The Great Meeting

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Pete

Hovering over Psalm 85 this morning. A plea for revival. A cry for the God who has delivered to deliver again. Just as God had forgiven their iniquity and covered all their sin before, so the songwriter calls again for God’s indignation to be put away and His anger turned away from His frail and faltering people.

Will You not revive us again,
    that Your people may rejoice in You?
 Show us Your steadfast love, O LORD,
   and grant us Your salvation.     (Psalm 85:6-7 ESV)

Revive us again! That’s the cry of the repentant heart. Those are the words that form on the lips of a child of God who knows they have blown it . . . again! The distance caused by sin has become too great and so they set their face towards home. The desert entered because of drifting has created such a hunger and thirst for knowing again the abundant table of fellowship once enjoyed with the Lord, that the prodigal desires only the Father’s house.

That we may rejoice in You! No joy to be known like the joy of the LORD. No greater reason for the directing of our mental and emotional energy than to praising and worshiping the God of our salvation. No greater place to be found than in the land where His glory dwells.

So, on what basis does the songwriter pen such a petition? How can a people who have tripped up, slipped up, and crashed & burned repeatedly, even think to call upon their God . . . AGAIN . . . for such deliverance, restoration, and revival? Short answer: because of The Great Meeting.

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other.
 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
    and righteousness looks down from the sky.
 Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.     (Psalm 85:10-11 ESV)

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet. His lovingkindness toward His people is reconciled with His just demand for payment for their transgression. God is love . . . and God is truth . . . and the two come together. God having made provision so that He might be faithful to His holy standard and still extend abundant mercy and grace to the people He has chosen to love for eternity. Reconciliation, Revival, and Restoration all possible because of The Great Meeting — that great meeting that is found in Jesus, the Christ.

And so the demands of God’s righteous nature are fully met and peace with God is again known. The two kiss. The blood of Christ sufficient for the forgiveness of all our sin — past, present, and future — and for the cleansing of all unrighteousness. For those who confess their need, as does the psalmist, there is revival. The ground springs forth with renewed knowledge of God’s faithfulness. The clouds of separation are dispelled as, in Christ, we know again that blessed access into the Holy of Holies and bask in the presence of His righteousness.

The promises of God being “Yes and Amen” in His Son. Knowing again that the LORD will give what is good. Feeding and drinking anew from the abundance of a land that yields it’s increase. All because steadfast love and faithfulness meet in Christ.

O praise God for The Great Meeting. The law came through Moses, but “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

To Him be all glory . . . amen.

Posted in Psalms | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Cast of Thousands

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Pete

After 20 years of cruel oppression, it was time. God had sold His people into the hands of their enemies because of His people’s unfaithfulness, and now they cried out to the LORD for deliverance (Judges 4:1-3). And God heard their cries. And God was ready to go to battle on behalf of His people and rescue them from their misery. But, as I read Judges 4 and 5 this morning, what hits me is that, while God could have turned the tables Himself, instead He determines to use a cast of thousands.

So often I read this passage and I focus on Deborah. Deborah, wife of Lappidoth. Deborah, judge of Israel. Deborah, prophetess of God. And I take note of her godly leadership. Or, I might focus on Barak the reluctant military leader. Willing only to go into battle if Deborah goes with him. And I relate to his fearful nature. And then there’s Jael, wife of a nomad whose tents just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time for Sisera, commander of the Canaanite army. Jael, the last person this mighty man of war suspected of being a threat to him. And so, he goes to bed and wakes up dead.

But as I hover over the account of the battle in chapter four and then reflect on the song of victory sung by Deborah and Barak in chapter five, I realize that the victory wasn’t the result of just one or two or three people. Instead, it was the collaborative effort of Almighty God with a cast of thousands.

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: “That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD!   (Judges 5:1-2 ESV)

Deborah has been raised up to be a “mother in Israel” (5:7). Barak has been prepared to lead an army into battle. Jael has picked up a thing or two on how to use tent pegs and a mallet. But when it’s time to sing of victory, it’s about leaders who are stepping up to lead and people who willingly offer themselves to the LORD.

Barak is told to take 10,000 men from Zebulun and Naphtali into battle. And so, after securing Deborah as his personal escort, he puts out the call. “And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him” (4:10). And they join with men from other tribes, as well. Men of Ephraim and Benjamin along with princes from Issachar (5:14-15a). Though others chose to stay at home rather than enter the battle (5:15b-17), there were many who “offered themselves willingly.” And that, according to Deborah the woman of God, was worth singing about. Bless the LORD!

And so, I think about a God who delivers. Willing to discipline . . . so that His people’s faces might be turned back to Him. Mighty to save . . . that the bondage of our enemies might be broken. But also a God who chooses, often, not to act unilaterally. But instead, calls into the battle a cast of thousands.

Women and men. Prophetesses and tent-dwelling wives. Reluctant commanders and volunteer armies. Though God doesn’t need them to win the war, He purposes to use them. To stir hearts, such that all, regardless of stature or position, offer themselves willingly. Perhaps, that is the greater victory won. Men and women free to choose whom they will follow and what they will worship, offering themselves in response to the call of God. Willing to lay their lives on the line in order to see their God route the enemy and win the victory. Bless the LORD!

A cast of thousands. A call to faithfulness.

All by the grace of God. All for the glory of God.

Posted in Judges | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Costly Guest

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Pete

It’s somewhat incredible to me that they asked Him to leave. Talk about good seed being sown and then swept away.

For those who had been eyewitness to the showdown between the many demons known as Legion and Jesus, you would have thought they’d become followers of Jesus on the spot. Even for those who came afterward, you’d think that seeing the demons-possessed man — the one who lived among the tombs . . . the one who could not be bound by chains and shackles . . . the one who spent night and day crying out and cutting himself — you’d think, that once they saw him in his right mind, they’d want whatever or whoever had the power over such demonic forces to stick around for awhile. Nope! Instead they pleaded with Jesus to leave. How come?

And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. (Mark 5:15-17 ESV)

That they were afraid when they saw the former home to Legion cleaned up, dressed up, and having a rational conversation with Jesus & Co., makes some sense. Talk about a “before” and “after” picture. Raving, destructive, mighty lunatic before meeting Jesus . . . quiet, coherent, restful worshiper after meeting Jesus. That would be enough for those who knew him to be awestruck. I imagine them looking at the man with jaw-dropping wonder as they considered the magnitude of power owned by the One who had subdued and expelled Legion.

But it seems that when they heard about the pigs they decided, power or no power, this Jesus wasn’t good for the local economy.

Legion, knowing their days of residence in the man of the tombs were at an end, asked that they be allowed to go into a herd of pigs nearby. Jesus granted them permission. And as demons of destruction apparently are wont to do, they ran the pigs into the sea and drowned them. One man of the tombs miraculously delivered . . . a herd of 2,000 pigs destroyed. And it seems, the awe of demon deliverance gave way to dread of financial loss.

If Jesus hung around, what would be the cost of continued clean up?

And how many still ask Jesus to leave, even after seeing evidence of His power and willingness to save, because of fear of some perceived material or personal loss? How prone might we be, even as His people, to ask Jesus to leave because we value something more. Appreciative of the degree of deliverance we’ve known, but seeking to retain some material possession or imagined prestige, we declare ourselves “good enough” and tell Jesus we’ll take it from here?

Jesus, as someone has said, is a costly Guest.

But “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself” (Luke 9:25)?

Might His people continue to invite His sanctifying presence in their lives regardless of the perceived temporal cost. Might we see His continued cleansing and refining in our lives as a work of grace. A work of such value, that any perceived cost on our behalf pales in comparison.

Might we continue to welcome this “costly Guest” for the glory of God.

Posted in Mark | Leave a comment

Next Gen Believers

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Pete

Finishing up in Joshua this morning while on a bit of vacation visiting my favorite granddaughter . . . and her parents . . . in B.C. And came across a verse that has a ominous ring to it. Pretty benign, I’m thinking, for someone who might be reading Joshua for the first time, but carries a pretty ominous foreshadowing for those who know what lies ahead in Judges. And as I hover over the verse, I can’t help but reflect on the challenge it presents to every generation of those who love the Lord. That of passing the faith along. And that of being a Next Gen Believer.

Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel.  (Joshua 24:31 ESV)

Israel served the LORD. Good deal! As it should be. As they said they would when Joshua exhorted them to “choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (24:15). And choose they did, “We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God” (24:18).

And Joshua presses them, “You can’t. You’re not able to. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not tolerate the unfaithfulness of playing around with other gods which are, in fact, no gods.” To which the people affirmed, “No, but we will serve the LORD” (24:19-21). So they said, and so they did.  Israel served the LORD.

But then the ominous part . . . the foreshadowing, foreboding, toll of the bell . . . they served the LORD “all the days of Joshua.” As long as the elders lived who had been part of the conquest of the land. As long as those who had witnessed firsthand the mighty works the LORD had done for Israel. As long as they were around, Israel served the LORD. Leaving the question hanging, so what about the generation after them? What about the next generation who had things easier than their parents before them? What about those who had often been told the “old, old, story” but had not witnessed God’s mighty works for themselves? I’m not yet there in my reading plan . . . but my mind flashes ahead to the answer . . .

And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that He had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.   (Judges 2:10b-12a ESV)

To be sure, there’s often an innate “advantage” for 1st generation believers . . . those who have been delivered from sin as adults . . . led on their own exodus from the bondage of the sin and the world . . . those brought into the promised land of newness of life, having vivid memories of the old life . . . the reality of light being so real because they had walked in darkness for so long. But what of their children. What of the Next Gen?

What of those having grown up in the truth of the gospel . . . having received the Christ of their bedtime stories and their Sunday School lessons at a young age . . . not really aware of the world . . . not familiar with the tyranny of the flesh? Certainly, God’s hand is not too short that it can not save to the uttermost, whether 1st gen Christian or 5th gen believer. But, I think we 1st gen’ers often have the advantage of seeing the mighty works of the LORD in a different way. While our kids and their kids are blessed with the potential of avoiding a lot of the world’s dirt that we got on ourselves.

But at the end of the day, it comes down to the gospel . . . the good news for all men and women . . . all boys and girls . . . all generations, whether 1st gen believers or the Next Gen of Believers. That it isn’t just about how well the story is passed along, but about the grace of God which will invade the lives of those who, by faith, know their need and know in Him the only solution for that need. Who know their thirst and that He is the only one who can satisfy their thirst. Who hunger for the things of the kingdom above the things of this world and know that only He has the keys to the kingdom.

O’ that God’s people would serve the LORD whole-heartedly. And that it would transcend this generation but characterize the Next Gen . . . and the generations beyond them until the LORD’s return.

All by His grace . . . all for His glory.

Posted in Joshua | Tagged | Leave a comment

Let Your Face Shine

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Pete

Psalm 80 sounds like a song of the captivity. Penned at a time when the songwriter was aware of God’s anger towards His people (v.4). The Almighty had broken down the walls of protection surrounding the vine He had brought out of Egypt and planted beyond the Jordan (v.12). He had fed His people “with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure” (v.5). Though He was the Shepherd who had promised to “lead Joseph like a flock” (v. 1a), for now the Shepherd had called a timeout in order to turn the hearts of the sheep back toward Him.

And so the songwriter composes what I imagine to be a dirge. Lots of minor chords . . . not much in the way of “happy music” accompanying these lyrics. But what has stirred me is the “chorus” of the song. The thrice repeated plea of this song of sorrow.

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let Your face shine, that we may be saved!   (Psalm 80:19 ESV)

Verse 3, verse 7, and verse 19. The same plea to the LORD God of hosts . . . let Your face shine!

To the God enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth (v.1b). Look down from heaven and see . . . have regard for this vine (v.14). Give us Your face, Lord!

The songwriter doesn’t offer a defence to justify the vine’s determination to grow wild and undisciplined. He doesn’t make excuses for the sheep who had gone astray. He doesn’t reason as to the merits of allowing other nations to be the rod of God’s chastisement. He knows they had given God their back. Now, in order to get their face, God had given them His.

And so, the psalmist simply asks to know again the LORD’s face. Let Your face shine . . .

Be favorable to us, O God. Grant us Your gracious presence again. Let the light of Your countenance warm our souls. Give us Your front and no longer Your back. And then we will be saved . . . then we will be revived and restored.

And how would that face be known . . . how would it be seen?

But let Your hand be on the man of Your right hand,
the son of man whom You have made strong for Yourself! (Psalm 80:17 ESV)

I think this alludes to Messiah. The Son of Man, the Man of God’s right hand, would be the gracious face of God upon a rebellious people. Let them behold the Son of Man, and they would know the countenance of God.

And, as I think about today, Good Friday, and our remembrance this evening of the Son of Man having come as the Lamb of God, . . . as I reflect anew that the Holy One of Israel sent His Son as the once-for-all atoning sacrifice for all peoples, . . . I see His face shine. His grace made known . . . His favor declared for all who will believe . . . His presence offered to any who would receive the gift of His saving grace.

The song of captivity becomes a song of freedom. The dirge morphs into a great hallelujah chorus!

Let Your face shine, that we may be saved!

By Your grace . . . for Your glory!

Posted in Psalms | Tagged | Leave a comment

Just As He Promised

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Pete

The land had been allotted. The cities of refuge established. The Levites given towns throughout Israel where they could live. Mission accomplished. Operation “Possess the Land” was, for the most part, in the books. Time for celebration? To be sure. Time for a pat on the back? Not really. While God’s people had faithfully entered the land and engaged in the battle, it was the Lord who had fought the fight and won the land. Just as He promised.

Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that He swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as He had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.   (Joshua 21:43-45 ESV)

The LORD gave Israel all the land . . . the LORD gave them rest on every side . . . the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Just as He had sworn to their fathers. Not one word of the promises He had made had failed. It all came to pass. Just as He promised.

It’s not that the fight hadn’t been intense for Joshua and Co. Not a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination . . . though the walk around Jericho’s walls had been kind of cool! And it’s not like they never blew it along the way . . . remember the defeat at Ai? But there they were. In the land. Cities assigned. Deeds distributed. All through their faithful determination, but all because of God’s sure promises.

Hover over that for a couple of minutes and you can’t help but be encouraged. Remember that God has a track record of doing what He says He’s going to do, and it has a way of making you want to lean in again, though the going’s been tough. Rest in the word of God . . . and believe in the God of the word . . . and the blood, sweat, and tears are put into perspective. Know anew that all God’s promises find their “Yes” and their “Amen” in His blessed Son (2Cor. 1:20) . . . and the inner man is revived and the weary heart is restored. It’s all going to happen. The victory will be ours. Just as He promised.

He says that He will finish the work He has begun in us (Php. 1:6) . . . that He will conform us into the likeness of His Son (Rom. 8:29). It’ll happen . . . just as He promised. He says that, even now, the King of Kings has gone to prepare a place for us and will come again and take us to be with Himself (John 14:3). That’s what’s going to go down (or, go up) . . . just as He promised. He has said that death is to be swallowed up in victory . . . that “this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1Cor. 15:53-54) . . . count on it! Just as Joshua and Friends stood in the land, we too, one day, will stand before the throne . . . the work begun, finished . . . the likeness we bear, that of the Lamb’s . . . the bodies we inhabit, immortal and imperishable . . . all of it, just as He promised.

And who will get the glory? Who will receive the praise?

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 1:24-25 ESV)

Posted in 1Corinthians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Not Our Own

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Pete

We live in a day and age where there is tremendous emphasis placed on our bodies. There is no lack of information on what to put in them . . . what to put on them . . . and what to do with them. With precision we can count our calories, count our steps, and count our reps. All with the goal that our bodies might run their best and look their best. But this morning I’m reminded of something else about our bodies. That, as God’s people, they’re not our own.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.   (1Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)

Paul addresses the “freedom” the believers at Corinth were experiencing in their faith. You get the sense it was no holds barred. Having found Christ, having believed in Him for the atonement of their sins, having found rest in the security of their eternal future, having come to know that grace is truly amazing, they considered themselves free in Christ to do whatever they wanted. And while all things might be lawful, says Paul, not all things were helpful. Though everything might be fair game, Paul argues that we should determine not to be dominated by anything. Why? You are not your own.

He makes a pretty compelling case. Exhorting these believers, he reminds them that their bodies are members of Christ (6:15) . . . that when we believe we are “joined to the Lord” — fastened, glued, cemented to the risen Christ — such that we become one spirit with Him (6:17). That when we received His free gift of salvation, He literally moved in and took up residency within us via the third Person of the holy Trinity.  Thus our bodies have been occupied and have become a temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19). Conclusion? You are not your own.

Not our own, “for you were bought with a price.”

We were redeemed, ransomed, purchased. Once enslaved by sin . . . previously chattel of this world . . . formerly in bondage to the flesh, we are now free because the wages of sin was paid and the price for our freedom was tendered in full. Free . . . but not our own. Not that we need to repay Christ for our freedom. We can’t. No amount of effort on our part can repay the price He paid — if it could, He would never have had to go to the cross. No, it’s not about repayment, it’s about response. And that’s why Paul says, “Glorify God in your body!”

Nothing wrong with watching what we eat. Nothing wrong with working out. Nothing wrong with wanting to look our best. All of it is lawful. But none of it should dominate it us nor define us. Count the calories . . . track the steps . . . maximize the reps . . . but saint, let it be done so that, with these lean, fit, and dressed up bodies, we seek above all things to bring glory to the One who has loved us with an everlasting love.

And for those of us not so lean, and not so fit, and more and more content to be found wearing “grey on grey,” let us seek too, to relentlessly magnify the Father . . . as we live in the Son . . . through the power of the Spirit . . . in these bodies not our own.

So glorify God in your body. By His grace. All because of grace.

Amen?

Posted in 1Corinthians | Leave a comment

But He Chose Judah

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Pete

Gather round, says the songwriter, and listen up. Incline your ears and I’ll tell you a story. A story comprised of many stories. Stories you have heard and known. Stories which we should not forget. Stories that should be passed on to our children and to our children’s children. Stories of “the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might, and the wonders He has done” (Ps. 78:1-4).

And so Asaph the psalmist recounts the mighty works of God from of old concerning His people — those He desired as His heritage. And set against God’s wondrous work of deliverance from Egypt . . . set against His faithful and abundant provision in the wilderness . . . are the stubborn and rebellious hearts of a people who forgot His mighty works and took for granted that He should care for them in the manner to which they thought they were deserving. And so, for sixty-seven verses, the song is sung. The opus of God’s glorious deeds counter-melodied with the minor chords of a people who did not believe and whose hearts were set only on themselves.

But . . . and what a glorious word, “but” . . . but then, at the end, the song takes a turn . . .

He rejected the tent of Joseph; He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loves. He built His sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which He has founded forever. He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, Israel His inheritance. With upright heart He shepherded them and guided them with His skillful hand. (Psalm 78:67-72 ESV)

But He chose the tribe of Judah. Though God’s people would provoke Him to anger with their rebellion, though they would move Him to jealousy with their unfaithfulness, though He would judge them for their sin, yet He would not disown them, He would not utterly destroy them, but He would persist in providing for their redemption and their care. And so He chose the tribe of Judah. There He would establish His holy dwelling place . . . a little bit of heaven on hearth. And from there He would chose a man to shepherd His people. He would raise up His servant, one who had proved faithful and fearless. A man with an upright heart. And who could skillfully gather the flock of God’s people and lead them to feed only on the pastures of God’s provision and to offer praise only to the holy name of the One who had delivered them.

But He chose Judah. And He chose David His servant.

And my mind immediately goes to the greater David. To Him who is called the Lion of the tribe Judah and the root of David. To Him who is conqueror over sin and death though, when He is beheld, He is seen as “a Lamb, as though it had been slain” (Rev. 5:5-6). And I praise God that He chose Judah.

For this Lion came not to devour, but to deliver. Not to reject, but to redeem. Not to judge, but to justify. Not to shun, but to shepherd.

I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15 ESV)

And for all who will believe and receive, this One of Judah has promised to give new life so that they might become children of God (John 1:12-13). To lead them on their own exodus from the bondage of sin and the fear of death. To gather them to Himself and lead them to a land of promise. How can I be sure? Because of this holy week which culminates in an empty tomb and a joyous celebration. The Lion of th tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God, is risen! He is alive!

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV)

Gather round. It’s a story worth retelling and worth remembering. Amen?

Posted in Psalms | Tagged | Leave a comment

Find Us Faithful

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Pete

This morning I’m thinking about perspective. Identical circumstance taking on very different implications depending on how we look at it. You can see how much perspective shaped the apostle Paul. If anyone had bragging rights, it was him. Even if you throw out all his accomplishments B.C. (before Christ) — “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee . . . as to righteousness, under the law blameless” (Php. 3:5) — he still has a pretty impressive resume. How many have encountered the risen Christ one-on-one, up close and personal (Acts 9:3-5)? How many have been schooled by Christ one-on-one (Gal. 1:11-12, 2Cor. 12:2-4)? How many have had as widespread and successful a ministry as his?

Yet, there was no boasting. And, though a man of great spiritual privilege, there was no coasting. All out . . . peddle to the metal. And reading in 1Corinthians this morning, the Spirit provides some insight as to why Paul was the man he was . . . and why he lived the way he lived. And I’m thinking it’s because of perspective.

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.   (1Corinthians 4:1-2 ESV)

You want to know how to think about us, says Paul, think of us as underlings, as mere attendants, as those who have a duty to discharge for another.

No boasting . . . he counted himself but a servant. No coasting . . . he viewed “the mysteries of God” as a treasure entrusted to him to steward.

And it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

That’s perspective. All that we are in Christ, and all that we possess through Christ is a gift that we are to steward. How we need to beware of ever seeing it as anything but a gift. How we need to be on guard against, at some point, thinking that what we have and what we are in Christ is somehow because of who we have been and what we have done. Paul asks his readers the question, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (4:7) Right answer? Nothing!

There is nothing we have, spiritual or physical, that we have not received but by the good and gracious hand of our loving Father. There is no standing we have before the throne of glory except that which we have inherited through the finished work of the Son on the cross. There is no understanding of the things of the kingdom of God but that the Spirit has not revealed to us. Where is the boasting? No where. And if it is all a stewardship, when do we get to retire and start coasting? Not thinkin’ that’s gonna happen. For it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Regardless of our season of life . . . whether we possess much or little in material wealth . . . despite our level of spiritual maturity . . . whether we think we know a little or lot about the kingdom . . . though we think we have much or minimal to offer our Lord . . . wherever we are, whatever we have, it is all the gift of God and we have been called to steward that gift.

And it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. And that’s the difference perspective can make.

O’ Lord, find us faithful!  By Your grace . . . for Your glory.

Posted in 1Corinthians | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Human, But Not Merely Human

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Pete

He expected more. He had been with them for 18 months, establishing the church at Corinth and teaching the believers there (Acts 18:1-11). And so, he expected more. They had been born again and he had spoon fed them for an extended period of time. And so, after Paul leaves, when he hears of how things are going in Corinth he expects, as with any baby, that they would have grown up to some degree. That they would have moved beyond mother’s milk and pabulum. That they would be taking in solid food and thus growing and maturing. But apparently it wasn’t happening. And maybe you can hear their response, “Paul it’s been hard. And after all, we’re only human!” To which Paul might have replied, “Yes, but you are not merely human.”

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human?   (1Corinthians 3:1-4 ESV)

They may have been only human, but they need not have behaved as merely human. Instead, Paul assumed they would be living as “spiritual people.”

They had been born of the Spirit when, by faith, they received the gospel, repented of their sin, and confessed Christ as Savior and Lord. They were in Christ. A new creation. Old things had passed way, the new had come (2Cor. 5:17). And so, while they might be only human, they need not be merely human. Though they were still in the flesh, the spirit had been revived. They had the tools to put off that which was of the flesh, and to pursue that which was of the new nature. But rather than pursue the new man, they hung out with the old. Instead of maturing in Christ, they remained infants in Christ.

And it manifested itself in their jealousies and divisions over who followed who. Some said Paul was their guy, others wore their “Apollos Always!” t-shirts. Less than being the problem, it was the symptom. The problem was that they were settling for being merely human. Followers of the flesh. Grown men and women content to stay in diapers.

So, while I might be only human, I’m reminded that I need not be merely human. I can participate in the divine nature (2Pet. 1:3-4). Having been sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, I can live according to the Spirit and put to death the deeds of the old man (Romans 8:13). If I walk in the Spirit I won’t gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). If I seek to be led by the Spirit, I will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:18-22).

If, by God’s abundant provision, and a bit of holy determination, I seek to live as the “spiritual people” I am, then I will grow and I will mature. And, though for now, I am still in the flesh, I don’t need to walk according to the flesh.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

Human, but not merely human. All because of grace . . . all for God’s glory.

Posted in 1Corinthians | Tagged | Leave a comment