April 27

NUMBERS 4
A friend of mine used to be part of a small group of men who brought famous Christian entertainers into Wilmington, NC. He asked me on occasion to help serve in security. I was there for the Rebecca St. James concert and for one of my favorites, Robin Mark. It was interesting for me to watch the roadies come in and set up the stage and equipment. They performed their tasks day after day for months on end as they accomplished their tour. They knew exactly what to do. They had their order for doing things and did them well. Each had their task and did it.
The Lord assigns traveling responsibilities for the tribe of Levi. Each family had their responsibility. There was an exact order that had to be followed, so that the holiness of God was not transgressed. With forty years of traveling in the wilderness, I am sure they became very proficient at their individual jobs. Eventually it became like clockwork. By the time David came around, they had centuries and generations which had passed where the jobs were neither taught nor performed. It lead to David transgressing the holiness of God and the death of one of his men.
The church is somewhat like the Children of Israel in the wilderness. We are a people of God on the move. The glory of God is designed to be in our midst. We move from place to place throughout life, and in so doing we are to let the glory of Christ shine from our midst. J. Vernon McGee has this to say about our responsibility:

As each Levite had his assignment, just so, every Christian has a gift and a job God wants him to do. I believe God will reward you for doing what He wants you to do. We are not to do what we choose to do, but we are to exercise the gifts that He has given us.

What would have happened if one of the Kohathites said, “I am tired of covering the ark. I don’t want to do it?” or if one of the Gershonites said, “I don’t want to carry the curtain?” or if one of the sons of Merari said, “I don’t want to carry this board?” Apparently something like that happened when David sought to transport the ark back to Jerusalem. The result was the holiness of God was transgressed, and a man died.
The Lord desires for His glory to shine in His church. What happens when we do not exercise the gift which He has assigned to us? His glory is seen in the discipline which He administers. It is not a pleasant thing. On the contrary, when we each submit to what He has assigned to us, the result is that His glory shines in a greater way. It is joy to see His glory unleashed. Let us make sure that we are doing the gift which He assigned to us. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 118
Mercy! Many of us instinctively know that we are in need of it; the rest just lie to themselves. His mercy, once extended, endures forever, and the Psalmist knows it very well! He calls out to the Lord, “Save now, I pray, Oh Lord!” (v.25) (translates into ‘Hosanna!’) He knows that he lacks the righteousness to enter into the gates of the temple of the Lord. He stands before the gates and throws himself upon the mercy of the Lord. Oh Lord, save me! I don’t have the required righteousness to come through the gates into Your presence. But when does the plea for salvation come? After the stone which the builders rejected becomes the chief cornerstone.
On Jesus’ triumphal entry the crowds and the children cried out, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” The stone presented Himself to the builders. They rejected Him. They bound the sacrifice (so to speak) to the horns of the altar. They crucified Him. God raised Him from the dead! That death and resurrection became the basis for mercy which pours out abundantly on those who will now kneel and plead for His mercy! He told us about it 1,000 years before it happened. Oh Lord, I receive Your mercy! Wow! Now that is glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ISAIAH 27
Throughout the millennia, one of the arguments used by the unbeliever to justify his unbelief has been the argument of the lack of justice in this world. If God is so loving and powerful, why does he allow the innocent to suffer and the wicked to escape justice? A few of the assumptions behind this reasoning are that the world has always been this way:

1. that justice must be meted out in this world to be just,
2. that there is no coming justice in the next world,
3. that I am not guilty of anything worthy of being judged as severely as the things which I have judged.

None of these assumptions are true. Nevertheless, most people hold to them quite severely.
Today’s passage addresses the assumption that there is no coming justice in the next world.

In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

It seems consistent with Genesis and Revelation to interpret “Leviathan-serpent-twisted serpent-reptile” to be Satan, the author and perpetrator of evil upon God’s kingdom. That Jesus will slay him is a reference to the time when he will be judged and cast into the lake of fire. Along with the twisted serpent will go the twisted world system and all those who refused to bow the knee to the Lamb of Glory. Yes, there will be justice performed. To assume any lack of it is to assail the glory of our Lord. For millennia now, the Lord has been preparing His vineyard, restoring His Kingdom, calling out His people. He does it in the midst of injustice where His people are struck, He prepares us. But one day all His enemies will be struck and slain. We will see the glory of his work. In the midst of it, He will remove our own wickedness. During the Millennial Kingdom, no one will live in a fortified city anymore because it will be unneeded. When He “slays the serpent,” at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, it will be complete. We will finally realize that all we need is Him. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

LUKE 19:28-48
It was first grade, and my friend Jimmy had been sick for a while and had not been to school. I missed him and was hoping he would be there that day. The school bell rang signaling the start of class, and Jimmy hadn't shown up. A little while into class, the door opened, and Jimmy walked in. I was so surprised and excited that I blurted out very loudly, "Jimmy!" My teacher was not pleased to say the least. She rebuked me very sternly and asked why I did that. I didn't know how to answer, so I just shrugged my shoulders. Shrugging her shoulders, she sarcastically said, "What does that mean?" I was afraid to answer now, and I really did not understand why what I had done was so bad. She gave me a couple sentence lecture and then continued on with class.
I understand now that, when you are trying to mass educate children, there is a certain decorum that you must keep to control your class; otherwise, things can get out of control. What I had done was not bad. It was just that if everybody responded that way, there would be chaos in the classroom. The herd mentality would be shattered. There might even be a stampede. There is a time for joyful shouts and a time for solemn silence. The same is true in worship. There is a time for joyful shouts and a time for solemn silence.
Jesus was approaching Jerusalem on the Sunday before His crucifixion. He had carefully thought this through. He had prepared a colt to ride. Another Gospel tells us that He did this purposely in fulfillment of the 400-year-old prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. The people recognized the significance of it and were beginning to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Here He is a man who has healed the sick, the blind, the dumb, the lame, set the demonized free, fed the multitudes and even raised the dead. He has taught with great authority and is now headed to Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, through the Eastern Gate! This is surely the promised deliverer! They began to sing part of the Hallel in praise of the Messiah. He is the Long-awaited One. The long separation is now coming to an end! It was a time for shouting and celebration!
But there are always those who are concerned about shattering the herd mentality. They felt this was inappropriate. "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" they called out. Oh no! They are out of control! They are expressing their great pleasure at the coming of the Messiah! But of course these Pharisees did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. So Jesus made a very wonderful statement, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."
The Creator of heaven and earth was in the flesh and in their midst! The sinfulness of human flesh hid that fact from human eyes, but the rest of creation recognized it right away. Humans were created to praise and worship the Creator. We were created to cry out concerning the joy of His presence. The glory of our Creator is so great that if we should fail at our designed purpose, even the very non-sentient creation would take our place and fulfill our purpose because He is so worthy of honor and praise! A friend of mine used to have a rock under his communion table with a sign in front of it that said, "If you don't praise Him, I will!"
Yes, there is a time for silence before our Creator. But there is also a time of wild exuberant shouts of joy in praise of His name at His coming! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

P.S. I think it is really interesting that reading Ps.118 fell on the same day as reading Lk.19:28-48. Psalm 118 is the last Psalm of the Hallel. It contains the famous verses, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. . . Lord Save!. . . The stone which the which the builders rejected has now become the chief cornerstone. . . etc."