Tell Your Body What To Do

When our children are young, we tell them, “Tell your body what to do, or it will tell you what to do.” The years following will tell us whether or not they listened to us. But, this reality of the pervasiveness of sin and depravity, which most often shows up in impulses of the body, will become prominent in their lives. They must be prepared.

Children were created by God to learn. You can teach a child almost anything and they will learn it. They are incredible in that way. However, what children of Christian parents need to learn is that they are sinners in God’s eyes and their transgressions are from a dead heart that does not beat spiritually. They desire nothing that is good. They love what is unlovely and are drawn to what is dark. As they get more introduced to that part of life, they will grow to love it, unless God is working in them for His own glory.

But, in order for God to work in them, they need to learn the Bible. They need to read, recite, memorize, and scour the written Word of God so that they can see the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness. They need to see God, and they cannot see Him in nature, their hearts, the television screen, or on the internet. They must see Him where He is-the Bible.

Start your day, and your kid’s day, with reading the Bible. Make it a habit, discipline, expectation each morning before leaving for school, or getting ready for the day. This in itself is not righteousness, but will introduce them to righteousness, which they cannot get anywhere else.

This is all part of making them discipline themselves. Parents, remember. The children are not in charge. God did not make them to rule over parents. Don’t let them. If given opportunity, they will take it. Don’t give them that opportunity. And yet, they are children. Lead them, rule over them, instruct them, discipline them in the teaching and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:1-4), expecting obedience to you for Scripture’s sake, not your sake. But, you cannot even have this discussion and speak this language if neither of you read the Bible.

So, take their cell phones away (and put yours away) and read. Remove the distractions. Work to have their hearts set on learning the Word of God. And, parents, this begins with you-do you love the Word of God?

Leave Everything…Gain Everything.

In Luke 17:31-35 Jesus tells His disciples that there will be some incredible things that will happen when He returns. All the normal course of life will stop, people will be judged, and the righteous will be gathered to Him.

The interesting thing is that in this narrative, Jesus tells His followers to leave everything behind in that day and go to Him.

Luke 17:30–33 (NAS): 30 “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
31 “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back.
32 “Remember Lot’s wife.
33 “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

This is a statement that Jesus makes to teach and exhort His followers concerning that day. In that day, that day when Jesus appears in the sky with His saints, which will include the church, and walks into the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, after having split the Mount of Olives into two parts, the follower of Christ must leave everything and go to Him in Jerusalem. Whether one is brought there miraculously, or is brought there after securing transportation themselves, is hard to say. I favor the former, a miraculous gathering of all nations by the power of God to Jerusalem for Jesus to judge some and reward others (Matthew 25:25-46). It must be a kind of a reversal of the Tower of Babel wherein God separated the nations miraculously.

But think about this. Followers of the Word of Christ will be urged to leave behind all their possessions, including all their personal belongings deep inside their homes, and simply walk away from them. Think about the safe in your closet, your checkbook, your cell phone, your computer. Leave it all where it stands and never return to it, or long for it (Remember Lot’s wife-Luke 17:32).

What this tells me is that we will have all that we need in that day that God’s people enter His Millennial Kingdom with nothing from this world in our possession. He will provide all of our needs and there is no need to covet this world’s possessions since they will not be necessary there. How wonderful!

Why Did God Write 1 Corinthians 12-14?

The text of 1 Corinthians 12-14 is a fascinating look into the protocol for exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The passage also includes instructions for church order, the superiority of love, and the propriety of male headship in church service. There is much there because there is much to say from the mind of the Apostle Paul to this very ravaged church.

However, one question that some have regarding this section of Scripture is, “Why is it there?” Given the biblical position that the gifts of the Spirit, which refer to speaking in unlearned languages, performance of miracles, and the gifts of knowledge and prophecy, have all ceased and have not be given out by God to man since the days of the apostles, the question is a good one.

In order to answer this question, we need to understand another passage of Scripture that helps us to understand. The other passage of Scripture is Matthew 7:21-23. Look at that passage. What do you see? You will see that Jesus is being accused by men concerning His rationale in judgment. This actually happens all the time. But look closer.

Notice that the point of argument is the following: prophecy, exorcism, and miracle-working. These are apostolic works that Jesus assigned to the twelve in Matthew 10:8. They are apostolic signs. However, Jesus will reject these people and their assertions at His judgment seat. They will be cast into Hell (v.23) as false apostles.

Also, notice 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12. There, the Apostle Paul indicates, no doubt repeating the teaching of Jesus from passages like Matthew 7:21-23 and chapters 24-25 of Matthew speaking of false messiahs (probably accompanied with “false” signs and wonders), that the world will see the working of miracles by the man of lawlessness. Paul says that his miracles will be the “activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders.” (v.9)

And finally, in Revelation 13:14 the indication is that the man of lawlessness will be killed and then brought back to life in front of the whole world (Revelation 13:3).

The conclusion is that the context in which God will bring in His purpose prior to judgment is a context of false signs and wonders. This is God’s purpose (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12; Revealtion 17:17).

Folks, that is why we have such extensive teaching concerning signs and wonders and the true apostolic signs. This is one way in which the elect cannot be deceived since we will have access to the truth about these things (Matthew 24:24-25).

Therefore, it is imperative that we master this portion of Scripture (1 Corinthians 12-14) and be able to judge all forms of so-called miracles, signs, and wonders, against the Word of God so that we do not throw away our knowledge of God and chase after false messiahs.

Sovereignty and Pleasure Go Together

One of the verses I remember and learned as a young believer was Psalm 115:3 which says:

But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.

I remember that because of the death of Dawson Trotman, the founder of the Christian University ministry Navigators. He died while attempting to rescue a young girl who was drowning. The girl made it out alive, but Mr. Trotman drowned. His then widow is quoted as saying, “Our God is in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases.” I thought that was an incredible thing to say at the news of your husband’s death.

The verse is part of a Psalm which praises the God of Israel over the heathen gods of wood and stone. And what is it that makes the God of Israel distinct? It is that this God has joyous sovereignty.

The verb “He pleases” means that which gives Him pleasure, or is delightful to Him. This may be related to the passage in the NT wherein Paul wrote, “All things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28ff). The death of a husband, or child, or the cancer that takes a wife, or the Leukemia that plagues an infant are horrible tragedies, if it were not for the pleasure of God to perform His ultimate end-His own glory. And, His glory is good.

Only God, the God of Israel, has absolute ability to perform anything He wants to do. And that which He performs is governed by what pleases Him. Imagine doing what pleases you without restraint. Well, for us, it would immediately degenerate into self-indulgence or sinful pleasures like drinking, drugs, immorality, or self-fulfillment at the expense of this God. However, God is eternal and His eternal glory has been His pleasure for all that eternity. For us, anything that purports to be joyful and does not include God, the source of pleasure, is not truly joyful. Everything that we enjoy in life, if we receive joy from it, is a gift from God meant to cause us to give praise to the Giver of all that is good (Acts 14:17; 1 Timothy 6:17; James 1:17).

What are we doing that pleases God? What are we doing that puts Him on display in His great glory? What are we doing that gives Him joy?

The Days of Noah

Jesus said that it will be at His coming the way it was in the days of Noah. So, the question is, “What was it like in the days of Noah?”

Here are some passages from Scripture which give you an indication:

Genesis 6:5 (NAS): 5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:6 (NAS): 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

Genesis 6:10–13 (NAS): 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

Does that help? The earth was filled with violence, wickedness dominated man’s heart, motives and thoughts were evil all the time, and man’s ways were grieving to their Creator and He was sorry for every making man.

That is the way it will be on the earth before Jesus returns. Our current state of world affairs definitely supports that condition. What is worse, man rejoices in its corruption.

Can you imagine the sadness and sorry that God has for creating man? In the church, even, man is growing in corruption. The result of this kind of corruption and evil is judgment. When Jesus returns, His judgment will be swift, sudden, timely, and consummate.

This is why we need to call to the world to repent because Jesus’ time is near and man’s day is coming to a close.

It Will Be Business As Usual Until The Lord Returns.

Jesus’ teaching Luke 17:26-30 is that the world will continue as it has always continued. The normal courses of life will not be unbroken in the future, leading all the way until the Son of Man returns. The examples that Jesus used in Luke 17 are examples from pre-flood and post-flood. They are examples during the times of the greatest judgements that this world has seen and there are commonalities in both.

The passage is:

Luke 17:26–30 (NAS): 26 “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;
29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

In this passage notice that the people were busy about their lives until the very day of judgment. Before the flood, Noah was build the ark of Gopher wood and pitch (Genesis 6:14). It was a huge boat that would have been very evident to all around. For 120 years, Noah and his sons built this boat. During that time, Noah preached that God was going to judge the world. He was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). The world then mocked him and derided him. Peter tells us that they said, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4). However, Peter says that it escapes their notice that it was not long after the ark was completed that God boarded the family and sent a flood and destroyed the earth (2 Peter 3:6). Potentially millions died.

In the days of Lot, the people were busy about their lives as well. This included gross sin, the sin of homosexuality. When God sent the angels to rescue Lot, He then rained fire and brimstone upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-25). The Lord destroyed those two cities. However, prior to that destruction, it was life as usual.

Jesus said that it will be the same when He returns. People will preoccupy themselves with marrying, being given in marriage, buying, selling, planting, building, and regular affairs of life on the planet. That means that during the Tribulation man will continue to work hard at keeping the equilibrium that they once knew prior to the Rapture. After that, even in the midst of various signs from heaven and miracles of judgment on the earth, man will continue to worship his god, money, possessions, and self.

The beast will promise continued commerce, only a person must have his mark (Revelation 13:16-18). But he will continue to equalize the world while God is judging it. The darkness of lust, greed, power, false religion, and godlessness will continue in the same way that it did with Noah’s day and Lot’s day.

In the end, the world will blaspheme God for what He is doing in crescendo and they will refuse to glorify Him by repenting of their sins which were listed above (Revelation 16:11).

The destruction of worldwide commerce will finalize God’s wrath against the nations. That is what Revelation 18:11-20 says. Apostate Jerusalem, the home of the beast, false prophet, and Satan and his demons, the harlot herself, who becomes the head of the worldwide worship of the beast and the head of all immorality and sins, as well as the head of all commerce, will be destroyed with one final decree from God on the basis of the vindication of the saints who suffered because of her (Revelation 18:20).

Therefore, our Lord warned us. Seek the kingdom and leave the needs of the world to Him (Matthew 6:33). Let Him provide for you and care for you. You, Christian, seek the kingdom that is coming and busy yourself with its’ concerns. Do not concern yourself with the affairs of the world or you, like Lot, might be swept up in its destruction (Genesis 19:15-17).

We Are Sons of God, Not Children of The Law

We are studying the book of Galatians at our church and working through chapter 3 has been very exhilarating. To think that the God of the Bible, the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, and, most importantly, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, loves me is devastating. Why is it devastating? Because, I understand what loving me means. It isn’t about me, but rather it is about God.

What I mean to say is, when God loves someone, it is not static and unproductive. It is active. To say that God loves someone is to say that God is working to draw that person to Himself in love. The particular love I am referring to is the electing love of God, in Christ Jesus. It is not election in the sense that God looked down on my life and decided to choose me as I was alive. It is electing in that before Genesis 1:1 God made the unilateral decision to create me for His Son. That is election. Election is not God choosing someone after creation. It is God creating someone for Himself.

God created me to be His son. Certainly, I am not His son because of my nature. I don’t act like a son should act all the time, obedient to his Father. My sonship has nothing to do with my ability or merit. It is simply, totally, utterly, God’s unilateral choice (Romans 9:15-18; 11:5). The council for election was with the Father alone in His own heart (Ephesians 1:3-6).

If that is true, and it is, then why would I want to go back to the Law, as a son of the Law? I want to be a son of the Father! I don’t want to be under a “tutor” (Galatians 3:25) but under God. And, that is exactly what happened when I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ once I heard the gospel. That work of God made me a son of God in real time since God in eternity created me to be one by His will in Christ Jesus.

Are you a son of God? Or, are you still under a tutor, a disciplinarian? Are you near the Father or closer to the tutor than to Him? For me, I will serve the Lord. I refuse to serve the Law.

The Seige of Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the city of the Great King, Jesus Christ (Psalm 48:2; Matthew 5:35). Its splendor is promised to God forever (Psalm 87:3; cf. 132:13). Further, it is the Zion of the OT (Psalm 132:13-18).

However, greater than Mt. Zion is God’s own righteousness. And, as the Jews continue to reject God, especially in light of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah of the OT, having come in the flesh as promised, God will continue to reject them. He will reject them until it is time to restore them, which He will do as a demonstration of His great power over sin and the human heart.

But, historically, God has punished Jerusalem in significant ways. Some of the most atrocious expressions of God’s wrath on sin and rebellion were during the sieges of Babylon and Rome. Babylon assaulted Jerusalem three times: 605 B.C., 597 B.C., and finally took the city in 586 B.C. During that affliction, Jeremiah wrote in his long book of the siege (esp. Jeremiah 52) and dedicated an entire book to that very event, the book of Lamentations.

In Leviticus 26:29 and, written years later, Deuteronomy 28:53-59 is a promise to punish Jerusalem, and Israel, for her rebellion and disobedience. What was the punishment? In these specific verses, the punishment would be cannibalism. That is, mothers and fathers would be famished and being deranged would boil their own infants and eat them because of the lack of food.

What kind of a God would do this? What kind of a God would allow for, and prophesy, such a grotesque and horrific act? What kind of God would make such a big deal of disobedience that He would permit the cannibalism of children? What kind of God? I will tell you: a holy God.

The seriousness of sins manifests in the punishment that comes upon the sinner. For example, a serial murderer would surely get a worse punishment for his crimes than a petty thief. In God’s estimation, Israel’s crimes were reprehensible and against His great glory to such a degree and for such a long time-frame, that the expression of their own waywardness would be allowed to manifest itself.

It is not different than Romans 1 in which God said that He gave the nations over to indulge in the desire of the flesh. What was the result? Homosexuality. The worst of all perversions of the natural, created, order. He further is letting rampant unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, etc… run full. Why? Because this is in OUR HEARTS!

The siege of Jerusalem and the resultant cannibalism, which was also recorded historically in Jeremiah 2:20; 4:10, and illustrated in Samaria in 2 Kings 6:26-29, is not simply God making these men and women commit a grotesque act. It is God withholding His restraint and allowing them to do what they wished. He warned them. He left them to themselves.

Discernment: The Tool of All Trades…Except One.

I cannot think of a single job or occupation that does not attempt to tell the difference between one thing or another. For instance, a doctor must discern constantly between the levels of severity of a cough, or a pain, or an x-ray, etc… He must be able to tell the difference between one thing or another with precision. A police officer must learn the difference between the times to use lethal force or not. He has to learn to discern between a man with bad intentions or a man with good intentions. A housewife needs to learn the difference between one child who is telling the truth and the other who is not.

To learn the difference between one thing or another is necessary to everyday life: when to stop driving, when to go; when to keep talking, when to stop and listen; who to trust and who not to trust. The list can go on, and on.

However, when it comes to righteousness, we don’t want to make those distinctions. The church seems to be resenting the men who, as elders, leaders, pastors of local churches, have it as their “occupation” to make constant distinctions between levels of righteousness and how to react to them. For some reason, the church has come to resent an elder who brings up the harm that a certain behavior can do to a person if he/she continues going a certain direction. Or, there is self-protecting disagreement when a pastor brings out a passage of Scripture meant to instruct a brother or sister in Christ against wrong and towards right.

Well, you get the point.

Paul wrote:

Philippians 1:9–11 (NAS): 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,
10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;
11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Paul’s prayer is that the believers of Philippi, believers who are going a good direction and are receiving praise from the apostle to the Gentiles, are encouraged to grow in their love. To that end, he prays for them.

But, notice: love must include discernment. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Kittel, Friedrich, Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1964, Logos electronic edition, αἰσθάνομαι, vol.1, p.188.), writes that the word carries the idea of “(that) which constitute the psychological point at which moral decisions becomes actual.” There is a point at which the shot has to be fired, so to speak. The timing of the shot is decided upon by the “organ of the soul” that is discernment.

The other uses of the word include: the Septuagint in Proverbs 1:7 for wisdom; Luke 9:45 for the ignorance of the disciples; Hebrews 5:14 for the inability of the spiritually immature to tell the difference between solid food and spiritual milk.

For a Christian to reject the exercise (literally, “gymnastics” of Hebrews 5:14) of the faculty of discernment is for the Christian to remain a child-undiscerning, tending towards foolish decisions, and little-to-no sense of right and wrong (or, as the OT puts it, “(the unbelieving Ninevites) don’t know the difference between their right and left hand…” Jonah 4:11). This kind of mind that is simple, non-discerning, giving validity to any kind of emotion, behavior, or ideaology, is a mind that is like a child and like an unbeliever who remains in darkness and can’t see for lack of light.

May I encourage you? Don’t resent discernment and those who impose that kind of thing on you. Receive the verdicts and wise counsel of those who have had their senses trained by the Word of God enough to know, very acutely, the distinction between right and wrong.

The Day Will Come…

Jesus said, “The time will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.” (Luke 17:22). What did He mean? Does this mean that the disciples will not enter the kingdom of God? Does this mean that Jesus’ return will be silent, secretive, or private? 

Well, in order to really understand these things, you need to understand the word “desire.” In the Greek Text, it is a strong word that indicates everything ranging from lust to passion to non-cognitive activity. However, we are sure Jesus is not speaking of anything sinful. And, we are sure that Jesus is not trying to commend these men for acting apart from sober-mindedness. Further, we are sure that Jesus is not reprimanding these men for the lack of ability to get their emotions under control.

What is probably the best understanding of this passage is the following: given the context of the persecution that will follow the ministries of these men, and given the reality that Jesus is headed towards the cross outside of Jerusalem (Luke 9:51; 17:11) after being betrayed by one of His disciples (Matthew 16:21; cf. Luke 9:22), we can say that Jesus is telling these men that they will be persecuted to such an extent that they will long for, passionately desire, cry out for, just one of the days of the Millennial Kingdom of the Messiah, wherein they will be refreshed.

Thus, Jesus is speaking in such a manner so as to be honest with these men and tell them what is in store for them. But, the sad news is they will not be able to see that day, or any of the days of the Millennial Kingdom, that they are panting after. They will have to endure the persecution ordained for them just like that which is ordained for their Master (Luke 17:25-37).

Also, for us as well, we must endure persecution. We are required to endure the slander, hatred, and animosity of all men until the Lord returns for us by means of the Rapture. After that, we wait for His own vindication by means of the Second Coming which will inaugurate the Millennial Kingdom.

Peter wrote about this very thing in his first inspired letter:

1 Peter 4:12–14 (NAS): 12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

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