August 18

1 SAMUEL 10
It is the glory of the Lord that He should use even our rebellion to accomplish His plan. The Nation had known no king for 400 years. Only the Lord had ruled over them through the various judges. It was the closest thing to a Theocracy that the world had seen since the Garden of Eden. But it was unacceptable to the people. The people were fickle and responded only to harsh discipline of the Lord whenever they sinned. Each cycle of sin, discipline, repentance, deliverance by a judge seemed to become worse with each cycle. The sin became deeper, the discipline more severe, the judge more ungodly. The people were tired of it. They looked around at the other nations and wanted the stability that they saw in the kings of other nations. They rejected the Lord as their King. They wanted a king with whom they could talk face to face. They wanted a king who was physical. So, they rejected the Almighty King for a king who was physical, a king who would do what was right in his own eyes.
Yet, the Lord allowed them to reject Him. In so doing, He set up a monarchy that would usher in the King of kings. While the King of kings has yet to rule upon His throne upon the earth, He someday will reign upon the earth. At that time every man will only do what is right in the eyes of the King of kings. Now that is glory! He takes our rebellion and turns it into something that brings Him praise. But be careful, we do not want to be one of those who rebel for He indeed disciplines them with a rod of iron. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 48
Some days ago I was sitting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. My son and I had spent several days trodding through the streets of Jerusalem. At one point we had walked around the exterior walls of the present old city. We walked about her, counted her bulwarks and towers, considered her palaces. We sang this Psalm as we walked. To be honest, it was pretty ugly. I’ve seen plenty of other cities that are prettier. After three millennia of destruction and rebuilding over and over again, it is just ugly. To top it off, it was Ramadan, and the celebrants were leaving trash everywhere. Of course this is now, and in Asaph’s day, it might have been beautiful. It is said that centuries after Asaph, when the expansion begun by Herod the Great was finished, that if one had not seen the temple in Jerusalem, one had never seen a beautiful building.
What made the city beautiful? Unless the foliage is different now than then (which it probably is), then it wasn’t the foliage that made it beautiful. Was it the wonderful architecture? Well, in Asaph’s day, it might have been. But I think it is clear from the passage that what made this little city beautiful was not its architecture or foliage, but it was the presence of the Almighty God. It was God in her palaces that made her beautiful. His beauty made her beautiful. I see a parallel in that for us. It is His presence in us that makes us beautiful. As ugly as I am, and I am not just talking about physical appearance, He makes me beautiful (or maybe I should say handsome)! Corporately He takes His people, the church and makes them beautiful. He removes the spots and wrinkles and makes us glow. That beauty makes us desirable to some who do not know Him yet. They are drawn to His beauty and become one of us. His presence makes all the difference. It is all about His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 17
When I was a Boy Scout, we started every meeting reciting, among other things, the Scout Oath:

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Every four years in the United States we all usually take a little time out to watch a very important event during the inauguration of the president. We all huddle around our televisions to watch the president swear an oath to defend, protect and uphold the constitution of the United States of America. A little closer to home, on occasion we attend a wedding ceremony where we watch friends or family swear oaths of fidelity to each other. Sometimes when churches receive new members the ceremony will include pledges of fidelity to one another as members of that local body of Christ.
Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin as king of Judah with Zedekiah. In the process Zedekiah had to publicly swear an oath of loyalty and obedience to Babylon. God takes all oaths very seriously for they are a reflection of what He is like. He never breaks an oath. Zedekiah broke the oath which he had made to Babylon. He sought the help of the Pharaoh of Egypt in order to throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. So, The Lord promised Zedekiah that he would die in Babylon. The Lord points out that the breaking of the covenant was really against Him, not Nebuchadnezzar, a very serious offense.
What strikes me even more about this passage is that after pointing out the extreme infidelity of nation and the severe punishment that is pronounced, then the Lord announces that He will keep His oath with the nation. He will take a small remnant and replant it and make a great nation. He is serious about keeping His oath. It is part of His glory that He always keeps His oaths, and He expects us to keep ours.
Makes me think! Have I kept my Scout Oath? Do Christians keep their marriage vows? Many people do not bother to marry anymore because they know that they cannot keep the vow anyway, so why make it? Do we keep our promises to each other to be faithful to each other in the body of Christ? Do you suppose that one of the reasons people do not commit be a member of a local church is because they know they cannot be faithful to that body? Yet in the midst of all of our infidelity, He remains faithful! Now that is glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 1
You will hear this several times as we progress through 1 Corinthians. The church at Corinth was a divided church. There were many fights going on within the body. It was a powder keg with fuses lit from several different directions. Paul was trying to write to put out the fuses. Look how he addresses them at the beginning.

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

He calls this body of people, which is full of division and works of the flesh, sanctified. He says they are called to be saints. He begins with the truth of what God has declared to be true of us. We are holy. We are saints. He focuses on where we are going. This body of people, full of division, Paul calls holy. Then, he focuses on where we are. As he works through the first manifestation of their divisions in verses 10-29, he presents the cure in 30 & 31:

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."

Jesus is our sanctification. It is not our works. It is His life. We are declared holy by His life. It is grace, undeserved, unearned. Because of His life, we can have, right now, total peace with God. That is why Paul adds verse three. He is our sanctification. Because of that sanctification, Paul urges them/us to live it out. That is why daily seeing and speaking the glory of Christ is so important. As we see His glory, we see our failings. As we see His glory, we see His grace. As we see His glory, we see His peace. As we see His glory, we see where He is taking us. It ceases being our trying to make it happen and becomes totally what He does.
In Corinth, there were some who liked the way Apollos did things. There were some who liked the way Paul did things. There were some who liked the way Peter did things. Was Christ divided? No! But, everyone was acting like it. Paul was telling them, "It is time to get your focus back on Christ! He is our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." What glory there is in that! What freedom there is in that! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John