the headship of their husbands. There is no transitional or parenthetical period described in scripture for a woman’s life.

In addition to teaching and training, it is incumbent upon fathers to protect, affirm, and defend their daughters in much the same way they do their wives. A father’s responsibility is to protect his daughter from the wolves that seek to devour her, to affirm her womanhood, and to defend her honor, and then to give that responsibility to another: her husband.

The difficulty in living this out does not alter our responsibility before the Lord in the teaching, training, raising, sending, and giving of our children.

—David S. Spaggiari

About the Author

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My name is David Spaggiari. I was born and raised Roman Catholic and although I attended Mass, Catechism, received my first Holy Communion, and was confirmed, I never knew the Lord or even really knew of Him. In 1974, at age 13, I had an experience in which I gained a true knowledge of the Lord; at the time I thought it was saving knowledge and considered myself born-again. In retrospect I see that I was not. In 1985, at age 24, the Lord opened my eyes to Him in a saving way and I was born-again. I immediately gained a strong desire to study God’s Word and have been doing so ever since. I am currently serving as one of four elders in a non-denominational church located in the West San Fernando Valley, CA. I am married and have four children. By trade I am a Technical Writer, but my passions are studying and teaching God’s Word, worship, and writing.

One of my favorite pass-times is watching movies. I have an appreciation for movie-making so my taste is varied. I like old movies and my favorite genre is film noir. My wife teases me about my taste in movies because there are very few movies that I really dislike. I can find qualities that I appreciate in just about any film.

I love music. Just like with movies, I like most types of music. There are just two types of music I really can’t stand: country and western! Although, I must admit that as I get older I am even warming up to them. I am a rock-and-roller at heart. I play the drums on our worship team at church with a couple of other middle-aged rock-and-rollers and we quite often tease each other about being want-to-be rock-stars.

God has blessed me with a wonderful family and together we serve Him. In a very healthy way my favorite thing to do in the world is to spend time with them. Whether I am splitting firewood with one of my sons or baking scones with my daughters—I am happy just to be with them.

My best friend in the world is my wife, Leslie. She helps me in every way to fulfill the assignment the Lord has given me in the earth. She supports me, challenges me, encourages me, and loves me even when I am unlovable. The Lords wisdom is so apparent in our marriage, because I could do nothing if not for Leslie!

The Lord has commissioned me to serve Him as an elder, teacher, and worship leader. I have a strong desire and believe in my heart that at some point in time I will minister for Him in a full-time capacity.

—David

Introduction

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Welcome to Noon at Night. I have created this blog because I love studying all aspects of God’s Word and I am particularly intrigued with the deeper more difficult areas of scripture. Noon at Night will serve as an avenue for me to document my studies and share my conclusions with others. I hope to receive questions, comments, and even arguments regarding the studies I publish and the conclusions I draw. I will respond to comments as quickly and thoroughly as possible, but I have enabled comment moderation and will only respond to those comments that are mutually edifying and above all, glorifying to the Lord. I do not want to engage in antagonistic or meaningless arguments, but look forward to serious comments even when they differ from or question my conclusions. In fact, disagreement helps me to either re-think my position or defend it—both are very beneficial!

I will be publishing my studies in their entirety, so some of them might be long! I feel that the benefit of maintaining the continuity of each study by presenting it in its entirety outweighs the potential difficulty in reading a long article. I know that I run the risk of losing part of my audience with this approach, but I think those who are truly interested in participating in these studies won’t be intimidated by their length.

I want each study I publish to be thorough, so I will not publish according to a set schedule. Basically, when I complete a study, I will publish it. I encourage you to subscribe to the blog (if you are interested) so that I can notify you by e-mail each time I publish a new study.

I will also publish shorter articles on particular topics of interest to me.

I am going to publish a detailed profile of myself and a statement of beliefs, so that you know who I am and (basically) what my worldview is. Thanks for taking the time to read this introduction and I hope I have the opportunity to correspond with you in the future.

—David