Archive for the ‘November’ Category

Who Is the Keeper?

Posted: November 25, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Jude, November
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But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. …..

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. —Jude 20-21, 24-25

So who is the keeper? We are instructed to keep ourselves and then reminded that it is God who keeps us. John Piper helps us understand in a sermon,  “Learning to Pray in the Spirit and the Word, Part 1:”

Now keeping Christians safe for eternal life is what this book is really about. That is, this little letter from Jude is about perseverance – it’s about how to fight the good fight and take hold of eternal life (1 Timothy 6:12), and how to finish the race and keep the faith (1 Timothy 4:8), and how to endure to the end and so be saved (Mark 13:13). And verses 20-21 say: This perseverance is something you do. You build yourself and others up on the foundation of faith. You pray. You keep yourselves in the love of God.

But that is only part of the context. At the beginning and the end of this little book, there is another truth, a deeper truth about perseverance – or about “keeping.” Look at verse 1: “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.” Notice the word, “kept.” Here is the idea of perseverance again, only here at the beginning it is not the Christian who is keeping himself. He is being kept.

Some translations say “by Jesus Christ.” Some say, “for Jesus Christ.” The original Greek can mean the one as easily as the other. Both are probably true in Jude’s mind. But let me show you why the NASB chose to say “for Jesus Christ.” Evidently the translators thought that the “keeper” behind the verb, “kept,” in verse 1 is not the Christian himself and not Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but someone else. Who?

Who Is the Keeper?

Sometimes you need the end of the story to know the full meaning of the beginning. So look at the famous doxology in verses 24-25. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. . .” Now we have our perseverance attributed not to ourselves, but to someone else. Who is this? The next verse makes it crystal clear. Verse 15: “. . . to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

So the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make sure you arrive in the presence of God blameless and with great joy is “God our Savior through Jesus Christ.” So God the Father is the ultimate keeper and he acts “through Jesus Christ” because the death of Jesus is the purchase price and foundation of all grace, including the grace of keeping us – that is, the grace of perseverance.

So back to verse 1. “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.” The main thing to see here is that it is not we who are keeping in verse 1 or verse 24. It is God the Father through Jesus Christ. God called us, God sets his saving love upon us, and God keeps us. So now we have two truths about our being kept safe for eternal life as Christians – just as we saw last week from Romans 6:22-23. There we saw that sanctification was something we do. Here we see that our perseverance to eternal life is God’s doing (we are “kept,” verse 1; God is able to keep us, verse 24; and it is our doing – verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God).

Over and over in the Bible we see this: God’s action is decisive; our action is dependent. And both actions are essential. So I urge you again to resist the mindset that cynically says, “If God is the decisive keeper of my soul for eternal life (verses 1, 24), then I don’t need to ‘keep myself in the love of God’” (verse 20). That would be like saying, since God is the decisive giver of life, then I don’t need to breathe.

No. No. Breathing is the means that God uses to sustain life. So the command to breathe is the command to fall in with the purposes and patterns of God to give and sustain life. This is what I mean by the term, “means of grace.” “Grace” is the free keeping-work of God to sustain our spiritual life that leads to everlasting joy. The “means of grace” is our “keeping ourselves in the love of God.” God’s “keeping” inspires and sustains our “keeping.” His keeping is decisive and our keeping is dependent on his.

J. C. Ryle on a command so much talked about and so little obeyed

Posted: November 25, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, November
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  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” —John 13:34-35 ESV

J.C. Ryle encourages us to actually love, to obey this command of Jesus:

Let us take heed that this well-known Christian grace is not merely a notion in our heads, but a practice in our lives. Of all the commands of our Master there is none which is so much talked about and so little obeyed as this. Yet, if we mean anything when we profess to have charity and love toward all men, it ought to be seen in our tempers and our words, our bearing and our doing, our behavior at home and abroad, our conduct in every relation of life. Specially it ought to show itself forth in all our dealing with other Christians. We should regard them as brethren and sisters, and delight to do anything to promote their happiness. We should abhor the idea of envy, malice, and jealousy towards a member of Christ, and regard it as a downright sin. This is what our Lord meant when He told us to love one another.

Your words have been heard

Posted: November 25, 2012 by Pam Larson in Daniel, Devotionals/Commentaries, November
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  And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.
(Daniel 10:10-12 ESV)

As we end this month’s reading in Daniel, be encouraged to pray.  Look at the points (paraphrased) that this angelic messenger made to Daniel:

  • “You are greatly loved by God”
  • “I want you to understand the words I speak”
  • “I have been sent to you”
  • “Don’t be afraid”
  • “God knows you have humbled yourself and want to understand Him”
  • “God hears your words”
  • God answers prayer and meets us where we are

May we pray like Daniel, knowing that God loves us, hears us and answers. Humble ourselves before God, seek to understand Him, don’t be afraid and wait to see how God answers.

Many people are helped just by the loving presence of another

Posted: November 25, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Job, November
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In Job 22:5, Eliphaz, one of Job’s “friends” says to him “Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.”  Hmmm, probably not the best example for us to follow when visiting a friend who is suffering!

Can we learn something from Job’s friends about how to help the hurting?

John Piper’s answer (from “Ask Pastor John”):

Absolutely. Those first seven days were their golden hour. If they had stopped there they would have been heroes, I think, because they would have shown compassion and patience. And that’s what we should learn.

When you walk into a horrific calamity you should be really slow to speak and quick to listen. You should be quick to cry, quick to hold, and quick to meet needs, bring meals, and wait upon the Lord. The theological wrestling comes later, probably. It’s different with different people.

But I think the lesson we learn from the progress of the book of Job is that while those three friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—were sitting in dust and ashes, aching with their friend Job, he was helped by them. And many people are helped just by the loving presence of another.

I don’t think this nullifies the importance of truth. Let me give you an example.

I’m a colleague here with Tom Steller, who has been with me for 24 years. And Tom and I have sometimes said to each other, “It would be great to stay together long enough to die together, Tom.” And depending upon which one of us comes to visit the other in the hospital at our dying moment, we know, because of 24 or (perhaps by then) 54 years together, we don’t have to say a word. It’s all been said. We have a common theology. Neither of us will have to preach to the other in order to fix their ideas. We will all know that God reigns, God is good, God is loving, and God is wise. We’re perplexed, but you don’t need to preach. Let’s just take each other’s hands and pray and fight this fight of faith together.

Korah’s rebellion?

Posted: November 24, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Jude, November
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Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 11

John MacArthur explains:

Korah rebelled against the Word of God.

  • Whereas Cain ignored the God’s command,
  • and Balaam sought to circumvent it,
  • Korah blatantly rebelled against it.

Korah, a cousin of Moses, resented his exclusion from being a priest and envied Moses as God’s mediator. In effect, Korah said, “Forget it. We don’t need priests, and we don’t need Moses.” Abiram, Dathan, and two hundred and fifty others agreed with Korah and joined in his rebellion. According to Numbers 16:3, they believed that the entire congregation was holy and could there enter into God’s presence without having a mediating priesthood. As a result of that rebellion, God opened the ground so that the three leaders with all that belonged to them were swallowed up. He consumed their two hundred and fifty followers with fire.

b. The Application

You say, “That’s pretty serious.” Yes, it is. Korah was a classic example of somebody who doesn’t think that sinful man needs a Savior to serve as a Mediator between himself and a holy God. Such a person propagates the “fatherhood of God”: He claims that all men are the sons of God and have access to Him apart from Christ. That false view asserts that Jesus didn’t have to open the way of access, because God accepts everybody. They think that He is too “loving” to send anyone to hell. If there is such a thing as sin, they are sure that God is only too glad to overlook it.

But God clearly showed that He is greatly displeased with those ideas. Paul said, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus said, “…no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6). Although God had established the priesthood and Moses as His mediator, Korah claimed that he didn’t need a priest or any other mediator. He thought everybody in the congregation was holy enough to approach God. In effect, he was blaspheming the holy character of God by assuming that a mortal man could enter the presence of God without a mediator. But that is ridiculous. Apostates who claim that they need no Savior may not be judged as immediately as Korah was, but God’s judgment will certainly catch up with them. Their verdict is stated by Jude in verse 11: “Woe unto them!…”

Mercy, for God’s sake

Posted: November 24, 2012 by Pam Larson in Daniel, Devotionals/Commentaries, November
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Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” —Daniel 9:17-19 ESV

Daniel is interceding in prayer for his people, the people of Israel, who are called by God’s name. He knows that God is committed to holding up the honor of His name. So Daniel pleads for God to act for the sake of His name. He pleads for mercy and is confident that God will respond to uphold His reputation, His glory.

Yesterday we read the first few verses of Jude, which was addressed to

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
    May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. —Jude 1:1-2 ESV

Daniel is praying, “we are called by your name and we live by your name. You name gets the glory.  Please give us mercy.” This sounds similar to what David prayed:

    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
        for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
    Why should the nations say,
        “Where is their God?” —Psalm 115:1-2 ESV

One way that God helps us believe in Jesus

Posted: November 24, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, November
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“I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.” John 13:19

John Piper, in a sermon, “The Sovereign Sacrifice: Foreknown, Foretold, for Faith”

In other words, Jesus is saying, “If you are struggling to believe that I am the promised Messiah, that I am the one who was in the beginning with God and was God (John 1:1), that I am the divine Son of God, who can forgive all your sins and give you eternal life and guide you on the path to heaven, then I want to help you believe. And one of the ways I am going to help you have well-grounded faith (you see it here in John 13:19!) is by telling you what is going to happen to me before it happens, so that when it happens, you will have good reason to believe in me.” (See the same structure of thought in John 14:29 and 16:4.)

Now there’s the principle. One way that God helps us believe in Jesus – foreknowing things that are going to happen to Jesus and foretelling things that are going to happen to Jesus – is for the purpose of awakening faith in Jesus for who he really is as the divine Son of God who can forgive you and take care of you forever.

Piper: “It’s very hard to navigate your way through those chapters and determine what is true and what is not”

Posted: November 24, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Job, November
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“How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.” Job 21:34

John Piper in a transcript from the radio program, “Ask Pastor John:”

The big picture of Job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in God’s sight. He was leading a basically upright life. And there is a reality called Satan who challenges God that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. God gives Satan permission to attack Job, and he does so first through his family and possessions, and then through sickness.

Then there is Job’s long illness, and his three friends come. At first they are quiet and offer some counsel, but then they begin to launch into an attack on Job that takes a true theology and distorts it all out of proportion.

Job has about about 29 chapters of misapplied theology in the middle. It’s very hard to navigate your way through those chapters and determine what is true and what is not, because these guys are mixing up truth and falsehood all over the place. I think you’re supposed to get the big picture that God was not happy with these three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.

And when Elihu shows up, he, I believe, begins to set it right. Finally God speaks and he sets it completely right.

Then there is the last chapter that puts the closure on the whole thing. There it says that God brought all of this upon Job; and Job proves in the end to be a better man than these other men, even though Job himself sinned and had to repent in dust and ashes.

The lesson from the big book of Job is

1) that God is sovereign over all our suffering;

2) he permits Satan to come into our lives and do horrible things to us;

3) he means to prove our faith and purify our lives through it;

4) in the end he will make it good, either in this life or in the life to come; and

5) Satan does not have the last word in the lives of God’s people.

Who are “the called”?

Posted: November 23, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Jude, November
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Whether you’ve been reading through the Bible all year, or have just joined us, what a blessing to come to this little letter of Jude!

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: (Jude 1)

John MacArthur says:

Spurgeon, a famous English preacher of the 19th century, said,

“The general call of the gospel is like the sheet lightning we sometimes see on a summer’s evening–beautiful, grand–but whoever heard of anybody being struck by it? But the special call is the forked flash from heaven; it strikes somewhere. It is the arrow shot between the joints of the harness.”

When a person hears a general presentation of the gospel, he can accept it or reject it. But when the Spirit of God moves in and transforms a life, the person responds to that efficacious call and becomes one of “the called.” Galatians 5:13 says, “…ye have been called unto liberty….” The shackles of sin are broken; a person is set free when he receives the effectual call of God. It is an eternal call, and God promises that everybody who is called is justified and also glorified– nothing can break down that process.

J.C. Ryle on knowing vs doing

Posted: November 23, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, November
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J.C. Ryle on John 13:17  If you  know these things, blessed are you if you do them…

We are taught, for another thing, in these verses, the uselessness of religious knowledge if not accompanied by practice. We read, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.” It sounds as if our Lord would warn His disciples that they would never be really happy in His service if they were content with a barren head-knowledge of duty, and did not live according to their knowledge.

The lesson is one which deserves the continual remembrance of all professing Christians. Nothing is more common than to hear people saying of doctrine or duty–”We know it, we know it;” while they sit still in unbelief or disobedience. They actually seem to flatter themselves that there is something creditable and redeeming in knowledge, even when it bears no fruit in heart, character, or life. Yet the truth is precisely the other way. To know what we ought to be, believe, and do, and yet to be unaffected by our knowledge, only adds to our guilt in the sight of God.

To know that Christians should be humble and loving, while we continue proud and selfish, will only sink us deeper in the pit, unless we awake and repent.

Practice, in short, is the very life of religion. “To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17.)

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