Tag Archives: witnesses

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 19

Bible Study,

Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT
[1] “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. [2] We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. [3] Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”

Based on the objective truth of what God has done through Jesus, there is always a “therefore”. Therefore is the bridge between then and now, the reason for a positive response for what has been accomplished for the readers…and us.

“Therefore”, here, is also the witness of those who have proved the merits of remaining faithful. The great cloud of witnesses, as some interpret this passage, are not those who are sitting in heaven, watching us struggle and urging us on. These witnesses are, rather, those who, by their own lives of faithfulness and obedience to Jesus, regardless of the cost, bear witness to the value of persevering. The reward far outweighs the cost.

The real issue is, Jesus is the model for our endurance. He never gave up. For Him, there was a reward so great that it was worth every moment of agony, every drop of blood, to push through to the completion of His mission.

His motivation to endure was the joy that awaited Him. What was it that beckoned Him? Two great rewards…the honour of being crowned “Lord” and the reward of a vast family of brothers and sisters like Himself whom He rescued from eternal damnation.

Isaiah 53:10-12 NLT
[10] “But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. [11] When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. [12] I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.”

So says Isaiah.

We must fasten our attention on Jesus rather than on the present circumstances, no matter how painful or life threatening. The reason we falter is that we often fail to take the long look. Imagine if a young student, entering university to study to become a medical doctor, falters when he faces the first examination. Without an eye on the goal, the difficulties he faces through the long years of study and testing, would surely tempt him to give up. So too, only as we keep our attention on Jesus, follow His example, rely on His grace, and determine in our hears to keep going, will we ever win the prize.

The greatest obstacle to victory is we, ourselves. We trip ourselves up by the very sins we engage in that entangle us and make us lose focus. What kind of sins? For most of us, the so-called big sins, like murder, theft, adultery, etc., are not our problem but…what about the sins we think are little sins, far more subtle but equally damaging, thoughts and attitudes that cloud our minds and, subtly, cause us to become weary or veer off course.

From God’s perspective, whatever we engage in that does not flow from our trust in Jesus is sin. Sin is, in essence, the fruit of unbelief. So, what we think that is not of God, is sin. What we think leads to what we say and do. The source of sin is in our minds. The solution? Change the way we think.

Romans 14:23b NIV
[23] “… everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

This perspective shows us that sin is much more invasive, pervasive, and subtle than we realise. The antidote to our attitude of independence from Jesus, even in the seemingly most insignificant of decisions and actions, is to be fixated, yes, fixated on Jesus. His example, together with His presence in us by His Spirit, is the guarantee that we shall endure to the end, just as He did. He brushed aside every temptation to quit, every test of His faithfulness to His Father, to the Word, and to His goal, every obstacle the enemy threw in His path, yes, even every opportunity to strike back at His opponents…and so must we.

How did Jesus overcome?

1 Peter 2:21-24 NIV
[21] “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. [22] “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” [23] When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. [24] “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

That’s it? That’s the key! Jesus kept His focus on the Father. We, in turn, must keep our eyes on Him. Look at Him… His compassionate and merciful nature, His commitment to His goal, His unwavering reliance on the Father, His knowledge of and obedience to the Word. Who could fault Him?

Just as Jesus is the reason we are saved, so Jesus is our hope to endure. He overcame and so will we because He is in us and we are one with Him. Only this attitude will keep us on track and move us safely to the end of our journey.

John 15:5 NLT
[5] “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

To be continued…

THE BOOK OF ACTS – TIMING IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS

Bible Study, , ,

TIMING IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS

“When they were together for the last time, they asked, ‘Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?’

“He told them, ‘You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit.  And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the world.'” Acts 1:6-8 (The Message).

The disciples were like bulldogs with a bone. They never let go of their belief that Messiah was going to free them from the Romans. Just think of how much of the impact of Jesus’ teaching they missed because they had a fixation for getting rid of Rome. It was probably one of the motivations behind Judas’ betrayal. Perhaps he wanted to shock Jesus into action — but it didn’t work.

Their constant squabbling was always about who would be ‘Prime Minister’ in Jesus’ cabinet. His teaching about greatness in the kingdom of God fell on deaf ears. They could not understand it because it always collided with their preconceived idea about the kingdom of God.

Even the cataclysmic events of the past few weeks had not dislodged their expectation. Now Jesus was about to leave them and He had still not said or done anything about the Romans! All the instruction He had given them about the kingdom of God over the past forty days had been filtered through the notion that He would take action now so that they could administer the new kingdom for Him after He had gone.

They finally brought their expectation out into the open. ‘Is this the time?’ they asked, hoping against hope that He would say yes. The answer they got cut them short, once and for all. ‘Timing is the Father’s business.’  It was not their business, and neither is it ours, to question God’s timing or intentions. Like the disciples, this is often something that consumes us so much that we miss the bigger picture and the valuable lesson.

These men were about to learn a new way of life. Up to now they had Jesus with them. He set the pace and they tagged along, not knowing what was going on but content to be with Him and let Him do the stuff while they watched and listened. They did what He told them and went where He sent them. He had given them authority and power and they had tasted some of the impact of the kingdom He was presenting.

From now on He would no longer be with them in person. They had witnessed the Holy Spirit’s power in His life. Now it was their turn. His physical presence would give way to the Spirit’s internal residence and they would have to learn to recognise His voice and follow His leading from within. This would put a new responsibility on them; to learn to discern His voice, understand His leading and follow His instructions.

Jesus did not leave a “Google map” for them, with all the details of the journey and the destination. That would have been so much easier to follow. Instead He promised them another person just like Himself; same disposition, same power, same wisdom, same purpose, same destination, but one who would be in their spirits, always there, always the same, always in charge.

This time they would do the stuff and the world would watch and listen and be convinced that Jesus is, after all, who He said He is. The issue is, like the disciples, like us, do we listen and follow, or do we ignore the Holy Spirit and do life our way? There is no better way to squelch the work of God on earth than to do it our way.

This One Thing

Bible Study, , , ,

THIS ONE THING

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race set out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfected of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12: 1-2).

Why did the writer call the people he had written about in chapter 11 “witnesses”? Witnesses can be one of two things – people who are the process of seeing something happen, or people who bear witness to what has already happened. Are these witnesses those who sit in the grandstand and watch the readers perform or are they those who bear witness to what they have already experienced in their lives of faith?

I believe that these witnesses are people who trusted God and obeyed Him in spite of adversity and opposition. They have gone ahead and are even now reaping the reward of their faith. They bear silent witness to us who are still in the arena of life that God’s promises are true and that there is a life beyond the grave which is worth the suffering.

To run the race of life as winners requires letting go of the encumbrances which hinder us, whether they be legitimate or illegitimate. There are many things that entangle us and hinder our progress towards the goa. Legitimate things can become distractors which pull our attention away from our purpose – activities, money and possessions, friends and even family, books we read or programmes we watch on television can so occupy our attention that we drift away from the Lord and become entangled in the affairs of this life.

There is nothing wrong with any of these things in themselves but, when they take our attention away from Jesus, they slow down our progress and even cause us to veer off course and lose sight of the one who has called us to follow Him

Of course there are also illegitimate interests and activities which we must shun at all costs – anything and everything that goes against the nature of God. On this race course of life there are many “No entry” signs which warn us of danger if we trespass in these areas. They are clearly spelled out for us in God’s word. Sin not only takes us off course, it also ensnares us so that we become slaves to its power all over again.

The writer warned us not to allow ourselves to become entangled in the things of this life that are necessary – we must do what we must do, but no more – and we must avoid at all costs those things that ensnare us and pull us back into slavery again.

How do we do that? He gives us a simple prescription for staying on course – keep looking at Jesus. He is both the pioneer and perfecter of faith. What is a pioneer? One who goes ahead and charts an unknown way. He is the way to the Father and, by His life and example, He opened the way to the Father through His death, He showed us how to live to please the Father and He gave us His Spirit to live within us so that we have the power to do as He showed us.

In every awkward and difficult situation He shows us Jesus if we are willing to pay attention. Instead of going it alone and living out of our old sinful nature and reacting in our old fleshly ways, through the Holy Spirit God provides the grace to die to our sinful ways and to live out of our new nature which is a reflection of Jesus. Instead of worrying, we trust; instead of bearing grudges, we forgive; instead of hating, we love; instead of getting even, we respond with kindness because Jesus showed us how to be true sons of God.

How did Jesus overcome? He kept His eye on the goal. What people did to Him because they hated Him paled into nothing compared with the reward that lay ahead for Him because He persevered and endured. Every marathon runner keeps going because he wants to win the prize. No matter how long the course or how many obstacles he has to overcome, he keeps going because the reward far outweighs the suffering.

So it was with Jesus, and so it is with us if we want to gain the eternal prize. There are others who have gone before us who bear witness that it was worth it. The worst that human beings could do to them could not deter them from trusting God and believing His promises. What about us?

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.

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Handpicked Witnesses

Christian Life, ,

HANDPICKED WITNESSES

“You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the devil. He was able to do all this because God was with Him.

“And we saw it, saw it all, everything He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed Him, hung Him from a cross. But in three days God had Him up, alive and out where He could be seen. Not everyone saw Him — He was not put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand — us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with Him after He came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that He is in fact the One whom God designated as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that He is the means to the forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of the prophets.” Acts 10:37-43 (The Message).

If you had stood in Peter’s shoes, what would you have said to that company of Gentiles eagerly waiting to hear your message? Would you have explained that they were all sinners and needed to be “saved”? Would you have given them a gory description of hell? Would you have urged them to repent of their sins and receive Jesus as their personal Saviour?

Peter had so much to tell them and an audience hanging on every word. What was the most pressing thing they were longing to hear? Peter grabbed the opportunity to present Jesus to them, not a Jesus who would deal with their problems and give them peace (which are not the reason but the result of bowing the knee to Him as Lord), but the Jesus who represented a loving God to the world and whom God authenticated by His resurrection to be both Saviour and Judge.

He, Peter, and his fellow disciples were eyewitnesses of the most amazing event in history; God came in the flesh to live among His people as an ordinary man, die the death of a criminal and rise from the dead. They saw Him, they spoke with Him and He ate with the after He had risen from the dead. What did all that mean?

It meant that everything He said and did was the truth. It all hung on His declaration that He would die and rise again. He had to be who He said He was to pull that off! And pull it off He did! Not only did He predict that He would do it but the prophets who wrote hundreds of years before He appeared on earth also predicted the same thing.

Surely this Jesus, who did something like that, was to be embraced as the Son of God and His promise believed that forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with the Father was the outcome of His death and resurrection. That was the message of the apostles to the world and that was the explosive power of the good news.

To these Gentiles who had known only the worship of gods who demanded but never gave, this came as a light from heaven. The proof of its truth lay in the evidence of eyewitnesses who were willing to face imprisonment and death rather than deny what they had seen and heard. Through Jesus they could receive forgiveness of sins and a place in God’s kingdom for which they had to do nothing.

What joy it must have given Peter to have the freedom to deliver a message like this to people he never thought would be eligible to receive it! God had forcefully made it clear that Jesus was for everyone, even for Gentiles and Roman soldiers! He had forgotten that the prophets had spoken of this day.

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.” Isaiah 65:1 (NIV).

“And now the Lord says…’It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.'” Isaiah 49:6 (NIV).

Companions of Jesus

Bible Study, , ,

COMPANIONS OF JESUS

“They couldn’t take their eyes off them — Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realised these two men were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education. They recognised them as companions of Jesus, but with the man right before them, seeing him standing there so upright — so healed! what could they say against that.” Acts 4:13 (The Message)

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose the guys He did to be His disciples? The other rabbis of His day went to the Beth Talmid, the “rabbi school”, to look for suitable followers, men who were already schooled in the Scriptures whom they could hone in their teachings and in their ways – their “yoke”, as it was called.

Jesus went to the lake and chose fishermen, tax collectors and political zealots, among others, men who had failed the entrance exam into “rabbi school”. These men had a lot less to unlearn than those who were being thoroughly schooled in the doctrines and practices of the very men who opposed Jesus and finally killed Him.

There was a very good reason for Jesus rejecting the learned ones — and Luke tells us why through the observation of the religious leaders as quoted above. Let’s have a look at what they saw in Peter and John.

1. They were confident and self-assured. Not arrogant, not bigoted, not dogmatic — but confident in the objective fact that Jesus was alive and they had seen Him and been with Him for forty days after His resurrection.

They didn’t need book learning to experience this kind of confidence. They had the presence of Jesus in them just as though He were with them in person. This was even better because the Holy Spirit in them was their strength, wisdom and guide every single moment.

2. They had no training in Scripture and no formal education. That was a bonus because they had a lot less misinformation to unlearn and prejudice to overcome than the “educated” ones. How much better it was for Jesus to write on a clean page than to rub out and start again.

That doesn’t mean that they did not have stuff to unlearn. One of their biggest issues was the expectation that Jesus had come to restore Israel’s political fortunes. They expected Him to evict the Romans and set up a restored Davidic kingdom. Their constant bickering was about the pecking order. Who was going to be at the top in this new government led by Jesus?

3. They were companions of Jesus. That’s a loaded statement. They had spent three years following Him, learning His ways, soaking up His teaching, practising His actions and attitudes. The religious hierarchy had tried to eradicate Him because He made things too hot for them. He repeatedly exposed their phoniness and they were losing face with the ordinary people they were supposed to be leading.

Now Jesus, whom they thought was safely dead and buried, had popped up again, multiplied in His followers. His Spirit was in them and they were doing what He had done. The religious rulers were not pleased. They were angry and frustrated. How were they going to put a lid on this thing?

What’s more, the movement was dangerous. These people were claiming and proclaiming that Jesus, not Caesar, was Lord, that He was Saviour and Prince of Peace — all the arrogant claims emanating from Rome. The implications were unthinkable. Instead of restoring the kingdom to Israel, they were in danger of being decimated by Roman military might.

Rome would not distinguish between the Jewish religion they tolerated and this new upstart mob that was claiming allegiance to a God who had come to earth, died and risen again and was now threatening everything that Rome stood for.

Companions of Jesus! What an indictment! That fact was responsible for the crippled man’s healing and they had no argument against that!