Righteousness

Whatever righteousness is, it comes highly recommended.

Mt 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

First point we must all realise, is that the ‘righteousness’, referred to above is Christ’s own righteousness. Not our own, not someone else’s, not the church’s. Isaiah said our own righteousness is worthless, so what we must answer is the question “what is Christ’s righteousness?” For it is that righteousness that we must hunger and thirst for, it is that righteousness we must seek for on equal priority to His kingdom.

We all, as professing Christians, have accepted Christ’s kingdom. We have all acknowledged His propitiation and atoning death. But His righteousness? What is that? And how do we get it?

Worship

I see worship not so much as something we do, although that plays a part, but rather as something we are. Not a state of doing, but a state of being, and it is what we are that motivates what we do.
There are secular people in the world who wouldn’t dream of breaking God’s commandments. While they might not keep them all, there are certainly some who would find utterly repugnant that they should cheat on their wife or husband, nor even consider looking upon any other to lust after them.
There are others who are meticulous in honesty, they would never lie , cheat on their taxes, nor steal form anyone.
There are others who are so content with their lives that covetousness may as well be a foreign language.
And there are still others who may do all of the above and also dote on their parents and love and care for them right up to the grave.
Yet none of this could be construed as worship. Obedience yes, but our righteousness is as filthy rags.

Close, very, very close.

Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled:for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
There is a great escalation in verse 7 from the previous verse where war was simply rumour and hearsay. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the world was full of confidence and great expectation of a coming millennium of peace and safety brought about by very recent remarkable advances in scientific knowledge in industry and medicine. Christianity was held dear by the vast majority of those living in the world, before communism took over in Russia, before the Chinese shut out the missionaries from the west, before Japan turned away the church from their doors.

The Curse of the Law and the Gospel.

In Galatians 3:24 we are told that the law is a schoolmaster bringing us to Christ. Both the moral law of ten commandments and the ceremonial law do this. The ceremonial law revealed to Israel the provision made by God for their redemption, and the means by which Israel might avail themselves of that provision.
The moral law is a transcript of God’s perfect character,revealing how far we have fallen,and is the image of Christ as reflected in Adam and Eve before the fall (Gen. 1:26,27). It is God’s purpose to recreate that image in us (Rom. 8:29), but He had to deal with the effects of sin first.
One, the curse of the law. We are under the curse because of transgression. The curse is the penalty for sin. The scriptures say that Christ became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13); His death took away the penalty and the curse which was upon us because of sin, which is transgression of that law. Christ’s death enables God to impute to us His righteousness. God looks upon us now as if we had never sinned. We are now as acceptable to the Father just as Jesus Himself is. This is ‘at-one-ment’.
Two, this atonement continues by His resurrected life which enables us to receive the power necessary to keep the law in future. This is possible however only as we abide in Him, as the branch to the vine. Separated, we can by no means accomplish anything for Him and we invariably fall, “for without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Eternal life is guaranteed only as we maintain our connection to Christ through faith, for the “just shall live by faith”. The moral law is still holy just and good, (Rom.7:12) it has not been done away with in any particular (Matt. 5:17,18) but rather it has been written upon our hearts and minds (Heb. 8:10): In other words  God’s very own righteousness or character of love is developed in us by His Spirit, (for love is the fulfilling of the law) and we are recreated in Christ’s image as Adam and Eve were before the fall.
It is God’s part to accomplish this (grace) but it is our part to desire it. God will not do anything without our cooperation and agreement,for “they that hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled” (Matt. 5:6). This takes a lifetime of warfare against the old nature, but as we continue to faithfully trust God to accomplish all He has promised, and submit wholly to Him, He will mould us and shape us like the Master Potter with the clay, and our characters may be perfected.

Liberty

“Liberty” and “freedom” have been the rallying cries of millions throughout history.From teenagers rebelling from parental authority, to ethnic tribes rebelling against unjust government, liberty has been the ultimate dream of mankind since Eden. Any insurrection against existing authority can be seen, depending on your perspective, as a bid for freedom. Even Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven can be understood as a bid for freedom from whatever rules and laws that he considered unjust or unfair. So not all rebellions are justified, even though ‘freedom’ may be the rallying cry for supporters. Therefore, not all freedom is necessarily good; I would question if total freedom is even desirable, even possible?

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

What is this liberty wherewith Christ has set us free? And what is it that we are set free from?

Gen 2:15 -17 And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Adam and Eve were created free to choose any of the trees of the garden to eat from, except one. An entire orchard of good trees straight from the creative genius of God Himself, uncorrupted by any disease, pest, or imperfection, every fruit, nut, and berry was perfect in flavor, looks, and nutritional value. Adam and Eve were free to choose, but independence was not an option. Freedom, or liberty, to many means complete independence. It means loosed from what they see as the shackles of society, freed from what they believe to be the bondage of laws and restrictions that govern human behavior. Libertarians believe man is better off devising his own moral and ethical boundaries, finding his own limitations, without having to be obliged to obey ethical restraints placed upon them by society.
What they do not realize however, is that there is no such thing as complete freedom. It simply does not exist, and cannot.

Harmony of the Trinitarian God

Isn’t there such a wonderful harmony in the way God portrays Himself to us, and what He expects of us.
Jesus came to bear witness of the Father.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

God’s glory is the divine light that surrounds Him, but that light’s source is God’s character. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God revealed to Moses His character, and declared to Moses His name. “The Lord God, gracious and merciful, longsuffering, and full of goodness and truth….” (Exodus 34:6) Jesus came to declare that glory to man.

John 12:44 ¶  Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
45  And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me...

...49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50  And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
John 17:6 ¶ I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Jesus came to glorify the Father. He did that by doing the works of the Father. The Father’s character was perfectly expressed through His Son. Jesus came to reveal God’s character to a race that had lost any true idea of what God was like, and Who He was. Lost in a maze of idolatry and pagan superstition, the world by and large placed upon their gods the attributes of men and women, and more importantly, fallen sinful wicked men and women. And the  immoral violent selfish pleasure loving gods were mere reflections of the characters of their creators. And even the Caesars who demanded the worship and fidelity of their subjects were no better. Man had no-one to look up to, no-one  who they could aspire to or emulate that could lift them above the sin-sick rotten culture that permeated the world of the Roman Empire. Until Jesus. Jesus came to correct the deceptions and lies that Satan had beguiled the world with and expose him for the fraud and murderer he was. Jesus came to proclaim that God is love. Jesus came to proclaim that God is not the wrathful vengeful god that the Romans had painted of their myriad false idols, nor was God the immoral profligate hedonist that the Greeks had drawn. The God of the Jews was holy. He was just. But most of all, He was love. Jesus declared that love, He showed that love, and He demonstrated that love everywhere to everyone. Jesus whole delight was to do His Father’s will, to keep His commandments, and to reveal to the world His Father’s true nature. To reveal how God really felt toward man, even in his fallen condition. Jesus demonstrated His own selflessness  and His own love for us and the Father by refusing even to death, to promote Himself in any way, to act in any way that glorified or exalted Himself. His whole mission and life call was to glorify the Father.

The Holy Spirit in turn comes to glorify and testify of Jesus.

John 16:7 ¶  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9  Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10  Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
15  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

As Jesus spoke the words of the Father, the Holy Spirit reminds us of the words of Jesus.

John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father‘s commandments, and abide in his love.

It was by keeping God’s commandments that Jesus glorified the Father. His love for man gave glory to God.

John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

We glorify God also through our character. It is the image of Jesus being shown in us through the fruit of the Spirit that the Father is glorified. It is by our obedience to the commandments of God, by our love for Him and each other, that God is glorified.

So Jesus’ selfless expression of love glorified the Father.
The Holy Spirit’s selfless expression of love continues to glorify the Father, through Jesus.
Our selfless expression of love through the power of the Holy Spirit glorifies all three. There is absolutely no selfishness in God, and His Spirit and power in us transforms us into the same image from glory to glory. (2 Cor. 3:18) This is the essence and foundation of God’s government in the universe. And Jesus died for the sole purpose of restoring selfish and sinful mankind back to the place where he once was. Free from the dominion of sin, free to once again worship selflessly and love as He loved, free to glorify God. In Revelation 14:6 we can read the final message of the gospel to be preached immediately prior to the second coming. “Fear God and give glory to Him…” And in verse 12, we see that the people who preach this message are noted for keeping the commandments. Just like Jesus. They bear His image, the Holy Spirit has so sanctified them, that even their faith is the same faith as Jesus. In a nutshell, that is the purpose of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. To lead us to Jesus that He may give to us freely of His divine nature and become joint-heirs to the kingdom of God as adopted children with equal rights and privileges as the only Son. What grace! What love!!!

Taking up our Cross

Matthew 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

What does Jesus mean by this, that we are to take up our own crosses, and follow Him? What did it mean for Jesus to take up His cross ? What was the motivating power behind Jesus life and death?

Love. What is the essential and intrinsic nature and characteristic of love? The world today is immensely confused over the meaning of love. That half the marriages celebrated today (including within the church) end up in divorce bears testimony to this confusion. The fact that an institution supposedly based on love has a 50% chance of ending up in acrimony, bitterness and estrangement shows clearly that the ‘love’ for a great many of those marrying couples was temporary, conditional, and limited in it’s enduring quality and considering the glittering career today of marriage counselors I would suggest the quality of marriage leaves much to be desired also.

The Sabbath

The Sabbath commandment, the 4th, is most certainly different from all the other commandments. A great divergence of opinion exists regarding the relevance of the fourth commandment, even those who would agree that the Sabbath commandment need not be observed by Christians today, disagree on why.

However, being different, does not make it any less a commandment. Let me explain. In any society, whether they have had contact with missionaries or the western world or perhaps no contact with anyone in the outside world, would over a period of time develop a code of ethics by which to live under. These will eventually develop into laws, and may very well get to a stage where they actually resemble the ten commandments. Except for the Sabbath of the 4th.
There is simply no way any society anywhere could come up with such an idea. For one, it marks the week. The week is a time period which is a unique witness to creation. Every other time period known to man is based on natural cycles of either the moon or the sun or the stars. That is in fact why they were created: that they may be for signs and seasons etc. But the weekly cycle is based on nothing other than the word of God. And yet it has endured. There have been attempts over the centuries to change it; someone one time tried to implement a 10 day week, but failed.
The Sabbath is the same. It is not based upon any moral principle as such, but purely and simply on the word of God.

God, a Consuming Fire.

About 8 years ago in the US were some terrible forest fires, such as has never before been experienced, nor since. Here in NZ we watched for months on the news constant reports of the ever advancing fires that were devastating the forests in, if I remember correctly, over ten states, from Florida to Oregon, and most in between. Firefighters from Australia Canada and here went to assist in the disaster. When they were finally under control, it was nature and not man that brought the fires to an end.
I well remember a reporter asking a forest service officer the cause of such a devastating fire. “Why so bad?”, she asked. The reply was shocking, but immediately understandable. “Because we were too good at putting out previous fires.”
Do you see the significance of that reply? You see, too much rubbish and dry rotted and waste timber had built up on the forest floor and thus there was a huge amount of fuel for the fire to feed off. Couple that with a particularly dry summer and the result was a disaster. Allowing controlled fires to previously burn off that rubbish would have been far less dangerous, lest costly, and more manageable.

Scripture alludes to the child of God as a tree. (See Psalm 1)
I see many trees as a forest, thus the church as a forest. There is rubbish (sin) within each believer and within the church that must be allowed to be burnt off. The Holy Spirit is the agent of fire. We are to be tried as gold in the fire that the impurities may be cleansed. Jesus says “Re 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.

We must not act as firefighters. We must allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to do His work. If we resist the Holy Spirit, if we refuse to allow Him to cleanse us or we deny that there is cleansing to be done, then the rubbish will build up to such an extent that there will be only one fire capable of the cleansing. Sadly, if we are not separated from the sin in our lives now, we will be destroyed along with it later.

Fire is a healthy instrument for the forest and the church.. Freeing the forest/church from the rubbish on the floor allows new trees/Christians to germinate and grow without hindrance.
Dead wood/sin within each tree/Christian burnt off allows freedom to grow and bear fruit.
Stronger trees/Christians make for stronger forests/churches.
There are many other parallels and similarities – the point being that we must consider what we are now undergoing and accept it for what it is. A cleansing sanctifying work being accomplished by a holy sovereign gracious God who is making us fit for His kingdom.

Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Three Spiritual Laws that Govern Life

3 Spiritual laws that govern life.

“For I delight in

Law One: ……….The law of God.

after the inward man”…..(Romans 7:22)

Paul has nothing but love and respect for God’s law. He considers it ‘holy, just and good’. It is Paul’s earnest and deepest desire to honour that law, and to keep all the commandments,

” but I see another law in my members, warring against the law (of God) of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to….” (v23cont.)

Law Two:………..“The law of sin…

“…which is in my members.

Paul delights in obedience, but finds that in the carnal nature resides a law which makes it impossible, the law of sin. Paul confesses his wretchedness and guilt. “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” he cries.

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.” (vs 25)

But if Paul is bound by the law of sin, despite his best intentions to obey the law of God, how then can he overcome? The answer is just 2 verses later. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For…

Law Three:……….the law of the Spirit of life…

in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1,2.

Three laws. The law of God which is holy, just, and good.
The law of sin which binds the carnal man making it impossible to obey the law of God.
The law of the Spirit of life which through the grace and power of God makes it possible for the reborn child of God to obey the law of God, if he relies on and walks after the Spirit and not after the flesh.

The law of sin has no power over them who are completely surrendered to Christ. That is why elsewhere Paul can assert that to those who walk in the Spirit they are transformed by the renewing of their minds, and are recreated into the image of the character of Christ. A character that is obedient and a mind (like Christ’s) which delights in the law of God and rejoices that by faith in the power and grace of God he may be obedient to all the commandments.