Proverbs 17:3 The LORD trieth the hearts…

August 29, 2018

Proverbs 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

There’s a lot of good advice in Proverbs 17, and I wish I can take time in all of them, but I can’t. I must move on to something. This verse seemed to stand out to me, so here it is:

A specific purpose for a specific machine

The fining pot and the furnace were tools used by artisans of the day that dealt with precious metals such as silver and gold. Silver and gold never came pure and perfect. It had to be refined. The purpose of these instruments was to purify the metals; to take all the foreign objects out of the precious metal in order to make it 100% precious. These were tools of the trade. These tools got the job done. They were successful and useful.

So is the Lord. The text says that he trieth the hearts. This is the same purpose as the fining pot and the furnace. (Psalm 139:23-24) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. I like the last part of these verses. God is going to search; he’s going to know; he’s going to try; he’s going to see. But what I like is that he’s also going to lead. He’s going to do something about what he’s found. Trying is not just examination, but also extraction.

We are tried for the purpose of purification. (Jude 24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, Now unto him? Praise the purifying and perfecting furnace of the heart. (Hebrews 12:29) For our God is a consuming fire. I hope this doesn’t sound irreverent, but God in this verse is likened to a machine or a tool. What is the purpose of the machine? What does it do? God refines and purifies. That is what he does. You can’t get close to God without experiencing his purifying power. That is just what God does.

A specific process for a specific material

Notice in the text also that the fining pot is used specifically for silver. And the furnace is specifically used for gold. This brings to mind the differences in every saint of God. Different metals require different processes to refine them. Some metals are dirtier than others. However some metals, though they may have little impurities, they’re very difficult to purify. So a specific process must be used to deal with specific situations.

The other day, my wife had informed me that I didn’t know how to prepare her coffee. And I thought it to be a challenge. I thought that would be a simple easy way to show her that I care; to fix her coffee. How hard can that be? I mean it’s just half and half and stevia. Maybe just a few other things. Surely I can memorize that. So a few days later, it was a nice peaceful morning. There was no rush. She had my undivided attention. So I popped the question. “How do you prepare your coffee?” And she said, “Well… That depends…”

Sometimes, there’s just no one-size-fits-all recipe for what is needed. (Jeremiah 17:10) I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. God can deal accordingly to any situation. I don’t have a whole lot of patience when it comes to diversity. When we go to Dairy Queen with 7 kids, everybody is getting the Blizzard of the Month! But God can handle differences. God deals with the 7 year olds and the 70 year olds. He deals with people hooked on drugs and people hooked on religion. He deals with mass murderers and traffic violators. God can speak specifically to the heart of all men, women, and children in whatever condition he may find them.

A specific problem for a sinful man

This verse tells us one thing that plagues and contaminates all men – the heart. (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Man has got a problem. We may think that it’s our hands, our eyes, and our feet that are getting us into trouble. Jesus said you can cut those off and still get into heaven. (Matthew 18:8,9) Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.9And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.  The real problem is the heart.

Contaminated silver and gold by necessity require the use of the fining pot and the furnace. Their condition demands the involvement of these purifiers. Likewise, the heart, corrupt and impure, needs God and cries out to God. (Proverbs 15:11) Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men? Perhaps what I’m saying is that you don’t need to make an appointment. You don’t have to worry if he’s taking new patients. You don’t need a referral. You don’t have to convince him that you need his services. He even makes house calls. Why? Because he knows and cares about your heart.

I guess sometimes in our preaching we might signify to a certain degree that in this matter that (James 4:2) Ye have not, because ye ask not. That in order to receive an examination, we must needs pray (Psalm 26:2) Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. The reality of a deceitful heart is that it has deceived you. You may not pursue examination if you don’t know you need one. (Mark 2:17) They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. But that doesn’t mean that God is not at work. As I was trying to explain earlier, God can deal with that. You may not know, but the master heartsmith knows and cares about your heart.

Concluding Remarks

Proverbs 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

Lastly, I was looking at this verse. (1 Thessalonians 2:4) But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. There are just a few things I thought.

First, there is a reason we were allowed and put in trust. That reason is that God has done his work on the heart. Now I know I’m on dangerous ground here; but the condition of the heart now after God has begun his work is such that can be trusted with the gospel. Now understand that we’re deemed worthy (allowed and trusted) not because of our works, but because of the refining and purifying work that God has done in our hearts. After David said wash me, cleanse me, purge me, make me, and (Psalm 51:10) Create in me a clean heart… Once God did the work, he could say (Psalm 51:13) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Secondly, there is also an expectation of that allowance and trust. He said as we were… even so. And this demonstrates to us that the purifying work of God never ends in this life and demands that our conversation be not as to contaminate that which God has cleansed. And by conversation, I mean all manner of behavior. (Titus 2:11-12) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; The other day, I heard a preacher say this in so many words: When you are first saved, you are as near a sinner on his way to hell as you’ll ever be. You’re saved but you know nothing of the things of God. But now begins the work of sanctification. And are we so foolish as to think that while God works tirelessly with us trying to get things out of our life that are hindering us and hurting us, other things might not slip in while that work is going on?

The grace of God is teaching us, not has taught us. I’ve heard alot of people and preachers say, Once you pass a test, you won’t have to take it again. Really? Says who? I’m not so sure about that. You might have to take it again. It might be a little easier. It might not be. You may be in a condition now that it’s harder than before. You may not have the high ground of the mountain top. If you think that somehow you become less and less sinful (or apt to sin) as this Christian life goes on, I don’t think that you know sin. Sanctification is separation, not eradication. Ask Paul. (Romans 7:25) So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is an expectation of that allowance and trust. It’s going to compel us to want to please God; to want to be careful with our hearts.

Let me try to explain this. In other words (1 John 4:19) We love him, because he first loved us. We are going to make the effort to purify ourselves because he loved and cared enough to purify us. (1 John 3:3) And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Exodus 27:16 The gate of the court…

August 28, 2018

Exodus 27:16 And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four.

Notice that the construction of the outer gate is similar in construction to the gate of the tabernacle. (Exodus 26:36) And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework. And also notice that the vail within the tabernacle is similar. (Exodus 26:31) And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: It’s fine twined linen of blue, purple, and scarlet. These three colors are God’s chosen colors. These are the colors of his theme. From the outer gate to the inner gate and through the vail, blue, purple, and scarlet surround the way.

Now the court around the tabernacle was not so colorful. (Exodus 27:9) There shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen… Now the bible doesn’t particularly say what color these hanging will be. Most people assume that they were white. It’s astounding how most commentaries will say that they were white when the word white is only used in the law to describe two things: the manna and leprosy. It is never employed in the description of any items of the tabernacle. Now these hangings around the court were made of linen; which is from the flax plant. And it’s taken from the fibers of the actual stock, not a cute little white bundle like cotton. So the natural color of linen is a light brown truly. So I don’t know if it was white. I don’t know if Clorox was in business back then. They may have had a bleaching process, but I don’t see how we can know that. Remember they were out in the wilderness. I would think that there were some limitations.

But there was most definitely a contrast between the curtains of the court and the curtains of the door. They didn’t have to ask where the door was or guess. It was lit blue, purple, and scarlet. And this color scheme was used all the way into the holiest of all. I think maybe this speaks to us of the familiarity of God to us. (Malachi 3:6) For I am the LORD, I change not… (Hebrews 13:8) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Now Jesus is the door. (John 10:9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  It seems to me that whichever entrance you go through, whether it be the outer court, the holy place, or the most holy place, it’s going to look the same. There’s going to be familiar colors about it. This bring my mind back to a message I preached a while back on the Holy Spirit, The Things of the Spirit, Part 4.

This really gets more interesting as we look the hand of the Lord in Ezekiel’s experiences.  So he’s been commissioned to go the people of the captivity, and tell them, “Thus saith the LORD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.  And the first message he gets to preach is not to them, but to himself.  That alone ought to be a message to us.  Nevertheless, his experience with God goes on.  The next one, (3:22) begins with hand of the LORD.  “And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.  Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.”  Now I don’t know how much time passed between verse 21 and 22, but apparently some time has passed.  What we see here is that he’s now come to a place in the plain where the glory of the LORD is.  And he makes it known that it’s “as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar…”  He said “It’s just like it was back when I was at the river.”  He remembered back when the heavens were opened up before him at the river of Chebar.  He remembered the four living creatures, and the wheels in the sky, and the throne of God and glory of God.  (1:28) “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.  And when I saw it, I fell upon my face…”  And when the hand of the LORD was upon him and brought him to that plain, the bible said, “…behold, the glory of the LORD stood there.”  And he said, “Hey, that’s the glory of God and it’s just like it was before.”

Can I say this:  God doesn’t change.  “Jesus Christ is same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”  Hey I remember that day I got saved.  I remember when I had a head on collision with glory of God.  I remember in the wretchedness of my sin, I met God.  I remember when I fell on my face.  It was horrible to be lost.  It was horrible to be without hope.  It was terror to before a Holy God.  But can I say this:  It was glorious.  It was an experience filled with the glory of God.  Oh it was glorious when Jesus whispered in my ear that he loved me and wanted to save me.  It was glorious to finally, for the first time in my life, fall on my face and call upon the name of the Lord; and cast myself on the mercy of God.   It was glorious.  And I thank God that sometimes, the hand of the LORD still brings me to a place where I find God and I can say, “That’s the same glory which I saw by the river of Chebar.”  And I can still fall on my face before the glory of God.  We can grow cold on God.  It’s easy to do.  Ah!  Like that old songs says: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love…”  But by the hand of God, he brings us back to that place; a place where we can worship him before his glory.  And we need to go to a place like that.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I had times I’ve told God, “I need to hear from you Lord!  I need something.  I need to see something or I don’t think can go on anymore like this.”  I remember when Patty was pregnant with Carina.  We didn’t know what we were going to do…  We didn’t have no doctor, no midwife, nothing.  We didn’t want a doctor.  We didn’t trust any.  We still don’t.  So I was scared.  I was scared we’d lose the baby; and with no doctor and no midwife, if something went wrong, I was scared we’d lose all our kids.  I didn’t tell God, “Thy will be done.  Whatever your will be Lord, I’ll be okay with it.”  No I didn’t say that.  I said, “Lord, if we lose this baby, I’m not gonna make it.  I won’t have the strength to press on.  I’ll be done.”  But by the hand of God, the glory of God stood there.  I couldn’t fall on my face, I was driving to work.  But if I could, I would have.  I needed that.  And God knows we need that.  I don’t know what you’re going through, but I know there’s no peace like the presence of God.  God knows we need that.  Ezekiel needed that.  Look at what happens next to him.

(vs 24-26) Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them: And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.

Thou shalt be dumb?  If I was Ezekiel, I would have gone nuts.  Lord, you called me to preach!  Lord you told me to go!  Lord you even warned me of the consequences if I didn’t go!  Lord why are you making me dumb?  Why are you taking away my speech if you want me to preach?  But that’s not what he said.  Listen, it doesn’t have to make sense if the glory of God is there.  It doesn’t have to make sense if the hand of the LORD is there upon you.  That’s the only reason Ezekiel didn’t go mad; because he knew it was of God because he remembered the glory.

There will be familiar colors amidst every door that God will lead us through. If God is in it, God will put his hand upon it as he did before. We see those same colors we saw when we first got on this narrow way. (Philippians 1:6) Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: It’s very important that you begin right; that you start right. It’s important that you use the entrance that God has provided. (John 10:1) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. I tell you, it’s a wonderful thing to come into the fold the way God has appropriated. The Psalmist wrote (Psalm 84:10) For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 

Matthew 9:29 Then touched he their eyes…

August 27, 2018

(Matthew 9:27-31) And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. 29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. 30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. 31 But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.

When Jesus came into the synagogue in Nazareth, he read from the prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach… recovering of sight to the blind… Jesus truly made the blind to see.

  1. (Mark 8:22-26) In Bethsaida, the people brought a blind man to Jesus. He spat on his eyes and put his hands upon him. The blind man saw men as trees, walking. Then Jesus put his hands on his eyes again restored his sight completely.
  2. (John 9) The whole chapter recalls the incident of the man which was blind from his birth. Jesus spat on the ground and made clay and anointed the blind man’s eyes with the clay, and was told to wash in the pool of Siloam. From this account comes the words of that precious song Amazing Grace: (John 9:25) I was blind, now I see.
  3. (Matthew 12:22-30, Mark 3:22-30), Luke 11:14-23) Jesus casts out a devil from one that was both blind and dumb. The blindness is only mentioned in the Matthew, but Jesus discourse on Satan is the common thread through the three passages making them the same incident)
  4. In today’s passage he is in Capernaum, near his own city of Nazareth. The bible said that he came into the house. It’s not clear who’s house this was, but two blind men were given their sight by the Lord Jesus.
  5. (Luke 18:35-43) Jesus coming into Jericho gave a blind man his sight.
  6. (Mark 10:46-52) Jesus coming out of Jericho gave blind Bartimaeus his sight. Though this account is very similar to the account of the blind man Jesus healed coming into Jericho, it cannot be the same for many reasons. See Brother Randy Sutherland’s Sunday morning message for an explanation.
  7. (Matthew 20:29-34) There is another account of a healing outside of Jericho as Jesus was leaving. This one is also very similar to blind Bartimaeus. The difference in this one is that there are two that were healed. So even if it was the same account as Mark 10, there is still another person who got healed. Therefore, we’ll call it another incident.

So, seven different incidents where Jesus made the blind to see. Seven times that eyes were opened. You could probably argue that it was six or maybe even five; but today, it’s going to be seven! Seven because I just read this scripture this morning: (Exodus 25:37) And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. Seven is the number of God’s completion. Seven lamps, seven lights, seven times Jesus turned on the lights tells us of God’s ability to reveal things to us. (Jeremiah 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

I was looking again at some things of the tabernacle and this verse stood out to me. (Exodus 25:40) And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount. I read this and can’t help but think that not only is God telling Moses how to construct the tabernacle and the things thereof, but he must also have shewed him in the mount. God can certainly shew us some things. Ezekiel said, (Ezekiel 1:1) The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. Isaiah said, (Isaiah 6:1) I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. The bible says of Stephen, (Acts 7:55) But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. 

John the Baptist exclaimed to this old sinful world, (John 1:29) Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. If God could not open the blinded eyes to see, then why would he say, (Isaiah 45:22) Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. In several of the accounts, including today’s, Jesus asks, Believe ye that I am able to do this? Is Jesus able to open the eyes of the blind?

Ah, do you remember the day that God touched your eyes? Do you remember the day that you awoke from darkness. (Ephesians 5:14) Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Praise his wonderful name for turning on the lights. What an amazing miracle it is to be saved! Though there are alot of similarities between these seven accounts, there were also alot of difference. One was in the house. One was on the highway. One was spit. One was clay. One was going in. One was going out. Every saved person has a personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ in which he opened their eyes. Make sure you’ve got that.

Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac…

August 24, 2018

(Hebrews 11:20) By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

We’ve said a little of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah. There is so much in these verses. One cannot possible exhaust the blessings of these passages. I am only writing a few words that come to mind as I hit each personality that Hebrews 11 covers. The next is Isaac.

I think this verse may stir any parent that cares and loves their child and particularly desires that they would be saved and serve God all the days of their life; that they might know God and the power of his resurrection; that they might be filled with all the fullness of God; that their life might count for God. Teaching your children is an act of faith. We try to teach our children all that we know about God. But essentially we’re casting our bread upon the waters. I mean we’re trying to give them the evidence of things not seen and expecting them to just trust it.

God appeared before Abraham and spoke to him. There came a point (or maybe several points) in the life of his son, Isaac, that he was going to have to choose the god of his Father. I wonder if Abraham wondered if Isaac was going to believe the circumstances concerning his birth. I think about that day that I met God; the day he revealed my lost condition and his wondrous love. Are my children going to believe me? Are they going to believe that a small herd of swine ran across my yard minutes after God let me see the devils that plagued me? I hardly believe it!

We’re telling them that Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven; that he’s going to come back. The dead shall rise and all of us together are going to meet him in the clouds. We believe all this. Praise God! But I’ll admit that to someone who has never heard, or never been saved, or is skeptical, this sounds a bit unbelievable. It sounds just a tad crazy. I’m not afraid to admit that. If it was so easy to believe, then why doesn’t everybody just believe? Isaac had to sit his kids down and tell them:

Jacob and Esau my sons, Let me tell you about that day that Grandpa took me took me up to Mount Moriah. God told him to sacrifice me. I was his only begotten son, but he obeyed. That whole time we were headed up there I kept wondering that we had the fire and the wood, but where was the lamb? I asked Grandpa and he said, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb.” Boy things got real serious. He had that knife in his hand. He looked me in the eyes and trembled. He raised it up to slay me. He paused there for a few seconds and I remember his face. It was as if he heard a voice from heaven and he said “Here am I!” He shook with fear as he stared into my eyes and all of a sudden he just put the knife down, he stopped shaking, and he looked up beyond me and there he was; a ram stuck by his horns in a thicket.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. How we long for God to bless our children! How many times have we thought of all the wasted years, the sin, and the regrets? We’ve warned them that they don’t have to wait until they’re old to trust God and be blessed of God. Things to come? We want those things to be good things.

I wonder about Isaac. Scofield puts him about 20 years old when he went up to Mount Moriah. He obviously trusted his father Abraham. He didn’t fight him. He trusted his father Abraham that God would indeed provide a lamb. He trusted his father Abraham that he would return with him. But I think that after that experience, Isaac’s trust turned from his father to the Lord God of Abraham. While our children are little, they trust us. They trust the stories we tell them about God and trust that we are not leading them astray. But praise the Lord for that wonderful day that their trust turns to the living God. I pray that God give our children their own experiences that will seal their faith in him. (Psalm 145:4) One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. (Joel 1:3) Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 

Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart…

August 22, 2018

Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

This reminds of a verse: (Ezra 7:10) For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it… Preparations are plans. It’s what the heart is planning to do. It’s planning the work and then working the plan. They say that heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Just reading over Proverbs 16 teaches us that preparation is much much more than just having a plan; though that is hard enough to accomplish in and of itself.

Through the years, I’ve seen that planning is one of the hardest things to accomplish. If I remember right, it was on a green paper with a picture of a turtle in my economics class: Fail to Plan; Plan to Fail. However, planning is not an easy task. It takes much effort, physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual, to devise a plan; to conjure up a scheme; to develop a schedule; to invent a method. It’s not easy to lay it all out. There’s unknowns that requires Plan B and C and D and E sometimes. There are limitations that require creativity to overcome. There are frustration that weary you. There are thoughts that hinder you. I’m not talking about working the plan. I’m only talking about planning the work. Planning is work and takes much practice, wisdom, and even help to accomplish it. Sometimes we don’t need a method for our madness, but we desperately need a method for simply coming up with a method.

Let me bring this back down to The preparations of the heart in man… So then, the preparations of the heart is work and requires practice, wisdom, and help. Being gloriously saved is the greatest thing that could happen to a person; but it’s just the beginning of a glorious journey; a glorious preparation of the heart. (Jeremiah 29:11) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. The proverb says The preparations of the heart… is from the LORD. 

The plan is no doubt to get to heaven, but how we must arrive there is yet to be seen. Being saved secures us a place in heaven, but the route in which we take, we’ve never known. Jesus is the door and we may have entered in, but now we trod the narrow way. Let me ask you this: What preparations have you made for this journey? Proverbs 16 has some tremendous prepatory advise to give.

I read Proverbs 16 and all these verses were familiar to me, and every one touched and moved this heart. And I thought There’s so much more to this Christian life! I’m satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ that I’ve been saved. But I am not satisfied with just that; not when there’s so much more to know and to experience; not when there is so much more at stake. How can I (Hebrews 2:3) neglect so great salvation? How can I when Jesus said (John 14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do? Don’t you wonder what God would do with you if you would truly surrender all to him? I’ll leave you with those great words by Fanny Crosby

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

Exodus 27:9-19 And thou shalt make the court…

August 21, 2018

(Exodus 27:9-19) And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side: 10 And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 11 And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. 12 And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. 13 And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. 14 The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three. 15 And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16 And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four. 17 All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass. 18 The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. 19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

One question that has plagued me through this tabernacle study is this: What exactly was the court for? I know the altar and the laver were there, but there was alot of space around them. If you’ve seen pictures of the tabernacle, there’s much room inside the tabernacle between the walls and the holy place; between the laver and the altar. Or was there?

Speaking of the westward side, which I’ve always considered to be the back, the bible says (Exodus 26:25) And they shall be eight boards… The boards were a cubit and a half so that is approximately 18 feet. The court of the tabernacle was fifty cubits:  (Exodus 27:13) And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. That is about 75 feet. So you see, if you do the math, you’ll find that leaves 28 1/2 feet on each side of the holy place. So the question to me is: what did they do in those large areas of space.

My inclination is that the priests hung out there and did the auxiliary work to support all the sacrificing that was going on. I don’t think that people brought their sacrifice and then hung out in the court. There wasn’t room for that. I think they brought their sacrifice to the gate, it was handed over to the priest, they tied it to the horns of the altar right there, and it was most likely immediately slain as prescribed. If the Israelite whom was offering would stick around to watch, it would not be for long. I think that it was very busy in that court. Some offerings were commanded to be slain there at the door by the base of the altar. Some were not. So it is possible that some animals were brought into the court. I find it more likely that the court was for the animals, not the people. If they weren’t slain immediately at the door, they might have been brought into the court for preparation or whatever and would soon have their turn. So priests were cowboys and the court was truly a corral.

The court was big; but not that big considering all the animals and Levite workers required to carry out the work. I know when we see the word court, we picture green grass, a pretty fountain, and plenty of space to walk around and frolic in the open air. No. There was much work to be done and many people needed for it to get done. Pictures always depict maybe four or five priest working at that altar. I think not. There may have been several hundred workers to accomplish the work. There may even have been shifts. I don’t know. But I try to stay within the reality of the matter. It was very busy and any space in the court no doubt was used up fast.

Don’t forget the choir! (2 Chronicles 5:12) Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) Now this was in the temple and the temple was much bigger (I think). Maybe we will get a better picture of this when we get into the actual work that took place; the sacrifices and offerings.

My thoughts turn to the person who has brought a sacrifice. I just don’t see how they could go into the court. I just don’t see that there was space, time, or even a need for them to go in. The priests were sanctified and purified for the work of the tabernacle. It makes me wonder if the other Israelites were ever allowed into the court during the sacrifices. I don’t find any particular command to keep them out. But there are examples in the bible of non-Levites being in the outer court. Both Adonijah and Joab caught hold on the horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50; 1 Kings 2:28). Strangers were definitely not allowed in. The Lord said unto Aaron and the Levites: (Numbers 18:7) Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

Now where did Hannah pray and vow her vow? The bible says (1 Samuel 1:9-11) So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh… Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. 11 And she vowed a vow… Now she was in Shiloh and this was before the days of Solomon when the first temple was built. So I’m not sure as to why the word temple was used, but no doubt this post of the temple must have been one of the pillars of the tabernacle holding up the fine linen curtain around the outer court. Now was she inside or outside the court? One may reason that they were inside because Eli was there and he needed to oversee the work. However his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, got away with much wickedness; there may have not been proper supervision. So maybe he was outside? Also, consider that much of law required inspection of animals and people. Unclean was certainly not allowed in the court. So it does make sense that Eli would be outside the court for judgment purposes.

Today, Jews from all over the world travel to the holy sight of the temple and pray and pour out their hearts and weep outside what is known as the Wailing Wall. This wall is actually a retaining wall that Herod built while expanding the size of the temple. And this wall was known as the western wall. The holy and most holy place were setup against the western side of the temple. So this makes this place the closest that Jews could get to the most holy place in this day. So when I think of Hannah weeping before God, it reminds me of how the Jewish people pray and weep outside the Wailing Wall no doubt yearning in their hearts that one day God will give them what they don’t have.

So like I said, the person that brought sacrifice could not go into the court. There was no space, time, or need for them to go in. They left it at the gate with the priests. This speaks to us of faith in the intercessor. They’d walk away and perhaps if they looked back, they’d see their sacrifice collapse, they’d see the flames go up and the smoke. They’d hear all the commotion behind the flapping curtains. They would breathe a sigh of relief. They would have peace. For upon that animal was their sin. And they knew that in those walls the work was done. They could walk away with a clear and clean conscience.

If they could do that then, how much more can we not do that now? (Hebrews 9:14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Those Israelites had to come back the next year with a sacrifice and do it again. We don’t have to do that again. (Romans 10:4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. And what he did, he did once, never to do it again. (Hebrews 10:12,14) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

The priestly service that Christ administered on my behalf went way past what Aaron and the Levites were able to accomplish. (Hebrews 9:24) For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Notice, it says holy places. From the gate, through the court, through the holy place, into the holiest of all, our high priest has completed all the work. So when I imagine, looking from a distance on the outside, the flapping curtains in the wind hanging on those pillars, and the blood flowing on the ground, and the smoke ascending to heaven, and all the commotion inside those walls, I see the commotion of Calvary.

When I see the fine linen curtain that contained all the work of God, I consider that I didn’t have to go in there and do the work. Someone did it for me. I wasn’t qualified, purified, or sanctified for what needed to be done behind those walls. All I had to do was bring the offering that God had provided. (Isaiah 53:10) When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…  (2 Corinthians 5:21) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. I have peace knowing that the work is done. (John 19:30) It is finished.

 

1 Samuel 3:12 When I begin…

August 20, 2018

In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.

God gave the people of Israel the tabernacle while they were in the wilderness. They didn’t get it in Egypt. They didn’t get it in Canaan. There was divine purpose in their forty year journey through the wilderness. I know that we always preach that wilderness is a type of the carnal saved person. And nobody wants to be the carnal saved person. But make no mistake, there is no other way to Canaan but through the wilderness. Jesus said this: (John 10:1) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. And I know that the primary application to this verse is regarding Jesus being the door to salvation, and that there is no other way to God’s salvation but through the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is a principle that is laid down here. There verse that comes to mind is this: (Romans 8:29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son… The people of Israel did not leave Egypt and go wherever they wanted to go. They went together into the wilderness and trod the path that God had put before them.

There in the wilderness, God dealt with the murmuring, complaining, grumbling, idolatry, disobedience, and all manner of evil. God said (Number 14:29-30) As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein… God got rid of everything (or everybody) that had no part in the promised land. And that’s what God is doing for you. Nothing of your flesh has part of the victorious Christian life. The sooner the carcases fall, the sooner we cross the river Jordan. God wants to put an end to the flesh.

But God does not  make an end without making a beginning. God took away much from the people of Israel. But he also gave them much. He gave them the tabernacle; the dwelling place of God. Canaan is a type of the victorious Spirit-filled Christian life. There is a death to sin and the law when we leave Egypt, but there is a death to one’s self and the flesh when we leave the wilderness. But what I want us to understand is this death coincides with that new thing that God is working in you. I really think that the reality of the tabernacle, God’s sanctuary, can only exist in the reality of that death in this wilderness. As the carcases fall, God is exalted. There’s a lot of death, but amidst the death and pain and sorrow, there hung those wooden staves that God commanded should never leave the dwelling place of God. The staves were there to take hold of God. (Exodus 25:1) The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. He told Joshua (Joshua 1:5)  I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. You think of those priest when they took those precious steps across the Jordan River, they left it all behind, but they laid hold on those staves. They laid hold onto that ark. They left what God had made an end of, but they took with them what God had begun with them them.

Oh Christian friend, God is trying to conform us and mold us; cut away, prune, and purge us. Yes. Only because he longs to reveal himself to us. He longs for us to carry with us his presence; to only hold unto him and nothing else. Do you want to be close to God? Do you want to draw nigh unto God? He’s in the wilderness. I’ll say this: He’s where you’re at. He wants you to take hold of him and always be in his divine presence. But there’s just no room for the flesh. It’s you he wants; not your stink’n flesh. Drop it dead and you can go on. As Paul said, (Romans 8:13,14) For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Why are we still holding on to that old child of the devil that is dead in trespasses and in sin? Nobody wants to die in the wilderness, but if we could just see that there is no other way.

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD…

August 15, 2018

(Proverbs 15:3) The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Seven times, Jesus says to the churches in Revelation,  I know thy works. I know thy works. I know thy works. I know thy works. I know thy works. I know thy works. I know thy works. (Galatians 6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. I would have to say that most times that these texts are mentioned, they are done so in a negative sense; in that of a warning that God sees and knows (Genesis 6:5) that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. You hardly ever hear it preached in a positive sense. Maybe preachers are scared of being misunderstood to be preaching a works salvation. Because it’s (Ephesians 2:9) Not of works, lest any man should boast. Maybe preachers want to be careful not to diminish God’s unconditional love for his children. But God does know the good, the good works, the good seed. Jesus said (Matthew 5:16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. There is actually a tremendous amount of encouragement in the Word of God for us to do good works.

Good Works For Fruit

(Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Titus 3:14) And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. Good works produce fruit; fruit for the Lord. And is what God desires. (Romans 7:4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Jesus said (John 15:8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. Much fruit must require much good works.

Good Works Foreordained

(Ephesians 2:10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. It was God’s intent from the beginning that we should do good works. I’m not sure how before is before ordained. But I think it safe to assume that before the foundation of the world, before Adam recieved the breathe of life, it was already intended in the mind of God what we should be doing, and what type of people we ought to be. The plan of the ages, God’s masterpiece, the church, the people of God… These were set apart to do good works. So when you do good before the eyes of God, you are walking and living in an eternal plan conceived in the heart of God. It wasn’t your idea to do good. It was God’s.

Good Works For All Men

(Galatians 6:10) As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. Tall order, huh? I can barely seem to do good unto my wife and children. Nevertheless, the order stands. Let us do good unto all men. Here’s my thought: God is holy and holiness is goodness. Hence, God is good. Now the bible commands (1 Peter 1:16) Be ye holy; for I am holy. Therefore, we must be good because He is good. And God is good to all men. Therefore, we should be good to all men. (Matthew 5:45) That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Now we’re not God and have not the power to move the sun and the clouds. But we could try to spread a little sunshine to all men, especially as we have therefore opportunity. And I think God gives us opportunity as he sees fit. Ordination will certainly result in opportunity. If He planned it, surely He’ll produce an opportunity to carry out His plan. Tall order? Yes. But it’s God’s order, therefore we should be looking for divine opportunities.

Good Works for All Women

(1 Timothy 2:9-10) In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. And of widows, the bible says (1 Timothy 5:10) Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. Now I’m not picking on women. I think all of this list pertains also to men. I think all these things becometh men professing godliness also. It does put things into persepective though. These are the things that are important to God. Notice what good works are accompanied with: modest apparel, shamefacedness, and sobreity. Notice that good works involve people: children, strangers, the saints, the afflicted. When do we pray, “Lord, who would you want me to do good to today?”

God Works For the Man of God

(2 Timothy 3:16-17) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. This is the relationship between the word of God and the work of God. There is no separating the two. If the foreordained good works were conceived in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, we must seek to enter into the mind of God to obtain his will. That is what your King James Bible is for. It is the mind of God. (Philippians 2:5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Jeremiah 29:11) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. A man of God, if he expects to do the works of God, he must know the mind of God. Being more acquainted with the Word of God will certainly acquaint you with the love of God for all men. You are what you read.

Good Works For the Rich

(1 Timothy 6:17-18) Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; God wants rich people to do good works. No doubt about that. We saw earlier: (Galatians 6:10) As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. Rich people have a special opportunity to do good, wouldn’t you say? A preacher said at this past camp meeting, “Not everybody is a preacher. God saves rich people too!” Lester Roloff said, “I’d be a give’n while I’m live’n. That way I be a know’n where it’s a go’n.”

Good Works For Character

(1 Timothy 5:25) Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. This verse is in the middle of a lesson on how a person’s reputation precedes them, whether it be good or bad. There is something you have to be careful with. When one does a good work or gives, there is many times a desire to do it under the radar. In humility, you don’t want to put your name out there and draw attention to yourself. You don’t want ada-boys and accolades. And that’s understandable. But look at this verse above. It doesn’t matter how much you try to hide it, people are going to find out. It cannot be hid. God certainly sees it. And God don’t light a candle to hide it under a bushel. Trying to be humble is commendable, but you can take it too far trying to be the reluctant star. You can easily disqualify yourself from doing the thing God wants you to do because you’re to humble to let anyone see you do it. Your humility may lead you into disobedience if you’re not careful. It’s humility before God that counts, not man.

Good Works For Wisdom

(James 3:13) Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. Have you ever heard this expression: Garbage in. Garbage out. This same chapter in Proverbs has two other verses that I want to show you. (Proverbs 15:14) The mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. (Proverbs 15:2) The mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. A fool will eat up foolishness and spit up foolishness. Garbage in. Garbage out. Likewise, the wise man operates in the same manner. He eats up wisdom and knowledge, and what comes out is good works. So our good works are directly proportional to what we’ve been munching on. So it goes back to that other verse. There’s some things that just (1 Timothy 5:25) cannot be hid. Your works or lack of works displays to God and all men who you are and what you eat.

Good Works for Souls

(1 Peter 2:12) Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Good works procures no salvation for yourself. Ah, but it may be very instrumental in the salvation of the souls of others. If this be so, then let us strive not for just good works, but great works, and greater works. Jesus said (John 14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Remember that old hymn Let My Life Be A Light?

Let me live blessed Lord in the light of Thy word
Let my life be a light on a hill,
Leading souls now astray to the straight narrow way.
Help me do some good deed while I live.

Let my life be a light, Shining out through the night.
May I help struggling ones to the fold,
Spreading cheer everywhere to the sad and the low.
Let my life be a light to some soul

When God looks down and beholds the good and the bad, what does he see of us? (Titus 2:14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

 

Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sarah…

August 3, 2018

(Hebrews 11:11-12) Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

This account of Sarah reminds me a lot of Paul’s account of Abraham in Romans Chapter 4. (Romans 4:19,20) And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

I remember in the past, every time I would read this, I’d always cringe. My eyes would squint a bit. This is because of the actual account of when God told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a boy. (Genesis 17:16) And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. This is the first time that God tells Abraham directly that his lineage would come from Sarah. You might think that this goes without saying. Well, apparently it didn’t because it’s before this that Abraham tried to have a child with another woman. Now keep in mind that this is the first time God explains this to Abraham. God has called him out in Chapter 12 and told him that he would make of him a great nation. In Chapter 15, Abraham asks God if this nation would come from his steward, Eleazar, because God had yet to give him seed. There, God tells him that his heir shall come forth from his own bowels, but he doesn’t say that it would particularly come from Sarah. Then in Chapter 16, Sarai and Abraham, of course, take the matter in their own hands and concoct this plan of having kids through Hagar. Finally we get to Chapter 17, and this is where God explains directly that his lineage would come from Sarah. So up until now, God had not mentioned this specific detail about Sarah to them.

Now this is where I usually got thrown for a loop because Abraham’s response is not typical of someone who is strong in faith. (Genesis 17:17) Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? Instead of praising God, he does an ROFL. (Roll on the floor laughing) Usually people laugh at news when it’s unbelievable. And then in Chapter 18, Sarah overhears God telling Abraham that she is going to be with child and she does the same thing. (Genesis 18:12) Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And then when she get’s called on her laughing, she lies about it. (Genesis 18:15) Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. So you see, I don’t see how either of these reactions were demonstrative of one being strong in faith. I do see they have a sense of humor. Now, in their defense, however, this was the first time they heard it. Up until now, nobody has explained this to them. But my point is that their first reaction was not that of faith. Nonetheless, she had that child and the bible says that it was through faith.

So here’s the lesson we see in this today. Our first reaction is not necessarily our final reality. What I’m saying is that faith may truly be the size of a mustard seed. But mustard seeds grow. Jesus said (Matthew 13:26,27) The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Faith grows. I think this is an important lesson for new converts, even those who have been saved 10-15 years. You may still be young in the faith. Your faith may be as small as a mustard seed. You may still laugh within at the promises of God. But stay with it. Faith grows. (Luke 17:5) And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And this is the way of faith. I think we err to think that it works in a different way. (Romans 4:16) Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.

Now mind you, by the testimony of Abraham and Sarah, and by the words of Jesus himself, the size of our faith has no bearing on the promises that God bestows upon us; but rather God’s promises have much bearing on the size of our faith. As the promises of God are manifest in our life and we witness the divine performance of He which hath begun a good work in us, our faith increases and strengthens. It’s not our strongfaith that moves the hand of God, but rather the hand of God that strengthens our faith.

The Christian life is the life of faith. (Hebrews 10:38) Now the just shall live by faith. The lesson in all this with Sarah is that faith doesn’t always look pretty and perfect; primp and proper. You may fall asleep while you’re trying to pray to God. You may stumble all over yourself while you try to witness to somebody. Your acts of faith are not always going to look like Elijah on Mount Carmel. But don’t let that stop you from trusting God and serving God. Abraham and Sarah didn’t. Their first reaction was not their final reality. They made the hall of faith even though they laughed at first. God has a way of taking the imperfect and using it for his glory. (Romans 4:17) Even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (1 Corinthians 1:28) Hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. 

One last scripture. (Mark 11:22) And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Hebrew 12:1 So great a cloud of witnesses…

August 2, 2018

(Hebrews 12:1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Of course, we know that the church is not just the local assembly that faithfully gathers on the first day of the week. I originally thought that viewing the church in the local sense would be the way to undertake this study primarily in order to make a closer application to the church member. But there is great benefit to understanding the church in a greater sense; in that of the universal church. The church in a grander sense is the assembly of believers comprised from the beginning of the church in the days of our Lord Jesus all the way to the new Jerusalem where the bible declares (Revelation 21:24) And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it. So in that sense, the body of Christ, in which we are members, is much bigger and grander than the local assembly. This is not to diminish our responsibility to and esteem for the local assembly, but to enhance it and establish it to a greater degree.

When we worship God and serve Him, we are no doubt worshipping and laboring together with our brethren whom we love down at the local church. But I think it helpful to understand that we worship and labor along side Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and Silas. You may consider yourself a pinky in the body of Christ; but you’re laboring next to Apollos the ring finger. We have entered into the labors of other great men and women of God. (1 Corinthians 3:8-9) Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one… we are labourers together with God… In this sense, our responsibilities go much further than just our pastor and our brethren which are in the here and now; but they extend to the apostles, martyrs, all the faithful from yesteryear and tomorrow. We don’t want to let down our pastor and the men and women that have taught us and invested their life in us. But we owe also our faithfulness, dedication, and efforts to all those who have passed from the scene and those that will one day come unto the scene. How can we not water and care for what they have so faithfully tilled and planted. Likewise, how can we expect saints of tomorrow to plant in a garden that has not been tilled, or water that which has not been planted.

What an honor it is to belong to such a noble happy band of people. What a thought to worship and work in the midst of so great a cloud of witnesses. The distance we run today is just but a leg. The race we run is the race of the ages; and we’ll all cross the finish line together at (Revelation 21:1) And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. The word church is a word that has been used across all ages. It means called out assembly. We did not invent this word nor do we particularly claim exclusiveness to it. Anybody can use that word, I suppose. But to what we belong is his church. Jesus said (Matthew 16:18) I will build my church. And Christ’s church is not bound by time, tongues, or temples in every respect. In this sense, Paul’s prayer for the church has more distinct meaning:

(Ephesians 3:14-19) For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Notice how he refers to the whole family in heaven and earth. He desires our comprehension of God’s love be with all saints. And notice the limitless scope of Paul’s prayer: throughout all ages, world without end. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not trying to diminish our esteem for the local church, but rather I’m trying to add to it by giving us a true sense of our calling into the church. For God (Ephesians 2:6) Hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We stand together and we run this race together. When we understand and value our part of the greater work, we do better. Nobody wants to be the weak link. I’ve seen it on the job. When there is an overall goal that needs be met and everybody is on board, each department of the company strives to do it’s part to meet the goal. I’ve seen it at the camp. One will strive harder when he or she embraces the greater vision of the work at the camp: the souls that will be saved, the preachers that will be encouraged, and the saints that will be revived. In other words, you’ll wash dishes and scrub toilets with joy and love because you know that it’s part of a greater work. But even the greater work is but a part of the greatest work; the greatest race. So run well my friends.