John 12:20-23
Some times we get it right. This was the case of Phillip in this passage.
Over the time of walking with Jesus, the disciples made some poor decisions; but then again sometimes they made some really good decisions. In this case, Phillip made a good decision without hastily jumping to conclusions like they were so well known to do at times.
When the Greeks came seeking Jesus they asked, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (verse 21)
"But why, then, does this sympathetic disciple not convey the request of the Greeks to Jesus? Why take Andrew with him, as if afraid to go alone on such an errand? Just because the petitioners are Greeks and Gentiles. It is one thing to introduce a devout Jew like Nathanael to Jesus, quite another to introduce Gentiles, however devout. Phillip is pleased that his Master should be inquired after in such a quarter, but he is not sure about the propriety of acting on his first impulse. He hesitates, and is in a flurry of excitement in presence of what he feels to be a new thing, a significant event, the beginning of a religious revolution... but he distrusts his own judgment, and, before acting on it, lays the case before his brother-disciple and fellow-townsman Andrew, to see how it will strike him." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 320.
Sometimes we make impulsive decisions in life. You see, the Jews did not care for or even like the Gentiles. A Gentile was considered of a lower form of life to them. But should he bring this outsider into the presence of Jesus?
But within the heart of Jesus there was no existence of this bias or prejudice they experienced. As Jesus was now within three days of His crucifixion, he had been around several of His own countrymen who rejected His message and would not accept the Gospel! So when the disciples brought the Greeks to Jesus what a refreshing joy it must have brought to Jesus! "What a sight more moving than that of a human being seeking after God, the fountain of light and of life!" Bruce, pg. 321.
This must have encouraged the soul of Jesus after His own people rejected Him time and time again. He must have felt ineffective when His own people rejected His plan to eternal life. Now total strangers came asking to hear His gospel! What a joy to His soul!
"He would have all men believe in Him and be saved. He complained with deep melancholy of the fewness of believers among the Jews; He turned with unspeakable longing to the Gentiles, in hope of a better reception from them. The greater number of believers at any time and in any place, the better He is pleased; and He certainly does not contemplate with indifference the vast amount of unbelief which still prevails in quarters of the world." Bruce, pg. 323.
By the act of the disciples who were not sure about what to do with people who weren't the plan for salvation, Jesus' heart was encouraged. His time to be delivered up to the cross was within three days and He knew it. How it must have been so encouraging to know that if your own people don't want to hear; total strangers do. This must have given Him a boost in his spirit (the human side of Jesus) knowing that all He had shared was not for naught. He was about to die for this humanity who didn't seem to care and towards the end some still came!
Listen to these last few words Bruce shares in the final part of his chapter concerning our salvation: "The principle laid down is this, that in proportion as a man is a partaker of Christ's suffering in His estate of humiliation shall he be a partaker of the glory, honor, and power which belong to His estate of exaltation. This principle holds true even in this life. The bearing of the cross, the undergoing of death, is the condition of fruit bearing both in the sense of personal sanctification and in the sense of effective service in the kingdom of God. In the long-run the measure of a man's power is the extent to which he is baptized into Christ's death." Bruce, pg. 324.
How much power do you have today?
Friday, October 30, 2015
Thursday, October 15, 2015
A Dry Bed or a Overflowing River?
Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8
We return today to the story of the woman with the alabaster box and consider one more thing about her gift. Is she a model Christian? If so, what are some of the marks of a "Model Christian?"
"First among these is her enthusiastic attachment to the person of Christ. The most prominent feature in Mary's character was her power of loving, her capacity of self-devotion. It was this virtue, as manifested in her action, that elicited the admiration of Jesus." A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, pg. 307.
What is makes Islam so powerful a draw to people? It is the complete abandonment of self to its tenants. Islam requires one to become fully devoted and requires abandonment from anything that would place itself before this belief. People are not allowed to make decisions as to how they feel and go in that direction, but somehow each of us need someone to give us direction. That's what Islam does. It requires full obedience. So what is the difference between this faith and Christianity? Islam requires complete robotic compliance; Christianity's love for God is the source of the drive, not forced obedience. God wants each person to come out a love relationship with Him, rather than forced obedience. That's the only way the motive can be pure. Mary knew that her love for Christ required her to do something to show her gratitude for what Jesus had done for she and her family. She showed her love as if she knew He were going to die (which she didn't at the time), while the disciples heard Jesus mention His death several times; to include Him telling them where He would die!
"A second admirable feature in Mary's character was the freedom of her spirit. She was not tied down to methods and rules of well-doing. The disciples, judging from their language, seem to have been great methodists, servile in their adherence to certain stereotyped modes of action. 'This ointment,' said they, 'might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.' They understand that charity to the poor is a very important duty: they know that their Master often referred to it; and they make it everything. 'Charity,' in the sense of almsgiving, is their hobby." Bruce, pg. 310.
In the church today, it is really easy to get caught up in the mechanics of church life. We go about each week in the service of our Lord in the same methodology as we have in the past. Mary didn't feel this way about her love for Jesus. She needed no one to tell her how to act; her heart guided her actions. She wasn't about to go on serving Jesus like everyone else. Her heart demanded so much more and she she wasn't about to let it be constrained by the average mechanics and methodology of everyone else within the norms of the church. She worshipped the Lord with all her heart now, not later!
Consider this beautiful passage from Bruce: "...when the love God is shed abroad in the hearts of her members, the church become like the same river in time of rain. The stream begins to rise, all the gravel beds begin to disappear, and at length the swollen flood not only fills its channel, but overflows its banks, and spreads over the meadows. New methods of well-doing reached; new songs are indited and sung; new forms of expression for old truths are invented, not for the sake of novelty, but in the creative might of a new spiritual life." Bruce, pg. 311.
What he is trying to say is that when the church begins to love God the way it was intended, it begins to overflow with new excitement and exuberance for Him. New ideas are all always present in how the church can reach the world for Jesus Christ. It is always thinking of how to express it love for the One who has given so much for us. Then we will begin to think, "whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, think of these things."
Its not forced obedience (like Islam). It (the church) is excited about showing all it's love for God and has a fresh sense of purpose, desire, and drive. Nothing can withhold its desire to reach all it can for those who don't know the Lord. It is not interested in being useful, but shoots for something far beyond this reasonable service!
So today in your life today, is your church a river bed which is dried up and needs some fresh rain to fill its parched earth? Or is your church a overflowing river with its banks swollen with its love for Christ so that its edges are overflowing into the pastures nearby, which so desperately need the river of overflowing and ever providing "Life Giving Force?"
We return today to the story of the woman with the alabaster box and consider one more thing about her gift. Is she a model Christian? If so, what are some of the marks of a "Model Christian?"
"First among these is her enthusiastic attachment to the person of Christ. The most prominent feature in Mary's character was her power of loving, her capacity of self-devotion. It was this virtue, as manifested in her action, that elicited the admiration of Jesus." A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, pg. 307.
What is makes Islam so powerful a draw to people? It is the complete abandonment of self to its tenants. Islam requires one to become fully devoted and requires abandonment from anything that would place itself before this belief. People are not allowed to make decisions as to how they feel and go in that direction, but somehow each of us need someone to give us direction. That's what Islam does. It requires full obedience. So what is the difference between this faith and Christianity? Islam requires complete robotic compliance; Christianity's love for God is the source of the drive, not forced obedience. God wants each person to come out a love relationship with Him, rather than forced obedience. That's the only way the motive can be pure. Mary knew that her love for Christ required her to do something to show her gratitude for what Jesus had done for she and her family. She showed her love as if she knew He were going to die (which she didn't at the time), while the disciples heard Jesus mention His death several times; to include Him telling them where He would die!
"A second admirable feature in Mary's character was the freedom of her spirit. She was not tied down to methods and rules of well-doing. The disciples, judging from their language, seem to have been great methodists, servile in their adherence to certain stereotyped modes of action. 'This ointment,' said they, 'might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.' They understand that charity to the poor is a very important duty: they know that their Master often referred to it; and they make it everything. 'Charity,' in the sense of almsgiving, is their hobby." Bruce, pg. 310.
In the church today, it is really easy to get caught up in the mechanics of church life. We go about each week in the service of our Lord in the same methodology as we have in the past. Mary didn't feel this way about her love for Jesus. She needed no one to tell her how to act; her heart guided her actions. She wasn't about to go on serving Jesus like everyone else. Her heart demanded so much more and she she wasn't about to let it be constrained by the average mechanics and methodology of everyone else within the norms of the church. She worshipped the Lord with all her heart now, not later!
Consider this beautiful passage from Bruce: "...when the love God is shed abroad in the hearts of her members, the church become like the same river in time of rain. The stream begins to rise, all the gravel beds begin to disappear, and at length the swollen flood not only fills its channel, but overflows its banks, and spreads over the meadows. New methods of well-doing reached; new songs are indited and sung; new forms of expression for old truths are invented, not for the sake of novelty, but in the creative might of a new spiritual life." Bruce, pg. 311.
What he is trying to say is that when the church begins to love God the way it was intended, it begins to overflow with new excitement and exuberance for Him. New ideas are all always present in how the church can reach the world for Jesus Christ. It is always thinking of how to express it love for the One who has given so much for us. Then we will begin to think, "whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, think of these things."
Its not forced obedience (like Islam). It (the church) is excited about showing all it's love for God and has a fresh sense of purpose, desire, and drive. Nothing can withhold its desire to reach all it can for those who don't know the Lord. It is not interested in being useful, but shoots for something far beyond this reasonable service!
So today in your life today, is your church a river bed which is dried up and needs some fresh rain to fill its parched earth? Or is your church a overflowing river with its banks swollen with its love for Christ so that its edges are overflowing into the pastures nearby, which so desperately need the river of overflowing and ever providing "Life Giving Force?"
Friday, October 9, 2015
Anointing or Annoying God
Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8
The story for today concerns the unselfish act of Mary of Bethany. You know; the woman who anoints Jesus with the oil from the alabaster box? What did the disciples have to say about this act?
The disciples responded saying, "Why this waste? “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”
The money? In the next few passages we see Judas agreeing to sell out Jesus for less than what Mary was considered to be wasted, anointing Jesus. "Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?' And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus."
The disciples were clear about their motive, while Judas was hypocritical about his. The gift of the alabaster box was worth more in value than Judas sold Jesus out!
Was this act of worship Mary exhibited proper? "Her action was simply a festive honor done to one whom she loved unspeakably, and which she might have rendered at another time." "She loved Jesus with her whole heart, for what He was, for what He had done for the family to which she belonged, and for the words of instruction she had heard from His lips when He came on a visit to their house. There was such a love in her heart for her friend and benefactor as imperatively demanded in expression, and yet could not find expression in words. She must do something to relieve her pent-up emotions: she must get an alabaster box and break it; and pour it on the person of Jesus, else her heart would break." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 299, 301.
This is a practical picture of what Jesus did for this world. He was so moved by His love for sinners that He came that He must come and die for them.
"Like Nehemiah, the Jewish patriot in the court of the Persian king, He could not stay in Heaven's court while His brethren far away on earth were in evil's case; He must ask and obtain leave to go down to their assistance. Or, like Mary, He must procure an alabaster box- a human body- fill it with the fine essence of a human soul, and pour out His soul unto death on the cross for our salvation. The spirit of Jesus, yea, the spirit of the Eternal God, is the spirit of Mary and of Nehemiah, and of all who are like-minded with them." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 301-302.
As our church continues the study of Acts 5 this Sunday (Oct. 11th), we are looking at the story of Ananias and Sapphira. It sometimes boggles my mind in my study time to see God showing me a direction and contrast about those who withhold and those who go to the extreme to show their gratitude to Jesus. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are two responses in the way we worship Jesus. One has an agenda which is exposed by the Holy Spirit's testimony in both Ananias and Sapphira's shortness of life. On the other hand, we see the complete devotion of Mary who can't even express her love and worship in words for Jesus and will be overcome in her actions for Him. Actions in which Jesus told the disciples, "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
Where are you today? Could Jesus say this about you? Or are we teetering on the grace of God, close enough for Him to take our life rather than ruin the testimony of His church? How much are you holding back today?
I heard a really good quote this week from Todd Adkins. He says, "The Church isn't reaching the world because its too busy keeping Christians on life support." Sad...
The story for today concerns the unselfish act of Mary of Bethany. You know; the woman who anoints Jesus with the oil from the alabaster box? What did the disciples have to say about this act?
The disciples responded saying, "Why this waste? “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 26:8–9.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 26:14–16.
Was this act of worship Mary exhibited proper? "Her action was simply a festive honor done to one whom she loved unspeakably, and which she might have rendered at another time." "She loved Jesus with her whole heart, for what He was, for what He had done for the family to which she belonged, and for the words of instruction she had heard from His lips when He came on a visit to their house. There was such a love in her heart for her friend and benefactor as imperatively demanded in expression, and yet could not find expression in words. She must do something to relieve her pent-up emotions: she must get an alabaster box and break it; and pour it on the person of Jesus, else her heart would break." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 299, 301.
This is a practical picture of what Jesus did for this world. He was so moved by His love for sinners that He came that He must come and die for them.
"Like Nehemiah, the Jewish patriot in the court of the Persian king, He could not stay in Heaven's court while His brethren far away on earth were in evil's case; He must ask and obtain leave to go down to their assistance. Or, like Mary, He must procure an alabaster box- a human body- fill it with the fine essence of a human soul, and pour out His soul unto death on the cross for our salvation. The spirit of Jesus, yea, the spirit of the Eternal God, is the spirit of Mary and of Nehemiah, and of all who are like-minded with them." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 301-302.
As our church continues the study of Acts 5 this Sunday (Oct. 11th), we are looking at the story of Ananias and Sapphira. It sometimes boggles my mind in my study time to see God showing me a direction and contrast about those who withhold and those who go to the extreme to show their gratitude to Jesus. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are two responses in the way we worship Jesus. One has an agenda which is exposed by the Holy Spirit's testimony in both Ananias and Sapphira's shortness of life. On the other hand, we see the complete devotion of Mary who can't even express her love and worship in words for Jesus and will be overcome in her actions for Him. Actions in which Jesus told the disciples, "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 26:13.
I heard a really good quote this week from Todd Adkins. He says, "The Church isn't reaching the world because its too busy keeping Christians on life support." Sad...
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