Tag: love

Everything We Need (2 Peter 1:1-14)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date December 2, 2007
No Comments on Everything We Need (2 Peter 1:1-14)

2 Peter 1:1-14

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

As we continue in our series through the Books of the Bible we come to the second Epistle of Peter. In the notes, you may have noticed that the passage we’ll be focusing on is 2 Peter 1:3-10. You may also notice that I tend to cover longer sections of Scripture and try to explain what the Apostle is telling us. There is a reason for that. Too often we like to use Scripture to find particular verses and then read those verses as if there is nothing else in that book surrounding those passages. We may even have memorized a short portion of Scripture but really have no idea what people were talking about when they wrote it.

Have you ever been in a conversation where you feel like somebody took a small part of what you said and then twisted it? I’m sure you were quite upset that people put words in your mouth by only choosing a small portion of what you said and then twisted its meaning. In the end, you don’t even recognize your own message in the way someone quoted you. Scripture is no different.

As we read this passage, one of the things that I’m certain that most people’s eyes will immediately focus upon are verses 5-7. I’m certain of it because there we find stuff that we’re told to do. After all, isn’t the Word supposed to be practical? Isn’t it supposed to give me a list of things that I need to do throughout the week?

I remember talking to a Pastor a few years ago because he was preaching on a particular passage and it seemed like no matter what passage he would cover, he had to come up with how that particular behavior was an example to all of us on how we should behave. It didn’t even matter if it was Paul journeying around in a particular country, he was going to find some example like: “”¦this means we should all be on a personal journey.” I remember thinking: Are you kidding me?

Before I joined the Church, I went over to his house to eat and we got along well so I asked him about it carefully. I remarked: “Well, soon we’ll be getting into Romans and the first 11 Chapters don’t really say anything about what we are supposed to do but it talks about what God has done in Christ Jesus.” He responded that he planned on giving a personal application to every portion as he went through it. I asked why and he said that he was taught in Seminary that you have to give an application, something for a person to “take home”, in every sermon. That really saddened me because he might have learned that from a professor but he didn’t learn that from the Scriptures.

I want you to notice something about verse 5. It begins like this: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence”¦.” Now, we’re going to get back to this part again but did you catch the beginning? It said: “For this very reason”¦.” What reason, Peter? Well many of us would just ignore that part because we’re being told to do something now but Peter says “”¦for this very reason”¦” and so it only makes sense that if we’re supposed to do something for a reason then we ought to know what that reason is. Right?

Here’s the reason he gives earlier: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

Wow! What a reason. What a motivation! Let me unpack that a little bit. Notice something first about this motivation: what are we doing in those verses? Absolutely nothing. God is doing everything. We are recipients. Do you know what that’s called? It’s called the Gospel. The Good News is not that we’re getting things done for God but that, first of all, God has done wonderful things for us.

His divine power, the power that created heaven and earth, the power that said “Let there be light” and by the power of His Word it was so. That same divine power has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness. He has given us knowledge of Himself and called us by His glory and excellence. You and I were corpses rotting in the grave and God called us from death to life and made us alive so that we could hear Him. He made us alive so that we could see the beauty of the Cross.

Finally, He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. God has promised us. Now people break their promises all the time but not God. He has promised us to become partakers in the divine nature in Christ Jesus and that we are sure to escape death because we have placed our trust in Him. Do you know what? Your salvation was certain, the fact that you would reign in heaven as God’s adopted child was absolutely sure the moment God decided to save you. This is often spoken of as an inheritance in Scripture.

Do you remember what I told the children about an inheritance last week? An inheritance is not something you earn from your parents but it’s something that you simply receive. You didn’t choose your parents, you didn’t earn the money they made all their lives or the house they bought. They did all the work. They put all the toil into it so they could pass something on. We contribute nothing to the inheritance we receive from our ancestors and so it is with God.

Some of you may remember when I spoke about the Prodigal Son. He had spit on his father by claiming his inheritance early. Generations of work had gone into securing a large property that was passed from father to son over many, many centuries. The son demands his portion from his father wishing him dead and then goes out and spends it on a big party. Centuries of ancestral blessing are spent in a few weeks and the boy is destitute.

He’s working with pigs and then he comes to his senses. He’ll go back to his father and ask for forgiveness. His only desire now is to be a slave in His father’s house. He knows he doesn’t deserve anything more. This is exactly what the Pharisees expected too. Forgiveness could not be granted but the boy had to earn his way back. He would be expected to wait in the town as the people in the town came to heap shame upon the boy.

But then the oddest thing happened. The father saw the boy from far off and he ran to him. He ran to him before that boy could get to the town and receive the shame of the townspeople. He ran to him and fell on his neck weeping and kissing this scoundrel. The boy was coming to the Father expecting to earn his way back into the father’s favor but the father who had long loved the boy had overtaken him before his plan could be completed. He said “Father forgive me”¦” and before he could say “make me your slave”, the father squeezed the breath out of him. You see, beloved, God doesn’t permit slaves into His kingdom, He only permits sons. He only permits in those whom He adopts out of sheer grace. They deserve nothing from His Hand but He gives them a rich inheritance. He gives them a rich inheritance more lavish than the inheritance they squandered while they were living their own life. The only thing the son can do is receive that blessing.

Are your eyes wide open now? Do you understand now what that “reason” is that Peter was talking about in verse 5 when he says: “For this very reason”¦.” Why would the son that was just lavished with love by His father and given an inheritance desire to serve Him? Because he loves Him! He’s grateful for what God has done. There is no more condemnation. He knows he can’t earn what was just given so now He obeys the Father out of the sheer joy for how incredibly blessed he is.

So Peter goes on and tells us: “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”

Do you see how you have a completely different way of looking at these verses now? You were probably ready to start working at these so you could work for God and receive a blessing you were missing out on. In fact, the most popular “Christian” books out there are constantly telling you that the reason you’re missing out on God’s blessing is because you’re not living up to your purpose. But Peter doesn’t motivate us by giving us a purpose. No! He motivates us by the promise of God and what He has done and so we respond by adding to the faith that we have in Him these virtues. Why? Because what child who loves their Father dearly, doesn’t want to delight in the things that He delights in?

And so as Christians, in the household of God, we take on character traits that reflect our Father and His Son who redeemed us: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Now it’s not as if we have to be perfect in one before we start maturing In the other. Rather, it’s that we’re maturing in all of these traits at the same time and should be striving for them. It’s also not that we’re striving by ourselves but it is the plan of God that He will ensure that He completes in you the work that He began in you. There is a sense, though, in how one character trait is necessary for another.

Our moral excellence is the sense in which we love and do the things that God loves. We do so because we don’t want to insult the One we love. My constant prayer is that I will love the things that God loves and to learn to hate my sin more every day. Why? Because the reason I sin is that I love my sin more than I love God and it’s the same reason you do too. So, as we mature, we become more excellent in our thoughts and behaviors.

Of course, we cannot know what God desires or who He is unless we gain knowledge of Him. How do we learn about God? By reading His Scriptures; by devouring it; by hanging by His every Word. Beloved, it is not spiritual or Godly to be ignorant of God’s Word. We have to know something about the people we love or they begin to wonder if we really love them. Imagine if I never spent any time getting to know my wife then she would begin to wonder if I really love her. Ask any woman whether they appreciate if you know her birthday or your anniversary and you’ll begin to realize how critical knowledge is to your relationships and growth.

Now I need to pick on the men here for a minute. It never ceases to amaze me how many men tell me how hard it is to understand the Bible with all the facts and stuff inside of it. It’s just too hard and they don’t have the time. They have a simple faith, they tell me. But then start talking to that same man about Sports. Watch out! I used to be embarrassed that I didn’t know all the endless statistics and details about baseball, football, or basketball from player’s names to who is winning to who is being drafted. These same men who say it’s too hard to study the Bible somehow find time to study and become knowledgeable about Sports. Do you know why? They LOVE Sports. Interesting isn’t it that we KNOW lots of stuff about the things we love. Men! It’s time to add knowledge to your moral excellence. This Saturday, 8 am, see you there!

As we progress in the knowledge of the Lord and mature in what He delights in we begin to gain self-control. That is, that we are more able to withstand the onslaught of sin and temptation as Christ matures us and as we get to know more and more about how big He is and how small we are. We never have victory over sin but we do learn to gain more control over it.

Self-control is a process of discipline and those who discipline themselves in anything gain perseverance ““ they gain endurance. Again, this is not something we do on our own but it is of the Spirit who supplies it richly to us. It is just a matter of fact that discipline has a quality all its own in terms of giving us the ability to stand firm when things are rough and, as we discussed last week, we need perseverance for the sufferings of this world.

As we persevere in our faith, fixed upon the Cross of Christ, we become more Godly ““ that is, more God focused. We begin to focus more on His glory than our own. We’re willing to take the shame of the Cross because we realize we have no reason for pride.

You may recall that I talked about, two weeks ago, how men who lose the knowledge of God in their minds end up losing what makes men and women around them meaningful: that is, the image of God. As we become more Godly, we start to be more reverent and loving of our brothers and sisters around us who are created in the image of God and we have brotherly kindness for those in the Church. How can you not love a man or a woman whom Christ loved and gave Himself for? What kind of love do you have for what your Savior did for you if that love does not flow out of you towards those He loves?

And so, it is so natural, isn’t it, that love itself is expressed. For Paul says in Romans 13 that love is the end of the Law, that is that it is the goal of the Law. When we mature in love we begin to grow beyond all the “thou shall not’s” in the Law and grow into the mature character that loves God with all our heart, soul, and mind and loves our neighbor as itself.

But just remember this. If you start with trying to love God on your own strength before you’ve believed the Gospel, before you’ve fallen at the foot of the Cross, and before you’ve heard the news of your acceptance by God and His rich blessing then you won’t be able to do any of it. You’ll be trying to show love and brotherly kindness as a way to fix up your life. You’ll be trying to get those merit badges so you can show God how serious you are that He’ll have to take notice of you and bless you. But there is no blessing if we approach these things as if they’re something that slaves do. We can only express them as children of God. We have to be born again.

We have to have believed the Gospel that men couldn’t possibly earn anything from God’s hand because we had only earned wrath for our sin and so God sent His Son to do it for us. He endured the shame and rejection that we deserved, to give us the inheritance that He earned for us. So we come anew every day, as Peter tells us that he reminds us over and over: these are the wondrous things that God has done in the Gospel and so rejoice Christian. Be at peace. Receive the salvation promised by your Father and in your joy and love that answers back the love He has for you, be matured daily to become more excellent, more enraptured by His Word, more controlling of the sin that is being put to death in you, more enduring and able to withstand the onslaught of sin in the world, more Godly in your focus, more loving to those that bear His image, and more loving of the One who has loved you with an Everlasting love.

The Gospel is simply this: God has done what we couldn’t do. Amazing Grace! We receive simply with empty hands offering nothing in return and then the love we have for our Redeemer comes bubbling out of the spring He is filling up within us and the character of a transformed life shines forth to the world!

Let us pray.

Tags faith, life, love, perseverance, Peter, sin

Epistles Scripture

True Religion (James 1:1-27, 2:14-17)

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date November 17, 2007
No Comments on True Religion (James 1:1-27, 2:14-17)

James 1:1-27
James 2:14-17

As we continue in our series through the Word of God we come to the Epistle of James. Scholars agree that the writer is the brother of Jesus (Matt 13:55). James became the leader of the Church at Jerusalem after the departure of Peter in Acts 12:17. He was the spokesman at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21), and was a “pillar” to whom Paul reported his missionary experience (Gal 2:2,9, Acts 21:18-19)

Notice is verse 1 how James introduces himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never in this epistle does James “drop names”. What do I mean? Well, James grew up with Jesus. He was His brother. If there was anyone who could rightfully call Jesus his brother and be proud of it, it was James. He could say, “Yeah, I remember when I was growing up with Jesus”¦.” Isn’t that the way of the world? James is a humble man ““ a bondservant of Christ. No confidence in the flesh but simply confidence in Christ.

In verse 2, James begins with a very strange command: “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials”¦.” Another way of stating that is to consider it pure joy. Perhaps some of his readers thought that James was some guy out of touch with reality living safely in Jerusalem but, surely, James was not unaware of the trials around him. He had witnessed the death of Stephen and the persecution that followed. There is something more behind these words.

The Christian does not have a command to pretend like everything is OK and pretend there is no grief or suffering in the world. Yet, we understand that God stands behind every trial and test. We keep our trust in our heavenly father for we know that he sends us trials to test our faith and we know He is in complete control of every situation.

The joy spoken of is pure because it looks beyond the present circumstances that might cause some real grief even as Christ wept with those who wept. Yet behind that grief is the knowledge that God is working together all things together for the good for His saints. We also understand that the trials are a refining process.

And so, in verse 4, we are instructed to persevere so that our faith will be mature and complete. This is not something that can be rushed. It’s not something that can be produced by simple steps or 40 days of purpose. It’s something that is lived out in the day-to-day life of the believer who trusts and rests in the work of the Cross. It is laying hold of that truth at 5 in the morning when our mind is groggy and we’re in a bad mood. It’s found in these times and not merely our times of ecstasy or things that we enjoy in our worship experiences. True Christianity is lived out on the ground as we mature in the faith.

Another way of saying “mature” is the word “complete”. In the name of Jesus, Peter healed the lame man who sat begging at Solomon’s Colomnade. The account in Acts 3:16 notes that the beggar was given complete healing. The man’s feet and ankles became strong so he could function as a complete human being with no handicap.

And so we’re supposed to mature and James continues naturally by noting: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him”¦.” For God is a generous God. What are we to be asking for? Wisdom. God always grants that request. James is saying: “I know some of you won’t admit it but you need wisdom.” Beloved, you and I need wisdom for wisdom is what we’re after. This is not about being proud. Men and women never want to admit they lack anything but we need wisdom for it is a treasure. Wisdom is not mere knowledge though it surely must include knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to have eyes to see things as the Scriptures see them ““ to have a heart that rightly interprets everything around us and not as the world does.

But, as verse 6, notes many of us are double-minded in the Church. We’re “hedging our bets”. We’ll try on religion as long as it helps us out. We’ll add Christianity and Scriptural principles to our lives to complement the other parts that we have all worked out. We’ll go to God when it suits us and we can’t work things out on our own. James reminds us all that this will not work. You receive nothing from the Lord in such cases. You receive no wisdom because you have not begun with the fear of the Lord. In fact, if Christ is just an option for you then you have not even received salvation for faith requires a recognition that we are utterly lost without Christ as our only hope. In fact, Paul states that, if Christ be not raised then your religion is vain. The Scriptures say that there are two options here: Either Christ is raised or He isn’t. If He is raised then believe upon Him but if He is not raised then the Word of God commands you this in 1 Cor 15:32 ““ “If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.” If you don’t believe that Christ is raised then you’re wasting time that could be better spent on a Sunday morning.

But don’t fear, double-mindedness does not mean that we never doubt or suffer unbelief. Our faith in Christ need not be perfect ““ that’s the reason we have a Savior to begin with. One of my favorite stories is when the father of the epileptic pleads with Christ to heal his son in Mark 9. Christ asks him if he believes. The father answers with emotion: “Lord I do believe: help me overcome my unbelief!” That is my daily cry. I know that if I hold on to the feet of Christ as a beggar then my faith never needs to be perfect as long as I am always looking to Christ for my hope and salvation. But I can never view that as simply an option. It is the only way or it is no way at all.

And so, throughout the rest of Chapter 1, James encourages us all to trust, to believe, to persevere in believing throughout trials. We need to understand that God brings us these trials to cause us to grow even as a son is disciplined by his father so that he’ll mature as a man. Paul notes that a man, in fact, hates his son if he doesn’t discipline him and reminds us that God’s refinement of us is proof that He loves us. We need to stop being convinced that we’re mature to begin with so we can view the trials and the suffering that He sends our way as a sign that God is not with us or doesn’t care.

In fact, as James notes in verse 13, many will even blame their sin upon God. You see, the sinful human heart will always reason like this: “God is in control of everything, He knew this would tempt me to sin, He allowed the temptation to occur, I sinned, and so it’s God’s fault.”

Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden when God asks them who told them they were naked. Adam says to God: “The woman YOU GAVE ME brought some fruit”¦.” Yeah, that’s right God, I was fine, I had all my ribs and I was asleep when you made her. It’s her fault but, really God, it’s YOUR fault.

This attitude is as old as mankind and it still doesn’t work. We’re responsible for our own sin. We need to look to God for strength to endure temptation and, in fact, that He would make us wise so that we don’t walk into temptations.

Faith that is born from above must persevere to the end because God has born it within us but we must exercise the faith given us. We must be those who are never content to trust in ourselves or consider ourselves too strong for temptation. We must be learning to hate our sin and fleeing from situations that lead to sin. Our hope is to be eternally blessed as our perseverance perfects our faith until, to the end, we reach the goal. The goal isn’t that we’ve ever clung to Christ and never let go of His life.

But James warns us not to deceive ourselves and think that we can just be playing around with sin and that it won’t affect us. Our problem is that we don’t consider, enough, how horrible sin is and we even deceive ourselves that we deserve the occasional sin because we’ve been good for a while. Beloved, you haven’t been good enough for the last minute to deserve heaven. We need to realize that if not for Christ we have no hope. And so, we should not be deceived that we can just start leaving the things that Christ loves and embrace all the things that God hates in this world. If we do so then eventually we prove to everyone that Christ does not abide with us, for if He did, then we would bear His fruit. So James warns us all that we stay away from sin ““ this is something the true believer will always do because true believers fear the things that God tells them to fear.

James reminds us all where this is all flowing from in verse 18: “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

Everything we’re talking about here is something that we’ve been born to do. We’ve been re-created by God for this work. It is a fruit of the Christian life. It comes naturally from a Christian. It is only because sin yet abides that we are conflicted and sometimes view what ought to be natural as un-natural but a Gospel-transformed life, a born again life, ought to be seeking this type of transformation.

And so it should never be a burden for us to live according to this Word. It should be sweet to us. So I have to ask myself why it is that I don’t view these next verses as sweet sometimes: “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

Over the past couple of weeks, after everything that has been going on in this Church, I prepared this message and then I started studying these verses and knew, right away, that I had come up short. I’ll always come up short but my problem is that I sometimes don’t even pursue these things. I am too quick to speak and too slow to listen. I am quick to anger.

But this is not a recipe for self-improvement. It drove me to Christ to beg of Him for wisdom ““ to beg of humility. You see, I believe in this Christ, I believe that He will give me the very thing that He is demanding of me because I’m united to Him by faith in His finished work. I begged of Christ that I would love this kind of demand on my life and be transformed by it. I need to live this out too but it will only be lived out when it is a fruit of my heart. And so I trust and in my trusting, I strive.

I hope after all that, we can understand better how James is able to sum up everything so far by saying this: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

At first this may seem strange but, when you understand why widows and orphans are mentioned, then you’ll understand this.

There is a regular pattern that jumps out at you in the Old Testament. It got to be such a regular theme as I taught through the Old Testament this year that I sometimes felt like saying to the class: “Remember what we talked about last week? Here’s another Prophet that is reminding the people of the same thing.”

The pattern is this: Men abandon God in their hearts and God gives them over to idolatry. Because men become idol-worshippers they lose the knowledge of God in their hearts. Because they lose the knowledge of God then they lose the value of the men and women that are created in God’s image. Because men and women no longer have any value, they are things to be used and thrown away when they no longer serve any purpose.

Widows and orphans can’t do anything for us. They were the downtrodden and had no political power. They were destitute among all people because they had nobody to care for them in society. You’re not going to become rich or famous our get any political power from them or by helping them. And so, is it any wonder that those who have the least power in our society, the unborn, can be killed wantonly and without mercy. Society views them as a mere collection of cells. There is no image of God to consider. There is nothing sacred that makes them valuable.

But recreated hearts love the things that God loves and true worshippers of God, people who truly have faith in God, have hearts that are tender to the things that God is tender toward. I read into James 2 because this is completely about what true religion is and what the nature of faith is. It demonstrates whether or not you have the kind of faith that just says you love God and trust God on the one hand but, when the flesh and blood people are around you that God loves, do you love them? If you do not, then you do not love God and you have no faith in God no matter how much you say you love God. This convicts my hearts too brothers and sisters.

James, in fact, warns us all that a faith that just says it loves our brothers but then refuses to do anything to help them proves we have no love for them at all and we have no faith in God and we will not be saved. It’s not the helping of them that saves us. It’s faith in Christ that saves us. BUT, LISTEN, faith in Christ transforms human hearts to love the things that God loves! If you don’t love the things that God loves then you DON’T HAVE FAITH!

Three weeks ago, before everything happened in the Church, I was a mess. It wasn’t because of the situation in the Church though that has been painful for me. It was because my wife and children were away. They were only following me by a week but I missed in the strangest ways. I couldn’t sleep well at night because it was quiet. I woke up sad because there was nobody to hug or hold.

Then Sonya and the kids returned on a Thursday night. I had to get up at 5 am the next morning to get to work but at 4 am I heard James crying out from the next room sweet words: “Daddy!” I got out of bed to find James holding his nose from a nose bleed. Blood dripping on the floor. I took him to the bathroom to clean him up. I was exhausted but what if I had merely said to James: “God bless you little brother, be at peace, I’m sorry you have a nose bleed but I really do love you.” What kind of love would it be if I went back to sleep and left a 5 year old to fend for himself and a bloody nose? Would anyone say that I loved my child? It was not a burden at all, beloved, to clean up that blood. I did it with joy for I had ached for my family and now I had an opportunity to clean up my son. I had an opportunity to love him. It was natural for me to do so because a father loves his son. I didn’t become a loving father because I cleaned up the blood on James’ face. No, beloved, I cleaned up the blood because I was a loving father.

And so we should be toward one another ““ everyone in this Church. If it is hard for you to love the other Saints in the congregation then pray for true trust in Christ. You’re not going to become a Christian because you do things for others. You’re not going to buy God’s favor because you sacrifice for Him. You need birth from above my friends. You need faith in Christ that transforms your hearts and your minds so that loving your brothers and sisters, forgiving them their failings, serving them with joy, is something that flows from you like the love that a father has for His son.

For we are born from above to be like our heavenly Father who was willing to come to those who hated Him and said: “Not because you deserve it, not because you love me, not because you’re nice, and not because of anything that you will ever do for me but BECAUSE I WANT TO BLESS YOU, I am sending my Son into the world to die for the sins of the ungodly. I am sending Him to die for the sins of the ungrateful. I am sending Him to die for the downtrodden that can give me nothing in return.”

And the words of that Gospel penetrated our heart. The words of that Gospel overcame our hate and caused us to love God. And as we continue to trust in that Gospel, even as beggars struggling with unbelief, we can be confident that He will perfect us to the very end if we put our trust in Him.

Let us pray.

Tags Christ, faith, hope, James, love, religion, sin, works

Devotion

Psalm 51:1-4

Psalm 51:1-4 –

Verses 1-4

The exposure of that great darkness which is in my heart moves me to a dreaded state of melancholy. In solemn brokenness, I acknowledge my absolute ineptitude before God’s holiness apart from imputed righteousness given to me upon my initial granted repentance. If not for Christ’s purchase, if not for God’s redemptive Covenant made with Him, I would be a silenced reprobate, justly cast into the depths of hell with wicked sinners. Such a sobering truth ought press me more toward true Christian piety, striving and thirsting after that perfect holiness of God. Noting my sickness over my rebellion against God’s law, I nevertheless believe His promise to keep me grounded in Him, though ever mindful of my deceitful heart. Brokenness and contrition are my heart’s present leading attributes. Let us look at the 51st Psalm, for at least the 151st thousandth time.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

An appeal to God’s mercy David starts out with. Here we catch a glimpse of David remembering the God Who covenants with man with a gracious covenant. He provided a covering to Adam and Eve, deliverance to Noah and his family, a great promise to Abraham and all his offspring. So God, in His great perfection, has acted exceptionally merciful toward man. Thus, David appeals to His steadfast love, i.e. lovingkindness. So, God, do I humbly appeal to your great mercies shown to those Who love you, yet fail you! I plea for mercy on the basis of your promises made to man.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,and cleanse me from my sin!

David immediately acknowledges the reality of his sin, and his great need for cleansing from it. God, I affirm my wretchedness and cast it away from me; it is why I have appealed to this Psalm. Please cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

David had, in other Psalms, made mention of his bones wasting away while he was in his sin. The marks of a true believer are not that he does not sin, even sin heinously, but that he will be ever so miserable while in a state of unrepentance from that sin. Like a dark cloud hanging heavily over a tree, blocking much needed sunlight for sustenance, so is sin in the life of a believer. It hangs heavily over him, consuming his every thought, giving him neither rest, nor peace till he repents. David truly knew his transgressions, and they were certainly “ever” before him. Father, I know my sins, and I hate them”¦but not enough, obviously. God, help me to be undone.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Had David sinned only against God? Had he not sinned against Uriah by committing adultery with his wife and taking his very life?!!? Had he not sinned against Bathsheba by causing her to commit adultery? Had David, the King, not sinned against the people of Israel with lies and deception? Of course he had done all these things. But that is not the point David is raising here. David is making the greatest distinction between God and man: namely, that God is holy. Sin against man and sing against God is vastly different. Man is not holy. Man sins against man, and all, in God’s eyes, are on equal footing apart from divine grace. By saying “Against you, you only have I sinned”¦” Davis was confessing the absolutely heinous nature of rebelling against God’s law, not because of the pain it causes in their own and others’ lives, but because IT IS GOD’S LAW. This is also why David ended this particular section with “that you may be justified in your words.” His point: God is holy, lofty, set apart, without sin. David acknowledged his unholy disregard for God’s standard. I confess my rebellion toward your perfect law and, in light of your holiness, realize the great offense that it is. Have mercy upon me, Lord. I rest in Your promises.

[Reformers, Puritans, and a Geek]

Tags David, God Who, holiness, life, love, sin

Family Issues

No Discipline Shows Weak Love

Post author By Joshua
Post date January 27, 2007
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No Discipline Shows Weak Love –

While typically spending my time doing a number of constructive things like running, reading, playing guitar, and as of late, singing Psalms, I did something different. GASP!!! I situated myself in front of the piece of electronic equipment known as the television. Other than the occasional movie, I’ve gone weeks at a time without turning the thing on. The few channels I have are simply included with my internet package. Anyway…

There was a show that I’ve seen a few times in passing called “Super Nanny”. In the over abounding presence of reality shows this one is actually an attempt to be constructive, though I believe, on the wrong foundation. The show takes a family composed of a husband and wife (GASP!!!) and kids. Typically, the parents have no backbone whatsoever, habitually fail to discipline their children, and constantly cater to themselves (with certain exceptions). I am in such disbelief watching these “parents” interact with their kids. The show then sends a Nanny…a Super Nanny to teach the parents how to deal with their kids with love, discipline, etc.

On this particular episode the family is composed of a Husband, Wife, and Three Kids. I would venture to say that the ages of the kids are 8 yr old boy, 7 yr old girl, then a 2 yr old boy. The 2 yr old steals all the attention of the mother, leaving the others no time at all with her. The father is, you guessed it, a passive, uninvolved, man who interacts little with the kids or the wife. Herein lies a major foundational problem, but is not for this particular blogpost.

Just a litte summary of the problems in this family. The youngest demands all the time of the mother. He is constantly attached to her. He owns her. He masters her. She lets him. She is attached to him. She didn’t go to bed until he went to bed. Neither of the parents were in control. The husband would immediately recline on his “throne” as soon as he got home. Meanwhile, the wife would be tending to the kids (as best as she could), cooking dinner, and taking care of household duties (with no help from the husband who “just didn’t feel like it”). When the youngest was told he’d have to do something, but he didn’t want to do it, he would latch on to one of the parents and commence to pinch them! And they did nothing. They would simply put him down. This kid was physically hurting them and they just took it! How incredulous this makes me!

While the Nanny introduces many somewhate effective methods, if you will, to train the children on a surface level, there’s a major problem from the biblical parent’s perspective. She does not employ physical discipline as the Bible commands. Instead, things like a naughty circle are used to replace this. If the child acts out they will be placed in this naughty circle, unable to play, or do anything of any redeeming value. While I do not have a problem with this, in and of itself, I disagree with replacement of physical discipline by anything. Now, mind you, I wasn’t surprised at the fact that she didn’t suggest spanking; however, I make mention of it because physical discipline seems to be rare even WITHIN the walls of the church, too.

Proverbs 13:24

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.Proverbs 22:15
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

Proverbs 23:13-14
Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14 If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

Proverbs 29:15
The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Now obviously, these few passages are not the sum toto of the biblical teaching on discipline, but they do lay out the importance of physical discipline and the spiritual, practical advantages it yields. There is so much to be said about this, but one thing that is vital to the conversation is this fact. We are born depraved. Thus, our children are not innocent as we so often like to say. That being said, though, NO ONE is innocent. This means that our children’s depravity necessitates the reality of discipline in the training of children, especially for the children of believers. To withhold physical discipline from our children, the Bible says, is to hate them. That is clear. At the same time, notice the wording is not “punishment”, but “discipline”. I think that’s important to note. Anyway…just some practical food for thought.

[Reformers, Puritans, and a Geek]

Tags GASP, love, Super Nanny, Three Kids, WITHIN

Devotion

On Guard, Christian!

On Guard, Christian! –

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. – James 1:12-15

About two years ago, I had the privilege of meeting some of my Christian brothers whom I knew from a favorite online message board. On this same occasion there was a “Men’s Rally” being held at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi. It was wonderful to sit under the preaching and teaching of Dr. Sinclair Ferguson. Excepting the Lord’s Day gathering that followed that weekend, there were two sessions. Dr. Ferguson spent one session on the subject of trials and the other on temptation.

One particular Dr. Ferguson expressed concerning temptation will always stand out in my mind. I don’t remember if it was his own choice of words (I think), or if he was simply paraphrasing John Owen, but his thoughts were along these lines:

“Sometimes in our lives the desire to sin is present, but not the opportunity. At other times, the opportunity presents itself, but the desire is absent. Temptation is most present and at its strongest when the sperm of desire and the egg of opportunity meet.”

What a way to put it, and how true it is! Friends, it is when opportunity and desire grather one with another that we must up the ante eve more on our guard. “Stay dressed for action and keeps your lamps burning”, Christ says. When temptation comes, and it will, the Christian must be ready. Not only is an active alert, preparation necessary, but also, oddly enough, a resignation of the pilgrim’s trust in his own ability to fight; rather, he must, as William Gurnall has so aptly penned, “Take special care not to trust in the armour of God, but in the God of the armour.”

We are deceived if we think we will not face trial or temptation. Though it is true Jesus said to his disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation”, we cannot take this to mean we won’t ever face such. From The Christian in Complete Armour we read:

“Now if this bold tempter watched Christ so closely, does it not seem likely he will scout you, too, hoping sooner or later to find your graces slumbering? What he misses now by your watchfulness he may gain later by your negligence.”

So, Christians let us rouse ourselves, be alert, and stay alert, and let us never forget the hideousness and heinousness of sin, that we might remain steadfast under trail and receive the crown of life. Amen. I leave you with one more quote from Gurnall with some food for thought:

Because the devil is a very subtle enemy, the saint must always be on his guard. Satan is called the old serpent. The serpent is subtle above other creatures; and an old serpent, above other serpents. If Satan was too crafty for man in his perfection, how much more dangerous to us now in our maimed condition – for we have never recovered from that first crack Adam’s fall gave to out understanding. And as we have lost knowledge, so Satan has gained more and more experience. Granted, he lost his heavenly wisdom as soon as he became a devil, but ever since, he has increased his craft. And while he does not have wisdom enough to do himself good, yet he has knowledge enough to do others harmd. God showed us where Satan’s strength lies when He promised to bruise the head of the serpent; with his head crushed, he will soon die.

[Reformers, Puritans, and a Geek]

Tags Christ, death, life, love, sin, William Gurnall

Book Reviews

Concluding Thoughts on R. L. Dabney: The Sensualistic Philosophy

Post author By Mrs. B and The Cat
Post date October 26, 2006
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from my blog

The philosophy of the nineteenth-century sensualists and positivists–particularly Comte, Hobbes, and Mill–assaulted God and science with the same club. Thus, in deconstructing the premises of this philosophical strain, Robert L. Dabney upheld the causes both of God and science.

Evolution theory is not simply unprovable and wrong. The theory attacked the foundations of Christianity: God creating Man in his own image, placing him at the head of an ordered Creation, with a foreknown Fall and Redemption, all for his glory.

Evolution theory turned man into a soulless beast. Its proponents claimed solid, observable facts which were neither. The theory offered nothing to account for man’s God-directed spirit; and so, it attempted to gainsay the existence of both man’s spirit and God. The theory enthusiastically embraced random forces in lieu of God’s infinite wisdom and personal nature.

Dabney refuted evolution theory’s adjunct, the evolution of civilizations, with historical examples. He denied that man progressed in development from savage to high civilization over time, but rather, that

“All the advancements made have been under the operation of moral causes: and these have always come by conquest, colonization, or in some other way, from some higher race without.” (R. L. Dabney: The Sensualistic Philosophy, Naphtali Press, 2003, p. 272.)

Dabney vehemently denied that the human mind is an organism, as evolutionists posit, but defended its structural unity as a “spiritual monad.” Dabney defended the human spirit as the center of consciousness against evolution theory’s relegation of consciousness to nerve bundles and organic processes. Evolution attributes the works of the mind to experience and environment; Dabney defended the mind as the efficient cause of perception. This is extremely important, because if the mind’s operations are subject to the vicissitudes of experience and environment, it can hardly be rational, reliable, or useful toward one’s advancement.

Hedonism is the logical outcome of evolution. If all perfecting of consciousness comes through experience, and pleasurable experience is the most adaptive and likely to be repeated, then clearly hedonism is most conducive to jumpstarting the species. However, this is not observed in nature, and thus is problematic for evolutionists.

No conflict exists between God and true science. “Nature implies the supernatural” is axiomatic to Dabney. God’s work manifests only absolute logic, reason, perfection, and virtue.

Evolution is a theory that denies God and proper science because it posits in their place unconscious forces spinning off randomly occurring organisms. These, in turn, compete for survival in randomly assigned environments in a somehow self-existent world in which virtue is relative because it is defined solely by experience. The only good news evolution really offers is that you have no immortal soul that must endure this travesty of fatalistic flukes forever.

Without God-given reason, man has no ethical worries. Brutes have little faculty or use for moral responsibility, merit, or rational motives above instinctive impulses. But the sensualists whose philosophy underlies evolution do assign man ethical and moral responsibility. Therefore, their own arguments fail for want of acceptable conclusions.

Dabney enumerates some of the products of man’s consciousness we’d be missing if we were brutes who’d made it through Evolution 101:

“The spiritual love of Christian mothers, the heavenly charity which delights to bless an enemy, the aspirations of faith for the lofty sanctity of the skies, and even the redeeming love and divine holiness of Jesus of Nazareth are generically but enlargements of animal appetites in apes!” (p. 284).

Further,
“The spirit which looked out through a Newton’s eye and read through the riddles of the phenomenal world the secrets of eternal truth and the glories of an infinite God, went out as utterly in everlasting night as the gleam in the eye of the owl or the bat which could only blink at the sunlight” (p. 284).

Evolution theory is maddening to a Christian. It affronts God; it denies his work and perfect intelligence, and it cancels man’s promised destiny of glorious liberty with him.

Nevertheless, Dabney counsels that we “be angry and sin not,” and refrain from “the gall of personal spite” (p. 248). Dabney does, however, raise his own indignation to a fair level, asserting, “Man’s soul is formed by its Maker not only to see moral truth, but to love it upon seeing it. It is an unnatural soul, a psychological monstrosity, which does not” (p. 249).

It is sad indeed that an evolutionist might apprehend little more of the Gospel than one of his elevated simian prototypes, or “anthropoid higher apes.” Dabney presaged our own postmodern era, one in which Godless philosophy would drag science down with it and declare Man the lucky winner in a battle of dexterous digits. Postmodern man is still searching the ravines for those transitional thumb bones.

Dr. Dabney ends this particular book without optimism.

Tags Christianity God, glory, love, Naphtali Press, philosophy, Without God

Prophets

Holy, Holy, Holy – Isaiah 6:1-8

Post author By Rich Leino
Post date August 6, 2006
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It’s with a bit of trepidation that I share the below. Some will see the fingerprints of Dr. R.C. Sproul all over it. I delivered the following message to Central Baptist Church, Okinawa, Japan on Sunday, Aug 6, 2006. My prayer is that it helped awaken some to the Holiness of God.

“Holy, Holy, Holy”

One of the problems that I have with modern Protestants is that I often want to tell them: “Your God is too small.” In fact, that is the title of a Book by J.B. Phillips. Why do I say that? I say that because most people have a small view of the power and Glory of God. It’s bad enough that many Americans want to acknowledge a “higher power” as long as it doesn’t involve the name Jesus Christ. It is worse to me that those who claim the title “Christian” make God out to be weak. They make Him to be a kindly grandfather or cosmic Santa Claus who can’t get over how much He loves us human beings. Some see him as powerless to thwart Satan in this world unless we help Him. Others picture Him as powerless to act on human hearts without the permission of human commands.

Think of this common phrase: “Jesus is waiting outside the door of your heart pleading to come in.” What image comes to mind? Does it make Jesus seem strong and powerful? Does it make Him seem like King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Does it match up with the picture of Him found in Scripture? You see, we live with certain conceptions for so long that we start to accept them as Biblical.

The second Commandment prohibits the making of idols. God forbids that any man should form anything and bow down to it. God is the only one worthy of worship. But idolatry begins in the mind. There are all kinds of idols of the mind concerning God. Islam, for instance, rejects the Son and Spirit as God and make God completely distant from men. Though they do not bow down to statues exactly, but their god is no god at all but an idol of the mind.

I’m training my children to learn about God at an early age by teaching them answers to basic questions. When I ask my son James, “What is God?”, his answer is, “God is a Spirit and doesn’t have a body like men.” That’s a good answer for a four year old but a more thorough, but still brief, answer is: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, And unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”

That’s a great, short answer. It obviously doesn’t tell us everything about God but it gives us a rich way of thinking about Him. Each of those terms (infinite, eternal, wisdom, power, etc) are what some like to call the attributes of God. God is all of those things and not just one of them. You cannot merely say God is eternal but not wise. You can’t say He is infinite but not powerful.

When you ask most people: “What is God?” They’ll say: “God is love.” That’s Biblical, right? The New Testament does say that God is love but God also calls Himself Just, Jealous, Angry and a lot of other things throughout Scripture. But LOVE is something we can get behind isn’t it? If God is just Love then He’s cuddly. He’s cute. I can handle a God who is Love because then I can just make up whatever I want to think about what love is and say: “That’s God.” I once remember watching Oprah and some lady said: “I don’t know if I believe in God.” Oprah responded, “Do you believe in love?” The lady said “Yes” to which Oprah responded “Then you believe in God.” To most people “God is Love” has become “Love is God.”

Remember I said that some Christians can create idols in their own minds concerning God? Well, the way that many speak of God as being love is so imbalanced and so completely ignores everything else that He is, that they twist and contort who God is to the point of creating an idol in their minds.

But Christians are not supposed to worship idols in their minds. We want to know God as He is. We want God to tell us who He is so that we might know better who we worship.

So we might better understand that God, we will be considering the Holiness of God. Let us read Isaiah 6:1-8.

Isaiah 6

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:

” Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:

” Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The LORD of hosts.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

” Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

” Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

The passage opens with Isaiah reporting the year of this event. It was the year that King Uzziah died. Uzziah had reigned in Judah for 52 long years – two and a half generations. Though significant in the history of the nation, more significant for Isaiah here is what happened. Isaiah reports: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.”

In his vision, the first thing he reports seeing is the Lord sitting on a throne. Kings sit on thrones. This throne is not merely any throne, however, but one that is high and lifted up. This conveys power. This conveys majesty.

Isaiah notes that the train of the Lord’s robe literally fills the temple. Throughout history, royalty have worn robes with long trains. Very important kings would have many attendants that would carry the long trains of their robes. The robes were a sign of power and of majesty. The longer the train, the more powerful the king. The Lord’s robe is so majestic that the train literally fills the temple.

Isaiah continues in verse 2:

Is 6:2 “Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.”

Did you catch how many wings the Seraphim have?

Six.

How many are actually used for flying?

Two.

An interesting design isn’t it? God has created angels that fly around in His presence and they have six wings with only two used for flying. The other four have a very definite purpose, however.

Notice what the angels are using them for: two are covering their eyes and two are covering their feet. God, in His mercy, created these beings to be protected in His presence. They have wings to cover their eyes, for God is too majestic to look upon. They have two wings to cover their feet as the Scriptures repeatedly connect holiness with uncovered feet. Think of Moses at the burning bush.

What do these Seraphim do?

Is 6:3 And one cried to another and said:

” Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

The whole earth is full of His glory!”

When we use the English language to emphasize a point, we have different ways of doing so. We can put something in bold letters. We can underline the text. We can add an adjective to say that my wife is the most beautiful woman in the whole world.

The Hebrew language also has those tools but it uses another tool when a Hebrew really wants to emphasize something. If something is really going to be emphasized in the Hebrew it is repeated. There is an amusing piece of Hebrew literature that refers to a “pit pit”. This is a very, very, very deep pit. If you fall into a pit then you’re in big trouble but if you fall into a “pit pit” you may never get yourself out. It sounds very funny but using the term twice emphasizes it. Christ, when making an important point, would sometimes say, “Amen, amen” before teaching something. Paul in Galatians 1:8-9 repeats a curse twice for anyone who distorts the Gospel.

Repeating things twice in the Scripture for emphasis is relatively rare. If everything was repeated twice to make extra emphasis then it would be hard to distinguish between all the really important things.

While repeating things twice in the Scriptures is rare, repeating things three times is so rare that it occurs only three times in the Scriptures. This is one of them.

You see, the Scriptures do not just say God is Holy. They do not say God is Holy, Holy. The Scriptures teach us that God is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.

The Scriptures don’t teach that God is love, love, love or mercy, mercy, mercy or kindness, kindness, kindness. Those are all true of Him but nothing in Scripture is so underlined and emphasized as the fact that God is Holy, Holy, Holy.

Notice also the term that God is given here: LORD of Hosts. Some of you may have Bibles that show the difference in the Hebrew Word used here. In verse 1, Isaiah sees the Lord on the throne but the spelling is L-o-r-d. Here, in verse 3, the spelling is L-O-R-D. Why? Because they are two different Hebrew words. The Hebrew word translated to Lord in verse 1 is Adonai while the Hebrew word translated to LORD in verse 3 is Yahweh. Yahweh is God’s covenantal name given to Moses at the burning bush. It is the name He uses when He commands that His name not be taken in vain in the 10 commandments. The Hebrew people had so much reverence for the Covenant name of Yahweh that they would not speak it for fear of pronouncing it incorrectly. When they would encounter this name in the Scriptures they would actually substitute the name Adonai. We note the difference here because it is important to show the difference to which we let God’s name fall of our tongue with no reverence or even as a curse compared to our ancient forefathers who were very careful to respect His name.

This event that Isaiah describes is so powerful that the doorposts of the place he sees are shaken and the temple is filled with smoke.

So how does Isaiah react? Does he start joking with God saying “Hey God how are you doing up there?” Does he yawn and say “Man, this religious stuff is BORING!”

Not quite. Isaiah’s response is:

Is 6:5

” Woe is me, for I am undone!

      Because I am a man of unclean lips,

      And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;

      For my eyes have seen the King,

      The LORD of hosts.”

There are two basic type of prophetic utterances in the Scriptures. They are sometimes called the Oracles of Weem and the Oracles of Woe. An Oracle of Weem is when a Prophet blesses a nation or a person. Christ is pronouncing an Oracle of Weem (blessing) when He says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are you when they persecute you, etc.” Those are nice. If you’re the recipient of an Oracle of Weem then smile, the favor of God is upon you. Those are bearings of good tidings.

Oracles of Woe are the exact opposite: “Woe unto you Pharisees, hypocrites!” That is a prophetic curse being called down, by God’s prophet, upon the heads of the people cursed. God help any of us who hears an Oracle of Woe and it concerns us. One of the other examples of the triple repetition in Revelation 8:13 when a bird calls out to the Earth: “Woe! Woe! Woe!” to announce judgment. The sound of that herald will be absolutely terrifying.

So what does Isaiah do when He sees the Lord on His throne? He says: “Woe is me! For I am undone!” What? He is cursing himself! The prophet is cursing himself for having seen the majesty of God. God’s majesty has overwhelmed him so much that he is literally cursing himself for having seen it.

When Americans say: “That guy has it together…” we mean that he’s got a lot of things going for him and is someone to be respected. Isaiah says he is literally undone at the sight of God. He is coming apart at the seams.

Why is this so bad? I thought seeing God would be like seeing Santa Claus? I’ve never been undone at the sight of Santa Claus.

Isaiah says he is undone because: “I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;”

Isaiah recognizes that, as upright as he seemed in the community, he was unclean in the presence of a Holy God. It is our mouths that speak falsehoods and repeatedly dishonor God. James says that our tongues are a restless evil, full of poison that we both bless and curse God with.

Isaiah not only sees his own sin here but notes that he lives among a people that are as wicked as he is: a people of unclean lips. I wonder how we would stack up to the people of Judah and how unclean our lips are in comparison. At least they were careful with the name of God. We use God’s name as a curse word constantly in this society.

If you had a chance to only make 10 rules for society then what would they be?

How many of you would have made the very first four rules that honored God and His Holiness? That’s the order that God gives to His rules. If you were an Israelite and cursed the name of God then you had a lot more to worry about than dirty looks from Christians who said “I don’t appreciate that.” Blasphemy was a capital crime and punishable by death. THAT’S how serious God takes His holiness and His holy name.

By now I hope you are getting an idea at the difference between the pictures that the Bible uses to describe God and the idols we often fashion in our minds. But you might be saying to me: “Rich, that’s the Old Testament. God was mean back then. He was angry. He mellowed out when Jesus came. Now He’s cuddly.”

Well I could point out to you that God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. God does not change. Maybe it’s just the Father though and the Son is cool. The Son wouldn’t scare a prophet would He?

Some atheists, in their lame attempt to justify their rebellion against God, have come up with an “evolutionary” explanation for religion. They say that nature is a scary thing and primitive man had to have a way to escape that fear so they came up with a God that would protect them from all the disasters in nature that would befall them. Well, I believe the reasons Atheists refuse to acknowledge God is because men are more afraid of God than they are of nature. Let’s consider, for a moment, Mark 4:35-41:

Mark 4:35-41

35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”

36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.

37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

39 And He got up and (AA)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? (AB)Do you still have no faith?”

41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Experienced fishermen are on the sea when a sudden storm descends upon that valley and makes the sea so violent that they fear for death. They wake Jesus up and He rebukes the waves. If you notice in the account, they are only afraid of the waves but after Jesus stills the waters by the power of His authority, they are very much afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid of HIM. That’s what Holiness strikes in man: fear. This is but one of many examples where Christ’s Holiness frightens men. When Peter is first called He tells Jesus to depart from him because Peter has just seen the power of God and realizes he is a sinner.

If any of you are hearing about Jesus’ holiness scaring people for the first time then let me really surprise you with something. Turning to John 12:37-41 we read:

John 12:37-41

37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

   “Lord, who has believed our message

      and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

40″He has blinded their eyes

      and deadened their hearts,

   so they can neither see with their eyes,

      nor understand with their hearts,

      nor turn-and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

John is quoting Isaiah right after the passage we’re looking at in Isaiah 6. Remember, we have Isaiah groveling on the ground, stunned into cursing himself. Who is it that He sees high and lifted up? Whose train fills the temple? Who is it that is Holy, Holy, Holy?

It is JESUS! It is the Son of God before He had taken on flesh. That is who Isaiah sees.

Do you understand why I have a problem with the picture of Jesus knocking on the door of sinner’s hearts pleading to come in? THIS is the Biblical picture of the Son of God’s power and majesty. The thought of Him pitiful and weak outside the door of a man’s heart is unbiblical and dishonors God.

But in all of this we forgot about poor Isaiah. While we’ve been busy, Isaiah is still on the ground crushed by the fear of God’s Holiness. Does God leave His servant in agony? Of course not. Our God is a merciful God. This is the Son of God who Isaiah is standing in front of and the Son is the Redeemer.

Isaiah 6:6-7 reports

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

” Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”

The picture here is unexpected. A hot coal is taken from the altar and touches the mouth of Isaiah. We would expect this to be searing hot and cause a great deal of pain but the quick remedy provided by the angel takes away Isaiah’s iniquity. It purges his sin. With his iniquity taken away he can stand upright in the presence of God. With his sin purged, he is brought back to his right mind and he is capable of thinking again. Our iniquity must be taken away or heaven would not be a place of pleasure in the presence of God. Sin cannot stand to be in the presence of a Holy God and a Holy God cannot bear to look at sin. I think it might be the realization of God’s hatred toward sin that makes being in His presence so unbearable. I think he exposes the ugliness of it and we are starkly aware of our condemnation before Him. Is it any wonder that the Scriptures speak of unbelievers asking the mountains to cover them at the Judgment. God’s Holiness is a terrible thing to look upon when your sin remains with you.

So with a purified heart, Isaiah hears God ask:

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

” Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

In the presence of God, he hears God ask for a volunteer to go out for Him. Isaiah immediately responds: “Here I am! Send me.”

“Here I am.” Isaiah has not lost his identity. His personality is not swallowed up into the majesty of God as some pagan ideas of God teach. Even after seeing God as He is, he’s still a person. He still has an identity. He’s still Isaiah. He answers: “Here I am!”

“Send me.” Isaiah is eager to serve His God. He has seen the crushing majesty of God’s Holiness and had his sin forgiven. His Savior, the mighty God, wants a volunteer. Who wouldn’t answer yes having received such a gift of Grace?

Isaiah was only beginning his prophetic ministry and what a hope he now had. Isaiah was privileged to serve His Savior for many years prophesying to a people who would not listen. Tradition has it that Isaiah was eventually martyred by being sawn in two. But this was a man who had seen Adonai. This was a man who had seen Yahweh of Hosts. He had seen Him high and lifted up. He had even lived to report the event because his sin was purged. And Isaiah was to go on to prophesy of this same Son of God He had seen on the throne in Isaiah 53:

Isa 53:4-9

4 Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9 And they made His grave with the wicked –

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

The Son of God, come to Earth to be reviled and rejected, hated by men.

Can you understand all the more how much Christ emptied Himself to come on the Earth and to be abused and hated by men? He who knew all Glory and Majesty in heaven came to Earth because sinful men would never be able to be in His presence without His atonement. He was bruised for our iniquities and bore on Himself the sins which we deserve to bear.

This is the Gospel!

A Holy God.

No. A Holy, Holy, Holy God in whose presence we would be unable to stand.

Because we could not go to Him, He came to us. Because we could not obey, He obeyed for us. Because we only spoke unclean things, He always spoke the good, the beautiful, and the pure. Because we could not pay for our transgressions and the sin was greater than we could bear, He died, He became sin for us.

THAT, beloved, is a God worthy of your worship! That is a God who must be worshipped. Praise Him that He makes us anew that we can come into His magnificent presence and proclaim: “Here am I, Send me!”

Tags holiness, Holy God, Lord, love, sin, unclean

Former Prophets Scripture

Lame in Both Feet

2 Samuel 1

1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag, 2 on the third day, behold, it happened that a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. So it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.
3 And David said to him, “Where have you come from?”
So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”
4 Then David said to him,”How did the matter go? Please tell me.”
And he answered, “The people have fled from the battle, many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.”
5 So David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?”
6 Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. 7 Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?”
And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”
14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him,”Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.'”

17 The Song of the Bow

Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher:
19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
20 Tell it not in Gath,Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon
“” Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
21 “O mountains of Gilboa,
Let there be no dew nor rain upon you,
Nor fields of offerings.
For the shield of the mighty is cast away there!
The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
22 From the blood of the slain,
From the fat of the mighty,
The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
And the sword of Saul did not return empty.
23 “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided;
They were swifter than eagles,
They were stronger than lions.
24 “O daughters of Israel,
weep over Saul,
Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury;
Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan was slain in your high places.
26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful,
Surpassing the love of women.
27 “How the mighty have fallen,
And the weapons of war perished!”

What a story! I might add to the end of this Song the editorial comment: “So passes Saul, the first King of Israel.”

His was a reign that had begun with such promise. Saul, the man who stood a head taller than every man in Israel looked the part of the king. He even delivered Israel from the hands of its enemies. He was, indeed, a mighty warrior. But he repeatedly disobeyed the command of God.

His disobedience by our standards would seem very small. He offered a sacrifice before Samuel arrived in 1 Samuel 13. Come on, the people are getting tired of waiting for Samuel. But Saul was not a Levite. Then he let his men keep the sheep and cattle of the Amalekites in 1 Sam 15 and Saul spared their king. But God had commanded that the Amalekites and all their livestock be utterly destroyed. God commanded it. It is both an amusing and gruesome story in 1 Sam 15 when Samuel arrives and Agag, King of the Amalekites, thinks he’s safe. Samuel didn’t give him long to be relieved as he literally hacked the king to death. Samuel didn’t hesitate to carry out God’s commands faithfully.

You see, God demands our complete obedience. What was convenient or seemed “right” in Saul’s eyes was against the direct commandment of the Lord. God is not only God when we allow God to be so-called “Lord of our Lives”¦.” He is God always and everywhere for all people whether they rebel against Him or not. I wish we would just remove that language from our speech. It is very unbiblical. God is God and we are not.

Anyhow, from that moment on God determined to remove the kingdom from Saul and give it to another. You will recall that Samuel, right after this event, took a trip to Bethlehem shortly after the event with the Amalekites and he anointed David as King of Israel. But David was not to inherit the kingdom immediately. In fact, he went back to tending his sheep. Until one day a dude named Goliath came on the scene.

Shortly thereafter, David became a bit of a celebrity in Israel and an incredible military leader. He became the protector of Israel under Saul’s command. Then one day, Saul heard some women singing a song about Saul killing his thousands and David his tens of thousands. From that moment on, Saul and David had a “strained” relationship.” Even though David was his son-in-law and was a faithful servant, Saul repeatedly tried to kill David. He perceived David as a threat to his throne. This was the way of the Ancient Near East and the way of many monarchies. Kings maintain power by killing off those who are gaining too much influence. Of course God had different plans.

So began literally years and years of Saul pursuing David all over Israel. David spent many years hiding in caves and living outside of Israel’s borders. David had at least two opportunities to kill Saul as, in one instance, Saul literally stopped for a “pit stop” in the cave that David was hiding in.

But David was a man who loved his God and he would not lift his hand against God’s anointed.
And so we come to this story we have just read in 2 Samuel 1 and we can appreciate why the man running to bring the news of Saul’s death would think he was the bearer of happy news for David. Saul is dead. David has long known he would ascend the throne and the man who has been pursuing his life is now dead.

So we react with maybe a little bit of a surprise at how David reacts to the news:

2 Samuel 1:11

Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

David has just been brought the crown and scepter of Saul and, instead of rejoicing, he mourns. Beloved, that is faith. That is a man after God’s own heart. What a tragic story Saul is. A man who once prophesied and had received the Spirit in power. David had seen Saul slowly degenerate and go mad over years as he had rejected God and God had rejected him. David knew that, apart from God’s grace, so might he walk. We also find this interesting note:

2 Samuel 1:13-16

13 Then David said to the young man who told him, “Where are you from?”
And he answered, “I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite.”
14 So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died. 16 So David said to him,”Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.'”

Did you catch what race the man was? An Amalekite, that’s right. What race was Saul supposed to wipe out in 1 Sam 15? The Amalekites. How ironic. This kid should have showed Saul just a bit of gratitude. Saul lost his kingship because he disobeyed God by not wiping this kid out! How very ironic. Well, David had him executed for killing Saul. If you recall, this was at Saul’s request. He wanted to be put out of his misery. But you just don’t lift your hand against the God’s anointed.

And so David sings a beautiful song of tribute to Saul. He actually curses the mountains of Gilboa and asks that no rain fall on them. One morning the mountain wakes up, a battle takes place on its heights and a king dies. Next moment it’s being cursed for being a mountain.

And so David continues his beautiful lament for Saul and his son Jonathan who were slain on the mountain. He laments that the death of Saul will give God’s enemies a chance to dance in the streets. The rejoicing of the wicked is always so short-lived isn’t it? One minute they’re dancing at a victory. They’re only looking immediately in front of them and not at the judgment to come.
Finally, at the end of the lament, called the Song of the Bow, David sings of his love for Saul’s son Jonathan:

2 Samuel 1:25-26

25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
Jonathan was slain in your high places.
26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful,
Surpassing the love of women.

Do you know Jonathan? What a man! What an incredible Biblical figure. He and David were closer than brothers. When I read this passage I always think: “Poor Jonathan. Saul deserved to die but not him. Poor Jonathan.”

Usually the Scriptures have a predictable pattern: Dad becomes unfaithful to God and the son ends up worse. Not here. Jonathan is one of the most faithful people you’ll ever find in the Scriptures. He was a man’s man too. In 1 Samuel 13 he took on an entire Philistine garrison ““ just he and his armor bearer against dozens of men. He reasoned this way: “Well if God shows me that I will defeat these men then I’ll defeat them.” God showed him he would prevail and he took them on. What faith!

Jonathan had every right to ascend to the throne after his father died. He had every right in the eyes of men. He was the son of the king and he was a warrior. He was brave. He was faithful in all things. Jonathan had succeeded in everything he did and had every confidence in the flesh to take the throne after his father died.

But one day Jonathan was at war with his father and he saw a tall man named Goliath. A man that towered 9 feet tall and bore spear and shield that weighed hundreds of pounds. He watched as all the men of Israel cowered before this big man. As he was looking out over the field and heard the big man Goliath heaping insults on the Army of Israel and blaspheming God he saw a teenage boy step out of the crowd wearing nothing but his normal clothes. No armor. He had nothing in his hand but a sling and some stones. No shield. No sword. Who is this kid?!

He watched as the big Philistine laughed and called the teenager a dog and that he would kill the boy and feed him to the birds. I’m sure he could just barely hear the words as the young boy told Goliath:

1 Samuel 17:45-47

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

“What’s happening?”, thinks Jonathan, “He’s running toward the Philistine! What faith!”

And you know the rest of the story. By the way, we like to think of David and Goliath as the great story of the Underdog. Just remember who is the Underdog when God is on your side!

Well, shortly after this incredible event, the boy is talking to Jonathan’s father Saul in 1 Sam 18 and he finds out that the boy’s name is David. 1 Sam 18 reports the following:

1 Samuel 18:1-4

1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

Wow! That’s just incredible. Jonathan meets a young man that has a love for God. As a man who loves God Himself, Jonathan is immediately knit to David and they love each other in the Lord. This is something you can only understand if you are a believer. He who shares Christ with me is my brother. I love my immediate family ““ my mother, father, brothers, and sister a great deal. But they don’t serve the Lord. The Saints of God are more dear to me because we share Christ.

And so Jonathan loves David that very day. He even chooses sides for the future. How? He gives David his tunic, sword, bow, and belt. He’s essentially telling David: “Every claim I have to the throne is yours. I know God has given the kingdom to you. That’s OK. I trust God. God has anointed you King and far be it from me to ever try to take it.” THAT is faith! That’s why I always lament that Jonathan died. What a man of faith he was.

Eventually Jonathan must even side with David against his own father who is determined to kill him. He protects David and even lies to his father about knowing where David is. This is just very strange activity for a Jewish son because family loyalty is everything in that culture. But Jonathan put no confidence in the flesh but had faith in God’s anointed.

And so in 1 Samuel 20, Jonathan comes to the stark realization that Saul is trying to kill his beloved friend David and it breaks his heart. He meets David in the field to tell him to flee and they embrace each other and weep over their parting. It was to be the last time they would see each other. And 2 Samuel 20:42 reports:

2 Samuel 20:42

42 Then Jonathan said to David,”Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.'” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

And so we understand all the more why David is weeping over his friend Jonathan’s death in 2 Samuel 1. It’s just so sad. But sorrow for the House of Saul and Jonathan is not over. Right after Saul and Jonathan’s death, Saul’s son Ishbosheth contends for the throne of Israel. A Civil War ensues and David eventually rises to the throne of Israel. At the end of reporting all the details of the Civil War, 2 Sam 4:4 reports this sad event:

2 Samuel 4:4

4 Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

As if things couldn’t be more sorrowful for the House of Jonathan, his only son, Mephibosheth, who is only 5 years old at his death, is dropped by his nurse as she hurries away upon learning of his death. Poor kid. He was a normal child but his nurse drops him and from that moment on he is lame in both feet. He walks around only with great difficulty. Something we could probably heal with modern medicine but he was a cripple for the rest of his life.

My goodness! If you don’t feel bad for Jonathan after all of that then you’ve got a heart of stone. He dies on the mountain with an unfaithful father even though he was faithful. He never gets to live out his days with his friend David as the King. To make matters worse, his only son becomes lame after being dropped by his nurse.

But God is rich in mercy.

Many years later, David has firmly established himself on the throne and has defeated the Philistines. He is on his throne one day and probably finally has a brief moment to think and he starts to remember his beloved friend Jonathan:

2 Samuel 9

1Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
He said, “At your service!”
3Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?”
And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.”
4So the king said to him, “Where is he?”
And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”
5Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.
6Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth ?”
And he answered, “Here is your servant!”
7So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”
8Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”
9And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him,”I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. 10You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
11Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.”
“As for Mephibosheth ,” said the king, “he shall eat at my table* like one of the king’s sons.” 12Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth . 13So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.

They found Mephibosheth! I just love this story. Mephibosheth limps into the king’s chambers and falls on his face before David. David speaks his name: “Mephibosheth?”

“Here is your servant.”

“Don’t fear Mephibosheth.”

I’m sure the young man thought he was at risk because it was the custom of kings to remove threats to the throne. Mephibosheth was the last remaining person alive from the House of Saul.

But David tells him: “I knew your father. I loved him. I’m going to show you kindness for his sake!”

And Mephibosheth answers very humbly, it’s even sad to read the way he refers to himself: “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”

Can you imagine growing up lame in both feet with a father like Jonathan. Songs were probably sung of his exploits: “Remember the time that Jonathan killed an entire Philistine garrison with just his armor bearer?!” But Mephibosheth would never do anything like that.

It would be a great insult to call anyone a dog in the Near East but Mephibosheth calls himself a “dead dog”. “Why are you showing me such favor? I don’t deserve this kind of love from you.”

But David was a man after God’s own heart. David kept his promises even if he was a little slow in getting to them. Remember that he had promised with Jonathan to be good to his descendants?

And so he restores the lands of Saul, everything, to Mephibosheth. He tells Ziba to care for the lands but Mephibosheth isn’t just going to receive the blessing of land. No.

“As for Mephibosheth,” said the kind, “he shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons.”

David adopted him and loved him as a son. He loved him for Jonathan’s sake. And the story concludes about the young man: “And he was lame in both feet.”

I just love the Word of God. This story is such a powerful picture of our redemption and shows these beautiful strands of God’s redemption that have been woven throughout redemptive history. King David the Great was the forefather, in the flesh, of Christ to come.

Have we not all been made Spiritually lame and worthless in the flesh by a Fall. We have received an invitation to the King’s chamber. We have every reason to fear. In Mephibosheth’s case he feared just because he was the grandson of Saul. In our case, we are summoned knowing we have sinned against a Holy and Righteous God. We enter with fear and trembling.

But the Father’s Son loved us and died for us. He re-creates us and causes us to love Him in return. And so we enter the chamber and the King announces: “You are to eat at my table continually.”

“Who am I, God, that you should look upon this dead dog and show me such favor?”

But God love His Son and, for His sake, I am beloved by Him, and I am going to eat at His table continually as one of His sons.

We love Him because He first loved us and poured Himself out for us. The King’s table is available for all who would call on the name of Jesus Christ. Unless you see your unworthiness to be in the King’s presence, you cannot gain entry through the door of Christ’s death and resurrection. It’s all grace. Christ died so that all who believe in Him might say to Him:

“I am wretched. Take my sin away. I deserve death but I believe.”

And through the foolishness of that simple faith, Christ does take away our sin and becomes our righteousness. We enter the throne room of Grace boldly then, as Sons, and gladly take our seats at the great wedding feast that knows no end.

The feast is available to all who believe. Believe and live. Enter and feast, you are a son of God!

Tags David, death, gospel, Israel, Lord, love, So David