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Word
of Encouragement
Vol.
V, Issues 1-7 are the continuing study from Vol. IV:
‘God’s
Covenant House: A Sketch of God’s Construction Project’
Word of Encouragement
Vol. V, Issue 8
My Way, or His Way?
Philippians 2:1-11
"I did it
my way," sang the incomparable crooner Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's
song is an anthem for all people who desire to put themselves first
above everyone else, to make a name for themselves and to seek their own
will. "My Way" is an anthem for those who do
whatever they wish, whenever they wish, to whomever they wish, and desire
to do it their way. If there is one thing we all notice in our lives
with children. You may have to teach a child to sit up straight in
their chair or to learn their ABCs, but you never have to teach a child how
to put themselves first and to desire their own way above all others!
Jesus says that
the first will be last, and the last will be first (Matt. 20:16). One of the hardest things for us to do is to put others
first, ahead of ourselves. We desire so much to do it our way, that
we do not often thing about "HIS WAY". However, the Apostle
Paul teaches us in Philippians 2 concerning "HIS WAY", and that
the reason why we are to strive against our own selfishness and desires is
because Christ Jesus, the Eternally Begotten Son of God, did not consider
it "beneath himself" to take upon human flesh to come down to us
in order to reveal the Father's love to mankind (v. 6).
Paul says that
Christ Jesus was not like the first Adam who "grasped" or
reached out for the pleasing fruit that supposedly would make him wise and
equal with God (even though he was made in God's likeness). Our Lord
Jesus was content with making himself nothing, by putting
on Adam's human nature so that he might represent his people as
the Great Servant of God. Because of His perfect obedience to His
Father, God raised him up from being a mere servant, and seated him as King
at his right hand and gave to him the Name that is above every name!
Philippians 2:1-11 So if there is any encouragement
in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any
affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same
mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do
nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to
his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have
this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in
the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7
but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in
the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
The Apostle Paul says that in light of the example
of service and humility set by Jesus, and the fact that we have been united
to Jesus Christ by faith, we are to practice unity, love, and being of one
mind in Christ (v. 2). We are to avoid as God's people rivalry and conceit
(which feed off one another), but to strive by His grace to be humble, and
to count others more significant than ourselves (v. 3). Paul then
goes on to say that we are to look out first for the interests of others
(v. 4). But how? We are so focused upon ourselves, and doing it
our way!
Ever since man fell in his heart because of the
temptation of the serpent and desired to be "like God", in the
sense of being equal with God, man has not been satisfied with being a
creature of the Creator. Rather, man has sought to build his own
kingdom and make a name for himself rather than calling upon the name of
His Creator. Many years ago, Cain after he had killed his brother
Abel for worshipping God in Spirit and truth, sought to establish his
rights and his name upon this earth. Long before Frank Sinatra, Cain
did it "My Way" rather than God's way. In fact, when he had
a son, he built a city and decided to name it Enoch, the name of his
son.
Genesis 4:17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore
Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name
of his son, Enoch.
The teaching here is that man from the beginning has
wanted to leave a legacy and to set up the Kingdom of Man, or City of Man
based upon man's achievements rather than by God's grace (Genesis 4).
In contrast, Seth a child of the promise (Gen. 3:15; 12:1-3; Gal. 3:16-29)
has a son named Enosh and at this time men begin to call upon the Name of
the LORD (Gen. 4:26) That is, the Kingdom of God (or City of God)
will be built alongside the City of Man. All through
Redemptive-History there are those who desire to make a name for
themselves, to be famous, to be equal with God, and there are those who
humbly submit to the LORD their Creator as the true creature they are, call
upon his name, and receive the salvation that only he can provide!
Later at the Tower of Babel, man
again begins to make a name for himself. This time the creature
decides by his ingenuity and technological prowess, that he will storm the
gates of God's heaven!
Genesis 11:4 Then they said, "Come, let us build
ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a
name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole
earth."
God comes down
and disperses the languages and sends the proud men to different places
upon the earth. From these examples from Scripture, we see that since
the fall of man, man the creature has had a strong longing not to be merely
"like God", that is, made in God's image (Gen. 1:26-28), but
man's folly has been the desire to be "LIKE GOD", that is, equal
with him.
In Philippians
2, the Apostle Paul teaches Christ's people that Christ came down to reveal
God to us and that he made himself a servant so that he might die on behalf
of the creature's hubris (v. 8)! On the Day of Pentecost, Christ sent
the Spirit of God to unite his people as one and to begin to work in them
that which was good and pleasing according to God's will (Phil.
2:13). The Spirit of God helps the people of God to put others
first. He helps us in our weakness to begin to understand literally
that the way up, is truly down and that if we want to be great, we must
"descend into greatness" focusing other men's attention on Jesus
Christ!
We're called to
be servants of the Living God by His grace! In Christ, God teaches
his people that we can truly be "Like him" but that it will be a
transformation of who we are through the work of the Holy Spirit, so that
we will be like Jesus! God teaches his people that placing others
first and considering others more significant can be a challenge for fallen
creatures, but that by God's grace and the help of His Spirit he is
committed to our change; He is committed to making us servants who walk
together in love and unity.
It is interesting
that in Jesus' descent to the earth in order to save a people, he was given
a great Name. He was given the Name above every name and all of the
creaturely men, who in their pride tried to make a name for themselves,
will not have their own names written in the Book of Life, Christ will not
know them, and they will submit and confess to their LORD and CREATOR that
He is LORD...but it will be too late. Now is the time to submit to
our Lord Jesus by faith, calling upon the only Name under heaven given so
that men might be saved (Acts 4:12)! It is really
about "HIS WAY", and his way is through service to one another,
as we consider one another more significant and important than ourselves!
Word of
Encouragement
Quote of the Week
This week's quotation is from John Owen. Owen was
a faithful pastor and theologian who lived in the 17th century in England
(1616-83). He was a prolific writer and a master theologian of God's
grace. His complete works are available as a sixteen volume
set. The two volumes to begin with if you are interested
in reading Owen (and you should be!!) are 'Sin and Temptation'
(Vol. 6), 'The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Vol. 10).
Below is a quotation from John Owen's excellent volume
entitled 'Meditations on the Glory of Christ'. Owen died as this book
was being printed. As Owen believed and has taught many Christians
after him:
"A continual view of the glory of Christ
will have the blessed effect of changing us more and more into the likeness
of Christ. Perhaps other ways and means have failed to make us
Christ-like. Let us put this way to the test."
John Owen
"Let us now consider the love of the Son, which is
full of compassion. Although sinful creatures, we were capable of
being recovered. God chose us as a way to express his divine goodness
and love. Christ took our flesh and blood, not the nature of angels
(Heb. 2:14-18).
He looked forward with great delight to the salvation of mankind which
would bring such glory to God.
His willingness and delight in taking human nature were
not lessened by the knowledge of the great difficulties he would have
to face. In order to save us, he would have to continue until his
soul was sorrowful to death. But this did not deter him. His
love and mercy rose like the waters of a mighty stream, for he says:
'Behold, I come; I delight to do your will, O my God' (Psa. 40:7, 8).
So a body was prepared for him, to give effect to the immeasurable grace
and fervent love he had for mankind.
Now when we think of the glorious love of Christ, we
find there is in his divine nature the love of God the Father. But
there is more, because when he exercised his love he was human also.
The love in the two natures is quite distinct and yet comes from the one
person, Christ Jesus. It was an act of inexpressible love when he
took our human nature, but it was an act of his divine nature only.
His death was only an act of his human nature. But both were truly
his acts, as we read in 1 John 3:16: 'By this we know love, because he laid
down his life for us.'
I would urge you to prepare your minds continually for
heavenly things by meditating seriously on the glory of the love of
Christ. This cannot be done if the mind is always full of earthly
thoughts. Do not be satisfied with general thoughts of the love of
Christ but think of it in a more detailed way."
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Word of Encouragement
Vol. V, Issue 9
Dead or Alive?
When each of us are born, we are born in
Adam. We live in Adam
and are alive to our sinful flesh in
Adam (Rom. 5:12-21).
When we believe, we are united to the LORD Jesus Christ. We are
born again by faith in Christ. Then, we live in Christ and are alive to our
Lord in Christ so that
we might obediently respond to him in gratitude. In fact, when we
are united to Jesus Christ by faith we have truly passed from
death to life. As Jesus teaches in John 5:24:
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears
my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come
into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
How do we
define death? How do we define darkness? Both death and
darkness are the absence of something. In order for either of
these to exist, something vital must be absent. In the case
of death, there is no life; there is an absence of life. In the
case of darkness, there is no light; there is an absence of
light. Jesus has come as our Lord and in him is life and that life was the light of men (John
1:4). Jesus comes to restore the true life that was lost by the
fall of man into sin. By His Spirit, Jesus unites us with himself
because He is Life (John 7:37-39). If we do
not have Christ, our lives are without life and light. We are
dead! Christ's absence in a person's life is already a judgment
upon them as created beings, unless by God's grace they are raised to
new life, united to Jesus, and become part of the new creation (2 Cor.
5:17).
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Jesus came to unite his people to himself and to give
them life, and life more abundantly. In this union with Christ we receive
life from Jesus and we are enabled to die to our sins. As Paul
teaches Christ’s people in Romans 6:3-5: “…Don’t
you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? We were therefore
buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ
was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may
live a new life. If we have
been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly
also be united with him in his resurrection.”
In the Christian life we desire to grow in
Christ-likeness. One of the
helps for our growth process is to seek to better understand
Paul’s teaching of the reality of our being united to Jesus Christ
in his death and in his resurrection (and even ascension!). Christ lived a perfect life on our
behalf, he died for our sins, he was raised to life in his resurrection,
and he was exalted to God’s right hand in his ascension. What we should continually stress
as Christ’s people is that we have been united to Jesus
Christ by His Spirit so that all that Jesus did in his life, death,
resurrection and ascension is communicated to His people by faith.
Notice how Paul speaks in Ephesians chapter 2 concerning of our
resurrection from death to life:
Ephesians 2:1 And you did he make alive, when
ye were dead through your trespasses and sins...we also all once lived in
the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest: -- 4 but
God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), 6 and
raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places,
in Christ Jesus: 7 that in the ages to come he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus
Meditate upon those verses from Ephesians. How
do you see yourself? Are you the living
dead, or the dead living ?
That's a very important question to answer! As we understand who we
are in Jesus Christ, so we realize that we have died with him and
have been raised to new life in
him. As we meditate
upon this great union with Jesus Christ, we are given strength and enabled
to die to our flesh, resisting its direction and domination, and
realizing that Christ has freed us, united us to him, and given us the
liberty to live our lives for him as his people. The Apostle Paul
says in Galatians 5:1 that it is for freedom that Christ has
redeemed us!
Christ has united us to himself so that we are a part
of him, and all that he has accomplished for the Father on our behalf has
been given to us! All that he has accomplished for us is also
communicated to us as a means of grace to encourage his people in their
perseverance in this life. The means that Christ uses are His Word,
the Sacraments, prayer and fellowship (cf. Acts 2:41-47).
What is the greatest gift that the Father could give
to you? What is it that if you
had, you think you could successfully live for Christ, living a life of
repentance and turning daily to God the Father for direction? You have all that you need as
Christ’s people! You
have been united really and
spiritually to the Living Christ, the One Who is King over the
Heavens and the Earth! You have
been raised from the dead, united to Jesus Christ, seated with him in the
heavenlies in order that we might walk as a people who have life in him!
Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
afore prepared that we should walk in them." Believe this good
news and respond in grateful obedience to your Living Savior for what he
has done for you! As Revelation 20:6 says, if we are united to Jesus
we have already participated in the first resurrection and we reign with
Christ...NOW!
Revelation 20:6- "Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death
hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with him..."
Knowing we are resurrected now and seated with Christ
now, causes us to better know who we are as Christ's people and to
greatly anticipate the time when Jesus will return and fully resurrect us
in our glorified bodies (Rom. 8:18-25).
Are you the living
dead, or the dead living ?
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Word of Encouragement
Vol. V, Issue 10
The Apostle Paul's Prayer of Power
The prayers of the Apostle Paul teach us a
lot of truth about who we are in Jesus Christ. After Paul
speaks in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3-14 concerning the great
Trinitarian work of God in our salvation, he begins to pray
specifically for the Ephesian Christians that their knowledge of
Christ might be a powerful life-changing knowledge of God's
truth. Pastor John Owen once said that he desired above all
things not merely to know the truth of God's Word, but truly to know the power of the truth
of God's Word. This should be the same for all
of Christ's people.
In Ephesians 1, Paul begins his
prayers based upon the truth of how God has called a people to
himself and the deep and precious truth of how he saved us all.
In fact, Paul ends his theological praise in verses 3-14 with the
profound truth that believers are sealed with the promised Holy
Spirit. We have a portion of the Spirit now and know Christ,
but we await our full inheritance, so in the meantime, Paul prays for
the Christians so that they will know Christ -- better! That
is, he prays that Christians may know not merely the truth of Christ,
but the power of this truth in their lives.
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Ephesians 1:13-23 13 In [Christ]
you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy
Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
15 For
this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your
love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks
for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of
wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having
the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope
to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious
inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable
greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working
of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he
raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the
heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and
power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this
age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things
under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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Notice a few important things about Paul's prayer here
in Ephesians 1. First of all, he "never ceases to give thanks
and remember the congregation in his prayers". Paul put into
practice what he preached. He prayed unceasingly for
others! Oftentimes we find only the time to pray for ourselves (if
we find the time to pray at all). Secondly, he prays specifically
for the Christians to grow in particular ways. He doesn't merely
say: "Lord, bless the Ephesians", or "Lord, be with the
Ephesians", or other famous generic prayers for others.
Rather, the Apostle Paul prays specifically that
the same Father of glory who has graciously saved them will
give the believers a spirit of wisdom and revelation in their
knowledge of Christ (v. 17). That is, Paul wants the
Christians to know how God saved them (vv. 3-14), but also how God is saving them, or presently and
powerfully making them more like Christ as he gives to them all they need
for life and godliness.
Thirdly, Paul wants the Christians to know their hope
to which he has called them (v. 18a), the immeasurable greatness of his
resurrection power in us who believe (vv. 19-20), and the power of Christ
in their lives as the Head of the Body, the Church for whom he died (vv.
20-22). There is a good weakness and a bad weakness. A good
weakness is the kind Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 12, where through
this weakness that God has brought into our lives, we know we can still
say "though I am weak, yet I am strong". In this good
weakness, we know that it is through our weakness that God's strength is
perfected.
However, the bad weakness that we have as Christians
is to fail to know who we are in Christ. That is, it is weakness of
a lack of true understanding of the power we have because of the Spirit
of God who indwells us. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead,
dwells within us! (vv. 19-20). Christ has been raised above all
authority defeating all of our our enemies sin, hell, and the
Devil! When Christ sat down at God's right hand he sent to us His
Spirit to be with us and to transform us all.
Paul wants the Ephesian Christians and Christians
today, to know the immeasurable greatness of God's power to us who
believe (v. 19). Because of the victory of Christ over sin, hell
and the Devil in his resurrection and ascension, we have the same victory.
The power of Christ is given to us and we respond by faith and gratitude
in the daily dying to sin, wrestling against the sinful tendencies that
constantly want to throw us off our walk with Christ, and knowing that we
have the ability truly to resist and to stand firm in the victory of
Christ over sin and the Devil (notice Paul's development of this in
chapters Ephesians 4-6, when he speaks of "walking in the
Spirit", "keeping in step with the Spirit", "putting
on our new man", "resisting the Devil", and "standing
firm in the full armor of God".
As Christians, we should pray for one another.
Additionally, we should pray
specifically for each other. Even when we do not know
other's specific prayer requests, we do know that we all struggle with
"bad weakness" and so we all need truly to know the power
of God's truth in our lives. Also, we should pray this prayer of
Paul for ourselves so that we might really know the power of God's
Word, the power of what it means for us to be raised from death to life in
Christ.
Our greatest enemies, sin, death and the Devil have
been defeated. In fact, Christ has led these in a triumphant
procession, publicly showing to all the world that his resurrection and
ascension has placed him high above all authority, power and dominion,
not only in this age, but also in the age to come (vv. 21-22; cf.
4:8-10). Because we are Christ's people, we can be assured that we
have been raised from the dead (John 5:24) and that we have a great
power of resisting sin and the influences of the Devil that lead us all
to death.
We are seated with Christ in a truly victorious
position (Eph. 2:5-6)! We have been seated with Christ in the
heavenly places and although we do not fully see our inheritance, we have
a great hope as we all await patiently and expectantly the return of our
glorious Savior!
As Christians, we have so much to be thankful
for! God's immeasurably great power should be exerted toward us who
are sinners, deserving only of God's wrath! Yet because Jesus
Christ took the powerful blows of God's wrath because of our sin, in
order to defeat death and the Devil, and to offer a satisfaction to God
for our sins; because of this grace shown to us while we were yet
sinners, God's power is given as a blessing to help us, to raise us to
life, and by His Holy Spirit he powerfully lives within us so that we can
resist sin NOW, and gratefully and obediently live for Christ! This
truth should lead us from a "bad weakness" of falling into
sinful patterns to a "good weakness" of humility, awe and
reverence because our God, who is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28), has come
to dwell within us who are united to Jesus Christ!
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Word of
Encouragement
Quote (s) of the Week
This week's quotations are from Cyprian and Pastor
William Perkins. Cyprian was a Latin church father who converted
from paganism a little more than 12 years before he was martyred for his
faith in Jesus in AD 258. He has had a great deal of influence in
what was a very short ministry. Perkins was a Puritan preacher
and pastor at Cambridge in England,
who died in 1602.
In these quotations, both men are
encouraging us to have abundant hope concerning the Day of
Christ's return. Cyprian teaches us to "meditate on the
future life" as Calvin put it so well, and Perkins encourages all
people in this world to give heed to the fact that Jesus said: "I come
shortly." As the people of God, are we watching soberly and
alertly for Christ's return? Do you anticipate it? Our constant
struggles with our sins can cause us to cling all the more tighter to
Christ's forgiveness and awaken our our desires to hope passionately
for the Day when we can permanently put off our flesh and be like him- -
fully redeemed! These struggles with sin and difficult frustrations
in our life help us to be homesick for our true home!
In the day-to-day, never ending blinding blitz
of lightning-fast bandwidth, bustle, busyness and buzz, do not
allow yourself to forget to be hopeful of heaven. Meditate on the
future life. Take time to think about heaven and your future
home. Think on your Savior and the reality that he is awaiting you.
Cyprian of Carthage
"Let us consider, beloved brethren, that we have
renounced the world, and are passing our time here as strangers and
pilgrims. We embrace the day which assigns each to his home, which
restores Paradise and a
kingdom, us who have been plucked from the world and set free from worldly
snares. Who would not hasten home? Paradise we
count our fatherland, and the patriarchs our fathers (Heb. 11). Why
should we not hasten homewards to salute our parents?
There the mighty multitude of dear ones await us- -the
crowd of parents, brothers, sons, longs for us, already secure of their own
safety.... How great the joy to us and to them, of beholding and
embracing each other! What the blessedness of these celestial realms;
without fear of death, and possessed of an eternity of life, how supreme
and abiding the joy and felicity!
There the glorious choir of apostles; there the crowd of
exulting prophets; there the innumerable throng of martyrs crowned because
of victory in conflict and suffering; the compassionate rewarded, who,
obeying their Lord's command, transferred their earthly inheritance to a
heavenly treasure-house. To these, brethren most beloved, with eager
desire let us hasten, longing to be speedily with them and with
Christ. These our desires and purposes, let our God, and our Lord
Christ, behold, who will give the larger reward of His glory to those who
after Him have had larger desires for it."
William Perkins
"The daily persuasion of the speedy coming of
Christ is of notable use; for, first, it will daunt the most desperate
wretch that is, and make him tremble in himself, and restrain him from many
sins. And if a man belong to God, and yet be a loose liver, this
persuasion will rouse him out of his sins and make him turn to God; for who
would not seek to save his soul, if he were persuaded that Christ is now
coming to give him his final reward?
Secondly, if a man have grace and do believe, this
persuasion is a notable means to make him constant in every good duty, both
of piety to God and of love towards his brethren. Thirdly, this
serves to comfort any person that is in affliction and painful struggles;
for, when he shall believe that which Christ has said, I come shortly, he cannot but think
but that his deliverance is soon at hand; for at His coming He brings
perfect redemption to all His people."
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