Participation In A Traditional Church May Save Your Life

2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

The people this verse was written to had just been reminded of the saving plan and labor of God who had, by His Gospel work, secured their place in the everlasting glory to come. But those verses were nested in foreboding darkness... the darkness of the end-times. What will keep that end-time generation anchored in light through those dark times? Paul says it is the truth they have been taught and have believed. Paul called this saving light “the traditions”. The word tradition literally means “the content of instruction that has been handed down.” BDAG

Paul knew the importance of each generation holding to the truth of God’s Word. All it takes is the defection of one generation for the comfort of truth gained by faithful Christians to be lost, and generations can then be left with no light for their path… even when the darkness of the end-time apostasy comes.

A church should work hard at building an enduring tradition of truth which can be handed down from generation to generation. Noah consistently labored over decades to build an ark that would carry his family through dark days of judgment. A traditional church is constantly building an ark of truth for each successive generation.

A traditional church is easily recognized. I'm not talking about architecture, music, or whether they sit on pews or chairs. A traditional church is one where the Bible is actually taught, whether the people sit on pews, floors, or on rough wooden planks, or use 50 gallon drums to keep rhythm as they sing. A solid tradition of opening the words of the Book is the norm not the exception. In each worship service and class the real meaning of the verses in the Bible is the focus, not the traditions of men about those verses, or religious rituals. There can be no greater legacy than Truth. And those who find themselves in the darkness will see this beacon of light as their family's ark of safety.

The generation who will be here to endure the end-time apostasy, and the worldwide judgment mentioned by the Apostle Paul, must follow Paul’s admonition in this verse. They must “stand fast” and “hold” to the Word of God. This must be their demand: give us the Scriptures, for in them we have eternal life and enduring strength. That generation will be standing on the shoulders of generations before who also faithfully held to “the traditions”. A church which stands on “the traditions” is a church built on solid ground.

Relationship Over Circumstance

2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

Reading the verses at the beginning of this chapter could leave our attention focused on a frightening view of the end times before Jesus returns. But by the time we get to the end of the chapter, the focus for believers has moved back to where it should always remain, especially in dark times. The focus has shifted from events and circumstances to what we have and who we are in Jesus Christ.

Look at the words: love, consolation, hope, grace. These words describe a permanent, compassionate relationship. This is what believers have in Christ Jesus: an everlasting, unchangeable, inside relationship with the Creator of this planet. I like the personal word “himself” as it is used by Paul in verse 16. When the day is dark, there is nothing like the personal attention and touch of Jesus. And that touch is what Paul prayed for here.

And… all of this comes to us “through grace.” Oh to grace how great a debtor! This means the benefit of the relationship is not based on our merit, for if it was we would have nothing stable and permanent in this relationship. But now, by faith in Jesus' gospel work, we have a personal everlasting consolation which transcends our circumstances. And this grace-based relationship is the fuel for the light shining through us in a world shrouded in darkness.

The Anticipation Of Beauty

Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

After all the arguments about the order of events at the end time are over this is what is left for those who have the Gospel. No matter when the rapture happens with reference to the tribulation, it will happen, but we will not yet be home. No matter if the second coming of Jesus is at the end or the beginning of the 1,000 years of Revelation 20, we will still have a ways to go until we get to that place.

It is home. My home. A greater longing for home grows within my soul with each passing year. I do not mean to imply there is no enjoyment here. God has been so good to us, but in the joys of this life I find hints of what it shall be like there.

The beauty here has more influence upon my anticipation than the ugliness. The ugliness in this life is temporary and will pass, and it is best to let it do so, but real beauty will continue on... ever increasing. There is nothing like experiencing beauty here to make me anticipate the beauty there... home.

Just to be there… to see the glory… to feel the radiance… to be bathed in the purity of an unspoiled creation, the creatures, the peaks, the valleys, the flowers… HOME! Come soon Lord Jesus!

How Did The Wise Men Know What The Star Meant? The Answer Is Really Interesting...

Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

Have you ever wondered who those wise men were? How did they know about Jesus' birth? How did they know what the star meant? Well… the answers are pretty interesting.

The words “wise men” are translated from the word “magi” or, in this instance, “magoi”. This word and other evidence helps us locate their home country. Magi is an old Persian/Babylonian word (Thayer, BDAG). So since this region was east of Israel, and these men were called magi “from the east”, and Persia/Babylon had a long history with Israel, we can be fairly certain they were from the region now called Iraq and Iran.

The Background: Babylon was the country that defeated Judah in war and then took the defeated Jews back to Babylon as captives. Babylon later became part of the Persian empire. The captives carried their Bibles with them, and some of them became great men in the Babylonian government. The Jewish prophet Daniel, for instance, was powerful and famous while in captivity. He was one of the “wise men” of Babylon and was appointed the chief magistrate over all the wise men. Daniel 2:13; 2:48 Later the Persian king Cyrus gave the captive Jews liberty to return to Judah. Ezra 1:1-3

The prophecy of the star at the birth of Jesus is found in Numbers 24:17. The wise men who were looking for Jesus knew about this prophecy, so it is obvious that the Jewish Bible was kept by the wise men of this region after the Jews returned to Palestine. In their libraries the wise men would have had access to the works of the great Jewish wise man Daniel who prophesied of the coming Messiah, and other Jewish Holy Books. So the wise men looked for the new born King of Israel because they read it in the scriptures.

It was through the ministry of Daniel, and other captive Jewish scribes, that the well-educated scribe Ezra had the complete (up to that point in history) preserved Bible when he returned to Jerusalem with the other freed captives. Ezra 7:6, 10, 11, 12, 25, Nehemiah 8:1-8 Ezra had the Scriptures, so did the wise men, and so do we.

The presence of the wise men after the birth of Jesus supports the truth that the Book of Numbers predates the Babylonian captivity. This was a problem for modern skeptics who believed Numbers was written after the captivity. Other skeptics guessed that Daniel and the other Jewish scribes wrote the Book of Numbers, and the rest of the Old Testament, while in captivity to bolster the Jewish claim to Palestine. Then in 1979 a silver amulet was found in an archaeological dig in Jerusalem with Numbers 6:24-26 etched into the silver. This amulet predated the Babylonian captivity, and is clear extra-Biblical evidence that the Old Testament book of Numbers existed before the captivity... so there is now even more evidence that the Jews took the scriptures into captivity which centuries later led the wise men to Jesus.

The wise men searched for this new King because they believed the Bible, and their faith guided them to Jesus... the Bible will do the same today for those who follow the light of that prophetic star.

Jesus' Birth Was Prophesied In Books Of The Bible Hundreds Of Years Before His Birth

Here are a few of the Old Testament prophesies concerning Jesus' birth. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain manuscripts of the Old Testament dating from 300 BC to 70AD. I have noted whether any part of the book containing a prophecy is in the Dead Sea Scroll collection and what the estimated date is of the manuscript(s). There is no evidence that the residents of Qumran, the closest community to the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ever came into contact with Jesus. 

1. The time period of His birth:

Prophesied: Daniel 9:25

Fulfilled: Luke 2:22

There are 8 Daniel manuscripts in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). The oldest is dated before 150 BC.

2. The city of His birth:

Prophesied: Micah 5:2

Fulfilled: Luke 2:4-7

There are 2 Micah manuscripts in the DSS. The oldest is dated in the 3rd century BC.

3. That His mother would be a virgin:

Prophesied: Isaiah 7:14

Fulfilled: Matthew 1:18

There are 22 Isaiah manuscripts in the DSS. The Great Scroll is a complete copy of the book and has been dated to around 100BC.

4. That He and His family would escape to Egypt.

Prophesied: Hosea 11:1

Fulfilled: Matthew 2:13-15

There are 3 manuscripts of Hosea, 2 commentaries, in the DSS. These are dated between 100 and 75BC.

5. That the innocents would be slaughtered:

Prophesied: Jeremiah 31:15

Fulfilled: Matthew 2:16

There are 6 manuscripts of Jeremiah in the DSS dated around 200 BC.

6. He is the Son of God:

Prophesied: Psalm 2:7

Fulfilled: Luke 3:22 (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11)

There are 39 manuscripts of the Psalms dated between 200-100BC.

7. He will be called Lord:

Prophesied: Psalm 110:1

Fulfilled: Luke 2:11

There are 39 manuscripts of the Psalms dated between 200-100BC.

8. That He would be a member of the tribe of Judah:

Prophesied: Micah 5:2

Fulfilled: Luke 3:33

There are 2 Micah manuscripts in the DSS. The oldest is dated in the 3rd century BC.

9. A descendant of Abraham:

Prophesied: Genesis 22:18

Fulfilled: Matthew 1:1

There are 24 Genesis manuscripts in the DSS ranging from 200-1BC.

10. A Descendant of Isaac:

Prophesied: Genesis 21:12

Fulfilled: Luke 3:34

There are 24 Genesis manuscripts in the DSS ranging from 200-1BC.

11. A descendant of Jesse:

Prophesied: Isaiah 11:1

Fulfilled: Luke 3:32

There are 22 Isaiah manuscripts in the DSS. The Great Scroll is a complete copy of the book and has been dated to around 100BC

12. A descendant of David:

Prophesied: Jeremiah 23:5-6

Fulfilled: Luke 3:31

There are 6 manuscripts of Jeremiah in the DSS dated around 200 BC.

Inheriting Heaven

1 Peter 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

In the United States we generally think of inheritance as gifts received from a person after their death. But in the cultural context of the Bible inheritance was viewed differently. Not understanding this difference can lead to confusion when coming across words like inheritance and testament in the Bible.

Under Old Testament law an Israelite was born into a family inheritance. It was property given by God to the perpetual generations of the inheritor's family. Each successive generation was given stewardship responsibility over this family possession.

When a senior family member inherited, upon the death of the family head, his inheritance was more of a legal standing than a possession. He was the one with legal standing to make decisions related to the possession. Each generation could strengthen, corrupt, enlarge, or diminish the inheritance.

This system is very relevant to Christ followers today. We are currently the generation who has been handed the rights to the earthly inheritance of Christ Jesus given through the apostles and early church. We are only inter-generational stewards of that inheritance, and can strengthen, corrupt, enlarge, or diminish that inheritance for future generations.

The manual for our inheritance is the New Testament, and when we carefully compare what has been handed to us by previous generations to this manual we will find some corruption. It comes with the human condition. Christian history is rife with corruption and defilement of the inheritance of truth, and that history is still being made today. This earthly inheritance is, in human hands, perpetually unstable.

But this passage speaks of an inheritance that awaits all those who have trusted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus has secured this inheritance on our behalf. He is our family head... our Adam. This possession is under His careful control and cannot be corrupted. It is “incorruptible”and “undefiled.” It is reserved for us, and awaits us in its pristine condition.

Think of the first moment in that inheritance! It will be the first inheritance ever handed to us as a single collective generation. Pure... glorious... ours forever... Home.

Damned... But Still Alive

2 Thessalonians is a letter about the future written by the Apostle Paul. It is a weighty letter. Some of the future Paul shows us is dark. I'm aware that a number of the articles I wrote and published a year ago, and am now finally posting on my blog, carry that dark weightiness. But... that is the nature of consistent exposition of the Bible. There are high mountain peaks of truth to explore and deep valleys to journey through, but it is all equally true... and equally necessary.

2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I published a post some time ago discussing the word “damned” in Mark 16:16. The word translated in that verse means: To be actually under sentence after a determination of guilt and the pronouncement of the sentence. The sentence is pronounced but the execution of the sentence is in the future. But the verb used in 2 Thessalonians 2:12 is slightly different.

This verb, as used in this verse, means: "the act of inflicting the penalty on one." Thayer Bauer-Danker says it this way: "the temporal punishment which God brings upon sinners." While in the first usage, Mark 16:16, there may be time between the legal process of judgment and the execution of the penalty, in this usage the penalty is being sealed and executed.

This verse in its context teaches us that God is constantly observing unbelievers. They have already been legally judged and condemned, but are living under His common mercy. He is aware of all their decisions and actions while His mercy restrains the justice that awaits them. There is a time, sadly, when God’s gracious patience gives way, mercy evaporates, justice is all that remains, and the penalty is executed.

The unique thing about this verse is their doom is sealed while they are still living on earth. Today, as far as we know, any unbeliever who draws breath can believe the Gospel and find everlasting freedom from condemnation and guilt. There is always hope. But this passage portends a time when God seems to close that opportunity for some. The rope of God's mercy securing their place on the precipice of life will be cut, but they will still retain life for the moment while they streak toward the rocks of His final justice waiting beneath them. Damned... but still alive.

In other words there really are consequences for sin and unbelief. If the consequence has not yet been experienced it is because God’s mercy has held it back. But never take His mercy for granted. The gospel is the only hope we have in this life.

Whose Wife Will She Be In The Judgment Day?

Matthew 22:23-33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

29 ¶ Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

The question asked in verse 28 has to be one of the most amusing questions in the Bible. The people who asked Jesus this question with its lengthy setup were members of a Jewish religious sect called Sadducee who objected to the possibility of the resurrection. They hoped to corner Jesus with this convoluted question. But, as so many others have learned, Jesus doesn’t corner.

This question must have seemed so logical and ironclad when it was conceived in the self-justifying confines of some Sadducean meeting. But when it finally tumbled out into the light of day it became almost comedic instead of dramatic.

Jesus brushed the question aside with a rebuke, and then a brief answer. We can learn much from this answer.

First, from His rebuke we know that the Old Testament contains the doctrine of the resurrection. He proved that in verses 31 and 32.

Second, they failed to take into account the power of God to raise the dead. The Sadducees were theological well-diggers: the deeper they dug the smaller their view of the sky. For this group of Sadducees, the deeper they dug into the argument the smaller their view of God. We must never lose sight of the omnipotent God, nothing is beyond His power.

Third, it is concretely clear that Jesus believed in the resurrection of the dead. He knew that death would soon be defeated by His own resurrection.

Fourth, Each resurrected body will be individually made, which is similar to angels. Angels were individually created and, therefore, are not ordered by family units. There are no father or mother angels, or, for that matter, baby angels. There will be a finite number of resurrected persons, and they will not be born into family units. While we may carry the remembrance of our earthly families, each person will be an individual within a single invariable new earthly population of equals. Question answered...

The Problem Of Fire In Biblical Justice

KJV 2 Thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

NIV 1:8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

These are two translations of the same verse. Notice any differences? I use this contrast to illustrate that the Bible words “flaming fire” and “vengeance” are unpopular and some folks would rather these words be softened or removed altogether. The NIV (New International Version) softened the word vengeance by translating it with the word punish, and then moved fire to the previous verse associating it with the brightness of Jesus' coming instead of the vengeance in His coming.

I can't get into the head of the NIV translators, and I'm sure they would defend their translation with technical arguments. But my intent for bringing this up is not to get into a technical argument about translation. I am more interested, at this point, in the effect of softening the language of justice.

That there is an inclination in our popular culture to soften the sometimes blunt language of justice used in the Bible is beyond argument. But every thinking person must realize that soft language will not soften the severity of justice. Justice is what it is, and it is harsh no matter what refined words we use to describe it. The only real effect I see from softening the language of justice is to dull the language of mercy.

Mercy is dependent on justice. It's the word we use when a guilty criminal doesn't get what is deserved by law and required by justice. The depth of mercy is in direct proportion to the intensity of the penalty justice demands for a crime. The more horrible the crime the greater the penalty, and the greater the penalty the greater the mercy when the penalty is forgiven.

Using soft words to a criminal about the penalty before he is convicted only serves to lessen his interest in mercy... but the soft language doesn't change the reality of justice or the severity of the penalty by even the smallest fraction. It only serves to dull the foreboding dread of the guilty.

A guilty criminal is done a great disservice by his lawyers when the harshness of the penalty faced is degraded and made unclear by their choice of words. My first request to my lawyers, if I was facing a criminal trial, would be, “Tell me in plain English what I'm facing if found guilty.” I would then ask, “What are my chances of being found not guilty?” If they answered "none" then my next question would be, “Is this judge known for being merciful?” These are straight questions which demand clear straight answers.

After studying the Bible for decades I know it is mercy I need when facing the justice of God... great mercy. I know this because the Bible is clear about what I am facing: hell. Don't be fooled by the soft language of popular religious culture. We--that means all of us--need great mercy, because the penalty for our sins is extreme and we have no chance of being found not guilty. Call me coarse or unrefined if you will... but, as I said earlier, that will not change the reality of justice or the severity of the penalty by even the smallest fraction. Thankfully our Judge is merciful and He has given us access to everlasting mercy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Apostasy

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,

The word translated “falling away” in this verse is apostasy. This Greek word is defined as a condition of rebellion within the true religion resulting from changing loyalties. It is important to understand that this rebellion doesn’t come from outside, it comes from within.

We have a practical example of the use of this word. The translators of the Greek Old Testament used apostasy in 2 Chronicles 29:19, “the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression (apostasy),” King Ahaz mixed the worship of Jehovah with other gods. He set up idols throughout Jerusalem, and added pagan worship vessels to the Temple. He also modified the location, structure, and uses of the vessels ordained by God. In further rebellion he sent Temple vessels to be used in pagan temples in other kingdoms.

The NT usage would mean rebellion by openly professing Christians to the express will and doctrine of Jesus Christ. This apostasy will be so pervasive it will, in its final form, be clearly visible to faithful Christians who know the Word. While there have been apostasies in the past, this one will be more seductive than all the rest. It has been prophesied in other passages: 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 3 & 2 Timothy 4. All of these passages describe various aspects of this end time apostasy. The only remedy to the apostasy is the “love of the truth.”

Righteous Vengeance, A Warning

2 Thessalonians 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

The troubled Christians mentioned in these and surrounding verses where being persecuted for their faith. Christians continue to be persecuted in this world. Unless persecutors have certain criminal disorders their delusional self-justifying reasons have satisfied them enough to attack another human.

This passage teaches that their self-justification and subsequent actions are really a “token” of God’s present and future judgment of them. A person who commits a crime of hatred against and in the sight of the Judge of all the earth has willfully endangered himself. Judgment will come.

Vengeance, as used in this verse, can mean retaliation, vindicating justice, or punishment. In this case it is not retaliation. It is justice that vindicates the harmed person(s) and justly punishes the person(s) who harmed them.

Righteous vengeance is not bad or wrong. It is the result of a process involving evidence and a judge with the jurisdiction to hear and decide the case. In this situation the Judge is God, the judged are those who have persecuted His children, and punishment of the guilty is intense and justified.

It is clear that those who persecute Christians are the ones intended in this passage to be recipients of this righteous vengeance. Some modern translators have tried to lessen the intensity of the language, but, believe me, this is a harsh, brutal warning. But it is also clear that the persecutor can be freed from this deserved vengeance by obeying the Gospel. Obey means to repent, believe, and trust the Gospel. The writer of this passage, the Apostle Paul, had been a horrible persecutor of Christians, but he obeyed the Gospel and found forgiveness for all his sins including those committed against God’s children.

Apocalypse... Something To Look Forward To

2 Thessalonians 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

Ask North Americans what apocalypse means and they may give you a definition or impression derived from popular culture. Among the influences on our culture was the 1979 epic war film Apocalypse Now and then most recently Mel Gibson’s violent movie Apocalypto. In popular culture the word conjures images of lawless violence, torture, and death with an ominous dark end of all things. It is viewed as the final world descent into anarchy.

The word apocalypse comes to the English language directly from Greek. It is a Greek noun which is translated “revealed” in this passage. It is also used in the name of the last book in the Bible. Some call the last book of the Bible, “Revelation(s)” or “the Apocalypse” which is incomplete and can be misleading. The full name is The Revelation (Apocalypse) of Jesus Christ and the book is solely about His revelation.

The usage in popular culture is far from the real Bible meaning and can cloud our understanding. The word means: “to cause something to be fully known.” Louw-Nida In this passage, as with the title of the last book in the Bible, it is a person, Jesus Christ, who will be revealed as who He is to those who have not fully known Him. 

The events surrounding that Revelation are only the effect of the Revelation not the Revelation itself except to the extent that the events highlight certain things about the person being revealed. The question folks should ask and seek the answer to as they study the last book in the Bible is: What does this chapter, verse, or event reveal about Jesus Christ?

The apocalypse of Jesus Christ is coming soon... and I can hardly wait. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

When Jesus Comes

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

Our family was divided during the mid 1960s when my two maternal uncles, James and Mel, moved with their families to Oregon from Texas. This move was very difficult on my family, especially my grandmother.

As hard as this departure was it actually became the foundation of some of my best childhood memories: my uncle's visits from Oregon. When we all knew they were coming there was excitement and great anticipation. We were a family with troubles and divisions, but when James and Mel came all that disappeared. We were all happy, joking, and enjoying being a family. Cobblers and pies on the window sills, and food spread through grandma's house. And I am at a loss of words to describe the change that would come over my grandmother. There was a look on her face of total joy... peace... happiness. Wow... even now I tear-up remembering that glow.

This is the language of Paul in the passage. We are told clearly that Jesus is going to come here from where ever He is now. His coming will be as literal as my uncles coming from Oregon.

He is coming to us --His family-- we who know Him by faith, and He’s not coming to sight-see.

In this text “Coming of” means “arrival as the first stage in presence.” BDAG The word was used of dignitaries coming to town. In many cases there would be a great ceremony or procession (parade) at the “coming” of the dignitary.

Paul chose this word specifically for the first stage of Jesus’ return. This will be a beginning… a new beginning for the world and, more specifically, for those of us who follow Him.

“Gathering together” is translated from a single noun which cannot be mistaken in its meaning. It means an “assembling”, “to come together at a particular location”, or “a gathering together in one place.”

So the two words together tell us there will be a great gathering of a specific group of people when Jesus comes. This, for sure, has not happened yet... but it will happen.

When Jesus comes those who have trusted Him will all participate in a big family get together. We will do it with all the joy of a family fully united for the first time. All the problems and conflicts will be over... I can't wait! And for some reason I think I will see the same countenance on Jesus' face that I saw on my Grandmother's face...

Yet...

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Read Isaiah 53 again. This chapter prophesied the coming, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But this is also a prophecy about us.

Because He died so many years ago, we can easily forget that we were there with Him. I am the reason He came. I am the reason He died. It was for my sins He suffered on that cross. This is a hard fact to take for those of us who have grown to love Him so.

These verses contrast the passion of His death for our sins with the passionless apathy of our living. As believers we know He took the guilt of all our sins, including our apathy, upon himself, and paid our debt to justice. “YET he opened not his mouth:” What a Savior!

For many this may seem like a strange, even sadistic phrase: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;” But this disconnect is born from a misunderstanding of what really happened on the Cross. Final, absolute, holy justice was poured out upon Jesus as He hung on that cross. It was poured upon Him by God the Father. It was poured for me...

"By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.” One Hebrew scholar said justify means: “to make a guilty person, who the law has officially declared guilty, not guilty.“ I need this justification like a dying man needs life.

We hid our faces from Him. Now... look at Him... try to understand what He did, and why He did it. I have looked, and I will never be the same.

A Remedy For Impatience

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, ... he hath sent me… 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18a, 19

Promises… that’s all they were. For thousands of years we waited, expecting, doubting, longing, praying, wondering… then it happened. Jesus was here! This was “the acceptable year”: God’s ordained time to fulfill His promise. Strange... but, even then it didn’t seem like we were ready.

In some ways God’s timetable always mystifies us. He created the world in six days, then took thousands of years to fulfill His greatest promise to those he created: sending a Savior. But this, I suppose, is what faith is all about. If God did everything as we expect we would never learn to trust beyond our sight, experience, and reason.

God's promises will all be fulfilled, just as this one was: on His schedule. Some folks, those inclined to impatience, always focus on the schedule, and the time between now and then. I have friends who count every mile between here and there. That kind of tedious impatience wears a person down. I find it much more fulfilling to focus on the promise. My destination. I know it will happen. I will get there. The more I focus on the promise the greater the anticipation, and a peculiar kind of joy or excitement seems to permeate my soul.

Through the years I've grown accustomed to the anticipation of our time away. Just Carol and me. Carol plans great getaways for us. I can see it in my mind for weeks before we depart. And when we are finally there walking hand in hand through some rain forest, or on a golden beach, I look back to see our footprints, the evidence we are really here... together. Most of the time the experience is even better than I imagined.

I can see it now: my first step on the new earth. That first glorious footprint! Evidence I am really here. He planned it, and brought me there at just the right time. Waiting is no problem when I know I will be there! And I do know. I know because Jesus did all the work to get me there in His Death, Burial, and Resurrection, and has promised to keep me safe on the journey. Romans 8

Prophecy, A Record Of God's Future

Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The bible has many unfulfilled prophetic promises. These promises are important to us, so we tend to see ourselves as the focus of this future. But this is not our future, it is God's future. The cliche “just along for the ride” is our prophetic reality. In the Bible God has opened the inscrutable door of His future, and let us stand at the threshold and gaze hazily into the beyond.

These prophecies are sure, because they are part of the transcendent Creator's revelation about Himself. We sometimes forget that God will be in tomorrow as much as He is in today. In fact, today God is the only one in tomorrow.

The pillars of Christian doctrine stand on the foundation of God's prophetic promises. Without prophecy there is no Christianity. The death and resurrection of Jesus solidly link gospel believers to the future when we shall rise from the dead as He rose from the dead! The second coming, the new earth, the rapture, all are yet in God's future.

This is not crystal ball fortune-telling. The reality of this future is based on the power of God to do what He said He would do each day leading up to the fulfillment of the promises. Think with me for a moment: Even if God didn't know the future (an impossibility), couldn't the all-powerful God work each day to accomplish the future He has promised? Who will keep Him from accomplishing His designs? Isaiah 46:5-11 Our future is God’s future. He has promised--He will now do it! I can't wait...

Light In Dark Times

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

The Bible reveals that we are at the end of the period of a flourishing Gentile (non-Jewish) Christianity. There are a number of revealing verses about this present age, but many of them paint a dark picture of gentile defection from real Christianity and the willing acceptance of a counterfeit.

This foretold defection will be (is now) instigated by spiritual forces called “seducing spirits” and “devils”. This passage revealed that the breakdown will come when a significant number of Christians “give heed” to certain seductive or appealing ideas formed in the caldrons of darkness. The source of these ideas will be well hidden from the intended consumer so as not to contaminate the appeal. The word “seducing” means these malicious spirits design methods and introduce tactics that will lead people off course.

In these chapters Paul taught Timothy (and the rest of us) how to avoid this seduction. The remedy is not found in knowing the detail and method of every seduction, but in knowing the truth and sticking with it. Paul told Timothy that the remedy was to “refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.” 4:7 Some folks will define Godliness as personal obedience to moral laws or a list of moral rules. But Paul defined “Godliness” in the last verse of the previous chapter, 1 Timothy 3:16, as a tenacious adherence to the truth of the Gospel. To stay in the light during dark days I must stay in the Word and keep my focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only remedy to man’s ultimate problem.