5 Epiphany  - Sunday (variable)

Isaiah 58:5-9a       What the Lord Requires

Psalm 112       Fate of Righteous and Wicked

1 Corinthians 2:1-5       Divine Wisdom

Matthew 5:13-20       Law and Gospel

The Lord does not desire ritual fasting, the outward show of humility, bowing down before the Lord in sackcloth and ashes. That kind of fasting does not please the Lord. What the Lord desires is the freeing of those who are in bondage to wickedness and oppression. The kind of self-denial the Lord desires is for us to share our food with the hungry, our homes with the homeless, our clothing with the naked; for us not to ignore the needs of our fellow humans around us.

When we practice those kinds of self-sacrifice, the light of our righteousness will break forth like dawn in the spiritual darkness of this world. We will quickly be spiritually healed, our righteousness will be seen and acknowledged, and God will be glorified. Then, when we call upon the Lord he will hear and answer us.

Let us praise the Lord! Happy is the person who fears (has appropriate respect for the power and authority of) God, and who greatly delights in God’s Word. His descendants will be great in the land and his generation will be blessed. His family will prosper and his righteousness will endure for ever.

“Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the Lord is gracious, merciful and righteous” (Psalm 112:4). All will be well with those who conduct their affairs with justice and generosity and lend to others. Those who do what is right will prevail and be remembered for their righteousness. They need not be afraid of bad news; they will trust in the Lord and not be afraid. They will wait patiently and will see the just punishment of their enemies.

Those who have been generous and have given to the poor will be honored and their righteousness will endure for ever. The wicked will see and be angry, and hate the righteous, but they will disappear, and their desires will accomplish nothing.

God wisely chose not to make himself known through what the world falsely calls wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:21), so that eternal life cannot be earned, bought, or taken by force or deception. Paul refused to make the Gospel more attractive to his hearers by lofty rhetoric or display of worldly wisdom. He just presented the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, who was crucified as the one and only sacrifice acceptable to God for our sin (disobedience of God’s Word). Although the messenger was humanly weak, the power of the message was by God’s Spirit working through Paul and within the Corinthians, so that their faith was not in human wisdom but in God’s power.

Jesus taught his disciples that they were to be the “salt” (having seasoning, purifying and preserving properties) of the earth. If salt were to loose its “salty” properties, it would be worthless.

Disciples are also to be the “light” of righteousness, spiritual insight, and true eternal life, in a spiritually dark and dying world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. One does not light a lamp and hide it under a basket or under a bed. So disciples are to shine as lights in the darkness so that others will see their good works, and praise and glorify God.

Jesus came to fulfill, not do away with the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets (the Old Testament of the Bible; God’s Word). This world will pass away but God’s Word will endure for ever. Those who relax the least commandment and teach others to do so will be called least in God’s eternal kingdom; but those who do God’s commandments and teach others to do so will be called great in God’s kingdom. Jesus warns that our righteousness must be greater than that of the scribes (teachers of the Law) and the Pharisees (predominant legalistic faction of Judaism), or we will never enter God’s eternal kingdom.  

God wants his people to trust and obey God’s Word. God wants obedient trust instead of religious ritual. God wants us to be kind and just in our relations with one another; to work to oppose wickedness and oppression, hunger, poverty and homelessness. That is the kind of sacrifice God desires.

God promises that when we do what he wants we will receive spiritual enlightenment and healing, so that we can bring light to others and glorify God. God promises to hear and answer our prayers and our needs when we trust and obey his will (see Conditions for Answered Prayer, sidebar, top right).

“The fear (appropriate respect for the power and authority) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). One cannot begin to know anything useful until one realizes his true relationship to God our Creator. God is the Lord of all Creation, whether we acknowledge him or not, and he has the power of eternal life or death over us.

God’s Word promises that those who trust and obey God’s Word will be blessed. They will prosper, and prevail over their enemies; they will have no fear, because they have learned that the Lord is able and faithful to protect and deliver them from any trouble or adversary. They will have light in the spiritual darkness, and grace, mercy, true eternal life, and the blessing of the Lord. They will learn that God’s commandments become a delight and a blessing to them.

All that God requires is that we love, honor and trust him enough to obey his commands, and that we love one another enough to treat them as we would want to be treated: with kindness and justice (Micah 6:8b).

Salvation from eternal condemnation and destruction is a gift from God to all who are willing to receive it by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (Ephesians, 2:8-9), God’s only provision for our salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Saving faith is obedient trust in Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:21-24; Luke 6:46). Just calling ourselves Christians doesn’t save us; church membership won’t save us; religious rituals won’t save us; knowing the Bible won’t save us.

The Corinthians weren’t saved by Paul’s oratorical eloquence, or by human wisdom, but by the power of God’s Spirit, as they as they accepted Jesus as the Messiah, God’s anointed eternal Savior and King, and began to trust and obey Jesus.

Jesus wants his disciples to be “salt” in the world. If his disciples don’t have distinctive properties which differentiate them from worldly people, then they are worthless, and in danger of being thrown out. The characteristic which distinguishes them from worldly people is obedient trust in God’s Word, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ, the “living Word” (John 1:1-3, 14).

Jesus’ disciples are to be “light” in the world. They become “light” as they receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), the “light of the World” (John 8:12), the light of spiritual enlightenment (John 1:9; 14:15-17, 26; 16:13-14), the light of God’s righteousness (John 3:19-21; Philippians 3:9), the light of eternal life (John 1:4-5; 8:12). Christians must be “re-born” by obedient trust in Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, and then by the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit they are to go out into the world to be “salt” and “light.”

Jesus is not the end of the Law of Moses, the Word of God, but its fulfillment. Jesus is the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word lived out in this world in human flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). The Old Covenant of Law (the Old Testament; the Law of Moses) teaches us the righteousness which God requires, and restrains us until we have been “born-again” to spiritual, eternal life through the gift of the Holy Spirit which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34) only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17).

No one can fulfill the requirements of the Law, God’s Word (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), except through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, by his indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:16). Those who trust and obey Jesus receive the Holy Spirit and are freed from condemnation under the Law, provided that they live according to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-9; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Jesus warns that those who don’t obey God’s Word and teach others not to obey will be disgraced in the kingdom of God, but those who obey and teach others to do so will be glorified and rewarded in God’s eternal kingdom. There are those in the nominal “Church” today who teach salvation (from eternal condemnation) by grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) without the requirement of discipleship and obedient trust (“Cheap Grace;” see False Teachings, sidebar, top right).

Jesus also warned that those who depend upon their own keeping of the Law of Moses for their salvation, like the scribes and Pharisees, will never enter eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom, because salvation is only by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus and “rebirth” by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (see “Legalism,” False Teachings, sidebar, top right).

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)? 

5 Epiphany  - Monday (variable)

Psalm 119:1-16

Happy are those who live according to God’s Word and are blameless in his judgment. Happy are those who keep God’s commandments and earnestly seek him; who avoid wrongdoing and follow God’s ways. God has commanded us to keep his commands with diligence and steadfastness. Then we will have no reason to be ashamed, because we have committed ourselves to keep all of God’s commandments. When we have learned his righteous ordinances we will be able to praise the Lord with an upright heart. Let us be committed to keeping God’s laws, so that the Lord will not completely forsake us.

“How can a young man [person] keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy Word” (Psalm 119:9). Let us seek the Lord with all our hearts, and not stray from obedience to his teachings. “I have laid up thy Word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). May the Lord be blessed and may he teach me his ways. I will proclaim thy Word. I will delight in God’s Word as much as all riches. I will meditate on God’s Word and live according to his teachings. Let me not forget his Word.

God has designed this Creation for a purpose. From the very beginning God has always intended to create an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey God. In order to give us the freedom to choose whether or not to obey God, he designed this Creation with the possibility of sin (disobedience of God’s Word), but God is not going to tolerate disobedience and rebellion in his eternal kingdom. God has set a time-limit on this Creation and our lifetimes. This lifetime is our opportunity to learn to know, trust and obey God.

God knew that by giving us the choice, we would all sin and come short of his righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). But God loves us and doesn’t want anyone to perish eternally (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8), so he provided forgiveness of sin and salvation from eternal condemnation as a free gift to all who are willing to accept it through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar top right).

This lifetime is our opportunity to seek God our Creator and come to personal knowledge of and fellowship with God (Acts 17:26-27), and this is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6). God wants to be found by us (Matthew 7:7). He wants us to know his purpose for Creation, so he has revealed it in the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Christ and Messiah each mean “anointed” in Greek and Hebrew respectively; i.e. God’s chosen and designated eternal Savior and King).

Jesus is the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word, lived out in this world in human flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). Jesus’ word is the Word of God (John 14:10, 24). Jesus has promised to reveal himself and God the Father to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:21, 23).

This lifetime is our only opportunity to be spiritually “reborn” to eternal life (John 3:3, 5-8), and this is only possible through obedient trust in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus gives the gift of the indwelling 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).

There is a Day of Judgment coming at the end of this temporal age (and our lifetimes). Everyone who has ever lived will be accountable to God for what they have done in this lifetime. Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in the kingdom of heaven in a new perfect Creation freed of sin and death. Those who have refused to accept Jesus and have not trusted and obey him will be condemned to eternal destruction in hell with all evil.

5 Epiphany  - Tuesday (variable)

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