Preparedness
But as the days of Noe (Noah) were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
(Mat 24:37)
We were warned by our Lord to learn the parable of the fig tree (Matt 24:32). Israel is being referenced here as the fig tree which was decreed to be a nation on 29th Nov 1947. He continues to say that generation will not pass till all that He has stated in Matt 24 are fulfilled. Psa 90:10 says the years of our days are 70 years and by virtue of strength 80. I won’t conclude what year or date of our Blessed Hope (Titus 2:13), but the time is very near. Are we prepared?
Noah’s name (rest from weariness) was given by his father as a comfort to our work and to the toils of a cursed land because of sin (Gen 5:29). His birth was like a relief for his father, Lamech, entering into rest from toils of labor. Heb 4 talks about entering into rest, ceasing from our own labor as God did (Heb 4:10). Man was created on the sixth day and his first full day was the seventh day of the Sabbath. Jesus also said that the Sabbath was made for man, not the other way around (Mark 2:27). We know the history about man’s disobedience that instead of the blessing of the Sabbath, curse was brought about.
Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
(Gen 6:22)
Noah was preacher of righteous (2 Pet 2:5) as he was building the ark for hundred odd years. He was also obedient in what God commanded him; similarly we see the same obedience in Moses in adhering to every detail pertaining to the making of various holy things for the tabernacle, the priesthood, etc including the Ark of the Covenant. Also interesting to note that Moses life was saved in an ark.
Heb 9 tells us that in the Ark of the Covenant were 3 items; the pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the 10 commandments. We know that the Ark represent the Presence of God and Paul tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit; therefore the proof of our salvation is in the contents.
The pot of manna
Jesus quoted Deut 8:3 in the face of temptation, and moving on further to declare that He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35) and the beginning of the Gospel of John says that Jesus is the Word Himself. This shows the oneness of Christ with the Word of God so much so that He was the fulfillment of the Word of God. God will write His law in our heart, and we must be diligent to hide and engraft His Word in our heart. Our life must carry the oneness with His Word as did our Savior.
Aaron’s rod
It was a resurrected shepherd’s rod used by a priest. This tells us that there must be the rule and reign of the Great Shepherd who is at the right of God, Who makes intercession for us day and night. Christ has to have complete rule and reign. To just reign means He would be like a figure head, but to also rule means He takes control, direct and govern every area of our lives.
The 10 commandments
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
(Rom 13:10)
These are the Moral laws which Jesus taught the spirit of it in Matt 5. For many the challenge is not to love God but the true test is to love our enemies, our haters, those who curse us, those who spitefully use us and even our persecutors. John exposes our hypocrisy by saying how can we love God whom we have not seen, yet not loving our brother – such hypocrisy amounts to being a liar (1 John 4:20). Dare we ask Christ who is our neighbor and brother (Luke 10:29).
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
(Heb 11:7)
We have heard the warning with regard to the parable of the fig tree, how prepared are we? After Matt 24 Jesus talks about the 10 virgins, all waiting for the bridegroom but only half were prepared. I don’t think Jesus was talking about unbelievers, but Christians who are suppose to anticipate His coming. Only half made it into His Kingdom at His coming. Similarly two are in the field and two grinding at the wheel, only half were taken. The statistics is staggering.
Are we prepared? Are we building into our lives the Word, the rule and reign of our Shepherd-Priest and fulfilling the Law by loving the un-loveable? We don’t have to be caught unprepared by being watchful over our lives by walking the light.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
(1Th 5:1-8)
Friday, March 20, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Our Completion in Christ
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
(Mat 5:17)
To fulfill is to bring to completion or full realization, for Jesus it encompassed the Law (we must think of it as a whole, not just as laws, for if we break one, it’s as good as breaking all, Jas 2:10) and all prophecy. What Jesus fulfilled was in fact the will of the Father with reference to the Old Testament. In fact the fulfillment was so complete that there was an oneness that Jesus had with the will of the Father and it was as important as the sustenance of food (John 4:34). As Jesus continued He began to unfurl the spirit of the Moral Law…. About murder, adultery, etc.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(Jer 31:33)
Antinomian teaching try to nullify the law, but here Jesus is further affirming it. If we see that the moral Law as coming from the mouth of Christ, and thus we know the oneness with the Law as also our oneness with Him. Hebrews also mentions twice (Heb 8:10, 10:16) about writing them in our hearts. In Deuteronomy 17 and 27, the king and elders are to write a copy of the law, but now God has gone another step further to write it in our hearts.
Why the heart? Because there is the seat of our emotions, for example Jesus spoke of anger being as good as murder. So if we are one with Christ and His Law, anger and any other emotions can be brought into subjection. Secondly, our mouth reveals the content of our hearts (Matt 12:34). Also from the intent of our hearts comes forth actions as with good trees producing good fruits and bad trees producing bad fruits (Matt 7:16). So the law and the spirit of it are for Christ disciples, the others who are not disciple will deem the law as legalistic. To us who are disciples it is a freedom from sin and fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life (Rom 6:22).
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(Mat 5:20)
What does it mean to exceed their righteousness? In Matt 5:19, Jesus did not just say that we must not just break (to annul or make invalid) any of His commandments but also to teach them. Jesus pronounces woes unto them that sit at Moses (representing the Law) seat (Matt 23:1), who impose high standards unto others but themselves are not doers. To exceed their righteousness means to obey and to teach, Jesus abhors hypocrisy. He wants us not just to fulfill, but to be fulfillment of the Law as He was. We become one with the Law that it becomes an unforced obedient life, not one that is legalistic. Secondly, we are taught to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt 5:6), meaning to be void of any other forms of righteousness save that which comes from God as even righteousness was accounted to Abraham by God. The danger of self righteousness is legalism which the scribes and Pharisees subscribe to.
As our Lord fulfilled every jot and tittle of the Law, so let Him do a work in us so we are made complete by Him writing His Law into our hearts that He be God to us and we be His people.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
(Mat 5:17)
To fulfill is to bring to completion or full realization, for Jesus it encompassed the Law (we must think of it as a whole, not just as laws, for if we break one, it’s as good as breaking all, Jas 2:10) and all prophecy. What Jesus fulfilled was in fact the will of the Father with reference to the Old Testament. In fact the fulfillment was so complete that there was an oneness that Jesus had with the will of the Father and it was as important as the sustenance of food (John 4:34). As Jesus continued He began to unfurl the spirit of the Moral Law…. About murder, adultery, etc.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(Jer 31:33)
Antinomian teaching try to nullify the law, but here Jesus is further affirming it. If we see that the moral Law as coming from the mouth of Christ, and thus we know the oneness with the Law as also our oneness with Him. Hebrews also mentions twice (Heb 8:10, 10:16) about writing them in our hearts. In Deuteronomy 17 and 27, the king and elders are to write a copy of the law, but now God has gone another step further to write it in our hearts.
Why the heart? Because there is the seat of our emotions, for example Jesus spoke of anger being as good as murder. So if we are one with Christ and His Law, anger and any other emotions can be brought into subjection. Secondly, our mouth reveals the content of our hearts (Matt 12:34). Also from the intent of our hearts comes forth actions as with good trees producing good fruits and bad trees producing bad fruits (Matt 7:16). So the law and the spirit of it are for Christ disciples, the others who are not disciple will deem the law as legalistic. To us who are disciples it is a freedom from sin and fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life (Rom 6:22).
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(Mat 5:20)
What does it mean to exceed their righteousness? In Matt 5:19, Jesus did not just say that we must not just break (to annul or make invalid) any of His commandments but also to teach them. Jesus pronounces woes unto them that sit at Moses (representing the Law) seat (Matt 23:1), who impose high standards unto others but themselves are not doers. To exceed their righteousness means to obey and to teach, Jesus abhors hypocrisy. He wants us not just to fulfill, but to be fulfillment of the Law as He was. We become one with the Law that it becomes an unforced obedient life, not one that is legalistic. Secondly, we are taught to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt 5:6), meaning to be void of any other forms of righteousness save that which comes from God as even righteousness was accounted to Abraham by God. The danger of self righteousness is legalism which the scribes and Pharisees subscribe to.
As our Lord fulfilled every jot and tittle of the Law, so let Him do a work in us so we are made complete by Him writing His Law into our hearts that He be God to us and we be His people.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Mercy Because Someone Else Died
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
(2Sa 12:13)
The mercy of God is something we must never take for granted. David knew the fullest extend of God’s mercy after his sin was exposed by Nathan the prophet. Some of us could be wondering how this man could live for at least 9 months (a child was conceived in this illegitimate relationship with Bathsheba) being so numb to sin, but we must not judge this man without first considering the beam in our own eye (Matt 7:3). We need to be truthful before God lest we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:9). The Moral Laws of not murdering, not coveting, not bearing false witness were bundled into this affair that cost a faithful servant (Uriah) his life and wife. Interestingly David still had a sense of justice because he could even say ‘As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die’ (2 Sam 12:5), dare to even stand in judgment on behalf of Jehovah. The beam must be dealt with first prior to judging others.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
(Exo 25:21-22)
Physically the covering of the Moral Law is the mercy seat, here is a beautiful picture that mercy triumphs over judgment and God says He will commune with Moses from above the mercy seat, meaning from the place of mercy, we will come to a place of revelation in our deepest relationship with God. From that place of mercy, His commandments are not burdensome to us and we will begin to delight in them (Psa 112:1).
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
(Gen 3:21)
A very important Levitical practice is the sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat (Lev 16:14), so mercy and blood has to go hand in hand. When Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden but God provided clothing for them as they departed. They lost the covering of God’s glory and needed a substitute covering lest they succumb to the environment; an animal had to die to provide for them. Someone else had to die in their stead (Gen 2:17) for disobedience that they will be covered both physically and spiritually.
How do we respond to God’s mercy?
It is to ‘be merciful’ to those i) who don’t deserve mercy, ii) who can’t by any means repay back our love, and iii) willingness to bear others’ burdens.
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
(1John 3:17)
Being merciful is love in action, even as God’s love in sending His own Son to save us (John 3:16). The interesting thing is that we will not know God’s mercy unless we know how to first show it…. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful…….(Psa 18:25)
Psa 41: 1 Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Have you ever wondered why there seems to be always trouble in your life and all the prayers uttered didn’t seem to matter? Perhaps it is because we have not given any thought towards the poor. Providing for the poor has always been the natural behavior in the early church. Especially in these hard financial times, are we ‘fearful’ to release our resources to those in dire needs? Jesus is very clear about the requirement of entering into Heaven in Matt 25:31-40, it wasn’t about great miraculous exploits but it is about providing for desperate needs.
In Psa 51 David wrote so wonderfully for us to that forgiveness is on the basis of God’s mercy and knew that he will not be cast away from His Presence (Psa 51:11), having the revelation that some else had to die in place of his sin. God’s Presence must be very precious to us, because it came with cost of the life of the Son of God.
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
(2Sa 12:13)
The mercy of God is something we must never take for granted. David knew the fullest extend of God’s mercy after his sin was exposed by Nathan the prophet. Some of us could be wondering how this man could live for at least 9 months (a child was conceived in this illegitimate relationship with Bathsheba) being so numb to sin, but we must not judge this man without first considering the beam in our own eye (Matt 7:3). We need to be truthful before God lest we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:9). The Moral Laws of not murdering, not coveting, not bearing false witness were bundled into this affair that cost a faithful servant (Uriah) his life and wife. Interestingly David still had a sense of justice because he could even say ‘As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die’ (2 Sam 12:5), dare to even stand in judgment on behalf of Jehovah. The beam must be dealt with first prior to judging others.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
(Exo 25:21-22)
Physically the covering of the Moral Law is the mercy seat, here is a beautiful picture that mercy triumphs over judgment and God says He will commune with Moses from above the mercy seat, meaning from the place of mercy, we will come to a place of revelation in our deepest relationship with God. From that place of mercy, His commandments are not burdensome to us and we will begin to delight in them (Psa 112:1).
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
(Gen 3:21)
A very important Levitical practice is the sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat (Lev 16:14), so mercy and blood has to go hand in hand. When Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden but God provided clothing for them as they departed. They lost the covering of God’s glory and needed a substitute covering lest they succumb to the environment; an animal had to die to provide for them. Someone else had to die in their stead (Gen 2:17) for disobedience that they will be covered both physically and spiritually.
How do we respond to God’s mercy?
It is to ‘be merciful’ to those i) who don’t deserve mercy, ii) who can’t by any means repay back our love, and iii) willingness to bear others’ burdens.
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
(1John 3:17)
Being merciful is love in action, even as God’s love in sending His own Son to save us (John 3:16). The interesting thing is that we will not know God’s mercy unless we know how to first show it…. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful…….(Psa 18:25)
Psa 41: 1 Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
Have you ever wondered why there seems to be always trouble in your life and all the prayers uttered didn’t seem to matter? Perhaps it is because we have not given any thought towards the poor. Providing for the poor has always been the natural behavior in the early church. Especially in these hard financial times, are we ‘fearful’ to release our resources to those in dire needs? Jesus is very clear about the requirement of entering into Heaven in Matt 25:31-40, it wasn’t about great miraculous exploits but it is about providing for desperate needs.
In Psa 51 David wrote so wonderfully for us to that forgiveness is on the basis of God’s mercy and knew that he will not be cast away from His Presence (Psa 51:11), having the revelation that some else had to die in place of his sin. God’s Presence must be very precious to us, because it came with cost of the life of the Son of God.
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