Monthly Archives: August 2015

The Beginning Of The End

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THE BEGINNING OF THE END

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple. Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?

Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pangs.’ (Mark 13: 3-8).

What a golden opportunity for Jesus to give His disciples a timetable of the end times – but He didn’t. He could have, had He wanted them, and us, to have a countdown of events to the end of time. His response to His disciples is puzzling if we do not understand what He was telling them and why. He answered and yet He did not answer His disciples’ question. He told them what would happen, but He did not tell them when it would happen. Why?

Had He given them a timeline, it would have given them, and those who followed them an excuse to live carelessly and only come into line as the events took place that heralded His return. Jesus was wise. Instead, He gave them principles and warnings because His people had an assignment – to follow Him and to be replicas of Him and citizens of the kingdom of heaven in the midst of the darkness of a fallen world.

Deception is a formidable enemy – and we humans are very good at falling for the deception of others and deceiving ourselves as well. ‘Watch out for false messiahs.’ Jesus warned. Why do people fall for their deception so easily? Surely they are easy to detect? How can we protect ourselves from falling for deception?

God gave us an infallible test – prophecy! Remember John the Baptist’s question? ‘Are you the Messiah or do we look for someone else?’ What was Jesus’ response? Check the database. God had given a “database” of prophecies to His people of messianic “fingerprints” in their sacred Scriptures. All John had to do was to check Jesus against the fingerprints and he would have his answer.

How can we check the claims of those who insist that they are followers and representatives of Jesus? Jesus gave us the answer – examine their fruit. Do their lives measure up to their profession? Who do they represent – themselves or Jesus? There is a database of evidence in the Scriptures to help us identify true followers of Jesus.

The second warning – don’t get excited when natural disasters happen. These are what Eugene Peterson, in “The Message” paraphrase of the Bible calls “routine” disasters. They have always happened and they will always happen because the earth was corrupted by Adam’s disobedience. Jesus called them “the beginning of birth pains”. Nature is in labour. This is nothing new. Paul observed and wrote about it in his letter to the Romans.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (Rom. 8: 22).

Wars are another phenomenon which have been going on since the Fall. Human greed was born in the hearts of men when Adam chose his own way over the will of God. Man is at enmity with God and men. He wants what is not his and he will take it when and where he pleases at the expense of others. Wars will continue until the end of time, as long as fallen man pits himself against fallen man.

It is true that there is an escalation of both natural disasters and human conflict, with warfare becoming more sophisticated and destructive of human life. Just as a woman’s birth pains increase in frequency and intensity, so the earth’s “birth pains” are likewise becoming more violent and intense, a sign that her labour will soon have its end result. Nevertheless, there is no way in which we can or should predict the time of His return.

Like the bridegroom whose return for his bride is set by his father when he is satisfied with his son’s preparation for the consummation of his marriage, so Jesus awaits the Father’s time to return for the church and to restore everything that was broken by the Fall.

The role of the bride is to prepare for His return so that, whenever the bridegroom comes, she will be ready. When He returns is not as important as that He will return, for He has promised. In the interim she has a task to do – to prepare her wedding gown so that she may take her place with Him in the beauty of His holiness.

Are you ready for Jesus’ return or will you be caught, like the five foolish virgins, unprepared for His coming, and left out in the cold?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

Permanent Impermanence!

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PERMANENT IMPERMANENCE!

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ Jesus replied, ’Not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’ (Mark 13: 1-2).

Massive stones! Magnificent buildings! What a sense of security the temple gave to Jesus’s disciples! Such huge stones and such a beautiful structure which could be seen from miles around as it sat majestically on Mount Zion – the highest point in Jerusalem! How could anything bad happen to them as long as it was there? It was the symbol of God’s presence in the midst of His people – so secure and so permanent. It was strong and indestructible. As long as the temple stood, the people felt safe, although the Romans were everywhere.

This is how the Israelites felt in Jeremiah’s day. They depended on the presence of God in the temple to reassure them that all was well and that they were safe from their enemies in spite of their wicked ways. Jeremiah warned them not to depend on the temple for their security. It was not a building that guaranteed their invincibility but their faith in God and obedience to His instructions that promised His protection.

The Babylonians were coming, warned the prophet, and there were not to pin their hopes in the temple. These false hopes would be their downfall because the temple, big and strong as it was, would come crashing down like a pack of cards if God was against them.

Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!’ If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever (Jer. 7: 4-7).

Jesus assured His disciples that this great building which they looked at with such awe, was soon to be a pile of rubble, sacked and destroyed just as Solomon’s magnificent temple had fallen to the Babylonians. Why would God’s judgment fall on Jerusalem again? The people no longer blatantly worshipped idols as they had in Jeremiah’s day, but their hearts were just as wicked and disobedient as they were when he spoke out the warning which no one took seriously until the day the Babylonians arrived.

They disciples must have looked at their rabbi in amazement. “But why, Jesus?” they would ask. “Why would God allow this to happen to us? What have we done to deserve this?” Jesus response lay in His bitter tears and heartfelt grief when He wept over the city of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say. ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (Luke 13: 34-35).

Wonderful words – treacherous hearts! Jesus grieved over His people for their lost potential. They stood on the brink of the greatest season of their lives. Messiah, for whom they had longed and waited, was among them. It was their moment. Had they recognised and embraces Him, they could have entered into the most glorious time of their history – deliverance, not from Rome but from the inner slavery to sin that was destroying their lives.

 

They could have become heralds of the kingdom of God, announcing and being witnesses to the establishment of God’s rule again in the hearts of men. They could have experienced a freedom from slavery far worse than slavery to Egypt or Rome. But they turned it down because they were offended by their Messiah. He represented a God who was too “nice”. They preferred their “God” who made unreasonable demands on them and punished them when they failed.

How like them we are. We run from a God who has done everything for us, who had sacrificed His Son for us so that we can have life, and given us everything we need to live His life in the midst of a broken world. But we reject His offer and make religions of our own which demand and take and leave us empty, disillusioned and dead.

Ever the message of Jesus has been pulled out of shape and heaped with unnecessary and irrelevant garbage until Jesus disappears under the rubble. What has become of His simple invitation, “Follow me,” and His promise, “I will take you to the Father”? What more do we need? What more do we want?

It is not the “temple” that will save us or give us security but our trust in the Master and our simple obedience to His call.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

He Noticed

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HE NOTICED

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth a few cents. Calling His disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’ Mark 12: 41-44).  

Why did Jesus sit and watch people putting their offerings into the temple treasury? Didn’t He teach His disciples that the left hand should not know what the right hand was doing? Yes, He did. He was looking at hearts and motive.

Did you notice how the wealthy people “threw” their money into the receptacles? These were trumpet-shaped clay jars, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom to prevent theft. When the coins were thrown into the container it made a ringing sound. Of course the wealthy ones exaggerated the sound to be noticed – and admired for their generosity. Guess who were at the top of the parade? The hypocrites!

Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full (Matt. 6: 1-2).

Jesus sat and watched because He was a keen student of people – and He had a group of men who needed teaching. So, as He watched, He saw an endless stream of wealthy people tossing their coins into the treasury. Some threw them in with force and looked around to see who was watching. Jesus noticed them. Some dropped their money in as though it was a routine thing to do. Jesus saw them too.

Then an elderly women, thin and poorly dressed, sidled up to the jar and, with eyes downcast, opened her hand and dropped in two tiny coins that made no sound as they fell into the jar. Then she silently melted into the crowd and disappeared from view.

“Did you see that?” Jesus announced excitedly to His disciples. “That little old lady who has just dropped her offering into the box?” With wonderment in His voice, He exclaimed, “She gave away every last cent of her livelihood. Now that’s generosity! All the others gave a little of their much. She gave much of her little. That’s the difference!” And He noticed.

So what’s it all about? Does God expect us to give everything we have to feed others and to go without ourselves? Was His instruction to the rich young ruler for everyone? “Give everything you have to the poor . . . “ No, not at all. God is realistic. He knows that we have families to feed and financial commitments to meet.

But there is something important that we as believers in Jesus need to understand. We are stewards, not owners of what we have. Moses reminded the Israelites:

But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant which He swore to your ancestors, as it is today (Deut. 8: 18).

We think that we are the source and the owners of our money and possessions and that it is all ours. Not true! God owns it all, and He has the right to tell us how to use it. Unlike the world system which pays interest, God works with percentages, and increases by multiplication. Look at the natural world. Money is like seed. When you eat it, it disappears until there is none left. When you plant it, there will be a harvest for the next year. Sow 20% of your seed and there will be an abundant harvest to feed your family and enough to sow again for the following year.

He instructed His people to give 20% of their income away to meet the needs of others, and live on 80% without guilt because this was their duty. Why their duty? Since God was generous to them by providing resources to meet their needs, they were obliged to be generous to those who had no means to provide for themselves. This was not about how benevolent they were towards others. This was about how grateful they were for God’s generosity to them.

Judging by the way many churches struggle financially, especially during an economic downturn, God’s people are horribly ungrateful, pathetically ignorant or woefully unbelieving. You see, it takes a partnership of obedience and trust in the trustworthiness of God and His promises to live in and above a world system that orbits around money. Either God’s promises are true or He is a liar and not worthy of our worship.

This little widow woman obviously trusted Him in the midst of a world of religious hypocrites. She knew that God would care for her – so she gave what she could – everything she had because her coins added up to the least she was permitted to give.

What we do with our money is, in the end, the measure of our obedience and faith in God.

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (Luke 16: 11).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

A Timely Warning

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A TIMELY WARNING

As He taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.’ (Mark 12: 38-40).

Jesus issued a warning which it would be well for Christian leaders to heed today. What was the problem? Was it wrong for the religious leaders to be treated with respect? No, everyone should be treated with respect regardless of their station in life. What these men were demanding was preferential treatment because they thought they were better than everyone else.

They had elevated themselves to privileged positions in society because they felt they deserved it. They were the custodians of the Torah, the Law of Moses, upon which the rest of Scripture was based. They had to ensure that the people adhered to the yoke of the rabbis with authority – s’mikhah. They were, in a sense, the watchdogs of the law, which would have meant that they, too, were under its authority, a fact they conveniently forgot.

Jesus did not have a problem with their function as far as it was fulfilled in the spirit of Torah, applying the law as God intended – with mercy and compassion, but these men has carried their position to extremes. They thought that their “learning” had made them a cut above everyone else. They expected the riffraff – the ordinary people whom they despised, especially the ones they regarded as “sinners” – to defer to them because they deserved it.

Jesus warned His disciples to watch out for them. These men had power. Many of them were part of the ruling party and the ruling authority in Israel and were hand-in-glove with the Romans. Fall foul of them and they would act ruthlessly as they were soon to find out. But Jesus’ warning was not so much to stay in their good books as it was not to be like them.

Jesus was not afraid of them. He used the weapon of truth to expose their hypocrisy and to stand up to their accusations and their intimidation. With masterful insight, He stripped away their actions to expose their motives. They were utterly self-absorbed. They did not use their learning or position to benefit the people. They used the people to benefit themselves. They wanted the admiration and accolades and they demanded it by preening and strutting like peacocks among the people.

Their attitude was contrary to the attitude of a true servant of God. Jesus insisted, time and again as He taught His disciples, that true greatness came from stepping down, not climbing up. Every time He caught the disciples bickering over positions in His coming kingdom, He took the opportunity to teach them about leadership. Greatness, like happiness is the result of something, not the goal to be sought at all costs.

Happiness is the outcome of a life lived for doing the right thing. Jesus congratulated those who gave themselves away to serve the needs of others, which brings a sense of peace and wellbeing because it is the right thing to do. Happiness follows selfless service just as night follows day. In the same way, greatness is the result of humble and self-forgetful service in the kingdom of God. Take Mother Teresa as a human example. She did not seek greatness but the world honoured her as a great woman because of her mercy and compassion to the dying beggars of Calcutta.

The religious leaders demanded to be treated as though they were great where, in fact their attitude and behaviour were despicable. They expected others to serve them instead of serving others. Their self-awareness was so great that it blew their egos out of all proportion.

What is the antidote to pathological self-awareness? We all suffer from its effects because we inherited it from Adam. The writer to the Hebrews gives us the answer:

. . . Fixing our eyes on Jesus . . . (Heb. 12: 2).

Paul put it like this:

And we all who, with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3: 18).

Whether we achieve greatness or not is not our business. Our task is to view ourselves realistically as God sees us; sons and daughters of God, yes; holy and beloved, yes; but not self-made or any better than others. Before God we all stand on level ground.

How reprehensible it is that some spiritual leaders in the church today have not heeded Jesus’ words. Unlisted phone numbers; unreachable to those in need; demanding preferential treatment; a cut above everyone else in the church – this is not the spirit of Jesus but the spirit of the Pharisees and their punishment will be great.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

Debate Closed

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DEBATE CLOSED

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked Him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’

‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but Him. To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices’.

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And from then on no one dared ask Him any more questions (Mark 12: 28-34).

One more question! Yet another teacher of the law had to have the last word. In spite of the accuracy of his question and his answer, something just does not ring true. O, he didn’t come with flattering words like the Pharisees and Herodians who tried to push Jesus into a corner with their question about paying taxes to Caesar. Nevertheless, his was also a trick question, judging by his response. He was not looking for an answer because he already knew the answer. He was testing Jesus and, at the same time, there was a subtle dig in his response.

The debate had raged around authority. Jesus said and did things that cut across the traditions of the sages. He did things on the Sabbath that enraged the religious leaders, like healing people, and instructing them to do what was “unlawful” to do on the Sabbath according to their laws – to carry a sleeping mat, for example. He defended His disciples for picking and cleaning grain on the Sabbath, which they said was “work”. He declared Himself to be Lord of the Sabbath.

When they demanded to know the source of His authority, He angered them even more by claiming to have received it directly from God. This man was incorrigible! He could not have been serious, but they could not ignore or deny the miracles which He said were proof that His authority came from God.

Then yet another teacher of the law came along and pushed Jesus just a little bit further. Did you notice how he laboured the point that God is one? “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but Him.” Jesus had quoted the Shema, a kind of “creed” that every Jewish baby heard from birth at his mother’s breast.

The Shema, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” was repeated by every Jew at least three times a day. But what did they understand by this declaration? Many false religions reject the truth that the God of the Bible is the only true God because of this very question – “How can God be one when the Bible claims that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also God.” God cannot be three and one at the same time

The Hebrew word for one – echad – does not imply “one” as a single unit, but “one” as in unity. When a group of people function together in harmony, they are said to be “one”, as a football team, for example, that has one purpose, to win. All the team members work together to accomplish that goal. The covering of the tabernacle, for example, was constructed of strips of material fastened together with clasps to make it echad – one.

This Jewish boffin was accusing Jesus, in a veiled way, of blasphemy but Jesus ignored his dig. Instead He commended him – but notice, He did not say that he was in the kingdom. He said that he was not far from the kingdom. The man was right in his head but not right in his heart. He knew the right answer but he did not recognise in Jesus the true representative of the Father, nor accept Him as the Father’s Son.

In an earlier debate with the religious leaders, Jesus had made it clear to them:

Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him (John 5: 23) and . . .

I and the Father are one (John 10:30).

How much clearer could He make it? To love Jesus was to love the Father; to honour Jesus was to honour the Father. To reject Jesus was to reject the Father, and as long as anyone kept questioning Him and debating His claim and the witness of His words and works, they were still outside the kingdom of God.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com