6 Easter - Sunday

posted 05/07/04

Leviticus 25:1-17    Sabbatical Year and Jubilee
James 1:2-8, 16-18    Believers are the first fruits of creation
Luke 12:13-21    The rich fool

The Lord commanded that every seventh year was to be a sabbath year of rest for the land. The land was to be allowed to lie fallow. Whatever grew of its own accord was to be left unharvested. The land would provide food for all the household and livestock. The year following every seventh sabbatical year was to be a fiftieth year Jubilee. The Jubilee was to be proclaimed by a trumpet on the Day of Atonement. It would also be a sabbatical year; the land would lie fallow and unharvested. The land would provide food for all the household and livestock. Liberty was to be proclaimed. All leases (and indentures) were to expire.  Everyone was to return to his ancestral property. The ancestral allotments could never be sold; they could only be leased. The value of the lease was determined by the number of crops which could be raised before the next Jubilee.

Believers are counseled to regard their trials positively, even joyfully, by remembering that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Let us be willing to be trained by trials to be steadfast, so that we become mature and complete, lacking nothing in our faith. If we lack wisdom, let us ask God for wisdom. God gives generously to all people without reproaching them. But whatever we ask for we must ask in faith, without doubting. A person who doubts is like a wave of the sea which is blown whichever way the wind is blowing at the moment. A person who hasn’t settled in his mind what he believes is unstable. The Lord will not bless a person who will not make a commitment to trust God.

Someone asked Jesus to mediate a family dispute over the sharing of an inheritance. The individual was asking Jesus to command his brother to share the inheritance. Greed was dividing brother against brother. Jesus mission was not to enforce the person’s property rights, which were spelled out in the Law. Instead Jesus answered with a parable teaching against covetousness.

Abundance of possessions is not the important issue in life. The rich fool of the parable had possessions in such abundance that he had to build a bigger barn to store them, but he hadn’t given any consideration for his spiritual wellbeing. That night he faced God’s Judgment; he had no spiritual “capital;” his material wealth was of no further use to him, but instead was inherited by someone else. His whole life had been spent accumulating something he couldn’t use, and he lacked the one thing which would have given him eternal life in Heaven. That’s what happens to those who put their own selfish interests ahead of God’s will.

The sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee were designed to prevent God-given resources intended for all to be controlled by a few; they were designed to prevent a great disparity between the rich and the poor, and the development of a permanent underclass.

The conditions which exist in our world are not the result of God’s plan for our world; they’re the result of mankind’s disobedience and disregard for God’s will. God graciously has provided enough for everyone. He hasn’t withheld his resources from the rebellious and unbelieving. God is generous even to those who hate him: “For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45b). Wealth is not a sign of God’s approval.

We are all brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. Jesus condensed God’s commandments into two: Love God, and love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.  Everyone is our neighbor; the question for us is whether we are willing to be neighborly; to recognize them as our neighbor. Are we allowing our greed for material resources to divide brother against brother? Do we really expect Jesus to take our side in the dispute over the earth’s resources with our brothers? Do we think we have God’s approval for possessing more than we need while our neighbors lack the bare necessities of life?

We show our love for God by obeying his commandments (John 14:21a); by giving to the least valued individuals of society (Matthew 25:40). Are we becoming a society where a relatively few control most of the resources; where grasping the last penny of profit is all-important; where there is a tremendous disparity between the rich and the rest? Are we becoming a permanently divided two-class society? There is a Day of Judgment coming when we will have to give account to Jesus Christ for all that we have done in life (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46). Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?

6 Easter- Monday

posted 05/07/04

Leviticus 25:35-55    Laws on Redemption
Colossians 1:9-14    Our Redeemer
Matthew 13:1-16    Parable of the Sower

The people of God were to provide support for the poor among their brethren without charging interest or making a profit. Israelites could become indentured servants but were not allowed to be made slaves by their own people, because God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Any terms of servitude were terminated at the year of Jubilee. They were allowed to buy slaves from the surrounding nations, and to pass them on as property in inheritance, but were not allowed to treat their own people that way. 

If an Israelite became poor and sold himself to a stranger or sojourner (a gentile) then one of his relatives might redeem him. The value was to be determined according to the wages of a hired servant from the time of the indenture to the year of Jubilee. The sojourner was not allowed to treat him as a slave, and if the servant was not redeemed the sojourner was required to release him at the year of Jubilee. The Lord regards his people as his servants whom he released from slavery in Egypt.

Paul’s prayer for believers is that they would be become spiritually mature, having the fullness of spiritual wisdom, understanding, and the knowledge of God’s will so that they could lead lives that would be worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, producing fruit in every good work, and growing in the knowledge of God. Paul prayed that they might be strengthened by the Lord’s power within them, so that they might endure all things patiently with joy and thanksgiving to God, who has made it possible for us to be included among his saints in the kingdom of righteousness and to share in their inheritance. God has delivered us from bondage to sin and transferred us to the kingdom of his Son, Jesus Christ, “through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” Colossians 1:14).

The parable of the sower describes seed being sown. Some seed fell on the path and was devoured by birds. Some fell on rocky ground. The seed sprouted quickly since there wasn’t much soil covering it, but was scorched by the heat of sun and withered away, since it had no depth of soil in which to take root. Some fell among thorns, which grew and choked them. Other seeds fell on good ground and produced a harvest. Each plant in the good soil produced many times more than the original seed which produced it.

His disciples privately asked Jesus why he spoke in parables. Jesus answered that those who respond in faith to Jesus are given insight into the deeper mysteries of the kingdom of God; their faith grows (the “mustard seed” principle; see Matthew 13:31-32; 17:20). Those who have a little faith will receive more. Those who don’t have enough faith to trust Jesus will wind up with nothing. Jesus presented the truth in parables so that people are responsible for their reception of it; they are free to receive or reject it.  People who do not receive Jesus’ message fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 6:9-10: Their hearts have become hard; they are tired of hearing; they have closed their eyes to avoid seeing the truth. They thus miss the healing that only Jesus offers. Those who do see and hear the truth are blessed.

The Israelites were not to make slaves of one another, because God had set them free from bondage to slavery and death in Egypt. Before Jesus came and died on the Cross, Israel was uniquely God’s people among the nations of the earth.  God allowed the Israelites to own foreign slaves, since it was a widespread practice of the time. Since Jesus death and resurrection, all people are our brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. All people are set free from bondage to sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is our redeemer. He paid the price for our release in his blood shed on the Cross. Do we appreciate what Christ has done for us? Does how we treat others reflect our appreciation of what Christ has done for us?

Through Jesus, God has delivered us from bondage to sin and death and transferred us to the Promised Land of the kingdom of his Son. Through Jesus we have been redeemed and our sins have been forgiven. Through Jesus we inherit eternal life.  Are we growing in spiritual maturity and in the knowledge of the Lord and of his will? Are we leading lives that are worthy of our Lord? Do our lives glorify our Lord? Are our lives producing fruit in good works? Are we building up the kingdom of our Lord?

What kind of soil are we? What kind of ears and eyes and hearts do we have? Are we trusting and obeying Jesus? Are we growing in discipleship to spiritual maturity? Have we received the Holy Spirit since we first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are we following God’s will for our lives? Are we bearing fruit for the kingdom of God? Do we know with certainty where we will spend eternity?

6 Easter - Tuesday

first posted 05/07/04

Leviticus 26:1-20    The blessings of obedience
1 Timothy 2:1-6     Live according to Christ’s teachings
Matthew 13:18-23    Parable of the sower explained

The Lord forbade idolatry. He commanded his people not to set up images of gods; not to adopt the objects and practices of foreign religions. The Lord alone is God. We are to keep his Sabbaths, reverence his sanctuary, and obey his commandments. The Lord promises to bless and provide for us if we will be obedient to him, but he promises to punish those who refuse to obey him and keep his covenant, by removing his protection and providence from them. His punishment is meant to bring us to repentance, but if we refuse even then to repent, our punishment will be the ultimate removal of his protection and providence (in eternal death and separation from the Lord’s presence in Hell). He has told us the alternatives and he gives us the choice.

Paul wanted the Colossian church and all believers to know why and how much he cared for them, although he did not know them personally. Paul wanted them to have unity, encouragement and love in fellowship in the Gospel. He wanted them to share in the riches of the knowledge of God’s plan in Jesus Christ and the assurance of that knowledge. The wisdom and knowledge of Christ are the only true riches there are. Paul wanted them to know this so that they would not be deceived by false teachers. Although separated physically and unknown to them personally, Paul was nevertheless united with them in love through the Gospel, and rejoiced in their sound doctrine and firmness of faith in Christ. His great prayer and concern for them was that they would live daily in accordance with the teachings of Christ as they had been faithfully taught, establishing firm roots in Christ and growing in Christ, so as to be firmly established in their faith.

Jesus explained the parable of the sower to his disciples. The soil along the path represents those who hear the Gospel of the kingdom of God but do not understand it, and so Satan comes and snatches away the word which was sown. The rocky ground represents hearers who initially receive the Gospel with joy, but don’t allow it to take root, so that as soon as they are tested they fall away. The seed sown among thorns represents those who receive the Gospel with joy but are unwilling to give up worldly interests. The result is that the worldly interests choke out the Gospel and the Gospel does not produce fruit in their lives. The good soil represents hearers who receive the word, allow it to take root and grow to maturity, producing an abundant harvest.

God promised his people that if they would obey his word (Leviticus 26:3) he would be their God and they would be his people (Leviticus 26:12; see also Jeremiah 11:4c-5). God is the only true God, but he is under no obligation to assume the loving care and generous providence that his goodness implies, if we are not willing to honor him with our obedience to him as our God. We are not to worship idols (anything which we care for more than God), we are to keep his Sabbaths, honor his sanctuary and obey his word. The Lord promises to bless and provide for us if we will trust and obey him as our Lord and God.

The Lord promises to punish rebellion and disobedience. His punishment is intended to bring us to repentance, but if we refuse to repent we will ultimately receive the eternal punishment of death and separation from God.  God provides us with everything we have. Imagine spending eternity in the absence of everything which we now enjoy through God’s providence. The Lord has told us the alternatives and has given us the choice. It’s our decision. Where will you choose to spend eternity?

Paul wanted the Colossian Christians to grow to spiritual maturity so that they would receive the riches of God’s promise in Jesus Christ. Paul was living out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) which Jesus gave to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. He was making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ; he was teaching them to obey all that Jesus had commanded.

He wanted their faith to be firmly based on the scripturally accurate Gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they would have the assurance of their convictions and their hope, and so that they would not be led astray by false teachers. His prayer for them was that they would obey Jesus’ teachings and apply them in their daily lives, so that they would grow to spiritual maturity, bear fruit for the kingdom of God, and receive the riches of God’s promise in Christ. His prayer for them was the practical illustration of the good soil in Jesus’ parable of the sower.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the seed of eternal life. We will be personally responsible to God for what we have done with it. In order to receive the riches of the harvest, we have to provide the environment; the conditions, which will allow the Gospel to grow to maturity and to bear fruit. What kind of soil are you? Have you received the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to be Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying him? Are you growing in the knowledge of the scriptures? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you growing in a personal daily fellowship with Jesus? Are you producing fruit through the indwelling Holy Spirit? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?

6 Easter - Wednesday

first posted 05/08/04

Leviticus 26:27-42  The punishment of disobedience
Ephesians 1:1-10    God’s plan in Christ
Matthew 22:41-46    David’s son

The Lord warns that those who do not obey him will be punished. God will oppose those who oppose him. This prophecy anticipated and was fulfilled in the fall of Judah and the exile of her people to Babylon. Because of her idolatry and disobedience God allowed her enemies to conquer her. The temple was destroyed. Her people were carried off to Babylon and foreigners occupied her land. They did pine away in the land of their enemies (Leviticus 26:39 RSV). But the Lord promised them that if they would repent and confess their sin and the sin of their fathers and humble their hearts, becoming responsive to the Lord’s will, God would remember (and uphold) his covenant with their ancestors.

Paul was an apostle in obedience to God’s will (Ephesians 1:1a). His greeting in the opening of the letter to the Ephesians was to believers who are also faithful in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1b). He gives thanks and praise to God our Father for what he has done for us in Jesus Christ. God’s plan of salvation in Christ is not an afterthought; God planned it from before the beginning of Creation. In Jesus we have all the spiritual blessings that exist in Heaven.

The purpose of God’s plan in Christ was that through him we might be made holy and blameless in God’s judgment. In love God chose and destined us to be his sons (and daughters) in Jesus Christ, and made it possible for us to receive redemption as a free gift. In Jesus we have redemption through Jesus’ blood (shed on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins), the forgiveness of our sin, and the riches of the all spiritual blessings, lavished upon us freely as a gift. God has made known to us his age-long purpose to unite (reconcile) all things in heaven and earth to himself through Jesus Christ.

The religious leaders had been questioning Jesus, trying to trip him up by asking questions that would get Jesus into trouble no matter how he answered. (Matthew 22:15-40). Jesus avoided their trap and gave them answers they couldn’t dispute. Then he asked them a question. Jesus asked them to declare whose son they considered the Christ (Messiah) to be. They replied that the Messiah was the son of David. So Jesus pointed out that David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, called the Messiah his Lord in Psalm 110:1.

The religious leaders were more interested in their tradition than in a personal relationship with the Lord. They were willing to acknowledge that the Messiah was the son of David, but unwilling to acknowledge him as the Lord, the Son of God. Jesus most often referred to himself as the Son of man, emphasizing his humanity, so that people were obliged to decide for themselves who Jesus is.

God warned the Israelites what would happen if they didn’t give up idolatry and disobedience to God’s word. The Israelites didn’t heed God’s word until it was too late. God’s word was fulfilled when the people of Judah were deported to Babylon. The people did repent during their exile in Babylon. God brought them back from exile after seventy years. The temple was rebuilt.

Eventually the people forgot the lessons of the Babylonian exile, and repeated the sins of the past. They rejected the Messiah, and as a result Judaism effectively ended at the Crucifixion of Jesus (Mark 15:38). The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and has never been rebuilt. The people were scattered, and only began to return to Israel after World War II. God’s word is fulfilled over and over again.

The warning in Leviticus applies as much to the Church today, which is the New Israel, the new people of God, as it did to Israel at the time of the Babylonian deportation and at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The ultimate fulfillment of the warning of punishment will be on the Day of Judgment when the idolatrous and disobedient will be permanently exiled to eternal death and separation from God in Hell (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46).

On the Day of Judgment it will be too late to repent. Now is the time to repent and humble our hearts and become obedient to God’s will. God has promised that if we will repent, he will forgive and restore us; he will fulfill his promise to make us his sons and daughters and give us eternal life with him through Jesus Christ.

Paul is an example of obedience to God’s will. God’s will is our best interest. It is wonderful and joyful to have fellowship with the Lord through the indwelling Holy Spirit and to know that we are abiding in God’s will and plan for our lives. We will have trials and troubles but they are outweighed by the joy and the blessings that are ours. We do have to deny ourselves at times, but the things we have to give up are really ultimately harmful and not in our own best interest.

The Pharisees were unwilling to let go of their worldly traditions. They lost the eternal spiritual blessings that only Jesus could offer them in order to hang on to their worldly traditions. Those worldly traditions came to an end at the Crucifixion. They could still go through the religious rituals (although the Temple rituals ended with its destruction) but the Spirit of God had departed from them and they didn’t even notice.

Is that where we are in many of our Churches today; the Spirit gone, and no one notices? They lost all the spiritual blessings in the universe and eternal life as sons (and daughters) of God in Heaven because they were unwilling to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord, the Son of God, their Messiah.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed (Acts 19:2)? Do you know with certainty that you’re life is centered in God’s will and plan for you? Are you sharing the Gospel and bearing fruit for the kingdom? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?

6 Easter - Ascension Day, Thursday

first posted 05/08/04

Daniel 7:9-14    The Messianic King
Hebrews 2:5-18    The suffering of Jesus
Matthew 28:16-20   The Great Commission

This is Daniel’s vision of the Day of Judgment. God, the Ancient of Days, is seated on his throne, surrounded by his court. The record books were opened. The four beasts represent the worldly kingdoms which will be superseded by the Messianic kingdom. (They also suggest the condemnation of the wicked to Hell.) In Daniel’s vision, he saw the coming of Jesus Christ, the “son of man” coming with the clouds to the throne of God to receive eternal glory and dominion and kingdom over all people and all nations.

God gave the dominion and kingdom of the world that is coming, not to angels, but to the “son of man,” as God gave dominion of this present world to mankind. Jesus referred to himself as the "son of man" [for examples see Matthew 25:31; Mark 9:9. This shows his humility in emphasizing his humanity over his diety (Colossians 2:8-9), it required his hearers to decide for themselves who Jesus is, and identified him with the messianic prophecies of Daniel.]  

Jesus was made lower than the angels as we are lower than the angels. Now Jesus has been crowned with glory and honor and everything has been subjugated to him. We don’s see everything fully subjugated to Jesus yet, but we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor for being willing to be humbled and to suffer death so that we might be glorified and not have to suffer eternal death. It is in keeping with God’s gracious nature that Jesus should be made spiritually complete and mature through suffering.

Through Jesus we can be God’s sons and daughters, his children, and share in Jesus’ glory and kingdom. Since we are flesh and blood, Jesus became flesh and blood; he shared our physical death in order to destroy the power of physical death over us. Jesus delivered us from bondage to Satan by the fear of death. Jesus ministry was to the descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3:6-9; all those who have faith in Jesus). So Jesus became like us in every respect so that he could empathize with us and be a merciful and faithful high priest, so that he can make expiation continually for sin which causes us to fear death  [the penalty for sin is (eternal)death; Romans 6:23]. He can help us when we are tempted, because he has suffered and experienced our temptations himself.

After Jesus’ Resurrection, the eleven  disciples(remaining, minus Judas, the betrayer) went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them he would meet with them (Matthew 28:7, 10). Jesus met them and told them that all authority had been given to Jesus by God the Father. He told his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (the Trinity), teaching them to obey all that Jesus had taught. Jesus promised to be with them to the end of the age, as they carried out the commission.

Daniel’s vision foresaw Christ’s ascension into heaven to receive his kingdom. Today is the day that the Church commemorates the Ascension. Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus instructed them to stay in the city (Jerusalem) until they had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5; Luke 24:49). Jesus ascended from them into heaven on a cloud (Acts 1:9). Two angels reminded them that Jesus would return again (on the Day of Judgment) the same way as they had seen him go (Acts 1:10-11; see: Matthew 24:29-31).

Jesus has been crowned with glory and dominion and kingdom (Matthew 28:18; Daniel 7:14a). Not everything has been brought into submission to Jesus yet. There is a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to God (Romans 14:11; compare with Isaiah 45:23; see Matthew 25:31-33). Jesus is our example. He humbled himself and became obedient to God’s will. He gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He grew to spiritual maturity through obedience in suffering, and God glorified and rewarded him for it. Jesus will bring us to Heaven to share in his glory and his kingdom, provided that we trust and obey him, following his example.

After his Resurrection Jesus came to his disciples and told them he had received all authority in heaven and on earth. He told his disciples to go and make disciples, to baptize them into the possession and protection of God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; teaching them to obey all that Jesus had taught. Have you submitted to Jesus as your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you sought the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit? Have you obeyed Jesus' command to stay in the Church (the New Jerusalem on earth) until you have received the promise of the Holy Spirit? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you first believed? Are you carrying out the Great Commission to make disciples and teach them to obey Jesus’ teachings? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?

6 Easter - Friday

first posted 05/20/04

1 Samuel 2:1-10    Hannah’s Prayer
Ephesians 2:1-10    Alive in Christ
Matthew 7:22-27    Founded on the Rock

This is a Psalm memorializing Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving and praise at the dedication of Samuel. Hannah exalts in the Lord who is her strength. The Lord alone is holy; the Lord is her rock The Lord silences the arrogant. The Lord is the Lord of knowledge; he will be the final judge of all humankind. He will humble the mighty and exalt the weak. Those who are satisfied now will hunger, but those who hunger now will be satisfied with good things. The barren will become fertile, while the mother of many will be forlorn.

It is the Lord who decides who lives or dies. He raises the dead and he brings down to death. He makes poor; he makes rich; he humbles; he exalts. He raises up the poor and needy. He elevates them to the status of princes; they inherit a seat of honor. The foundations of the world belong to God. He guards those who trust and obey him, but the wicked he cuts off in darkness. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give authority to his king and exalt the power of his anointed (Jesus Christ).

The Lord has made believers alive in Christ when we were under condemnation of death because of sin (Romans 6:23). We all once followed the passions of our flesh, according to the ways of the world, but through God’s grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) believers have been saved. Believers have eternal life in Christ; we will be raised as Christ was raised from the dead.

We will sit with Christ in the heavenly realm, so that in the future all will be able to see the richness of God’s grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our salvation is not by our “good works” (deeds); we (who are saved) are God’s “good works;” we are God’s workmanship, created by God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to do “good works” which he created before hand that we should do them.

On the Day of Judgment many will appeal to the Lord for salvation on the basis of their “good works.”  But Jesus will reject them because they have not sought and done God’s will. Those who will be saved are those who have listened to and obeyed Jesus’ teachings. Those who hear and obey Jesus have founded their lives on the Rock of salvation which is only through Jesus Christ. Those who reject and disobey Jesus will be destroyed, like the house built on a foundation of sand.

The Lord was Hannah’s rock. She prayed in faith and the Lord heard and answered her prayer. She responded with obedience. She acknowledged that God was her Lord. Hannah acknowledged that the Lord humbles the wicked and exalts the humble. Samuel was a gift from God to Hannah. Hannah gave back to God what he had given to her.  

Jesus is our “rock” of salvation. We have eternal life and forgiveness of sins only through Jesus Christ. In Christ we have been lifted up out of sin and exalted with Christ; made princes in God’s household as children of the King. God provided for our salvation even though we were sinners, not because of anything we have done to deserve it, but because God loves us and has mercy upon us. (Romans 5:8; John 3:16-17). Salvation is the free gift of God which we must receive (John 1:12-13) and appropriate for ourselves through faith and obedience to Jesus as our personal Lord.

Salvation isn’t by doing good works; it is by doing God’s will, which is that we should be saved through faith and obedience to Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9b). Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our salvation (Acts 4:12). If we truly believe in Jesus as our Lord we will be trusting and obeying his teachings; we will be seeking and following his will daily, guided and enabled by his Holy Spirit. We will be bearing fruit for his kingdom. If we realize how richly we have been blessed in Christ we will be glorifying the Lord in word and deed.

 Faith in Jesus is not like “wishing on a star;” it’s not a matter of getting what you wish for if you believe hard enough. We don’t automatically do God’s will just because we claim to be Christians; we’re not saved just because we claim to be doing things in the name of Jesus. We can’t earn salvation by being “good” people. We aren’t saved by merely naming the name of Jesus.

Is Jesus truly your Lord? Are you trusting and obeying him? Have you truly received the Holy Spirit since you first  believed enough in Jesus to begin doing what he taught (Acts 19:2)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity?

6 Easter - Saturday

first posted 05/21/04

Numbers 11:16-17, 24-29    Eldad and Medad prophesy
Ephesians 2:11-22    Dwelling place of God’s Spirit
Matthew 7:28-8:4   Only Jesus can make us clean

Moses felt overwhelmed with dealing with the people (Numbers 11:14-15) so the Lord told him to appoint seventy elders to help him. They were to present themselves before the Lord and receive a portion of the Lord’s Spirit which rested upon Moses. So Moses gathered the seventy elders around the tent of meeting. The Lord came down upon the tent of meeting in a cloud (see Exodus 13:21-22) and spoke to Moses. The Lord took some of his Spirit which was upon Moses and put it upon the seventy.

When the Lord’s Spirit rested upon the elders they began to prophesy. Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp and had not gone up to the tent of meeting, although they were enrolled with the seventy. The Spirit came upon them too, and they began to prophesy in the camp. Someone ran and told Moses what was happening. Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, thought Moses should forbid Eldad and Medad to prophesy, but Moses said, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all God’s people were prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit upon them” (Numbers 11:29)!

Paul reminded us that at one time we were “heathens” in the eyes of the Israelites (God’s people according to the Old Covenant of circumcision (the Law of Moses) At one time we were separated from Christ, alienated from the congregation of God’s People (Israel), outsiders in regard to the promises of the covenant. But now we have been brought into fellowship with God and his people (Christ’s Church) through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for us on the Cross. He has broken down the wall of hostility that separated us, and has made peace. Through his physical death and resurrection he did away with the covenant of law, ending the hostility that divided us. In doing so, he created one new kind of person (a Christian) in place of the two (Gentile and Jew) reconciling us both to God as one body (the Church) through the Cross.

Jesus proclaimed peace to the Jews (who were close to God) and to the Gentiles (who were far from God). Through Jesus we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So believers are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household. Paul uses the metaphor of a stone building to illustrate God’s household (the Church). The apostles and prophets are the foundation; Jesus is the cornerstone, who joins the whole structure together and causes it to grow into a holy temple. Each believer is built into it, becoming individually and collectively the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

The people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching, because he taught with authority, unlike the scribes. When he came down from the mountainside (after the Sermon on the Mount) a leper came and knelt down in front of Jesus. The leper expressed faith that Jesus could heal him, if it was Jesus’ will. Jesus affirmed that it was his will to do so and said “Be healed.” The leper was healed at that moment. Jesus instructed him not to make the healing public, but to present himself to the priest and make the offering required by the Law of Moses for the healing.

The Lord poured out his spirit upon the seventy to enable them to help Moses do the ministry of leading the people of God. The Lord is faithful; even though Eldad and Medad were not at the tent of meeting, they were still anointed with the Holy Spirit, just like the rest. Joshua, a “middle-manager” was concerned with enforcing “regulations.” Moses was not protective of his on status; his primary interest was to serve God’s kingdom. Moses wanted all God’s people to share in God’s Spirit, to have the kind of fellowship with the Lord which Moses had, and to be equipped and empowered to proclaim God’s word and carry out the work of God’s kingdom.

Through Jesus Christ we have been cleansed, restored and made members of God’s family. Jesus has made it possible for us to have fellowship with God through his Holy Spirit dwelling within us and empowering us to carry on Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. We were once outside the congregation of God’s people. Like Eldad and Medad were outside of the group of elders assembled at the tent of meeting.

Through the Holy Spirit there is no longer a distinction between clergy and laity (lay members of the Church); we are all called to be ministers of the Gospel. The Church leaders are the apostles. Through Jesus Christ, Moses’ prayer for the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon all God’s people has been answered. All who believe and obey Jesus receive his anointing (see John 1:32-33; Matthew 3:11b). Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem (i.e., within the Church) until they had received the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5).

The leper believed that Jesus could heal him; the leper asked for healing and received healing. The leper obeyed what Jesus told him to do, and he received what Jesus promised.  We were all “lepers,” outcasts from the family of God. Jesus has healed us by his sacrificial death on the Cross for our sins. All we need to do to be healed and restored is to believe in Jesus, ask him for what he has promised us, and obey what he says!

All truly “born-again,” Holy Spirit-filled Christians are called to proclaim the Gospel. It is not solely the work of the clergy. Believers should not be restricted or discouraged by church leaders from fulfilling their ministries. We must be anointed with the Holy Spirit in order to be enabled and empowered to carry out our ministries. It is God’s will that we should be filled with his Holy Spirit.

Is Jesus truly our Lord? Are we trusting and obeying Jesus? Have we sought the gift of the infilling of the Holy Spirit in faith? Have we received the indwelling Holy Spirit since we first believed in Jesus enough to begin to do what he teaches (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)?

The Day of Pentecost, when the Church celebrates the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church (Acts Chapter 2).