June 8

DEUTERONOMY 12
“It’s your thing! Do what you wanna do.” So goes the lyrics to the Isley brothers 70’s hit song. It seems to have been the motto of many in the early 70’s. The song is appealing to the individual. However it is devastation to relationships. Somewhere within relationships there must come a centrality of purpose and action.
The Lord clearly lays out the necessity of the centrality of the tabernacle/temple in this passage. Why was there to be only one place of worship? One main reason is given. It was to prevent every man from ‘doing what was right in his own eyes’ (v.8). History clearly demonstrates the proclivity of man to do his own thing. Consider for example the 33,000 to 41,000 denominations in the world. Consider for example the ease with which people jump from church congregation to church congregation, much like they go from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart. God’s people are not immune to doing what is right in their own eyes. One would think that It would be a little different with God’s people. After all, Jesus prayed in John 17:22, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” Wouldn’t being one preclude 33,000 denominations? Am I missing something? Much of the glory of our Lord Jesus is invested in the unity of His people. Consider these verses:
We are one temple. There is only one foundation, and only one building which He is building on it.

Ephesians 2:19–22 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

We are not being built together for many dwelling places, but for a dwelling place. One day the son of perdition will build a temple in Jerusalem so that He can show Himself to be God. You see the purpose of a temple is to display God. That is why God is building us into a temple—so that He can display Himself as God in us (2 Thessalonians 2:4). It is through his building of the church that His glory is seen. Ephesians 3:21 tells us, “To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” His glory is somewhat dependent upon our unity. So how does He get glory out of the current state of the church? I can only guess that it is through the organic unity of the church, not the organizational unity. One day the organizational structures of the church will be dissolved. When it does, only the organic unity will remain. That will be true glory. On the one hand, in that day we will still do our thing; however, at that time our thing will be one thing: to bring glory to Him. Don’t you think that for the sake of His glory we ought to work a little harder on unity? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PROVERBS 8
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:24, 27 & 2:7:

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. . . 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— . . . 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

In one sense, Christ is the personification of wisdom spoken of in Proverbs 7. In another sense, He is more than wisdom. But since we are looking at the glory of Christ, let’s approach Proverbs 7 as though it were the personification of Christ.
One of the first things that I see here is that wisdom ‘cries out’ from high hills, highway intersections, city gates, doors of houses and buildings. Unlike the adulterous woman who coaxes the naïve into her bedroom behind closed doors to gain her fill of unrighteousness, Jesus is in the open calling out to people everywhere in all activities of life and in every situation. He is calling them to come to Him. He is ever the great communicator! It is only my fixation upon sin that inhibits my ability to hear Him! He is calling to us from the very point of creation right up unto the present. His voice was never any clearer or plainer than when He was upon the cross. The cross thunders through the ages that God hates sin, and He loves people. The resurrection echoes that He has power to deliver us from the bonds of our sin. But clearly in order to receive the benefits of that deliverance, we must yield to His calling out to us.
Another thing that I see here is that that wisdom is involved in the creation of the universe. Jesus as the ever communicating Word is also the Creator. When we are investigating how the depths of the oceans or the crust of the earth, we are merely discovering His thoughts as He created the earth. When we investigate the minutia of the molecular, atomic and sub-atomic world, we are merely thinking His thoughts after Him. When we explore the vast expanse of the solar system, galaxy and universe, we are simply finding out how awesome He really is. All of these declare to us constantly His wisdom ad power.
A final thing that I would like to look at today is His value. He is more valuable that gold, silver, rubies or any precious stone. Why do I spend and waste the majority of my time upon the acquisition of riches, when I can have more of Him? Why do I not spend my time in the pursuit of Him and His Kingdom? Then He can give me what He sees fit for me to have for myself? A true understanding of His glory could only lead me in that direction. If He desires to give me the earthly riches of Solomon, He can do that. If He desires to give me the earthly riches of Lazarus, (the one who died at the same time as the un-named rich man), He can do that. The point is, He is truly all the riches I need. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 3
Even in our wicked and adulterous age, we still hold some disdain for a spouse who cheats on his or her mate. We hold no fault toward an “innocent” spouse who has been cheated upon by his/her mate. Yet we would find the “innocent” spouse to be quite remarkable who would forgive a repentant errant mate and who would receive them back. We are spiritually adulterous. The Lord calls us back to Himself. He demands true repentance. He demands true faithfulness. Yet, He will truly receive us back when we repent. He is truly amazing! If your spouse willfully and defiantly cheated upon you before your very eyes, would you receive them back if they were repentant? Our Lord will receive us back. However, He also does things that make it clear that he does not tolerate our spiritual adultery. He forces us to make a choice. He will receive us if we choose Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOHN 18:1-18
John says that Jesus "knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward" What did Jesus know? He knew they had come to arrest Him. He knew the beating He would receive. He knew the agony of the crucifixion. But more than this, He knew that, although He had never committed sin, He Himself would become sin. He knew that as our sin was placed upon His body on the cross that His Father would, in a sense, forsake Him. His Father would punish that sin with death. He would for the first time experience the wrath of His Father. He would offer His own life a sacrifice for the sins of the world. That was an agony far greater than any physical beating or any capital punishment. Knowing this, He went forward. What courage! What knowledge! Indeed our King is a glorious King!
In midst of that turmoil, He controlled His own arrest and the arrest of His servants. When He declared, "I am," His glory for just an instant broke through. The detachment, overwhelmed by His glory, fell back to the ground. It was almost as if He had to coax them off of the ground and say, "Come on, here I am. Come arrest me. You can do it! Don't give up." He instructs them to come arrest Him but to leave His servants alone. Indeed our King is a glorious King!
In the midst of this turmoil Peter doesn't understand and seeks to start an armed resistance. Seeking to decapitate the servant of the High Priest, he misses and merely cuts off the man's ear. Still in control Jesus rebukes Peter. In the midst of this turmoil He simply asks a question, which begins His ascent to trial and the cross, "Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given me?" He was pressing them on to that for which the Father had sent Him. Despising it, still He sought it; still He controlled the actions of those around Him. Indeed our King is a glorious King!
There is no circumstance which He does not know about. There is no happening that He does not control. Indeed there is nothing in which He cannot bring glory to Himself, if we will but trust Him. Indeed our King is a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John