Two Types of Biblical Beauty

(Transcript of a lesson taught at Landmark Baptist Church, Locust Grove, GA, on June 7, 2015; http://www.landmarkbaptistga.com.)  

Text: Zech. 9:12-17

In this study I’d like to examine two types of beauty found in scripture.  As our framework, we’ll…

1. First look at the overall usage of the word “beauty” and its forms in scripture;
2. Next define “beauty” with the English text, using Zech. 9:17;
3. Examine two types of beauty found in both the prophetic and mystery scriptures; and
4. Finally, note practical applications for the body of Christ as we go.

OVERALL USAGE OF “BEAUTY” AND ITS FORMS IN SCRIPTURE

The word and its forms occurs 49 times and 27 times, respectively, for a total of 76 times. Only four of those are found in the new testament canon, and only one of those in a church age context. So it’s almost exclusively an old testament term, though there’s much for the saint in this age to learn from these passages, which was my inspiration for choosing this topic.

BEAUTY DEFINED

The text passage obviously has a future application to Daniel’s seventieth week, which I’m not going to expound, but please note v. 17, which I believe provides a clear definition of “beauty.”  The context here is God’s beauty, defined in a parallelism as his goodness. So Barbie isn’t the only one who’s beautiful. The greatest beauty in the universe is not Miss Universe; it’s the God of the universe!

Beauty is goodness; but that’s not all. Obviously; it’s not the same word, so there’s more to it than just goodness. Beauty is manifest goodness: it’s goodness that can be seen physically, or more importantly, spiritually. Look at Ps. 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, and that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.”

So there’s outer beauty and inner beauty, and I’d like to note (1) some passages that contrast these two types of beauty in the prophetic and Pauline scriptures; and (2) practical applications for the body of Christ.

BEAUTY IN THE PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES

There are numerous references to physical beauty, or lack thereof, in the prophetic scriptures. This should be no surprise, since the theme of the prophetic scriptures is an earthly, physical kingdom, albeit with the Lord from heaven as its head. There are also numerous references to beauty in a spiritual context, and I’d like to weave our examination of these two types of beauty in the prophetic scriptures under three headings: women, men, and God, God being last for climax.

Women. The first passage in scripture dealing with beauty is Rachel’s beauty (Gen. 29:17). She was beautiful and well favoured. But as you get to know Rachel, you find that her beauty is skin deep. She’s well favoured physically, but not spiritually.

1         Her envy of Leah drives her to rail on Jacob for not maintaining her honour, as if there’s anything that he could do about it.  His retort about God shows that Rachel is not reckoning with the Almighty, and she proceeds to give Bilhah to Jacob out of emulation, to keep up in the original “baby race” (Gen. 29-30).

2          She lacks spiritual discernment

a.   When Dan is born, she thinks that it’s judgment in her favor (Gen. 30:6), and he becomes arguably the worst tribe in Israel (Gen. 49:16-18);

b.      She views these births as “wrestling” with Leah (Gen. 30:8) rather than gracious gifts from God.

3         She’s selfish to the end, intending to name her second son Ben-oni, or “son of my sorrow”—how’d you like to carry that name for life (Gen. 35:18)? Jacob overrules her, and graciously names him Benjamin (“son of the right hand”).

4         In the end, her physical beauty doesn’t get her honour. Jacob buries her at Bethlehem by herself (Gen. 35:19-20), not in the family plot at Machpelah. That honour is reserved for tender-eyed Leah, definitely the more spiritual of the two, and Jacob honours her accordingly (Gen. 49:29-32).

The contrast between the physical and spiritual beauty of women comes out strong in the prophetic scriptures as a whole.

1        Prov. 11:22. As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman [physical beauty] who is without discretion [spiritual ugliness].

2         Prov. 31:30. Favour [physical] is deceitful, and beauty is vain [physical]: but a woman that feareth the LORD [spiritual beauty], she shall be praised.

a.       To stay balanced, however, notice that she dresses nice and so does her family

b.      Nothing wrong with looking good; problem is when it goes to your head and becomes vanity

c.       Two senses of vanity: (1) you think that you’re something when you’re nothing; and (2) it really counts for little compared with the fear of the LORD

d.      Fear of the LORD is described as a treasure in Is. 33:6, as is “a meek and quiet spirit” in 1 Pt. 3:3-4

e.      Paul supports this theme in 1 Tim. 2:9-10, where he urges sisters in this age to give priority to their spiritual adornment just as Lemuel and Peter do.

3           So it’s a trans-dispensational theme that women should be more concerned about their spiritual beauty than their physical beauty; and I believe that if a woman has the right spirit and priorities, the inner beauty will prompt her to beautify herself outwardly in a modest manner.  

4          My wife said to be sure and mention Jezebel in this context, so I will. Here’s the direct opposite of what I just said: a woman beautifying herself outwardly from a spiritually ugly motive.  Here intent is obviously to seduce Jehu, which she botches. Instead of saying something seductive, like “Hey, handsome!” her anger comes out as a threat, and Jehu wisely ignores her (never talk to the devil) and calls for help.

5        I’d like to close this section with a quote from a famous, living actress, whom I won’t name, though I will quote her to support what I’m talking about. “Let me tell you something—being thought of as a beautiful woman has spared me nothing in life. No heartache, no trouble. Love has been difficult. Beauty is essentially meaningless and it is always transitory.” Now that’ some wisdom, folks. That woman has been voted one of the most beautiful women in the world, and that’s what she had learned about it. You wish more women (and men) would come to the same conclusion; the world might be a lot better place, amen?

Men. Women are not the only ones said to be beautiful in scripture. To illustrate the contrast between physical beauty and spiritual beauty in the prophetic scriptures, I’d like to highlight the looks and hearts of two men: Absalom and Christ.

1    Absalom (2 Sam. 17:25), aka Mr. Universe. Literally, he was the most handsome man in the entire country (just like King Saul; cf. 1 Sam. 9:2) and the second half of the verse magnifies his looks even further, stating that he had no physical blemishes whatsoever. Granted, every man’s physique is marred by the fall (likely his feet weren’t the same size), but his looks were as perfect as could be for a man in Adam’s image (Gen. 5:3).

2         But oh how many spiritual blemishes he had!

a.       Vengeance on Amnon for violating Tamar (13:22-29)

b.      Arson (14:28-33). Burns Joab’s field to get an audience with David

c.       Hypocrisy. Feigning righteousness (14: 32, 15:4) and reverence for David (13:24; 14:33)

d.      Flattery (15:2-3)

e.      Treason (15:1-6)

f.        Deceit (15:7-9)

g.       Lewd, incestuous, and shameless (16:20-23)

h.      Intended patricide (17:1-4); Ahithophel’s plan to kill David “pleased Absalom well”

i.         Vain (17:5-14); how Hushai sways him…appeals to his vanity

He clutches the reins of power for a brief moment, then is violently taken away, like so many other men in history

[Why do men crave power? I think that one reason is that part of our evil nature is a desire to be like the most High; remember it was a tree to be desired to make one wise…like God; face it, power makes men feel like God; that’s why so many go after it; I mean, how many people in the world aren’t trying to move up. Bro. Richard Yerby, missionary to Japan, wrote a book called Creature vs. Creator, and he taught how it’s basic to man’s nature to want to rise, hence the perennial popularity of books on success. I have books in my office from the late 1800’s along these lines: it never goes out of style, because most men want to be like the most High (Is. 14:14).]

One great exception is the God-man: his goal was to go as low as he could, and that humbling included physical ugliness. Read Is. 53:2 carefully.  If he has “no beauty,” then he must be ugly, right? I’m not sure that the Lord was even an average-looking man. Whereas Absalom was handsome and had no blemishes, I think that the Lord was ugly. Now priests couldn’t have physical defects (Lev. 21:16-24), so I don’t think that the Lord was deformed like Quasimodo (“crookbackt”; Lev. 21:20), but there was nothing comely or beautiful about his physique. At least Leah had tender eyes (Gen. 29:17); I’m not sure that even the Lord’s eyes were physically attractive, though I’m confident that they were penetrating, since he had no fallen nature to make him lose eye contact.

This humble carpenter from Nazareth had no physical beauty, but he sure was beautiful spiritually, wasn’t he? Just read the rest of Is. 53. and see how God exalts him, along the same vein as Phil. 2: (1) meek (v. 7); (2) humble (v. 9); (3) peaceful (v. 9); (4) honest (v. 9); (5) righteous (v. 11); and (6) compassionate (v. 12)

The handsome Absalom ends up damned in “his own place” (2 Sam. 18:18) like Judas (Acts 1:25); the ugly Nazarene ends up exalted at God’s right hand over everything in heaven, earth, and the underworld! How dangerous physical beauty can be, if it’s not subordinate to God!

God. Our study of beauty in the prophetic scriptures would not be complete without examining references God’s beauty therein, and I’d to close this section of the lesson thereby.

·            Since God is a Spirit, our context will be spiritual beauty. Look at 2 Chron. 20:20-21. When Judah’s enemies came against her en masse in the days of Jehoshaphat, the king prays and sends out men to fight with singers in the forefront, to “praise the beauty of holiness,” that is, the LORD’s holiness (“Praise the LORD…”). Ps. 29:2 tells kingdom saints to “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness,” but here the text shows that holiness is beautiful; what makes God beautiful is holiness. In other words, his holy nature highlights his goodness, making him beautiful.

·         What makes a believer beautiful is holiness; personal holiness in the kingdom program, and positional holiness in mystery program.  

o   Moses concludes Psalm 90 with these words, “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it” (90:17). So a kingdom saint’s goodness is related to his conduct.

o   Believers in this age, however, don’t have to pray that; it’s on us already. For those of us in the body of Christ, it’s Christ’s righteousness that makes us beautiful; Count Zinzendorf, the great Moravian leader, captured this so well in the first verse of his hymn, “Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness”:

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness

My beauty are, my glorious dress;

Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,

With joy shall I lift up my head.

o   Furthermore, God’s beauty is not only on us, but in us. Eph. 5:9, “(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)”; and that natural (or supernatural) goodness should be manifest in our lives, as we yield to the Spirit of God, it’s source.

·          

·         So when Ps. 29 says, “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness,” it’s saying that only the holy should worship the Lord; and since we’ve been sanctified in Christ, we’re fit to worship God (Phil. 3:3) positionally. Practically, however, it’s hard to sincerely worship God if you’re not living holily, so we should strive for our state to match our standing so that we can freely worship God in the beauty of Christ’s holiness.

MYSTERY SCRIPTURES

The only beauty that Paul mentions in his epistles is, not surprisingly, spiritual beauty. Physical beauty of little relevance in this age, though it’s natural and fitting for people to improve their looks in any dispensation.

Rom. 10:15, “And how shall they preach except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Paul is quoting from the old testament (Is. 52:7), where nearly all other references to beauty are found, but he spiritually applies this passage to proclamation of the gospel in this age. In God’s eyes, the feet of his messengers are beautiful…spiritually, because of the spiritual benefits that they bring to others in the gospel. God is so desirous for sinners to be converted, that he magnifies the feet (basic equipment) of those bringing his message to sinners, and adds an exclamation point at the end, signifying the depth of his feeling.

The single reference to beauty in Paul’s epistles in a spiritual context emphasizes that the gospel and its benefits in this age are essentially spiritual, though God does promise to supply the temporal needs of his children while they’re in this world. This supply is only right, since our bodies and souls are still on earth (2 Cor. 5:9) and subject to vanity (Rom. 8:20), though our spirits are above (Eph. 2:6).

CONCLUSION

I married my wife in March 2000, and we had two songs sung at our wedding: “In Due Time” by Sound Doctrine and “How Beautiful” by Twila Paris. At that time we believed that the church is the bride of Christ, so both songs speak of the church waiting to wed Christ, though now I think that it’s better to say that we’re “waiting for the adoption” (Rom. 8:23) rather than a wedding, though we will indeed be physically united to Christ at that point.

Anyway, the song by Twila Paris is an excellent illustration of the two types of beauty in scripture. She sings about the beauty of Christ’s hands, feet, heart, and eyes, then moves on to the positional beauty of his body now, which is waiting for his return, and amazingly touches on the practical beauty of believers who give sacrificially like Christ did. The climax of the song is a reference to Rom. 10:15, which she ties back to the earthly ministry of Christ (hands, feet, heart, and eyes). It’s one of the loveliest modern Christian songs I’ve heard, and I hope that you’ll listen to it at your leisure.

Our God is beautiful, in all three of his persons. His earthly people will be beautiful one day, when they turn to him in distress and are cleansed from their sins. His heavenly people are beautiful now in Christ, and should allow that beauty to be manifest in their lives. Finally, his messengers have beautiful feet, since they bring “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3) to those that believe.

The Grace of Fervency

(Transcript of a message preached at Bible Believers' Baptist Church, Madison, AL; May 5, 2015.)

Editor's note: My apologies in advance of any formatting inconsistencies hereafter. I cut and paste my Word notes into the blog template, and sometimes the formatting translates better than others. Thank you for your patience. 

Text: Acts 18:24-28

INTRODUCTION

Our text is the first place that the word fervent or fervently appears in scripture.  These words only appear in the NT canon, in a total of seven books. 

·       Now that certainly doesn’t mean that people in the OT weren’t fervent.  One of the NT references is actually to a prominent OT figure, Elijah, as we’ll see. 

·       But since the word is only used in the NT, it behooves us, to whom much of the NT is addressed, to note what the scriptures say about fervency. 

·         Personally, I tune in on any word used in a Pauline context, since he’s our apostle and pattern (2 Tim. 1:13). There are three such references, plus six others in Jewish contexts, and we’ll look at all nine references in this study.

·         Before we begin looking at these references, let’s do two things:

a.       First, let’s see how the scripture defines fervency.  I think that 2 Pt. 3:10-12 supplies us with this. Remember the AV’s built-in dictionary, folks. You don’t need to know the original languages nor even own a Webster’s 1828. Comparing scripture with scripture will give you the most precise definition above any help you may consult. Now look at 2 Pt. 3:10-12 and I’ll show you how this works.  In vv. 10, 12 we see “fervent heat,” but “fervent” is an adjective, so it’s not just “heated.” Now look at v. 12 again for further help: by parallel construct, “fervent heat” matches “being on fire.” So fervent heat is a fiery heat, and personal fervency is having a fiery or burning spirit about something (“fervent in [the] spirit”). It’s interesting that all of references to fervency except this one in 2 Pt. deal with spiritual fervency vs. physical.

b.      I’d like to refer you to 2 Cor. 8:7 for the spirit of my message.  2 Cor. 8:7, “…see that this grace [giving] abound in you also.” It’s our duty to see that all of the graces abound in us, not just some, and there’s something we can and should do to foster each of them. 

·        So we need to study the graces to learn these things. Bear in mind that all scripture is not only given for doctrine but also for practical matters (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Bro. James Knox did a series years ago on the fruit of the Spirit, and he prefaced it with a reproof of Bible students who are always chasing “divers and strange doctrines” (Heb. 13:9) instead of studying graces. Now you need to be able to handle the meat of the word, which is the context of Heb. 13:9 (“meats”), but pay close attention to the establishment of your heart in grace as well. Paul said, “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth” (1 Cor. 8:1b), so if you’re going to grow in knowledge, as you should, make sure that you’re using that knowledge to help others; as Paul says elsewhere, “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15), and not to make yourself look good. 

·      To summarize the nine verses dealing with fervency, I find six things that believers in general, through the ages, should be fervent about. 

1.       Truth (Acts 18:24-28)

2.       Service (Rom. 12:11)

3.       Leadership (2 Cor. 7:7)

4.       Prayer (Col. 4:12; Jas. 5:16)

5.       Brethren (1 Pt. 1:22, 4:8)

6.       Holiness (2 Pet. 3:10-12);

REFERENCES

1.       Truth (Acts 18:24-28)

I think that it’s appropriate to start here. Why would you want to be fervent about something that’s not even true? Yet the sad truth is that millions of people in this world are. One could even argue that many worldlings, even hereticks, are more fervent about their false beliefs than Christians are. 

        But it’s clear from scripture that we need to be fervent about the truth. In Jer. 5:3, we that God’s eyes are “upon the truth,” and he laments that the Jews “are not valiant for the truth upon the earth” (Jer. 9:3).  Remember the character from Part II of Pilgrim’s Progress, Mr. Valiant-for-Truth? He’s a holy warrior with a sword en route to the Celestial City. We need to be fervent for truth from the beginning of our divine life until the end. Apollos was “fervent in the spirit” even before he received Christ, and I think that showed that his heart was prepared for further light, since he was obeying and applying the light that he already had. 

        For most, however, “truth is fallen in the street” (Is. 59:14), but it doesn’t have to be you!  I remember Bro. Ruckman telling a group of his students that their lifelong task was to find and disseminate truth. Solomon said to “Buy the truth [acquire it, literally if necessary], and sell it not” (Prov. 23:23). Are you fervent about the truth? You should be. In describing “the whole armour of God” in Eph. 6, Paul mentions “having your loins girt about with truth” first (Eph. 6:14). You cannot prevail in spiritual warfare without truth, folks, so it’s quite fitting to be fervent about it, amen?

2.       Service (Rom. 12:11)

In Rom. 12, Paul expounds the practical applications of the doctrinal truth in Rom. 1-11 [not just 1-8; note that 12:1 (“the mercies of God”) refers back to 11:30-32, where God’s mercy is mentioned three times). Part of godly living in this age is fervency of spirit, not apathy or indifference. Notice the integrity of v. 11. “Not slothful [lazy] in business (any business)”—a negative command. What’s the answer?  Being “fervent in spirit”! Paul always give you a positive alternative to a negative command.  Of course he does. The positive alternative is an expression of Christ’s life instead of the Adamic life. Both are already in you, and it’s your choice which you will feed and follow. You have fervency in you; you don’t have to beg God for it. But you do need to feed that fervency with the fiery word of God.  Every Christian should be a “fire-eater” in this sense: he should have a regular diet of the fiery word of God if he wants to be fervent in spirit.

Let’s look at an OT example: Jeremiah again. In Jer. 15:16 he talks about eating the word of God.  Note the effect it has on him, when he considers not preaching, in Jer. 20:9b; “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Do you see the connection? Doesn’t this explain why so many believers are lukewarm, if not cold? It’s simple, they don’t have a steady diet of the fiery word of God. Truth is, if you take that book it, believe it, and allow it to work in you, do you know what it will do? It will work its way OUT, praise the Lord. Jeremiah said “I could not stay,” and so does every believer who takes in the word like they should. Remember Elihu in the book of Job? He sat through 29 chapters of argument between four older men, but after that, he couldn’t contain himself and had to speak (Job 32:18-20). You should feel the same way, if you’re reading “the words of the wise” (Prov. 22:17), namely the scriptures, like you should. 

3.       Leadership (2 Cor. 7:7)

Here’s one that you may not have expected. In this passage, Paul mentions the Corinthians’ “fervent mind toward [him],” their spiritual leader. We need to be fervent toward our spiritual leaders as well. Let’s look at 1 Thes. 5:12-13. Here Paul beseeches the Thessalonians “to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love [there’s some fire] for their work’s sake.” Here’s where many of God’s people have failed over the years. I remember A.W. Tozer, who preached in the mid-1900’s, how the typical minister of his day (evangelical, I suppose) was underpaid, though they normally had large families. Folks, that’s a shame! Paul tells us, “Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things” (Gal. 6:6). You are in debt to those who teach you the word of God. You owe them carnal things for the spiritual things they minister to you. If not, you’re defrauding them and don’t expect to prosper.

Nobody likes a mooch, folks, esp. a “spiritual mooch.” Your spiritual leaders put in long hours with the scriptures, and you owe them the necessities of life. Paul said to the Philippians in Phil. 4:16, “ye sent once and again to my necessity.” Excellent; but look at v. 15b, “no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye only.” How sad! Here was the man that brought them the gospel that saved their souls, and they won’t even give him an offering! If that makes you mad (and it should), how do you think God feels about it? Let’s see; please turn to 1 Thes. 4:6, an oft-overlooked verse that’s terrifying in its implications (maybe that’s why it’s ignored): “That no go beyond and defraud his brother [so the context is believers] in any matter [intimacy in context, but anything else as well]: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.”

So if you deprive other believers of their due, including ministers, don’t expect good results. Now I know that Paul said that we’re not to give “grudgingly, or of necessity” (2 Cor. 9:7), but he also said, “Render therefore to all their dues” (Rom. 13:7), and if you don’t give other believers their due, why should you expect good things from God? Don’t be a “spiritual freeloader.” Generously repay those who minister the word to you, no matter who they are. And don’t just “pay” them; pray for them, submit to their authority (the word of God and their example), and be fervent about your relationship with them, like the Corinthians were toward Paul.

4.       Prayer (Col. 4:12; Jas. 5:16-18)

In these passages we read about two ministers, one an OT prophet, the other an evangelist in the body of Christ, but they have this in common: they both pray fervently. Real prayer springs from spiritual fire. Years ago, James Montgomery, an Englishman, wrote these words, “Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpress’d; the motion of a hidden fire, that trembles in the breast.” Elijah and Epaphras were concerned about the things they were praying about, not just saying prayers like millions of devotees around the world. Real prayer is an outpouring of the heart; cf. Ps. 62:8, “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

        I know what you’re thinking. What if I don’t feel anything? There’s that phantom again: feel is real right? Wrong! How many mornings do you really feel like going to work? Never, right? Well, you can follow those feelings all the way to poverty. “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread” (Prov. 20:13). We don’t live by feelings, folks. We live by our wills. Feelings follow decisions; they don’t dictate them. I didn’t say that feelings may notinfluence decisions; Christ himself can “be touched with the feelings of [men’s] infirmities” (Heb. 4:15). If you don’t have feelings, there’s something wrong with you.  I’m just saying that feelings, or lack thereof, should not stop you from doing your duty. “You can do anything you ought to do,” said Bob Jones, Sr., including pray when you lack deep feeling. Fénelon put it this way (read quote from Joy and Strength, p. 126)…

     Amen! Wachovia’s slogan used to be, “Let’s get started,” and that’s how you need to approach prayer. The fervency will come, but I think that it’s foundation, besides the word of God, of course, is desire and commitment. “Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire…” You’ve got to have a desire and act on it, no matter how you feel. I think that lack of understanding about feelings has caused great confusion among believers; don’t let them get in the way of a powerful, fervent prayer life. You can have one too, not just Elijah and Epaphras. The same Spirit that was in them is in you (Elijah wasn’t in Christ, but he did have the Spirit, per 1 Pt. 1:11), and he will bring you to experience fervent prayer, if you sow to him (Gal. 6:8) and yield to him. 

5.       Brethren (1 Pt. 1:22; 4:8)

Here I’d like to make an obvious spiritual application, since I believe that Heb.-Rev. are primarily aimed at saints in the early Acts period, historically, and the great tribulation, doctrinally. If you study this last portion of the NT canon closely, you’ll notice numerous references to brotherly love. It’s legal evidence of salvation in the great tribulation; in other words, during that time, if you don’t love the brethren, it’s because you’re not saved. In this age, however, it’s also evidence of salvation, but lack thereof doesn’t mean you’re lost; it just means that you’re carnal (1 Cor. 3:1-3). Ever since Paul received his gospel, three heresies concerning good works have troubled the church: (1) works are needed to obtain salvation; (2) works are needed to retain salvation; and (3) works are needed to prove salvation. None of these, including the last one, is true. Now, Eph. 2:10 says regarding good works that “God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” not that we must, beloved, “otherwise “grace is no more grace” (Rom. 11:6), or that we even will. That’s entirely up to us, just like receiving Christ was. I read about a man in 1 Cor. 3:15 whose works were burned up, “but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

        Most people cannot handle this, since we’re by nature legalistic and self-righteous and think that we must have something to do with our salvation. You only deceive yourself if you believe that. God is so gracious that he’ll save you with the foreknowledge of a carnal life afterward. That to me magnifies his grace, though it’s not the response he’s looking for. He’s really looking for grateful obedience, including fervent love for other believers, like we read about in Peter’s letter. Spiritually applied, obeying the truth should lead any saint, in any dispensation, to love other believers. 

·         Ps. 119:63, “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.”

·         1 Thes. 4:9, “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.”

You see how it’s natural for believers to love one another, and that “birds of a feather flock together.” And I must add that it’s natural for you to love other believers fervently, even more than your earthly relations, since it’s a spiritual love that comes from God. Rom. 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Such fervent love will be harder and harder to find in these last days, where iniquity abounds and the love of many, including believers, waxes cold. But don’t let it be you!

        Look at Paul’s prayer regarding  this in 1 Thes. 3:12, “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in your love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.” Why is this so important? Look at v. 13. If your love for the brethren is not growing, it shows that you have heart issues that aren’t holy which will be settled at the judgment seat of Christ if not down here. So you may not lose your salvation for not fervently loving the brethren in this age, but you’ll certainly lose rewards if you don’t apply yourself to it. 

        You say, “The brethren aren’t very lovable, Bro. David.” Two things: (1) if you mean likeable, that’s often true, but you choose to love them, i.e. seek the best for them, whether you like them or not; there are many Christians that I don’t like, and probably never will, despite Will Rogers, but I love them and hope that my love for them grows over time; (2) it’s not them you really love anyway, but the one in them, and the one that they’re in; look at Phile. 6—what will really make your love for other saints effectual is remembering who is in them, Christ. I know that their flesh can obscure that, sometimes overwhelmingly, but if they belong to Christ, you should love them for that reason. That doesn’t mean you’re intimate with them or, in some cases, even fellowship with them, but it does mean that you acknowledge their identity in Christ and seek their welfare as much as possible.

6.       Holiness (2 Pt. 3:10-12)

As we saw earlier, the fervent thing here is the heat that burns up the heavens and the earth, just before the white throne judgment.  2 Pt. 3 is a great passage to show that the day of the Lord is 1000 years long, since this burning is said to be a part of the day of the Lord. Now since the heavens and earth don’t burn up at the second coming, the obvious conclusion is that this event follows the millennial reign of Christ and matches Rev. 20:9, where Christ burns up Satan and the rebellious host of nations after Satan is loosed from the bottomless pit. 

        Now this fervency is important, but it’s not the only fervency in the passage.  Do you see another type of fervency? How about in v. 11? What’s the proper response to the knowledge of the fervency up ahead? Fervency in your Christian life right now! Doctrine: dissolution of all things by fire in the future; practice: burn out for God in the present. After Henry Martyn read David Brainerd’s journal, he said, “Now to burn out for God,” and off to the mission field he went.  This passage agrees perfectly with Paul’s exhortation in 2 Cor. 4:17-18 (read). In other words, be fervent about eternal things since everything temporal will burn up.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I’d like to point out three things about fervency: (1) This isn’t an exhaustive list of things that believers should be fervent about, but we should pay close attention to the things connected with fervency in scripture. (2) Nine references total; since nine is connected with fruitfulness in scripture, could be hint that fervency is connected with fruitfulness.  Most fruitful believers I know are fervent to some degree, but there’s always room for growth in this grace. Seven of these references are connected with personal fervency; may be another clue, since seven is the number of perfection.  Personally, I don’t see how a saint could reach spiritual maturity without being “fervent in spirit.”  If you’re not fired up about Bible study, prayer, and communion with God in general, it’s not likely that you’ll be spiritually mature. It’s going to take fervency to keep you in the book, on your knees, and in tune with God. (3) Fervency is not just for the young. You can and should be fervent when you’re older. A great passage on this, which I include in a lot of my correspondence with older saints, is Ps. 92:12-15; and a great example of this used to grace this church, Bro. Melvin Pratt. That man had tracts in his pocket till his last days. Praise the Lord! Fervent in spirit; on fire for souls. How about you? Are you fired up about anything spiritually? God wants you to be; if you’re not talk to him about it. Yield yourself to the fire that’s already in you, and watch him do wonderful things in your life and the lives of others.  

How Can We Be More Than Conquerors?

Text: Rom. 8:37

This week I was delighted to get insight on this from two brothers from very different persuasions: John Piper (desiringgod.org) and Richard Jordan (graceimpact.org).  

 

In Piper's booklet, Risk Is Right (an excerpt from a larger work), he cites Rom. 8:35-39 as an example of Paul's triumphant spirit in the face of high risks throughout his ministry, of so many types (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23-33). To paraphrase Piper, he said that to conquer something is to defeat it, i.e. to stop it from doing you further harm, but to more than conquer it is to make the thing defeated your servant. What a great thought! What blessed me even more was to hear Bro. Jordan say the same thing on CD #2 of his series, "The Believer's Warfare," which is a fine exposition of Eph. 6:10-20. This may be, practically, a good example of every word being established "in the mouth of two or three witnesses." We're not only able to defeat the things mentioned in vv. 35-39, but God can make them serve us, i.e. bring us to greater maturity in Christ and bless others through us (Rom. 8:28!).  

Making the Best Use of Your Youth

Texts: 2 Chron. 21; 34-35

We live in a day when people ask, “Is the Bible relevant to modern life? To my life?” When you pick up the Bible, the life it describes seems, at first glance, so different from life today. No electrical power or even steam power can be found in scripture. These things weren’t known to men from Adam to the 1800’s, over 5800 years! Until then, men relied on horses, wagons, and sailboats for transport, so life was little different in, say, 1850 as it was in 2000 B.C. My point is that the Bible was written for all men in all ages, and despite the technology that we have today, we have the same moral problems that the ancients have, just with different technology at our disposal. Don’t let the devil trick you into thinking that the Bible is outdated. It is certainly the most relevant, up-to-date book that you own. 

Now you may be thinking, “But the Bible is for old people. I’m young and just getting started in life. It may be relevant for today, but I can always read it later.” Another mistake: if the Bible is the most relevant, up-to-date book you own, wouldn’t it make sense to get familiar with it as early in life as possible? Two of the wisest men who ever lived, next to Jesus Christ, said these things:

• Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not… (Eccl. 12:1) 

• So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom (Ps. 90:12).

Furthermore, how do you know that you will live long? Many people die before they even reach adulthood. One of my four sisters, who was born 11 years before me, died of leukemia before she was a year old. So youth is definitely NOT the time to put off seeking the Lord, but rather to seek him with your whole heart and lay a good foundation for the rest of your life, however much God may give you.

There’s a principle in the Bible and life that what you sow, you will reap (Job 4:8; Gal. 6:7). You reap the consequences of your decisions, because you are accountable to God for your actions.  Now seeds, for the most part, take a good while to sprout and produce fruit. The seeds that you sow in youth will bear fruit later in life, so it only makes sense to be sowing good seed now while you can. 

I’d like to look at the lives of two young men in the old testament with you this morning. The OT was written for our learning today, according to the apostle Paul (Rom. 15:4). Both of these men were kings of the same country, Judah, and both were direct descendants of King David. Both of them died at 40 or less, one in honour, the other in disgrace. Let’s compare how they spent their youth and the fruits of that later in life. For one it’s more obvious how he spent his youth, and the fruit is more predictable; for the other, there’s less detail about his youth, but the fruit in his later years speaks loudly of what was in his heart while he was young. The two men’s names: Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat; and Josiah, his descendant ten generations later.

1.      Jehoram (Joram), son of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 21)

In my opinion, this chapter, which covers Jehoram’s entire life, could be called, “The Diary of a Wasted Life.” It’s tragic from start to finish. Jehoram has a lot going for him at first, but he makes some bad decisions once he becomes king at age 32, and even though God graciously intervenes and tries to correct him, he refuses to be corrected and meets a tragic end at age 40. Victor Hugo, the French author who wrote Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, said that “Forty is the old age of youth, and fifty is the youth of old age,” so Jehoram was still young when he died. But let’s look at his youth and see what advantages he had, critical choices that he made, how God dealt with him, and the outcome of his life. We’ll do the same for his distant descendant, Josiah, in a little while.

Advantages

• He was born into the God-fearing tribes of Israel (Judah and Benjamin). When the kingdom was divided after Solomon’s death, ten tribes followed his servant Jeroboam, but two stuck with Solomon’s foolish son, Rehoboam: Judah and Benjamin. Jeroboam was born into the tribe of Judah, the largest and most powerful of all the twelve tribes.
• Both his father, Jehoshaphat, and grandfather, Asa, were righteous kings, some of the best that even Judah produced. Every one of Jehoshaphat’s seven sons had God’s name in their name; that’s the sort of heritage Jehoram had.
• His father provided well for his sons, including wealth and military strength, but wisely split them up and gave them each his own land to avoid contention. Since Jehoram was his heir, this was a favour to his him, so there wouldn’t be fighting over who would become king.
• Finally, one of the greatest of Israel’s prophets was alive during Jehoram’s reign and could have been his counselor, even after his righteous father was gone.
• So Jehoram has a lot going for him as a young man, but when you examine his actions as king, you see that very bad seed was sown in his youth that bore rotten fruit in the eight years he was king and brought an end to his life while still young.

Critical Choices

• He did not follow his father. It’s one thing to choose not to follow a sinful, wicked father, but another to choose not to follow a saintly one like Jehoshaphat. When Judah was attacked by a huge army of her enemies in 2 Chron. 20, Jehoshaphat humbles himself and cries out to God, and the Lord miraculously delivers Judah. So his father was a humble, prayerful man who feared God and regarded his word. Jehoram was none of these things, but goes directly opposite to his father’s ways, as we’ll see.
• He was ungrateful. Instead of being grateful for this father’s wise preparations and provisions for him, he wickedly murders his brothers and eliminates them as “competitors,” claiming everything for himself.
• He married outside the faith. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 6:14 that we should not be “unequally yoked together with unbelievers,” and one application of that is that a believer should only marry another believer. Jehoram marries someone outside the faith who’s an evil influence on him. And that’s what you can expect from an unsaved partner, young people. They don’t know God and will pull you away from God: it’s their nature to do so. They don’t have the Spirit of God in them drawing to the Lord like you do, so that’s what you can expect from them: bad influence.

How God Dealt with Him

• God allows neighboring kingdoms to revolt against him. I believe that this was God’s first attempt to get his attention. It didn’t work. He fights with the Edomites and apparently beats them, but not into submission, and the Libnites also revolt.  God’s hand in this is confirmed at the end of v. 10, “…because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.” 
• Instead of repenting over these revolts, he practices idolatry and forces his subjects to do the same (v. 11). So he’s on a really bad track, but God continues to be gracious to him, for his forefather David’s sake, I believe (v. 7).
• Next God sends him a warning from Elijah the prophet, basically pronouncing his doom (vv. 12-15). But there’s not a word about him being bothered by that at all. He stubbornly keeps doing things “his way,” and the Lord tries to get his attention one more time.
• This time, instead of a revolt, the Lord allows his enemies to invade Judah and carry off everything dear to him except for his youngest son, whom God preserves to be king after him. Does he turn to God now? No; sadly no.

Outcomes

• God is a merciful God, but eventually his mercy runs out for a sinner if that sinner will not repent. Paul tells us in Rom. 2:4-5 that if we will not respond to God’s “goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering” by repenting and receiving Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we’ll end up getting God’s wrath forever. Jehoram refuses to respond to God’s best, most merciful efforts to correct him, and he ends of dying a horrible death. 
• His reign as king was so dishonourable that his own people will not bury him with the kings, though they graciously bury him in the royal part of Jerusalem, since he was a descendant of David. Sort of like saying he wasn’t fit to be a king nor acted like one, even a second-class one.
• Perhaps the saddest thing about this young man’s life, besides his horrible conduct and dishonourable death, was that he “departed without being desired.” In other words, nobody was sad that he was gone and desired him to still be alive. That’s why we cry at funerals: we don’t want to see that friend or loved one go. But when Jehoram died, at the young age of 40, no one was sorry about it. That to me is just horrible.  His life didn’t make a positive impression on anyone. So you see why I call it, “The Diary of a Wasted Life”: he helped no one but himself, and so helped no one, including himself. 

2.      Josiah, son of Amon (2 Chron. 34-35)

Advantages

• Compared with Jehoram, Josiah had very few advantages. That’s one of those ironies of life that magnifies the grace of God, that often those with the most advantages turn out worse than those without them. It all comes down to what’s in your heart, no matter what your background is.
• Josiah was born into the tribe of Judah, but that tribe was at its lowest point, spiritually, ever. Both Josiah’s father and grandfather were evil men, his grandfather so wicked (until the end of his life) that God decided to banish Judah unconditionally. Instead of providing for his son, Amon leaves him an apostate, dying nation on the brink of collapse.
• As in the days of Jehoram, there is a prophet in the land, the great Jeremiah, and the prophetess Huldah, both of which give Josiah good counsel; unlike Jehoram, who never consults with Elijah, as far as we know.

Critical Choices

• He sought God while he was young. He took the throne when he was eight, and when he was sixteen, he began “to seek after the God of David his father” (2 Chron. 34:3). Someone must have told him about how God blessed David for his obedience, and I think that Josiah compared that with the outcome of his father and grandfather’s disobedience, and took it to heart. So, in a way, he did follow his father (David), unlike Jeroboam.
• He separated himself and his people from evil. Just the opposite of Jehoram, who attached himself to an unbeliever. Josiah not only destroys all of the idols, but he goes to the root of the problem and kills all of the pagan priests. He knew it wouldn’t be enough just to get rid of the idols; he had to get rid of the priests too.
• He humbles himself at God’s word. In the process of repairing the temple, the scriptures are found and read to him, warning of judgment to come. Instead of despairing or rebelling, like Jehoram did, he humbles himself, tears his clothes, and weeps in sorrow. The Bible says that “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5b), and God graciously postpones his wrath on Judah until after Josiah’s death.
• He leads his people into fellowship with God. He gathers the people to make a covenant with God to be his people and he restores proper worship in the temple to keep the people in communion with God. Probably the two greatest things you can do for someone in this life are leading them to become a child of God by receiving Christ, then showing them how to have daily, personal fellowship with God. It’s good to separate from evil, like Josiah did earlier, but we separate from evil so that he can separate ourselves to God, not so that we can look righteous. That was the Pharisees’ problem: they thought that by not doing certain things, they were righteous. Christ told them, however, that God was looking for more than that: he wanted a relationship with them, not just for them to avoid certain sins.

Outcomes

• God is very merciful to this young man. He puts off his wrath for 31 years and allows Josiah to turn his people back to God. In some ways, the Jews were more obedient to God during Josiah’s reign than ever before.
• He’s honoured in death and mourned by everyone (35:24b-25). He is buried with the kings, unlike Jehoram, “[a]nd all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.” Even Jeremiah mourns for him deeply (“lamented”). 
• He leaves a positive legacy for all generations.  The mourning for him continues long after his death (the Chronicles are written decades after he’s gone), his memory is so precious.  All of his reformations may have seemed hopeless, but our labours for God are never in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).  His people love him long after he’s gone, and most importantly, God honours him forever.  Let’s close with 2 Kings 23:25, one of my favourite verses in the Bible.  This is what God has to say about him to all generations, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.” Wow, what a legacy! No one before him (David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat) or after him (Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah) obeyed God as thoroughly as he did.  And you better believe God noticed that, if no one else did.  Let it be a comfort to you that if no one notices the good that you’re doing, God does, and he will reward you, in this life and, more importantly, in the next. 

Conclusion

• How will you use your youth? All of us have some advantages; will be thankful for them and honour God with them? And all of us have and will make critical choices. There’s no way to avoid that. You will choose, and some choices in life are critical because they affect the rest of your life. Like how you treat your parents, your attitude toward God’s word, and how you deal with the world. 
• But the most critical choice you make in life is one that you can and should make while you’re still young, and that is receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Paul said that Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). If you were the only person who ever lived and sinned, he would’ve come and died for you. It’s not enough to believe that Jesus is the Saviour. It’s time to receive him as your Saviour, and I hope that, if you’ve never done that before, you’ll do it today, and spend your youth and the rest of your life fellowshipping with him, serving him, and leaving a legacy of good works that you’ll be rewarded for for ever. 

Are YOU Reasonable?

Text: Acts 24:1-27

In this passage we see Paul testifying before Felix, governor of Judaea, on two occasions, one publically with his Jewish enemies present, and one privately before Felix and his wife, the Jewess Drusilla.  Although Felix doesn’t oppose Paul like the Jews do, he puts off responding to his message both times.  There are plenty of people in this world who, though they may not actively oppose the gospel, won’t respond to it either, and in God’s eyes that’s the same as rejection.  Anything short of a wholehearted reception of Jesus Christ is not salvation. 

Notice how Paul’s defense includes preaching, and when Paul starts talking about the resurrection and judgment, Felix interrupts him and puts off a decision.  According to v. 22 he already had light, and was getting more, but he cuts it off here, and after hearing Paul again, this time with his wife, the Jewess Drusilla.  Felix will not be cornered…in this life, that is; but he will be in the next, to his eternal loss.

Notice the themes of his preaching are the same: righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. (1) righteousness: v.15, “the just and the unjust” (what makes them that way: what they do with Christ); v. 16, “a conscience void of offence”; (2) temperance: not causing a riot (vv. 12, 18; cf. 1 Pt. 4:3-4…excess of riot); and (3) judgment to come: vv. 15, 21. He couldn’t preach on these things to Felix if he wasn’t living them, and I think that the preliminary hearing prepared the way for the final one.

Paul reasons with Felix, as he does with everyone.  Faith is not the same as reason (Acts 28:29—carnal reasoning can keep you from Christ), but our faith is a reasonable faith: (1) 2 Thes. 3:1-2—aimed at men in general; it’s reasonable to trust Christ (sound judgment); (2) Rom. 12:1—aimed at believers; it’s reasonable to love and serve Christ.

In this message I want to primarily reason with believers about the things Paul reasoned with Felix about, because all three are pertinent to you, even though you’re saved. I’ll also touch on the applications that these things have for those of you who may not be believers and why they are so important.

Paul tells us to follow him, as he followed Christ (1 Cor. 11:1); and if we see him reasoning with men about these things, we should too; if we’re not, we’re not doing our job. Paul said in 1 Tim. 4:6 that a good minister “put[s] the brethren in remembrance of [some] things,” and I think that these three things should be at the top of the list.
One other thought before we look at the three things separately. If Paul was preaching the gospel to Felix, which I believe he was, then gospel preaching needs to deal with these matters. The gospel by definition is a matter of righteousness, or our legal standing before God.  Our lives as saints should be characterized by temperance and not excess, out of gratitude for our salvation and in expectation of judgment to come.  So to truly preach the gospel is to touch on all three of these things, not just one or two of them.

Righteousness

Felix, as a Gentile, may not have had the written law like the Jews did, but he certainly had it written in his heart (Rom. 2:14-16), and that heart trembles under the powerful preaching of Paul.  Notice Paul’s appeal to conscience (v. 16) and justice in v. 15.  Felix knows about righteousness naturally, and Paul reminds him that God requires it of him and no doubt tells him how to get it through Christ (vv. 24-25), but for some hidden reason he balks at it. If you remember Paul’s sermon on Mars’ hill, you remember that not all of the idle Athenians responded to Paul’s message the same (Acts 17:32-34): “some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter” (v. 32).  But what Paul said was enough for them to believe, since, per v. 34, “certain men clave unto him, and believed,” praise the Lord.  I think that the same was true of Felix.  There was no need for him to put off a decision.  He had plenty of light, naturally, from his Jewess wife, and from the apostle to the Gentiles.
     I think that v. 26 may shed light on at least part of his problem: greed.  Notice the ugly word at the beginning of the verse: “money.”  He “hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul…”  Covetousness: an inordinate, idolatrous desire for material things.  Busted, Felix!  You’re intemperate, just like the preacher and the Holy Ghost told you.  He loved money more than the truth, just like Pilate and the Pharisees loved their “place” more than Christ.  You see, if you truly love Christ, you give up your place to him, and very few men want to do that.  But they’re only fooling themselves—God may let you keep your place for a season, but you won’t keep it forever.  It’ your soul that lasts forever, and the only way to secure eternal salvation is by receiving God’s righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, as your Saviour.  Since the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, God will not accept your personal righteousness like he did under the old testament (Luke 1:6, e.g.).  Paul makes it very clear in Romans that God credits his righteousness to you as a gift when you trust Christ.

        Now for the believer who’s received this righteousness, God expects you to work it out by living righteously (Tit. 2:12).  Doesn’t it make sense for those who’ve been declared righteous to live righteously?  That’s what we’re talking about: our reasonable service.  Are you reasonable?  Are you trying to live righteously in every way?  Not to earn or keep your salvation, but because it’s the only life fitting for those whom God has “made” his righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).  

Temperance

Now let’s move on to something related to righteousness: temperance.  What is temperance?  Not getting drunk.  That became the popular notion in the late 1800’s with the formation of temperance unions.  But long before that association, then sense of temperance was avoiding excess in anything.  Temperance is much like balance or avoiding extremes, since the root of “excess” is “exceed” or going too far.

·             So why was Paul talking about this to heathen man?  Did God expect the heathen to be temperate?  In time, I came to see that he did: (1) According to Rom. 2:14-15, God gave all men a conscience that told them to live temperately; (2) 1 Pt. 4:3-5 supports this, since the context is the Gentiles; note: excess of wine (v. 3) and of riot (v. 5). Note the fearful outcome of this excessive living: judgment.  God takes judgment on the excessive, in this life and in the next.  Remember the party animal in Prov. 7 who went whoremongering? Solomon said that “a dart” would “strike through his liver (v. 23).  What’ll mess up your liver, folks?  Drunkenness, right. I had a childhood friend in Ohio whose mom was a lush and died of cirrhosis.  Intemperance can kill you, folks.  Run from it!  Learn to keep your body under subjection—it’s your duty to God.  If the folks at Gold’s Gym can do it, why can’t you? Don’t tell me you don’t have time to exercise if you have any kind of electronic device. I see how much time people spend with those things, and that time could be given to exercise. One of the great benefits of exercise is that it fosters temperance.  I’ve noticed that over the years, especially with weight training or hard physical labor.

·              So if God judges excess, it must be sin; and the sin nature in man produces excess (Mt. 23:25).  It's an issue for both lost and saved; (1) 1 Cor. 9:22-27; will affect your testimony and hence your eternal rewards; (2) Gal. 5:22-23; if you are truly yielding to the Spirit, temperance will be manifest in your life; if it’s not, I’m sorry...you may be a nice person, but there’s some area(s) where you’re not yielding to God inwardly which in turn shows up outwardly; (3) Eph. 5:18; what stands opposed to excess? the Spirit! which, in your opinion, is stronger?  find out by continually yielding to one or the other; (4) Phil. 4:5; it’s something that all men can see, so it’s more than spiritual; it’s physical also; note how moderation is sandwiched between something you should continually do (rejoice in the Lord) and something you should never do (worry); so moderation is living a balanced life; why?  Because the Lord is at hand (judgment to come); (5) Tit. 1:8; leaders have a big responsibility to be temperate: if you’re not, why should they be? Gwen Shamblin, the former dietician who started a church in Nashville, may be a poor example for women in some ways, but one way she’s an example to everyone is her physical temperance.  It’s my understanding that the members of her church have lost literally thousands of pounds by following her example; I’ve heard the testimonies—some of these people literally got their lives back by learning temperance.  Why go home to heaven early over a mess of pottage, when all you needed to do was exercise regularly, either at the gym or at home, and eat sensibly?  You say, I can’t stop eating.  OK, then don’t stop exercising.  The food has to be worked off, folks, or it will kill you.  Temperance, temperance, but not just physical…

·         Saints need to avoid physical excess, but perhaps more importantly, spiritual excesses: (1)  Phil. 4:6; Be careful for nothing…; (2) Heb. 13:9; “Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines.  For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein” (excess). In doctrinal matters, you must strive for balance; there are plenty of extreme views out there to ensnare you, if you’re not careful.  That’s another reason why it’s a crime not to study the Bible.  How do you know that you’re not deceived about many things right now?  Folks, the only way to prevent that is to stay in the book and allow the Lord to gradually show you more and more, including your errors of ignorance and error.

Judgment to come

·    For Felix, and all of those not saved, it was the day of God’s wrath, revealed in Daniel 7 and Revelation 20 as the great white throne judgment or, as Paul says in 24:15, a resurrection of the…unjust.  Here you have two resurrections and two judgments. The “just” are judged at the judgment seat of Christ (Rom. 1:17), which had been revealed to Paul by now, since he had already written Romans, 1-2 Cor., Gal., and 1-2 Thes., all of which mention the judgment seat in some context or at least eternal rewards.

·           Of all the subjects in the Bible, the subject of future judgment, specifically hell, has to be the most hateful to people, even some professing believers. You see, even a believer’s flesh recoils at hell, but it doesn’t change the fact of it. You can air-condition it and call it Hades and “separation from God” all you want, but it’s still burning, it’s still hot, and it’s still forever. I’ve read some of C.S. Lewis’ books, and one gripe I have with him is his toned-down concept of hell. In one of his books, The Great Divorce, some lost souls are allowed to escape from hell on a magic bus that transports them to the outskirts of heaven. It’s an absolutely chilling account of how all of the escapees are invited by various redeemed to heaven, but each of them, for various sinful reasons, reject the invitation and return to hell. It’s biblical that hell doesn’t change people (like the rich man who neglected Lazarus), but Lewis doesn’t present hell as a raging inferno, but as a dark and lonely place where people live with their miserable, selfish selves forever.  So he got two out of three right, but that’s not enough. 

·         We, like Paul, need to faithfully warn the lost about hell and admonish each other that we too will be judged hereafter, not regarding our salvation, but as to the quality of our works following it.

·             God revealed to the apostle Paul that there will be a special judgment for the body of Christ after the rapture, the judgment seat of Christ.  Paul mentions it by name in Rom. 14:10 and 2 Cor. 5:10, and there are contextual references to it in nearly all of his epistles.  So it’s a very important topic that believers need to be familiar with and preparing for. One of the best ways I know is found right in the passage: temperate living.  Striving for a balanced Christian life.  Many times when we go to extremes, there are heart issues involved.  Sometimes it’s ignorance, but if we continue in close fellowship with God, we’ll find him leading us away from extremes toward balance in all areas of life, even doctrine (Tit. 2:7). 

In conclusion, are you reasonable?  Don’t receiving God’s righteousness, living temperately, and preparing for future judgment make sense?  If not, why not ask God to help you see things the way he does.  His thoughts are not our thoughts, but he is willing to share them with us, if we’re interested.  The more I’ve studied the Bible and learned of the Lord, the more perfectly reasonable I’ve found him to be.  I hope that you can say the same, or that one day you will.  “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD…” (Is. 1:18)

"But I say unto you..."?

The Lord Jesus uses this phrase numerous times in the Sermon on the Mount.  To me it's indicative that he is laying the groundwork for a new dispensation, moving from that of the law (hence the numerous references to Moses), to that of the kingdom, which is referred to numerous times in the passage as well. Some have referred to the Sermon on the Mount as the constitution of the coming kingdom, and I agree with that.

Micah 6:8...in Action!

Joseph, husband of Mary, was a good example of what God expected a saint under the law to be (Mic. 6:8--to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God). Note in Mt. 1:19 that God calls Joseph a just man, but also note Joseph's mercy toward Mary in not making her a "publick example"! As for his humility, just read vv. 20-25 and see how he obeys the Lord in marrying a woman who appears to have conceived unlawfully, meekly embracing the stigma (John 8:41). A truly great man, though not a single word of his is recorded in scripture.