You Will See Me

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Pete

The next few hours would be brutal. Tomorrow they would witness what none of them could have imagined witnessing. The next couple of days would be filled with confusion, despondency, and the deepest of sorrows. So, on the night He was betrayed, Jesus sought to encourage His disciples. On the eve of the crucifixion He sought to implant something in their minds, hearts, and souls that would sustain them. Something that would prime the pump of hope. He left them this promise, “You will see Me.”

“A little while, and you will see Me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see Me. . . . Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. . . . So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”  ~ Jesus

(John 16:16, 20, 22 ESV)

His betrayal would be unavoidable. His death would be indisputable. His burial seemingly irreversible. But that He would rise from the dead, and that they would see Him again . . . well, that would be irrefutable. And that they would rejoice? Inevitable!

You WILL see Me. I WILL see you. Your sorrow WILL turn into joy. Your hearts WILL rejoice. And no one, NO ONE, will take your joy away.

A promise spoken to them. A promise preserved for us. You will see Me.

Jesus knew that’s what they needed to hear that night. And I’m thinking that, for many of us, He knows it’s what we need to hear today.

Needing to again put the realities of the here and now in the context of the promises of there and then. If even for just a few minutes, looking up from the struggles before us and remembering the faithfulness of the Sovereign over us. Not ignoring our sorrow, but also not forgetting His promise. You will see Me.

Never is a believer more alive then when he or she really believes that Jesus’ second advent could be soon . . . perhaps today! Never is the church–the beautiful bride of Christ–more energized than when she takes to heart that the Bridegroom’s coming is imminent. And never is the weary soul more renewed than when it pauses to consider that the time is approaching when faith will give way to sight and “You will see Me!”

O blessed word of God. O wonderful Spirit who leads us into all truth. O precious promises of Jesus.

Weeping may tarry for the night,
   but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5b ESV)

Because of grace. For His glory.

Even so, Lord Jesus, come!

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Better Than Butter

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Pete

How Job longed for the good ol’ days. The days of prosperity. The days of health. The days when family surrounded him. The days when widely held respect went before him. The days, Job says, “when God watched over me” (29:2). Then, he was in his prime. God’s friendship was beyond dispute. In fact, Job says, those days were so good . . .

” . . . my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!”   (Job 29:6 ESV)

How he pined for those bygone days when everything was going his way (MSG). Days when the blessings just flowed. When his path was coated with the finest and thickest cream (NIV). When even the rocks around him were prone to pouring out rivers of oil.

Who wouldn’t, in their suffering, long for such days?

If we can’t yet relate to Job in this, we will one day. A time of trouble becoming a catalyst for longing again for days of ease. Pain, hardship, and anguish causing us to sing songs of yesterday when troubles seemed so far away (thanx Beatles). To wish we were back in Kansas (and you too, Dorothy).

But then I turned to my reading from John. The John who wrote from the island of Patmos. My “brother and partner in the tribulation” in exile “on account of the word of God” (Rev. 1:9). Better days behind him as well. Maybe not butter days, like Job, but you gotta think better than what he was experiencing on Patmos. And, while Job looked back, God in His grace gave John a glimpse of what was yet to come. And it was better than butter.

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here” . . . and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne. And He who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. . . . From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, . . . and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures . . . and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
    who was and is and is to come!”

(Revelation 4:1-8 ESV)

Our best days on earth can’t compare to what it will be like when we see what John saw. We know our worst days on earth will be worth it all when we’re reminded of what awaits those who love Him on that day we transcend earth. That day when we behold the throne. That day when we’re in the presence of God. Our holy, holy, holy God. It’s gonna be better than butter.

The senses will be overloaded with sights and sounds we’ve never seen nor heard. And our attention will be drawn to the One who sits on the throne, and our focus to the Lamb in the midst. And we’ll know, like we’ve never known, that this is truly life and life to the full.

And we’ll sing the song of the redeemed. And we’ll worship the One who sent the Redeemer. And we will behold Him, the One who gave Himself to rescue our souls. The One who, through His Spirit, tethers our souls to His.

The One who was . . . there in the good times. The One who is . . . an ever present help in time of need in the tough times. The One who is to come . . . taking us, on that day, to be with Himself.

Better than butter.

Father, strengthen me in the present. Keep me from being consumed with the good ol’ days of the past. Set my heart, mind, and eye on things yet to come . . . and that, perhaps today!

By your grace. For your glory.

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They Forgot Me

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Pete

Wrapping up Hosea this morning. I never cease to be amazed by this love story gone south. A man who, under God’s direction, takes “a wife of whoredom” know he will have “children of whoredom”. And this in order to picture the depths of the love of God toward His people who had committed “great whoredom by forsaking the LORD” (1:2-3).

So a woman of ill-repute, justified so by her adulterous practice, is given a second chance by Hosea though he’s been told she won’t remain faithful. What’s more, she is given another second chance when, after returning to her flesh-driven ways and clientele, she is bought again out of the bondage of infidelity. Hosea told by the LORD to “go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods” (3:1). Heavy sigh.

And throughout the remainder of the prophet’s writing is the indictment against faithless, whoring Israel.

But in this closing chapter I wonder if I haven’t come across what might be a root cause for such unfaithfulness in light of such undeserved love. Perhaps the lure of other lovers is founded in something quiet fundamental. That, after deliverance, they became dull. After being loved, they let something slip. After realizing the promise of a new land, they become complacent concerning the Promise Giver.

But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, and besides Me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot Me.

(Hosea 13:4-6 ESV)

Therefore they forgot Me. What chilling words.

A people who had been led out of bondage. A people who had been cared for in the desert. A people who had been brought into a land of promise. Most importantly, a people with God in their midst. And, when they became full, when the need was no longer perceived, they forgot their Deliverer. Grew cold concerning their Provider. Having become used to the pillar of cloud that overshadowed them, they looked past the shoulder God’s glory in their midst and wondered what else was out there. And they, like Hosea’s wife, returned to bondage. All because, “They forgot Me.”

Have forgotten the One who loved them to the uttermost, they started looking for love in all the wrong places. Taking for granted the faithful care of Him who sacrificially met all their needs, they slipped into unfaithfulness as they lusted after those who might satiate some of their wants.

They forgot Me. What an ominous warning for the people of God. But for this too, He has made provision.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

(1Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV)

This weekend, many of us in many churches will be taking at least a few minutes to participate in a simple feast designed to keep us from forgetting. A feast instituted by the Savior to help us remember. Oh, that we might remember! Truly remember!

That we would draw near again to the cross and remember our great deliverance and the cost paid by our great Deliverer. That we might know afresh of His faithful, every present, provision. And that it might drive from us the seeds of complacency and crush within us the appetite for other lovers which can never satisfy.

Might it be said of His people, Oh how they remember Me!

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Call Not To Tolerate It

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Pete

I’m at the midpoint of the seven letters written to the seven churches in Revelation, the letter written to the angel of the church at Thyatira. And, if anything is clear up to this point, it is that Jesus knows.

“I know your works,” says the One who walks among the churches to Ephesus (Rev. 2:2). “I know your tribulations,” says the First and Last to Smyrna (2:9). Says the One who has the two-edged sword to the church at Pergamum, “I know where you live and what it’s like” (2:13). And to Thyatira, ” I know your latter works exceed the first,” says the Son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire, and feet like burnished bronze (2:19).

Does Jesus know? Yes, He knows. Does Jesus care? You better believe He cares. So much so that, while He acknowledges their faithfulness, He also loves them too much not to call out their need. For three of the four churches so far, after commending them, He says this, “But I have this against you . . . ”

The One who searches mind and heart knows what’s up, all of it! And He who gives according to our works loves us too much to not call us out when our works are lacking or misdirected. It’s part of completing the work He has promised to complete in us (Php. 1:6). And, in the case of Thyatira, it’s not so much what they were doing, but what they weren’t doing that’s got me thinking this morning.

“I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.” ~ Jesus

(Revelation 2:19-20 ESV)

Don’t know who this lady, Jezebel, is. Don’t know if that was her actual name or if she was just being likened to King Ahab’s idol-worshiping wife who had corrupted Israel. But it would seem she was a lady who got some air-time in the church. Maybe from the pulpit. Maybe as a bible study leader. Maybe simply by being an influential member of the church who had a platform for voicing her teaching..

Whatever the platform, she claimed to be a prophetess. She had a word from God for the church family. She had a new teaching, some new and improved food, for the flock. And it was seducing precious saints to engaging in sexual immorality. It was leading some astray to get increasingly comfortable with idolatry. She was spreading what some called “the deep things of Satan” (2:24) and there were those who were being swallowed up in it.

And here’s what Jesus knew. He knew what they weren’t doing. The church at Thyatira wasn’t dealing with it. Instead, they were tolerating that woman Jezebel.

They let her alone. Didn’t try to restrain or rebuke her. They were allowing her to teach. Letting her say what she said the Lord wanted her to say. They played it low-key and looked the other way. And to this church, says Him who has eyes like fire, “I have this against you.”

A reminder that even today the enemy will plant Jezebels within the church, male and female, with some “new revelation” which, at it’s core, preaches compromise. That we are not immune from orthodox sounding voices to be sowing unorthodox seed.

And the church is not to put up with it. But to call it out for what it is, false teaching. To stand opposed to anything which compromises fidelity to the Lord and to His word. To deal with the leaven before it leavens the whole lump.

Might the Bride of Christ be faithful to her Bridegroom. Might she not allow anything in that would lead souls astray and towards rebellion. Would she heed the call to confront false teaching and expose phony prophets. The call not to tolerate it.

That she might “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Couple of Great Questions

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Pete

I like to think that they were sincere. But, honestly, they were sincerely bad. They each came from their own place to be with Job in order to be his comforter. But instead of bringing solace, they only added to his suffering. Instead of bringing peace to Job’s soul, they thought it better to give him a piece of their mind.

And here’s the thing about these guys, some of their observations were right on. It was their application that, for the most part, kind of missed the target. And, though their answers were mostly out to lunch, they did ask some pretty good questions.

A couple of great questions caught my attention this morning. Though they were asked as rhetorical questions, Bildad thinking the answers were obvious, I find myself in awe afresh as I chew on the answers none of those guys could have imagined.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: “Dominion and fear are with God; He makes peace in His high heaven. Is there any number to His armies? Upon whom does His light not arise? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in His eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”

(Job 25:1-6 ESV)

“How can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone born of a woman be pure?” (NLT) They can’t. That, for Bildad & Co., was the obvious, no-brainer answer.

But I find myself, like a kid in a classroom waving his hand wildly so the teacher can see it, wanting to shout, “Ooh, Ooh! I know, I know! Ask me! Ask me!”

How can those born of woman, but maggots and worms (a tad dramatic I think) when compared to God’s holiness, be without spot before Him? How can any man or woman hope to plead righteousness before the awesome God who alone has eternal dominion over all things? I know! I know! Sunday School answers for 100, Alex. Who is Jesus!

The same God who makes peace in His high heaven has made provision for peace on sin-stained earth. And that, through Himself. By sending the Christ. His blessed Son, God even God, taking on flesh in order to make peace through the cross. Making redemption possible. Making release from sin attainable. Making regeneration–worms and maggots of earth becoming new creations as sons and daughters of heaven–available.

How then can a man be right before God? By being in Christ. Because “for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor. 5:21).

How can an ordinary Joe, or ordinary Job for that fact, stand guiltless before a holy Judge? Through an eternal Mediator. One who not only advocates on their behalf but who, Himself, has paid the price in full for their transgression so that God no longer sees them in their sin, nor deals with them according to their iniquity. Pure before God because God has removed their transgression from them.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.

(Psalm 103:11-12 ESV)

He who makes peace in heaven has brought peace to earth by laying on His Son “the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).

Because of a couple of great questions, what wondrous recollection. What soul-satisfying reflection.

And we’re only getting started. December isn’t even here, but the anticipation of celebrating God’s great answer to the Bildad’s unanswerable question has begun. Oh, that I might maintain that focus over the next days and weeks with all that’s going to compete for my attention and affections.

Lousy comforters. Poor application-makers. But great question-askers. A catalyst to reminding us of a great salvation and a great, great God!

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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To Love Him Is To Know Him

Posted on November 27, 2018 by Pete

To know me is to love me. I’m thinking most folks have at least heard the cliché. Guessing also that many of us have used it. Either as a plea, or as a pardon. A plea for others to spend the time to truly get to know us–a plea for meaningful, deep down relationship. A pardon when it’s said to excuse those little “eccentricities” that might be annoying at first, but, when you get to know me, you’ll find adorable.

However, when it comes to the connection between knowing and loving Jesus, something Jesus says this morning in John 14 turns that little cliché upside down . . . or at least backwards. If I’m picking up what Jesus is laying down, then . . .

. . .  to love Him is to know Him.

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

(John 14:21-23 ESV)

On the night Jesus was betrayed, “having loved His own . . . He loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1). In partaking of His last supper before the cross He wanted to eat with those who had followed Him. In His final hours before His departure, He wanted to serve those who had left family, jobs, and comforts of status quo to serve Him. During the time when many might have been content to be alone with their thoughts, He wanted to pour out to them His final words of encouragement. And so we have what’s been called the Upper Room discourse in John 13 to 17. And as part of those final words Jesus says, in effect, “To love Me is to know Me.”

When I’m gone, Jesus said, love Me. How? Keep my commandments. Keep My word. For in that, you will keep the faith. Your behaviors acting as testimony to your beliefs. Your obedience not a means of earning My favor, but as a response to the unmerited favor you have already experienced. Keeping My commandments, says Jesus, is My love language.

But here’s what grabs me this morning. To those who love Him, He will manifest Himself to them. He will show Himself. He will come into view with increasing clarity.

And how’s that? For both the Father and Son will come to them and make Their home with them. They will make Their abode with them. They will move in, settle down, and abide with them.

And how’s that? The Father and the Son take up residence in them through the Spirit in them.

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”   ~ Jesus

(John 14:15-17 ESV)

Because He has first loved us–having loved us to the utmost–we love Him. We show that love as we submit our will to His and seek His enabling to keep His commandments. And when we love Him, He makes Himself known to us as He abide with us.

And this, through the Spirit He has asked the Father to give to us. The Spirit who dwells with us. The Spirit who dwells in us. The Spirit who brings Father and Son to make Their home with us. A Trinitarian encounter of the divine kind. So that to love Him, is to know Him. And to know Him is eternal life (Jn. 17:3).

Oh, how I can take for granted the gift of the Holy Spirit. How complacent I can become that He is in me. How clueless I can be to His 24/7 dynamic in my life. How thankful I am, though, that the Helper is here helping Me.

The Spirit of truth helping me to love the Savior through the illumination of truth. And then igniting within me a desire to respond to the truth with trust and obedience. And then, as I love Jesus, the Spirit is the One through whom Jesus makes Himself known to me in a deeper way. The One through Whom the Son knocks at the door of my heart. The One who prompts me to open that door. The One through Whom the Son, accompanied by the Father, comes in and sets up home.

Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

What grace! To Him be all the glory!

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The Bottom Line Thing

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Pete

The time is near. That’s what grabs me this morning. That’s what sticks.

Although John wrote it down, it is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants” (Rev. 1:1). And what He had to show them were “the things that must soon take place.” Things for which the time is near (Rev. 1:3b).

What sort of things? Well, beyond seven letters to be read , seven seals to be opened, seven trumpets to be sounded, and seven bowls to be poured out, here’s the bottom line thing:

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen.

(Revelation 1:7 ESV)

Jesus is coming again. Coming in the clouds. Coming in a way that no matter where you are on the earth, no matter what language you speak or what belief you hold, you will see Him in His glorious appearing. For EVERY EYE will see Him.

For some it will be horror, lament, and a wailing with the realization that the Judge has returned. And for others–like for this guy in this seat–with an eye to sky, there will be a shout, “Yes!!! Even so. Amen!” For those eyes, the eyes of believers, will behold their Savior.

Reading also in John’s gospel this morning. And there I was reminded of the promise of His return. The promise that one day the eye of faith will give way to a face to face encounter of the divine kind.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.” ~ Jesus

(John 14:1-3 ESV)

I will come again, Jesus said. I will take you to be with Me, Jesus said. The time is near, Jesus says. So don’t be troubled.

No profound words really coming to mind this morning. Somethings are sometimes more felt than tell’t.

But what does occur to me is that if this advent season should remind us of anything, it’s that another advent is near. If His coming as a child stirs anything afresh in us, it should be that one day–perhaps soon and very soon–He is coming as King. If Immanuel, God with us, fills us with any hope, it is that the time draws near when it will be us with God.

Because He came from heaven to earth, we are assured that while on earth He is preparing a place for us in heaven. Because He bore the wrath for our sin on the cross, we can, with confidence, anticipate a day when we will sing of His praise with a great crowd.

Oh, that this advent season wouldn’t be consumed only with the present (nor the presents). But that it would be a time to thoughtfully look back at His first advent, and marvel at the wonder of a Son given for a people lost. Yet, even more, that it would be a time for looking forward in heightened expectancy of His imminent second advent. That we would awake to the reality that the Master’s return is near and that, by His continued enabling, we need to press on and be about the Master’s business until then.

It’s the bottom line thing. Jesus is coming again. People get ready!

Wait like you’ve never waited before. Worship like you’ve never worshiped before. Work like you’ve never worked before.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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The Command and The Promise

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Pete

He understood the prophetic word he heard. He got the vision that was revealed.

That’s what it says of Daniel, in the opening verse of Daniel 10, about the revelation he received in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia. And why shouldn’t he have understood? That’s what Daniel did.

From a youth, as a rookie in training in the king’s court, God had blessed him with “understanding in all visions and dreams” (1:17). Throughout his political career he received notoriety as he repeatedly had been called on to be the conduit through which the “God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (2:28) would speak to rulers on earth who really knew nothing.

Then, toward the end of his life, it was Daniel who was having the dreams. Daniel who was troubled by terrifying mind pictures. And God Himself, through heavenly emissaries, who revealed things yet to come.

But as I read these final chapters of Daniel which began with, “he understood the word and had understanding of the vision”, I notice it concludes with Daniel’s self-admission, “I heard, but I did not understand” (12:8). Daniel understood . . . but only mostly. He knew it . . . but just in part. He got it . . . except for the stuff he didn’t.

Isn’t that the way it is with things concerning the end times? For as much as we think we know, when it comes to Jesus’ return, there is still much shrouded in mystery. A lot we don’t know. A lot left for debate. Maybe that’s why the closing verse of Daniel’s prophecy grabs me this morning. Why it is such an encouragement and comfort as I chew on the command and the promise.

“But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”

(Daniel 12:13 ESV)

To this senior saint, one who had served many kings well, and had served the King of kings faithfully, the command is given, “Go to the end.” Forget about hangin’ up a shingle on your life’s door that might read, “Closed, Gone Fishing.” But keep on keepin’ on.

Go your way. Be about your business. Walk in the paths I have for you yet to walk in. The paths I will show you, just as I have faithfully shown you over the decades.

Don’t be distracted by visions and mysteries partially revealed. But live according to the revelation you have received.

Don’t be entangled in the affairs of the kingdoms about you, but set your mind and heart fully on the kingdom yet to come.

And this because of the promise. You shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. Whenever the end times occur, however the last days might play out, “you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you” (NLT).

What is now seen imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, what is now but partial and incomplete knowledge, will one day–perhaps soon and very soon–be seen with clarity and known completely. What is now by faith, one day, will be face to face.

So much we have learned. So much we don’t know. So much we think we get. So little, sometimes, we think we understand. But this we do know, His grace has brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

 (Jude 24, 25 ESV)

I shall stand with Him on that day. That’s the promise to believe.

Until then, by His enabling, I will go till the end. That’s the command to obey.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Stepping Into the Father’s World

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Pete

The hour of His exodus was upon Him. The countdown had begun. He who had, so far, kept a relatively low profile during the lead up to Passover was soon to become the center of attention. In but a few hours, the Son of Man would be lifted up as the Lamb of God. God incarnate would bear the wrath for creation’s rebellion. The Son forsaken by the Father as He who knew no sin became sin for us.

I can only imagine all that ran through the Omniscient’s mind. He knew who was going to betray Him (Jn. 13:11). What’s more, he not only knew the human suffering that was before Him, He was fully aware of the divine judgment that awaited Him. So much so that it troubled Him to the depths of His soul (Jn. 12:27).

But there’s something else that Jesus knew. And because He knew it, I can know it too.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

(John 13:1 ESV)

Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.

Kind of have a “departure” filter on as I get ready to preach from Exodus this weekend. So I thought, just as it is in Luke 9:31, the original word used here for “depart” might be related to the Greek word exodos. It’s not.

I’m no Greek scholar, but using my handy dandy computer lexicon it looks like the original word used here, metabaino, is made up of two words, meta – among or into the middle of, and baino – to walk. Jesus knew it was His hour to pass over from walking in the middle of one place to walking in the middle of another. That soon He would go from walking in the middle of this world to walking in the middle of the Father’s world.

Was that a big part of “the joy that was set before Him”? (Heb. 12:2) Is that what enabled Him to endure the cross and despise its shame? I’m thinkin’ . . .

What it because He never lost sight of where He was going that, even on the night He was to be betrayed, He loved His own to the end? Pretty sure . . .

Having been in the world, He would return to the Father. Having taken on flesh and come in the form of a servant, He would again put on the form of God. The suffering, shame, and disgrace would dissolve as, once more, He would be clothed with the glory that He had with the Father since before the world existed. The cross would give way to the crown. Having been lifted up before men in apparent defeat, He would be seated at the Father’s right hand in undisputable, eternal victory. The hour had come to depart out of this world. And it would be the hour when He would walk again in the midst of His Father.

And because Jesus knew this to be true, we do as well.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” ~ Jesus

(John 17:24 ESV)

To be absent from the body, will be to be present with the Lord.

For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. . . So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord . . .

(2Corinthians 5:1, 6 ESV)

What will it be to depart and step into the Father’s world? I can only imagine. But knowing I will one day walk in His midst has a way of providing strength for today as I seek to walk in the midst of this world.

And that because of grace. And that solely for His glory.

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The Effort for One Man

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Pete

Lord willing, I’m covering the pulpit this weekend. Don’t do it very often so, when I do, it can become a source of anxiety (don’t know if that’s the right word, exactly) as the immensity of preaching God’s word is not something I normally carry into a week. The other thing I carry into this week is the text I’ll be preaching. Acting as a lens through which my morning readings can’t help but be seen, by default the week’s text becomes at least a “side dish” to whatever I’m chewing on.

We’re working through Exodus at LTCC and next Sunday we’re scheduled to cover the first thirteen verses of Exodus 7. And so, part of what I carry into this week is a “Pharaoh filter.” As in God saying, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.” (Did I mention the anxiety part earlier?)

So I’m thinking that’s why another hostile king has so grabbed my attention this morning. But in his case, instead of hardening his already cruel and callous heart, God goes to great lengths towards leading him to become a worshiper of the God of heaven. And honestly, this morning I’m a bit in awe of the effort for one man.

First, God determines to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar “what will be in the latter days” (Daniel 2:28) through a dream in the night and dream interpreter in his courts. To which the volatile and unpredictable king starts to gain clarity that Daniel’s God is truly “God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries” (2:47).

But that insight doesn’t prevent the pagan king from building an incredible image of gold for all to bow to, intending that they look past the shoulder of this golden god and worship the golden king who built it and commanded homage be paid to it. But three faithful men refuse to bow. Aren’t too impressed with the idea of of worshiping some creation rather than the Creator. Into the fire they go. Out of the fire they walk. And the somewhat fickle king again blesses the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego confessing “there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way” (3:29).

But the king’s not done yet. And neither is God. Despite being warned in another Daniel interpreted dream of the danger of puffing out one’s chest before the God who “rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will” (4:25), as the king’s accomplishments grow so does his ego. And one night, while walking on the roof of the magnificent palace he had built, he looks around and says, “Look at me! I have built great Babylon by my mighty power for the glory of my majesty!” (4:28-30).

If, at that moment, the king had looked back over his shoulder, he would have seen the line. And he had just crossed it. God shares His glory with no one! (Isa. 42:8)

And while God swiftly and strongly brings the king to his knees, He also graciously and wholly brings the king to his senses. This king of earth sees the light that the Most High is the King of heaven. And “all His works are right and His ways are just; and those who walk in pride He is able to humble” (4:37).

And I think, that’s a lot of effort for one man. One man not a lot different than the guy who’s stuck in my “Pharaoh filter”. Cruel to God’s people. Opposed to God’s authority. Slow to pick up on God’s power.

But while God hardens Pharaoh’s heart (will be working that explanation through this week), He chooses instead, through great patience and persistence, to turn Nebuchadnezzar’s heart toward Himself. A lot of effort for one man.

But two things occur to me. First, the effort pales in comparison to the effort to redeem this guy in this seat this morning. The cross a reminder of the price, patience, and persistence of a God who so loved a hostile world that He sent His Son to rescue it through the shedding of His blood and the power of an empty tomb.

Second, it’s clear from this text that the effort was less about one man being brought to his senses, and all about a great God being known. While sin was punished, though the idol of ego was crushed, the greater result was that the glory of God had been seen and declared.

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored Him who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”

(Daniel 4:34-35 ESV)

A lot of effort for one man? I’m thinkin’.

Too much effort for the glory of God? Apparently not.

Such is His abundant, overflowing grace toward men and women.

To Him be glory now and forever more.

Amen.

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