LookingtoJesus

October 3

Bible Reading: 2 TIMOTHY 1

2 Timothy 1:8, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.”

2 Timothy 1:12, “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”

Are you sometimes afraid when it comes to sharing with others about your faith in Jesus? You are not alone. Before Peter boldly proclaimed Jesus before a crowd of thousands, he denied even knowing him to a servant girl. Let’s face it, there’s a hostility towards the gospel message that works to elicit fear. So, the Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy (and us), to follow in his example in embracing the suffering that is surely to accompany the bold proclamation of truth.

Paul wrote 2^nd Timothy from a Roman prison, having been arrested as a part of Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians. The epistle represents the last of Paul’s letters and was written shortly before his martyrdom in about A.D. 67. He wrote while bound in chains, from a cold, dark prison cell, and while facing imminent death (2 Timothy 4:6-13). He wrote to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy (2 Timothy 1:2), that he might encourage him to remain faithful in carrying out the ministry God has given to him (2 Timothy 1:13-14).

Suffering is the prominent theme of chapter 1.  Paul was suffering for the cause of the gospel.  His life in ministry had been characterized by troubles that had come his way as a direct result of his gospel preaching ministry.  He had previously written, in 2^nd Corinthians, of that which he had endured to that time: “…with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.  Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.  Three times I was beaten with rods.  Once I was stoned.  Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false teachers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  And, apart from such things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).  He had faced more troubles since.  And it is important to note that Paul could have avoided all of that.  All he would have had to do was to stop preaching the gospel of grace.  But that was something he could never do (1 Corinthians 9:16). 

Paul’s exhorted Timothy to not be “ashamed” of the gospel or Paul’s sufferings (2 Timothy 1:8). The Greek term translated “ashamed” is the strengthened form of a term meaning “to have a feeling of fear or shame which prevents a person from doing a thing” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary). Paul was not deterred by fear or shame from suffering for the gospel. Others were. “All who are in Asia turned away” from him (2 Timothy 1:15, 4:16), fearful of being associated with Paul. But Paul stayed the course. And Timothy need not be ashamed. God for had given him “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). The Spirit of God works to embolden the saints. Peter, who had timidly denied any association with the Lord to a slave girl, was later empowered by the Spirit to proclaim Him before the multitudes and the religious leaders. Paul “boldly proclaimed the mystery of the gospel” by the power of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:19). He was “not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). He was also not ashamed because of his absolute confidence in the Lord’s ability to guard that which Paul entrusted to Him. “I know whom I have believed,” he said (2 Timothy 1:12).

Charles Spurgeon commented on verse twelve, “Paul does not say, ‘I know what I have believed,’ though that would have been true.  He does not say, ‘I know when I have believed,’ though that would have been correct.  Nor does he say, ‘I know how much I have believed,’ although he had well-weighed his faith.  He does not even say, ‘I know in whom I have believed.’  He says expressly, ‘I know whom I have believed,’ as much as to say, ‘I know the person into whose hand I have committed my present condition and my eternal destiny.  I know who he is, and I therefore, without any hesitation, leave myself in his hands.”

Charles Spurgeon

Scripture verses put to music are easier for us to remember.  Such is the case with this verse, having served as the basis for one of our favorite hymns, “I Know Whom I Have Believed.”  That hymn speaks of a lot of things we don’t know.  We don’t know why God has shown His wondrous grace to us.  We don’t know how He imparted saving faith to us.  We don’t know how the Spirit moves in the hearts of men.  We don’t know when the Lord will return.  But we, as believers, do know Whom we’ve believed.  We know Him and know of His love, His faithfulness, and His ability to guard that which we’ve entrusted to Him.  “But the Lord stood by me” Paul would also say (2 Timothy 4:17).  With such a friend by one’s side, there is no need to be ashamed.

“View your pressures no longer as burdens but as a platform for His glorious sufficiency!” – Clarence W. Jones

I’m not ashamed to own my Lord,
or to defend his cause,
maintain the honor of his Word,
the glory of his cross.

October 2

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 6

1 Timothy 6:6-7, “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.  But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.”

Contentment is easy enough to define, but not always so easy to lay hold of.  The term translated “contentment” here means “satisfaction with what one has.”  Here’s the rub.  We tend to an “if only” way of thinking about things.  We are prone to it in the flesh.  The world caters to and encourages this approach to life (1 John 2:15-16).  It is the nature of sin to be seldom satisfied, always wanting more (1 Timothy 6:9-10).  The if only way of thinking supposes that happiness (and contentment) lies in the if only provision of something or some different set of circumstances.  If only I had a new car, a bigger house, a better job, a better boss, no job, no boss, a better church, a better pastor, a new location, more freedom, less of a belly, a McDonald’s hamburger, etc.  If only I won the lottery, then I would be content.  If only I didn’t have to go through this trial.  If only people would treat me with respect.  There are far too many if onlys to list.  They nag at us, suggesting that we are on the verge of finding true happiness, if only.  It is not necessarily wrong to pursue or possess some of the things in this list. The problem lies in the thinking that true contentment can be found in them.  True contentment is something God wants us to experience, but it is not sourced in things or circumstances.  He refuses to allow us to find true contentment in anything else but Him, because He created us for the purpose of knowing Him and finding our contentment in Him.

We Americans are a “spoiled” lot.  Our prosperous estate is the envy of most of the rest of the world.  Those of past centuries could have never imagined that such a prosperity was even possible.  If true contentment could be had in possessions and experiences, then we should be the most content people on earth, but contentment can hardly serve as an apt description of our society.  Despite having little and not expecting to have more, the impoverished friends I’ve visited in Uganda seem to be far more content in their lives.

Paul wrote to Timothy about false teachers who erroneously imagined that “godliness is a means of gain” (1 Timothy 6:5).  They supposed that there was money to be made in peddling God.  They taught others to believe likewise.  Theirs was a prosperity message, mistakenly supposing contentment to lie is possessing things.  You don’t have to look too far to find people promulgating that same tired message.  “The desire to be rich” and the “love of money” lies at the root of such things (1 Timothy 6:9-10).  Such desires lead not to contentment, but to “ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9).  “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).  “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).  Godliness has to do with maintaining a “God-ward” attitude about things.  It is to have one’s life compass orientated in a God-ward direction, such that knowing and pleasing Him matters most.  It is to be more concerned with pleasing God than possessing things.  Godliness compliments contentment because it works to focus one’s vision on the things that truly satisfy.

The fact is that we brought nothing into the world, and we will exit the world in the same manner (1 Timothy 6:7).  I was there at the birth of our children and can testify to the truth of this.  They carried no suitcases or any material possessions with them when they were born.  That holds true at the other end of life.  I read once of an 82-year-old man who was buried seated upon his 1967 Electra Glide cruiser.  His body is now decaying away, and the motorcycle is doing the same.  “We cannot take anything out of this world” (1 Timothy 6:6). 

Are you even now truly content in Him?  And not for what He does for you, but who He is to you?  What will it take to make you happy?  The believer in Christ possesses in Him “unsearchable riches” (Ephesians 3:8).  Do you have any certainty of not losing that which you possess?   Jesus says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).  Is He your “all in all”?  The Apostle Paul, who spoke of “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus,” “learned in whatever situation (he was in) to be content” (Philippians 3:8).  He “learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Philippians 4:12-13).  God has a classroom in which He teaches His children such things.  The course of study is demanding, but the objective is well worth the effort.  The hymn writer put it this way, “Jesus I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art.”  No one who says if only with respect to finding contentment in Him, will suffer regret in not be able to lay hold of that which they yearned for.

“I have held many things in my hands, and I’ve lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”—Corrie Ten Boom

Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee,
as thy beauty fills my soul,
for by thy transforming power,
thou hast made me whole.

September 29

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 5

1 Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

This passage (1 Timothy 5:3-16) represents the Bible’s most extensive treatment on the subject of caring for widows.  God, who “executes justice for the fatherless and the widow,” cares about how we care for them (Deuteronomy 10:18).  Jesus Himself saw to His widowed mother’s future needs (John 19:26-27).  That He fulfilled His responsibility while dying for the sins of all mankind speaks to the priority God places on such matters.  The early church cared for its widows.  When a conflict arose over partiality shown in the distribution of food to widows, the apostles immediately intervened.  They appointed well-qualified men to oversee the matter so that every widow would be provided for and treated fairly (Acts 6:1-6).

The church needs to honor its widows.  A widow typically receives much attention and help immediately following the death of their loved one.  But what about the proceeding weeks and months?  This passage speaks to the need for the church to honor certain widows—those who are said to be “truly widows” (1 Timothy 5:1, 5, 16)—by providing ongoing practical support for them.  There were differences in that day as opposed to ours.  There were no such things as Social Security or other government programs, or social agencies tasked with caring for folks in need.  The church was tasked with the responsibility of caring for its members, and especially for those who had no visible means of support—like widows and orphans (James 1:27). 

In this context, 1 Timothy 5:8 speaks to the need for family members to take care of their own, and explains that if they do not provide, they are “worse than an unbeliever.” The principles underlying this text relate to the matter of caregiving, something that has much relevance to my current situation. Having been a caregiver for my wife Laura for six plus years, I’ve grown to appreciate some of the challenges associated with serving in this role. As a hospice chaplain, I’ve interacted with many caregivers, as they’ve provided comfort and help to their dying loved one.

I recently posted on a caregiving Facebook group I belong to, saying, “The caregiving role isn’t easy.  And sometimes it can seem as if no one knows or understands what we are going through.  But whether recognized or understood by others or not, it is a virtuous thing to care.  One might say there’s nothing more virtuous.”  That’s true because caregiving lies close to the heart of God.  God is the ultimate caregiver.  Not only has he given life to us, He ongoingly provides for our needs, even for the unjust (Matthew 5:45).  The extent of His compassionate concern was evidenced in His willingness to sacrifice His own Son that we might be saved from our sins (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16).

That there should be marriages and families is God’s idea.  And He has designed us to care for our fellow family members.  Even unbelievers do that.  How much more should those who have indwelt by the Spirit and taught by God to love (1 Thessalonians 4:9)?  According to the Census bureau, the U.S. population age 65 and over grew from 2010 to 2020 at fastest rate since 1880 to 1890 and reached 55.8 million, a 38.6% increase in just 10 years.  That means there are a lot more seniors amongst us, and a corresponding need for more caregiving.

First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s famous quote reminds us, “There are only four kinds of people in the world — those that have been caregivers, those that are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.”

Rosalyn Carter

Over these past several years, I’ve witnessed some amazing examples in caring.  Like the daughter who took a leave of absence from her job and pulled her trailer across the country to care for months for her dying father.  Or, the daughter who moved in with her mother and dutifully cared for her mom for twenty months until she died.  Or, the family that rallied all the siblings of a dying man to provide in home assistance for a soon-to-be-widow. Or, a friend of mine who regularly visits a 93-year-old man who is in long-term care.  I asked her why—is he related somehow, or did you know him from church?  She said no; he was just someone in the community that she had gotten to know and she felt the need to care.  We’ll all likely be in the place of caregiving at some point.  It’s good for us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, who was, and is, the best caregiver of them all. 

Perhaps there is someone in your life (in your family or church or even in the community) who could use a call or visit or weekly assistance?  It’s a virtuous thing to care!

Out in the highways and byways of life,
Many are weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,
Making the sorrowing glad.
Refrain:
Make me a blessing, Make me a blessing.
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray.
Make me a blessing to someone today.

September 28

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 4

1 Timothy 4:6-8, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in words of the faith and of the good doctrine which you have followed.  Have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths.  Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

As most everyone knows, maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise are both essential to one’s well-being.  Too much junk food and candy will not serve us well.  Likewise, a lack of physical exercise is detrimental to one’s health. And while it is good practice to discipline oneself with respect to our bodies, spiritual discipline is of even greater importance!

The immediate context of our passage has to do with Paul’s counsel to Timothy regarding false teachers (1 Timothy 4:1-5).  Amongst other falsehoods, these false teachers were forbidding marriage and advocating the abstinence of certain foods.  They had erroneously supposed such activities to be of some spiritual benefit.  But, as Paul instructed Timothy, “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:5).

Essential to a person’s spiritual health is “being trained in words of the faith and of the good doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:6).  The NASB translates the phrase “being trained” as “constantly nourished.”  The term means to “train up, nurture” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).  In this context, it relates to the “good doctrine” which is essential to one’s spiritual growth (1 Peter 2:2).  The term translated “good” means “to be healthy, sound in health” (Vine’s).  There are other kinds of unhealthy doctrines, like the spiritually poisonous junk food that the false teachers were peddling (i.e., “teaching of demons,” 1 Timothy 4:1; “irreverent silly myths”; 1 Timothy 4:7).  Those kinds of doctrines need to be rejected.  In the spiritual sense, we need to be careful what we “eat.”  Our bodies depend on the nutritional benefit garnered by partaking of good, healthy foods.  We are likewise spiritually healthy to the extent we are ongoingly nourished through the good doctrine assimilated through the Word. 

There is also the need to “train yourself for godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).  The KJV translated “train” as “exercise.”  The term is related to the English word “gymnasium” and speaks of the spiritual exercise that contributes to godliness.  Paul compares this kind of training with “bodily training” because there is a correspondence between the two.  Both require regular discipline.  Both involve sacrifice.  An Olympic or professional athlete might devote years of regular practice to enhancing his or her skills and abilities.  No one would expect to attain success apart from devotion to such disciplines.  But that kind of devotion is only “of some value” because it is limited in scope to this life only (1 Timothy 4:8).

The training which is for godliness is “of value in every way” (1 Timothy 4:8).  Godliness is “that piety which, characterized by a Godward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).  Godliness is “godlikeness.”  We see godliness exemplified and unveiled in Christ (1 Timothy 3:16). It is desirable because it holds promise “for the life to come,” having to do with heaven and the glorious destiny God has set before us.  We are therefore to train ourselves to this end, devoting ourselves to the exercise of the spiritual disciplines which contribute to godliness (Philippians 3:14; Hebrews 5:14).  Spiritual discipline relates to all aspects of life, but there are some particular Spirit-led disciplines that are essential if we are to grow and be strong in Christ.  The Spirit of God is our “spiritual trainer.”  He exhorts and instructs us through the Word in matters related to growing in Christ. 

Three such disciplines are of utmost importance.  The first is here in the context — “being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:6) and speaks to the need for us to be “in the Word.”  Likewise, there is the need to “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Colossians 4:2).  The maintenance of fellowship is also essential aspect of one’s training unto godliness (Hebrews 10:24-25).  How’s your spiritual diet?  Are you getting enough spiritual exercise?  The neglect of such disciplines will inevitably result in a kind of spiritual anemia that will leave us weak and vulnerable as believers. 

“Many Christians are so stuffed with spiritual junk food that they’ve lost their appetite for sound biblical teaching.”–John MacArthur

Teach me thy way, O Lord; teach me thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford; teach me thy way!
Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight;
lead me with heav’nly light; teach me thy way!

September 27

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 3

1 Timothy 3:15, “…the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth.”

We live in a day in which “truth” is being increasingly dismissed or even viciously attacked.  A day in which the relevance of Romans 1:18 is clearly evident: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”  This effort to suppress the truth is clear across all aspects of our society—politics, news, education, media, etc.  Sadly, it is as John MacArthur recently noted: “No generation of people has been exposed to more lies and more liars than this one.  The internet has created an explosion of lies that is beyond human comprehension.”

Enter the church of the living God, which is “a pillar and buttress of truth.”  It stands in this lofty and privileged position before the world.  God has positioned her there by grace according to His sovereign decree.  He has firmly established her in truth and bids her to live it out and proclaim it. 

Two terms are used to describe the church in its relationship to truth.  Both terms relate to a structure which is fitting since the church is elsewhere identified to be a “holy temple in the Lord…a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21-22).  The church, as a building, has been “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).  It has been well founded on the truth.  Webster’s dictionary offers this definition for truth: “A transcendent, fundamental or spiritual reality.”  The truth, in this context, has to do with the manifestation of unseen spiritual and eternal realities.  We live in a “there-is-no-such-thing-as-truth” kind of day (John 18:38; Romans 1:18), but the truth stands unassailable, irrespective of what people think of it.  Jesus is the embodiment of truth and came to bear witness to it (Ephesians 4:21; John 18:37).  God’s Word is truth (John 17:17).  The gospel is “the word of truth” (Ephesians 1:13).  The truth is beautiful both in its transforming influence and the glorious reality to which we are destined.

The two terms used regarding the church—in its relationship to the truth—are both structural.  The first, “pillar,” refers to “a column supporting the weight of a building” and is used metaphorically “of a local church as to its responsibility, in a collective capacity, to maintain the doctrines of the faith by teaching and practice, 1 Tim. 3:15” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).  The second term, “buttress,” means “a support, bulwark, stay.”  Metaphorically, the buttress speaks of that which lies at the foundation (The KJV translates the term “ground”).  Both the “pillar” and “buttress” serve a building in a supportive role, but there is a difference in their particular functions.  The buttress is the foundation, which generally lies unseen beneath the structure.  The pillar extends the supporting strength of the foundation to the superstructure of the building.  It differs from the foundation inasmuch as it is visible.  In fact, in NT times pillars served not just to support, but to adorn a building.  They were sometimes intricately carved and thus worked to beautify the structure.

The church has such a role in the world.  It does not embody truth, but adorns it.  It does that as it proclaims the truth and is changed by the truth.  It is important to note that the church of the living God is the pillar and support of this particular virtue.  Other virtues are elsewhere esteemed in Scripture, but none can be possessed apart from truth.  Truth therefore stands in a preeminent role, and all else is lost if truth is forsaken.  God has given the church this truth maintaining and truth manifesting role.  The local church serves in this role.  Lives changed by truth adorn the truth (Titus 2:10).

It ought to be that if a person visits an evangelical church, he or she would find truth being proclaimed and practiced.  But that is not always the case. 

Charles Spurgeon once spoke to the need to contend for the truth, “Be ye the pillar and ground of the truth.  Let the blood of martyrs, let the voices of confessors, speak to you.  Remember how they held fast the truth, how they preserved it, and handed it down to us from generation to generation; and by their noble example, I beseech you, be steadfast and faithful, tread valiantly and firmly in their steps, acquit yourselves like men, like men of God, I implore you!  Shall we not have some champions, in these times, who will deal sternly with heresies for the love of the truth, men who will stand like rocks in the center of the sea, so that, when all others shake, they stand invulnerable and invincible.”

Charles Spurgeon

“It is every believer’s solemn duty to resist every attack on truth, to abhor the very thought of falsehood.” – John MacArthur

Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
Twixt that darkness and that light.

September 26

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 2

1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

It is wrongly supposed by many that there are many paths that lead to heaven.  To believe otherwise is to be criticized as a “narrow-minded” or judgmental person.  This passage speaks to the truth that there is only one God, one Mediator, and one means of salvation.

There is only One God.  He is the creator of all things and is right and just by nature and in all His ways.  He is sovereign over all, and has the right to exercise judgment.  It is against Him that we have rebelled (Colossians 1:21).  Yet He desires our salvation and has gone to great lengths to make it possible (1 Timothy 2:4; John 3:16).

There is but one Mediator between God and men.  A “mediator” is “one equal with both parties” and was used in NT times in a legal sense regarding a person who served as a negotiator or intermediary (1 Corinthians 6:5).  Jesus was a man and fully so, but He was no ordinary man.  He, the divine and eternal Son of God, “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).  As the hymn puts it, “He left His Father’s throne above, so rich and infinite His grace, and emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam’s helpless race.” 

To serve as an Advocate in the courtroom of Divine Justice, one would need to be qualified.  Jesus, the God-man, is the only one qualified to do that.  He’s passed the divine “bar exam.”  He is equal with both parties.  He is God.  No sinful human can plead his own case before God.  What would we to say?  We are guilty of sin and guilty as sin.  Look into your heart.  Examine your thoughts, your words, and deeds.  The truth that we “fall short of the glory of God” is painfully obvious (Romans 3:23).  How could we ever suppose that a “not guilty plea” could stand before the omniscient and “thrice-holy” God (Isaiah 6:1-5)?  But in Jesus we have a “high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).  A mediator who “always lives to make intercession for us” for us (Hebrews 7:25). 

He is man.  That’s the focus here in 1 Timothy 2:5, “the man Christ Jesus.”  To be qualified to serve as our mediator, it was necessary for Him to be made equal to us.  And He was.  Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Hebrews 2:14; Philippians 2:7-8; 1 John 4:2).  Not only did he become one of us, but He was also identified with us in every way (Hebrews 4:15).  He was made “to be sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21) and bore the punishment that we deserve (Isaiah 53:4-7). 

There is only one way of salvation.  “(He) gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6).  The term “ransom” translates a Greek term which means to release by payment of a price.  The particular term used here has a prefix which adds a vicarious sense to its meaning.  In other words, Jesus didn’t just pay a ransom, He gave Himself as the ransom.  That was, of course, the purpose for which He came (Mark 10:45).  He deliberately “gave himself.”  Many hold to the mistaken notion that the cross represents the tragic end to a good man’s life, but that’s not what happened.  God the Father sent the Son.  The Son fully submitted Himself to the Father’s will.  In His arrest, Jesus could have called on 12 legions of angels to rescue Him, but He purposed to die for you and me (Matthew 26:53).  Jesus died willingly, shedding His precious blood like a lamb without blemish or spot, to free us from the penalty and power of sin (1 Peter 1:19).

He gave Himself that through His death, He might deliver us from sin.  And His work represents the sole means by which any person can be delivered.  Remember the old Evangelism Explosion question, “Suppose that you were to die today and stand before God and he were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?”?  One would suppose that the question has met with a host of answers.  But there is only one right response inasmuch as there is only one way of salvation.  Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 Peter 3:18). 

There is One God, only One, and we’ve all sinned against Him (Romans 3:23).  There is One Mediator, only One, who can adequately serve to intercede on our behalf.  There is One Salvation, only One, and it is a salvation procured only on the merit of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice.  God sets the terms when it comes to salvation.  Here are His terms — “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31; John 1:12-13).  Believe, not with mere intellectual faith, for even the demons have that.  No, what is necessary is a sincere, heart-level, faith of the kind that relies solely on His work and receives Him as Savior and Lord (Romans 10:9).  He is the One Way (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

“Because it is true and the gospel of Christ (that) is the only hope for a lost world, it is all the more urgent that we rise above all the voices of confusion in the world and say so.” – John MacArthur

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain:
O precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow;
no other fount I know;
nothing but the blood of Jesus.

September 25

Bible Reading: 1 Timothy 1

1 Timothy 1:11, “…in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” 

I happened upon a beautiful sunrise some time ago. Just breaking over the horizon, the sun lit up the sky as it peeked through some adjacent puffy clouds. Other feathery clouds reached out in all directions as if appointed to herald the dawning of a new day. The sun was dutifully fulfilling its daily ritual of bringing light to this part of the world, illuminating the beauty of God’s creation. God took out His brush and painted the sky, unveiling to us once again His Majesty. Our text speaks about such things. Only instead of the sun, it is the glorious gospel which works to display God’s glory.

I was watching the news the other day. So much bad news! I finally had had enough, so I turned the channel and instead watched an episode of the Flintstones. It was harmless and funny and made me laugh. A rock hit Fred and transformed him into a sophisticated Frederick. Only his family members and friends didn’t like the new version. It took another knock on the head to return him to his real self. If it were only so easy, to change us!

There’s so much bad news in our day, but it really shouldn’t surprise us. We live in a sin-cursed, broken world. It’s been that way since Adam and Eve made their tragic choice and disobeyed God. Their choice has direct relevance to all of us, since in Adam, we have all sinned (Romans 5:12). We are born that way—alienated from God and prone to making stupid choices leading to harmful results. Worse yet, as sinners, we lack the willpower or strength to change ourselves or control our destiny. The darkness of sin is pervasive and were it not for God’s intervention, there would be no hope for any of us.

Enter the good news. Our text speaks of “gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11)! No matter how pervasive the bad news is, the good news stands glorious and undiminished. Its message, Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead, is simultaneously simple and profound. First proclaimed by Peter on Pentecost, it has spread ‘round the world. Wherever it has been received, it has blessed lives with forgiveness, transformation, and the assurance of a future home in heaven. It took a knock on the head to transform Fred, a cartoon character. But we live in a real world, and nothing less than the gospel has the power of God to save and transform sinners.

The Apostle Paul had been a “blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” of Christ (1 Timothy 1:13). But then, by the mercy and grace of the Lord, he was saved. He received not only forgiveness, but he was also radically transformed. The greatest enemy of the church in his day was made to be the church’s greatest friend. He ultimately traveled thousands of miles, enduring much hardship and suffering, to share the good news which had worked to save him. His experience testifies to the power of the gospel, for if God could save such a man as Paul, then God can save anybody (1 Timothy 1:16).

Note the bookends to this beautiful text.  Verse 11 speaks of the “blessed God,” literally the “to-be-praised” God!  In verse 17, Paul, having shared of his testimony, breaks forth in praise, writing, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.”  That’s where the gospel works to bring us!  It speaks to the true nature of God and leads us to worship!  Our God, who has intervened through Jesus, and His death for our sins and resurrection from the dead, to save us!  Our God who did so despite the fact that we were at war with Him! 

You don’t need to turn on the news to know that there is bad news in this world.  And there are many voices singing that song.  Let’s instead turn our attention to the beauty of the powerful-to-save good news which bears with it forgiveness and transformation and a heavenly hope.   How we should thank God for the good news!  Whenever it is received, the good news is like a glorious sunrise that erases darkness and reveals the beauty of our creator God.  “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” and that’s good news for us all (1 Timothy 1:11)!

“When I was young, I was sure of many things.  But now that I am old, there are only two things which I am sure of: That I’m a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior!”  – John Newton

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calv’ry,
And suffered and died alone.
When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
‘Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

September 22

Bible Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3

2 Thessalonians 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful.  He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”

In the movie, “My Bodyguard,” a bully relentlessly attacks a boy who has recently joined the school.  But the bullying stops when the boy acquires the services of the school’s most feared kid as his personal bodyguard.  Spiritually speaking, there is no greater bully than the devil, but the believer has a faithful friend who is well able to strengthen and guard him. 

Though not visible—and frequently disregarded or ignored—there is a great and imminent evil threat which none of us can avoid.  There is an evil one who has evil plans for the souls of men.  The “evil one” is Satan.  He is the “ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” and “the accuser of our brothers” (Revelation 12:9, 10).  The “whole world lies” in his power (1 John 5:20). 

The evil one has an evil plan.  He is “the god of this world (and) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4).  He “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  He deceives (2 Corinthians 11:3), tempts (1 Thessalonians 3:5), and accuses (Revelation 12:10).  He has schemes (Ephesians 6:11) and designs (2 Corinthians 2:11) through which he exercises his evil plans.  He has many such devices at his disposal.  In his book, “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices,” Thomas Brooks wrote, “From the power, malice and skill of Satan, doth proceed all the soul-killing plots, devices, stratagems, and machinations, that be in the world…. A man may as well tell the stars, and number the sands of the sea, as reckon up all the devices of Satan.”

Paul was well aware of the reality of the evil one and his evil plans but was confident of the Lord’s protection over His people.  His confidence was founded in the truth regarding the Lord’s faithfulness.  “Faithful” translates a Greek term meaning “to be trusted, reliable” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).  The Lord can be counted upon to “establish” and “guard” those who belong to Him.  He is trustworthy in what He has purposed and promised to do in salvation. 

The terms “establish,” and “guard” are warfare terminology.  To “establish” means “to fix, make fast, to set” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).  The term translated “guard” means “to guard, watch, keep” (Vine’s).  Jesus used the same term with respect to protection over His true disciples, saying, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.  I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction” (John 17:12).  He is faithful to exercise that same degree of protection over all those who belong to Him.  The evil one, “our ancient foe, doth seek to work us woe” and is “armed with cruel hate.”  He tempts, but “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  The evil one accuses, but God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  “He who calls you is faithful” and “will surely do” what He has purposed to do all He has promised to do with respect to salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:24; Philippians 1:6).  Through “him who loved us” we are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).  He is “a bulwark never failing…our helper…amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing” (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God).

The battle against the evil one is not won through human means, as the hymn puts it, “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing.  Dost ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus, it is He—Lord Sabaoth His name, from age to age the same, and He must win the battle.”  From “age to age” He is the same.  He is faithful and has promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).  He must “win the battle.” 

“Did ever saint find this friend forsake Him?”  What is the answer to the question put forth in that hymn?  “No, not one!”  Do you have Him now for your friend?  If not, you need Him, for there is no other like Him (Acts 16:31).  He alone will faithfully work to keep you “safe and secure from all alarms.”

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”—1 John 4:4

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His Name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

September 21

Bible Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2

2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.  Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.”

As evil as things might seem in this world, it’s hard to imagine what things might be like if not for the influence of God through His church.  As salt and light, God’s children exercise a preserving and penetrating influence.  The “church of the living God” stands as “a pillar and buttress of the truth” in this world (1 Timothy 3:15).  But soon, the church will be raptured into the presence of Jesus.  After that, “all hell” will literally break loose.

Some in the church in Thessalonica had succumbed to a false teaching that the day of the Lord had already arrived.  This teaching had come to them “by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from (Paul)” (2 Thessalonians 2:2).  Alleging to speak for the Spirit, false teachers had promulgated their teaching in their messages to the people.  So devious was their conspiracy that they had apparently signed Paul’s name to a letter espousing their beliefs.  As a result of this false teaching—and the dismay it caused in the erroneous notion that the day of the Lord had already come—some of the believers were “shaken in mind or alarmed” (2 Thessalonians 2:2).

Paul responded to their fears by affirming the truth that the day had not yet come.  He spoke of matters that would precede its arrival, including the appearance of “the rebellion” and “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).  The “man of lawlessness” is elsewhere referred to as the “antichrist” (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).  He is the personification of evil.  “The son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god and object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3b-4).

Though the “lawless one” is yet to be revealed, the “mystery of lawlessness” is already at work (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8).  Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines the term mystery as follows: “In the NT it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the English word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation, and is made known only in a manner and time appointed by God, and to those whose who are illumined by His Spirit.”  In this context, according to Vine’s, the term “mystery” has reference to “the spirit of disobedience to God.”  Though we are given some insight into this “spirit of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1-3), there are aspects of it yet to be revealed to us.  The “spirit of the antichrist” is already present in the world, but when the person of the antichrist is revealed, it will fully expose the nature and extent of lawlessness. The “mystery of godliness” has been unveiled to us in the person of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 3:16).  The “mystery of lawlessness” will be unveiled in the “lawless one” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

There is something acting now to “restrain” lawlessness.  The term “restrain” means “to hold fast or down.”  Who is it that is now acting to do this?  J. Dwight Pentecost has commented on this, “Human power does not seem to be a satisfactory answer to the identity of the restrainer…it would seem a preferable interpretation to view all restraint of sin, regardless of means, as proceeding from God as a ministry of the Holy Spirit.”

As bad as things are in this world now, one can only imagine how bad they will be apart from the restraining work of the Spirit of God.  In His ministry of convicting “the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” He works to hold back the flood of iniquity that would otherwise overwhelm this world (John 16:8).  Wherever and whenever His influence has waned, evil has triumphed, and lawlessness has escalated.

The day is coming when the restrainer will be taken out of the way. It is reasonable to assume that this will take place when the church is raptured. One of the means by which the omnipresent Spirit exercises His restraining influence in this world is through His indwelling of the saints (John 16:8; Acts 24:25; Matthew 5:13; Philippians 2:14-16; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). Most underestimate the extent of the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit, which raises the question – what will happen when the restrainer is removed? Imagine the flood of water that would ensue if the Columbia River dams were to fail. Imagine the flood of evil that will overwhelm all humanity when the lawless one is met with no restraint in his evil purposes (Genesis 6:5). As bad as things are now (and most Americans believe that morality is in serious decline), they are nothing compared to that which is to come. There is but one means by which a person can avoid that evil day and that is by trusting now in the Savior. He who “knows how to rescue the godly from trials” works not only to “deliver us from this present evil age” but, through the rapture, from that which is to come (2 Peter 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10).

As bad as things are in this world now, one can only imagine how bad they will be apart from the restraining work of the Spirit of God.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake.

September 20

Bible Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1

2 Thessalonians 1:7b-10, “…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.”

We once had a regular attender in our church who decided that the doctrine of “hell” was a delusion and that a loving God would never allow people to go to such a place.  He was so adamant in his false belief that he purposed to share what he had “discovered” with others in the church.  Members of the church lovingly admonished him, but he held on to his view and eventually decided to leave our church. 

Such thinking is nothing new.  Years ago, C. S. Lewis wrote his classic fiction, “The Great Divorce,” in part to respond to a fellow who had written a book entitled “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.”  That man supposed that “everything is good and everywhere is heaven.”  Dismissing the truth or relevance of the doctrine of hell is nothing new and far too common.

The reality is that two distinct destinies await two different groups of people.  This passage is of particular relevance to this matter, as it puts forth the two alternatives in clear and concise fashion.  Unbelievers are destined to a place of “eternal destruction” called hell.  Believers are destined for the glory of heaven.

Those who will suffer “eternal destruction” are those who “do not know God” and “do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).  There is but one way to avoid God’s righteous judgment of sin and that is to “obey the gospel” (1 Peter 1:22; John 6:29; Romans 3:23, 6:23).  It is through faith in Christ that a person receives the eternal life which constitutes knowing Him (John 17:3; 1 John 5:11-12).  Religious credentials—even if they include a proper profession or impressive religious deeds—will avail no deliverance from hell for those who do not know (and are not known by) Him (Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Timothy 2:19).  “Eternal destruction” does not equate to annihilation.  A never-ending catastrophic destiny, “away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” awaits those who refuse the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 

The believer’s destiny, on the other hand, is of a glorious nature.  He possesses it solely because the “testimony to (him) was believed” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  The gospel works to save sinners from hell (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:16).  Instead of judgment, the believer lives with the confident expectation of being “glorified” with Jesus in heaven (Romans 8:17-18, 30).  Though we “do not now see him” the day is coming “we shall see him as he is” (1 Peter 1:8; 1 John 3:2).  On that day, He will be “marveled at among all who have believed” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  The term translated “marveled” means to wonder, admire, or be astonished” at something.  We might admire a beautiful sunrise, but how glorious will be the view “when the day dawns and the morning star rises in (our) hearts” (2 Peter 1:19)!  We will be awestruck by Him and will forever more enjoy unimaginable blessings when we enter into HIs presence.

J. Vernon McGee once wrote, “Hell is ridiculed today, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.  Our beliefs are sometimes only wishful thinking…we might as well face the fact that there is a hell.  Christ is returning to this earth someday.  First, He will take HIs own out of the earth, and then His coming will be a terror to the wicked; it will be a judgment upon those who ‘know not God, and that obey not the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ’…That is what the Word of God teaches.”

J. Vernon McGee

It is the response to the gospel that works to determine the destiny of a person.  John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”  Heaven or hell, eternal life or eternal destruction, a glorious and eternal fellowship with God or a foreboding and tragic separation—all depends on one’s response to the truth of the gospel (1 John 5:11-12).  It will do no good to wish the truth of hell away.  The reality of it should motivate us even more to be “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

Heaven or hell, eternal life or eternal destruction?  All depends on one’s response to the gospel!

Where will you spend eternity?
This question comes to you and me!
Tell me, what shall your answer be?
Where will you spend eternity?
Eternity! eternity!
Where will you spend eternity?