6 Epiphany – Sunday

Isaiah 62:6-12,     God’s promise
1 John 2:3-11,     Obedience
John 8:12-19,      Jesus, the light of life

The Lord has placed watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem to declare God’s promise of salvation (from eternal death) and vindication. We are to remember the Lord’s promise and not rest or stop interceding to the Lord for the fulfillment of the promise, until Jerusalem is established and the Lord makes it a praise on earth.

The Lord has sworn an oath by his right hand and mighty arm (his sovereign power to do what he promises; revealed and embodied in Jesus Christ), that he will not again allow foreigners to eat and drink the bread and wine of his people have worked to produce. Those who have labored will eat it and praise the Lord; those who have gathered will drink it in the Lord’s sanctuary.

Enter the gates (of the Holy City); prepare the way for the people; build the highway and clear it of stones. Lift up and ensign (signal flag). Watch and see; “the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion (i.e., the Church), ‘Behold, your salvation comes; behold his reward is with him, and his recompense before him’” (Isaiah 62:11). God’s people “will be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called ‘sought out,’ ‘a city not forsaken’” (Isaiah 62:12).

Obedience to the Lord’s commands is the confirmation that we know him. One who claims to know the Lord but doesn’t obey his commands is a liar and does not know truth, but obedience is the fulfillment of true love for God. Those who claim to abide in Jesus should live according to Jesus’ words and example.

The commandment of love is not new (it was the basis of the Old Covenant of Law; the Ten Commandments). But it is the new commandment, true in Christ and in his disciples. The kingdom of darkness (of sin) is passing away and the true light of God’s kingdom is already shining (in Jesus and in his followers). Those who claim to be living in the spiritual enlightenment of Christ, but do not love their human brethren, are really still in darkness. Those who love their brethren are walking in the light of Christ, and will have no cause for stumbling, but those who hate their brethren are walking in darkness, and do not know where they are going because darkness (sin: disobedience of God’s word) causes spiritual blindness.

On the last day of the Feast (of Tabernacles,* or “Booths;” John 7:2, 37), Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). The Pharisees said that Jesus was bearing witness to himself and therefore not credible. Jesus replied that even if he testified to himself his testimony is true, because he knew his origin and destiny, whereas the Pharisees did not know Jesus’ origin or destiny. It is the Pharisees who are passing judgment, not Jesus; but Jesus’ judgment is true because it is in accord with God’s judgment. Jesus’ testimony is true, because Jesus attests to it and “the Father” who sent Jesus attests to Jesus (satisfying the requirement of Jewish Law for two witnesses). The Pharisees asked where Jesus’ Father was, and Jesus replied that they know neither Jesus nor his Father. If they had known Jesus (that he was the Messiah, the Son of God) they would have known God (his Father) also. Jesus had been teaching in the treasury of the temple on the occasion when he spoke these words, but he wasn’t arrested, because it was not yet God’s timing.

True Christians are “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples of Jesus Christ. We are called to be witnesses to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We are called to be the watchmen declaring God’s promise of salvation from eternal death and vindication, and we are to work and intercede constantly for the fulfillment of that promise until the New Eternal Jerusalem is established, on the return of Jesus and the Day of Judgment. In that day God’s eternal kingdom will be praised and glorified on earth. Jesus is the salvation of those who trust and obey him, and the judge and executioner of those who have rejected Jesus and refused to trust and obey him. He is coming, bringing eternal reward and eternal punishment, according to what each individual has done in this temporal life.

God has promised through Jesus Christ, his right hand and mighty arm, that no one who is not one of God’s people will eat and drink the bread and wine of his people. At the time of the writing of this prophecy it was an assurance to Judah that the conquest of Israel by her enemies and the exile of Judah to Babylon, would not happen again to those who trusted and obeyed God’s word. In that time they had experienced foreigners, the Chaldeans (Babylonians), capturing the physical bread and wine they had labored to produce.

God’s word is eternal and is fulfilled over and over again as the conditions for its fulfillment are met. This promise is also God’s word that non-Christians will not receive the spiritual fruit of God’s kingdom, and will not participate in the fulfillment of the Eucharistic Feast in heaven (Luke 22:14-16) of which Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper) is the foretaste. That participation will be by those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus, have received the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, and have labored in the spiritual harvest, to build and strengthen God’s eternal kingdom, according to the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The Cross of Jesus is the ensign which has been raised, like the fiery serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:9). Those who believe in Jesus will be saved from the serpent (Satan; sin; disobedience of God’s word; Genesis 3:1-7). Jesus is the highway to eternal life and fellowship with God (John 1:23; 14:6).

Christians are “born-again disciples of Jesus Christ who trust and obey Jesus. People who claim to be Christians without discipleship or obedient trust in Jesus are liars, spiritually blind and spiritually ignorant. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you” (Luke 6:46)? Jesus also says that not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who trust and obey God’s word will enter eternal life (see Matthew 7:21-27). Jesus is the fulfillment, embodiment, and example of God’s word in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14).

Jesus claims to be the light of (eternal) life, the light of righteousness and the light of this world (John 1:4-5). During the Feast of Tabernacles, great golden lamps were lit in the temple courtyard, so Jesus’ declaration that he is the Light of the world and the Light of (eternal) life is in this context. Those who are trusting and obeying Jesus are walking in his light, and we will receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who will teach us all things and remind us of all Jesus’ teachings (John 14: 26). The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of (the risen) Christ (Romans 8:9b), will open our minds to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45), and guide us into all truth (John 16:13). It is the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit that gives spiritual enlightenment and eternal life. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

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)?

* Feast of Tabernacles, an eight-day celebration after the harvest in the seventh month (September-October), beginning and ending with a special Sabbath. They lived in fields (and roof tops and public courtyards) in “shelters” made of palm fronds and leafy branches, as a commemoration of their wilderness wanderings.

6 Epiphany - Monday

Isaiah 63:1-6,      God’s vengeance and redemption
1 Timothy 1:1-17,        Commitment to apostolic doctrine
Mark 11:1-11,     Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem

The watchman, the prophet, calls out the approach of one in glorious apparel, marching in great strength, coming from Edom and Bozrah, symbols of the enemies of God’s people. The one approaching is the Savior, the “Champion” of God’s people, announcing vindication and salvation. His garments are stained with the blood of grapes from the wine press of God’s wrath. He alone was concerned and strong enough to measure out God’s wrath. His heart was committed to the day of God’s vengeance and the year of God’s redemption. No one was found to uphold and help him, so God’s wrath and victory were accomplished by his own right hand (Jesus Christ, the hand and outstretched arm of God‘s almighty power). The Lord trod down his enemies in his anger, and made them drink to drunkenness from God’s wrath; he poured out their blood upon the earth.

Paul was an apostle by the command of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, discipling Timothy, praying for Timothy to be blessed with the grace (unmerited favor), mercy, and peace which are possible only through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. Paul had left Timothy in charge of the Church in Ephesus when Paul had gone to Macedonia, with the commission to restrain the teaching of false doctrine by certain individuals within the congregation, and to prevent preoccupation with “myths and endless genealogies which promote speculation rather than the divine training that is in faith” (1 Timothy 1:4).

What disciples should focus on is genuine “love which issues from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith” (1Timothy 1:5). Some people have strayed from true faith by getting into vain discussion, or who desire to be teachers without having learned or experienced the things they are saying and claiming. God’s law is good if one applies it lawfully, but realize that the Law was given not for the righteous but “for lawless sinners, for the unholy and profane, murderers…, the immoral, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine in accordance with the glorious Gospel” (of Jesus Christ; 1 Timothy 1:9-11).

Paul was thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ had judged Paul faithful to serve him and had empowered Paul for that service. Paul realized that he was unworthy (as are we all), because he had formerly blasphemed, persecuted (and opposed) Jesus and Jesus’ disciples, but the Lord was merciful to him because Paul had acted in ignorance and unbelief. Paul had received an overflowing abundance of the Lord’s free gift of love and faith which is received by obedient trust in Jesus. It is absolutely true and reliable that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Paul felt as though he was the foremost of sinners, but took joy in the idea that the Lord’s patience (and the transforming power of the Gospel) would be displayed in Paul’s example for the world, so that they might receive eternal life through faith. The only true God and King of eternity is worthy of eternal honor and glory.

Jesus had been heading for Jerusalem, knowing that crucifixion was awaiting him (Mark 10:32-34).  At Bethphage and Bethany, villages on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples into the village to get a young donkey, He told them where to find it and what to say, and as they followed his instructions, it happened exactly as Jesus had told them. They brought the donkey and placed garments on the donkey and Jesus sat on it. Others spread robes and branches on the roadway. The crowd in front and behind him shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming!”  (Mark 11:9-10). Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.

The watchman is God’s faithful servant, the prophet of God. He announces the approaching imminent return of Jesus Christ, the mighty hand and outstretched arm of Almighty God. The prophet announces the approaching Day of Judgment. Jesus is coming to execute God’s vengeance upon his enemies, who are also the enemies of God’s people, and to bring salvation and vindication of his people, in the sight of all people who have ridiculed and persecuted the people of God for their faith in Jesus. On his return, the execution of vengeance upon his enemies will be swift and final (although eternally ongoing), but the redemption of his people will be eternal.

The victory over evil has been won entirely by the Lord Jesus Christ at the Cross (1 Corinthians 2:6-8; Hebrews 9:11-14; 10:12), but we can participate in that victory (1 Corinthians 15:56-57), and we can and should be his watchmen announcing his return. Jesus’ heart is entirely committed to God’s vengeance upon evil and his redemption of his humble, obedient servants.

Paul is an example of a faithful servant and watchman. Paul was a “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8; Acts 9:17-20) disciple who was fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) to make born-again disciples of Jesus Christ who would trust and obey Jesus. Paul was discipling Timothy, and teaching Timothy to disciple others (2 Timothy 2:2).

Jesus has left his disciples in charge of the Church in this world, as Paul had left Timothy in charge of the Church at Ephesus. It is up to Jesus’ disciples to hold on to the sound scriptural apostolic Gospel, and to restrain the teaching of false doctrine and preoccupation with myths and (theological) speculations. Some people in the Church are going astray by speculation and futile discussions. Creationism and End Times speculations are contemporary examples. Instead, Christians are to be trained by born-again disciples, God’s word (the Bible), and by the guidance and empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit within them. The Church is warned not to tolerate sinful lifestyles like immorality and sodomy (see 1 Timothy 1:9-11) within its membership, much less within its leadership. These activities are contrary to sound doctrine and the Gospel.

Disciples of Jesus are to follow the example and teaching of Jesus. Paul is an example of discipleship. Paul is an illustration of how the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit transforms, guides and empowers Christian disciples. In contrast, there are many nominal “Christians” in the nominal “Church” who want to be teachers without the personal experience of discipleship, obedient trust, and personal knowledge of Jesus through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

God sent Jesus into our world not to condemn us but to save us (John 3:16-17; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Jesus demonstrated how to be people of God. Jesus told two of his disciples to go fetch a donkey. The disciples couldn’t be certain that there would be a donkey waiting. They couldn’t know why Jesus wanted the donkey. They couldn’t be sure the owner would allow them to take the donkey. They had to go in faith, and as they did, they found it exactly as Jesus had said, and they used the words Jesus had given them to accomplish their mission. In their going, they experienced the faithfulness and truth of Jesus’ words and grew in faith. We, like Paul, can be with Jesus through his indwelling Holy Spirit like his original disciples were with Jesus physically during his physical life on earth.

The result was that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey as a parable. Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy (Zechariah 9:9) of the eternal King coming to Jerusalem (the City of God on earth) humbly, unlike earthly kings. Jesus was dramatizing his fulfillment of scripture in a way that allowed the observers to decide for themselves who Jesus is. The crowd put their garments on the ground like a “red carpet” is used to welcome dignitaries today. They shouted Hosanna (originally meaning “O save;” a request for salvation; it became a shout of joy, approval and assent). The crowd acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah (Christ), the Savior who had come from God, according to the promise of God’s word, as the heir to the throne of King David and God’s eternal kingdom.

Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment. When he returns, he will come not humbly on a donkey, but victoriously with great power and glory! His disciples will be rejoicing at his return, but those who have not trusted and obeyed Jesus will be terrified (Luke 21:25-28).

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)?

6 Epiphany - Tuesday

 Isaiah 63:7-14,       Declare God’s faithfulness
1 Timothy 1:18-2:8 (9-15),       Instructions for worship
Mark 11:12-26,      Fig tree cursed

Let us remember and declare the steadfast love of the Lord, and praise our God for all he has given us and for his goodness to his people in great mercy and overflowing steadfast love. The Lord has declared us to be his children and has trusted us to be faithful to him, and has become our Savior. He bore our affliction for us, and the presence of his Spirit (“angel;” compare Acts 12:14-15) saved us; in love and pity he redeemed us. He lifted and carried his people from ages past.

But his people rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit, so he turned to oppose them and fought against them. Remember the days of old, of Moses, God’s servant. Where is the Lord who brought the shepherds of his flock up out of the sea; who put his Holy Spirit in their midst? Where is the Lord who caused his power to go at Moses right hand, who divided the waters (of the Red Sea) before them and led them through the depths, so that his name (his character and person) might be remembered forever? The Spirit of the Lord led them like cattle (or sheep) into the valley and gave them rest so that his name would be glorified forever.

Paul had entrusted the responsibility for the Church at Ephesus to Timothy and had given him instructions for Church administration. Paul exhorted Timothy first to faithfully and accurately preserve the apostolic (as taught by the Apostles, including Paul, and recorded in the New Testament) Gospel and to guard against false teachers and false doctrines. Timothy was exhorted to “wage the good warfare” of holding to the apostolic faith and good conscience. Paul warned Timothy to beware of people who were not guided by a good conscience, and used as examples Hymenaeus, who had falsely taught that the resurrection of the dead was already past. Paul had excommunicated such people in the hope that under Satan’s bondage they might be induced to repent.
 
Paul instructed Timothy that the Church was to pray with supplication, intersession and thanksgiving for all people, and for all secular rulers, so that Christians might lead quiet, peaceable, godly and respectable lives. It is good and in God’s will, because the Lord desires that all might be saved and come to knowledge of the (Gospel) truth. God is the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ is the one and only mediator between God and mankind (Acts 4:12; John 14:6. Jesus gave his life on the cross to pay the ransom of all people (see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right), and this is the message Paul was appointed a preacher and apostle to proclaim and to instruct the Gentiles in faith and truth.
 
Paul urged that members in every congregation would pray with holy hands (with a clean conscience, unstained by disobedience) uplifted (a customary posture), without anger or quarreling. People should clothe themselves with modesty, and avoid ostentation. Instead of outward adornment, we should seek to adorn ourselves spiritually through good deeds befitting people who profess Jesus as their Lord. Our behavior should be governed by faith, love, holiness and modesty.

Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, knowing that he would be crucified. He had stayed overnight in Bethany (about two miles away, where close friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, lived; John 11:1). When he returned to Jerusalem in the morning he was hungry and saw a fig tree in leaf, but there were no figs since it was not the season. Jesus said, in the hearing of his disciples, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (Mark 11:14).
 
In Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple and began driving out the moneychangers (changing Roman coins for Jewish coins required for contributions in the temple) and vendors of animals for sacrifices. Jesus told the crowd that God’s word designated the temple as a house of prayer, but it had become a den of robbers (the venders and moneychangers were exploiting it for their profit). The priests and teachers of scripture were furious and began to seek a way to destroy Jesus which would not cause a riot of the people, who were impressed with Jesus’ teaching.
 
Again Jesus and his disciples went to Bethany overnight, and returning the next day, as they passed the fig tree, the disciples were amazed to see that it had completely withered. Jesus told them to have faith in God. Whatever disciples ask in prayer in faith without doubting will be done for them (see Conditions for Answered Prayer, sidebar, top right). When we pray we should pray for forgiveness for anyone who has wronged us, so that God will also forgive us our sins.

The prophet foresaw the coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who would make it possible for his people to be saved through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Through his indwelling Holy Spirit Jesus would lead his people through the wilderness and spiritual darkness of this world, as God’s Spirit in the pillar fire guided the Israelites in the wilderness through the night (Exodus 13:21). God’s Holy Spirit parts the waters of the sea (Exodus 14:21-31), representing Baptism into Christ, and the waters of the Jordan (Joshua 3:1-17), representing physical death, so that his people can enter the Promised Land of his eternal kingdom without “getting their feet wet.”

Paul is the prototype of a modern, “post-resurrection,” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple and apostle (messenger of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ. Paul was fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) which Jesus gave to his born-again disciples (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8), to make born-again disciples of Jesus Christ, and teaching them to trust and obey Jesus. Timothy is an example of Paul’s discipling. Paul taught Timothy to disciple other faithful people who would repeat the process of making disciples of others (2 Timothy 2:2)

Paul exhorted Timothy to faithfully and accurately preserve and transmit the scriptural apostolic Gospel which Paul had preserved and transmitted to Timothy, and to guard against and oppose false doctrine and false teachers. Hymenaeus is an example of a false teacher of the false doctrine that the resurrection was then already past. Paul excommunicated from the Church teachers of false doctrine, in the hope that under Satan’s bondage they might come to true repentance and be restored to salvation and true faith.

Paul taught disciples to live in faith (obedient trust in Jesus) love (not romantic love but genuine concern for others, as God loves us), holiness (purity and consecration to God’s service) and modesty, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good works, to produce “spiritual fruit,” which God has prepared and intends for us to do (Ephesians 2:10), as befits people who profess Jesus as their Lord (compare Matthew 7:21-27; Luke 6:46).

The fig tree was intended by the Lord to be a parable, an illustration involving common earthly experience used to teach spiritual truth, and to be understood and accepted by the beholder. The fig tree represents Israel and Judaism. At the time of Christ’s first advent (coming), Israel and Judaism had the appearance of God’s people, but they had not produced the spiritual fruit of God’s kingdom. The spiritual leaders considered themselves experts in God’s word, and yet refused to recognize and believe in Jesus as the Son of God and promised Messiah and Savior. They used “religion” for their own personal benefit and worldly status. They allowed the temple to become a place of commerce, where merchants profited from “religion.”

Jesus’ word has the creative force of God. What he commanded was fulfilled. He was careful not to force his hearers to trust and obey him, but instead spoke in parables, so that his hearers were free to accept or reject what he said. That is why, for example, he referred to himself as the Son of man, which was true, and provided a hint from scripture (Daniel 7:13), without forcing them to acknowledge and accept him as the Son of God, the Messiah.

The fig tree is also a parable and a warning for the Church, today The Church is the New People of God, and the New Jerusalem, the City of God on earth. The nominal “Church” today is in a very similar position as Judah and Israel at the time of Jesus’ first advent. In many instances church members profess that Jesus is their Lord without bearing the spiritual fruit of discipleship and obedient trust in Jesus. They think they are saved by church membership, religious ritual, and “good deeds,” without discipleship and obedience of Jesus’ teachings, and without spiritual “rebirth.”

Only Jesus baptizes with the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only his disciples who trust and obey him (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Only by the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit can we know and accomplish the good works, the ministry, which God has prepared for us beforehand and intends for us to do.

In many instances, the “spiritual leaders” in our Churches and our society consider themselves experts in the scriptures without personal knowledge and experience of the spiritual truths they profess. Many preach salvation by “Cheap Grace,”* which is grace (God’s unmerited favor; free gift) without the requirement of discipleship and obedient trust in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-10; James 1:22; 2:17-18). Others preach “works-righteousness” “legalism,” salvation by “good works,” like that of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, and the “circumcision party” (see Galatians 2:16). Both these false doctrines present in the “Church” today were present in the first-century church within the first-century Church, and are refuted in the New Testament. When Jesus returns will he find faith (Luke 18:8)?

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)?

*See: The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY 1963 ISBN 0-02-083850-6

6 Epiphany - Wednesday

Isaiah 63:15-64:9,      Prayer for restoration  
1 Timothy 3:1-16,       Qualifications of church leaders
Mark 11:27-12:12,     Jesus’ Authority; Parable of the Vineyard

The prophet prayed for the Lord’s restoration of the remnant of Israel which was in exile in Babylon. He asked the Lord God to see Israel’s suffering and remember God’s love and compassion. God is Israel’s Father who remembers his children even though their earthly patriarchs no longer acknowledge them. The Lord has been Israel’s Father and Redeemer from the beginning of their nation. Why does God allow his people to depart from his ways and from their love of God? The prophet asked the Lord to restore his people to God's presence. The Lord’s sanctuary had been with Israel only a short time, and had been destroyed by their enemies, and Israel had become like pagans who had never known or acknowledged God’s reign (God’s kingship).

“Oh that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence- as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil- to make thy name known to thy adversaries and that the nations might tremble at thy presence” (Isaiah 64:1-2). There has never been any god but God, who acts for those who wait for him. The Lord comes to those who do what is right in God’s eyes, and obey God’s ways. We have all sinned, and our “good deeds” are no better than a filthy garment. Because his people don’t call on him, God has hidden his face from them and they suffer for their iniquities. Let us acknowledge that God is our Father; God is the “potter” and we are the "clay." We have been created by God. Let us acknowledge that we are God’s people and receive his forgiveness.

Paul gave Timothy instructions for selecting church leaders. Bishops (overseers) hold a noble position, but they also have a responsibility to be above reproach. A bishop should be faithful in marriage, moderate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, and a good teacher, not a drunkard, violent, quarrelsome or greedy. He should demonstrate his ability to manage God’s church by his ability to manage his own household well, with obedient and respectful children. He must not be a recent convert or he may be conceited and fail to resist temptation. If he doesn’t have a good reputation in the secular community, his lack of good character will lead to reproach and sin.

Deacons were appointed to serve the administrative, social and charitable activities of the church.  Both men and women may serve as deacons and are to be committed to their duties, honest and truthful, moderate and faithful, not drunkards or greedy. “They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience” [i.e. they must be “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) believers who practice what they profess; 1 Timothy 3:9; 3:2-5]. “Let them be tested first; then if they prove themselves blameless let them serve as deacons” (1 Timothy 3:10; i.e. they must be mature Christians, who have demonstrated their faith). They must demonstrate their ability to manage the church by good management of their families. Deacons are respected in their secular communities and their behavior influences the acceptance of the Gospel by the world. The Church is and must be the pillar and bulwark of the truth in this world. Christ is the mystery of God “which has been manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).  

The Jewish leaders challenged Jesus’ authority for what he was doing, and, in reply, Jesus asked them a question about John the Baptist’s authority. Since the Jewish authorities refused to be pinned down to an answer, Jesus also declined to answer them. Then he told them the Parable of the Vineyard: The owner had left the vineyard in the care of the tenants, who refused to give the owner his share of the fruit. Servants sent by the owner were beaten and treated shamefully. So the Owner sent his son, the heir, but the tenants killed him, so that they might receive the inheritance. Jesus warned that the owner would destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. The Jewish leaders were enraged and wanted to arrest Jesus, because they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the crowd.

The history of God’s dealing with Israel has been written down in the Bible as a warning, for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11-12). Over and over Israel strayed from obedient trust in God’s word. Then God would take away his protection, and Israel would be punished for their disobedience. When they cried out in their distress and repented and returned to obedient trust in God, God would forgive and restore them. We have the same human nature and weakness.

At the time of this prophecy, Israel was living in exile in Babylon. They had become like pagans who had never acknowledged or experienced God’s sovereign authority. They felt cut off from God’s presence. The prophet told them that if they wanted to experience God’s presence and favor again, they must do what is right in God’s judgment and trust and obey God’s word. God’s people must acknowledge their sin (disobedience of God’s word), must acknowledge God as their father, creator, and sovereign king and must submit to God’s molding touch, allowing God to shape us into what he intends for us to become. If we commit to be his obedient people we will receive his forgiveness and restoration.

Paul had discipled Timothy unto spiritual “rebirth” (John 3:3, 5-8; 2 Timothy 1:6) and continued to train Timothy in making disciples of other faithful people (2 Timothy 2:2). Paul was giving Timothy guidance on enlisting church leaders, which also applies to all believers. It is critically important that church leaders be disciples of Jesus Christ living in accordance with Jesus’ teachings and “born-again” by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

It takes born-again disciples to make born-again disciples, and only born-again leaders have the spiritual insight, guidance and empowerment to faithfully and accurately preach and teach God’s word. Only Jesus gives the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

Paul also warned Timothy not to be too quick in appointing people to be leaders (1 Timothy 5:22). Paul also cautioned that recent converts are sometimes too eager to be teachers or leaders before they have acquired some seasoned experience (1 Timothy 1:7; 3:6). Remember that Jesus’ Twelve disciples were with Jesus twenty-four hours a day seven days a week for about three and a half years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and still were not ready for ministry until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 2:1-13).

All Christians should live according to Jesus’ teachings in their secular as well as their spiritual lives. The world is skeptical and watching Christians to see if they live in accordance with what they profess, and believer’s behavior influences the acceptance of the Gospel in the world.

 In the time of Jesus’ physical ministry the Jewish religious leaders were running Judaism as their own personal empire. There are still people in Church leadership and membership who regard the Church, and work in it, with the same attitude. People like that do not acknowledge, experience, or appreciate the sovereign authority of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. The Jewish leaders challenged Jesus’ authority. The issue was whether authority was given by God or by men. The leaders questioned Jesus’ authority because they had not given it to him. They though they could refuse to answer the Son of God, while compelling Jesus to answer them.

God is the owner of all creation; this is his vineyard. Everyone in this world is a tenant in God’s “vineyard.” God wants his tenants to acknowledge his sovereignty, and he expects a portion of the spiritual fruit of his vineyard. In another way, the Church is God’s vineyard. Many people, even within Church membership, don’t acknowledge the Lord’s sovereign authority, do what he commands, and give him his portion.

God did indeed send his Son, Jesus, to teach us to comply with God’s commands and produce fruit for God, and the world, even his own people, within his own temple, killed the owner’s son and heir. But God raised him from physical death to eternal life and authority (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is going to come back soon, and this time he will come in great power and sovereign authority to collect God’s portion of the harvest and to eternally destroy the wicked tenants who refused to trust and obey Jesus.

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)?

6 Epiphany - Thursday

Isaiah 65:1-12,      God’s answer
1 Timothy 4:1-16,       False teachers
Mark 12:13-27,    Taxes to Caesar; Resurrection Question

Isaiah had prayed for Israel’s restoration from exile in Babylon. The Lord replied that he was ready to be found, but Israel didn’t seek him. “I said, ’Here am I, Here am I’ to a nation that did not call on my name” (Isaiah 65:1c). The Lord invited and was prepared to welcome his people but they were rebellious and preferred to pursue their own interests and do what is not good. The people constantly provoke and insult the Lord to his face, pursuing idolatry, pagan worship, and occult practices. These deeds are like acrid smoke in the Lord’s nostrils. The Lord will not overlook such flagrant provocation; he will repay them according to their sins and the sins of their fathers.

As good wine is produced from selected clusters of grapes, the Lord will bring Judah, a remnant of Israel, back to the Promised Land from exile in Babylon. The Lord’s chosen people, who are his servants, will inherit the Promised Land. The Lord will cause the Promised Land to become lush and fertile for those who have sought the Lord. But those who forget and forsake the Lord, who serve idols such as Fortune and Destiny (the translation of Hebrew names of Syrian gods), will be slain because when God called they didn’t answer and they didn’t listen to God’s word, but instead chose to do what is evil and abhorrent in God’s judgment.

Paul told Timothy that in the latter days (the period before the Lord’s return on the Day of Judgment) some will abandon the (true, scriptural, apostolic) gospel by giving heed to lying spirits and the doctrines of demons, through false teachers whose consciences have been seared (desensitized; rendered ineffective), who advocate abstinence from marriage and from certain foods (like meat) contrary to God’s will and intention for his people who believe and know the truth and who receive everything with thanksgiving, having consecrated it by God’s word and by prayer.  A good minister of Jesus Christ is nourished on the word of faith (the Bible) and good doctrine (the scriptural, apostolic Gospel), and teaches it to others. We are not to have any involvement in godless and foolish myths (false doctrines created by humans). Instead we are to train ourselves in godliness (obedience to God’s word).

Physical training benefits our physical bodies, but spiritual training is of greater benefit, because it improves our present lives, and also provides and prepares us for eternal life. God’s word is absolutely true and worthy of full acceptance, and we hold fast to it and persevere, having our hope fixed upon the living God, the savior of all people who put their obedient trust in him. So let us command and teach these things.

Let us not discount any on the basis of their youth, but let us set an example in speech, conduct, love and purity. Let us proclaim the scripture, preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach discipleship until Jesus returns. Let us not neglect the gift of the Holy Spirit which we have been promised in our baptism. Let us practice our Christian duties enthusiastically so that others will see our progress. Let us take heed to ourselves and to our teachings to apply them diligently in our own lives, so that all will see our progress in spiritual growth to maturity, so that we ourselves and our hearers will be saved.

The Jewish religious authorities sent some Pharisees and Herodians (Jews who supported the Roman civil government of Israel) to try to get Jesus to say something they could use to destroy him. They told Jesus that they knew Jesus’ teachings to be true, and that he was not partial toward any human individual or group, so they asked Jesus whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. Jesus was not fooled by their insincerity, and asked them why they were testing him. Jesus asked them to show him a coin, and then asked whose likeness it bore. It had Caesar’s likeness, as they said. Then Jesus told them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s, and they were amazed by Jesus.

Sadducees came to Jesus and asked about the resurrection (existence after physical death). Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. They posed a hypothetical question in which seven brothers had all been married consecutively to one woman. Each had died while married to her, and the surviving brothers had fulfilled the custom of taking the widow as wife in order to raise children for the deceased brother. Since she had been the wife of each, whose wife would she be in the resurrection?

Jesus suggested that they were wrong because they didn’t know the scriptures, and they did not know God’s power. Jesus said that marriage is not a part of resurrected life; the resurrected are like angels. Jesus also cited scriptures from Exodus 3:6, where God said, “I am the God of Abraham …Isaac, and …Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Mark 12:26-27) and those who do not believe in the resurrection, like the Sadducees, are wrong.

It has always been God’s intention, from the beginning of this creation to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey God. This Creation is temporal; it has an “expiration date” known only to God. God has given us the freedom, in this lifetime, to choose whether to obey God or not, and the opportunity to learn by trial and error.

God knew that given the choice we would all sin (disobey God’s word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and God’s penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). God loves us and doesn’t want us to perish eternally but to have eternal life and fellowship with him in his eternal kingdom (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8), so God built the Savior, Jesus Christ into this Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness of sin, salvation from eternal destruction, and restoration of fellowship with God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). .

This lifetime is our opportunity to seek and come to personal knowledge of and fellowship with God (Acts 17:26-27). God wants us to find him! If we seek him he will allow himself to be found by us (2 Chronicles 15:2; Matthew 7:7-8). We’re stubborn, rebellious and self-centered by nature, and we prefer to seek what we think we want, rather than to do what God knows is in our ultimate best interest.

God allows us to do what is contrary to his will now, but he has placed a time limit on us. This present Creation will pass away, and will be replaced by a new Creation, which will be the eternal kingdom of God. Only those who have learned to trust and obey the Lord and have discovered the goodness and rightness of his way will be allowed to enter eternal life in the new Creation. Where we spend eternity will be our choice based on what we do in this life.

These are the last days of this temporal Creation, from Jesus’ manifestation, resurrection and ascension into heaven until he returns at the end of this age on the Day of Judgment. Paul warned Timothy that there will be false teachers and false doctrines. In order to be saved believers in Jesus must be nourished on the word of God and the sound, scriptural apostolic Gospel, applied in our daily lives, so that they will not be led astray by false teachers and false teachings.

Lots of people in our world are very interested in physical training, so that they can look and be healthy and live long. No matter how diligent in physical training, we can only maintain health and youth for a limited time. In contrast spiritual training and discipline are of great benefit now in this present life, and also for eternal life. It is sad to think that those who have spent their lives training and preserving their physical bodies with no thought to their eternal souls will spend eternity in death and destruction in hell.

Salvation from eternal condemnation is not by church “membership,” or by religious ritual. Salvation is by God’s grace (free gift) to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus gives the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34) only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). Jesus said we must be “born-again” in order to see the kingdom of God, now in this world, and in eternity (John 3:3, 5-8). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). It is possible for one to know with certainty for oneself whether one has been born-again or not (Acts 19:2).

The Jewish religious leaders came to Jesus not to learn from him and to follow him, but to discredit and get rid of him. They thought they were spiritual authorities. The Pharisees did not believe Jesus’ teaching although they said they did, and they had no intention of following his teaching. The Sadducees didn’t believe in existence beyond physical death, and they asked Jesus a question they were sure would demonstrate that resurrection was impossible.

Jesus’ answer showed that the Pharisees did not give God, the sovereign Lord, the love and obedient trust he rightly deserved. They violated the First Commandment of the Law they thought made them righteous apart from obedient trust in Jesus (Deuteronomy 5:6-10). The Sadducees who considered themselves experts in scriptures and theology didn’t know the scriptures as well as they thought and they didn’t know God, whom they claimed to be their God, or they would have recognized Jesus as God’s Son (John 8:19).

In Jesus, God was calling them to forgiveness, to salvation from eternal condemnation, to reconciliation and eternal life with God, but they refused to answer and listen to God’s word, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14), but instead chose to do what was evil in God’s judgment.

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)?

6 Epiphany - Friday

Isaiah 65:17-25,       A new heavens and a new earth
1 Timothy 5: (1-16)17-22,     Leaders of the Church
Mark 12:28-34,       The great commandment

The Lord will create a new heavens and a new earth. The things of this present universe will be forgotten. But God’s people will rejoice forever in the new creation. God will create rejoicing in a New Jerusalem, and joy in his people, and will rejoice in them. There will be no more weeping or distress. There will be no more premature death. Only sinners will die early. God’s people will reap the rewards of their own labor, instead of building up for another to inherit. God’s people will be as long-lived as trees. They will not labor in vain, or bear children to be taken by disaster. They are the children and grandchildren of the blessed of the Lord. The Lord will answer before they call, and will hear them as they are speaking. In the New Jerusalem every one will live in peace and harmony. The wolf and lamb will feed together, the lion and ox will eat straw together, and snakes will no longer prey upon man or animals. None will injure or destroy another in God’s new creation.

Leaders of the Church, especially those who preach and teach, and who govern well should be especially honored. God’s word tells us to allow the ox powering the grain mill should be allowed to eat freely of the grain, and that laborers deserve fair wages. Church leaders should also be compensated generously for their work.

No accusations should be brought against a Church leader without the evidence of at least two or three witnesses. Any member who persists in sin should be publicly rebuked in the presence of the whole congregation, so that the rest will warned to fear and respect God’s power and condemnation of sin.

Paul counseled his young protégé and pastor, Timothy, to administer his duties without partiality or favoritism. He also warned Timothy not to be too hasty in ordaining (inducting) Church leaders (or members), and not to participate in someone else’s sin, but instead keep himself pure

A scribe (teacher of the Law of Moses; the Scriptures) came to Jesus and found him debating with some Sadducees (a faction of Judaism denying the resurrection and life beyond physical death). The scribe saw that Jesus answered the Sadducees well, and asked Jesus which commandment was most important. Jesus replied that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord God with all ones spirit, mind and strength, and that the second commandment to love one’s neighbor just as much as oneself. Jesus declared that there are no greater commandments than these. The scribe acknowledged that Jesus had answered truly, and affirmed obeying those two commandments was more important than all burnt offerings and ritual sacrifices. Jesus saw that the scribe had answered wisely, and told him that he was not far from God’s kingdom.

From an eternal perspective, life in this temporal world is a training period for eternal life in the new Creation. God’s intention has always, from the very beginning of Creation, intended to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey God. In order to give us free choice, God allowed the possibility of sin (disobedience of God’s word; in which all have participated; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and provided, through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ, the means of forgiveness and salvation from eternal death, which is the punishment for sin (Romans 6:23, see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

This lifetime is our opportunity to seek and find a personal knowledge of and fellowship with God (Acts 17:26-27), which is possible only through faith in Jesus Christ. This lifetime is our opportunity to learn to trust and obey God’s word, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14). As we begin to trust an obey Jesus, Jesus will give us the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. Only Jesus gives the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (Acts 17:26-27). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

Only through the indwelling Holy Spirit can we have personal fellowship with Jesus and God the Father. Jesus was God’s ultimate revelation of himself in this world; the Holy Spirit is the ultimate revelation of Jesus within us. Only by the Holy Spirit can we be cleansed, empowered to resist sin, to know and be obedient to God’s will for us individually, and be empowered to accomplish the work he has for us to do.

This lifetime is our opportunity to learn to live in obedient trust in the Lord. God is preparing an eternal kingdom where illness, decay and death will no longer exist. All the evils caused by sin in this present world will not occur because only God’s people who have learned to trust and obey God’s word will be allowed.

The Church is intended to be the beginning of God’s eternal kingdom on earth. Christ is already reigning in the hearts of his “born-again” disciples. The leaders of the Church are accountable to God, and are warned not to tolerate persistent sin within the leadership or membership (see Matthew 16:19). Church leaders (and congregational bodies) are warned not to be too hasty in commissioning clergy or laity (members) to church or congregational leadership. We are also warned not to be too quick to accept people into congregational membership.

Church leaders and members can’t offer salvation to sinners by participating in their sin. Instead, Churches and congregations should publicly discipline those who are unrepentant persistent sinners and remove them from membership, and more importantly, from leadership. As long as churches allow persistent sinners within their congregations, they are spiritually damaging them, and others, by allowing them to remain unrepentant, and are damaging the acceptance of the Gospel in the secular world.

In too many instances, Churches and congregations, in the present time of declining membership and ministry candidates, have lowered standards for membership and leadership. In many cases, churches have turned to “entertainment” evangelism,” and tried to be “consumer oriented,” to become “seeker friendly,” offering secular activities as “membership benefits.” Instead of making disciples they’ve been making “fair-weather Christians,” preaching what makes people feel good, instead of what disciplines and corrects (see 2 Timothy 2:3-4). God wants our obedient trust, not religious ritual.

Jesus declared that all God’s word could be summarized in two commandments; to love God unreservedly, with heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love others as oneself. These are easy to say, but impossible to do, unless one is “born-again” by the indwelling Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus. Jesus told his disciples that if they truly love Jesus, they will keep his commandments, and Jesus will give them his indwelling Holy Spirit to guide and empower them to keep those commandments.

Only by the love of Jesus within us by his Holy Spirit can we keep his commandments and be forgiven for our failures. The scribe was close to God’s eternal kingdom. All he needed to do was to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and begin to trust and obey Jesus.

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)?

6 Epiphany - Saturday

Isaiah 66:1-6,     True worship
1 Timothy 6: ( 1-5) 6-21,       Godliness with contentment
Mark 12: 35-44,     Teachings on piety

The Lord is bigger than we can imagine. Heaven is his throne, and earth is his footstool. Does mankind think he can build a house to contain God’s presence? God has created everything and everything belongs to him. The people God regards with favor are those who are humble and contrite in their hearts and who tremble at God’s word (who take God’s warnings seriously).

Those who offer sacrifices to the Lord but who are not humble and contrite and who do not trust and obey God’s word might as well be participating in idolatrous pagan rituals.  “These have chosen their own ways (instead of God’s ways) and their soul delights in their abominations” (Isaiah 66:3d). The Lord will repay them with affliction and bring their worst fears upon them because, when the Lord called, they didn’t answer, and they paid no attention to God’s word. They chose to do what God regards as evil and took delight in what God hates.

Hear God’s word, all who respect and honor God’s word: Our brethren, who hate us and cast us out for God’s name’s sake, claiming to glorify God, will be put to shame. The Lord will declare recompense to his enemies, and the city will be in pandemonium.

Paul told his disciple, Timothy, that there is great benefit in contentment with godliness. We are born into the world with nothing, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave this world. As long as we have food, clothing and shelter we should be satisfied.

Those who desire to be rich beyond the basic necessities of life fall into a trap and many desires which lead to destruction. It is the love of wealth and possessions which leads to destruction. By the craving for wealth some believers have been led astray and have suffered disappointment and loss. As a godly person, avoid these things and instead aim for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness.

Struggle for the victory of faith, take hold and claim the promise of eternal life, which was given when we publicly declared Jesus as our Lord. In the presence of God the Father, the creator of all things, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who bore witness to God before Pontius Pilate, we are exhorted to conduct ourselves so that Jesus’ teachings will be beyond reproach, and this will be revealed in God’s perfect timing on the Day of Judgment. God is the sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords who alone is immortal and “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16). No mortal has ever seen or is able to see God. He is worthy of, and possesses, eternal honor and dominion.

The rich are warned not to be haughty or to trust in material wealth, but instead to depend upon God the creator and giver of all things for our enjoyment. The rich are “to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous;” (1 Timothy 6:18) thus building an eternal unshakable foundation, so that they may possess eternal life which is true life. Disciples are admonished to guard the Gospel they have been given, and to avoid false doctrines and what the world falsely considers knowledge, which has caused some believers to fail to receive what has been promised.

Jesus had come to Jerusalem, knowing that he would be crucified. He went daily to the temple to teach, and the people were glad to hear his teaching. Jesus said that the scribes (teachers of scripture) taught that the Christ is the son of David, but David, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit called the Christ his Lord (Psalm 110:1). No one was able to explain the apparent contradiction. Jesus warned his hearers to beware of scribes who liked public distinction by the clothes and title of their profession, and the public recognition which gave them preferential treatment at public gatherings, who make elaborate prayers as pretence of piety, and who steal from widows. Their outward pretense of piety will result in greater condemnation (at the Day of Judgment).

Jesus watched people as they placed their offerings into the temple treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums, but a widow gave two copper coins (the smallest denomination in circulation, about a half cent each). Jesus told his disciples that the widow’s contribution was greater that the all the others, because while the rich contributed from their abundance, she had given sacrificially everything she had.

God wants our obedient trust, not religious rituals. In our human nature, we tend to think of ourselves as the “center of the universe.”  We want to be “God.” In the Garden of Eden, the first humans were led into sin (disobedience of God’s word) by the temptation to be “like God” (Genesis 3:5). It is human arrogance to think we can give anything to God, because he created and owns all things.

We tend to think we can manipulate God to do our will by religious ritual, material gifts or “good deeds,” instead of seeking to know and do his will. Going to church, participating in religious rituals, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, tithing, or donating memorials won’t save us from eternal condemnation. Without obedient trust in Jesus Christ, we might as well be pagans or unbelievers.

The prophecy of Isaiah 66:5, that our brethren who hate Christians and cast them out for Jesus’ name’s sake will be put to shame began to be fulfilled in John 9:24-25.

This temporal lifetime is our opportunity to seek and find personal knowledge of, and fellowship with, God, our creator (Acts 17:26-27). We are all eternal souls in physical, temporal bodies (John 5:28-29). This lifetime is our only opportunity to choose where to spend eternity. God is the creator and supplier of every good thing. All the evil in this world is the work of humans, through sin (disobedience of God’s word). God has created this temporal universe with the possibility of sin, so that we have free choice whether to trust and obey God or not. The new, eternal Creation will eternally separate those who have chosen eternal life through obedient trust in Jesus Christ, from those who have chosen eternal destruction by rejecting and refusing to trust and obey Jesus.

Paul was the prototype of a modern, “post-resurrection,” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple of Jesus Christ, making born-again disciples, and teaching them to obey Jesus’ teachings, in fulfillment of Christ’s Great Commission (Mathew 28:19-20), to his born-again ( Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:4-5, 8) disciples. Timothy is an example of Paul’s discipling. Paul discipled Timothy until he received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:6-7), and then continued to encourage and teach him as Timothy began to disciple others (2 Timothy 2:2). Paul teaches disciples that our priority in this life is to seek, find, know and serve God through Jesus Christ.

In the eternal perspective, this temporal lifetime is merely a “blink of the eye.” This temporal universe seems so “real” because we perceive its material structure, but it will pass away and out of memory. In contrast, what is “spiritual” in this “time-frame” seems “unreal;” “insubstantial,” even “imaginary” now, but is the new, eternal reality!  Jesus said, “Seek first his [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these [other] things (material necessities) will be yours as well” (Matthew 6:33).

The meaning and purpose of life is not to accumulate material wealth and possessions; the one who dies with the most clothes (or toys) isn’t the winner. We haven’t been “born to shop!” The meaning and purpose of life is to seek and find God, and to come to eternal life through obedient trust in Jesus Christ.

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)?