3 Pentecost - Sunday

first posted 06/19/04

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11    All is vanity
Acts 8:26-40    Philip converts the Ethiopian
Luke 11:1-13    Teachings on prayer

The author is nominally (Ecclesiastes 1:1b) and traditionally regarded as Solomon, the son of David. The author’s thesis is that everything in the world is fleeting and unsubstantial. Everything is in constant motion, but nothing ever really changes. Man labors but his work is never finished. Generations come and go. Rivers run to the sea, but the sea never becomes full and the rivers never run dry. The eye does not become sated with seeing or the ear filled with hearing. The same things happen over and over. Nothing is truly new; everything has happened before. The things of old are forgotten; so also the things that will happen in the future will also be forgotten.

The Lord directed Philip to travel a desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. As Philip went, he encountered an Ethiopian eunuch who was an administrator of the treasury of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian man had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning. He was seated in his chariot and was reading the prophet Isaiah (aloud, as was the ancient practice) Philip heard him and asked him if he understood what he was reading. The man said that he needed someone to guide him, and invited Philip to join him in the chariot.

The passage he was reading was Isaiah 53:7-8: “As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth” (compare Matthew 27:12-14). The Ethiopian asked Philip to whom the passage referred. Philip thus had an opportunity to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They passed by some water, and the eunuch asked Philip to baptize him. They both went into the water and Philip baptized the Ethiopian. “And when they came out of the water, the Spirit caught up Philip; the Eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found in Azotus” (Acts 8:39). Philip continued northward along the coast, preaching the Gospel in every town until he reached Caesarea.

Jesus had been praying, and when he finished, his disciples asked him to teach them to pray, since John the Baptist had also taught John's disciples to pray. Jesus gave them what is known as the Lord’s Prayer (see also Matthew 6:9-13). It is notable for its simplicity, with no fancy phrases or excess verbiage. It acknowledges God as our Father, reverences him as holy, submits to his will, asks for our daily physical need on a day-by-day basis, for forgiveness of sin, and for protection from evil.

Jesus used a parable to teach his disciples about prayer. He asked the disciples to imagine that they had unexpected company who arrived in the middle of the night. They would ask a neighbor to loan them bread, but the neighbor would be in bed and unwilling to be bothered to get up and loan them bread. Even so, the neighbor would eventually comply if the borrower persisted, just to end the disturbance. Jesus told his disciples “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:10), assuring them that their diligence would be rewarded. Although sinful, human parents generally want to give their children what is good. Won’t our heavenly Father, who alone is truly good, give us good gifts that we truly need if we ask, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit?

The word translated “Preacher” implies a “teacher” or “lecturer” rather than a specifically religious speaker; the message seems more philosophical more than spiritual. The author seems to be attempting to answer, or to at least ask, the question of the meaning and purpose of life. The Bible, and specifically the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is the answer. I believe that the answer can be summed up in Acts 17:26-27: “And he (God) made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us.” I am utterly convinced from God’s word and personal experience that the central purpose for our life on this earth is to come to a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, by his indwelling Holy Spirit, so that we can live eternally with him in Heaven.  

The Ethiopian sought God by reading the Scriptures. A born-again disciple, Philip was led by the Holy Spirit to encounter the Ethiopian as he read the Scriptures on a deserted, lonely road. Philip was available to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Ethiopian asked for guidance. Water was available, and the Ethiopian requested baptism. In obedience to the Holy Spirit, Philip took a trip down a lonely road. Philip couldn't have seen any purpose for the trip at the outset, but he went in trust and obedience, and it led to great opportunities for ministry.

Jesus promised that if we ask we will receive, if we seek we will find, if we knock it will be opened to us. God wants us to come to a personal relationship with him. God wants to give us his indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). God wants us to be led by his Holy Spirit so that we can resist temptation (Luke 11:4c), be delivered from evil (Matthew 7:13b), and so that we can present the Gospel and lead others to Jesus and eternal life.  

The meaning and purpose of life is not to see who can accumulate the most stuff before we die, or to “grab all the gusto.” God is not far from us, even if we seem to be in the most isolated and lonely place imaginable; all we have to do is ask, seek, and knock, in faith in Jesus. The Lord’s Prayer is really “The Disciples’ Prayer;” it was given to Jesus’ disciples. Prayer doesn’t depend on our eloquence or our worthiness, but upon our faith and obedience to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is God’s only provision for our salvation and the only way to have fellowship with and access to God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see Conditions for Answered Prayer, sidebar, top right). 

The Lord of Life is very near to each one of us. All we need to do is to invite Jesus into our hearts and our lives. Have you invited Jesus to be your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you sought and received his indwelling Holy Spirit since you first believed? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

3 Pentecost - Monday

first posted 06/20/04

Ecclesiastes 2:1-15    All is vanity
Galatians 1:1-17    Not man’s Gospel; but God’s
Matthew 13:44-52    Parables of the Kingdom

The authorship of Ecclesiastes (the “teacher”) is attributed to King Solomon, the son of David (Ecclesiastes 1:1b). The author says that he has tried to find meaning and purpose in life by pursuing pleasure, but found himself empty and unfulfilled. Although his pursuit of meaning was guided by wisdom, he experimented with foolishness to see if he might find fulfillment there. He created great works: houses, vineyards, gardens and parks and pools. He tried owning and breeding slaves. He had large flocks and herds. He accumulated silver and gold. He was a patron of music. He gathered a harem. He had great wisdom and he had every pleasure imaginable by man; he received momentary pleasure from all that he did, but he found that all was empty and meaningless; there was no enduring value. Wisdom is preferable to folly. The wise person sees what is happening, while the fool proceeds in ignorance; yet ultimately they both suffer the same fate. Both the wise and the foolish die and are soon forgotten.  

Paul’s apostleship was not conferred by men or through men, but by God through Jesus Christ. The essence of the Gospel is that Jesus died as a sacrifice to pay for our sins and deliver us, by the plan and will of God our Father, from being condemned along with the present evil age. There is only one Gospel of Jesus Christ, which was attested to by the Apostles and recorded in the Bible. Almost immediately after the birth of the Church false teachings were arising, perverting the Gospel of Christ. Paul warns believers not to deviate from the sound doctrine of the true Gospel as taught by the Apostles and recorded in the Bible, and Paul pronounced a solemn curse on false teachers who pervert the true Gospel.

Paul had been commissioned by God to proclaim the Gospel (Galatians 1:1; compare 1 Thessalonians 2:4) and Paul’s duty was to please God, rather than men. The Gospel is not something devised by men, and it wasn’t taught or entrusted to Paul by men. Paul received the Gospel by revelation from Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit at the time of Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-22). Paul testified that he had been zealous for Judaism and had persecuted Christianity. But God called Paul to preach the Gospel even though Paul was not worthy by his own merit; and God revealed God’s Son, the risen Jesus Christ, to Paul so that Paul might preach the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Paul testified that he followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and went as a Christian missionary to Arabia without human training and without consulting with Church leaders in Jerusalem or any human advisors.

Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a field which contained buried treasure. A person, on discovering the treasure, sold all that he had to obtain the field, but in the process, of course, he gained the treasure. The kingdom of heaven is also like a pearl of tremendous value. A merchant gladly gave all that he had to obtain what was truly valuable beyond calculation. The kingdom of heaven is also a selection process like fishing with a huge net. On the Day of Judgment everyone will be accountable to God for what each has done in life. The good will be kept; the bad destroyed.  Jesus declared that his Gospel does not negate the Old Covenant experience and insight of Judaism, but that these are to be interpreted in the light of the Gospel of the New Covenant of Grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

No worldly pursuit ultimately satisfies. I am convinced that the meaning and purpose of life is to seek a relationship with God: “And he (God) made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:26-27). Human, worldly wisdom may assert that death is nothingness, but God’s word declares that we were created as eternal beings to have fellowship with our creator. Because of sin we were condemned to eternal death and separation from God (Genesis 2:16-17; Romans 3:23, 6:23; John 5:28-29).

God’s word declares that there will be a Day of Judgment when all who have ever lived will be accountable to God; those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus Christ will receive eternal life in heaven with him, but those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to obey him will receive eternal death and destruction in the Hell of fire with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our salvation and the only way to restored fellowship with God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

The true apostolic, scriptural Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s only plan for our salvation. Every other religion and every deviation from that Gospel is a creation from the imagination of mankind (and inspired by demons). Paul’s testimony independently confirms the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the true and only plan of God. Paul didn’t know Jesus during Jesus’ earthly ministry. Paul encountered the Spirit of the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts Chapter 9) only after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven (Acts Chapter 1). Paul accurately proclaimed the Gospel through the revelation by the Holy Spirit, without having been taught it by Jesus during Jesus’ earthly ministry, or by Jesus’ disciples. Paul had been educated in Judaism, and he was quick to interpret the treasures of the old covenant in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 13:52).

What momentary gratification could possibly be worth an eternity of burning to death, weeping and gnashing teeth (Matthew 13:50)?  At the end of our lives the good experiences will all be behind us, and every material thing we’ve accumulated will go to someone else. Would we be willing to give up what we cannot take with us to avoid an eternity of Hell; to avoid a living death and eternal misery, separated from all goodness and love? Would we be willing to give up what we cannot take with us to spend eternity in paradise in the kingdom of Heaven, in fellowship with our Lord? Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is confirmation that there is life beyond the grave.

Have you encountered the risen Jesus? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you sought and received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you following the leading of the Holy Spirit? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?  

3 Pentecost - Tuesday

first posted 06/21/04

Ecclesiastes 2:16-26   Death steals the fruit of wisdom and labor
Galatians 1:18-2:10   Paul and the Church at Jerusalem
Matthew 13:53-58    A prophet in his own country

Solomon realized that because of death, a person must leave all that he accomplishes and accumulates to someone who comes after him. Since enjoyment in the moment is the only benefit people can have, others unfairly enjoy what we have labored and sacrificed to get. The only possible enjoyment a person can have is to have pleasure in eating and drinking and in his labor. But Solomon saw that whether a person can have enjoyment in these basic things is up to God. God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy to those who please God, but those who do not please God are given the work of gathering and accumulating, only to leave their accumulation to someone who pleases God.

Paul testified that he received the true, accurate, apostolic (as proclaimed by the apostles), scriptural (as recorded in the Bible) Gospel of Jesus Christ independently by revelation by the Holy Spirit, without having known Jesus during Jesus’ earthly ministry (i.e., before his Resurrection and ascension) and without having been taught it by Jesus’ disciples. (See Galatians 1:1; 11-17). Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to go as a Christian missionary to the Gentiles, without consulting with Jesus’ disciples, the Church authorities, or any other humans.

After three years of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, Paul did go to Jerusalem to visit Cephas (Aramaic equivalent of “Peter;” the name given Peter by the Lord; see Matthew 16:18) for fifteen days, but saw none of the other disciples except James, the Lord’s brother). Then Paul went to Syria and Cilicia (a Gentile region; between Galilee and Asia Minor).  No other Judean Christians had seen Paul, although they had heard of him because of his remarkable conversion from persecutor of Christians to leading Christian missionary to the Gentiles.

Paul returned to Jerusalem fourteen years later with Barnabas and Titus. Paul testified that he went by the direction of the Holy Spirit, and he met with the Church leaders in Jerusalem and laid out his presentation of the Gospel for their confirmation. There was some controversy stirred up by “Judaizers,” a faction which believed that Christians must adopt the practices of Jewish Law, but the Church Council at Jerusalem validated Paul’s teaching by not requiring Titus, a Greek, to be circumcised. Paul vigorously contended against factions within the Church which were attempting to modify the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ by adding human-conceived requirements such as the conformance to Jewish Law.

Paul did not receive any new understanding of the Gospel from Christian Leaders in Jerusalem, even though they were of great reputation among the Church. Instead, these highly regarded leaders acknowledged that Paul’s apostleship was as authentic and valid as Peter’s, and that the same Holy Spirit was working through each.  (Paul also notes that God is not moved by human fame or reputation, but judges all people impartially). Peter, James and John, (Jesus’ inner circle; the three that accompanied Jesus to the mount of Transfiguration; Matthew 17:1) the three principal leaders of the Church formally commissioned Paul to continue his ministry to the Gentiles, requesting only that Paul might remember the needs of the poor.

Jesus returned to his home region, and he taught in his local synagogue. The people were astonished at his teaching, his wisdom and his works, because they thought they knew Jesus’ background and his parentage, and were offended by his teaching. Jesus told them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house” (Matthew 13:57b). Jesus did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.  

Solomon was the wisest, the richest, and one of the most powerful people who had ever lived up to that time, but he recognized that without God, life is futile and empty. We can pursue enjoyment, but apart from the Lord we cannot achieve it more than momentarily. The Lord determines who lives and for how long.

Paul’s remarkable testimony is independent authentication of the Apostolic, Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is confirmation that the same Holy Spirit who was at work in Peter and the other apostles was working through Paul . It is an example of the faithful efforts of the apostles to preserve the purity of the true Gospel from those who wanted to change and distort the Gospel.

Paul is the prototype of every “modern” Christian, all Christians who have come to faith in Jesus Christ since Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension.  Paul’s testimony is the illustration of how revelation by the Holy Spirit is to be authenticated by the entire Biblical record, from the perspective of the apostolic testimony recorded in the New Testament. In other words, the testimony of the Apostles, including Paul, recorded in the New Testament scriptures is what keeps us from going astray from the true Gospel and becoming "Judaizers" and “New Testament Jews.”

Jesus was sent from God to the Jews as the Messiah, the promised savior; He was Emmanuel, God incarnate, born into a Jewish family (Matthew 1:23), but many Jews did not recognize and acknowledge him as the Messiah. Jesus’ home synagogue rejected him, because they thought they knew his parentage and his background, and they could not believe that he was the Messiah (Matthew 13:54-58; compare John 1:9-13). They thought they knew that Jesus’ father was a carpenter (Joseph; Matthew 13:55), not realizing that Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit, as a virgin, without having been with Joseph sexually (Matthew 1:18-25).

Paul loved Judaism (Galatians 1:14) and once he had come to know the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and understood it to be the fulfillment of the promises of Judaism he wanted to share it with his beloved Jewish people. But he found them unreceptive, and so he took the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; 18:6; 28:28). Paul even hoped to provoke the Jews to jealousy (Romans 11:11) so that they might turn to the Gospel and thus receive the blessings which were intended for them.

Are we so familiar with what we think we know about Jesus that we cannot believe in him as the Lord? Are we allowing worldly authority and fame, or lack thereof, to unduly influence our beliefs? Do we imagine that we can find fulfillment in life apart from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? The Church is the heir to Israel and Judaism; she is the “New Israel;” the new “People of God.” Is the Church now in the position that Israel was in then? Is what we think we know about Jesus, or those we consider to be authorities, preventing us from knowing Jesus personally? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Do you have personal fellowship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ?  Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?

3 Pentecost - Wednesday

first posted 06/22/04

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15  A time for everything  
Galatians 2:11-21   Difference between Law and Gospel
Matthew 14:1-12    Death of John the Baptist

The times of a person’s life are determined by God and are beyond our control. The best we can do is to recognize God’s will and cooperate with it. Everything which preoccupies us has been created by God. Everything is good in its appropriate time. God has put the hope of the infinite (or “eternity”) into our minds, and yet he has limited our ability to comprehend the infinite. [Or, God has placed a “veil” (“obscurity”) in our minds so that we cannot see God’s plan from beginning to end (“eternity” or “infinity”); see Strong’s #5956; #5769 for the Hebrew word translated “eternity” in Ecclesiastes 3:11 RSV; compare with 2 Corinthians 3:14-16].  The best one can hope for is happiness and enjoyment of life; to take pleasure in eating and working. What God does endures forever; man cannot change it by adding to it or taking from it. God has designed creation thus, so that mankind should have the appropriate awe of God. The present repeats the past; the future repeats the present; and the past will repeat itself.

Paul criticized Peter (Cephas is Aramaic, the language of Jesus, for “Peter,” and the name given him by the Lord; Matthew 16:18) because Peter allowed his understanding of the Gospel to be compromised by peer-pressure while he was visiting at Antioch. Paul reminded him that they were both Jewish by birth, and they both knew from the Gospel that man is not justified (made right with God) by keeping the Law but only through faith in Jesus. They themselves had believed in Jesus, so that they might be judged righteous by God through faith in Jesus. How then could Peter require Gentiles to comply with Jewish Law in order to be made right with God?

The Law doesn’t make anyone righteous; to the contrary, it condemns, because no one is sinless according to the Law (Romans 3:23; Galatians 2:16d). If we sin while living by faith in Christ, it is not Christ who has caused us to sin; if we revert to our former way of life we bear the blame ourselves and show that we are sinful by nature. We have died to the Law so that we might live to God. We are not lawless, because while we are no longer controlled by the Law, we are controlled by Christ’s Holy Spirit within us; by trusting and obeying him. Our justification (judicial declaration of righteousness) is by God’s grace; a free gift, undeserved favor, through faith in Jesus. If we were justified by works (keeping) of the Law (which is impossible) then we would deserve justification, and Jesus’ death would have been of no purpose.

Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was tetrarch (ruler of a minor region) of Galilee, and had married Herodias, the wife of his (half) brother, Philip. (Herod Antipas had another half brother by a third wife of Herod the Great, also named Philip, who was tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, and who built Caesarea Philippi; see Luke 3:1). John had rebuked Herod Antipas for unlawfully marrying his brother’s wife, so Herod had imprisoned John. Herod wanted to execute John, but was afraid to, because the people believed that John was a prophet.

On Herod’s birthday, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced for the celebration. Herod was pleased with her dancing and promised to give her whatever she requested. Prompted by her mother, she asked for John the Baptist’s head on a platter. Herod regretted making the promise, but could not avoid fulfilling it because of his guests, so he had John beheaded in prison and his head brought to her. The disciples came and buried the body and went and told Jesus. As Jesus’ fame spread, Herod heard, and expressed the idea that Jesus was John who had been raised from the dead (or reincarnated).  

The best that one can hope for is for happiness and enjoyment of life. Happiness and enjoyment are gifts from God (Ecclesiastes 3:13; 2:24-26). Since the times of our lives are determined by God and beyond our control (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; 14), we are well-advised to make every effort to discover and cooperate with God’s will.

Peter knew what the Gospel said, but he allowed peer-pressure to induce him to act against his understanding of the Gospel. He went along with the crowd instead of sticking with what he knew was right. Peter had received forgiveness as a free gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ, but he was attempting to require others to earn theirs by conforming to Jewish Law.  

According to this account of the death of John the Baptist, Herod wanted John the Baptist executed, but he recognized that it was not politically wise, because the people he governed regarded John as a prophet. Herod subsequently made a rash promise to his wife’s daughter, Salome, in front of his political supporters, and found himself in a bind. He would be politically embarrassed to break his promise to his daughter, or he would have to do what he knew what he knew was politically unwise. As a result he let the opinion of others influence him to act contrary to his own conscience. While John was alive in prison, Herod at least had the opportunity to hear and respond to John’s message and to become prepared to receive Jesus as his savior. Because of John’s execution, Herod was unprepared and thus unable to receive God’s gift of salvation and eternal life through faith Jesus Christ.

Isn’t it amazing that we so readily give up what we know is right to conform to the will of other people, and yet are so reluctant to seek and do God’s will? If we try to please ourselves we will succeed only momentarily. If we try to please others we will not please anyone. Only by pleasing God will we find eternal satisfaction. The only way to please God is through faith and obedience to Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Thursday, June 24, 2004

posted 06/23/04

Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3    Prevalence of evil    
Galatians 3:1-14     Justification by faith, not works
Matthew 14:13-21     Feeding the five thousand

Wickedness permeates every facet of life; even in the courts of justice and the temples of righteousness, there is wickedness. God has appointed a time when he will judge the righteous and the wicked, because he has appointed a time for everything. Humans seem to be no better than animals; they all have the same life, they both die, they both return to dust. “Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth” (Ecclesiastes 3:21)? “So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, for that is his lot; who can bring him to see what will be after him” Ecclesiastes 3:22)? The author considered all the oppression which is practiced in the world. The oppressors had all power; the oppressed suffered, with none to comfort them. The author concluded that the dead are better off than those who are still alive, and those who have never been born are more fortunate than either, because they have not experienced the evil deeds of this life.

False teachings of the “Judaizers” (who insisted that Gentile converts to Christianity must keep Jewish Law) had infiltrated the Galatian Church. Here Paul appealed to the Galatians’ experience and to scripture to show that justification (blamelessness before God) is by faith in Jesus Christ, rather than by keeping the Law. Paul had just said that “if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose” (Galatians 2:21b).

The Galatians knew about Jesus’ crucifixion. They had received the Holy Spirit, so Paul asked them whether they had received the Holy Spirit by faith or by keeping the law, knowing that their own personal experience would tell them that justification was by faith, and not by keeping the Law. Since they had begun new life in the Holy Spirit by faith, would they be so foolish as to attempt to live that life in the weakness of their flesh by relying on their ability to keep the Law?

From scripture, Paul pointed out that Abraham “believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). So the true, spiritual sons of Abraham and heirs to God’s promise through Abraham are those who believe God. Those who rely on keeping the Law are under a curse: “Cursed be every one who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law and do them” (Galatians 3:10b; see Deuteronomy 27:26). But God’s word says that the righteous shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4), whereas the fulfillment of the Law depends on works, not faith. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by taking our curse upon himself on the Cross, so that “in Jesus Christ the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).

After Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he took his disciples by boat (on the Sea of Galilee) to a secluded spot. But the crowds found out and followed him there on foot. When Jesus went ashore he found a large crowd was awaiting him. So Jesus compassionately healed the sick among them. At evening, the disciples suggested that Jesus send the crowd away to buy food for themselves, but Jesus told the disciples to give the crowd something to eat. The disciples only had five loaves and two fish, but Jesus told them to bring the food to him. Jesus had the crowd sit down, and then Jesus blessed, broke, and gave it to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. All ate and were satisfied, and twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up. The crowd was about five thousand people.

Looking at life without faith in God would be discouraging. Humans would be no better than animals. Life would have no meaning except present gratification. We’d be better off dead, and even better off never having been born. But life is not just meaningless and empty. We were given this life according to God’s eternal plan (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). God has revealed his plan through his Word, the Bible, and through Jesus Christ. By faith in God and his Word it is possible to know (Ecclesiastes 3:21) that our spirits survive our physical death. This life is not purposeless and futile; it is an opportunity to come to a personal relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. This life is a training and selection process for eternal life.

By faith in Jesus Christ we are restored to right relationship with God and receive the Holy Spirit. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit within us which makes it possible for us to live a life which rises above that of the animals and is pleasing to God. The promise God gave to Abraham was the promise that a great nation of his offspring would dwell in an eternal land in God’s presence. That promise was demonstrated on earth through Israel as a parable, a metaphor, for eternal life in Heaven. Believers in Jesus Christ are the “New Israel,” who have become the children of Abraham and heirs of the promise by faith. Faith in Jesus is not “blind” faith. It’s not a matter of living out life not knowing for certain whether the Gospel is true or not. For those who need “proof” in order to believe there is none; but for those who believe, there is abundant proof. One can know with certainty that one has received the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2; Galatians 3:2). The Holy Spirit is the security deposit and guarantee of the promise of eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:11).

The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand shows that when we bring our problems to Jesus and trust and obey his instructions, he can do great, even unimaginable, things with our meager resources, through us. Jesus can supply what we lack, so that we can do what he commands, through his indwelling Holy Spirit. Notice that if the disciples hadn’t checked with Jesus and had gone ahead with their own solution, they would have sent the people away to fend for themselves. That wouldn’t have been good for the people; some might have fainted with hunger on the way, or been injured. Also, the disciples couldn’t have fed that crowd with five loaves and two fish in the strength of their own flesh, without the presence of the Lord.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)? 

3 Pentecost - Friday

first posted 06/24/04

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7    Religious observance
Galatians 3:15-22    The purpose of the Law
Matthew 14:22-36    Jesus walks on water

Be careful to pay attention and be obedient to the Lord when you go to worship in the house of the Lord. Don’t practice the “sacrifice of fools”, which is the attempt to draw near to God while doing evil. Try listening to God instead of telling him what to do; remember that he is the Creator and Lord of the Universe, and you are but one of his creatures. A dream may seem to contain much activity, but nothing actually is accomplished; so also a fool’s words don’t amount to anything.

When you promise God something, do not delay in doing it, for the Lord does not delight in unfaithfulness. It is better not to promise than to promise and to fail to keep the promise. Don’t let your mouth lead you into sin. When God’s messenger comes to collect the promise you have made, you cannot tell him that it was a mistake and that God should not be angry and destroy what you have done. Don’t get caught up in empty words and religious imaginings or delusions; true worship is reverence for God.

Paul showed that the principle of justification by faith is older than the Law of Moses, using the analogy of a human legal will or covenant. Just as a legal will cannot be altered once it is properly executed, God’s promise to Abraham based on faith was executed before the giving of the Law, and therefore the principle of faith has not been annulled by the Law. The Law is like a guardian having custody of a minor child until the child reaches the age of inheritance.

The Law was given as an interim provision to control transgression until the coming of Christ, the offspring of Abraham through whom the promise could be inherited. The Law is not contrary to the promises of God, but the Law could not make people righteous. The Law only reveals God’s will so that we can recognize our transgressions. The Law reveals that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), so that what was promised as a result of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and leave for the other shore while he remained and dismissed the crowd. Then Jesus went up into the hills to pray. When evening came, Jesus was alone, and the boat was out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, buffeted by wind and waves, not making progress because the wind was against them.

Just prior to dawn, Jesus came to them, walking on the surface of the sea. The disciples thought he was a ghost and cried out in fear, but Jesus identified himself and calmed them. Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28). Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and came to him on the water, but when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink, crying out to Jesus to save him. Jesus reached out and took Peter’s hand and kept him from sinking. Jesus asked why Peter had not had enough faith to keep from doubting. When Jesus and Peter got into the boat the wind ceased. The disciples worshiped Jesus and declared him to be the Son of God.

True worship is trusting and obeying God. It’s not about participation in a ritual. Even the most informal service can become ritualized. If we’re going to Church on Sundays but not seeking his will and obeying his word during the week, our “worship” is like a dream. We may have the illusion that we’re worshiping but nothing is actually happening; we’re just going through the motions.

We are justified (made right with God) by faith in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ we have fellowship with God through his indwelling Holy Spirit which is also the guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:11) of the promise of eternal life in the Promised Land of Heaven in God’s presence. Faith is not like “wishing on a star;” it’s not a matter of getting what you believe if you believe hard enough. Faith is believing the specific promise of God in Jesus Christ enough to listen for the Lord’s guidance and then to follow his instructions.

When Jesus told his disciples to get into the boat and head for the other side while he remained behind they did what he told them. They got out into the middle of the sea and into a storm. The wind and waves were against them, and they weren’t making any progress. But Jesus knew where they were and their situation. He didn’t leave them there; he came to them. He identified himself to them: He said, “It is I.” (He didn’t say “I am the Son of God.

Jesus doesn’t force us to believe; He allows us to come to our own conclusion about who he is. Those who acknowledge him as the Lord and who are his disciples will recognize his voice.) Peter was impressed with Jesus’ ability to walk on water and wanted to try it himself. He had the initial enthusiasm, but he allowed the opposing forces around him to shake his faith. But he was in Jesus’ will because he had asked and Jesus had allowed him to try, and Jesus was there to sustain him. Peter would have been in serious trouble if he had gone out there completely on his own.  

When Jesus got into the boat with the disciples, the storm ceased. Jesus had sent the disciples off by themselves into the storm. But he knew where they were. He allowed them to be buffeted a bit; he allowed them to temporarily experience a lack of progress. But he didn’t leave them there! He came to them; he calmed their fears and he calmed the storm. His disciples came to the certain conviction that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he can take care of them no matter how bad the circumstances appear to be.

The disciples had been trusting and obeying Jesus when they set out in the boat. The outcome would have been much different if they had decided to set out on their own. They would have been overwhelmed by the storm with no one to save them, or they might even have had smooth sailing and thought they were making great progress, only to wind up on the wrong shore, without Jesus. Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you sought and received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?

3 Pentecost - Saturday

first posted 06/25/04

Ecclesiastes 5:8-20     Fallen worldly ways
Galatians 3:23-4:11     Law as custodian
Matthew 15:1-20     Legalism rebuked

Don’t be surprised at the oppression of the poor or injustice and violence. But remember that those who are in authority have higher authority over them. Ultimately a higher authority will bring order. Those who love money or possessions will not be satisfied by them. When possessions increase, so do the things that consume them. The owner has no benefit from them but to enjoy looking at them. The laborer sleeps well, whether he eats well or little, but the possessions of the rich do not help them sleep well.

The author describes the plight of a person who at great personal sacrifice accumulates wealth, and then looses what he had in a bad investment, and has nothing to pass on to his son. A person cannot take his possessions with him when he dies. One leaves life as naked as the day he was born; what has one to show for all his labor? Spending the days of our lives in worry, vexation, and resentment, striving for material possessions is a waste of our lives.

Paul said that the Law of Moses was like the custodian of a minor child, charged with keeping the child under control until he was of age to receive his inheritance. So the Law was our custodian until Christ came and we were able to receive reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus, our inheritance as spiritual sons of Abraham through faith. All who were baptized into Jesus Christ have a new identity in Christ. We are no longer divided by our old concept of identity by gender, race, or economic status; instead we are unified and equal as Christians. Those who are in Christ are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise (though faith).

The heir, while a minor, is no better than a slave, because he is under guardians until he is old enough to inherit. Likewise all of us were under slavery to our basic human nature (and the Law which restrained it). In God’s timing, God sent his Son to be born into the world and under the Law, so that he could ransom (as from slavery) us who were under the Law so that we could receive adoption as sons (and daughters). The indwelling Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we have been adopted as God’s sons and daughters (Romans 8:15-16; Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14). [It is possible for one to know with certainty by personal experience whether one has received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2)]

Paul rebuked those in the Church who were insisting on the observance of Jewish Law. Having been freed from bondage to the Law, they were attempting to return to it. Having received personal fellowship with God, why would they give that up to once again relate to God only through a mediator? Paul was concerned that they had missed the point of the Gospel message.

Jewish Law had evolved from the Ten Commandments into an elaborate system of laws and ordinances that covered minute details including the washing of hands before meals. The religious leaders and teachers of the Law criticized Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before eating, a violation of Jewish Law according to this tradition. Jesus replied by asking why they broke God’s Law in order to keep their tradition. As examples Jesus cited the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:12), pointing out that the tradition of the elders (Matthew 15:2) allowed a person to avoid the commandment by declaring that what the parent would have gained from the person had been an offering to God.

Jesus thus declared that they had fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that they honored God with their lips but not with their hearts; their worship was in vain, because they taught as doctrines the precepts of men (Isaiah 29:13). Jesus then taught the crowd that it is not what a person eats, but what comes out of his mouth, which makes him unfit to worship. The disciples reported that the religious leaders were offended by Jesus’ statement, but Jesus replied that God would uproot that which God had not planted. Jesus also told them to leave the religious authorities alone, describing them as blind guides, and saying that if anyone follows them, both guide and follower will fall into a pit. Peter asked for an explanation of the parable, so Jesus said that what a person eats doesn’t affect him spiritually, but what a person says reveals the condition of his spirit.

In Ecclesiastes, the teacher is commenting on the fundamental (fallen) nature of this world; it is not what God created or intended, but what mankind has made it. We should not be surprised to see oppression, injustice and violence. But ultimately those in authority will be held responsible to God. Ultimately God will restore his creation and repay everyone according to their deeds. God will relieve the victims of oppression, injustice and violence, and will punish those who have victimized them. The worldly way is materialism, selfishness and greed. The materialistic worldly way is guaranteed to be ultimately a bad investment.

Before we receive forgiveness and reconciliation through faith in Jesus, we were slaves to the fallen nature of this world, as described in Ecclesiastes, and what Paul refers to as the elementary spirits of the universe (Galatians 4:3). God’s Law was designed to show us what God intended, and to reveal our sins, so that we would be restrained from following our sinful nature. But the Law could not make us righteous. Through faith in Jesus we are made righteous in God’s judgment and receive the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, who enables us to live according to God’s will.

Those who insist on requiring obedience to the Jewish Law are modern-day “Pharisees.” Those who insist on keeping the Law are investing in a loosing proposition. Paul declares that if justification (righteousness) were by the keeping of the law, then Christ died to no purpose (Galatians 2:21); also, those who would be made righteous by keeping the Law are severed from Christ, and have lost the free gift of salvation that is only through faith in Jesus (Galatians 5:4). Those who teach justification by keeping the Law are misusing God-given authority, oppressing God’s people, and will be accountable to God. They are blind guides, and both they and those who follow them will come to spiritual disaster.

The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were teaching the traditions of their religion, instead of God’s word. They were hypocrites who did not practice what they professed. They were using their authority to oppress God’s people, following the fallen nature of this world, rather than the Spirit of God. Their worship was empty ritual. How is the Church doing today? Watch out for blind guides. Read the Bible. Trust and obey Jesus as your Lord. Be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Seek the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit which the Lord has promised his disciples.