March 16

EXODUS 27
This morning (2010) I arose and came downstairs. The lights were all on. Now, I was the last one to bed and I distinctly remember turning off all of the lights but the one over the kitchen sink. I leave it on as a night light. When my ten-year-old awoke, I asked him, “Why did you turn on all the lights last night?” He replied, “I had to go to the bathroom, and I was scared.” I think it is almost a universal thing that at some point in our lives, we are all afraid of the dark. That is the basis of the horror movie industry. As we get older we lose some of that fear of the dark; however, a little bit of it is still there. It is what gives us the adrenaline rush at a scary point of the movie. Without that adrenaline pumping, we probably would not enjoy the movie. The comfort of the light is that we know what is there. Light reveals reality. Darkness hides reality.
Do you suppose things are that way because God is light? His glory always seems to be associated with some form of light. Here in the instruction of the building of the tabernacle, He commands that a lamp, fed by pure olive oil, be tended by the priests 24/7. Why would that be a necessity in a culture where there are no electric lights. Why would there be a need of this in a culture that goes to bed with the sun and rises with the sun? Who would be coming to the Tabernacle at night? Would it not be that the place of His dwelling should be a place where light always reveals reality? Would it not be that somewhere in the dark night of our twisted realities there always needs to be a beacon of light? In the reality of His presence, the darkness flees. His light dissipates all fear but fear of Him. With the first glimpse of His light, if we will step further into His light, even the fear of Him is dissipated because in the light we see our sin. In the light we confess what we can no longer hide. In the light we confess our sin. In the light we find His forgiveness. In the light the sin is burned away; it is purged; it is cleansed. In His light we find boldness to approach the throne of grace! It is a delight (I wonder about the etymology of that word) to be in His light, His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 75
“We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.” As far as I could find, that is the only place in Scripture which talks about the name of the Lord being ‘near’. I can envision Him being near, but what does he mean that His name is near, and because His name is near, we should give thanks? It is God’s wondrous works which declare that His name is near. What wondrous works surround us? On a physical level, the more I observe the creation around me from the presupposition that He created it and sustains it, the more I am awed by the wonders He has performed. Think for example of the intricacies of the human genome. How many scientists did it take, and how many years of study did it take, to begin to understand the how it works? And we are only beginning to understand. Yet those DNA strands are responsible for the replication and communications of volumes of information that any one person can never fully understand. Yet our God designed and created it and knows it fully and simultaneously for every person who lives or ever has lived. Every time we see another human being, we should be reminded His awesome work in just creating them. His name is near.
On a spiritual level, He knows each human being intimately. Every time that I am in a crowd of millions (traveling through large cities), I am overwhelmed with how God desires to know each one of us intimately and has the ability to simultaneously communicate with each of us. I am unable to call by name more than a few thousand people. I am unable say of more than a few hundred people that I am their acquaintance. There are only a few people that I can tell you what just some of their strengths and weaknesses are, who their kids and grandkids are. Those that I know intimately, I can tell you their strengths and weakness, their deepest desires, the longings of their hearts, are indeed few. I have to be near them constantly to learn those things. Yet Jesus knows those things about each one of us. He is intimately acquainted with all our ways. When He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He looked into the cup set before Him, He saw the sin of each one of us. He saw the iniquity of billions of men, women, boys and girls. It was near Him. In that same instant, He saw the wrath of His holy Father against that sin. The cup set before Him was to drink the wrath against that sin and die in our place. He was literally near; He became our sin on the cross that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. His name is near. How can I not give thanks? Having experienced His work of forgiveness, how can I not choose to judge uprightly? Having been washed of my iniquity, how can I not warn the stiffed necked of their boastfulness against God? Having been cleansed by Him, I see no logical basis for exalting myself. It is His glory that He will exalt those who trust Him. Thank you, Lord Jesus! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Ecclesiastes 2
Last week I bought a new-to-me house. It is the seventh house that I have owned in my lifetime. It is a pleasant house; although, it does not have the character of the house I had on West Street, nor does it have the land that I had in BSL or Norman. It is probably in the best shape of any house I have owned. If meaning in life or pleasure were gained from the houses one owns, then I have had plenty of opportunity to have obtained it. Next month I turn 60, a rather ominous age in my thinking. Seems just yesterday I was “Twenty-one and Strong as I can Be!” I indeed possess good health, for which I am grateful. If meaning in life or pleasure were gained from good health, then I have had plenty of opportunity. In the process of applying for a loan for this house, I realized that if I cashed out everything—houses, land, cars, retirement account, and then died and my wife received my life insurance, then my wife would have a little less than half a million. Most of that would be from insurance and inheritance from her father and my brother. If meaning and pleasure in life are measured by the amount of silver or gold one possesses, then I have a little.
But meaning and pleasure in life ultimately are not measured by what one gathers to oneself. Things are empty, meaningless. True meaning and lasting pleasure are only experienced in the midst of walking with the Eternal God. Yes pleasure can be derived from money, houses, lands, relationships, work, but only as we encounter the Eternal God in the midst of each of them. In that I have had much experience. It is the glimpses of His glory as I meet Him in the midst of life that give meaning and pleasure. As the preacher says, “Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.” As Piper said, “God is is most glorified when I am most satisfied in Him.” Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MARK 14:53-72
What is the old saying? "Follow the money." If you really want to know politics, follow the money. It is cynical, but true. The liberal media loved to use this old axiom against President Bush. Human nature does tend to be influenced by the flow of money. I am not aware of ever having had the occasion to dwell in the company of the rich and famous. So, I don't really have any personal experiences to share here. But it does seem in human events that money is power.
They were desperate to be rid of Him. Annas had been the high priest himself for at least 7 years. Each of his 5 sons had a turn at being high priest. Now his son-in-law, Caiaphas, held the high priesthood. Annas' family made lots of money from the trade in the temple courts. They used their money to buy friends in the Roman Empire. (The Emperor had the final approval of who would be High Priest.) Jesus had demonstrated at His Triumphal Entry and in His cleansing of the temple that He was a definite threat to their financial power and therefore their political power. A few years earlier the Sanhedrin had lost the right to try capital cases. This was not a true Sanhedrin trial. Had it been intended to be a true trial, then it was totally illegal. It was only an examination to demonstrate to all of the Sanhedrin that Jesus was a threat to the nation. Follow the money.
They brought in witnesses of Jesus' teaching. But Jesus refused to answer any of their questions. Superior as He is, there was no need for Him to enter into any kind of debate with them. And anyway, He came to die. In their utter sinfulness they were merely cooperating with His plan. After hours of examination and cross examination, the frustrated high priest asked Him, "Are You the Christ the Son of the Blessed?"
Jesus masterfully blends two Old Testament Scriptures to give them the truth and the answer that they desired, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." Psalm 110:1 says, "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.' ” This is the second most quoted verse in the New Testament. Jesus had used it earlier in silencing His questioners. Peter quotes it as he addresses the Jerusalem crowd on the day of Pentecost. The writer of Hebrews quotes it in showing the superiority of Christ. Paul alludes to it in explaining death and resurrection in 1 Cor. 15: 25,26. Saying to the high priest that he would see Him sitting at the right hand of the Power was a clear claim to the Jewish mind of being the Messiah. It was a clear claim to the Jewish mind of being divine.
Jesus blends Ps 110:1 with Daniel 7:13,

I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.

Quoting the Daniel passage to the Jewish mind was a clear claim of being the Messiah. To the Jewish mind it was a clear claim of being divine.
Indeed there is a throne in heaven. He who sits on the throne rules the Universe. Jesus is making claim to being the One who will sit upon it. It is that throne that is referred to in Revelation 4&5. It is Jesus upon that throne that the host of heaven worship by saying, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” What does he receive? He receives power and riches. Do you want to experience real power? Follow the money. The real money is not silver or gold or U.S. greenbacks or stocks or lands. The real riches are the Lord Jesus Christ. It was this One they held in chains. It was this One Peter denied. It was this One who died for me. If you want riches that last for eternity, it can only be found in Him. Follow the money. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John