THE CROSS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY APRIL 13, 2023. 

SUBJECT : THE CROSS!

Memory verse: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5 vs 8.)

READ: Isaiah 53 vs 3 - 9:

53:3: He is despised and rejected by men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteemed Him.

53:4: Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

53:5: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His pstripes we are healed.

53:6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

I53:7: He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

53:8: He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken.

53:9: And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 

INTIMATION:

The cross was planned before the creation; 

“… the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13 vs 8). The Lamb—Jesus—was foreordained before creation to be crucified for the sins of man (See Isaiah 53). In the Old Testament, people offered animals as sacrifices for their sins. Here, the sinless Servant of the Lord offers Himself for our sins. He is the lamb offered for the sins of all people (John 1 vs 29; Revelation 5 vs 6 - 14). The Messiah suffered for our sake, bearing our sins to make us acceptable to God. 

The righteous Servant shall justify many before God, and this tells us the enormous family of believers who will become right with God, not by their own works, but by the Messiah’s great work on the cross. They are justified because they have claimed Christ, the righteous Servant, as their Savior and Lord (see Romans 10 vs 9; Second Corinthians 5 bs 21). Their life of sin is stripped away, and they are clothed with Christ’s goodness (Ephesians 4 vs 22 - 24). 

God foreordained that the “recorded saints” (the church) would be destined to eternal salvation (Ephesians 1 vs 4 - 11). The church is predestined to eternal glory. Those who free-morally choose to be a part of the church by obedience to the gospel are destined to heaven (See Romana 8 vs 28 - 30). One is, therefore, destined to heaven when he or she makes a free-moral decision to become a part of the group that a destined to heaven.

The events of the cross were foretold (Ps 22). Jesus would crush Satan (Genesis 3 vs 15). He would suffer for our sins (Isaiah 53). The accounts and the events of the cross were documented in the Bible (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; and John 19). Jesus died before witnesses (Acts 26 vs 26). His death gave witness to His Sonship; “Now when the centurion and those who were with him guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and those things that were happening, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27 vs 54). 

The purpose of the cross is (1) To take away sins; “The next day John saw Jesus coming to him. And he said “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1 vs 29; Hebrews 2 vs 9). (2) To bear our sins in His body (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21; First Peter 2 vs 5 - 8). (3) To save us from our sins (Matthew 1 vs 20 - 21). (4) To wash us of our sins (First John 1 vs 7; Rev 1 vs 5). (5) To reveal God’s grace; “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2 vs 11).

(6) To redeem us; “who gave Himself for us so that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a special people who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2 vs 14). (7) To reconcile us to God through Jesus (Romans 5 vs 8 - 10; Ephesians 2 vs 14 - 16). (8) To establish a covenant; “For this is My blood of the covenant that is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26 vs 28). To purchase the church; “Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that He has purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20 vs 28). 

The effects of the cross are (1) It is the power of God to salvation (First Corinthians 1 vs 18 - 24). (2) Christians boast in the cross (Galatians 6 vs 14). (3) Christians preach the cross (First Corinthians 2 vs 2). (4) Because of Jesus’ cross, Christians bear their own cross (Matthew 10 vs 38; 16 vs 24 - 25; Luke 9 vs 24; Galatians 2 vs 20; 5 vs 24; 6 vs 14).

His salvational work for man was specific, and definitely carried out. Though many rejected Him, it was their grief and pains that He bore. He took up the burdens of our grief and carried them away. Those who rejected Jesus, accused Him of being from Baalzebal, and thus stricken by God for assuming to be the Son of God (see Mark 14 vs 61 - 64; Luke 22 vs 37). Jesus willingly died (John 3 vs 14 - 16; 8 vs 28; 10 vs 18). He was cursed for our sake (Second Corinthians 5 vs 21; Galatians 3 vs 13). He endured the cross for the joy after it (Hebrews 12 vs 2). He humbled Himself to a death on the cross (Philippians 2 vs 5 - 8).

He fell into the hands of wicked men, and subsequently was crucified for the sins of men. His death was not as accident, unplanned by God. It was for this very purpose that Jesus came to the world. He was crucified before the world was created. He was bruised through crucifixion, but in being bruised, He crushed the head of Satan (Genesis 3 vs 15). 

The world has wondered off into sin. The cross, therefore, was by grace, for there was no one who was righteous, and thus, deserving of the forgiveness of God. As with the spirit of idolatry, so is man in everything. He seeks to do only that which is right in his own eyes. He thus turns to satisfying the lust of the eyes and flesh, while following after the pride of life. Since sin is against God, then God had to be incarnate in order to be the sacrificial lamb to bear the sins of men. 

Jesus took Himself to the cross. He had the power to lay down His own life for our sins (John 10 vs 17 - 18). He had the power to take it up again. When it was time for His death, He didn’t open His mouth in order to defend His innocence. He allowed Satan to work in men in order to take Himself to the cross. He was the sacrificial lamb of God. 

God willed the cross  for the sake of those who would believe. The Father allowed His Son to go through the humiliation of the suffering for the sake of those who would be drawn to the cross. Christians are the seed of the Servant. We are the seed because we have believed and obeyed the gospel of His death and resurrection (Romans 6 vs 3 - 6). Jesus is now reigning at the right hand of God, and continues to prosper as people are obedient to the gospel. 

What can we say to such love? How will we respond to Him? One can only marvel at the love of Jesus for His creation because of His foreknowledge of the cross even before the incarnation. Those who choose to submit to the Lamb, and thus, be cleansed by the blood of Jesus, are written in the Book of Life. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You Oh Lord for this supreme sacrifice on the cross. Though the events of the cross are inexplicable but they are undeniable. I will never take the gifts of salvation and privilege of sonship for granted all the days of my life. Give me the grace to serve You acceptably and willingly out of my love for You in response to Your love for me and the extent You went to save me, in Jesus' Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

You Cannot Lose in the End

 

“You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” (Matthew 27:65)

When Jesus was dead and buried, with a big stone rolled against the tomb, the Pharisees came to Pilate and asked for permission to seal the stone and guard the tomb.

They gave it their best shot — in vain.

It was hopeless then, it is hopeless today, and it will always be hopeless. Try as they may, people can’t keep Jesus down. They can’t keep him buried.

It’s not hard to figure out: He can break out because he wasn’t forced in. He let himself be libeled and harassed and blackballed and scorned and shoved around and killed.

I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. (John 10:17–18)

No one can keep him down because no one ever knocked him down. He lay down when he was ready.

When it looks like he is buried for good, Jesus is doing something awesome in the dark. “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how” (Mark 4:26–27).

The world thinks Jesus is done for — out of the way — but Jesus is at work in the dark places. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). He let himself be buried — “no one takes [my life] from me” — and he will come out in power when and where he pleases — “I have authority to take it up again.”

“God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). Jesus has his priesthood today “by the power of an indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16).

For twenty centuries, the world has given it their best shot — in vain. They can’t bury him. They can’t hold him in. They can’t silence him or limit him. Jesus is alive and utterly free to go and come wherever he pleases.

Trust him and go with him, no matter what. You cannot lose in the end.

THANKSGIVING IN WORSHIP!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY APRIL 12, 2023.

SUBJECT: THANKSGIVING IN WORSHIP! 

Memory verse: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;" (Philippians 4 vs 6.) 

READ: Psalm 69 vs 30; 100 vs 4; Colossians 2 vs 6 - 7; 4 vs 2:

Psalm 69:30: I will praise the name of the LORD with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

100:4: Enter into His gate with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His Name.

Colossians 2:6: As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 

2:7: rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

4:2: Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.

INTIMATION:

The Christian works in thanksgiving for what God has done through His grace, acknowledging God’s goodness, which expresses your faith and confidence in Him. There is no powerful living apart from a life of thanksgiving which, of course, is the will of God for us. The Christian is zealous in the Lord because of his or her salvation that has come from the Lord through the offering of His Son Jesus Christ as a propitiation for our sins. Prayer and petitions (supplication) are to be made in the spirit of thanking God for all that He has done in our lives. When one truly understands the grace of God, He or she will respond in thanksgiving for all that God has done through Jesus. 

God desires an attitude of thanksgiving, not just an act of it. Thanksgiving is an application for more. Being thankful for all the things He has done and is doing in your life is a pathway to receiving your petitions from Him. Therefore, when you have petitioned God for something, immediately begin to thank Him in trust and confidence that the thing you have asked for is on the way coming. The apostle Paul counsels all believers to give thanks in everything; for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for them (First Thessalonians 5 vs 18.)

The apostle Paul lived a life of thanksgiving and preached the same to all believers. In some of the passages we read today, his counsel on thanksgiving, as an integral part of worship, is clearly expressed. In our memory verse (Philippians 4 vs 6), Paul counsels all believers to be thankful for what we ask in prayer, and to continuously be thankful and grateful for what He has already done in the past, what He is doing now, and what He is going to do in the future, including answer to your petition. 

Jesus, our Messiah and perfect example, lived a life of thanksgiving during His earthly ministry. He knows the power of thanksgiving when communing with the Father, and gave thanks to the Father always. For example; He gave thanks to God when He broke the seven loaves and fishes and fed the four thousand (Matthew 15 vs 36). He gave thanks to God when He took the five loaves and two fishes and fed five thousand (John 6 vs 11). He also thanked God for hearing Him at the tomb of the dead Lazarus (John 11 vs 41). And He gave thanks to God when He gave the bread and wine to His disciples at the Last Super (Mark 14 vs 22 - 23).

Thanksgiving magnifies the Name of the LORD (Psalm 69 vs 30), and opens the gate of the court of the LORD (Psalm 100 vs 4). It also, multiplies what we have received (Second Corinthians 9 vs 12). For instance, when Jesus lifted up the bread and fishes and gave thanks it multiplied, thus thousands were fed by the meal of a child. Also, the power of thanksgiving in prayer helps us abound in Christ, drawing our life-giving strength from Christ (Colossians 2 vs 7). The more we draw our strength from Him, the less we are fooled by those who falsely claim to have life’s answers. If Christ is our strength we will be free from human regulations.

This kind of lifestyle of thanksgiving is an evidence of a grateful heart. If a person is grateful for what he already has, it is an indication that the individual is mature enough to receive other blessings. But if a person is always complaining about what he has now, why should the Lord bother to give him anything else to crab and gripe about. When we realize how far God had to send His Son in order to redeem us from condemnation, we respond with a life of thanksgiving. Our good works, therefore, are works of thanksgiving, not works of merit. Christians are motivated because of what they already have in Christ. 

Prayer: Abba Father, there is none like You. Your steadfastness never seizes, and Your mercies never come to an end. Your compassion never fails. I will forever remain thankful to You for all Your great and wondrous works in my life. What You cannot do for me let it remain undone, and what You cannot give me may I never have it, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

TRUE HUMILITY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY APRIL 12, 2023.

SUBJECT : TRUE HUMILITY!

Memory verse: "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." (Philippians 2 vs 3.)

READ: Psalm 8 vs 3 - 4; First Corinthians 15 vs 9 - 10: 

Psalm 8:3: When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 

8:4: what is man that You are mindful of him, and the Son of man that You visit Him?

First Corinthians 15:9: For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 

15:10: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

INTIMATION:

Humility is modesty and meekness. True humility gives a more accurate perspective of oneself and the world. It is seeing ourselves as we really are from God's perspective, and acting accordingly. When we acknowledge God’s majesty, and compare ourselves to His greatness, we will realize how small we are by comparison, and this is a healthy way to get back to reality. True humility is not convincing yourself that you are worthless or nobody before God, but recognizing God's work in you. It is having God's perspective of who you are, and acknowledging His grace in developing your abilities. We accept God’s gifts and use them to praise and serve Him.

How can we humble ourselves? Some people think that humility means putting oneself down. Truly humble people compare themselves only with Christ, realize their sinfulness, and understand their limitations. On the other hand, they also recognize their gifts and strengths and are willing to use them as Christ directs. Humility is not self-degradation; it is realistic self-assessment and commitment to serve. True humility puts others first and allows us to be content with God's leading in our lives. Such contentment gives us security so that we no longer have to prove ourselves to others. 

In one of the passage we read today, the apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian church, demonstrated clearly true humility. He considered himself least among the apostles, and thought of himself not worthy to be an apostle because of his past records. Though, his fellow apostles acknowledged him as haven gotten more revelations than them, but yet he considered himself least among them. (See Second Peter 3 vs 15 - 16.) He worked harder than the other apostles to preach the same message he initially was condemning. 

Paul felt unworthy to be called an apostle of Christ because, as a zealous Pharisee, he had been an enemy of the Christian church; even to the point of capturing and persecuting believers (see Acts 9 vs 1 - 3). His conversion stunned his fellow Pharisees. When Christ saw his zealousness in pursuing his erroneous believes, He arrested him to apply that same zealousness in doing the correct work for God. His eyes were opened to the wrong believes when Christ met him on the road to Damascus, and he was blinded to the erroneous believes.

The apostle Paul was deeply humble. He knew that he had worked hard and accomplished, but only because God had poured kindness and grace upon him which he always acknowledged. In First Corinthians 15 vs 8, he remarked himself 'as one born out of necessity' because he was a special case; the other apostles saw Christ and were with Him in the flesh, but he was in the next generation of believers—he believed after Christ appeared to him. 

Today, people practice false humility by talking negatively about themselves so that others will think they are spiritual. They will tell of their wretched past, and comparing it to their present achievements, praising themselves for their accomplishments. Rather than give glory to God and praise Him, they appropriate all their achievements to their ability and doggedness. They turn into the doer, and not God; ‘vainly puffed up by their fleshly minds,’ as the apostle Paul described such persons in Colossians 2 vs 18. False humility is self-centered while true humility is God-centered.

Let us not lose sight of the end result of all our humility and self-sacrifice—a joyous banquet with our Lord! God never asks us to suffer for the sake of suffering. He never asks us to give up something good unless He plans to replace it with something even better. Jesus is not calling us to join Him in a labor camp but in a feast—the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19 vs 6 - 9), when God and His beloved church will be joined forever.

Prayer: Abba Father, endue me with true humility to worship and serve You, and others. Help me to put You first in all things, and to always consider the collective interests of others above mine, in Jesus' Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

The Great King’s Wine

 

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

I have never heard anyone say, “The really deep lessons of my life have come through times of ease and comfort.” But I have heard strong saints say, “Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love and growing deep with him, has come through suffering.”

This is a sobering biblical truth. For example: “For [Christ’s] sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Paraphrase: No pain, no gain. Or:

Now let it all be sacrificed, if it will get me more of Christ.

Here’s another example: “Although he was a son, [Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). The same book said he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).

So learning obedience does not mean switching from disobedience to obedience. It means growing deeper and deeper with God in the experience of obedience. It means experiencing depths of yieldedness to God that would not have been otherwise attained. This is what came through suffering. No pain, no gain.

Samuel Rutherford said that when he was cast into the cellars of affliction, he remembered that the great King always kept his wine there. Charles Spurgeon said, “They who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.”

Do you not love your beloved more when you feel some strange pain that makes you think you have cancer? We are strange creatures indeed. If we have health and peace and time to love, it can become a thin and hasty thing. But if we are dying, love becomes a deep, slow river of inexpressible joy, and we can scarcely endure to give it up.

Therefore brothers and sisters, “Count it all joy . . . when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2).

Jesus is alive! Happy resurrection morning

 

What Is Well-Placed Shame?

 

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. (Romans 6:20–21)

When a Christian’s eyes are opened to the God-dishonoring evil of his former behavior, the Christian rightly feels ashamed. Paul says to the Roman church, “When you were slaves of sin . . . what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?”

There is a proper place for looking back and feeling the twinge of pain that we once lived in a way that was so belittling to God. To be sure, we are not to be paralyzed by dwelling on this. But a sensitive Christian heart cannot think back on the follies of youth and not feel echoes of shame, even if we have settled it all with the Lord.

Well-placed shame can be very healthy and redemptive. Paul said to the Thessalonians, “If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed” (2 Thessalonians 3:14). This means that shame is a proper and redemptive step in conversion, and even in a believer’s repentance from a season of spiritual coldness and sin. Shame is not something to be avoided at all costs. There is a place for it in God’s good dealings with his people.

We can conclude that the biblical criterion for misplaced shame and for well-placed shame is radically God-centered.

The biblical criterion for misplaced shame says, Don’t feel shame for something that honors God, no matter how weak or foolish or wrong it makes you look in the eyes of other people. Or another way to apply this God-centered criterion of misplaced shame: don’t feel shame because of a truly shameful situation unless you are in some way participating in the evil.

The biblical criterion for well-placed shame says, Do feel shame for having a hand in anything that dishonors God, no matter how strong or wise or right it makes you look in the eyes of others.

The reason we should feel shame is disapproval for behavior that dishonors God. The reason we should not feel shame is behavior that honors God, even if people try to shame you for it.