2 Chronicles 7
“Our God is a consuming fire.” Abraham experienced it in the reiteration of the covenant in Gen. 15. He experienced it again when he saw Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by fire rained from heaven. Moses and the Children of Israel experienced it as the pillar of fire led them out of Egypt and protected them from Pharaoh’s army. Solomon experienced it. The sacrifice was made, fire consumed it, and then the glory of God filled the tabernacle. Notice the order: sacrifice-fire-glory. God consumes sin. Then glory comes. Am I allowing His cleansing fire to purify me so that His glory may fill me—not for my benefit, but that others may see it and be drawn to Him? When His cleansing fire comes, it throws us to the ground for its magnitude weighs heavy upon us.
One would think that it would be an incredibly painful process; however, it appears that afterward it fills our hearts with joy. Look at what the people proclaimed, “He is good, For His mercy endures forever!” They repeated it several times. What was God’s reponse? He said that if they would humble themselves, and pray and seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, then He would hear from heaven, and would forgive their sin and heal their land.” The principle is still true today. Let us repent for our God is a consuming fire. He will burn away our sin and receive us! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
2 John
I remember my philosophy of ministry class. It was my first quarter in seminary. It is one of the few courses that I can remember the specific content with out having to get out the class notes. One thing the Prof drilled into us all quarter, which was the backbone of the class, is: Ministry is a blend of truth and love. Neither truth nor love can be sacrificed for the other. Neither is truly functioning without the other. God is constantly communicating truth to us. But when He does, He wraps it in a relationship of love. Even the Old Testament prophets, known for their fiery condemnation of the sin of the people balance their caustic condemnations with promise of God's love and forgiveness, if the people will repent. They are filled with the covenant love of Yahweh.
Jesus is the epitome of truth wrapped in love. It is so ironic that when Jesus told Pilate that all who are of the truth follow Him, Pilate cynically responded, "What is truth?" The eternal truth was standing in front of him wrapped in flesh. That flesh was the visible manifestation of God saying, "I love you." The truth is that God is holy and despises sin. But He is also love. He doesn't just over look sin. His holiness will not allow that. He destroys sin. But it is His love that motivated Him to take our place when He destroyed sin. It is His glory to reveal truth while He loves us. The result is that we are to do the same.
Sadly, we cannot seem to find the balance. I consider myself to be very conservative theologically. I believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. Its inspiration extends to every word of its original penmanship right down to the very tenses. Its right interpretation is crucial to hearing the mind of God. Yet, all too occasionally, when walking in circles of people who believe as I do, I get a sense from them that they enjoy using the truth as a sledge hammer with which to bludgeon people. They seem to lack any love or grace. On the other hand, when walking in circles of people who don't view the Bible as being final truth, their positions on different moral issues are so anemic that they make a mockery of love.
Jesus blends them perfectly. He welcomes the sinner. He says to the sinner, "I love you." But He does not ignore the sin. He destroys the sin without destroying the repentant sinner and then says to him/her, "Go and sin no more." He does not hide truth to destroy sin. He exposes truth to destroy sin. Then He calls us to do the same. Isn't He beautiful? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
December 6, 2010
2 Chronicles 6:12-42
Is it not astonishing that Solomon could have such an accurate view of the realities of life and yet have been so wayward at times? Listen to what he says, “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth?” Certainly part of Solomon’s thinking was in reference to space. Even in dedicating the temple, he said, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” How can the glory of God be contained to a temple? It cannot! But it partially can be seen there. The glory of the Lord overflowed the temple. It was to here that Solomon called out to the Lord saying, “Now therefore, Arise, O Lord God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.” He recognized that God could dwell with men if the right steps were taken. He calls upon the Lord to do so.
However, as the writer of Hebrews tells us, these were only shadows of things to come in Jesus. His temple is now His people. He no longer dwells with us but in us. No longer are a select few priests, but now we are all priests. No longer do we grope for Him in darkness, but we are able to enter His light. Listen to how Peter put it in 1 Peter 2: 5,9:
5you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . 9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Is it not astonishing that we can understand this concept and yet be so wayward at times? We have opportunity for the living God to let His glory shine in and through us. Do we call out to Him saying, “Arise O Lord God, to Your resting place?” Do we yield control to Him, so that He may do that. Why don’t we? Maybe if we did, we would see His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 5
I remember in 5th grade U.S. History reading about the Spanish explorers and conquistadors. Ponce de Leon was the first to traverse the Florida peninsula and what is now southeast United States. In addition to many other purposes he was searching for the Fount of Youth. Apparently he had heard some witness of the Fount of Youth existing somewhere in the jungles or everglades of Florida. He and his men overcame much opposition in order to accomplish their purposes. Some of their purposes were accomplished. But obviously he never found the Fount of Youth. Apparently the witness was false.
The glory of our Lord is such that He is Life. He is the water and the blood that brings life. Can you imagine what it would be like if Ponce de Leon had found the Fount of Youth. Think of it. We would be perpetually young. You may be thinking, "Wow that would be great to feel like I did when I was 18." But can you think what it would be like to be perpetually young, if we remained as we are now? We would be perpetually at war, perpetually selfish, perpetually not understanding righteousness, perpetually in sin. Now in contrast, when Jesus brings us life, He brings the ability to truly love. He brings the ability to overcome the sin of this world. He brings the ability to live righteously. He brings the right to become His child. As His child we gain the ability to not sin. That is the eternal life in which I want to participate. The sort that Ponce de Leon and the rest of the world is looking for is not really life. It is eternal death. Death that goes on forever and ever. Jesus is the true God and eternal life. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Is it not astonishing that Solomon could have such an accurate view of the realities of life and yet have been so wayward at times? Listen to what he says, “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth?” Certainly part of Solomon’s thinking was in reference to space. Even in dedicating the temple, he said, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” How can the glory of God be contained to a temple? It cannot! But it partially can be seen there. The glory of the Lord overflowed the temple. It was to here that Solomon called out to the Lord saying, “Now therefore, Arise, O Lord God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.” He recognized that God could dwell with men if the right steps were taken. He calls upon the Lord to do so.
However, as the writer of Hebrews tells us, these were only shadows of things to come in Jesus. His temple is now His people. He no longer dwells with us but in us. No longer are a select few priests, but now we are all priests. No longer do we grope for Him in darkness, but we are able to enter His light. Listen to how Peter put it in 1 Peter 2: 5,9:
5you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . 9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Is it not astonishing that we can understand this concept and yet be so wayward at times? We have opportunity for the living God to let His glory shine in and through us. Do we call out to Him saying, “Arise O Lord God, to Your resting place?” Do we yield control to Him, so that He may do that. Why don’t we? Maybe if we did, we would see His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 5
I remember in 5th grade U.S. History reading about the Spanish explorers and conquistadors. Ponce de Leon was the first to traverse the Florida peninsula and what is now southeast United States. In addition to many other purposes he was searching for the Fount of Youth. Apparently he had heard some witness of the Fount of Youth existing somewhere in the jungles or everglades of Florida. He and his men overcame much opposition in order to accomplish their purposes. Some of their purposes were accomplished. But obviously he never found the Fount of Youth. Apparently the witness was false.
The glory of our Lord is such that He is Life. He is the water and the blood that brings life. Can you imagine what it would be like if Ponce de Leon had found the Fount of Youth. Think of it. We would be perpetually young. You may be thinking, "Wow that would be great to feel like I did when I was 18." But can you think what it would be like to be perpetually young, if we remained as we are now? We would be perpetually at war, perpetually selfish, perpetually not understanding righteousness, perpetually in sin. Now in contrast, when Jesus brings us life, He brings the ability to truly love. He brings the ability to overcome the sin of this world. He brings the ability to live righteously. He brings the right to become His child. As His child we gain the ability to not sin. That is the eternal life in which I want to participate. The sort that Ponce de Leon and the rest of the world is looking for is not really life. It is eternal death. Death that goes on forever and ever. Jesus is the true God and eternal life. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
December 5, 2010
2 Chronicles 5:1-6:11
We were in the depths of the Alabaster Caverns in northwest Oklahoma, and the guide turned out the lights. Darkness immediately enveloped us. Try as we might, we could not see. There was not even a glow of light. We were far enough into the cavern that if I had to get out on my own. I would probably have spent the rest of my life groping in the darkness wandering around in circles.
Solomon says, “The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted house. . . “ Where did the LORD ever say that?” The closest thing that I could find was in Exodus 19:9 where He told Moses, “I am going to come to you in the form of a dark cloud, so that the people themselves can hear me when I talk with you, and then they will always believe you. Even a dark cloud is a revelation to us. He wraps Himself in darkness, so we do not see Him. We grope in the dark caverns of this world searching for Him. Speaking to the idolaters in Athens, Paul had this to say,
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.—Acts 17:26-28
Why must He cloak Himself in darkness? Perhaps Exodus 33:20, when God spoke to Moses is an explanation: “But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’” I think to see Him fully would mean that we would in some way experience His attributes particularly His justice. With our sin problem, to experience His justice would kill us. Not experiencing Him in our sinful state is actually a blessing. The tabernacle and it accompanying furniture and rituals speaks of how the Lord will remove our sin from us in such a way that we shall live. It speaks of a way that He may dwell with us without destroying us. It speaks of His grace and revelation to us. He has rescued us from groping in the caverns of life. Because of what He has done, we can see His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 4
Jesus is God made flesh. God is love. Would it follow then, that Jesus is love made flesh? It would appear so. After all, greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friend. This Jesus has done. He laid down His life for us. He loves us perfectly.
Is there anything in this life you are afraid of? I took some psuedophedrine extra strength not long ago when I had some ear/sinus congestion problems. Part of the side effects of the medication was an irrational fear, which was going on in my head. I thought I was going nuts. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not logical. God loves me and He will not allow anything to happen to me that He will not turn around for my good. That knowledge did not make the fear go away (the medication had to wear off), but it was the way I was able to slog though the time.
Are you afraid of God or what He allows to enter into your life? Then you really have not seen His glory. His glory proclaims His love for you. His love promises His presence in every situation. His love makes even the most gruesome experience liveable. We have to focus on His love, His glory, to overcome our fear. Perfect love casts out fear. He is perfect love. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
We were in the depths of the Alabaster Caverns in northwest Oklahoma, and the guide turned out the lights. Darkness immediately enveloped us. Try as we might, we could not see. There was not even a glow of light. We were far enough into the cavern that if I had to get out on my own. I would probably have spent the rest of my life groping in the darkness wandering around in circles.
Solomon says, “The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted house. . . “ Where did the LORD ever say that?” The closest thing that I could find was in Exodus 19:9 where He told Moses, “I am going to come to you in the form of a dark cloud, so that the people themselves can hear me when I talk with you, and then they will always believe you. Even a dark cloud is a revelation to us. He wraps Himself in darkness, so we do not see Him. We grope in the dark caverns of this world searching for Him. Speaking to the idolaters in Athens, Paul had this to say,
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.—Acts 17:26-28
Why must He cloak Himself in darkness? Perhaps Exodus 33:20, when God spoke to Moses is an explanation: “But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’” I think to see Him fully would mean that we would in some way experience His attributes particularly His justice. With our sin problem, to experience His justice would kill us. Not experiencing Him in our sinful state is actually a blessing. The tabernacle and it accompanying furniture and rituals speaks of how the Lord will remove our sin from us in such a way that we shall live. It speaks of a way that He may dwell with us without destroying us. It speaks of His grace and revelation to us. He has rescued us from groping in the caverns of life. Because of what He has done, we can see His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 4
Jesus is God made flesh. God is love. Would it follow then, that Jesus is love made flesh? It would appear so. After all, greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friend. This Jesus has done. He laid down His life for us. He loves us perfectly.
Is there anything in this life you are afraid of? I took some psuedophedrine extra strength not long ago when I had some ear/sinus congestion problems. Part of the side effects of the medication was an irrational fear, which was going on in my head. I thought I was going nuts. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not logical. God loves me and He will not allow anything to happen to me that He will not turn around for my good. That knowledge did not make the fear go away (the medication had to wear off), but it was the way I was able to slog though the time.
Are you afraid of God or what He allows to enter into your life? Then you really have not seen His glory. His glory proclaims His love for you. His love promises His presence in every situation. His love makes even the most gruesome experience liveable. We have to focus on His love, His glory, to overcome our fear. Perfect love casts out fear. He is perfect love. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Saturday, December 4, 2010
December 4, 2010
2 Chronicles 3-4
Much is said about the building of the Temple. 600 talents of Gold were used to inlay the walls. How much gold is that? That coverts to about 34,800-48,000 pounds of gold, or 17-24 tons. What would it cost to buy that much gold today? I just went on line to check the price of gold. As I write, gold is $1413.43 per ounce. Let’s use the low end. 34,800X16X1413.43=$766,997,824.00 That is just to buy the gold for the temple. Isn’t that extravagant? To build that temple today would take close to a billion dollars. That is extravagance for 7,000,000 people, men, women and children. Is our God worth it? He is worthy to receive glory and power and dominion and riches!!! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 3
Once when I lived in a community that did not have public water, My neighbor awakened me one morning. It was my day off, but he needed something. His water pump had died. It had died two days earlier. He needed water. We ran a hose from my house to his house. Finally they were able to get clean water to take a shower, wash their clothes & dishes, and flush their toilet. What a convenience it is to have clean water! I don’t know whether they drank tap water or not. We didn’t. Our water was clean (as in healthy) but it tasted really nasty. It was not pure. We bought water at the grocery store to drink. Our water was not pure in that it had gasses in it that gave it a nasty smell and taste. If you let the water sit open for a while the gasses escaped and then it was tolerable to drink. But the essence of good drinking water is that you want it on demand. It is pure even from gasses.
Jesus is pure. There is no sin in Him, on Him or around Him. Someday, when we see Him, not only will we be declared pure, but we will be pure in our experience. Those who fix on His glory understand that and cooperate with Him purifying their lives now. Could it be like the water coming out of my well? We ran it through a water softener which collected the unwanted minerals in the water. Could that be compared to His declaring us righteous on the basis of His death upon the cross? Yet, the gasses from the minerals still remain in us. The smell and effects of water is still in, on and around us. Sometimes it is a process of getting rid of gasses in us, spiritual flatulence.
But Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That includes getting rid of the impurities in us. The spiritual flatulence in us keeps us from loving others and others loving us. As we gaze upon Him, we begin the process of removing the spiritual flatulence. One of the ways that we know that we have come to know Him is that we are in the process. He is pure. He wants us to be pure. Let us gaze upon His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Much is said about the building of the Temple. 600 talents of Gold were used to inlay the walls. How much gold is that? That coverts to about 34,800-48,000 pounds of gold, or 17-24 tons. What would it cost to buy that much gold today? I just went on line to check the price of gold. As I write, gold is $1413.43 per ounce. Let’s use the low end. 34,800X16X1413.43=$766,997,824.00 That is just to buy the gold for the temple. Isn’t that extravagant? To build that temple today would take close to a billion dollars. That is extravagance for 7,000,000 people, men, women and children. Is our God worth it? He is worthy to receive glory and power and dominion and riches!!! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 3
Once when I lived in a community that did not have public water, My neighbor awakened me one morning. It was my day off, but he needed something. His water pump had died. It had died two days earlier. He needed water. We ran a hose from my house to his house. Finally they were able to get clean water to take a shower, wash their clothes & dishes, and flush their toilet. What a convenience it is to have clean water! I don’t know whether they drank tap water or not. We didn’t. Our water was clean (as in healthy) but it tasted really nasty. It was not pure. We bought water at the grocery store to drink. Our water was not pure in that it had gasses in it that gave it a nasty smell and taste. If you let the water sit open for a while the gasses escaped and then it was tolerable to drink. But the essence of good drinking water is that you want it on demand. It is pure even from gasses.
Jesus is pure. There is no sin in Him, on Him or around Him. Someday, when we see Him, not only will we be declared pure, but we will be pure in our experience. Those who fix on His glory understand that and cooperate with Him purifying their lives now. Could it be like the water coming out of my well? We ran it through a water softener which collected the unwanted minerals in the water. Could that be compared to His declaring us righteous on the basis of His death upon the cross? Yet, the gasses from the minerals still remain in us. The smell and effects of water is still in, on and around us. Sometimes it is a process of getting rid of gasses in us, spiritual flatulence.
But Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. That includes getting rid of the impurities in us. The spiritual flatulence in us keeps us from loving others and others loving us. As we gaze upon Him, we begin the process of removing the spiritual flatulence. One of the ways that we know that we have come to know Him is that we are in the process. He is pure. He wants us to be pure. Let us gaze upon His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Friday, December 3, 2010
December 3, 2010
2 Chronicles 2
Solomon is to be commended for several things in today’s passage. He recognized the greatness of the Lord, “Even the heavens cannot contain Him.” With that in mind and with the problems that I have with sin, I immediately see my need for sacrifice. I have offended a holy God. His wrath must be appeased. His judgment must be satisfied. Death is the only thing that satisfies His justice. Sacrifice is the only way that I can ultimately survive. Praise be to God that Jesus is the sacrifice for me. But Solomon seems to have gone to seed on sacrifice.
There were other implements or pieces of furniture that were used by the priests in clearing the way to see the glory of God in the holy of holies. After the bronze altar came the bronze laver. Here the priest had to wash his hands and feet before entering the holy place. After the sacrifice was performed, the priest would clean himself and put on fresh clothes, but before entering the holy place he would wash his hands and feet to clean himself of the dirt collected on the way. This is typical of our lives. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. We are cleansed. But in our daily lives we encounter thoughts, attitudes and actions as we travel along that soil us once again. Those need to be dealt with if we hope to see the glory of God. Entering into the holy place we find the lamp stand which represented the light of God. It would reveal any uncleanness still upon the priest. Across from the lamp stand was the Bread of Presence. It represented the daily fellowship with God. In front of the veil into the Holy of Holies was the golden altar of incense, which represented the prayers of the saints. Behind the veil was the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat and cherubim. There above the cherubim rested the glory of the Lord when Moses first instituted the Tabernacle. It was from there that the Lord spoke to Moses.
Now, look at what Solomon describes as he tells Hiram about the temple that he is building for the Lord. He lists burning incense, showbread and burning sacrifices. Is it just for brevity’s sake that he leaves out the lamp stand and the laver? Now, look at the whole of Solomon’s life. What do you see? On the one hand, there is tremendous wisdom and wealth and a great start at following the Lord. On the other hand, a staggering list of wives and concubines that goes beyond belief. His wives turned his heart to seeking other gods that was surpassed only by Manasseh. From the book of Ecclesiastes we see that in his carnality, he did not withhold a single fleshly temptation from himself. How could such a wise man do such foolish things?
I submit to you that, metaphorically speaking, because he did not daily come to wash himself of the sin he had committed, or step into the light of the Lord to let Him reveal any uncleanness in his life, that the daily grime of his own sin built up and covered his heart and mind to the point that even as the wisest of men, he could not see his own sin. The glory of God following the day of dedication of the temple became progressively dimmer and dimmer until he saw it no more, and all he cared about was feeding his own lusts. How tragic!
I am in danger of falling into a similar trap. Unless I come daily to wash myself at the door of His temple and then step into His light to let Him reveal any spot or stain, then I run the risk of letting the grime build up until all I see is my own lust. Then the glory of God is no longer my concern, but only my own glory. Lord, remove the grime from my life. Show me any spot or stain that needs to be washed away. Enable me to bask in Your presence. Accept the prayers that I send up before Your throne because they actually began at Your throne. Let me see Your glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 2
Satisfaction, love, righteousness
I Can't Get No Satisfaction, remember the song from the 60's? What a slogan to describe the people of our day. Are we ever satisfied? We are materially the richest generation and culture the world has ever seen. Compared to times past, most kings have not lived in the comfort and ease in which we live. A wealthy tycoon was once asked, "How much is enough?" He replied, "Just a little bit more." We are never satisfied. There is always better food, clothing, house, car, vacation, recreation, ease. There is always something that beckons to us--just a little bit more.
Do you ever wonder if God is satisfied with our righteous state? Are our sins really taken care of? When I contemplate His perfect standard of righteousness and justice and see my sins, there is such a woeful chasm between the two. It is impossible that the chasm could be bridged. That is where the glory of Jesus comes in. He is the propitiation for my sins. Now that is a fancy word that I usually only use when addressing this passage. It means to satisfy just wrath. Because God is just, He is wrathful against any sin. Is His wrath ever satisfied? Yes it is. He performed His wrath on Jesus, when Jesus was on the cross. The fullness of His wrath was poured out upon Him. It was so awful that even creation seemed to turn. The sun went dark. The earth quaked and shook. Yes, God's wrath was fully satisfied in Jesus.
Satan is an accuser, sometimes as a liar, sometimes just presenting one side of the truth. Whenever Satan presents my sin to God and demands wrath against it, Jesus responds as my Advocate, my defense lawyer. He simply says to the Father, "Your wrath was satisfied for John's sin when I died on the cross." The Father no longer wants to destroy me because of my sin. His wrath is satisfied in Jesus. Now that is glory!
But it doesn't stop there! When we gaze at the glory that He is the satisfaction of our sin and grasp the depth of our forgiveness, we begin to cease hating those who have abused us. Why? Because we begin to understand, they are caught in the same trap of sin that we were caught in. His glory teaches us to love them because they too are forgiven if they have trusted Jesus. They too will be forgiven if they will trust Jesus.
As we gaze at His glory, we realize the beauty of His righteousness and the awfulness of our sin, and our desire to stay in sin fades away. That is why we must speak His glory to one another. It helps us focus on His glory. It reminds others to focus on His glory. Gazing upon His glory brings freedom. Are you a glory gazer? Are you a glory proclaimer? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Solomon is to be commended for several things in today’s passage. He recognized the greatness of the Lord, “Even the heavens cannot contain Him.” With that in mind and with the problems that I have with sin, I immediately see my need for sacrifice. I have offended a holy God. His wrath must be appeased. His judgment must be satisfied. Death is the only thing that satisfies His justice. Sacrifice is the only way that I can ultimately survive. Praise be to God that Jesus is the sacrifice for me. But Solomon seems to have gone to seed on sacrifice.
There were other implements or pieces of furniture that were used by the priests in clearing the way to see the glory of God in the holy of holies. After the bronze altar came the bronze laver. Here the priest had to wash his hands and feet before entering the holy place. After the sacrifice was performed, the priest would clean himself and put on fresh clothes, but before entering the holy place he would wash his hands and feet to clean himself of the dirt collected on the way. This is typical of our lives. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. We are cleansed. But in our daily lives we encounter thoughts, attitudes and actions as we travel along that soil us once again. Those need to be dealt with if we hope to see the glory of God. Entering into the holy place we find the lamp stand which represented the light of God. It would reveal any uncleanness still upon the priest. Across from the lamp stand was the Bread of Presence. It represented the daily fellowship with God. In front of the veil into the Holy of Holies was the golden altar of incense, which represented the prayers of the saints. Behind the veil was the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat and cherubim. There above the cherubim rested the glory of the Lord when Moses first instituted the Tabernacle. It was from there that the Lord spoke to Moses.
Now, look at what Solomon describes as he tells Hiram about the temple that he is building for the Lord. He lists burning incense, showbread and burning sacrifices. Is it just for brevity’s sake that he leaves out the lamp stand and the laver? Now, look at the whole of Solomon’s life. What do you see? On the one hand, there is tremendous wisdom and wealth and a great start at following the Lord. On the other hand, a staggering list of wives and concubines that goes beyond belief. His wives turned his heart to seeking other gods that was surpassed only by Manasseh. From the book of Ecclesiastes we see that in his carnality, he did not withhold a single fleshly temptation from himself. How could such a wise man do such foolish things?
I submit to you that, metaphorically speaking, because he did not daily come to wash himself of the sin he had committed, or step into the light of the Lord to let Him reveal any uncleanness in his life, that the daily grime of his own sin built up and covered his heart and mind to the point that even as the wisest of men, he could not see his own sin. The glory of God following the day of dedication of the temple became progressively dimmer and dimmer until he saw it no more, and all he cared about was feeding his own lusts. How tragic!
I am in danger of falling into a similar trap. Unless I come daily to wash myself at the door of His temple and then step into His light to let Him reveal any spot or stain, then I run the risk of letting the grime build up until all I see is my own lust. Then the glory of God is no longer my concern, but only my own glory. Lord, remove the grime from my life. Show me any spot or stain that needs to be washed away. Enable me to bask in Your presence. Accept the prayers that I send up before Your throne because they actually began at Your throne. Let me see Your glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 2
Satisfaction, love, righteousness
I Can't Get No Satisfaction, remember the song from the 60's? What a slogan to describe the people of our day. Are we ever satisfied? We are materially the richest generation and culture the world has ever seen. Compared to times past, most kings have not lived in the comfort and ease in which we live. A wealthy tycoon was once asked, "How much is enough?" He replied, "Just a little bit more." We are never satisfied. There is always better food, clothing, house, car, vacation, recreation, ease. There is always something that beckons to us--just a little bit more.
Do you ever wonder if God is satisfied with our righteous state? Are our sins really taken care of? When I contemplate His perfect standard of righteousness and justice and see my sins, there is such a woeful chasm between the two. It is impossible that the chasm could be bridged. That is where the glory of Jesus comes in. He is the propitiation for my sins. Now that is a fancy word that I usually only use when addressing this passage. It means to satisfy just wrath. Because God is just, He is wrathful against any sin. Is His wrath ever satisfied? Yes it is. He performed His wrath on Jesus, when Jesus was on the cross. The fullness of His wrath was poured out upon Him. It was so awful that even creation seemed to turn. The sun went dark. The earth quaked and shook. Yes, God's wrath was fully satisfied in Jesus.
Satan is an accuser, sometimes as a liar, sometimes just presenting one side of the truth. Whenever Satan presents my sin to God and demands wrath against it, Jesus responds as my Advocate, my defense lawyer. He simply says to the Father, "Your wrath was satisfied for John's sin when I died on the cross." The Father no longer wants to destroy me because of my sin. His wrath is satisfied in Jesus. Now that is glory!
But it doesn't stop there! When we gaze at the glory that He is the satisfaction of our sin and grasp the depth of our forgiveness, we begin to cease hating those who have abused us. Why? Because we begin to understand, they are caught in the same trap of sin that we were caught in. His glory teaches us to love them because they too are forgiven if they have trusted Jesus. They too will be forgiven if they will trust Jesus.
As we gaze at His glory, we realize the beauty of His righteousness and the awfulness of our sin, and our desire to stay in sin fades away. That is why we must speak His glory to one another. It helps us focus on His glory. It reminds others to focus on His glory. Gazing upon His glory brings freedom. Are you a glory gazer? Are you a glory proclaimer? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Thursday, December 2, 2010
December 2, 2010
2 Chronicles 2
My wife grew up just a few miles from Valley Forge. As a matter of fact, her parents house was located on Valley Forge Road. A couple of times we visited the Valley Forge museum. In one display they have George Washington’s field tent set up in a hermetically sealed glass room. The environment is controlled to slow down the decay process of the tent. The tent followed and interesting path to its present location. At one time it was the property of General Robert E. Lee. Apparently somebody in the family line married a descendant or relative of George Washington, and through that line the tent came into his possession. Although, at Valley Forge General Washington wintered in a house, not the tent. Still in his summer campaigns, particularly on the move, he used the tent. It has been about 230 years since then. The tent was in still good shape, but only because it has been protected for the last 200 years. I wonder how long the Tabernacle of the Lord lasted.
David was incomplete in the movement of the Tabernacle to Jerusalem. We saw in 1 Kings 3 the great mercy of the Lord upon Solomon. Here in 2 Chronicles we learn that the bronze altar was in Gibeon. Gibeon is referred to as the great high place. David brought the ark from Kiriath Jearim. What was it doing there? When Samuel was a boy, the Philistines captured it. When the Lord plagued them, they hooked it up to an ox cart, and the oxen took it on their own, without a driver, straight to Kiriath Jearim, the nearest Israelite town. The ark remained there until David attempted to move it to Jerusalem. David set up a tent for the ark in Jerusalem. That implies that the Tabernacle was not there. Perhaps after 400 years the Tabernacle was much to worn to attempt to transport it. But he left at least the bronze altar there. Who knows what happened to the other Tabernacle furniture during those years. By this point, my guess is that the tent had worn out.
The bronze altar was a picture of the judgment of God against sin upon the cross. When the ark was moved, it should all have been returned together with the Tabernacle and other furniture, but it wasn’t. So, I guess Solomon was doing something kind-of-right. He went to Gibeon to offer the sacrifices. That is where the bronze altar was. God met him that night as a result. God always meets us initially at the cross. But we need to move deeper in than just a simple understanding of the sacrifice being made for our sin. We must press on in to find the glory of God. To look at the Tabernacle, it was a process that began at the bronze altar but continued on in to the Holy of Holies. There is where the glory dwelt. I wonder if Solomon ever made it past the bronze altar. I guess we will explore that a few chapters down the road. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 1
Glory is a hard word to get a handle on. Ask any group of people what glory means, and you'll get a lot of definitions. But no one’s definition will probably be sufficient. The glory of God is just not something that is easy to handle. But part of the glory of Jesus is that He is glory made flesh. He could be seen, reasoned with, even handled. He is the glory of God made known in a way that humans can grasp the greatness of His majesty without being destroyed. When His glory is handled, grasped or comprehended, it naturally results in joy, fullness of joy.
In particular His glory is light. Light reveals the nature of reality. When I was younger, God had blessed me with extraordinary vision. I could see a deer standing still a quarter of a mile a way and tell you when it flicked its tail. I could read very fine print. But alas, age is creeping upon me. I can no longer read my large print Bible without glasses. I have found that the amount of light makes a great difference in what I can see in print, on my clothes and even on my own face when I look in a mirror. With my diminished eyesight, light is very important for seeing reality of what is in print, what is on my clothes or the presentableness of my face.
As we focus on His glory, we walk into His light. In the midst of His light we see the reality about ourselves. We see the sins we cling onto. We see the effect of sins on our presentableness. We have three options. We can continue to gaze at the ugliness of our sin that is revealed by the light. We can turn our backs on the sin and walk back into the darkness. Or we can confess the sin and continue to gaze upon His glory. The wonderful thing about confession and continuing to look for His glory is that as we do that, His blood washes away our sin. We become presentable! That is His glory for you! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
My wife grew up just a few miles from Valley Forge. As a matter of fact, her parents house was located on Valley Forge Road. A couple of times we visited the Valley Forge museum. In one display they have George Washington’s field tent set up in a hermetically sealed glass room. The environment is controlled to slow down the decay process of the tent. The tent followed and interesting path to its present location. At one time it was the property of General Robert E. Lee. Apparently somebody in the family line married a descendant or relative of George Washington, and through that line the tent came into his possession. Although, at Valley Forge General Washington wintered in a house, not the tent. Still in his summer campaigns, particularly on the move, he used the tent. It has been about 230 years since then. The tent was in still good shape, but only because it has been protected for the last 200 years. I wonder how long the Tabernacle of the Lord lasted.
David was incomplete in the movement of the Tabernacle to Jerusalem. We saw in 1 Kings 3 the great mercy of the Lord upon Solomon. Here in 2 Chronicles we learn that the bronze altar was in Gibeon. Gibeon is referred to as the great high place. David brought the ark from Kiriath Jearim. What was it doing there? When Samuel was a boy, the Philistines captured it. When the Lord plagued them, they hooked it up to an ox cart, and the oxen took it on their own, without a driver, straight to Kiriath Jearim, the nearest Israelite town. The ark remained there until David attempted to move it to Jerusalem. David set up a tent for the ark in Jerusalem. That implies that the Tabernacle was not there. Perhaps after 400 years the Tabernacle was much to worn to attempt to transport it. But he left at least the bronze altar there. Who knows what happened to the other Tabernacle furniture during those years. By this point, my guess is that the tent had worn out.
The bronze altar was a picture of the judgment of God against sin upon the cross. When the ark was moved, it should all have been returned together with the Tabernacle and other furniture, but it wasn’t. So, I guess Solomon was doing something kind-of-right. He went to Gibeon to offer the sacrifices. That is where the bronze altar was. God met him that night as a result. God always meets us initially at the cross. But we need to move deeper in than just a simple understanding of the sacrifice being made for our sin. We must press on in to find the glory of God. To look at the Tabernacle, it was a process that began at the bronze altar but continued on in to the Holy of Holies. There is where the glory dwelt. I wonder if Solomon ever made it past the bronze altar. I guess we will explore that a few chapters down the road. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 John 1
Glory is a hard word to get a handle on. Ask any group of people what glory means, and you'll get a lot of definitions. But no one’s definition will probably be sufficient. The glory of God is just not something that is easy to handle. But part of the glory of Jesus is that He is glory made flesh. He could be seen, reasoned with, even handled. He is the glory of God made known in a way that humans can grasp the greatness of His majesty without being destroyed. When His glory is handled, grasped or comprehended, it naturally results in joy, fullness of joy.
In particular His glory is light. Light reveals the nature of reality. When I was younger, God had blessed me with extraordinary vision. I could see a deer standing still a quarter of a mile a way and tell you when it flicked its tail. I could read very fine print. But alas, age is creeping upon me. I can no longer read my large print Bible without glasses. I have found that the amount of light makes a great difference in what I can see in print, on my clothes and even on my own face when I look in a mirror. With my diminished eyesight, light is very important for seeing reality of what is in print, what is on my clothes or the presentableness of my face.
As we focus on His glory, we walk into His light. In the midst of His light we see the reality about ourselves. We see the sins we cling onto. We see the effect of sins on our presentableness. We have three options. We can continue to gaze at the ugliness of our sin that is revealed by the light. We can turn our backs on the sin and walk back into the darkness. Or we can confess the sin and continue to gaze upon His glory. The wonderful thing about confession and continuing to look for His glory is that as we do that, His blood washes away our sin. We become presentable! That is His glory for you! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
December 1, 2010
1 Chronicles 29
Most Americans abide by the golden rule which states, “He who has the gold rules.” The Israelites rejoiced at the opportunity to give their gold away for the building of the Temple of the Lord. With a loyal heart they offered their gold willingly. As we saw yesterday, that is the kind of a heart that the Lord is looking for in us. If he asked us, would we willingly with a loyal heart give all that He asks of us? He does ask for it all. He does not ask for just 10% of our money. He does not ask for just our money. He asks for all of our time, talents, family, everything. We are merely stewards. If we have loyal and willing hearts, we rejoice when He says, “Give this, or do this, or go there.” We rejoice because it gives us opportunity to be part of bringing greater glory to Him. Am I willing to give Him the gold, or time, or whatever because He rules? When I obey, is it an object of rejoicing because He rules?
They were able to rejoice because they knew it all belonged to Him anyway. Look at what David says:
14 But who am I, and who are my people,
That we should be able to offer so willingly as this?
For all things come from You,
And of Your own we have given You.
15 For we are aliens and pilgrims before You,
As were all our fathers;
Our days on earth are as a shadow, And without hope.
It is pretty clear. We don’t own anything. He owns it all. When I lived in North Carolina, our congregation regularly had joint services with some of the black congregations in town. At least one of the congregations had a tradition that after the offering was received, the ushers brought it back to the front, lifted it up and everyone broke into a song with these words, “All things come from Thee.” If that is truly sung from the heart, I really like it. It is a great reminder of who I am, and who God is, and to whom all this stuff around me belongs.
But what is this line, “For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, As were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, And without hope?” Without hope? How can one rejoice and say that at the same time? Well if we truly understand that all this stuff around us is just temporary, and it really is not ours, then it to recognize that it brings us no hope is cause for rejoicing for then we can let go of the stuff and place our hope where it gives eternal reward. That is why the Israelites rejoiced when they gave their gold. They knew that they were exchanging their hope from gold that perishes to a hope that does not perish. They were moving their hope off of gold onto the One who is from eternity. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
2 Peter 3
"Gentle Jesus meek and mild," so goes a child's prayer, which I never learned fully. It is true Jesus is gentle. Gentleness is strength under control. He certainly is that. He is meek. Meekness is patient and submissive. Jesus is certainly patient, and He was completely submissive to the Father's will. He is mild. Mildness is being gentle and kind in disposition, action or effect; not severe, harsh, etc. Most of the time, Jesus exhibited mildness. But the total effect of the saying leaves a somewhat uncomfortable feeling with me in describing Jesus. In the appropriate situation, He is those things. But that does not describe Him all of the time. It's kind of like in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, someone asks if Aslan is safe. The response is something to the effect of, "He is not safe! But He is good!"
The unbridled, unveiled glory of Jesus would rip us apart. One day, the Day of the Lord, the Lord's glory will be unveiled. When that happens the heavens will pass away with at great noise, the elements will melt and the earth will be burnt up. Out of that violent ripping, He will create new heavens and a new earth. In that newness righteousness will dwell. Right now, anyone with half a brain can see that righteousness does not dwell here. Somehow, when I think of the destruction that we bring upon each other on this earth, I just cannot imagine that unrighteousness being effectively and ultimately dealt with by someone who is gentle, meek and mild. How can unrepentant evil be dealt with gently? It just cannot! We will see a new aspect of His glory, the just, wrathful and awe-full re-creation of His universe. Evil will be once and for all dealt with. In the mean time, He is gentle, meek and mild. He is patient waiting for all to come to repentance, not desiring that any should perish. But one day His patience will come to an end. Those of us who are found in His peace, with out spot and blemish (those who have experienced the power of the cross and resurrection) will see His glory unbridled and unveiled. And we shall actually survive it by His grace and glory!
One last thing from this passage--it says we can look for and hasten that coming day. How? We can hasten it by speaking the glory of Christ to one another and sharing the good news with those who have not heard. Remember Jesus said, "This Gospel shall be preached as a witness to all nations. Then the end shall come." He is waiting on His church, His bride, to finish the job. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Most Americans abide by the golden rule which states, “He who has the gold rules.” The Israelites rejoiced at the opportunity to give their gold away for the building of the Temple of the Lord. With a loyal heart they offered their gold willingly. As we saw yesterday, that is the kind of a heart that the Lord is looking for in us. If he asked us, would we willingly with a loyal heart give all that He asks of us? He does ask for it all. He does not ask for just 10% of our money. He does not ask for just our money. He asks for all of our time, talents, family, everything. We are merely stewards. If we have loyal and willing hearts, we rejoice when He says, “Give this, or do this, or go there.” We rejoice because it gives us opportunity to be part of bringing greater glory to Him. Am I willing to give Him the gold, or time, or whatever because He rules? When I obey, is it an object of rejoicing because He rules?
They were able to rejoice because they knew it all belonged to Him anyway. Look at what David says:
14 But who am I, and who are my people,
That we should be able to offer so willingly as this?
For all things come from You,
And of Your own we have given You.
15 For we are aliens and pilgrims before You,
As were all our fathers;
Our days on earth are as a shadow, And without hope.
It is pretty clear. We don’t own anything. He owns it all. When I lived in North Carolina, our congregation regularly had joint services with some of the black congregations in town. At least one of the congregations had a tradition that after the offering was received, the ushers brought it back to the front, lifted it up and everyone broke into a song with these words, “All things come from Thee.” If that is truly sung from the heart, I really like it. It is a great reminder of who I am, and who God is, and to whom all this stuff around me belongs.
But what is this line, “For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, As were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, And without hope?” Without hope? How can one rejoice and say that at the same time? Well if we truly understand that all this stuff around us is just temporary, and it really is not ours, then it to recognize that it brings us no hope is cause for rejoicing for then we can let go of the stuff and place our hope where it gives eternal reward. That is why the Israelites rejoiced when they gave their gold. They knew that they were exchanging their hope from gold that perishes to a hope that does not perish. They were moving their hope off of gold onto the One who is from eternity. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
2 Peter 3
"Gentle Jesus meek and mild," so goes a child's prayer, which I never learned fully. It is true Jesus is gentle. Gentleness is strength under control. He certainly is that. He is meek. Meekness is patient and submissive. Jesus is certainly patient, and He was completely submissive to the Father's will. He is mild. Mildness is being gentle and kind in disposition, action or effect; not severe, harsh, etc. Most of the time, Jesus exhibited mildness. But the total effect of the saying leaves a somewhat uncomfortable feeling with me in describing Jesus. In the appropriate situation, He is those things. But that does not describe Him all of the time. It's kind of like in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, someone asks if Aslan is safe. The response is something to the effect of, "He is not safe! But He is good!"
The unbridled, unveiled glory of Jesus would rip us apart. One day, the Day of the Lord, the Lord's glory will be unveiled. When that happens the heavens will pass away with at great noise, the elements will melt and the earth will be burnt up. Out of that violent ripping, He will create new heavens and a new earth. In that newness righteousness will dwell. Right now, anyone with half a brain can see that righteousness does not dwell here. Somehow, when I think of the destruction that we bring upon each other on this earth, I just cannot imagine that unrighteousness being effectively and ultimately dealt with by someone who is gentle, meek and mild. How can unrepentant evil be dealt with gently? It just cannot! We will see a new aspect of His glory, the just, wrathful and awe-full re-creation of His universe. Evil will be once and for all dealt with. In the mean time, He is gentle, meek and mild. He is patient waiting for all to come to repentance, not desiring that any should perish. But one day His patience will come to an end. Those of us who are found in His peace, with out spot and blemish (those who have experienced the power of the cross and resurrection) will see His glory unbridled and unveiled. And we shall actually survive it by His grace and glory!
One last thing from this passage--it says we can look for and hasten that coming day. How? We can hasten it by speaking the glory of Christ to one another and sharing the good news with those who have not heard. Remember Jesus said, "This Gospel shall be preached as a witness to all nations. Then the end shall come." He is waiting on His church, His bride, to finish the job. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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