March 23

EXODUS 34
Yesterday we saw that the LORD promised to place Moses in the cleft of a rock. There He would cover him until His front side had passed then Moses could see the back side of His glory. As He passed, the Lord proclaimed:

The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7“keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.

Today we see that Moses once again climbed the fiery mountain taking with him two fresh tablets of stone for the others had been shattered. The LORD kept His promise. While the New Testament does not explicitly say that the rock is a type of Christ, it does say, “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” I think we can safely say that the cleft in the rock is a type of Christ. Moses climbs into the cleft with the stone tablets. The stone tablets would soon have the writing of God upon them delineating the Ten Commandments. They would be commandments which every one of us have broken every commandment. There in the rock the ‘hand’ of God covered Moses until the justice of God had passed. Then LORD proclaimed His mercy, grace and compassion. Jesus is our place of safety from the wrath and justice of God. He is our place of refuge to receive mercy, grace and compassion.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee; let the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure; save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law's commands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; thou must save, and thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyes shall close in death, when I soar to worlds unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.
--Rev. Augustus Montague Toplady

But the glory of God does not stop with just the dispensation of mercy, grace and compassion. Notice at the end of the chapter that after another 40 days on the fiery mountain with God, Moses’ skin glows with the glory of God. What’s more, we not only receive mercy, but as we gaze upon His glory, we are made like Him, even more than Moses. As the word says in 2 Cor. 3:18: All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit. Wow, we receive mercy, grace and compassion, and then we have opportunity to be transformed into His image. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john


The traditional site of Mt. Sinai

PSALM 82
Jon Edwards was a North Carolina Senator with a glamour boy face who once ran for President/Vice-President. He billed himself has having come from humble origins and a champion of the people’s rights. He was the perfect Democratic candidate. He made his money as a trial lawyer, representing the ‘little man’ against corporate injustice. He may have been representing the ‘little man’, but he certainly wasn’t hurt by that representation. I’ve seen videos of his estate upon which he lived while running for President. The land alone was probably worth millions, not to mention the vast mansion built upon it. If he came from humble beginnings, then I would say that his career as a trial lawyer fed his coffers by tens of millions of dollars. Seems to me, his motivation was more than defending the ‘little man.” Seems to me, his motivation had something to do with filling his own pockets from the corporate coffers. Is that justice?
God’s glory is that He is just, and in as much as it is possible, He calls us to be the image of His justice. The leaders of a country are called to reflect His justice. The fatherless have no one to turn to as a role model. They have no one to teach them how to live. The poor have no one to defend them in court. As the old saying goes, “A man who serves as his own lawyer has a fool for a client.” The court appointed attorney was originally put into place because of teachings like this one from the Bible. Unfortunately, in practice the court appointed attorney often does a less than stellar job defending his/her client because it is a drain on his/her resources. People who are rich give a better reward for a job well done, or the possibility of taking money from the rich is a better reward.
God’s justice is dispensed despite the outcome. Ours should be the same. He seeks justice no matter what is received of us. Matthew Henry says this of the justice He expects us to dispense:
These are clients whom there is nothing to be got by, no pay for serving them, no interest by obliging them; yet these are those whom judges and magistrates must concern themselves for, whose comfort they must consult and whose cause they must espouse.
That is how God distributed His justice toward us. Justice was distributed upon the cross. Jesus paid our debt. The only pay He received by serving us was us. The only thing which Jesus received by obliging us was us. By the world’s standard of justice, that is a strange justice indeed. Yet it was the delight of the Father and the Son to do that for each other. What an awesome love! He calls us to do the same for others out of love for Him. Now that is glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

ECCLEISASTES 9
Comedians love to make jokes about their spouses. That is probably because most people can relate to their jokes. Living joyfully for a lifetime with one person for most people is a chore. It takes work that the selfish cannot endure. I think my wife is probably going to have a special reward at the Bema seat of Christ for the graceful way in which she has endured me for the 34 years we have traveled thus far. She is a real gem. I was greatly enriched when the Lord gave her to me as my wife. I remember the comedian/preacher Bob Harrington, pastor of Bourbon Street, used to make a lot of depreciating jokes in his sermons concerning his wife. Even as a young teen, I often wondered how she felt about those jokes. Obviously, I was not privy to his marital situation, but I was not all that surprised when the news announced that he was divorcing his wife and soon married another woman.
Is the Preacher being sarcastic when he says, “Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun?” I think he is being sarcastic. “Apart from God, Your spouse is the best thing you are going to get! Ain’t life grand?” Remember throughout the book of Ecclesiastes the phrase, ‘under the sun,’ seems to speak of life lived apart from God. Like the comedians of our day, he is offering up a truism that we have difficulty living with because we refuse to submit to the complete plan of God!
It is only by submitting to the complete plan of God that we will be able to make sense of the direction that life takes us. Because only by submitting completely to Him can we really see life in the proper perspective of His glory. When the NKJV translates, “Live joyfully,” it gives a footnote indicating that it should be literally translated, “See life joyfully.” The only way that life can be seen joyfully for a lifetime with a spouse is that we see it together through a perspective that is above this world. It must be seen through an eternal perspective. It must be seen through the glory of God. What is He doing in our lives to bring glory to Himself? Anytime I cease to see life joyfully with my spouse, it is because I have ceased seeing Him, and I focus on my spouse’s faults.
When I focus on Him what do I see? I see the mystery of the Trinity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God, yet They are three persons. Classically stated, “There are three persons in one essence.” Henry Thiessen explains the great practicality of the doctrine this way:
It allows for eternal love. a. Love was before creation, yet love needs an object. Love is always flowing among the persons of the trinity. b. Only God can reveal God. By God the Father Sending God the Son, God could be manifest. (and is still manifested today through the Holy Spirit) c. Only God can atone for sin. This is accomplished through the incarnation of God the Son. d. It is hard to conceive of personality existing without society. The persons of the Godhead relate one to another in perfect harmony, a perfect society. “If there were not trinity, there could be no incarnation, no objective redemption, and therefore no salvation; for there would be no one capable of acting as Mediator between God and man.”
There is eternal love and joy flowing within the Trinity. That is why marriage without Him is impossible. My marriage is to reflect Him/Them. It can only be mocked under the sun. Submitted fully to Him, it can be achieved. That is why we must focus upon Him. When we look at the Baptism, the Transfiguration and the Glorification of Jesus, we see that the Father truly loves the Son. When we look upon the Son on the cross, we see that the Son truly loved the Father. He went there because the Father sent Him there. His love for the Father is clearly demonstrated! Where would I go for my wife? Where would my wife go for me? Hmmm. . . Comedians make marriage jokes because it is at the same time desirable yet apart from Him impossible. The good news is that submitted to Him, He makes it possible because He has already done it! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

LUKE 1:57-80
"Dawn take you all and be stone with you." I'd have to look it up, but I think those were the words of Gandalf in The Hobbit. The occasion was that Bilbo and the dwarves had been captured by some trolls. Gandalf's problem was to rescue them all without them being injured. Gandalf's magic would work if the he could keep them outside until the first ray of light shone upon them. Gandalf managed to use ventriloquism to keep the trolls arguing among themselves until morning light. The dwarves and Bilbo were able to listen to the argument as to the best way to cook dwarves and hobbit. Encouraging, huh? The trolls argued right up unto the dawn. Then Gandalf pronounced the words, and the trolls turned to stone. Isn't that an interesting metaphor?
Zacharias speaks so much of the glory of the Lord. He prophesies about John preparing the way for the Lord. He speaks of the Lord as being the Dayspring or dawn from on high. We are those who sit in darkness. You ever feel like the powers of darkness were just sitting around arguing over the best way to cook you? Jesus is the dawn. When He comes our enemies turn to stone. He brings light and life. What is my problem anyway? The Dayspring is coming. I may be in the stinking hands of the powers of darkness now, but the Dayspring is coming. I may be listening to the conversation of the various ways that I might be cooked, but the Dayspring is coming. His glory turns my darkness to stone. I have light in which I may walk. He is my Dayspring. He is our Dayspring. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john