Month: July 2012

A Knife Edge Fence

“Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Acts 7:56

The history of mankind is a history of rejection of God. As with everything in regard to mankind’s fallen nature it began in the Garden of Eden. Adam rejected God’s word regarding “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9); Cain murdered Abel because he rejected God’s word (Genesis 4:7) and the antediluvian population rejected the word of God that came through Noah.

In Acts seven Stephen recounts Israel’s rejection of the word of God that came through Moses. Rejection of God’s word leads to rejection of the messenger because the word of God convicts the heart (Acts 7:54). Unless a person receives the word of God and acts accordingly that person will endeavour to silence the messenger in order to try and quench the conviction of sin. Israel chose to leave Moses on the mountain and asked Aaron to make them other gods to take them back to Egypt (Acts 7:39, 40). In reality, in their hearts they had never left Egypt.

The Christian church in Australia today is much like Israel was on that day. The outward appearance and testimony may be that it is not part of this world but in reality it has never left the world and longs for the things that pertain to this fallen sinful world. The Lord will not allow His church to sit on the fence for long. He has made it a knife edge fence so that we will either go one way or the other or be destroyed resisting the Holy Spirit (v 51).

The professing church has been steadily blacking out parts of the Bible, deleting verses, tearing out pages and discrediting the God breathed record until they have nothing but faith in the gods of their own imagination. Those gods are forever changing with the whims and fancies of the minds of men. They are part of the ongoing efforts of people to ease the conviction of sin. Instead of the cross of Jesus they look for another god to deliver them from conviction but not from the sin they love.

Unlike the gods created in the minds of men the living God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and He is able to deliver on His promises. Jesus said, “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out … everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:37, 40).

Saul at first rejected Jesus and that resulted in him consenting to the murder of Stephen (Acts 8:1). However, as a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit (9:5) Saul chose to receive God’s word and the Lord Jesus. His life was transformed from that time. Instead of rejecting God’s word he became a channel for God’s word through his letters recorded in the New Testament.

God’s love moves each of us to receive God’s word and Jesus Christ and be a blessing to the world. The default position is rejection. On which side of the fence are you?

Don’t Worry, Believe

“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” John 12:48

If Jesus intended that we should treat His words in a non-literal manner then the verse above, and its context (vv 42-50), would be nonsense. Since Jesus makes it clear that people will be judged according to the word He has spoken it should be evident that a correct understanding of His word is imperative. The only way that is possible is to take His word in the usual literal and grammatical sense. The context itself will determine what kind of literature we are reading, whether it be theology, history, poetry, allegory or a parable, and give us the guide as to how we should understand the passage.

Since it is evident throughout the Bible that God intends for us to correctly understand what He has said and had recorded for us, Jesus’ words in the above verse then make sense. How could we know truth if we interpret the Bible to our ideas of what is possible or true?

Jesus affirms that the words He has spoken come with the authority of the Father (vv 49, 50). The same is true of the whole Bible (2 Timothy 3:16) so we would be wise to ensure we take God at His word throughout. It will be a sad day when the multitudes that have been deceived and not taken Jesus at His word, are judged by His word. They will be among those who cry out, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (taught) in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in your name?” And then Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me.” (Matthew 7:22, 23).

It has always pleased God to let those who do take Him at His word to know something of the days ahead. Only those who treat His word literally will discover the truth and find comfort in it. Matthew records three occasions when Jesus clearly warned His disciples that He would die and rise again. Had they received His word they would have been comforted when Jesus was crucified because they would have known that He would rise again. Instead they ran away in fear and Peter denied he even knew Jesus. John records Jesus addressing this in John 14. In that chapter Jesus gives two reasons for telling them of future events; so they will not worry or be afraid (vv 1, 27) and so they would believe He would rise (v 29). It is evident that He intended that they receive His words literally.

Our world is about to endure the most horrendous period in all its existence and God has warned His people of what is to come. Those who take God at His word will be comforted and assured as these things approach but those who do not will be just like the disciples when Jesus was crucified. They will be anything but comforted.

The Lord revealed to Abraham the awful judgment that was about to come on Sodom and Gomorrah (James 2:23). He has also revealed the awful judgment that is going to come upon the world to us if we will take His word literally. “I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe” (John 14:29; see also 15:15).

The Look of Jesus

“So Peter went out and wept bitterly” Luke 22:62

This kind of weeping does not come about suddenly and without warning. If we follow some of the events in Peter’s experience we can discover why he and perhaps ourselves arrive at an occasion where we weep bitterly knowing we have failed the Lord Jesus.

Let us begin on the Mount where Jesus revealed Himself to Peter, James and John in His glory. Moses and Elijah were there also. Seeing Jesus in this way provoked Peter to believe that Jesus was about to establish the throne of David in Jerusalem at that time. That is why he wanted to erect booths. The Father’s response to this was to exhort the three disciples to listen to Jesus – “Hear Him” He commanded.

In the days that followed we discover that Peter and the other disciples had selective hearing. They did not understand what Jesus was talking about when He told them plainly on three occasions that He must suffer, die and rise again but they essentially ignored it. On most things they did not understand they asked Jesus to explain or clarify it for them but on this saying of Jesus they did not.

When Jesus shared the Passover with the Peter and the other disciples He mentioned again that He must suffer (Luke 22:15) and three times mentioned that He would be with them in the Kingdom (v 16, 17, 30). But what was on the minds of the disciples? They were discussing which of them Jesus spoke of when He said that one of them would betray Him (v 23) and then, unable to resolve that question began disputing among themselves which of them was the “greatest” (v 24).

They were not listening to Jesus. Their minds were still filled with the wrong explanations and understandings of Scripture. So when the Scripture was fulfilled in their presence they totally misread and misunderstood what was happening. Peter cut off the ear of one who came to take Jesus away. No doubt he intended to cut off more than an ear! Imagine the confusion in his mind when Jesus replaced the ear. He followed as they took Jesus away.

Peter was convinced that he would die to protect Jesus and his actions demonstrate that he meant it and would carry it out but when Jesus didn’t act as he expected he fell to pieces in confusion. He had not been hearing what Jesus had been saying and this lead to him denying even knowing Jesus. “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (v 61). That look pierced Peter’s heart until the risen Lord later restored him.

If we do not want to be in that place where Peter found himself; denying Jesus and weeping bitterly, we need to be hearing what Jesus says. Hearing not just the audible sounds but believing to the point of living them out.

Events in our world today shout out that that the Day of the Lord is not too far off. If we have heard Jesus we will not be surprised when, in the twinkling of an eye, we are in His presence face to face.

A Lost Opportunity

“Now they are hidden from their eyes.” Luke 19:42

As an elderly lady with vision strived to get on the bus another passenger nearby exclaimed, “To be blind must be the worst thing.” Some may consider that to be debatable but no one would say that blindness did not greatly impair a person’s world view in a visionary sense. No one would choose to be blind.

In relation to God people do choose to be blind (2 Peter 3:5). In this passage in Luke’s Gospel people become blind because they reject the light. In effect they have chosen to close their eyes.

Israel was blind to Jesus being their Messiah. The leaders did not want Him to be Messiah and had ruled that out. This effectively made them blind to that possibility just like so many today have ruled Jesus out as being the Saviour from sin, death and God’s wrath.

As Jesus looked upon the city from Mount Olivet He began to weep. His weeping was not for what He would soon endure but for what He knew the city would endure in the future because the people rejected Him (Luke 19:43, 44). He had presented Himself to Israel as their promised Messiah, fulfilling all the Scriptures that spoke of Him, yet they did not recognise Him.

Jerusalem is special to the Lord because it is the city in which has been, and will, be the greatest revelation of the Person and glory of God. In Jerusalem He would endure the cross taking upon Himself the sin of the whole world (John 1:29) and will later rule and reign over the whole world when He comes in all His glory when Israel finally will receive Him.

The reality concerning Jesus Christ was hidden from the people of Jerusalem of that day because they chose to close their eyes to the truth and the opportunity was lost forever. One can only imagine their grief and sorrow when they discovered after bodily death that they had rejected the only One who could save them!

The reason they missed their opportunity and did not recognise Him as the promised Messiah, Jesus says, is because they did not know and understand the Scriptures (v 44). It is the Scriptures that describe both His activities and what He would teach. This included His suffering, death and resurrection.

As we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people our hearts are grieved at those who choose to be blind to the truth. Just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem because He saw the suffering the city would endure for its wilful blindness so we weep over souls who wilfully reject Jesus Christ because we know what awaits them in eternity.

Physical blindness is a severe impairment but nothing compared to wilful blindness in relation to the Bible and Jesus Christ. Jesus healed many physically blind people to demonstrate that He could also heal the spiritually blind – if they want to be healed!

Selective Hearing

“Let these words sink down into your ears.” Luke 9:44

It is interesting to observe what people say and how they express their words when they are trying to communicate something important to someone who seems less than interested. This is especially so when a parent is endeavouring to affect the behaviour of their child. The sentences used for this purpose are numerous but it is unlikely that we will hear the one quoted above.

Any married woman knows that her husband has selective hearing. The disciples were all men so wives will accept it as normal that the disciples were selective in what they heard from Jesus. However, men may well complain that their wives can also be selective at times. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve just like the disciples.

Jesus gave about three years to the training of the disciples. Some things are recorded in the Bible for us to read, but there was much more that is not. Additionally there are some things that Jesus repeated several times that we know of. The Gospels record that on three separate occasions Jesus plainly told His disciples that He would suffer at the hands of Israel’s leaders, would die and rise again. He also alluded to this on other occasions. It is hard to imagine that the disciples didn’t pick up on it – but they didn’t. Why not?

Firstly, they didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about because they didn’t believe that what He was saying could be taken literally. Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, their King, and Deity in human form; no way could He possibly suffer or die. Peter, James and John had just seen Him in His glory speaking with Moses and Elijah – so surely He was about to establish His earthly kingdom on David’s throne in Jerusalem!

Secondly, they didn’t understand because their eyes were on something more self-centred. Ignoring what Jesus had just told them they began to dispute among themselves as to their position in His earthly kingdom (v 46).

On the Mount the Father had exhorted the disciples to “Hear Him.” He wanted them to listen to Jesus, not what they had heard from the scribes. But they did not heed the words of the Father. In the verse quoted above Jesus emphasises again that the disciples take notice of what He was saying but to little or no avail.

We can also suffer from selective hearing of Jesus’ words and it will take the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit to bring us to the place where we will hear what Jesus is saying to us. We must never think we know it all – but, alas, so many Christians do just that, or don’t mind that they are doing it without realising that they are aiding their selective hearing. Quite likely we all suffer from this aspect of the fallen nature in varying degrees. No wonder Jesus often said, “He who has an ear, let him hear …” or something similar. We must constantly be asking the Holy Spirit to overcome the spiritual selective deafness in us.