Daily Archives: October 2, 2015

Learning To Be A Son – Chapter Four – The Disposition Of The Son

Book Reviews, , ,

CHAPTER FOUR

The Disposition of the Son

Moses was up the mountain, pleading with God to forgive Israel for breaking the covenant. He requested to see God’s glory and God responded by revealing His name – gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. Since it was the Father’s representative on earth, the second person of the Trinity who met with Moses, the revelation of His disposition on Mount Sinai indicated what His disposition would be as a human being on earth.

As we follow Jesus through the pages of the gospels, we read the record of how He lived out His disposition as the Messiah whom the Father sent to reveal His true nature to His people. Jesus made enemies of the religious leaders because they did not like His exposure of their ungodly lives which they covered up by their strict adherence to their interpretations and additions to God’s directions for living.

Jesus taught His disciples and demonstrated to His people how to interpret the Torah as God intended. They were to be generous and merciful to all people because God was always merciful and generous towards them. As a rabbi, He had the right to teach them His “yoke” His interpretation of the Torah according to God’s intention. He invited people to take His yoke and learn from Him because He was gentle and humble in heart. His yoke would release them from bondage to the yoke of the other rabbis which was a straightjacket of rules and regulations, and bring them into God’s true rest.

Jesus also enraged the religious leaders because of His claim to be the Son of God. Both the testimony of the Father and the works He did bore witness to who He was, but the religious leaders refused to examine the evidence. They repudiated His claims and looked for a way to get rid of Him.

Jesus did not only claim unity with the Father and sonship – He lived it out as a submissive and obedient Son. His relationship and fellowship with the Father give us the clue to the “password” which allows us access to all that the Father has given us through Jesus. It is only because we have the rights as sons and daughters of God that we can approach the Father in prayer and receive from Him everything we need to live godly lives in this world as followers of Jesus.

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 first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

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

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

To order your 0wn copy of either book, contact

Toll free – 0800 990 914 (South Africa)

orders.africa@partridgepublishing.com

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa  or

+44 20 314 3997 (outside South Africa)

ISBN: Hardcover – 978-1-4828-0891-9                                                                                     Softcover 978-1-4828-0890-2                                                                                                              eBook 978-1-4828-0889-6

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

 

Jesus Did Not Say That The Foolish Virgins Were Not Filled With The Holy Spirit

Apologetics, , , ,

JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT THE FOOLISH VIRGINS WERE NOT FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in their jars along with their lamps. (Matt 25: 1-4)

We Gentiles, who understand neither the language nor the culture of the ancient Hebrew people, make a real mess if this one. When we read about lamps or light, it should alert us immediately that Jesus was talking about “walking” or living their lives God’s way and that oil had something to do with the way they lived.

We must also remember that Jesus was telling His disciples a parable. Therefore His story had a purpose and He was addressing a specific situation. We cannot interpret all the details of a parable without losing the teller’s main intention. What was the theme of Jesus’ discussion with His disciples? He was responding to their question about the destruction of the temple which He has just predicted:

‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?’ (Matt 24: 3b)

He did not give them a timeline which they could tick off as events happened. Hebrew people did not think like that. He gave them “signs” so that they could recognise what was happening and take action before they were caught up in the destruction. The whole purpose of His response was to teach them how to be ready for His return. It was not about living it up until just before His return but about being faithful to their duty so that they would be ready when He came to fetch His bride.

This parable fits into this theme. Jesus is the bridegroom who has gone to prepare the bridal chamber for His bride. It is the bride’s duty, during the extended betrothal period, to separate herself from all other men (to be holy) and to prepare her bridal gown. We have already discovered the interpretation of the “bridal gown” from our reference in Rev. 19: 6-8.

‘. . . For the wedding of the Lamb has come and the bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (Fine linen stands for the righteous deeds of the saints).

Just as the believer is robed in the righteousness of Christ, given to us as a free gift to cover our unrighteousness and make us acceptable to the Father, so we must confirm our status as God’s sons and daughters by living as Jesus taught us or, as the Bible’s imagery explains, we must walk in God’s way, following the path of His teaching or Torah by being generous and merciful to all people because God has been generous and merciful to us.

The “oil” in this parable is not a reference to the Holy Spirit, as many preachers interpret the story, but to the “righteous deeds of the saints” which the bridal gown represents. The five wise virgins were filled with righteous deeds – they lived their lives according to Jesus’ teaching, that is, the way He interpreted God’s instructions found in the first five books of the Bible, collectively known as the Torah. Their lamps were full of oil because they walked in the light of God’s word.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psa. 119: 105)

Doing the right thing (righteous deeds) is not the reason for their righteousness but the evidence of a right relationship with God, made possible because Jesus removed the barrier of sin.

The foolish virgins showed no evidence in their lives that they had ever responded in faith to the offer of the gift of righteousness. They had no “light” on their way. When the bridegroom came, they could not go into the wedding feast with the others because their lamps were empty of the true light of life, the good works that revealed their true nature as daughters of God.

We read the clue to the seriousness of their failure to be ready by the response of the bridegroom when they wanted to enter the banqueting hall.

But when they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day nor the hour. (Matt 25: 10-13)

The bridegroom denied them entry because He did not “know” them. The word “know” implies the intimate knowledge of a husband and wife which results in reproduction, just as Adam “knew” Eve and she bore a son.

Jesus only “knows” us when we bow to Him as Lord and respond to Him in submission and obedience to His word. We respond to His mercy and generosity by treating our fellow human beings with mercy and generosity, revealing our nature as sons and daughters of God.

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matt 25: 40)

John, the beloved disciple, hit the nail on the head!

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18)

Acknowledgement

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 first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

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

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

To order your 0wn copy of either book, contact

Toll free – 0800 990 914 (South Africa)

orders.africa@partridgepublishing.com

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa  or

+44 20 314 3997 (outside South Africa)

ISBN: Hardcover – 978-1-4828-0891-9                                                                                     Softcover 978-1-4828-0890-2                                                                                                              eBook 978-1-4828-0889-6

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