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The Life of Christ: Circle 2: SERVICE.
Summary.
We now trace the same punctuations and principles through the phase of Service. He is not the servant of man, but of Jehovah. However, He serves man, but man is not his boss. He is under orders from above. The centurion recognised that Jesus was like himself,- he said that "he also was a man under authority”, whose orders were. “Go, DO this, and Come!”
INTENTION. IN THE HEART
Divine purposes are not exhausted with a perfect Life and so Jesus goes to John’s Baptism. This intended life of Service however, is still locked in the HEART of the Carpenter of Nazareth.
ANNUNCIATION. JOHN THE BAPTIST
John the Baptist, as the last of the Old Testament prophets has the privilege of announcing the Servant of Jehovah. The need for Jesus to be baptised, was not apparent to John. However, later we may see why it was very necessary for Jesus, at the commencement of His ministry.
CONFLICT. THE TEMPTATION
In the sequence of events the Satanic efforts to frustrate this second step are clearly shown. The TEMPTATION in the wilderness is not the normal everyday temptation of the average man. Such temptations, of which Hebrews takes note, occurred during the years in Nazareth. This temptation is specifically aimed at undermining, and marring the effectiveness of Christ’s ministry. This attack is far more subtle than Bethlehem.
BIRTH. SERMON
His ministry begins with a short sermon in Nazareth. It is a Message of comfort and hope to all in the devil’s Kingdom.(Luke ch.4.v.18.) Having refused Satan’s offer, He now comes with the offer of the kingdom of heaven.
GROWTH. MINISTRY
His service was a threefold MINISTRY of Preaching, Healing and Teaching. The miracles attracted the crowds, but not so many would come for the preaching, and even fewer would attain to understanding the teaching of the parables.
FULLNESS. THE TRANSFIGURATION
His full glory is manifested in the TRANSFIGURATION. Thousands heard the message, only twelve went on to understand its true meaning, but only three came to see his full glory. This is the true test of the effectiveness of ministry,- how many come to see what you see.
We now trace the same punctuations and principles through the phase of Service. He is not the servant of man, but of Jehovah. However, He serves man, but man is not his boss. He is under orders from above. The centurion recognised that Jesus was like himself,- he said that "he also was a man under authority”, whose orders were. “Go, DO this, and Come!”
INTENTION. IN THE HEART
Divine purposes are not exhausted with a perfect Life and so Jesus goes to John’s Baptism. This intended life of Service however, is still locked in the HEART of the Carpenter of Nazareth.
ANNUNCIATION. JOHN THE BAPTIST
John the Baptist, as the last of the Old Testament prophets has the privilege of announcing the Servant of Jehovah. The need for Jesus to be baptised, was not apparent to John. However, later we may see why it was very necessary for Jesus, at the commencement of His ministry.
CONFLICT. THE TEMPTATION
In the sequence of events the Satanic efforts to frustrate this second step are clearly shown. The TEMPTATION in the wilderness is not the normal everyday temptation of the average man. Such temptations, of which Hebrews takes note, occurred during the years in Nazareth. This temptation is specifically aimed at undermining, and marring the effectiveness of Christ’s ministry. This attack is far more subtle than Bethlehem.
BIRTH. SERMON
His ministry begins with a short sermon in Nazareth. It is a Message of comfort and hope to all in the devil’s Kingdom.(Luke ch.4.v.18.) Having refused Satan’s offer, He now comes with the offer of the kingdom of heaven.
GROWTH. MINISTRY
His service was a threefold MINISTRY of Preaching, Healing and Teaching. The miracles attracted the crowds, but not so many would come for the preaching, and even fewer would attain to understanding the teaching of the parables.
FULLNESS. THE TRANSFIGURATION
His full glory is manifested in the TRANSFIGURATION. Thousands heard the message, only twelve went on to understand its true meaning, but only three came to see his full glory. This is the true test of the effectiveness of ministry,- how many come to see what you see.
INTENTION; Hidden in His heart.
In the first circle we saw that the Intention of God was kept as a mystery, known only in the MIND of God Himself. So in similar vein the intention of His Son is hidden firmly in the Son’s HEART. It is not something that he would be boasting about to his schoolmates or family.
Apart from Mary, his mother, no-one else would know that this Carpenter was more than just an ordinary man. None would guess that He came from above, and was here for a divine purpose.
One can suppose that thirty years was a long time to wait, knowing, as he did, along with His mother, that He had come for a particular purpose. How did He know that this was the hour? May be he was guided by the fact that in the Old Testament, thirty years of age was the age for priests to take office. On the other hand, and more likely still, he had read that someone would come to prepare the way for Him. John the Baptist, his natural cousin was such a man. However we read nothing in scripture to suppose that either of them knew what each other’s mission was during the silent years. John the Baptist had been given a sign, that whoever he saw the dove descending upon would be the Messiah, and Jesus would have known the scripture to say that someone would come to prepare the way.
However, eventually the day came when the Spirit within Him prompted him that the time had come to launch out into His ministry as the servant of Jehovah. Many a man since, having obeyed the call of God, has left His loved ones in similar fashion. They will know the ache that would have been in the heart of the Saviour at that time. It would not have been without feeling that Jesus later said that those who follow Him must love Him more than they love their family. Surely it was just as much a wrench for him to cut off these human ties and commit them to the care and keeping of the God who had called Him to full time service, as it is or has been for the thousands of missionaries and disciples of Christ who have entered into the service of the heavenly King. Leaving a good home is never easy, and I suppose we will never know how Jesus really felt. In hunting for clues in the Old Testament we could remind ourselves of two Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha, who foreshadow John the Baptist & Jesus. Elijah and John were of similar spirit and ministry. Prophets were renowned for the fierce condemnatory tone of their message. They were rejected and killed because of it. They were anonymous men who came on the scene, preached their message and disappeared, just like any telegram or message bearer today. However, Elisha fits as a type of Jesus for he was different from most other prophets recorded in the Old Testament, for we read of his home life and the sacrifice involved in leaving home. He slew and sacrificed his oxen that he had made a living from. He said a firm farewell to the family he loved. Elisha in his ministry was always among the people, wherever they were in need, doing many miracles. Far from being ostracised by the people, fearful of his hard message, (through guilt), Elisha was given a home by one lady, who had no fear whatsoever, that this prophet would rebuke her for her sins or reveal all her secret sins, which the prophets were inclined to know. Similarly, “ prostitutes and sinners” seemed very comfortable in the company of Jesus. It is hardly likely that they would have felt the same towards Elijah or John the Baptist. So it is obvious that Jesus was a warm loving family member, who cherished relationships. Leaving home therefore was a sacrifice, although his care for his mother continued all the way to the cross.
So, at thirty years of age, He finished his Human commitments and responsibilities. He left his family and mother. Also the dependable income of His carpentry work would no longer be His to depend upon. For the day came when he hung up his saw, and brushed out the workshop for the last time, leaving all clean, tidy and in order for whoever was to succeed him in the business. Perhaps one of his brothers, we don’t know, but we do know that the next time he had any experience with wood, hammer and nails, was to be the cross.
In the first circle we saw that the Intention of God was kept as a mystery, known only in the MIND of God Himself. So in similar vein the intention of His Son is hidden firmly in the Son’s HEART. It is not something that he would be boasting about to his schoolmates or family.
Apart from Mary, his mother, no-one else would know that this Carpenter was more than just an ordinary man. None would guess that He came from above, and was here for a divine purpose.
One can suppose that thirty years was a long time to wait, knowing, as he did, along with His mother, that He had come for a particular purpose. How did He know that this was the hour? May be he was guided by the fact that in the Old Testament, thirty years of age was the age for priests to take office. On the other hand, and more likely still, he had read that someone would come to prepare the way for Him. John the Baptist, his natural cousin was such a man. However we read nothing in scripture to suppose that either of them knew what each other’s mission was during the silent years. John the Baptist had been given a sign, that whoever he saw the dove descending upon would be the Messiah, and Jesus would have known the scripture to say that someone would come to prepare the way.
However, eventually the day came when the Spirit within Him prompted him that the time had come to launch out into His ministry as the servant of Jehovah. Many a man since, having obeyed the call of God, has left His loved ones in similar fashion. They will know the ache that would have been in the heart of the Saviour at that time. It would not have been without feeling that Jesus later said that those who follow Him must love Him more than they love their family. Surely it was just as much a wrench for him to cut off these human ties and commit them to the care and keeping of the God who had called Him to full time service, as it is or has been for the thousands of missionaries and disciples of Christ who have entered into the service of the heavenly King. Leaving a good home is never easy, and I suppose we will never know how Jesus really felt. In hunting for clues in the Old Testament we could remind ourselves of two Old Testament prophets, Elijah and Elisha, who foreshadow John the Baptist & Jesus. Elijah and John were of similar spirit and ministry. Prophets were renowned for the fierce condemnatory tone of their message. They were rejected and killed because of it. They were anonymous men who came on the scene, preached their message and disappeared, just like any telegram or message bearer today. However, Elisha fits as a type of Jesus for he was different from most other prophets recorded in the Old Testament, for we read of his home life and the sacrifice involved in leaving home. He slew and sacrificed his oxen that he had made a living from. He said a firm farewell to the family he loved. Elisha in his ministry was always among the people, wherever they were in need, doing many miracles. Far from being ostracised by the people, fearful of his hard message, (through guilt), Elisha was given a home by one lady, who had no fear whatsoever, that this prophet would rebuke her for her sins or reveal all her secret sins, which the prophets were inclined to know. Similarly, “ prostitutes and sinners” seemed very comfortable in the company of Jesus. It is hardly likely that they would have felt the same towards Elijah or John the Baptist. So it is obvious that Jesus was a warm loving family member, who cherished relationships. Leaving home therefore was a sacrifice, although his care for his mother continued all the way to the cross.
So, at thirty years of age, He finished his Human commitments and responsibilities. He left his family and mother. Also the dependable income of His carpentry work would no longer be His to depend upon. For the day came when he hung up his saw, and brushed out the workshop for the last time, leaving all clean, tidy and in order for whoever was to succeed him in the business. Perhaps one of his brothers, we don’t know, but we do know that the next time he had any experience with wood, hammer and nails, was to be the cross.
ANNUNCIATION; John The Baptist.
We now arrive at the part of the study which could well be the most important lesson for all those who are in or are contemplating service for the Lord. Undoubtedly we are here to serve the Lord as individuals and as churches, so everything and anything we can learn to make it more effective is surely good for us.
Much could be said of John the Baptist, as indeed it has in the many thousands of books written of this most noble servant of God. We need to concern ourselves mainly with the aspects of service rather than John himself. As you well know the church is a body and we need to look no further than our own body to see how the church ought to function. It is a perfect illustration, yea rather an expression of the mind of God concerning his cherished possession, the church.
The most important feature of an active body is its unity. It is easy for the different members of the body to be in harmony if the body is dead or asleep. There is plenty of unity in a cemetery. But when the body is active then millions of muscle actions and reactions take place in one day. How is it all co-ordinated.? It is all co-ordinated by the head, which controls every single muscle and member by way of the nervous system. If a hand is carrying a heavy load, for instance, the hand does not begin shouting at the other hand, with insults and exclamations that help is needed. It is simply because the hand is in continual contact with the head that the head is well aware of the strain and immediately will send a command to the other hand to take over. The work is shared and unity maintained because every member is in touch and under the control of the head. We could expand on this even more but much is written in other notes so we will just devote our thoughts to two aspects.
1. For each member to be in co-ordination with the head
2. Each member to be in co-ordination with each other. We are told in scripture that we are ‘workers together, with God.’’ So we need to have a perfect relationship with God and with each other. Our scripture readings are Ps. 13; Matt ch.11 and Malachi ch. 3.
Psalm 13:3 tells us about unity and how beautiful it is. Especially important is the fact that ‘‘there the Lord commanded the blessing’’.
This text was fulfilled surely in Acts ch. 2, when the Holy Ghost blessing fell, for they were ’’ all gathered in one place with one accord’’. Notice the ‘‘all’’ and the ‘‘ones’’. ‘Tis true that God is more willing to bless us than we are to be blessed and the scripture says his eye scans the world up and down looking for people on whose behalf he can show himself strong. What an encouragement that should be for us all. Where the people are right and the conditions are right God will certainly command his blessing. One of the main conditions is unity. This Psalm tells us that for certain. Another condition is Faith. Everything valuable in the kingdom of God is tested. Our faith will be tested and our Unity or love will be tested. It is no good having anything if it breaks as soon as it is tested. Service engineers make a living from things which are made to serve, but which brake down when tested by constant use. Millions of Christians are broken down servants of God. We therefore are looking to John the Baptist to see the test of his faith and unity with God and the One he was called to partner in the service of God.
Matt ch. 11 is our reading for this part of the lesson. Please read it;
In our insulated, comfortable carpeted, spring interior-ed, shake-an-vac world, (article now dated) it is well nigh impossible for us to imagine the depth of pain and feeling endured by John the Baptist in his dark rat-infested, damp cell. He was a man who had spent his life in the wide open spaces of Jordan’s river side. A passionate man of great feelings, who all his life, had sought only to please God. Of all the Jews who looked for their Messiah, none had looked more zealously, more sincerely.
Jesus said no greater man had ever been born. Imagine what pleasure he must have given to God as he looked down from heaven upon this man’s heart. Considering God’s recorded character reference to Job, then surely this must be an even greater accolade.
Yet ironically, in God's economy, such an accolade in scripture is almost a certificate of merit, declaring such folk to be worthy of suffering.
The scriptures declare that God’s ways are past finding out? No way of God is more “past finding out” than the way he treats his servants. No wonder it is hard for us to keep in tune with God and to be at unity with Him. In our everyday life, we base our working relationships on good understanding. For any partnership to work there must be an understanding of each other. Communication is one of the most important aspects of social life and good communication is an absolute necessity for harmonious working together.
This point therefore needs to be well marked and noted;
The Essential Need for a successful relationship is good understanding and communication.
Surely we all recognise this to be a fact of social and domestic life. Men are often heard to quip ‘‘My wife doesn’t understand me.’’ Usually the truth is that the wife understands him only too well and reads him like a book, and would not need three guesses as to who he was saying such a thing.
In business many hours are spent in man management courses trying to get good working relationships, because good communication is vital to all industry. If communication is bad, then understanding breaks down; all must know their relationship to those others in their chain of operation. Often folk are not puzzled at what their partners or associates do, but why they do it. Knowing why leads to good understanding.
Unfortunately, when God acts in a way we don’t understand, that is a sure fire trigger for our self explosive dividing mechanism to burst into motion. For often we are well aware of what God is doing, but not so clear as to why He is doing it. Truly, as Job found out and declared, ‘‘God’s ways are past finding out.’’ Similarly, we also share with Job the oft muttered sigh, ‘‘God alone knows what’s going on’’. If the scripture says we are ‘workers together with God’ then the sooner we realise our working relationship, ‘‘terms and conditions’’, the better. All too often we think working with God is like working with anyone else. Where we expect that they should tell us what they are doing and even discuss with us before hand what they plan to do.
However, with God those things seldom happen and every servant should be aware of this at the outset. John the Baptist could well have struggled for reasons why he had landed up in prison. Why had God allowed this to happen? Where was the evidence that God was still with Him?
May be he had done something wrong. May be after all these years of preparation he had introduced the wrong person. May be Jesus wasn’t the Messiah after all. Not only was his unity with God tested but also His unity with Jesus was also brought into question. They were designated ‘‘workers together’’ for it is God’s usual way of carrying out his operations, to send two workers out to compliment each other. Marriage is such a union. Paul and Silas evangelised in a similar divine pairing. Moses and Aaron also were sent out as a partnership. Unity of purpose and understanding is an essential characteristic of such successful missions.
It is easy to see why John’s unity with Jesus was brought into question; If you read Malachi ch. 3, we see the verses which were the trumpet call to Him. He was “the messenger sent to prepare the way” for the Messiah who was to come. However, from his point of view of this scripture, then the Messiah would surely come with a fiery ministry. He could not understand why Jesus was not fulfilling the ministry which he, (John) thought he should have been fulfilling. In our every day language, he would no doubt say ‘‘That is no way for the Messiah to act’’.
Yet from our point of view today it is easy for us to see how John and Jesus complemented each other, like Elijah & Elisha. For John was the last prophet under the law. The law that had nothing else to give to man but condemnation and judgement. But as surely as the law was given by Moses, so Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. To fully appreciate the difference in these two ministries one would have to imagine a situation where someone opened a fairground on a Sunday, and yet professed to be a Christian.
Anyone with a knowledge of what Moses taught would believe that the word of God was against such behaviour. But if a preacher came along and said ‘‘I know the bible says you should keep the Sabbath day holy, but I say go out and enjoy yourself for God only desires your happiness,’’ Now we all know that Jesus did not say that but He did speak contrary to Moses in similar fashion. Supposing someone broke a window in your house. You then went to this person’s house and broke a window in his house. You would certainly be right to say that you got your permission from the bible, ‘‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’’. No one could deny that you had acted upon the word of God. In the light of that then, perhaps you can see the full import of the words of Jesus which said, ‘‘I know Moses, said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say don’t do that’’. In other words Jesus was apparently over-riding the written word of revelation of God over the previous two thousand years. John came as a separated, tea-total prophet, but Jesus came and ate and drank with sinners, so much so that some of his critics called him a “wine bibber.” but we know critics usually exaggerate. The question obviously arises “Which of them was living according to God’s word?” The answer is ‘‘Both’’. How easy it is to let division come between ourselves and another servant of God simply because they seemed to be called to a different kind of life than one’s own.
In Christian service certain attitudes are commonplace.
1. ‘‘Shouldn’t everyone be doing this as well?’’ (or Why should I be the only one who has to do this ?)
Some follow their call and then spend most of their time preoccupied with criticising other Christians because they don’t seem to be doing the same thing. Personally, I have met fine christian men who felt a particular need to preach in the open air. How sharp at times was their criticism of other Christians ‘‘who” they said “ huddled in churches instead of being outside where the sinners are.’’
In John chap 21, we read where Jesus took Peter to one side and outlined to him his future. It was a hard future predicted for Him. Ultimately Peter would die for His master. He would go the way of the cross. But notice how expressive is the phrase ‘‘And Peter, turning himself about said. ‘‘Lord, what shall this man do?’’ Peter took his eyes off Christ and looked at another disciple and asked what was going to happen to him. Jesus answered abruptly and said as much as, ‘‘what difference does it make, if this chap is still sitting on his backside when I return, you follow me”.
The last words recorded, that Jesus said to Peter were the same as the first. The Christian life is bracketed with these words. “Follow ME.’’ We are not called to follow other Christians, nor to condemn them in their calling, nor to judge them in the way they serve the Lord, we are called to only FOLLOW JESUS..
2 “It’s easier for Him than for me.... he’s rolling in money... I have to work all day’’ or “it’s alright for him he hasn’t got a wife like mine’’ or ‘‘it’s alright for him he hasn’t got the responsibilities I have’’. Such phrases seem to echo a parable Jesus told which culminated in him saying ‘‘let the dead bury the dead, you come and follow me’’
We are all called to be disciples and all discipleship is costly. It is not easy for anyone. If the Lord seemingly calls someone to an easy life, or a prosperous life and we are called to a hard or poor life, we must not let that either separate us from the One who has privileged us with His call, nor to separate us from fellowship in prayer and love for the other disciples in what may seem to be an easier call. Indeed there is every possibility that we could be wrong. Someone else’s “calling” might not be an easier calling, it might just be our perception of what seems to be easier. There is a very interesting parable in Matt ch. 20. Verse 15 is a very powerful verse. ‘‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with my own things’’. In this parable every worker got the same wages though some worked a lot harder and longer than others. This gave rise to envious objections from some who thought they were being treated unfairly. Likewise today, it is not for us to dictate the terms of our calling, nor the programme of our service, nor the rewards we receive in our work for God. All these things are his prerogative, and even the worst conditions of employment comprise a great privilege, and an honour to be in the service of the King of Kings. More lessons on Serving God are to follow.
So in summary, let us make sure no root of bitterness or envy sets in against our brethren who might have a different calling to ourselves and certainly let no spirit of resentment arise to separate us from our Lord.
Therefore here are two small rules for all to follow ;
1. Know your own particular calling. gift or ministry; Remain in that calling, and do it only unto Him .
2. Accept others who may be called to a different form of service, Count yourselves as similarly blessed & privileged people, to be a servant of God. Never come under the condemnation of the scripture in Romans ch. 14. ‘‘who made you a judge of another man’s servant.?’’
Finally, regarding John the Baptist we read that in his dilemma he sent two of his followers to question Jesus personally, and ask if he was really the Messiah, promised in the Old Testament. The reply of Jesus is worthy of contemplation;
Matt 11:4-6
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see:
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Jesus quoted from Isaiah, where we read of many of the things the Messiah would do. But the prophesies about opening prisons and setting captives free, Jesus deliberately omitted and replaced it with "blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me."
Sometimes we can stumble when we think that God is not fulfilling his promises as we think he ought.
John the Baptist was the "best man" under the old Covenant. But Jesus said that the least in His Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist. This is an amazing statement, especially when you equate John with Moses, Abraham, Job, Daniel etc. The least in the Kingdom, under the New Covenant is greater than any under the Old. John is indeed as a best man at a wedding. Jesus confesses to being the bridegroom, and those in the Kingdom constitute the Bride, so it is not difficult to see what Jesus meant when he inferred that the bride is of far greater importance than the Best Man. John's understanding of this prompted him to say; "He must increase, and I must decrease."
It is recorded that John was "a burning and a shining light." There can be no shining without burning, and if we see to the burning God will see to the shining.
When the fire fell at Pentecost it burnt up the lives, hopes and personal ambitions of the disciples.
So remember before you develop great fantasies about how wonderful it would be for the fire of the Holy Ghost to fall on you, ponder on what constitutes the fuel to keep it burning.
Much could be said of John the Baptist, as indeed it has in the many thousands of books written of this most noble servant of God. We need to concern ourselves mainly with the aspects of service rather than John himself. As you well know the church is a body and we need to look no further than our own body to see how the church ought to function. It is a perfect illustration, yea rather an expression of the mind of God concerning his cherished possession, the church.
The most important feature of an active body is its unity. It is easy for the different members of the body to be in harmony if the body is dead or asleep. There is plenty of unity in a cemetery. But when the body is active then millions of muscle actions and reactions take place in one day. How is it all co-ordinated.? It is all co-ordinated by the head, which controls every single muscle and member by way of the nervous system. If a hand is carrying a heavy load, for instance, the hand does not begin shouting at the other hand, with insults and exclamations that help is needed. It is simply because the hand is in continual contact with the head that the head is well aware of the strain and immediately will send a command to the other hand to take over. The work is shared and unity maintained because every member is in touch and under the control of the head. We could expand on this even more but much is written in other notes so we will just devote our thoughts to two aspects.
1. For each member to be in co-ordination with the head
2. Each member to be in co-ordination with each other. We are told in scripture that we are ‘workers together, with God.’’ So we need to have a perfect relationship with God and with each other. Our scripture readings are Ps. 13; Matt ch.11 and Malachi ch. 3.
Psalm 13:3 tells us about unity and how beautiful it is. Especially important is the fact that ‘‘there the Lord commanded the blessing’’.
This text was fulfilled surely in Acts ch. 2, when the Holy Ghost blessing fell, for they were ’’ all gathered in one place with one accord’’. Notice the ‘‘all’’ and the ‘‘ones’’. ‘Tis true that God is more willing to bless us than we are to be blessed and the scripture says his eye scans the world up and down looking for people on whose behalf he can show himself strong. What an encouragement that should be for us all. Where the people are right and the conditions are right God will certainly command his blessing. One of the main conditions is unity. This Psalm tells us that for certain. Another condition is Faith. Everything valuable in the kingdom of God is tested. Our faith will be tested and our Unity or love will be tested. It is no good having anything if it breaks as soon as it is tested. Service engineers make a living from things which are made to serve, but which brake down when tested by constant use. Millions of Christians are broken down servants of God. We therefore are looking to John the Baptist to see the test of his faith and unity with God and the One he was called to partner in the service of God.
Matt ch. 11 is our reading for this part of the lesson. Please read it;
In our insulated, comfortable carpeted, spring interior-ed, shake-an-vac world, (article now dated) it is well nigh impossible for us to imagine the depth of pain and feeling endured by John the Baptist in his dark rat-infested, damp cell. He was a man who had spent his life in the wide open spaces of Jordan’s river side. A passionate man of great feelings, who all his life, had sought only to please God. Of all the Jews who looked for their Messiah, none had looked more zealously, more sincerely.
Jesus said no greater man had ever been born. Imagine what pleasure he must have given to God as he looked down from heaven upon this man’s heart. Considering God’s recorded character reference to Job, then surely this must be an even greater accolade.
Yet ironically, in God's economy, such an accolade in scripture is almost a certificate of merit, declaring such folk to be worthy of suffering.
The scriptures declare that God’s ways are past finding out? No way of God is more “past finding out” than the way he treats his servants. No wonder it is hard for us to keep in tune with God and to be at unity with Him. In our everyday life, we base our working relationships on good understanding. For any partnership to work there must be an understanding of each other. Communication is one of the most important aspects of social life and good communication is an absolute necessity for harmonious working together.
This point therefore needs to be well marked and noted;
The Essential Need for a successful relationship is good understanding and communication.
Surely we all recognise this to be a fact of social and domestic life. Men are often heard to quip ‘‘My wife doesn’t understand me.’’ Usually the truth is that the wife understands him only too well and reads him like a book, and would not need three guesses as to who he was saying such a thing.
In business many hours are spent in man management courses trying to get good working relationships, because good communication is vital to all industry. If communication is bad, then understanding breaks down; all must know their relationship to those others in their chain of operation. Often folk are not puzzled at what their partners or associates do, but why they do it. Knowing why leads to good understanding.
Unfortunately, when God acts in a way we don’t understand, that is a sure fire trigger for our self explosive dividing mechanism to burst into motion. For often we are well aware of what God is doing, but not so clear as to why He is doing it. Truly, as Job found out and declared, ‘‘God’s ways are past finding out.’’ Similarly, we also share with Job the oft muttered sigh, ‘‘God alone knows what’s going on’’. If the scripture says we are ‘workers together with God’ then the sooner we realise our working relationship, ‘‘terms and conditions’’, the better. All too often we think working with God is like working with anyone else. Where we expect that they should tell us what they are doing and even discuss with us before hand what they plan to do.
However, with God those things seldom happen and every servant should be aware of this at the outset. John the Baptist could well have struggled for reasons why he had landed up in prison. Why had God allowed this to happen? Where was the evidence that God was still with Him?
May be he had done something wrong. May be after all these years of preparation he had introduced the wrong person. May be Jesus wasn’t the Messiah after all. Not only was his unity with God tested but also His unity with Jesus was also brought into question. They were designated ‘‘workers together’’ for it is God’s usual way of carrying out his operations, to send two workers out to compliment each other. Marriage is such a union. Paul and Silas evangelised in a similar divine pairing. Moses and Aaron also were sent out as a partnership. Unity of purpose and understanding is an essential characteristic of such successful missions.
It is easy to see why John’s unity with Jesus was brought into question; If you read Malachi ch. 3, we see the verses which were the trumpet call to Him. He was “the messenger sent to prepare the way” for the Messiah who was to come. However, from his point of view of this scripture, then the Messiah would surely come with a fiery ministry. He could not understand why Jesus was not fulfilling the ministry which he, (John) thought he should have been fulfilling. In our every day language, he would no doubt say ‘‘That is no way for the Messiah to act’’.
Yet from our point of view today it is easy for us to see how John and Jesus complemented each other, like Elijah & Elisha. For John was the last prophet under the law. The law that had nothing else to give to man but condemnation and judgement. But as surely as the law was given by Moses, so Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. To fully appreciate the difference in these two ministries one would have to imagine a situation where someone opened a fairground on a Sunday, and yet professed to be a Christian.
Anyone with a knowledge of what Moses taught would believe that the word of God was against such behaviour. But if a preacher came along and said ‘‘I know the bible says you should keep the Sabbath day holy, but I say go out and enjoy yourself for God only desires your happiness,’’ Now we all know that Jesus did not say that but He did speak contrary to Moses in similar fashion. Supposing someone broke a window in your house. You then went to this person’s house and broke a window in his house. You would certainly be right to say that you got your permission from the bible, ‘‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’’. No one could deny that you had acted upon the word of God. In the light of that then, perhaps you can see the full import of the words of Jesus which said, ‘‘I know Moses, said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say don’t do that’’. In other words Jesus was apparently over-riding the written word of revelation of God over the previous two thousand years. John came as a separated, tea-total prophet, but Jesus came and ate and drank with sinners, so much so that some of his critics called him a “wine bibber.” but we know critics usually exaggerate. The question obviously arises “Which of them was living according to God’s word?” The answer is ‘‘Both’’. How easy it is to let division come between ourselves and another servant of God simply because they seemed to be called to a different kind of life than one’s own.
In Christian service certain attitudes are commonplace.
1. ‘‘Shouldn’t everyone be doing this as well?’’ (or Why should I be the only one who has to do this ?)
Some follow their call and then spend most of their time preoccupied with criticising other Christians because they don’t seem to be doing the same thing. Personally, I have met fine christian men who felt a particular need to preach in the open air. How sharp at times was their criticism of other Christians ‘‘who” they said “ huddled in churches instead of being outside where the sinners are.’’
In John chap 21, we read where Jesus took Peter to one side and outlined to him his future. It was a hard future predicted for Him. Ultimately Peter would die for His master. He would go the way of the cross. But notice how expressive is the phrase ‘‘And Peter, turning himself about said. ‘‘Lord, what shall this man do?’’ Peter took his eyes off Christ and looked at another disciple and asked what was going to happen to him. Jesus answered abruptly and said as much as, ‘‘what difference does it make, if this chap is still sitting on his backside when I return, you follow me”.
The last words recorded, that Jesus said to Peter were the same as the first. The Christian life is bracketed with these words. “Follow ME.’’ We are not called to follow other Christians, nor to condemn them in their calling, nor to judge them in the way they serve the Lord, we are called to only FOLLOW JESUS..
2 “It’s easier for Him than for me.... he’s rolling in money... I have to work all day’’ or “it’s alright for him he hasn’t got a wife like mine’’ or ‘‘it’s alright for him he hasn’t got the responsibilities I have’’. Such phrases seem to echo a parable Jesus told which culminated in him saying ‘‘let the dead bury the dead, you come and follow me’’
We are all called to be disciples and all discipleship is costly. It is not easy for anyone. If the Lord seemingly calls someone to an easy life, or a prosperous life and we are called to a hard or poor life, we must not let that either separate us from the One who has privileged us with His call, nor to separate us from fellowship in prayer and love for the other disciples in what may seem to be an easier call. Indeed there is every possibility that we could be wrong. Someone else’s “calling” might not be an easier calling, it might just be our perception of what seems to be easier. There is a very interesting parable in Matt ch. 20. Verse 15 is a very powerful verse. ‘‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with my own things’’. In this parable every worker got the same wages though some worked a lot harder and longer than others. This gave rise to envious objections from some who thought they were being treated unfairly. Likewise today, it is not for us to dictate the terms of our calling, nor the programme of our service, nor the rewards we receive in our work for God. All these things are his prerogative, and even the worst conditions of employment comprise a great privilege, and an honour to be in the service of the King of Kings. More lessons on Serving God are to follow.
So in summary, let us make sure no root of bitterness or envy sets in against our brethren who might have a different calling to ourselves and certainly let no spirit of resentment arise to separate us from our Lord.
Therefore here are two small rules for all to follow ;
1. Know your own particular calling. gift or ministry; Remain in that calling, and do it only unto Him .
2. Accept others who may be called to a different form of service, Count yourselves as similarly blessed & privileged people, to be a servant of God. Never come under the condemnation of the scripture in Romans ch. 14. ‘‘who made you a judge of another man’s servant.?’’
Finally, regarding John the Baptist we read that in his dilemma he sent two of his followers to question Jesus personally, and ask if he was really the Messiah, promised in the Old Testament. The reply of Jesus is worthy of contemplation;
Matt 11:4-6
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see:
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Jesus quoted from Isaiah, where we read of many of the things the Messiah would do. But the prophesies about opening prisons and setting captives free, Jesus deliberately omitted and replaced it with "blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me."
Sometimes we can stumble when we think that God is not fulfilling his promises as we think he ought.
John the Baptist was the "best man" under the old Covenant. But Jesus said that the least in His Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist. This is an amazing statement, especially when you equate John with Moses, Abraham, Job, Daniel etc. The least in the Kingdom, under the New Covenant is greater than any under the Old. John is indeed as a best man at a wedding. Jesus confesses to being the bridegroom, and those in the Kingdom constitute the Bride, so it is not difficult to see what Jesus meant when he inferred that the bride is of far greater importance than the Best Man. John's understanding of this prompted him to say; "He must increase, and I must decrease."
It is recorded that John was "a burning and a shining light." There can be no shining without burning, and if we see to the burning God will see to the shining.
When the fire fell at Pentecost it burnt up the lives, hopes and personal ambitions of the disciples.
So remember before you develop great fantasies about how wonderful it would be for the fire of the Holy Ghost to fall on you, ponder on what constitutes the fuel to keep it burning.
CONFLICT. The Temptation;
We saw within the first circle that the moment God announced His intentions, Hell awoke and arose to attempt to stop the plans of God progressing towards fruition. In the first circle Herod was the Satanic instrument which was used to try to snuff out the life of God’s Son. Similarly, he seeks to intervene in the Service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, this attack is far more subtle and on a different level altogether, than the blatant display of anger at Bethlehem. Also no doubt, Satan had tried every trick in the book, and tested Jesus in every way possible during his time living in Nazareth, but he had failed to seduce Jesus as he did Adam. Satan would be well aware of his failure within this realm, where he had normally been successful with men. However, public life is very different from home and domestic life, and the temptations are equally as different. In all probability, Satan would have been non too confident of getting Jesus to withdraw His commitment to the service of Jehovah. Therefore, the temptation was not to stop Jesus serving God, but rather to render it ineffective. As this ploy is blatantly successful today, you can be sure that Jesus underwent the same temptations to which all too many fall, who set out with wonderful intentions of serving God. One of the main differences between public life and private life is that in private, one deals with or lives with family and chosen friends, but in public service there is no control over the type of people who might take up one’s time and energy. For example, in this outer circle of human relationships, (public life) one discovers others seeking for a large piece of the public’s attention, and they usually look upon anyone else in the public eye as a threat. Unfortunately this is only too true within religious circles. Pride is soon affected and motives soon come into question.
Also as Service (for God) is a process of giving, and there are vast armies of people all willing and aiming to receive whatever one has to give, so strength is at a premium. Sadly many lack such strength, and those who lose such strength usually move ground from service in order to give, to service for what they can receive, So they will derive their strength to give, from stimulating thoughts of the material rewards.
Almost without knowing how it happens, an ulterior motive can become the motivating power. The ideal which motivated the initial stepping out into service, soon becomes a little tarnished, and an attitude of cool professionalism is all that stops one having a nervous breakdown, or a return to lesser things. Something of this characteristic, is the basis of Satan’s attack upon Jesus, but on a broader front, as we will see.
The obvious and popular view of the Temptation is that the three temptations, fall easily into the categories of the Prophetship, Priesthood and Kingship of Jesus. The temptation to turn the stones into bread, has a link with a prophet, because bread is a scriptural illustration of the word of God, and prophets dealt with the word in their ministry. The second Temptation to throw Himself from the temple roof, links Him obviously as a priest. And the temptation to offer him the Kingdoms of the world is just as clearly a link with His kingship.
(The three temptations of Lust of the flesh(bread), pride of life (temple popularity) and lust of the eyes (viewing all the kingdoms of the world) can also be used to frame these three temptations.)
It must be said also that some people have great difficulty in admitting, even to the possibility of Jesus being tempted as we are. For He was Holy and good, and was God. We shall see later, that it is indeed true that God cannot be tempted, but Jesus was truly man and therefore he must have been tempted. Temptation does not denote sin in the tempted rather it denotes the wiliness of the tempter, who has knowledge of human nature. The temptation of Jesus was not a charade. It was not a symbolic gesture towards those of us who are tempted.
Jesus may not have succumbed, but that does not mean He was not the recipient of the most seducing words that Satan could muster.
It is not possible to view the divinity and the humanity of Jesus at the same time. He was not half-God and half-man. He was totally God and totally man.
Just because we cannot understand it in the human brain does not prove its invalidity. We cannot understand where God came from, nor the concept of time and eternity, but they both are valid.
We must look on the humanity and divinity as we would view a two sided coin. We can only see one clearly when we look it full in the face. We cannot view the temptation in the light of his divinity. We must see him as totally man, if we are to see and understand the full aspect of the temptation.
Indeed one could say that the humanity of Jesus is only fully appreciated viewing it from the standpoint of His Divinity, and His divinity is only fully appreciated when viewed from His Humanity. This makes it patently obvious that both aspects of His nature cannot be viewed at the same time.
The gospel writers do the same. Matthew Mark and Luke present him as King, Prophet and Priest, but John presents Jesus as God. Matthew Mark and Luke record the temptation, but John omits it. We have already noted how Jesus used his bible to counteract the tempting words of Satan. One of the answers from scripture that Jesus gave was “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God”.
This scripture means, “Thou shalt not put your God to the test”. God should be believed upon without testing. Jesus as a man needed to obey the word of God, in his relationship with God just like any other man. He was not allowed to put his God to the test.
One must emphasise again that this was not an ordinary everyday temptation, like that common to the man in the street, but rather it was a special temptation common only to those who intend to serve God. This was Satan’s attempt to stop or hinder the Intention of Service. They are the same temptations that Satan uses to make ineffective the service of many a man called into the ministry.
Hopefully, you will discover why much of the ministry today is so pathetically ineffective. First of all let’s look at the relationship of all three temptations together, as we did briefly with prophet, priest and king. You will notice that they are also in three circles of influence with the smallest first then broadening out to a greater sphere.
For example; Temptation No.1. is private and personal where only Jesus is involved- his appetite.
Temptation No. 2. involves the temple and his coming to the Jews to whom He was sent.
Temptation No. 3. takes in the broader circle of the whole world.
This “three circle “ pattern is found regularly and consistently throughout scripture. More of this is mentioned in the larger version of this writing.
Anyone seeking to serve God will be tempted along these very same lines, through the very thoughts of their mind and the very best intentions of their heart.
Let’s examine the evidence;
The circumstances leading up to the Temptation were these; Jesus had left home. He had left his job and his source of income. After being baptised he went into the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days and forty nights. He was preparing himself for the ministry.
Notice that he was not tempted till after the fast was over. During the time of fasting spiritual things would have been predominant. His appetite for food would have been conquered after the first dozen days. But at the end of the spiritual exercise, he ‘‘began to feel hungry’’. Therefore, we can appreciate that after the spiritual experience he came down to earth so to speak, from the spiritual, back to the natural. He felt the human necessity to eat. His first thought would be to find something to eat, but the question was where? He would normally have gone home to his family, but now he had no family. He had left home. Where was he to get his food from henceforth?
Knowing the faithfulness of the God who had called Him, surely His first thought would be that God would provide. He had read and believed the story of God’s faithfulness in providing for the whole Jewish nation, throughout the forty years they spent in the wilderness.
Perhaps he thought that right there and then God would provide manna as he did in the wilderness for the Israelites. We can well imagine that his eyes surveyed the barren land anticipating this possibility.
But those stones which at first may have looked like small loaves were indeed stones. Then the devil stepped in, subtly suggesting that He should try turning them into bread.
Of course, Jesus being the Son of God could easily have done such a miracle. He had the power, even though he had never used it. This made very fertile soil for the first temptation.
IF...IF... you really are the son of God. We remember that Jesus lived by faith alone. He had only his mother’s testimony and his faith in his bible to bring the assurance of the Spirit, concerning his divine identity. If there was any lingering doubt Satan was about to find out. He offered the Lord Jesus a great opportunity to prove to himself the reality of his being. One can understand the human desire to know such confirmation. He could there and then have produced his own food. That is of course if he was the Son of God. “But” you say, “of course he was and He was certain He was. For even at the age of twelve he knew he was the Son of God”. But such thoughts beg the question - How did he know and when was he fully convinced? Also if it was a real temptation, why was the devil questioning His assurance of who He was, if He was fully convinced. For it to have been a real temptation it could be argued that this assurance had not yet come to a perfect fullness.
In John ch. 13 v.3. we read ‘Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God and went to God;......’
From this full statement of His assurance concerning who he was, we are made aware that His assurance had grown, and at the time recorded in John 13, He was fully convinced. But this statement comes almost at the end of his ministry. That He was the Son of God would have been first muted to him from His mother. The inside assurance of the Spirit, would be in so far as he believed her words and the bible. As his knowledge grew and his faith grew so the assurance grew. If faith grows according to how we obey then because he was still in the process of obedience, we can say that he was still in the process of assurance growth. At the age of twelve he made great statements about who He believed he was, nevertheless the temptations of the proceeding years would be intended to test His faith in what He believed about Himself. When Satan said ‘If you are the Son of God?’ it would not have been the first time he had heard that said. In his earlier trials he would have heard, ‘If you are the Son of God, then why is God allowing you to suffer etc.’ But never had he been pushed to prove it in such a manner. What then was the manner here that made it different. Well, things were surely different now. He had left his job for God’s service. Surely God did not expect him to live on nothing. He would have to eat during the years of ministry. So why not use his powers for such occasions. It would all be for the work of God in the end. Would it not?
Furthermore, he had never tried out any of His super-powers to prove to himself that he was someone special, nor had he ever used them selfishly for himself. Please remember as you ponder the situation that we must question whether or not it was a real temptation. Was he tempted or was the devil wasting His time? Indeed was he never really tempted? Because if temptation bounces off you like water off a duck’s back, you can hardly say you have been tempted in all points like every other man. Such temptation would be a charade. So was this a temptation or a charade?
Was there never a lingering doubt still in Jesus about who he was. Was there never an inkling in the Son of Man to try out any powers he might have, in private; just in case when he tried them out in public, he was left with egg on His face? Was this temptation as recorded and a matter of fifteen seconds conversation, or is the record an inspired summary of days of testing and meditation? Some of those answers we do not know for certain but we will surely acknowledge that the thought to try out His powers must have occurred to him at sometime in His life. And the natural human need at that moment in the wilderness was fertile ground in which Satan could plant the seed of temptation to use them for Himself. He surely had justification to do so. But the first thing we must recognise in this temptation, is that He did not use His powers for his own needs, in other words;
He did not please Himself.
When Jesus had no food he went Hungry. He turned no stones to bread, nor turned rocks into pillows for a good night’s rest in the mountains. What link then would this have in the ministry today? How can we see Satan successfully tempting people with the same thoughts today in the ministry?
This is the first temptation in the ministry. Whether it be a Sunday school class, or a chaplainship in the front line of war.
The first temptation in ministry is to use that ministry for one’s own satisfaction. The service of God is not easy. It is an outflowing life. The Apostle Paul gives us a very clear picture of the minister of God, in his second epistle to the Corinthians. The hardships he endured for the sake of the gospel never seemed to end. It can be said that there are ‘‘perks’’ in the ministry, especially the modern-day ministry. To the natural mind, the hours are good. Then, there is that immediate lift into the upper circles of the class system, and in general, great public esteem. People are usually exceptionally polite, to one’s face at least. If you are a miner or a decorator, try going into a shop, or a hospital in your overalls. The next day put on a clerical collar, and see which reaction from shopkeepers and hospital staff you prefer. After a few years of such esteem you would soon begin to think that you were special. When addressed by such titles as ‘‘Pastor’’ or ‘‘Reverend’’, or ‘‘your Grace’’, it is difficult not to think that you really are special. It is a sucker punch, energised by personal ego, that leaves most ministers totally flattened and incapable of being used in the real service of God. It is well to realise that the term ‘pastor’ is an office and not a title. We would not think to call Jack Jones the decorator, “Decorator Jones,” so why call a pastor which denotes his employment Pastor Jones. There is a temptation for those in the ministry to take this as a title that builds up their self esteem.
As mentioned earlier the service of God is an outpouring ministry. Spend and be spent, is the reality of God’s genuine servants. Sometimes we think how wonderful it was for the likes of Simon Peter and James and John, simple fishermen, to have the fire of the Holy Ghost to fall upon them. Lest we forget, the fire burned, and it needed fuel to make it burn, and guess what the fuel was? Yes! It was Simon. James and John. That was the end of their life in terms of personal selfishness. No longer did they go where they felt like going, or do or say what their whims and fancies dictated.
Many in the ministry today present a sad picture of those who have fallen to this temptation to please oneself.
No doubt they first started out full of great ideals of sacrifice and service but the temptation to think more highly of oneself than one ought to, doesn’t come from a visible devil with horns and a green tail, but comes mainly from social pressure and the attitude of people to those who are looked upon as "men of God"
Soon, some begin to believe that they are superior, and before long anyone who refuses to acknowledge it, is promptly told to remember their place. Thankfully, nothing of this attitude was ever seen in Jesus.
From the first temptation we recognise that in the service of God, Jesus did not please himself:
From the second temptation we recognise that he did not please the people.
From the third temptation we discern that he did not compromise with evil.
Temptation Number 2. The temptation to please the people:
He did not please the people
We can see how this temptation is a progression from the first. Having settled the inner battle and erected a true personal altar of commitment to God, the actual mechanics of reaching the people to whom one is called becomes uppermost in the thoughts. The people must receive, otherwise there is no point in seeking to impart. This sincere and true motive gives rise to this temptation. Jesus desired to reach the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
It is quite possible that amongst the Jews to whom Jesus was to minister there was an appetite for popular prophecies. For there were hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament which would make the Messiah recognisable to the Jews. Recognition would be an essential pre-requisite to acceptance. Having received Him, they would have allowed him to reign over them. Surely that would have meant a successful ministry for Jesus, had that been accomplished.
Possibly, perhaps, there was a popular conception at the time, of the prophecy in Malachi which says ‘He will suddenly come to His temple’. What if while the Jews were in their temple praying for the Messiah, suddenly through the roof there came this gift from heaven. Would they not then receive him without question, thus setting a firm foundation for an effective ministry amongst them. For that is what the Jews would have wanted - a miraculous sign from heaven. But was it what God wanted? The fact that the thought probably occurred to Jesus naturally is arguable.
In our own human situation we can quite see its probability. However the scripture clearly tells us that it was a thought promoted by Satan. The power of the temptation was promoted by scripture. For there was without doubt a promise in the word of God for protection from harm and danger, even to the extent of banging one’s foot against a rock. ‘He shall give His angels charge concerning you, lest you dash your foot against a stone”. What a promise! Are not the promises there to be appropriated by faith? Then surely one must act upon them.
If all service must be an act of faith, this would be the ideal way to go about it. It was a real temptation. It is certainly a temptation to mere mortals like ourselves. Why then did Jesus recognise that this was not the way of God.? Firstly, we have to understand that just because the bible says God will do something, there is no way that we have the right to expect God to do it, just because it is written. To ask God to prove himself by keeping such a promise is to test or tempt God. He does not have to prove himself. Men are expected to believe without proof. Why then is the promise there? you may ask. The answer lies in the fact that the Word and the Spirit are like Siamese twins. One without the other is invalid or dead. It is only when the Spirit gives one the promise will it be found to be unfailing. The Bible is the sword of the Spirit. The devil knows the scriptures as well as any, and is always seeking to break our faith in God by offering promises or statements from God’s word for us to test, or doubt. Somewhat paradoxically, on such occasions it is the Devil's will that we fulfil the scripture rather than God's will.
On such occasions, the word will fail. God cannot be called up to obey our whims and fancies, merely because He has said He is able to fulfil such whims and fancies. Given the situation where it is His will, then the Spirit will make that known to the believer, not the doubter looking for proof; - ‘‘If thou art the Son of God...’’ Many a servant of God has found himself up the gum tree of ‘‘failed promises,’’ where it seemed that God did not fulfil what he seemed to have promised. There can be only one answer on such occasions, and that is that the Spirit did not instigate the trusting of such promises.
Another aspect of the this temptation lies in the fact that we are now in the ‘‘second circle,’’ which surrounds the personal self. It involves our social circle. The life that is bundled with those to whom we are called to minister.
If there are pressures and temptations from human desires within, then there are certainly such pressures from those with whom we associate each day. Social pressures account for a great percentage of our actions. Partly because the inner circle is fed from the outer one. For example, if I am popular then my inner self is gratified. My tendency to ‘‘go with the flow,’’ or ‘‘team with the stream” is mainly a self preservation exercise. Within the ministry, the problem is that such weakness can be renamed as a strength. Tact, diplomacy, politeness, good manners, are all the banners of society held up to pressurise the servant of God from preaching his light into darkness. While it might be true that preachers are too long-winded, for example, there is no justification for a minister to be pressurised into a five minute sermon. Especially if the reason is that the congregation is so worldly minded, that they have no appetite for the bread that comes down from heaven but desire to get home for the only food they appreciate. One should see now how important it is for a servant of the Lord to win the first temptation battle, for if he doesn’t, then he is predisposed to fall to the second. For one reason, he will have nothing spiritual to give, merely the words of man, and two, he will seek his own social comfort, and if the congregation say, ‘‘keep it to five minutes,’’ he will not want the parish council members or deacons, wagging their fingers at the door. At the same time, nor can you blame the congregation if they don’t want to hear the wafflings of the human mind. When a servant is right with God then his ministry will be as bread from heaven. Most people attend church because of the spiritual ‘‘tug’’ within their soul. That same soul will soon get an appetite for the food that strengthens and sustains. Some churches seldom have any real ministry from the word of God. It has been known for “Road Safety”, “First Aid”, or “politics” to be on the menu, rather than any real spiritual food. Remember that Jesus said; ‘‘I have given them Thy Word’’. He never preached his own opinions. He preached the word of God. Plagiarism is essential in the ministry of the word.
No-one desires to be unpopular, and the human vessels which God chooses are no exception and hearers must be attracted.
However the source of the strength in service is the joy that comes with it. But one must be careful to assess honestly if the the joy is a natural one which comes from the fount of popularity, rather than the joy of knowing one is doing the will of God.
We saw within the first circle that the moment God announced His intentions, Hell awoke and arose to attempt to stop the plans of God progressing towards fruition. In the first circle Herod was the Satanic instrument which was used to try to snuff out the life of God’s Son. Similarly, he seeks to intervene in the Service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, this attack is far more subtle and on a different level altogether, than the blatant display of anger at Bethlehem. Also no doubt, Satan had tried every trick in the book, and tested Jesus in every way possible during his time living in Nazareth, but he had failed to seduce Jesus as he did Adam. Satan would be well aware of his failure within this realm, where he had normally been successful with men. However, public life is very different from home and domestic life, and the temptations are equally as different. In all probability, Satan would have been non too confident of getting Jesus to withdraw His commitment to the service of Jehovah. Therefore, the temptation was not to stop Jesus serving God, but rather to render it ineffective. As this ploy is blatantly successful today, you can be sure that Jesus underwent the same temptations to which all too many fall, who set out with wonderful intentions of serving God. One of the main differences between public life and private life is that in private, one deals with or lives with family and chosen friends, but in public service there is no control over the type of people who might take up one’s time and energy. For example, in this outer circle of human relationships, (public life) one discovers others seeking for a large piece of the public’s attention, and they usually look upon anyone else in the public eye as a threat. Unfortunately this is only too true within religious circles. Pride is soon affected and motives soon come into question.
Also as Service (for God) is a process of giving, and there are vast armies of people all willing and aiming to receive whatever one has to give, so strength is at a premium. Sadly many lack such strength, and those who lose such strength usually move ground from service in order to give, to service for what they can receive, So they will derive their strength to give, from stimulating thoughts of the material rewards.
Almost without knowing how it happens, an ulterior motive can become the motivating power. The ideal which motivated the initial stepping out into service, soon becomes a little tarnished, and an attitude of cool professionalism is all that stops one having a nervous breakdown, or a return to lesser things. Something of this characteristic, is the basis of Satan’s attack upon Jesus, but on a broader front, as we will see.
The obvious and popular view of the Temptation is that the three temptations, fall easily into the categories of the Prophetship, Priesthood and Kingship of Jesus. The temptation to turn the stones into bread, has a link with a prophet, because bread is a scriptural illustration of the word of God, and prophets dealt with the word in their ministry. The second Temptation to throw Himself from the temple roof, links Him obviously as a priest. And the temptation to offer him the Kingdoms of the world is just as clearly a link with His kingship.
(The three temptations of Lust of the flesh(bread), pride of life (temple popularity) and lust of the eyes (viewing all the kingdoms of the world) can also be used to frame these three temptations.)
It must be said also that some people have great difficulty in admitting, even to the possibility of Jesus being tempted as we are. For He was Holy and good, and was God. We shall see later, that it is indeed true that God cannot be tempted, but Jesus was truly man and therefore he must have been tempted. Temptation does not denote sin in the tempted rather it denotes the wiliness of the tempter, who has knowledge of human nature. The temptation of Jesus was not a charade. It was not a symbolic gesture towards those of us who are tempted.
Jesus may not have succumbed, but that does not mean He was not the recipient of the most seducing words that Satan could muster.
It is not possible to view the divinity and the humanity of Jesus at the same time. He was not half-God and half-man. He was totally God and totally man.
Just because we cannot understand it in the human brain does not prove its invalidity. We cannot understand where God came from, nor the concept of time and eternity, but they both are valid.
We must look on the humanity and divinity as we would view a two sided coin. We can only see one clearly when we look it full in the face. We cannot view the temptation in the light of his divinity. We must see him as totally man, if we are to see and understand the full aspect of the temptation.
Indeed one could say that the humanity of Jesus is only fully appreciated viewing it from the standpoint of His Divinity, and His divinity is only fully appreciated when viewed from His Humanity. This makes it patently obvious that both aspects of His nature cannot be viewed at the same time.
The gospel writers do the same. Matthew Mark and Luke present him as King, Prophet and Priest, but John presents Jesus as God. Matthew Mark and Luke record the temptation, but John omits it. We have already noted how Jesus used his bible to counteract the tempting words of Satan. One of the answers from scripture that Jesus gave was “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God”.
This scripture means, “Thou shalt not put your God to the test”. God should be believed upon without testing. Jesus as a man needed to obey the word of God, in his relationship with God just like any other man. He was not allowed to put his God to the test.
One must emphasise again that this was not an ordinary everyday temptation, like that common to the man in the street, but rather it was a special temptation common only to those who intend to serve God. This was Satan’s attempt to stop or hinder the Intention of Service. They are the same temptations that Satan uses to make ineffective the service of many a man called into the ministry.
Hopefully, you will discover why much of the ministry today is so pathetically ineffective. First of all let’s look at the relationship of all three temptations together, as we did briefly with prophet, priest and king. You will notice that they are also in three circles of influence with the smallest first then broadening out to a greater sphere.
For example; Temptation No.1. is private and personal where only Jesus is involved- his appetite.
Temptation No. 2. involves the temple and his coming to the Jews to whom He was sent.
Temptation No. 3. takes in the broader circle of the whole world.
This “three circle “ pattern is found regularly and consistently throughout scripture. More of this is mentioned in the larger version of this writing.
Anyone seeking to serve God will be tempted along these very same lines, through the very thoughts of their mind and the very best intentions of their heart.
Let’s examine the evidence;
The circumstances leading up to the Temptation were these; Jesus had left home. He had left his job and his source of income. After being baptised he went into the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days and forty nights. He was preparing himself for the ministry.
Notice that he was not tempted till after the fast was over. During the time of fasting spiritual things would have been predominant. His appetite for food would have been conquered after the first dozen days. But at the end of the spiritual exercise, he ‘‘began to feel hungry’’. Therefore, we can appreciate that after the spiritual experience he came down to earth so to speak, from the spiritual, back to the natural. He felt the human necessity to eat. His first thought would be to find something to eat, but the question was where? He would normally have gone home to his family, but now he had no family. He had left home. Where was he to get his food from henceforth?
Knowing the faithfulness of the God who had called Him, surely His first thought would be that God would provide. He had read and believed the story of God’s faithfulness in providing for the whole Jewish nation, throughout the forty years they spent in the wilderness.
Perhaps he thought that right there and then God would provide manna as he did in the wilderness for the Israelites. We can well imagine that his eyes surveyed the barren land anticipating this possibility.
But those stones which at first may have looked like small loaves were indeed stones. Then the devil stepped in, subtly suggesting that He should try turning them into bread.
Of course, Jesus being the Son of God could easily have done such a miracle. He had the power, even though he had never used it. This made very fertile soil for the first temptation.
IF...IF... you really are the son of God. We remember that Jesus lived by faith alone. He had only his mother’s testimony and his faith in his bible to bring the assurance of the Spirit, concerning his divine identity. If there was any lingering doubt Satan was about to find out. He offered the Lord Jesus a great opportunity to prove to himself the reality of his being. One can understand the human desire to know such confirmation. He could there and then have produced his own food. That is of course if he was the Son of God. “But” you say, “of course he was and He was certain He was. For even at the age of twelve he knew he was the Son of God”. But such thoughts beg the question - How did he know and when was he fully convinced? Also if it was a real temptation, why was the devil questioning His assurance of who He was, if He was fully convinced. For it to have been a real temptation it could be argued that this assurance had not yet come to a perfect fullness.
In John ch. 13 v.3. we read ‘Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God and went to God;......’
From this full statement of His assurance concerning who he was, we are made aware that His assurance had grown, and at the time recorded in John 13, He was fully convinced. But this statement comes almost at the end of his ministry. That He was the Son of God would have been first muted to him from His mother. The inside assurance of the Spirit, would be in so far as he believed her words and the bible. As his knowledge grew and his faith grew so the assurance grew. If faith grows according to how we obey then because he was still in the process of obedience, we can say that he was still in the process of assurance growth. At the age of twelve he made great statements about who He believed he was, nevertheless the temptations of the proceeding years would be intended to test His faith in what He believed about Himself. When Satan said ‘If you are the Son of God?’ it would not have been the first time he had heard that said. In his earlier trials he would have heard, ‘If you are the Son of God, then why is God allowing you to suffer etc.’ But never had he been pushed to prove it in such a manner. What then was the manner here that made it different. Well, things were surely different now. He had left his job for God’s service. Surely God did not expect him to live on nothing. He would have to eat during the years of ministry. So why not use his powers for such occasions. It would all be for the work of God in the end. Would it not?
Furthermore, he had never tried out any of His super-powers to prove to himself that he was someone special, nor had he ever used them selfishly for himself. Please remember as you ponder the situation that we must question whether or not it was a real temptation. Was he tempted or was the devil wasting His time? Indeed was he never really tempted? Because if temptation bounces off you like water off a duck’s back, you can hardly say you have been tempted in all points like every other man. Such temptation would be a charade. So was this a temptation or a charade?
Was there never a lingering doubt still in Jesus about who he was. Was there never an inkling in the Son of Man to try out any powers he might have, in private; just in case when he tried them out in public, he was left with egg on His face? Was this temptation as recorded and a matter of fifteen seconds conversation, or is the record an inspired summary of days of testing and meditation? Some of those answers we do not know for certain but we will surely acknowledge that the thought to try out His powers must have occurred to him at sometime in His life. And the natural human need at that moment in the wilderness was fertile ground in which Satan could plant the seed of temptation to use them for Himself. He surely had justification to do so. But the first thing we must recognise in this temptation, is that He did not use His powers for his own needs, in other words;
He did not please Himself.
When Jesus had no food he went Hungry. He turned no stones to bread, nor turned rocks into pillows for a good night’s rest in the mountains. What link then would this have in the ministry today? How can we see Satan successfully tempting people with the same thoughts today in the ministry?
This is the first temptation in the ministry. Whether it be a Sunday school class, or a chaplainship in the front line of war.
The first temptation in ministry is to use that ministry for one’s own satisfaction. The service of God is not easy. It is an outflowing life. The Apostle Paul gives us a very clear picture of the minister of God, in his second epistle to the Corinthians. The hardships he endured for the sake of the gospel never seemed to end. It can be said that there are ‘‘perks’’ in the ministry, especially the modern-day ministry. To the natural mind, the hours are good. Then, there is that immediate lift into the upper circles of the class system, and in general, great public esteem. People are usually exceptionally polite, to one’s face at least. If you are a miner or a decorator, try going into a shop, or a hospital in your overalls. The next day put on a clerical collar, and see which reaction from shopkeepers and hospital staff you prefer. After a few years of such esteem you would soon begin to think that you were special. When addressed by such titles as ‘‘Pastor’’ or ‘‘Reverend’’, or ‘‘your Grace’’, it is difficult not to think that you really are special. It is a sucker punch, energised by personal ego, that leaves most ministers totally flattened and incapable of being used in the real service of God. It is well to realise that the term ‘pastor’ is an office and not a title. We would not think to call Jack Jones the decorator, “Decorator Jones,” so why call a pastor which denotes his employment Pastor Jones. There is a temptation for those in the ministry to take this as a title that builds up their self esteem.
As mentioned earlier the service of God is an outpouring ministry. Spend and be spent, is the reality of God’s genuine servants. Sometimes we think how wonderful it was for the likes of Simon Peter and James and John, simple fishermen, to have the fire of the Holy Ghost to fall upon them. Lest we forget, the fire burned, and it needed fuel to make it burn, and guess what the fuel was? Yes! It was Simon. James and John. That was the end of their life in terms of personal selfishness. No longer did they go where they felt like going, or do or say what their whims and fancies dictated.
Many in the ministry today present a sad picture of those who have fallen to this temptation to please oneself.
No doubt they first started out full of great ideals of sacrifice and service but the temptation to think more highly of oneself than one ought to, doesn’t come from a visible devil with horns and a green tail, but comes mainly from social pressure and the attitude of people to those who are looked upon as "men of God"
Soon, some begin to believe that they are superior, and before long anyone who refuses to acknowledge it, is promptly told to remember their place. Thankfully, nothing of this attitude was ever seen in Jesus.
From the first temptation we recognise that in the service of God, Jesus did not please himself:
From the second temptation we recognise that he did not please the people.
From the third temptation we discern that he did not compromise with evil.
Temptation Number 2. The temptation to please the people:
He did not please the people
We can see how this temptation is a progression from the first. Having settled the inner battle and erected a true personal altar of commitment to God, the actual mechanics of reaching the people to whom one is called becomes uppermost in the thoughts. The people must receive, otherwise there is no point in seeking to impart. This sincere and true motive gives rise to this temptation. Jesus desired to reach the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
It is quite possible that amongst the Jews to whom Jesus was to minister there was an appetite for popular prophecies. For there were hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament which would make the Messiah recognisable to the Jews. Recognition would be an essential pre-requisite to acceptance. Having received Him, they would have allowed him to reign over them. Surely that would have meant a successful ministry for Jesus, had that been accomplished.
Possibly, perhaps, there was a popular conception at the time, of the prophecy in Malachi which says ‘He will suddenly come to His temple’. What if while the Jews were in their temple praying for the Messiah, suddenly through the roof there came this gift from heaven. Would they not then receive him without question, thus setting a firm foundation for an effective ministry amongst them. For that is what the Jews would have wanted - a miraculous sign from heaven. But was it what God wanted? The fact that the thought probably occurred to Jesus naturally is arguable.
In our own human situation we can quite see its probability. However the scripture clearly tells us that it was a thought promoted by Satan. The power of the temptation was promoted by scripture. For there was without doubt a promise in the word of God for protection from harm and danger, even to the extent of banging one’s foot against a rock. ‘He shall give His angels charge concerning you, lest you dash your foot against a stone”. What a promise! Are not the promises there to be appropriated by faith? Then surely one must act upon them.
If all service must be an act of faith, this would be the ideal way to go about it. It was a real temptation. It is certainly a temptation to mere mortals like ourselves. Why then did Jesus recognise that this was not the way of God.? Firstly, we have to understand that just because the bible says God will do something, there is no way that we have the right to expect God to do it, just because it is written. To ask God to prove himself by keeping such a promise is to test or tempt God. He does not have to prove himself. Men are expected to believe without proof. Why then is the promise there? you may ask. The answer lies in the fact that the Word and the Spirit are like Siamese twins. One without the other is invalid or dead. It is only when the Spirit gives one the promise will it be found to be unfailing. The Bible is the sword of the Spirit. The devil knows the scriptures as well as any, and is always seeking to break our faith in God by offering promises or statements from God’s word for us to test, or doubt. Somewhat paradoxically, on such occasions it is the Devil's will that we fulfil the scripture rather than God's will.
On such occasions, the word will fail. God cannot be called up to obey our whims and fancies, merely because He has said He is able to fulfil such whims and fancies. Given the situation where it is His will, then the Spirit will make that known to the believer, not the doubter looking for proof; - ‘‘If thou art the Son of God...’’ Many a servant of God has found himself up the gum tree of ‘‘failed promises,’’ where it seemed that God did not fulfil what he seemed to have promised. There can be only one answer on such occasions, and that is that the Spirit did not instigate the trusting of such promises.
Another aspect of the this temptation lies in the fact that we are now in the ‘‘second circle,’’ which surrounds the personal self. It involves our social circle. The life that is bundled with those to whom we are called to minister.
If there are pressures and temptations from human desires within, then there are certainly such pressures from those with whom we associate each day. Social pressures account for a great percentage of our actions. Partly because the inner circle is fed from the outer one. For example, if I am popular then my inner self is gratified. My tendency to ‘‘go with the flow,’’ or ‘‘team with the stream” is mainly a self preservation exercise. Within the ministry, the problem is that such weakness can be renamed as a strength. Tact, diplomacy, politeness, good manners, are all the banners of society held up to pressurise the servant of God from preaching his light into darkness. While it might be true that preachers are too long-winded, for example, there is no justification for a minister to be pressurised into a five minute sermon. Especially if the reason is that the congregation is so worldly minded, that they have no appetite for the bread that comes down from heaven but desire to get home for the only food they appreciate. One should see now how important it is for a servant of the Lord to win the first temptation battle, for if he doesn’t, then he is predisposed to fall to the second. For one reason, he will have nothing spiritual to give, merely the words of man, and two, he will seek his own social comfort, and if the congregation say, ‘‘keep it to five minutes,’’ he will not want the parish council members or deacons, wagging their fingers at the door. At the same time, nor can you blame the congregation if they don’t want to hear the wafflings of the human mind. When a servant is right with God then his ministry will be as bread from heaven. Most people attend church because of the spiritual ‘‘tug’’ within their soul. That same soul will soon get an appetite for the food that strengthens and sustains. Some churches seldom have any real ministry from the word of God. It has been known for “Road Safety”, “First Aid”, or “politics” to be on the menu, rather than any real spiritual food. Remember that Jesus said; ‘‘I have given them Thy Word’’. He never preached his own opinions. He preached the word of God. Plagiarism is essential in the ministry of the word.
No-one desires to be unpopular, and the human vessels which God chooses are no exception and hearers must be attracted.
However the source of the strength in service is the joy that comes with it. But one must be careful to assess honestly if the the joy is a natural one which comes from the fount of popularity, rather than the joy of knowing one is doing the will of God.
Temptation No. 3. The temptation to compromise with evil. "we may understand this more after reading the next chapter concerning the Gospel of John
He did not compromise with evil.
We come now into the outer circle which effects the world at large. Jesus had a world vision, besides a vision of ministry to those around Him in Palestine. Jesus came to establish a kingdom. It was not to be a kingdom of ivory towers on fluffy clouds, but a kingdom of people. - Asians, Africans, Americans, Europeans and Australasians were the target of the King. He desired to bring them into His Kingdom, and to reign over them. However, every single one of them belonged to the devil. Satan knew that and Jesus made this fact plain when speaking to the Jews, when they claimed that Abraham was their father. ‘‘If Abraham was your father, then you would do the works of your father’. He was inferring that the ‘‘work’’ of Abraham was to believe. He made it clear that what we do by nature, identifies our father. If God is Holy, for example, then men will be holy by nature, if they are truly the children of God. But it is an insult to claim God (or Abraham) as our father if we have a nature opposite to their nature. One does not have to train a child to be naughty, but rather to train it to be good. This proves the above fact. This is only reiterated here because of the great number of people who resent being called a “child of the devil.” The fact remains that we all are, and that the kingdoms of this world belong to Satan. He acquired them when Adam fell. They were under Adam’s authority until then. Therefore if we wanted to paraphrase the temptation concerning the kingdoms of the world we could say; ‘‘Here you are, King Jesus, look at all these people that belong to me, millions upon millions as far as the eye can see. Now I know that you want to set up a kingdom, and you want all these people to belong to you. Then here’s my offer; I will give you every last one of them, if here in this wilderness where no-one can see, you simply bow down in worship before me. If you do that, then every person who has ever lived or will ever live will be called “Christians”. They will testify to belonging to you. They will all be in your kingdom, not mine. All you have to do is bow the knee.’’
Here on a plate, was offered almost everything that Jesus intended to lay down his life for: A kingdom obtained without effort or pain, without suffering or persecution, not only to himself but to his followers for thousands of years to come. What a temptation.!! Why walk when you can take a lift, why stand when you can sit, or have it hard when you can have it easy?
We would be wise to remember this temptation when we see religious programmes on TV, or certain people saying “christian things”. The Devil does not mind what nice things are said about God or Jesus or what so called truth is propagated, as long as He IS RUNNING THE SHOW. For when he is, he is able to add to it all that most powerful of his lying techniques, which is confusion. Their is nothing like confusion to dampen strong belief. “Might be”, “possibly not”, “not necessarily” are all expressions from the Devil’s book of lies.
It matters not how small the seed of confusion is. For example, for over one hundred years the world has read the Authorised version of the bible. It has brought light and salvation to vast continents and millions of people.
Today we can boast of many translations in the last fifty years. Most of them were written to sell. Therefore, it is not surprising that Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and Roman Catholics can all quote from some version of the bible to establish their false beliefs. It is significant to notice that the Koran or Torah have never been modernised. Defenders of these modern versions say that they make the bible easier to understand.
However, in the AV story of Naaman we read that he was captain of the hosts of the King of Syria. But many of the new translations say he was the King of Aram. Would you not think that given the fact that Syria exists today and is familiar to most people that there would be no necessity whatsoever to translate it into Aram. Admittedly the confusion fog soon clears in this case but it does beg a question, Does it not provide some small degree of confusion? How much confusion therefore do you suppose can be caused with the greater and major truths of God’s inspired word? When the AV says “soul”, should it be translated “life”. Are we “body, life and spirit” or “body, soul and spirit”?
This temptation is rife today. Ministers may not bow the knee literally, but they fall to this temptation when they regard everyone to be a child of God by nature. This avoids any rejection by his “church” which may occur if he preached an exclusive message, declaring the necessity to be born again, to enter the kingdom of God.
He did not compromise with evil.
We come now into the outer circle which effects the world at large. Jesus had a world vision, besides a vision of ministry to those around Him in Palestine. Jesus came to establish a kingdom. It was not to be a kingdom of ivory towers on fluffy clouds, but a kingdom of people. - Asians, Africans, Americans, Europeans and Australasians were the target of the King. He desired to bring them into His Kingdom, and to reign over them. However, every single one of them belonged to the devil. Satan knew that and Jesus made this fact plain when speaking to the Jews, when they claimed that Abraham was their father. ‘‘If Abraham was your father, then you would do the works of your father’. He was inferring that the ‘‘work’’ of Abraham was to believe. He made it clear that what we do by nature, identifies our father. If God is Holy, for example, then men will be holy by nature, if they are truly the children of God. But it is an insult to claim God (or Abraham) as our father if we have a nature opposite to their nature. One does not have to train a child to be naughty, but rather to train it to be good. This proves the above fact. This is only reiterated here because of the great number of people who resent being called a “child of the devil.” The fact remains that we all are, and that the kingdoms of this world belong to Satan. He acquired them when Adam fell. They were under Adam’s authority until then. Therefore if we wanted to paraphrase the temptation concerning the kingdoms of the world we could say; ‘‘Here you are, King Jesus, look at all these people that belong to me, millions upon millions as far as the eye can see. Now I know that you want to set up a kingdom, and you want all these people to belong to you. Then here’s my offer; I will give you every last one of them, if here in this wilderness where no-one can see, you simply bow down in worship before me. If you do that, then every person who has ever lived or will ever live will be called “Christians”. They will testify to belonging to you. They will all be in your kingdom, not mine. All you have to do is bow the knee.’’
Here on a plate, was offered almost everything that Jesus intended to lay down his life for: A kingdom obtained without effort or pain, without suffering or persecution, not only to himself but to his followers for thousands of years to come. What a temptation.!! Why walk when you can take a lift, why stand when you can sit, or have it hard when you can have it easy?
We would be wise to remember this temptation when we see religious programmes on TV, or certain people saying “christian things”. The Devil does not mind what nice things are said about God or Jesus or what so called truth is propagated, as long as He IS RUNNING THE SHOW. For when he is, he is able to add to it all that most powerful of his lying techniques, which is confusion. Their is nothing like confusion to dampen strong belief. “Might be”, “possibly not”, “not necessarily” are all expressions from the Devil’s book of lies.
It matters not how small the seed of confusion is. For example, for over one hundred years the world has read the Authorised version of the bible. It has brought light and salvation to vast continents and millions of people.
Today we can boast of many translations in the last fifty years. Most of them were written to sell. Therefore, it is not surprising that Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and Roman Catholics can all quote from some version of the bible to establish their false beliefs. It is significant to notice that the Koran or Torah have never been modernised. Defenders of these modern versions say that they make the bible easier to understand.
However, in the AV story of Naaman we read that he was captain of the hosts of the King of Syria. But many of the new translations say he was the King of Aram. Would you not think that given the fact that Syria exists today and is familiar to most people that there would be no necessity whatsoever to translate it into Aram. Admittedly the confusion fog soon clears in this case but it does beg a question, Does it not provide some small degree of confusion? How much confusion therefore do you suppose can be caused with the greater and major truths of God’s inspired word? When the AV says “soul”, should it be translated “life”. Are we “body, life and spirit” or “body, soul and spirit”?
This temptation is rife today. Ministers may not bow the knee literally, but they fall to this temptation when they regard everyone to be a child of God by nature. This avoids any rejection by his “church” which may occur if he preached an exclusive message, declaring the necessity to be born again, to enter the kingdom of God.
The Gospel of John and The Temptation
John sees and presents Jesus as God, and God cannot be tempted. Therefore the temptation is not in John’s gospel, but it is most certainly in the other three. Then we notice that at the beginning of John’s gospel, where we would expect to read of the temptation, we have three incidents which are omitted from the other three. (as if to take its place!)
They are; 1, The changing of water into wine
2, The cleansing of the temple
3, The visit of Nicodemus to Jesus
Immediately, as though by magic we can see that these three incidents coincide with the three temptations.
1. The temptation to change stones into bread is linked with changing water into wine.
2.The temptation to suddenly come to the temple as the scripture foretold, is easily linked to the cleansing of the temple.
3. The conversation with Nicodemus concerning the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil, has a direct link with Satan’s offer of a ready - made kingdom.
Let us quickly equate them again. In temptation number one, we see that there did in fact come a time for Jesus to do exactly what Satan tempted him to do in the wilderness. He changed water into wine, but it was not for himself, but was for people who were in need. Significantly, it was his first miracle, as it was his first temptation.
Secondly, the coming to the temple, was a fulfilment of the prophecy that He would come suddenly to His temple. Noticeably, he did not please the people. Furthermore, the promise of God’s protection, with angels guarding over him, would no doubt provide the courage it took to cleanse it. For it was as good as throwing himself off the pinnacle without hurting himself. It is quite amazing that one man could single-handedly drive out these hard handed businessmen and all their wares and cattle. One would have thought that some retaliation would have taken
place. If placed in the same situation we would certainly have considered the possibility of violence breaking out and the probability of being hurt, even if only butted by a goat. His protecting angel, as prophesied, kept him safe as he did the will of God. Incidentally some folk express the opinion that Jesus drove people out with a whip, but not necessarily, the whip was used only on the animals.
Most significantly, he did not foster any popularity by his ministry on this occasion. He had conquered that temptation in the wilderness. Then finally and most wonderfully, he spoke to Nicodemus about HIS Kingdom. Some would argue (and it is certainly within the bounds of possibility) that Nicodemus could be described as “the best in the devil’s kingdom”.
Jesus clearly and firmly said to him, ‘‘marvel not that I say (even) to you that to get into my kingdom, you have to be born into it, so even you , must be born again.”
The kingdoms of the world which belong to Satan are those born in the flesh. Those in the Kingdom of Jesus are born of the Spirit. Probably the greatest damnation on the ministry is that this message of the kingdom has certainly got lost or diluted within the ministry. We have multitudes of people who call themselves ‘‘Christian’’, who have never been born again. They were apparently ‘‘born Christian’’ or they act Christian. But one can imitate whoever we like but it does not makes us into them. No man is born a Christian. ‘‘That which is of the flesh is flesh’’ Nice flesh, good-looking flesh, kind flesh, sophisticated flesh, religious flesh, - it makes not a scrap of difference, it is all flesh. It is unchangeably of the devil. How often in our churches today, will an educated man of some social or professional esteem, such as Nicodemus, enter into a church and be received as one of the flock immediately. Before long they are on committees and councils, even throwing in their two-pennyworth in the preaching, yet they have never been born again. What is more sad, no one dares to question them about such an experience. The true children of God have received the Spirit of God, as in accordance with John ch. 1 v 12. and Romans ch. 8. Jesus said then, and we should still be proclaiming the truth now, that to enter into the kingdom of God, you have to be born into it. Bishops lay empty hands on empty heads, sterile water is splashed on sterile babies, even at times deep thinking Baptists are ducked into deeper water, in an attempt to swell the kingdom of God. As the preacher, Hymen Appleman once said, when speaking about the absolute necessity for a person to be born again; “It makes no difference if your name is on a church roll, it might as well be on a sausage roll, for all the difference it makes concerning your soul’s salvation. Nor will it make any difference if you die the moment after being baptised, if you are not born again the only difference it will make will be that you will go to hell a wet sinner instead of a dry one.”
The temptation to compromise with evil by watering down the message is abundant in the ministry. The apparently finicky laws which God set before Israel, illustrate that God hates compromise. James tells us that God is light, and there are no grey areas concerning truth and lies, His children and the children of the devil, the kingdom of His Son and the kingdoms of this World, heaven and hell, nor between being saved or unsaved. Thankfully, our Saviour smelt the sulphur in all these temptations and recognised that though they might have sounded like good ways to grow spiritually, reach people and expand God’s Kingdom, they were nevertheless so far removed from the will of God as to be total darkness. We can only then surmise that those who have fallen to such temptations spread as much light. Now perhaps one can see why you may think the church is dead and the ministry so ineffective and different from the church we read of in the Acts of the Apostles.
John sees and presents Jesus as God, and God cannot be tempted. Therefore the temptation is not in John’s gospel, but it is most certainly in the other three. Then we notice that at the beginning of John’s gospel, where we would expect to read of the temptation, we have three incidents which are omitted from the other three. (as if to take its place!)
They are; 1, The changing of water into wine
2, The cleansing of the temple
3, The visit of Nicodemus to Jesus
Immediately, as though by magic we can see that these three incidents coincide with the three temptations.
1. The temptation to change stones into bread is linked with changing water into wine.
2.The temptation to suddenly come to the temple as the scripture foretold, is easily linked to the cleansing of the temple.
3. The conversation with Nicodemus concerning the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil, has a direct link with Satan’s offer of a ready - made kingdom.
Let us quickly equate them again. In temptation number one, we see that there did in fact come a time for Jesus to do exactly what Satan tempted him to do in the wilderness. He changed water into wine, but it was not for himself, but was for people who were in need. Significantly, it was his first miracle, as it was his first temptation.
Secondly, the coming to the temple, was a fulfilment of the prophecy that He would come suddenly to His temple. Noticeably, he did not please the people. Furthermore, the promise of God’s protection, with angels guarding over him, would no doubt provide the courage it took to cleanse it. For it was as good as throwing himself off the pinnacle without hurting himself. It is quite amazing that one man could single-handedly drive out these hard handed businessmen and all their wares and cattle. One would have thought that some retaliation would have taken
place. If placed in the same situation we would certainly have considered the possibility of violence breaking out and the probability of being hurt, even if only butted by a goat. His protecting angel, as prophesied, kept him safe as he did the will of God. Incidentally some folk express the opinion that Jesus drove people out with a whip, but not necessarily, the whip was used only on the animals.
Most significantly, he did not foster any popularity by his ministry on this occasion. He had conquered that temptation in the wilderness. Then finally and most wonderfully, he spoke to Nicodemus about HIS Kingdom. Some would argue (and it is certainly within the bounds of possibility) that Nicodemus could be described as “the best in the devil’s kingdom”.
Jesus clearly and firmly said to him, ‘‘marvel not that I say (even) to you that to get into my kingdom, you have to be born into it, so even you , must be born again.”
The kingdoms of the world which belong to Satan are those born in the flesh. Those in the Kingdom of Jesus are born of the Spirit. Probably the greatest damnation on the ministry is that this message of the kingdom has certainly got lost or diluted within the ministry. We have multitudes of people who call themselves ‘‘Christian’’, who have never been born again. They were apparently ‘‘born Christian’’ or they act Christian. But one can imitate whoever we like but it does not makes us into them. No man is born a Christian. ‘‘That which is of the flesh is flesh’’ Nice flesh, good-looking flesh, kind flesh, sophisticated flesh, religious flesh, - it makes not a scrap of difference, it is all flesh. It is unchangeably of the devil. How often in our churches today, will an educated man of some social or professional esteem, such as Nicodemus, enter into a church and be received as one of the flock immediately. Before long they are on committees and councils, even throwing in their two-pennyworth in the preaching, yet they have never been born again. What is more sad, no one dares to question them about such an experience. The true children of God have received the Spirit of God, as in accordance with John ch. 1 v 12. and Romans ch. 8. Jesus said then, and we should still be proclaiming the truth now, that to enter into the kingdom of God, you have to be born into it. Bishops lay empty hands on empty heads, sterile water is splashed on sterile babies, even at times deep thinking Baptists are ducked into deeper water, in an attempt to swell the kingdom of God. As the preacher, Hymen Appleman once said, when speaking about the absolute necessity for a person to be born again; “It makes no difference if your name is on a church roll, it might as well be on a sausage roll, for all the difference it makes concerning your soul’s salvation. Nor will it make any difference if you die the moment after being baptised, if you are not born again the only difference it will make will be that you will go to hell a wet sinner instead of a dry one.”
The temptation to compromise with evil by watering down the message is abundant in the ministry. The apparently finicky laws which God set before Israel, illustrate that God hates compromise. James tells us that God is light, and there are no grey areas concerning truth and lies, His children and the children of the devil, the kingdom of His Son and the kingdoms of this World, heaven and hell, nor between being saved or unsaved. Thankfully, our Saviour smelt the sulphur in all these temptations and recognised that though they might have sounded like good ways to grow spiritually, reach people and expand God’s Kingdom, they were nevertheless so far removed from the will of God as to be total darkness. We can only then surmise that those who have fallen to such temptations spread as much light. Now perhaps one can see why you may think the church is dead and the ministry so ineffective and different from the church we read of in the Acts of the Apostles.
THE BIRTH: Christ’s sermon at Nazareth.
Significantly his ministry began where he lived. It was his custom to read the scriptures in his local synagogue. This day was special. For the first time he was able to tell the listeners that they were in the midst of the One of whom the scripture spoke and prophesied. One can only surmise how Jesus must have felt over the many years, as he read the hundreds of scriptures which he realised referred to himself. Many times before he had read such scriptures, but he concealed his true identity. Now the time was right for him to open their eyes. We notice that after reading the scriptures he sat down to “preach the message”. The Word was held in such high esteem that it was always read while standing. The account of the birth of his ministry is found in Luke ch 4. It was a momentous occasion. After four thousand years of the written, spoken and prophetic word, Jesus the living word stood amongst them. ‘‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears’’
The scripture referred to, summed up the ministry of the Messiah. Luke was a physician, and it is not surprising that he notices and records the Lord Jesus in such a light. He sees him as a fellow human, a fellow sufferer, a friend, a brother, and in this case, a doctor.
The Divine Doctor had come among men to meet their need. Reading from the Authorised Version we ascertain that the divine doctor diagnosed man's fatal disease; The disease is Sin. These are the symptoms.
1. Bankrupt. (poor) (in his Spirit)
2. Broken-hearted (in his heart)
3. Blind ( in his mind) (Soul)
4. Bound ( in his will)
5. Bruised (in his Body)
Notice the complete diagnosis involves Body, Soul and Spirit .
Symptom 1 & 5 deal with Spirit and Body respectively. The three central symptoms affect the soul.
The soul consists of the heart, the mind and the will. . We made mention of the fact earlier that Jesus was so well known to the people of Nazareth, that they probably thought that he was as much in need for healing from such sicknesses as anyone. That is why Jesus said ‘‘Doubtless you will say, Physician heal thyself’’.
Spiritual Poverty
Man is bankrupt in his Spirit, because he lives only in the natural, material world. He is dead to the riches of life with God. He is a spiritual being, but destined to perish, for he has no spiritual life. Sin has cut him off from fellowship with God. He recognises his spiritual dimension almost subconsciously. He shows it by his insecurity. His subconscious awareness of a spiritual dimension gives him a strange feeling of being lost. He questions ‘‘Where did I come from?’’ and ‘‘Where am I going to?’’ He conjures up great theories and spends vast fortunes on trying to prove where he comes from and where he is going. For some reason, though no-one pressurises him, he needs to know, or satisfy himself that he knows. Such insecurity is endorsed as he attaches himself to visible material things. He is cut off from the invisible spiritual world in which God exists. He sees only the created world. He stores up things which he thinks are lasting, such as gold and diamonds. The personal possessive pronoun is carried like a banner, as he clings to the possessions he accumulates through life. Even relationships become ‘‘my daughter’’ or ‘‘my son’’. When he loses anything with which he has propped himself up, he experiences sufferings. He came into the world with nothing and he takes nothing out, but while on the earth he makes material things and personal possessions an intrinsic part of his make-up. He even thinks he has a right to them. He holds on franticly, in the vain hope that things will remain. But it is a king Canute exercise. Eternity beckons inexorably. Jesus diagnosed the true poverty.
Job had the correct view. After losing all he had materially and family-wise, he said ‘‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.’’ Such things as he had lost, he had never really counted as his, but merely on loan or trust. It is interesting to note that in Job’s first speech he confessed that he wished he had never been born. Life had developed into living torment. He could see no point in life. Conversely, nor could he see any point in the life of past kings who had lived in ease and comfort, for they were now in the grave and their possessions were in ruins. They too had apparently lived in vain.
However, Job was in God’s hands and by removing the material things, God introduced Job to spiritual riches, to things that last. One only has to read his tremendous utterances in the Spirit to see that, and recognise that it was his faith that was being refined in a fire so that it would come out like pure gold. Peter speaks of our faith being much more precious than gold that perishes. Faith is eternal because it is spiritual. His eventual reward was in direct proportion to that which he lost. The more God took the more God gave him eventually. There is great emphasis in these days on health and material prosperity as a vital part of the christian life. It stems from a demand to see, rather than believe. When Jesus healed the nobleman’s son, in John ch 4:46, he was gracious enough in His sovereignty to heal without any apparent faith being present. He recognised they would only believe if they saw signs and wonders. More blessed are those who believe without seeing. Both Paul and Jesus were terrible adverts for a God who wants all his children to be healthy and prosperous.
One day God will shake the world (Hebrews ch 12 v 10-12)
All material created things will perish on that day and only spiritual things will remain. The book of Hebrews is set against a background of suffering and deals with the dichotomy of the spiritual unseen world and the material visible world. Hence the classic chapter on Faith in chapter 11, recording those who chose to look for a spiritual kingdom. Hebrews ch 12 v 10-12 tells us that this is the kingdom we are now receiving. But one cannot hold on to both the material and the spiritual. You can’t serve God and Mammon. Man was made an eternal being, in the image of God. If God had not sent Jesus to save us we would all have perished and never known anything of the eternal life we were originally made to enjoy. All we would have known was this purposeless life of materialism and its inevitable suffering. Therefore the ministry of Jesus began with the gospel. The Good News is to the poor. For if you are born poor and there is only one life, then the cards are stacked against you from the beginning.
Life is totally unfair on that basis. But the gospel reveals that there is another life and another kind of wealth, true wealth. Paul says that The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Spiritual life is offered to all who believe the gospel. The gospel is the Good News that Jesus has paid the price for man’s sin and that there is forgiveness and pardon available to sinners. Those who believe, enter into His spiritual Kingdom and come under the grace of God. Those who disbelieve remain under the wrath of God.
There is much in scripture that supports the idea that the more we surrender of material things then the more we acquire of spiritual things. The man who found the pearl of great price sold all that he had to acquire it. Paul when speaking of the full time paid ministry pointed out that it was not unreasonable for the believer to exchange his material wealth for the spiritual wealth in the food given to them by God’s servants. Jesus told a remarkable parable about a man who was put in charge of his lord’s money. But he fiddled the accounts and took more out for himself than he should have done, and he faced the sack. He therefore went to the people who had accounts with his master and owed him money or goods. Because it was within his power and authority to do so he altered all the accounts in favour of the debtors. Naturally they all took a liking to him and marked his card so that they all felt they ‘‘owed him one’’ (as they say today). This ensured a safe future for him, for after he had got the sack he had friends who would receive him. Jesus said that the lord of the shrewd servant commended him for his actions.
Later in the passage we read that Jesus said we either serve God or money. We cannot serve both. The message of the parable is this; We are all born into a material world. Money is the god of the worldling child of the devil. But the believer should live a life where he uses material things for spiritual eternal purposes. This is done, not by accumulating and acquiring but by giving and sharing. The steward changed from one to the other in the parable. There are greater riches than material things. There are eternal lasting spiritual riches. The tiniest spiritual thing, even the mustard seed of faith, far outweighs in value the greatest material possession. Christ came to make such things accessible to men once more. One of the best commentaries on the fate of the materialistic compared to the fate of the spiritual is found in Ps 73. The Psalmist was tempted to envy the ‘‘prosperity of the wicked’’. For he found that being ‘‘spiritual’’ was no guarantee of ease and comfort. After an appropriate time of meditation in the presence of God (the Sanctuary) he confesses that when he had thought along such lines he was as ’’ a brute beast’’. He was but an animal without any spiritual dimension at all. But on considering his hidden riches he recognised that on earth he had the Lord ever with Him. The worldling often cried ‘‘where is your God now’’, when he saw the Psalmist in much trouble. For God is invisible and known only by faith. The unbeliever has no chance of seeing him. The detachment from material things (enforced by God) ensured his spirituality. All he had on earth was God and all he had in Heaven was God, but when compared with the fate of the materialistic, he had ’’ a portion forever’’ whereas the ungodly were cut off to perish. They had no spiritual life to sustain them beyond the grave. The Psalmist looked forward to a ‘‘glory’’ of a different kind than earthly glory. We notice in the book of Romans ch 8 that glory is promised to those who identify with Christ in suffering and loss. The apostle Paul counted all things but loss that he might win Christ. The way to eternal riches is to leave hold of earthly things and grasp hold of spiritual things. “Set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth.” (Col ch 3.)
When the great shaking comes, then much will remain for those who grasp spiritual things and nothing will remain for those who have possessed the fleeting passing fancies of worldly things. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 73, such things one day will be as a dream and a fancy. Today they seem real and tangible, and the things of God may seem abstract and distant, but faith takes hold of things not seen. Hebrews 11 is a record of men who chose to suffer with the people of God for a season rather than enjoy the passing riches of the world. On the day of the great shaking the true riches and the true rich will emerge. Jesus came that this gospel might be preached to the poor.
He who was rich (in spiritual things) for our sakes became poor, (by earthly standards) that we through his poverty might become rich.
How poor? Ask Mary. Ask his disciples. He had to borrow a penny to illustrate a sermon, he borrowed a boat to preach from and borrowed a grave to rest his body in. Yet greater still was the poverty when his spiritual life was cut off. An essential part of the cure was Christ’s identification with us. He bore our sins, He “became sin” for us, and he cried ‘‘My God why hast thou forsaken me.’’
Broken hearted.
The fact that man is broken hearted really needs no explaining. The heart is the home of love. From the cradle to the grave the only true reassuring thing a person knows is love. But human love is fickle. It soon dries up. The heart is easily broken. The world sings about it, writes about it, talks about it, in fact it is the most common subject in the world but few ever find it. All King Solomon’s wealth could not buy the love of a peasant Arab girl. Money can’t buy it, houses can’t hold it, yachts can’t carry it, banks can’t store it. Human love gives because it receives. It soon staunches when either it no longer receives or finds another source. The world is full of people with broken hearts. Probably the amount of tears flowing this very minute throughout the world could makes some rivers overflow. Some people say it’s a wonderful world. God doesn’t think so.
He sees the heartache and pain that sin has caused to his creatures. He sent Jesus to solve the problem.
Only the love of God can heal the broken hearted. Natural love is a poor substitute for the true eternal love, which Jesus was referring to. His love is an outpouring love, asking nothing in return. It is an eternal love and an unending love. Knowing the worst about us, He loves us just the same. The greatest destructive experience in a person’s make-up is rejection by their parents. Having managed to separate man from his God, through sin and guilt, the devil has spread the lie that God, our spiritual Father does not love us. Jesus came to destroy that lie and tell us the truth, not only in words but in supreme action. Even today He still prays for those who reject Him and despitefully use Him, for no good reason; ‘‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”.
We have been given a message of reconciliation to preach. This is the man and the message that heals the broken heart. This is our God. It has been said that babies who never know what it is to be kissed and cuddled are in danger of developing a wasting disease called “Marasmus”. If unloved babies wither in such a way, we surely need look no further for evidence that we are spiritual beings and in need of spiritual healing, especially within the realm of the heart.
Blind
Scripture teaches us that the “god of this world has blinded the minds of men, to stop them from seeing the light of the gospel”. Truth is light, but though men are ever learning they never come to a knowledge of the truth through education. They have a spiritual physical defect called blindness. Jesus said ‘‘I am the truth’’ and ‘‘I am the light of the world, he that follows me, shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life.’’
When the Apostle Paul was converted, he had his spiritual eyes opened as well as his physical ones, which were blinded for a time. Men are more educated now than ever before, but they are no nearer ‘‘seeing’’ spiritual things as ever they were. To the educated, such things are foolishness. Education is a closer relative to pride than it is to truth. The proud find it hard to admit to any blindness. However, the gospel is the wisdom of God, which makes all the education in the world utter foolishness. For God has ordained it, that the humble and lowly of this world should have spiritual things revealed to them. He has hidden such things “from the wise and revealed them unto babes.” The ‘wise’ referred to here are those who are wise in the natural, but are blind, the ‘babes’ are those who once were blind but now see. Those ‘babes’ are His babes, his children, born of the Holy Spirit. The first step into this gospel is significantly that of Repentance.
To repent means to change one’s mind. The gospel call is to sinners that they should stop thinking as they do and begin to think as God’s word says. God gives his Spirit to his children and one of the characteristics of that spirit is to be teachable in our minds.
2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
The last phrase of this text, ‘ a sound mind’, really means ‘a teachable mind’. We all know that children are renowned for asking questions and desiring to know. It is only as they get to teenage years, after learning a little that they take on board the baggage of sin and pride and act as though they do not need to be taught anything else. Jesus came that the light of the glorious gospel might be preached throughout the world to men in darkness and blindness who stumble from obstacle to obstacle seeking a meaning and a place for everything. Their theme song is ‘‘What’s it all about Alfie’’. Jesus came to teach us and show us what life is all about. The natural world is controlled by the spiritual. If we want to truly change this world we have to change the spiritual world first.
When Jesus said “I am the light of the world,” he illustrated this by healing a man of blindness, who had been born blind from birth. This healing was purely to reveal the truth of the gospel, that when we believe in Jesus we are passed from darkness to light. The blind man’s eyesight grew both naturally and spiritually. When first asked who had healed him, he said it was “ a man”. The second time he was questioned, he said he was “ a prophet”, and finally he met Jesus, and upon realising that he was in fact the “Son of God,” we read that he fell down and worshipped him. Only when our lives are lived in worship to Christ can we say that we fully see. Without such an experience of “seeing the light”, man remains “blind in his mind”.
Bound:
Once again the fact that man is bound by sin needs no explaining. Man is creature of habits he can’t break. The most common habit is that of sin. He cannot give it up. Sin is man going his own way, exercising his will as opposed to doing God’s will. It is an act of independence from God. He can do no other. He is a slave to sin.
A young man came face to face with a preacher of the gospel. The young man enquired if the preacher was married. The preacher said he was.
‘‘You poor man’’ said the youth
‘‘Why do you say that? have you met the wife’’ said the preacher jocularly.
‘‘No, what I mean is that you have to go home every night to the wife and kids but I am free and I can go where I want to!’’ explained the youth
The preacher questioned as to whether the youth was really free and offered to prove that he wasn’t as free as he thought. ‘‘Where are you going tonight then’’ asked the preacher
‘‘I’m going to the next town, where there is a fair. I’m going to have a great time.’’ said the youth.
‘‘Well” said the preacher’’ if you are free and you can go anywhere at all, then stay here in your home town tonight.’’
Taken somewhat aback at the suggestion the young man said he wouldn’t do that. Then the preacher challenged him. ‘‘The fact is, you can’t stay in your home town tonight because there is a force inside you driving you there to the next town where the fair is on’’ With that the preacher opened up his pocket bible to Psalm 1 where he read of a comparison between the righteous and the ungodly. One was like the chaff and the other was like a tree. The chaff appeared to be free and the tree, would appear to be bound. But in fact the chaff was not only dead but was blown about by the wind and therefore its freedom was an allusion.
However on the contrary the tree was very much alive and functioning in perfect freedom, fulfilling the very purpose for which it was made. The challenge of Christ is the same today. Only when we become slaves to Him will we truly be free, for until then we remain slaves to self sin and Satan. We sing; “ Make me a captive Lord And then I shall be free. Force me to render up my sword And I shall conqueror be.”
Jesus came to set the captive free. He calls for man to commit himself to Him and only when man is under the control of the Saviour, will Satan surrender his power.
Bruised:
The bruising is the outward sign on the body of problems below the surface. It is an obvious truth from scripture that sin and sickness are in some way linked together. Apart from the fact that Satan attacked God’s creation in order to slander God to man, we see a definite mandate in the scriptures to pray for the sick James 5:14-15
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Furthermore Jesus linked the sickness of certain folk with their sin. “go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you”. And yet again his healing words to the man with the palsy were not, “Be healed” but “your sins are forgiven you.” His sickness departed as soon as his sin had gone.
Some believers get quite offended if you seem to link their sickness with their unconfessed sins. Others more humble and wise are glad that the Lord is able to show them the things in their life which need to be confessed as sins which offend the Holy spirit. It is double joy when they find healing for their body and freedom in their soul at the same time. Man is a spiritual being and his problems are fundamentally spiritual. Sickness is an outward symptom of the disease called sin. If there had never been sin in the world , there would never have been sickness, and every other misfortune known to man. Sickness is a work of the devil designed to discredit the creator. Jesus came to rid man of this evil consequence of sin, not only in this life but also, and more assuredly in the life to come. In that life there will be no tears, no sickness, no death, no mourning, for sorrow and sadness will flee away. Much can be written on this thorny subject of healing, but sufficient to be assured that every good thing comes from above; James makes this clear;
James 1:17; Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
There are no shadows or grey areas with God. Jesus came to reveal the true character of God. There are many reasons why He does not seem to heal as many folk as He did in the days of His flesh. Lack of faith is prime but not least is that which is reflected in the Psalms. Psalm 1, states that the godly prosper and the ungodly perish. But life does not confirm such truth in the short term. Indeed the Psalms of David do not confirm such truth. Hence all the cries of anguish from David to His God, and all the cries of the enemy mocking saying “Where is your God now”. In Job the ungodly boast that they don’t need to pray, or trust in God, because they are prospering without such things. With our spiritual understanding today we can see that life is a test of our faith in the word of God as outlined in Psalm 1. There will be a day in the future when Psalm 1 will be seen to be absolutely true, although in the meantime it seems not to be so. Likewise the gospel record of Jesus and his willingness and ability to heal all manner of diseases, is our “Psalm 1.” We are assured, as far back as in Isaiah 33 (N.I.V.)
Isa 33:24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.
This is prophetic of what is to come. Our concern today must be to keep our faith in God’s character, as revealed in His word.
Significantly his ministry began where he lived. It was his custom to read the scriptures in his local synagogue. This day was special. For the first time he was able to tell the listeners that they were in the midst of the One of whom the scripture spoke and prophesied. One can only surmise how Jesus must have felt over the many years, as he read the hundreds of scriptures which he realised referred to himself. Many times before he had read such scriptures, but he concealed his true identity. Now the time was right for him to open their eyes. We notice that after reading the scriptures he sat down to “preach the message”. The Word was held in such high esteem that it was always read while standing. The account of the birth of his ministry is found in Luke ch 4. It was a momentous occasion. After four thousand years of the written, spoken and prophetic word, Jesus the living word stood amongst them. ‘‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears’’
The scripture referred to, summed up the ministry of the Messiah. Luke was a physician, and it is not surprising that he notices and records the Lord Jesus in such a light. He sees him as a fellow human, a fellow sufferer, a friend, a brother, and in this case, a doctor.
The Divine Doctor had come among men to meet their need. Reading from the Authorised Version we ascertain that the divine doctor diagnosed man's fatal disease; The disease is Sin. These are the symptoms.
1. Bankrupt. (poor) (in his Spirit)
2. Broken-hearted (in his heart)
3. Blind ( in his mind) (Soul)
4. Bound ( in his will)
5. Bruised (in his Body)
Notice the complete diagnosis involves Body, Soul and Spirit .
Symptom 1 & 5 deal with Spirit and Body respectively. The three central symptoms affect the soul.
The soul consists of the heart, the mind and the will. . We made mention of the fact earlier that Jesus was so well known to the people of Nazareth, that they probably thought that he was as much in need for healing from such sicknesses as anyone. That is why Jesus said ‘‘Doubtless you will say, Physician heal thyself’’.
Spiritual Poverty
Man is bankrupt in his Spirit, because he lives only in the natural, material world. He is dead to the riches of life with God. He is a spiritual being, but destined to perish, for he has no spiritual life. Sin has cut him off from fellowship with God. He recognises his spiritual dimension almost subconsciously. He shows it by his insecurity. His subconscious awareness of a spiritual dimension gives him a strange feeling of being lost. He questions ‘‘Where did I come from?’’ and ‘‘Where am I going to?’’ He conjures up great theories and spends vast fortunes on trying to prove where he comes from and where he is going. For some reason, though no-one pressurises him, he needs to know, or satisfy himself that he knows. Such insecurity is endorsed as he attaches himself to visible material things. He is cut off from the invisible spiritual world in which God exists. He sees only the created world. He stores up things which he thinks are lasting, such as gold and diamonds. The personal possessive pronoun is carried like a banner, as he clings to the possessions he accumulates through life. Even relationships become ‘‘my daughter’’ or ‘‘my son’’. When he loses anything with which he has propped himself up, he experiences sufferings. He came into the world with nothing and he takes nothing out, but while on the earth he makes material things and personal possessions an intrinsic part of his make-up. He even thinks he has a right to them. He holds on franticly, in the vain hope that things will remain. But it is a king Canute exercise. Eternity beckons inexorably. Jesus diagnosed the true poverty.
Job had the correct view. After losing all he had materially and family-wise, he said ‘‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.’’ Such things as he had lost, he had never really counted as his, but merely on loan or trust. It is interesting to note that in Job’s first speech he confessed that he wished he had never been born. Life had developed into living torment. He could see no point in life. Conversely, nor could he see any point in the life of past kings who had lived in ease and comfort, for they were now in the grave and their possessions were in ruins. They too had apparently lived in vain.
However, Job was in God’s hands and by removing the material things, God introduced Job to spiritual riches, to things that last. One only has to read his tremendous utterances in the Spirit to see that, and recognise that it was his faith that was being refined in a fire so that it would come out like pure gold. Peter speaks of our faith being much more precious than gold that perishes. Faith is eternal because it is spiritual. His eventual reward was in direct proportion to that which he lost. The more God took the more God gave him eventually. There is great emphasis in these days on health and material prosperity as a vital part of the christian life. It stems from a demand to see, rather than believe. When Jesus healed the nobleman’s son, in John ch 4:46, he was gracious enough in His sovereignty to heal without any apparent faith being present. He recognised they would only believe if they saw signs and wonders. More blessed are those who believe without seeing. Both Paul and Jesus were terrible adverts for a God who wants all his children to be healthy and prosperous.
One day God will shake the world (Hebrews ch 12 v 10-12)
All material created things will perish on that day and only spiritual things will remain. The book of Hebrews is set against a background of suffering and deals with the dichotomy of the spiritual unseen world and the material visible world. Hence the classic chapter on Faith in chapter 11, recording those who chose to look for a spiritual kingdom. Hebrews ch 12 v 10-12 tells us that this is the kingdom we are now receiving. But one cannot hold on to both the material and the spiritual. You can’t serve God and Mammon. Man was made an eternal being, in the image of God. If God had not sent Jesus to save us we would all have perished and never known anything of the eternal life we were originally made to enjoy. All we would have known was this purposeless life of materialism and its inevitable suffering. Therefore the ministry of Jesus began with the gospel. The Good News is to the poor. For if you are born poor and there is only one life, then the cards are stacked against you from the beginning.
Life is totally unfair on that basis. But the gospel reveals that there is another life and another kind of wealth, true wealth. Paul says that The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Spiritual life is offered to all who believe the gospel. The gospel is the Good News that Jesus has paid the price for man’s sin and that there is forgiveness and pardon available to sinners. Those who believe, enter into His spiritual Kingdom and come under the grace of God. Those who disbelieve remain under the wrath of God.
There is much in scripture that supports the idea that the more we surrender of material things then the more we acquire of spiritual things. The man who found the pearl of great price sold all that he had to acquire it. Paul when speaking of the full time paid ministry pointed out that it was not unreasonable for the believer to exchange his material wealth for the spiritual wealth in the food given to them by God’s servants. Jesus told a remarkable parable about a man who was put in charge of his lord’s money. But he fiddled the accounts and took more out for himself than he should have done, and he faced the sack. He therefore went to the people who had accounts with his master and owed him money or goods. Because it was within his power and authority to do so he altered all the accounts in favour of the debtors. Naturally they all took a liking to him and marked his card so that they all felt they ‘‘owed him one’’ (as they say today). This ensured a safe future for him, for after he had got the sack he had friends who would receive him. Jesus said that the lord of the shrewd servant commended him for his actions.
Later in the passage we read that Jesus said we either serve God or money. We cannot serve both. The message of the parable is this; We are all born into a material world. Money is the god of the worldling child of the devil. But the believer should live a life where he uses material things for spiritual eternal purposes. This is done, not by accumulating and acquiring but by giving and sharing. The steward changed from one to the other in the parable. There are greater riches than material things. There are eternal lasting spiritual riches. The tiniest spiritual thing, even the mustard seed of faith, far outweighs in value the greatest material possession. Christ came to make such things accessible to men once more. One of the best commentaries on the fate of the materialistic compared to the fate of the spiritual is found in Ps 73. The Psalmist was tempted to envy the ‘‘prosperity of the wicked’’. For he found that being ‘‘spiritual’’ was no guarantee of ease and comfort. After an appropriate time of meditation in the presence of God (the Sanctuary) he confesses that when he had thought along such lines he was as ’’ a brute beast’’. He was but an animal without any spiritual dimension at all. But on considering his hidden riches he recognised that on earth he had the Lord ever with Him. The worldling often cried ‘‘where is your God now’’, when he saw the Psalmist in much trouble. For God is invisible and known only by faith. The unbeliever has no chance of seeing him. The detachment from material things (enforced by God) ensured his spirituality. All he had on earth was God and all he had in Heaven was God, but when compared with the fate of the materialistic, he had ’’ a portion forever’’ whereas the ungodly were cut off to perish. They had no spiritual life to sustain them beyond the grave. The Psalmist looked forward to a ‘‘glory’’ of a different kind than earthly glory. We notice in the book of Romans ch 8 that glory is promised to those who identify with Christ in suffering and loss. The apostle Paul counted all things but loss that he might win Christ. The way to eternal riches is to leave hold of earthly things and grasp hold of spiritual things. “Set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth.” (Col ch 3.)
When the great shaking comes, then much will remain for those who grasp spiritual things and nothing will remain for those who have possessed the fleeting passing fancies of worldly things. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 73, such things one day will be as a dream and a fancy. Today they seem real and tangible, and the things of God may seem abstract and distant, but faith takes hold of things not seen. Hebrews 11 is a record of men who chose to suffer with the people of God for a season rather than enjoy the passing riches of the world. On the day of the great shaking the true riches and the true rich will emerge. Jesus came that this gospel might be preached to the poor.
He who was rich (in spiritual things) for our sakes became poor, (by earthly standards) that we through his poverty might become rich.
How poor? Ask Mary. Ask his disciples. He had to borrow a penny to illustrate a sermon, he borrowed a boat to preach from and borrowed a grave to rest his body in. Yet greater still was the poverty when his spiritual life was cut off. An essential part of the cure was Christ’s identification with us. He bore our sins, He “became sin” for us, and he cried ‘‘My God why hast thou forsaken me.’’
Broken hearted.
The fact that man is broken hearted really needs no explaining. The heart is the home of love. From the cradle to the grave the only true reassuring thing a person knows is love. But human love is fickle. It soon dries up. The heart is easily broken. The world sings about it, writes about it, talks about it, in fact it is the most common subject in the world but few ever find it. All King Solomon’s wealth could not buy the love of a peasant Arab girl. Money can’t buy it, houses can’t hold it, yachts can’t carry it, banks can’t store it. Human love gives because it receives. It soon staunches when either it no longer receives or finds another source. The world is full of people with broken hearts. Probably the amount of tears flowing this very minute throughout the world could makes some rivers overflow. Some people say it’s a wonderful world. God doesn’t think so.
He sees the heartache and pain that sin has caused to his creatures. He sent Jesus to solve the problem.
Only the love of God can heal the broken hearted. Natural love is a poor substitute for the true eternal love, which Jesus was referring to. His love is an outpouring love, asking nothing in return. It is an eternal love and an unending love. Knowing the worst about us, He loves us just the same. The greatest destructive experience in a person’s make-up is rejection by their parents. Having managed to separate man from his God, through sin and guilt, the devil has spread the lie that God, our spiritual Father does not love us. Jesus came to destroy that lie and tell us the truth, not only in words but in supreme action. Even today He still prays for those who reject Him and despitefully use Him, for no good reason; ‘‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”.
We have been given a message of reconciliation to preach. This is the man and the message that heals the broken heart. This is our God. It has been said that babies who never know what it is to be kissed and cuddled are in danger of developing a wasting disease called “Marasmus”. If unloved babies wither in such a way, we surely need look no further for evidence that we are spiritual beings and in need of spiritual healing, especially within the realm of the heart.
Blind
Scripture teaches us that the “god of this world has blinded the minds of men, to stop them from seeing the light of the gospel”. Truth is light, but though men are ever learning they never come to a knowledge of the truth through education. They have a spiritual physical defect called blindness. Jesus said ‘‘I am the truth’’ and ‘‘I am the light of the world, he that follows me, shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life.’’
When the Apostle Paul was converted, he had his spiritual eyes opened as well as his physical ones, which were blinded for a time. Men are more educated now than ever before, but they are no nearer ‘‘seeing’’ spiritual things as ever they were. To the educated, such things are foolishness. Education is a closer relative to pride than it is to truth. The proud find it hard to admit to any blindness. However, the gospel is the wisdom of God, which makes all the education in the world utter foolishness. For God has ordained it, that the humble and lowly of this world should have spiritual things revealed to them. He has hidden such things “from the wise and revealed them unto babes.” The ‘wise’ referred to here are those who are wise in the natural, but are blind, the ‘babes’ are those who once were blind but now see. Those ‘babes’ are His babes, his children, born of the Holy Spirit. The first step into this gospel is significantly that of Repentance.
To repent means to change one’s mind. The gospel call is to sinners that they should stop thinking as they do and begin to think as God’s word says. God gives his Spirit to his children and one of the characteristics of that spirit is to be teachable in our minds.
2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
The last phrase of this text, ‘ a sound mind’, really means ‘a teachable mind’. We all know that children are renowned for asking questions and desiring to know. It is only as they get to teenage years, after learning a little that they take on board the baggage of sin and pride and act as though they do not need to be taught anything else. Jesus came that the light of the glorious gospel might be preached throughout the world to men in darkness and blindness who stumble from obstacle to obstacle seeking a meaning and a place for everything. Their theme song is ‘‘What’s it all about Alfie’’. Jesus came to teach us and show us what life is all about. The natural world is controlled by the spiritual. If we want to truly change this world we have to change the spiritual world first.
When Jesus said “I am the light of the world,” he illustrated this by healing a man of blindness, who had been born blind from birth. This healing was purely to reveal the truth of the gospel, that when we believe in Jesus we are passed from darkness to light. The blind man’s eyesight grew both naturally and spiritually. When first asked who had healed him, he said it was “ a man”. The second time he was questioned, he said he was “ a prophet”, and finally he met Jesus, and upon realising that he was in fact the “Son of God,” we read that he fell down and worshipped him. Only when our lives are lived in worship to Christ can we say that we fully see. Without such an experience of “seeing the light”, man remains “blind in his mind”.
Bound:
Once again the fact that man is bound by sin needs no explaining. Man is creature of habits he can’t break. The most common habit is that of sin. He cannot give it up. Sin is man going his own way, exercising his will as opposed to doing God’s will. It is an act of independence from God. He can do no other. He is a slave to sin.
A young man came face to face with a preacher of the gospel. The young man enquired if the preacher was married. The preacher said he was.
‘‘You poor man’’ said the youth
‘‘Why do you say that? have you met the wife’’ said the preacher jocularly.
‘‘No, what I mean is that you have to go home every night to the wife and kids but I am free and I can go where I want to!’’ explained the youth
The preacher questioned as to whether the youth was really free and offered to prove that he wasn’t as free as he thought. ‘‘Where are you going tonight then’’ asked the preacher
‘‘I’m going to the next town, where there is a fair. I’m going to have a great time.’’ said the youth.
‘‘Well” said the preacher’’ if you are free and you can go anywhere at all, then stay here in your home town tonight.’’
Taken somewhat aback at the suggestion the young man said he wouldn’t do that. Then the preacher challenged him. ‘‘The fact is, you can’t stay in your home town tonight because there is a force inside you driving you there to the next town where the fair is on’’ With that the preacher opened up his pocket bible to Psalm 1 where he read of a comparison between the righteous and the ungodly. One was like the chaff and the other was like a tree. The chaff appeared to be free and the tree, would appear to be bound. But in fact the chaff was not only dead but was blown about by the wind and therefore its freedom was an allusion.
However on the contrary the tree was very much alive and functioning in perfect freedom, fulfilling the very purpose for which it was made. The challenge of Christ is the same today. Only when we become slaves to Him will we truly be free, for until then we remain slaves to self sin and Satan. We sing; “ Make me a captive Lord And then I shall be free. Force me to render up my sword And I shall conqueror be.”
Jesus came to set the captive free. He calls for man to commit himself to Him and only when man is under the control of the Saviour, will Satan surrender his power.
Bruised:
The bruising is the outward sign on the body of problems below the surface. It is an obvious truth from scripture that sin and sickness are in some way linked together. Apart from the fact that Satan attacked God’s creation in order to slander God to man, we see a definite mandate in the scriptures to pray for the sick James 5:14-15
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Furthermore Jesus linked the sickness of certain folk with their sin. “go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you”. And yet again his healing words to the man with the palsy were not, “Be healed” but “your sins are forgiven you.” His sickness departed as soon as his sin had gone.
Some believers get quite offended if you seem to link their sickness with their unconfessed sins. Others more humble and wise are glad that the Lord is able to show them the things in their life which need to be confessed as sins which offend the Holy spirit. It is double joy when they find healing for their body and freedom in their soul at the same time. Man is a spiritual being and his problems are fundamentally spiritual. Sickness is an outward symptom of the disease called sin. If there had never been sin in the world , there would never have been sickness, and every other misfortune known to man. Sickness is a work of the devil designed to discredit the creator. Jesus came to rid man of this evil consequence of sin, not only in this life but also, and more assuredly in the life to come. In that life there will be no tears, no sickness, no death, no mourning, for sorrow and sadness will flee away. Much can be written on this thorny subject of healing, but sufficient to be assured that every good thing comes from above; James makes this clear;
James 1:17; Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
There are no shadows or grey areas with God. Jesus came to reveal the true character of God. There are many reasons why He does not seem to heal as many folk as He did in the days of His flesh. Lack of faith is prime but not least is that which is reflected in the Psalms. Psalm 1, states that the godly prosper and the ungodly perish. But life does not confirm such truth in the short term. Indeed the Psalms of David do not confirm such truth. Hence all the cries of anguish from David to His God, and all the cries of the enemy mocking saying “Where is your God now”. In Job the ungodly boast that they don’t need to pray, or trust in God, because they are prospering without such things. With our spiritual understanding today we can see that life is a test of our faith in the word of God as outlined in Psalm 1. There will be a day in the future when Psalm 1 will be seen to be absolutely true, although in the meantime it seems not to be so. Likewise the gospel record of Jesus and his willingness and ability to heal all manner of diseases, is our “Psalm 1.” We are assured, as far back as in Isaiah 33 (N.I.V.)
Isa 33:24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.
This is prophetic of what is to come. Our concern today must be to keep our faith in God’s character, as revealed in His word.
The Cure:
The divine doctor, not only diagnosed the sickness from the symptoms, but produced the remedy. How then, did Jesus produce the cure or medicine for this dread disease? In the natural realm of sickness research and remedy, it is often the case that vaccines are acquired by inflicting the disease on animals or humans. Animals and humans have an inbuilt defence mechanism against disease, for when a foreign germ enters the body, the body produces antigerms to fight against it. These antigerms usually stay in the body and if the disease comes again it is immediately repelled. Similarly, Jesus took the disease of Sin, in his own body and overcame it. Thus producing an antigerm that conquers. That remedy is His blood. Today we often have intravenous injections by syringe. These syringes are mini fountains of medicine. So the cross is God’s syringe fountain for sin and uncleanness. When one is “inoculated”, as it were by this ‘‘vaccine’’ then we are eternally set free from sin and the symptoms begin to fall away, as we emerge into a new life of health and happiness. The blood that flowed then, now continues to cleanse us from all sin. No longer can it separate us from God. Thus if our communion with God is constant and uninterrupted we will become more like Him and so acquire the power to overcome in those areas of the will where previously we were bound.
When the children of Israel were attacked by serpents they began to die as soon as they were bitten. But as soon as they began to look unto the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up they stopped dying. It does not say that the serpents stopped biting them but they clearly stopped dying. We may not totally stop sinning after we accept Christ as our Saviour, but if we continue to walk with God by faith, the blood of Jesus continues to keep us clean. Hence our fellowship with God is never broken, because as the Israelites continued to look to the serpent so we continue to look to the cross where all our sins were paid for. Therefore with the Holy Spirit in us, by faith, we are more able to kill the snakes of sin in our lives.
Through the cross we find a remedy to heal our minds, our hearts and our will.
Our blind minds are illuminated when we see Jesus as our Saviour. we no longer walk in darkness wondering what life is all about. We follow Jesus and have the “light of life”
Our broken hearts are healed by the knowledge of his matchless sacrificial love for us, and even if our closest relatives reject us we know that God never will stop loving us. And as we have said latterly our bound wills are set free. Jesus gives us our life back. We find the power to conquer sin. Satan no longer has any rule over us. Sin loses its power to separate us from God.
Notice that we are not speaking of physical health and happiness, just as we are not speaking of physical sickness. The problem is spiritual and unseen. But the unseen is the real world and the visible is the shadow.
Identification
Notice finally, that during his days of sacrifice on the cross, he became poor.(God forsook him ) He was blindfolded, he was bound by nails, His heart was broken. and his body was bruised, by whips and punches of men. It is said that when the spear was thrust into his side there came water and blood flowing together from the wound. The water came from his heart. The heart is surrounded by a ‘‘sack’’ called the pericardium, which can fill with water when one endures great emotional strain. Jesus died of a broken heart, literally. He took your place and mine on the cross. He loved us so much. What a physician! What a Saviour! This is our God!
The divine doctor, not only diagnosed the sickness from the symptoms, but produced the remedy. How then, did Jesus produce the cure or medicine for this dread disease? In the natural realm of sickness research and remedy, it is often the case that vaccines are acquired by inflicting the disease on animals or humans. Animals and humans have an inbuilt defence mechanism against disease, for when a foreign germ enters the body, the body produces antigerms to fight against it. These antigerms usually stay in the body and if the disease comes again it is immediately repelled. Similarly, Jesus took the disease of Sin, in his own body and overcame it. Thus producing an antigerm that conquers. That remedy is His blood. Today we often have intravenous injections by syringe. These syringes are mini fountains of medicine. So the cross is God’s syringe fountain for sin and uncleanness. When one is “inoculated”, as it were by this ‘‘vaccine’’ then we are eternally set free from sin and the symptoms begin to fall away, as we emerge into a new life of health and happiness. The blood that flowed then, now continues to cleanse us from all sin. No longer can it separate us from God. Thus if our communion with God is constant and uninterrupted we will become more like Him and so acquire the power to overcome in those areas of the will where previously we were bound.
When the children of Israel were attacked by serpents they began to die as soon as they were bitten. But as soon as they began to look unto the brazen serpent that Moses lifted up they stopped dying. It does not say that the serpents stopped biting them but they clearly stopped dying. We may not totally stop sinning after we accept Christ as our Saviour, but if we continue to walk with God by faith, the blood of Jesus continues to keep us clean. Hence our fellowship with God is never broken, because as the Israelites continued to look to the serpent so we continue to look to the cross where all our sins were paid for. Therefore with the Holy Spirit in us, by faith, we are more able to kill the snakes of sin in our lives.
Through the cross we find a remedy to heal our minds, our hearts and our will.
Our blind minds are illuminated when we see Jesus as our Saviour. we no longer walk in darkness wondering what life is all about. We follow Jesus and have the “light of life”
Our broken hearts are healed by the knowledge of his matchless sacrificial love for us, and even if our closest relatives reject us we know that God never will stop loving us. And as we have said latterly our bound wills are set free. Jesus gives us our life back. We find the power to conquer sin. Satan no longer has any rule over us. Sin loses its power to separate us from God.
Notice that we are not speaking of physical health and happiness, just as we are not speaking of physical sickness. The problem is spiritual and unseen. But the unseen is the real world and the visible is the shadow.
Identification
Notice finally, that during his days of sacrifice on the cross, he became poor.(God forsook him ) He was blindfolded, he was bound by nails, His heart was broken. and his body was bruised, by whips and punches of men. It is said that when the spear was thrust into his side there came water and blood flowing together from the wound. The water came from his heart. The heart is surrounded by a ‘‘sack’’ called the pericardium, which can fill with water when one endures great emotional strain. Jesus died of a broken heart, literally. He took your place and mine on the cross. He loved us so much. What a physician! What a Saviour! This is our God!
‘‘The Comma that saves the world!’
If you compare the reading from which Jesus preached in Luke ch 4. and the actual passage in Isaiah you will see that He stopped reading half way through a verse, and ended at a comma, rather than a full stop. This could be said to be most significant, and that very comma has been referred to as the comma that saved the world. For He stopped after the phrase. ‘‘I have come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’’
The remainder of the verse says; ‘‘and the day of vengeance of our God’’.
The last phrase he did not read out. He said ‘‘This day is this scripture fulfilled’’. Therefore he had to stop at that point for the ‘‘day of vengeance ’’ has yet to be fulfilled. That comma at which he stopped so far has filled two thousand years, for that is the space of time represented by the comma, and separating the two comings of the Lord Jesus, to this world. The first time he came, he came as a Saviour, proclaiming the good news of an acceptable year. But the next time He comes He will come in judgement and vengeance against sin and Satan and all his disciples.
II Th 1:7-9
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
If that comma had not been there we would have all been destroyed at the first coming probably. Truly, it can be said to have saved the world.
If you compare the reading from which Jesus preached in Luke ch 4. and the actual passage in Isaiah you will see that He stopped reading half way through a verse, and ended at a comma, rather than a full stop. This could be said to be most significant, and that very comma has been referred to as the comma that saved the world. For He stopped after the phrase. ‘‘I have come to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’’
The remainder of the verse says; ‘‘and the day of vengeance of our God’’.
The last phrase he did not read out. He said ‘‘This day is this scripture fulfilled’’. Therefore he had to stop at that point for the ‘‘day of vengeance ’’ has yet to be fulfilled. That comma at which he stopped so far has filled two thousand years, for that is the space of time represented by the comma, and separating the two comings of the Lord Jesus, to this world. The first time he came, he came as a Saviour, proclaiming the good news of an acceptable year. But the next time He comes He will come in judgement and vengeance against sin and Satan and all his disciples.
II Th 1:7-9
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
If that comma had not been there we would have all been destroyed at the first coming probably. Truly, it can be said to have saved the world.
Popular Preacher ?
One final note on this sermon. The reaction of the hearers is typical. At first they marvelled at the gracious words of Jesus. Probably because they had no idea what he was talking about. But Jesus went on to mention two people who were blessed by God. The very mention of these people made the Jews rise up in anger against him, and what might have turned out to be a popular sermon, ended with them trying to throw him over a cliff. A bit drastic, one would think, no matter how bad the sermon!
What made their hairs stand up on end? What indeed? In the two stories that Jesus referred to from the Old Testament, He mentioned two gentiles who received the blessing of God while many Jews seemed to have missed out. The Jews were a proud nation, and their greatest pride came from their so-called spiritual heritage. They were the chosen people, and the gentiles were ‘‘dogs’’, fit only for scraps and living outside the house. Jesus knew the hearts of those to whom he was speaking. He knew the questions they were not even mouthing.
‘‘Doubtless you will say Physician heal thyself and why don’t you do the miracles here in Nazareth. that you did in Capernaum.’’
But Jesus said their familiarity with him robbed them of the faith, needed for Him to be able to do such miracles. Wherever he was known as the carpenter’s son, He could not do any mighty miracles, because they could not believe. Jesus was inferring that the gentiles with faith had more access to the true blessing of God than the Jews who like themselves had no faith.
The apostle Paul makes this clear in Galatians when he says that the true sons of Abraham are the children who have the faith of Abraham. Before we condemn the Jews, perhaps we ought to consider that today likewise, many who might supposed to be ‘‘in’’ the church, are so familiar with the gospel and the word of God that they have not got as much faith as an outsider who genuinely believes that if they went to church they would be struck dead. There are many people outside who are like the sinner who stood afar off to pray, because he felt he was too much of a sinner to enter the temple. Perhaps such sinners have more faith than those in the temple who presume to have righteousness because of their good works. Indeed Jesus vindicated the sinner who stood afar off. The ministry of Jesus was always inclined towards the ‘‘outsider’’. The prostitute, the sinner, the publicans were his friends. The self righteous religious leaders were destined for hell according to Jesus, for he said that the publicans and sinners entered the kingdom before them.
So in conclusion, we have seen that ministry to the needy, was outlined in his first sermon and carried out during the following few years. The divine Doctor diagnosed the patient and produced the one and only life-saving remedy.
In terms of SERVICE, we have considered its BIRTH, through this sermon in Luke ch 4, let’s now consider its GROWTH.
One final note on this sermon. The reaction of the hearers is typical. At first they marvelled at the gracious words of Jesus. Probably because they had no idea what he was talking about. But Jesus went on to mention two people who were blessed by God. The very mention of these people made the Jews rise up in anger against him, and what might have turned out to be a popular sermon, ended with them trying to throw him over a cliff. A bit drastic, one would think, no matter how bad the sermon!
What made their hairs stand up on end? What indeed? In the two stories that Jesus referred to from the Old Testament, He mentioned two gentiles who received the blessing of God while many Jews seemed to have missed out. The Jews were a proud nation, and their greatest pride came from their so-called spiritual heritage. They were the chosen people, and the gentiles were ‘‘dogs’’, fit only for scraps and living outside the house. Jesus knew the hearts of those to whom he was speaking. He knew the questions they were not even mouthing.
‘‘Doubtless you will say Physician heal thyself and why don’t you do the miracles here in Nazareth. that you did in Capernaum.’’
But Jesus said their familiarity with him robbed them of the faith, needed for Him to be able to do such miracles. Wherever he was known as the carpenter’s son, He could not do any mighty miracles, because they could not believe. Jesus was inferring that the gentiles with faith had more access to the true blessing of God than the Jews who like themselves had no faith.
The apostle Paul makes this clear in Galatians when he says that the true sons of Abraham are the children who have the faith of Abraham. Before we condemn the Jews, perhaps we ought to consider that today likewise, many who might supposed to be ‘‘in’’ the church, are so familiar with the gospel and the word of God that they have not got as much faith as an outsider who genuinely believes that if they went to church they would be struck dead. There are many people outside who are like the sinner who stood afar off to pray, because he felt he was too much of a sinner to enter the temple. Perhaps such sinners have more faith than those in the temple who presume to have righteousness because of their good works. Indeed Jesus vindicated the sinner who stood afar off. The ministry of Jesus was always inclined towards the ‘‘outsider’’. The prostitute, the sinner, the publicans were his friends. The self righteous religious leaders were destined for hell according to Jesus, for he said that the publicans and sinners entered the kingdom before them.
So in conclusion, we have seen that ministry to the needy, was outlined in his first sermon and carried out during the following few years. The divine Doctor diagnosed the patient and produced the one and only life-saving remedy.
In terms of SERVICE, we have considered its BIRTH, through this sermon in Luke ch 4, let’s now consider its GROWTH.
GROWTH. His Ministry
We read in Matthew ch. 4 v 26. that the ministry of Jesus had three aspects of it.
1. Healing: 2. Preaching the Gospel. 3 Teaching .
Thousands were ministered to through the healing, and the miracles. We are told that many followed him about simply because they had seen the miracle with the five loaves. This was a spectacular ministry. Man by nature loves to see things. So today folk will gather in greater numbers if a ‘‘Healing’’ campaign is advertised rather than a teaching session, all eager to see if anything happens. If unable to put on such a meeting then many churches will put on a film show, or even a Pantomime. One could say that much of the traditional church ceremonies of swinging incense and bowing and scraping is all a kind of show to convince those who like to see things that something is going on. At times it all seems a million miles from what Jesus said, ‘‘God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit.’’
Sadly. Prayer meetings don't seem to gain the same popularity. Mainly because there isn't much to see in the natural, for generally eyes are closed. But those who are not spiritually blind will see great things in Prayer meetings, even as Elisha's servant saw the Lords armies when his eyes were opened
One can also be certain that Jesus was led of the Spirit when he came to minister to people. He didn’t sit in the doctor’s surgery touching all who came in with faith in the doctor. Those who had lost faith in doctors and spent all they had in the process, came to Jesus. He healed them for free. “As many as touched him ( by faith) were made perfectly whole.” Some miracles Jesus did of His own initiative. These miracles recorded were in themselves an illustration of a spiritual truth which was embodied in Christ. For example, he didn’t feed the five thousand because they were hungry, or to outdo Moses who fed millions in the desert, but that He might show that He was the Bread that came down from heaven. He healed the blind man so that He might show that he was the Light of the world. He changed the water into wine to symbolise his ministry to bring abundant life and as The True Vine. He raised Lazarus for the same and only reason, (to reveal his Glory) and declare ‘‘I am the resurrection and the Life’’.
So we can see that the physical healing of people who came to him in need, was to honour strong faith or encourage faltering faith. Even the Mighty One could do no great miracle in his home town where there was little faith. Other miracles were signposts to something more lasting. Thus people were pointed to the message of the Kingdom by the healing of the bodies. If it was for merely physical reasons then we could rightly ask, why has he not stopped the millions from starving since or healed the millions who suffer through sickness. The whole point of salvation, the gospel, and the eternal purposes of God is, as far as man is concerned. to bring them back to spiritual life, which is faith.
The second aspect of his ministry is preaching the gospel. Good News for Poor People:
The Healing of the bodies led to a preaching ministry for healing of the soul. We dealt with this in part in the last chapter. Jesus said that the Spirit was upon him to preach the gospel to the poor. So his ministry, and indeed all ministry begins with preaching the gospel. To preach to the poor does not mean that the message is not for the rich, but merely only those who acknowledge their poverty will appreciate the good news of the gospel. All men are poor spiritually. Only God knows how poor. The gospel declares how men can become rich spiritually and recover through Christ all that they lost in Adam. The reason people seek earthly riches is a symptom of such poverty. The want because they have a sense of need. They think and try to fill the spiritual gap with substitutes gained by money.
The God-shaped Gap;
Love Joy and Peace, are the first three parts of the evidence of spiritual life. (Galatians ch. 5)
God's life is an out-flowing life, man's idea of "life" is an intaking life.
Love, Joy, Peace are parts of the very fruit of the Life of God. Even a cursory glance at how people pursue their lives will reveal that these are the very things people are seeking for. Every man in the world has a great chamber designated for these things within, for it is the very life of God expressed. But his sin has cut him off from God and therefore he spends every working hour trying to fill the chambers.
LOVE: His basic need is love. To be loved is an absolute number one essential of the human species if he is to feel fulfilled. Human life in character is an in-taking sponge-like experience, Divine life is an outpouring fountain-like experience. Humans love those who love them, Divines love those who hate them. People have more time for you if you’re rich. They haven’t got much time for you if you’re poor. When the money of the prodigal son ran out his friends ran out with it. For God to know love, it pours out, for us to know love we feel the need for it to pour in. Jesus said that when we have a party, that we should not invite those who we know will invite us to theirs, but invite those who will never be able to return the invitation. He must have seen most of our Christmas card lists and our Christmas presents lists. They usually coincide exactly with those who sent or gave to us the year before!!
JOY: This is again a basic requirement for humans. We need to be happy. The world is full of Amusements. The word ‘Amusement’ means ‘‘the absence of thinking.’’ Who wants to think? . Who wants to be quiet.? Switch on the radio, the T.V. the hi-fi, drown the thoughts that trouble. Don’t let’s think of death, or judgement, or eternity. Who dares say that there is a hole in the boat while the party is going full swing? Let’s have a good time. No harm in that but it is a definite false substitute for the joy that they know, who have faith in God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The joy of such people is an outpouring joy, from a well inside them springing up into eternal life. Its source is the Holy Spirit. It does not depend upon the amount of money in the pocket.
Such was the message Jesus preached to the woman at the well, (John ch. 4.) who in her search for joy and satisfaction had married five times and was then living with a man who she had not even bothered to marry. There are millions in the world just like her. Her ‘‘brief encounter’’ with the Saviour of the world, was a life changing experience. She told her friends to ‘‘Come see a man.!’’ They had heard that before no doubt. But Jesus gave her water that was not in the well, divine joy in fact. One pays for the ‘joy-giving’ pleasures of the world in the short term and the long. In the short term you need money. If you haven’t got any money then there is not much free entertainment. So slavery is the order of the day. To play hard, they have to work hard. Getting rich to afford enough to make you happy, is a confession of real poverty. The gospel makes people rich in real joy. The riches of his grace are untold and are unsurpassed wells of eternal pleasure.
PEACE: (or security) This is the third basic requirement of the human soul without God. More service to mammon is needed. Money is supposed to grant such security. But how much do you need. It would seem that you always need a little bit more. But it fails to provide enough security to deal with sickness or unfaithfulness in relationships. We are advised through TV advertising to “get the strength of the insurance companies”, to provide that peace of mind. If you have ever tried to get insurance companies to pay out you will know how hollow that advert sounds. But any peace gained thereby is still an in-taking godless experience. We only have peace when all around us is peaceful. But the peace of God smiles at the storm, and in the storm. Jesus slept while his unbelieving disciples questioned whether God really cared whether they perished or not. ‘‘With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm.’’ - That is the peace of God.
So we see in the gospel which is free, enough to provide the genuine articles of human need, Love Joy and Peace. The Gospel brings a message of the love of God shown to us through Jesus Christ. The Gospel brings great joy when we believe on Jesus and know the forgiveness of our sins. The gospel brings peace, for we realise that the war is over and no longer is God's wrath directed towards us.
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God."
We read in Matthew ch. 4 v 26. that the ministry of Jesus had three aspects of it.
1. Healing: 2. Preaching the Gospel. 3 Teaching .
Thousands were ministered to through the healing, and the miracles. We are told that many followed him about simply because they had seen the miracle with the five loaves. This was a spectacular ministry. Man by nature loves to see things. So today folk will gather in greater numbers if a ‘‘Healing’’ campaign is advertised rather than a teaching session, all eager to see if anything happens. If unable to put on such a meeting then many churches will put on a film show, or even a Pantomime. One could say that much of the traditional church ceremonies of swinging incense and bowing and scraping is all a kind of show to convince those who like to see things that something is going on. At times it all seems a million miles from what Jesus said, ‘‘God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit.’’
Sadly. Prayer meetings don't seem to gain the same popularity. Mainly because there isn't much to see in the natural, for generally eyes are closed. But those who are not spiritually blind will see great things in Prayer meetings, even as Elisha's servant saw the Lords armies when his eyes were opened
One can also be certain that Jesus was led of the Spirit when he came to minister to people. He didn’t sit in the doctor’s surgery touching all who came in with faith in the doctor. Those who had lost faith in doctors and spent all they had in the process, came to Jesus. He healed them for free. “As many as touched him ( by faith) were made perfectly whole.” Some miracles Jesus did of His own initiative. These miracles recorded were in themselves an illustration of a spiritual truth which was embodied in Christ. For example, he didn’t feed the five thousand because they were hungry, or to outdo Moses who fed millions in the desert, but that He might show that He was the Bread that came down from heaven. He healed the blind man so that He might show that he was the Light of the world. He changed the water into wine to symbolise his ministry to bring abundant life and as The True Vine. He raised Lazarus for the same and only reason, (to reveal his Glory) and declare ‘‘I am the resurrection and the Life’’.
So we can see that the physical healing of people who came to him in need, was to honour strong faith or encourage faltering faith. Even the Mighty One could do no great miracle in his home town where there was little faith. Other miracles were signposts to something more lasting. Thus people were pointed to the message of the Kingdom by the healing of the bodies. If it was for merely physical reasons then we could rightly ask, why has he not stopped the millions from starving since or healed the millions who suffer through sickness. The whole point of salvation, the gospel, and the eternal purposes of God is, as far as man is concerned. to bring them back to spiritual life, which is faith.
The second aspect of his ministry is preaching the gospel. Good News for Poor People:
The Healing of the bodies led to a preaching ministry for healing of the soul. We dealt with this in part in the last chapter. Jesus said that the Spirit was upon him to preach the gospel to the poor. So his ministry, and indeed all ministry begins with preaching the gospel. To preach to the poor does not mean that the message is not for the rich, but merely only those who acknowledge their poverty will appreciate the good news of the gospel. All men are poor spiritually. Only God knows how poor. The gospel declares how men can become rich spiritually and recover through Christ all that they lost in Adam. The reason people seek earthly riches is a symptom of such poverty. The want because they have a sense of need. They think and try to fill the spiritual gap with substitutes gained by money.
The God-shaped Gap;
Love Joy and Peace, are the first three parts of the evidence of spiritual life. (Galatians ch. 5)
God's life is an out-flowing life, man's idea of "life" is an intaking life.
Love, Joy, Peace are parts of the very fruit of the Life of God. Even a cursory glance at how people pursue their lives will reveal that these are the very things people are seeking for. Every man in the world has a great chamber designated for these things within, for it is the very life of God expressed. But his sin has cut him off from God and therefore he spends every working hour trying to fill the chambers.
LOVE: His basic need is love. To be loved is an absolute number one essential of the human species if he is to feel fulfilled. Human life in character is an in-taking sponge-like experience, Divine life is an outpouring fountain-like experience. Humans love those who love them, Divines love those who hate them. People have more time for you if you’re rich. They haven’t got much time for you if you’re poor. When the money of the prodigal son ran out his friends ran out with it. For God to know love, it pours out, for us to know love we feel the need for it to pour in. Jesus said that when we have a party, that we should not invite those who we know will invite us to theirs, but invite those who will never be able to return the invitation. He must have seen most of our Christmas card lists and our Christmas presents lists. They usually coincide exactly with those who sent or gave to us the year before!!
JOY: This is again a basic requirement for humans. We need to be happy. The world is full of Amusements. The word ‘Amusement’ means ‘‘the absence of thinking.’’ Who wants to think? . Who wants to be quiet.? Switch on the radio, the T.V. the hi-fi, drown the thoughts that trouble. Don’t let’s think of death, or judgement, or eternity. Who dares say that there is a hole in the boat while the party is going full swing? Let’s have a good time. No harm in that but it is a definite false substitute for the joy that they know, who have faith in God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The joy of such people is an outpouring joy, from a well inside them springing up into eternal life. Its source is the Holy Spirit. It does not depend upon the amount of money in the pocket.
Such was the message Jesus preached to the woman at the well, (John ch. 4.) who in her search for joy and satisfaction had married five times and was then living with a man who she had not even bothered to marry. There are millions in the world just like her. Her ‘‘brief encounter’’ with the Saviour of the world, was a life changing experience. She told her friends to ‘‘Come see a man.!’’ They had heard that before no doubt. But Jesus gave her water that was not in the well, divine joy in fact. One pays for the ‘joy-giving’ pleasures of the world in the short term and the long. In the short term you need money. If you haven’t got any money then there is not much free entertainment. So slavery is the order of the day. To play hard, they have to work hard. Getting rich to afford enough to make you happy, is a confession of real poverty. The gospel makes people rich in real joy. The riches of his grace are untold and are unsurpassed wells of eternal pleasure.
PEACE: (or security) This is the third basic requirement of the human soul without God. More service to mammon is needed. Money is supposed to grant such security. But how much do you need. It would seem that you always need a little bit more. But it fails to provide enough security to deal with sickness or unfaithfulness in relationships. We are advised through TV advertising to “get the strength of the insurance companies”, to provide that peace of mind. If you have ever tried to get insurance companies to pay out you will know how hollow that advert sounds. But any peace gained thereby is still an in-taking godless experience. We only have peace when all around us is peaceful. But the peace of God smiles at the storm, and in the storm. Jesus slept while his unbelieving disciples questioned whether God really cared whether they perished or not. ‘‘With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm.’’ - That is the peace of God.
So we see in the gospel which is free, enough to provide the genuine articles of human need, Love Joy and Peace. The Gospel brings a message of the love of God shown to us through Jesus Christ. The Gospel brings great joy when we believe on Jesus and know the forgiveness of our sins. The gospel brings peace, for we realise that the war is over and no longer is God's wrath directed towards us.
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God."
TEACHING:
We see that the third part of his ministry was in teaching. We should notice the diminishing numbers as he moved from healing through to preaching and then to teaching. Not much has changed, has it? Who’s got time for bible study these days? All too often the bible teacher is denigrated with accusations that “ the letter kills but the spirit gives life.” Those who get all the thrills of a fairground ride should be thankful that it was not built by fools, but rather men of the mind who spent long years in learning. Similar thrills can be found by foolish boys who throw a rope over a tree bough and swing over canals or rivers. However many a tale can be told of broken legs and arms resulting in such thrill seeking. Likewise we would be well warned against any thrills spiritual or otherwise which are not based upon sound teaching of the word of God. To over emphasise the work and presence of the Holy spirit more than teaching of the Word is folly indeed.
The Word and the Spirit are as Siamese twins in the scripture. Indeed they both share the same symbolism- which is water.
Water consists of two invisible gases. Hydrogen and Oxygen. In my book on the pattern of threes in scripture we see clear links between hydrogen and the Word and the Holy Spirit and Oxygen.
In John ch 4 and ch 7 Jesus refers to the Spirit as water.
Many scriptures refer to the Word as water also.
Eph 5:25-27: ... Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Ps 119:9: Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
John 15:3: Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
The healing usually took place in the valley and the teaching took place on the mountain.
Much of Jesus's teaching involved parables.
Why did Jesus speak in parables? (Matt ch. 13 v 10.)
Like everything else that Jesus did, he did it because his bible told him to do so. Spiritual truth is only for those in the kingdom. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal spiritual truth.
It was only for the disciples to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. This whole subject is quite a large one. Much can be said upon this subject. A good illustration of hidden truth is to be found in the parable of the hidden treasure, also in ch. 13.
The Parable of the Treasure in the Field:
It is surprising how easily we can miss the real truth of this parable. In the verse following we have the parable of the pearl of Great Price. It is not too difficult to appreciate that in the latter, that the Pearl of great price to be acquired is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not a little wonder therefore, if some would think that the treasure in this particular parable refers to the Lord also. For the two stories have great similarities. However, it would not be likely that Jesus would tell two stories about the kingdom to illustrate the same point. Furthermore, within the parable of the treasure, it is said that the man who found the treasure, hid it. In all your years as a Christian, have you ever come across such an initial reaction of a new Christian. For when a person finds Christ, usually the last thing he desires to do, is to hide Him. Such is our desire to share this new found wealth we publish it abroad, very often thinking that the whole world will accept Christ within the week. Added to this, we must ask, if Christ is the treasure, what is the field and why must we who find Christ have to purchase the field to obtain possession of Him? Many such questions would need to be raised and answered if one took the interpretation, that Christ is the treasure in the field. So this ‘obvious’ interpretation is not the true one.
Natural Minds and Spiritual Truth.
Before moving into the full interpretation of this parable let’s spend a few thoughts on the mystery of truth. It is strange how one often thinks that truth is revealed in reading scripture, simply because it is written in English language and we understand the English language. However, the more one discovers truth, the more one is inclined to make bold statements, such as- No spiritual truth is obvious. If they were obvious then they would not be spiritual, for ‘the natural man understands not the things of the spirit’, and if they were obvious then the natural man would discover spiritual truth by himself. But it is very evident from scripture, and endorsed by many an experience that we know nothing until the Holy Spirit opens our understanding. We think we know something because we have taken the obvious meaning in reading scripture, till later on, and sometimes a long time later on, the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts and we sigh in amazement that we could have missed the real truth for so long, How often have you heard people speak of secrets. For example. the secret of prayer is.... or the secret of victorious living is.
Sometimes, when we discover a truth revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, we get excited about it and off we go to the next sharing meeting to bubble over with this new discovery. ‘‘Isn’t it marvellous, we are no longer under condemnation, because we are in Christ’’. We expect everyone else to jump up with joy now that you have revealed this wonderful truth to them all, but what do you get? - a blankness bordering on boredom. You are staggered, but later it dawns on you that all you said they knew already, you used no new words other than those that they had all heard a hundred times or more before.
In Deuteronomy we read that ‘‘the secret things belong unto the Lord our God.’’
In the book of Job, the latter says ‘‘Can a man find God by searching for Him?’’. Inferring that he can’t.
We only know what we know of God because he has set down very clearly the revelation of himself. He has laid down very clearly how we can find Him. Jesus said ‘‘No one can know the father except those to whom the son reveals Him.’’
So you see, God has locked out of human sight and understanding anything concerning the spiritual world of truth and light. The scripture says the natural man is dead, and the dead don’t have eyes that see. There are many false lights around, but they don’t come from above.
Lots think they have discovered the truth. But Jesus said ‘‘if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness’’ What a surprising statement especially in the ‘‘light’’ of all we hear from so called religious leaders today, who offer Christianity as just another way in which God has revealed Himself to man, and that equally He has done so through the other religions of the world. It is tantamount to blasphemy to say that Mohammed or Buddha has any equal to the Son of God. Jesus never said “I am one of the lights of the world” Can it possibly be that those who say such things, even Bishops and Archbishops, are amongst those ‘‘wise’’ that God has hidden his truth from, while revealing it unto ‘‘babes’’.
There are no areas of grey with God. When it comes to Truth there are no shadows, for God is Light, and Jesus said “I AM the Light of the WORLD.” Every word has enormous weight. Anything not revealed by the Holy Spirit is darkness. It may seem like light or truth. Heresy has a formula usually of something like ‘80% Truth + 20% falsehood [or human philosophy],” ( shake the bottle well!) but God has no part in such, it is darkness to Him. He is light, He IS truth. The greater part of so called truth preached in the world has its authorship in Hell. The Devil is not called the great Deceiver and the father of lies for nothing. A lie is useless if no-one believes it as truth. Millions are kept safe in darkness cherishing their so-called light, but it remains but a product of the natural mind.
Also we will find that our progression in spiritual knowledge is as sure a growth as in the natural. God has kept this monopoly of revelation to himself because only He knows the truly obedient and faithful seeker. He does not give light for men to look at and toss away with total disregard, but he gives light to those who will walk in it.
We must confess even as believers that sometimes we think we understand certain truths and then later we have such truths revealed by the Spirit. We then realise how wrong we were. All too often believing christians will quote familiar texts, totally out of context to the spiritual meaning of the passage. Perhaps a few examples will explain what I mean.
How many would read Eph 2. and skip over such a phrase as; ‘‘the middle wall of partition has been broken down’’ It may be surprising to find out how many think that it refers to the wall between God and man that has been broken down.
Though often quoted, there would be very few who could recount the context and real meaning of the text in Hebrews ‘‘the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword’’
We often preach to unbelievers things like ‘‘How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation’’ or ‘‘It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgement’’, both again from Hebrews. Yet neither are in such context to merit such application.
Then there is the classic example of ‘‘Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap’’ in Galatians. Check out your favourite commentary. I doubt if they make mention of the fact that Paul is speaking of the need to give financial support to Servants and ministers of the gospel.
It is with such knowledge that we approach this parable. Perhaps the interpretation is not the most obvious one, which we mentioned above.
Beverly Shae, who used to be a member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Team, often used to sing a solo, in which were the words, ‘‘men are His diamonds, and He loves them so.’’ These words give us the key to this parable. The field is the world, men are the diamonds, made to be clean and reflect the beauty and light of the world, but lying in darkness and covered by the soil of sin.
God sent His Son into the world to save that which was lost. He came and he found the treasure. Peter James John, Mary, Martha, and thousands of others. He loved them so. The parable tells us that when he found the treasure, the first thing he did was to hide it. Strange thing to do. Why didn’t he just take the treasure home, or as they would say in Liverpool, why didn’t he ‘‘lift it and scarper’’.
It was after all a possibility. Jesus could have stayed on this earth for the allotted three score and ten years, and by that time I am sure that He would have had the whole world, believing in Him. At the time of the feeding of the five thousand, some ten to twenty thousand people must have been following him for a continual three days or more. We read that they wanted to make Jesus their King. So what happened? Why didn’t they make Him King? Simply because from that time on, after the Transfiguration, Jesus set himself to go towards Jerusalem where He was to die on the cross. Once he began to speak about the cross, people began to backslide, and follow Him no more. In fact the nearer he got to the cross, the less people followed Him. {The cross is the cause of all backsliding}
By going to the cross, Jesus was dying for the whole world; He was purchasing the whole field. He knew that in the many thousands of years to come there would be much more treasure. Surely that is why the man in the parable bought the whole field because he knew, or at least suspected that there would be other treasure in the field.
It was necessary therefore to hide the treasure for a time. He chose to leave the treasure in its darkness for a little longer. Understanding how he did this will give added light to some strange things that Jesus sometimes said. You will recall how often when He healed someone, He promptly told them not to publish it abroad. One would have thought that he would want as many people as possible to know of His power and goodness, so that they would believe on Him. The only occasion when he told someone to go home and tell people was when He spoke to the man that had lived in the tombs, possessed of a Legion of devils. Perhaps you can figure out why He made this exception. Also when Peter, James and John saw Jesus transformed before their very eyes into the glory that He had before He came to this earth, He distinctly told them not to tell anyone what they had seen, because ‘‘first, the Son of man must go to Jerusalem to suffer and be crucified.’ He was hiding the treasure. He spoke to them in parables deliberately so that they would not see the whole truth and believe. He was hiding the treasure. He was keeping them from the light for a little while longer. He purchased the world with his precious blood. He paid for it with joy. Because of the joy that he anticipated at having all the treasure in the field, He endured the cross, despising the shame and the suffering which it brought. There is a great scripture in Corinthians which highlights this parable and vice versa.
1 Cor 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
The wisdom of God is to know what the true treasure is on this earth, even though covered by filth and dirt. The righteousness is that which the sinners receives when he is washed in the blood of Jesus the Son from the soil and dirt of sin. The sanctification is as the rough diamond, honed and polished to reflect the light of the world, by the work of the Holy Spirit
We sing; “Jesus take me as I am, Make me like a precious stone, crystal clear and finely honed”
Redemption is the whole story, The parable illustrates how we have been bought back from slavery to sin and the world. Having expounded the parable we can make two observations.
1. That the natural mind would never see the meaning of this parable.
2. Only those in the kingdom will appreciate the preciousness of the truth revealed.
That is why He spoke in parables. Jesus told many parables prefixed with the words. ‘‘The Kingdom of God is like unto ....’’ (Matthew ch. 13.)
Some of those same parables have only really been understood by generations hundreds or thousands of years later. But the story was told and has been set like a jewel box, due to be opened later as it were.
One such story is the parable of the leaven. Once again there is often the mistaken idea that the story reflects the growth of the church, infiltrating the whole of society. That is not true. Leaven in scripture is always an insidious thing. It is a symbol of pride and boastfulness. The little bit of leaven that existed in Corinth (2 Cor ch. 5.) and in Galatia (Galatians ch. 5.) has unfortunately ‘‘leavened’’ the whole church. The untruths which were being set in the early church were “pride, factions, etc”. in Corinth and “salvation by works”, in Galatia. Such falsehoods are rife today.
The whole lump is truly leavened.
Significantly Jesus often used the phrase ‘‘he that has ears to hear, let him hear’’. Thus endorsing the fact that not everyone who hears will understand. - Only those with ‘‘spiritual ears’’.
For further studies on this same subject, see 2 Corinthians where we see ‘The Ministry’ in particular. Paul’s personal defence of his own ministry includes what he maintains are the qualifications for the ministry. They are not what we would offer today, if called upon to do the same. If only half of the adversity came to us that came Paul’s way we would more likely begin to question whether God was with us or not.
"Christian Service" The Ministry:
The Ministry in Particular is outlined in 11 Corinthians.
The Ministry in General is outlined in Philippians
Ch.1. The Principle of Ministry:
(Note also his reference to ‘‘partnership in the Gospel’’)
’’ I have you in my heart.’’
God trusts people into the care of Pastors and Truth into the care of Teachers.
Ch.2. The Pattern of the ministry.
Jesus came down to lift us up. In contrast, 2 Corinthians refers to Moses’ ministry. He went up and brought something down. Jesus came down lower than those to whom he was ministering to lift them up. He became a servant. The difficulty in the ministry is being able to be Holy enough to live in the presence of God, (and bring something down) and humble enough for sinners not to want to run away before you’ve had a chance to lift them up. Jesus was the ‘‘friend’’ of publicans and sinners.
Ch. 3. The Perspective of the Ministry.
Forgetting those things which are behind. Paul had a vision. He knew exactly what he was aiming for. He knew exactly why God had grasped hold of Him and this was his perspective. Always aiming and pressing on, until the time came when he knew he had finished his course, and ‘‘fought a good fight’’
Ch. 4. The Privilege of the Ministry:
‘‘Not that I desire a gift, but that fruit may abound to your account.’’
It is a privilege to be in the service of a King. Everyone should be in the ministry. It is a partnership. Those who support in a practical way those who minister, share in that ministry and will reap the rewards of that ministry. All the great ideas and inventions of history would still have remained ideas if someone had not put up the money for the materials to make the equipment for experimentation. Our giving makes the printing presses possible for the spread of the word of God. It fashions the radio equipment, the ships, the planes, the trains and a million other things that are practical essentials for the growth of the ministry in this present world. Who are you in Partnership with ? Who do you know with an effective ministry? Why not ask him or her if you can join them.? Jesus called his disciples to work with Him in His ministry. He is still calling today.
We see that the third part of his ministry was in teaching. We should notice the diminishing numbers as he moved from healing through to preaching and then to teaching. Not much has changed, has it? Who’s got time for bible study these days? All too often the bible teacher is denigrated with accusations that “ the letter kills but the spirit gives life.” Those who get all the thrills of a fairground ride should be thankful that it was not built by fools, but rather men of the mind who spent long years in learning. Similar thrills can be found by foolish boys who throw a rope over a tree bough and swing over canals or rivers. However many a tale can be told of broken legs and arms resulting in such thrill seeking. Likewise we would be well warned against any thrills spiritual or otherwise which are not based upon sound teaching of the word of God. To over emphasise the work and presence of the Holy spirit more than teaching of the Word is folly indeed.
The Word and the Spirit are as Siamese twins in the scripture. Indeed they both share the same symbolism- which is water.
Water consists of two invisible gases. Hydrogen and Oxygen. In my book on the pattern of threes in scripture we see clear links between hydrogen and the Word and the Holy Spirit and Oxygen.
In John ch 4 and ch 7 Jesus refers to the Spirit as water.
Many scriptures refer to the Word as water also.
Eph 5:25-27: ... Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Ps 119:9: Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
John 15:3: Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
The healing usually took place in the valley and the teaching took place on the mountain.
Much of Jesus's teaching involved parables.
Why did Jesus speak in parables? (Matt ch. 13 v 10.)
Like everything else that Jesus did, he did it because his bible told him to do so. Spiritual truth is only for those in the kingdom. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal spiritual truth.
It was only for the disciples to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. This whole subject is quite a large one. Much can be said upon this subject. A good illustration of hidden truth is to be found in the parable of the hidden treasure, also in ch. 13.
The Parable of the Treasure in the Field:
It is surprising how easily we can miss the real truth of this parable. In the verse following we have the parable of the pearl of Great Price. It is not too difficult to appreciate that in the latter, that the Pearl of great price to be acquired is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not a little wonder therefore, if some would think that the treasure in this particular parable refers to the Lord also. For the two stories have great similarities. However, it would not be likely that Jesus would tell two stories about the kingdom to illustrate the same point. Furthermore, within the parable of the treasure, it is said that the man who found the treasure, hid it. In all your years as a Christian, have you ever come across such an initial reaction of a new Christian. For when a person finds Christ, usually the last thing he desires to do, is to hide Him. Such is our desire to share this new found wealth we publish it abroad, very often thinking that the whole world will accept Christ within the week. Added to this, we must ask, if Christ is the treasure, what is the field and why must we who find Christ have to purchase the field to obtain possession of Him? Many such questions would need to be raised and answered if one took the interpretation, that Christ is the treasure in the field. So this ‘obvious’ interpretation is not the true one.
Natural Minds and Spiritual Truth.
Before moving into the full interpretation of this parable let’s spend a few thoughts on the mystery of truth. It is strange how one often thinks that truth is revealed in reading scripture, simply because it is written in English language and we understand the English language. However, the more one discovers truth, the more one is inclined to make bold statements, such as- No spiritual truth is obvious. If they were obvious then they would not be spiritual, for ‘the natural man understands not the things of the spirit’, and if they were obvious then the natural man would discover spiritual truth by himself. But it is very evident from scripture, and endorsed by many an experience that we know nothing until the Holy Spirit opens our understanding. We think we know something because we have taken the obvious meaning in reading scripture, till later on, and sometimes a long time later on, the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts and we sigh in amazement that we could have missed the real truth for so long, How often have you heard people speak of secrets. For example. the secret of prayer is.... or the secret of victorious living is.
Sometimes, when we discover a truth revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, we get excited about it and off we go to the next sharing meeting to bubble over with this new discovery. ‘‘Isn’t it marvellous, we are no longer under condemnation, because we are in Christ’’. We expect everyone else to jump up with joy now that you have revealed this wonderful truth to them all, but what do you get? - a blankness bordering on boredom. You are staggered, but later it dawns on you that all you said they knew already, you used no new words other than those that they had all heard a hundred times or more before.
In Deuteronomy we read that ‘‘the secret things belong unto the Lord our God.’’
In the book of Job, the latter says ‘‘Can a man find God by searching for Him?’’. Inferring that he can’t.
We only know what we know of God because he has set down very clearly the revelation of himself. He has laid down very clearly how we can find Him. Jesus said ‘‘No one can know the father except those to whom the son reveals Him.’’
So you see, God has locked out of human sight and understanding anything concerning the spiritual world of truth and light. The scripture says the natural man is dead, and the dead don’t have eyes that see. There are many false lights around, but they don’t come from above.
Lots think they have discovered the truth. But Jesus said ‘‘if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness’’ What a surprising statement especially in the ‘‘light’’ of all we hear from so called religious leaders today, who offer Christianity as just another way in which God has revealed Himself to man, and that equally He has done so through the other religions of the world. It is tantamount to blasphemy to say that Mohammed or Buddha has any equal to the Son of God. Jesus never said “I am one of the lights of the world” Can it possibly be that those who say such things, even Bishops and Archbishops, are amongst those ‘‘wise’’ that God has hidden his truth from, while revealing it unto ‘‘babes’’.
There are no areas of grey with God. When it comes to Truth there are no shadows, for God is Light, and Jesus said “I AM the Light of the WORLD.” Every word has enormous weight. Anything not revealed by the Holy Spirit is darkness. It may seem like light or truth. Heresy has a formula usually of something like ‘80% Truth + 20% falsehood [or human philosophy],” ( shake the bottle well!) but God has no part in such, it is darkness to Him. He is light, He IS truth. The greater part of so called truth preached in the world has its authorship in Hell. The Devil is not called the great Deceiver and the father of lies for nothing. A lie is useless if no-one believes it as truth. Millions are kept safe in darkness cherishing their so-called light, but it remains but a product of the natural mind.
Also we will find that our progression in spiritual knowledge is as sure a growth as in the natural. God has kept this monopoly of revelation to himself because only He knows the truly obedient and faithful seeker. He does not give light for men to look at and toss away with total disregard, but he gives light to those who will walk in it.
We must confess even as believers that sometimes we think we understand certain truths and then later we have such truths revealed by the Spirit. We then realise how wrong we were. All too often believing christians will quote familiar texts, totally out of context to the spiritual meaning of the passage. Perhaps a few examples will explain what I mean.
How many would read Eph 2. and skip over such a phrase as; ‘‘the middle wall of partition has been broken down’’ It may be surprising to find out how many think that it refers to the wall between God and man that has been broken down.
Though often quoted, there would be very few who could recount the context and real meaning of the text in Hebrews ‘‘the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword’’
We often preach to unbelievers things like ‘‘How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation’’ or ‘‘It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgement’’, both again from Hebrews. Yet neither are in such context to merit such application.
Then there is the classic example of ‘‘Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap’’ in Galatians. Check out your favourite commentary. I doubt if they make mention of the fact that Paul is speaking of the need to give financial support to Servants and ministers of the gospel.
It is with such knowledge that we approach this parable. Perhaps the interpretation is not the most obvious one, which we mentioned above.
Beverly Shae, who used to be a member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Team, often used to sing a solo, in which were the words, ‘‘men are His diamonds, and He loves them so.’’ These words give us the key to this parable. The field is the world, men are the diamonds, made to be clean and reflect the beauty and light of the world, but lying in darkness and covered by the soil of sin.
God sent His Son into the world to save that which was lost. He came and he found the treasure. Peter James John, Mary, Martha, and thousands of others. He loved them so. The parable tells us that when he found the treasure, the first thing he did was to hide it. Strange thing to do. Why didn’t he just take the treasure home, or as they would say in Liverpool, why didn’t he ‘‘lift it and scarper’’.
It was after all a possibility. Jesus could have stayed on this earth for the allotted three score and ten years, and by that time I am sure that He would have had the whole world, believing in Him. At the time of the feeding of the five thousand, some ten to twenty thousand people must have been following him for a continual three days or more. We read that they wanted to make Jesus their King. So what happened? Why didn’t they make Him King? Simply because from that time on, after the Transfiguration, Jesus set himself to go towards Jerusalem where He was to die on the cross. Once he began to speak about the cross, people began to backslide, and follow Him no more. In fact the nearer he got to the cross, the less people followed Him. {The cross is the cause of all backsliding}
By going to the cross, Jesus was dying for the whole world; He was purchasing the whole field. He knew that in the many thousands of years to come there would be much more treasure. Surely that is why the man in the parable bought the whole field because he knew, or at least suspected that there would be other treasure in the field.
It was necessary therefore to hide the treasure for a time. He chose to leave the treasure in its darkness for a little longer. Understanding how he did this will give added light to some strange things that Jesus sometimes said. You will recall how often when He healed someone, He promptly told them not to publish it abroad. One would have thought that he would want as many people as possible to know of His power and goodness, so that they would believe on Him. The only occasion when he told someone to go home and tell people was when He spoke to the man that had lived in the tombs, possessed of a Legion of devils. Perhaps you can figure out why He made this exception. Also when Peter, James and John saw Jesus transformed before their very eyes into the glory that He had before He came to this earth, He distinctly told them not to tell anyone what they had seen, because ‘‘first, the Son of man must go to Jerusalem to suffer and be crucified.’ He was hiding the treasure. He spoke to them in parables deliberately so that they would not see the whole truth and believe. He was hiding the treasure. He was keeping them from the light for a little while longer. He purchased the world with his precious blood. He paid for it with joy. Because of the joy that he anticipated at having all the treasure in the field, He endured the cross, despising the shame and the suffering which it brought. There is a great scripture in Corinthians which highlights this parable and vice versa.
1 Cor 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
The wisdom of God is to know what the true treasure is on this earth, even though covered by filth and dirt. The righteousness is that which the sinners receives when he is washed in the blood of Jesus the Son from the soil and dirt of sin. The sanctification is as the rough diamond, honed and polished to reflect the light of the world, by the work of the Holy Spirit
We sing; “Jesus take me as I am, Make me like a precious stone, crystal clear and finely honed”
Redemption is the whole story, The parable illustrates how we have been bought back from slavery to sin and the world. Having expounded the parable we can make two observations.
1. That the natural mind would never see the meaning of this parable.
2. Only those in the kingdom will appreciate the preciousness of the truth revealed.
That is why He spoke in parables. Jesus told many parables prefixed with the words. ‘‘The Kingdom of God is like unto ....’’ (Matthew ch. 13.)
Some of those same parables have only really been understood by generations hundreds or thousands of years later. But the story was told and has been set like a jewel box, due to be opened later as it were.
One such story is the parable of the leaven. Once again there is often the mistaken idea that the story reflects the growth of the church, infiltrating the whole of society. That is not true. Leaven in scripture is always an insidious thing. It is a symbol of pride and boastfulness. The little bit of leaven that existed in Corinth (2 Cor ch. 5.) and in Galatia (Galatians ch. 5.) has unfortunately ‘‘leavened’’ the whole church. The untruths which were being set in the early church were “pride, factions, etc”. in Corinth and “salvation by works”, in Galatia. Such falsehoods are rife today.
The whole lump is truly leavened.
Significantly Jesus often used the phrase ‘‘he that has ears to hear, let him hear’’. Thus endorsing the fact that not everyone who hears will understand. - Only those with ‘‘spiritual ears’’.
For further studies on this same subject, see 2 Corinthians where we see ‘The Ministry’ in particular. Paul’s personal defence of his own ministry includes what he maintains are the qualifications for the ministry. They are not what we would offer today, if called upon to do the same. If only half of the adversity came to us that came Paul’s way we would more likely begin to question whether God was with us or not.
"Christian Service" The Ministry:
The Ministry in Particular is outlined in 11 Corinthians.
The Ministry in General is outlined in Philippians
Ch.1. The Principle of Ministry:
(Note also his reference to ‘‘partnership in the Gospel’’)
’’ I have you in my heart.’’
God trusts people into the care of Pastors and Truth into the care of Teachers.
Ch.2. The Pattern of the ministry.
Jesus came down to lift us up. In contrast, 2 Corinthians refers to Moses’ ministry. He went up and brought something down. Jesus came down lower than those to whom he was ministering to lift them up. He became a servant. The difficulty in the ministry is being able to be Holy enough to live in the presence of God, (and bring something down) and humble enough for sinners not to want to run away before you’ve had a chance to lift them up. Jesus was the ‘‘friend’’ of publicans and sinners.
Ch. 3. The Perspective of the Ministry.
Forgetting those things which are behind. Paul had a vision. He knew exactly what he was aiming for. He knew exactly why God had grasped hold of Him and this was his perspective. Always aiming and pressing on, until the time came when he knew he had finished his course, and ‘‘fought a good fight’’
Ch. 4. The Privilege of the Ministry:
‘‘Not that I desire a gift, but that fruit may abound to your account.’’
It is a privilege to be in the service of a King. Everyone should be in the ministry. It is a partnership. Those who support in a practical way those who minister, share in that ministry and will reap the rewards of that ministry. All the great ideas and inventions of history would still have remained ideas if someone had not put up the money for the materials to make the equipment for experimentation. Our giving makes the printing presses possible for the spread of the word of God. It fashions the radio equipment, the ships, the planes, the trains and a million other things that are practical essentials for the growth of the ministry in this present world. Who are you in Partnership with ? Who do you know with an effective ministry? Why not ask him or her if you can join them.? Jesus called his disciples to work with Him in His ministry. He is still calling today.
MATURITY: The Transfiguration
Service in the Kingdom of God, it could be said comes to its fulness when we bring others to see Jesus Christ in all the glory that we ourselves see him. It is almost impossible to lead them any further. From the many thousands who followed him, Jesus brought only three to see Him in all His glory.
It is not a very easy thing to do. Sometimes spiritual experiences are difficult even to put into words, let alone explain what one has ‘‘seen’’ with sufficiency enough to bring others to see as well. On the mount Jesus was changed into his former Glory. It is worth pondering on what Adam looked like before he fell to sin and lost his spiritual glory. No doubt, He was clothed in light also. If all the hairs on our skin and head all had lights at the end of them you can imagine the difference between having them all switched on and all switched off. When Adam fell the lights, so to speak were all switched off and Adam & Eve became conscious of being naked.
We cannot see Christ in all his fulness without beholding him throughout all scripture. Jesus said “In the volume of the book it is written of me.” Not only in the narrative but within the characters we see aspects of His divine person. We see him not only in the Law and in the Prophets. but also in Moses and Elijah. The significance of Moses and Elijah being with Jesus on the mount has many aspects. Some are obvious and others more subtle. There are many similarities to be found when you compare the lives and ministries of these great men of God. Both Moses and Elijah were leaders of their nation in attempting to bring them to the place that God wanted them. They were both in the wilderness for forty days, both at some time wished to die prematurely, their followers also worshipped false images, and they were each followed by a man whose name means “ Saviour”. ( Joshua and Elisha.) Like John the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets they both made way for the Saviour. Furthermore, we can say that these were all “men of the mount”. Moses brought down the Law from Sinai (Horeb), Elijah brought the fire of Judgement down on Mt. Carmel, and Jesus fulfilled both when he died on Calvary. Not only did he fulfil the law of Moses by his holy living, and was the only human being ever to do so, He also took upon himself the fire of the judgement of God in his body, for the breaking of that Law. He was as the ark of Noah, which protected all those inside from the judgement by water that fell.
Service in the Kingdom of God, it could be said comes to its fulness when we bring others to see Jesus Christ in all the glory that we ourselves see him. It is almost impossible to lead them any further. From the many thousands who followed him, Jesus brought only three to see Him in all His glory.
It is not a very easy thing to do. Sometimes spiritual experiences are difficult even to put into words, let alone explain what one has ‘‘seen’’ with sufficiency enough to bring others to see as well. On the mount Jesus was changed into his former Glory. It is worth pondering on what Adam looked like before he fell to sin and lost his spiritual glory. No doubt, He was clothed in light also. If all the hairs on our skin and head all had lights at the end of them you can imagine the difference between having them all switched on and all switched off. When Adam fell the lights, so to speak were all switched off and Adam & Eve became conscious of being naked.
We cannot see Christ in all his fulness without beholding him throughout all scripture. Jesus said “In the volume of the book it is written of me.” Not only in the narrative but within the characters we see aspects of His divine person. We see him not only in the Law and in the Prophets. but also in Moses and Elijah. The significance of Moses and Elijah being with Jesus on the mount has many aspects. Some are obvious and others more subtle. There are many similarities to be found when you compare the lives and ministries of these great men of God. Both Moses and Elijah were leaders of their nation in attempting to bring them to the place that God wanted them. They were both in the wilderness for forty days, both at some time wished to die prematurely, their followers also worshipped false images, and they were each followed by a man whose name means “ Saviour”. ( Joshua and Elisha.) Like John the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets they both made way for the Saviour. Furthermore, we can say that these were all “men of the mount”. Moses brought down the Law from Sinai (Horeb), Elijah brought the fire of Judgement down on Mt. Carmel, and Jesus fulfilled both when he died on Calvary. Not only did he fulfil the law of Moses by his holy living, and was the only human being ever to do so, He also took upon himself the fire of the judgement of God in his body, for the breaking of that Law. He was as the ark of Noah, which protected all those inside from the judgement by water that fell.
THE OLD & NEW TESTAMENTS:
The meeting of these three men on one mount, could well pose a mystery to some. For example, the Old and the New Testament are represented here. There are a great number of people who cannot see the two as one, for they are so different. It seems a contradiction of the immutability (unchanging) of God. Were these three ‘‘gentlemen’’ all present day ‘‘Christians’’ they would represent such denominational differences that either they would ignore each other, or have a mighty argument, - even seek to push the other two off the mount. We say that two dogs can’t bark in the same kennel and leaders on mountains tend to require the highest place. Moses might say to Jesus. "What’s all this I hear about you contradicting what I said. Don’t you know that I got it from the finger of God himself. How can you contradict it.?" However, such conversations did not take place, did they? On the contrary all three were united in discussing the death of Jesus. Do you find difficulty in uniting Moses and Jesus.? Then you do not understand the gospel fully.
Here on the mount the two dispensations meet. Law and Grace. The latter is impossible without the former. One does not deny the other, on the contrary they support one another. (Romans ch 3 v 31.) Only the righteousness of God is good enough to be acceptable to God. That standard is represented in the Law. Even the best scribes and Pharisees who lived their lives totally bound up in the law, were not acceptable. The apostle Paul says that he was a Pharisee, and as touching the Law, he was blameless. That is some high standard, but he regarded all his old righteousnesses and works of the flesh, as dog’s dirt, compared to what he had now, having received the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus through the gospel. All he wanted to boast of, he had received. He had received it through faith.
In Romans he points out that God made salvation available through faith so that it might be of grace. Faith is doing nothing, just resting. The law demands effort. Salvation is not earned, it comes of Grace. Jesus brought about such a change that it could rightly be thought that God is schizophrenic. But Jesus was not denying the truth of Moses’ law, but simply saying,
“I have come to bring forgiveness and grace to those who acknowledge the just verdict if guilty, according to the Law of Moses. I have come to fulfil that Law on your behalf. I have kept the Law totally and am not worthy of any punishment, but I have come also to pay the penalty of the Law in your place- that penalty is death.
Those who are outside of the kingdom of God remain under the law. The police, law courts, and armies all still exist under that system. That is the temporal kingdom, but the kingdom of God is eternal.
The meeting of these three men on one mount, could well pose a mystery to some. For example, the Old and the New Testament are represented here. There are a great number of people who cannot see the two as one, for they are so different. It seems a contradiction of the immutability (unchanging) of God. Were these three ‘‘gentlemen’’ all present day ‘‘Christians’’ they would represent such denominational differences that either they would ignore each other, or have a mighty argument, - even seek to push the other two off the mount. We say that two dogs can’t bark in the same kennel and leaders on mountains tend to require the highest place. Moses might say to Jesus. "What’s all this I hear about you contradicting what I said. Don’t you know that I got it from the finger of God himself. How can you contradict it.?" However, such conversations did not take place, did they? On the contrary all three were united in discussing the death of Jesus. Do you find difficulty in uniting Moses and Jesus.? Then you do not understand the gospel fully.
Here on the mount the two dispensations meet. Law and Grace. The latter is impossible without the former. One does not deny the other, on the contrary they support one another. (Romans ch 3 v 31.) Only the righteousness of God is good enough to be acceptable to God. That standard is represented in the Law. Even the best scribes and Pharisees who lived their lives totally bound up in the law, were not acceptable. The apostle Paul says that he was a Pharisee, and as touching the Law, he was blameless. That is some high standard, but he regarded all his old righteousnesses and works of the flesh, as dog’s dirt, compared to what he had now, having received the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus through the gospel. All he wanted to boast of, he had received. He had received it through faith.
In Romans he points out that God made salvation available through faith so that it might be of grace. Faith is doing nothing, just resting. The law demands effort. Salvation is not earned, it comes of Grace. Jesus brought about such a change that it could rightly be thought that God is schizophrenic. But Jesus was not denying the truth of Moses’ law, but simply saying,
“I have come to bring forgiveness and grace to those who acknowledge the just verdict if guilty, according to the Law of Moses. I have come to fulfil that Law on your behalf. I have kept the Law totally and am not worthy of any punishment, but I have come also to pay the penalty of the Law in your place- that penalty is death.
Those who are outside of the kingdom of God remain under the law. The police, law courts, and armies all still exist under that system. That is the temporal kingdom, but the kingdom of God is eternal.
THE THREE SERVANT PROPHETS
Note that the three men are all prophets. Read Deut. ch 34 v 10, if you had never seen Moses as a prophet. Then read ch 28-31 and you will realise that every other prophetic message almost, is based upon the prophesies of Moses. All that the other prophets said was really a reiteration of the warnings of Moses. Needless to say they all came true. His ‘‘best prophecy’’ is to be found in ch 18 v 15. “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.”
The latter prophecy puts Jesus firmly among the prophets, and Elijah needs no explanation as a prophet for he was the prophet of prophets. All that is typical of the prophet can be found in Elijah. The typical prophetic ministry is that of one who appears on the scene almost out of no-where. He preaches the message he has been sent to give, and almost as quickly disappears from the scene. Within that ministry there is always an element of suffering, persecution and rejection. We read of Elijah the Tishbite. We know nothing else of his identity. Having delivered his message God took him from the scene in a chariot typical of his ministry. By comparison with Elisha who followed him, we read of Elisha’s family. home and occupation etc. So being aware of what we mean by a typical prophet, let us see if by comparison we can see any subtle, or not so subtle differences in the three prophets. Whenever there are three of anything in scripture they can usually be slotted in under three headings or columns. Within these three headings come the ministries of Prophet, Priest and King. - one of the most common and regular threesomes in scripture. Only Jesus was all three, and only Job got any where being like all three. ( He was a prophet, a priest and a prince among his people) David was a prophet\king. Solomon was all king. etc All characters in the bible portray some aspect of the character and ministry of Christ. Moses and Elijah no less than any others are only there to point us to Christ. In the Old Testament there is a trio of prophets, who are ‘‘active’’ prophets. The remainder are more especially known for their prophetic ministry which was written down. These three “active prophets” are Moses, Elisha and Elijah. It is written that Jesus would be a prophet, ‘‘like unto Moses”, yet we have already discussed the great difference between them. This similar pattern of differences equally could be said of Elisha and Elijah.
Elisha and Elijah were alike only in the sound of their names which confuses many. They seemed to have different spirits . You may remember that only Jesus did more miracles than Elisha. He was a prophet closely linked with the needs of people, in terms of food, healing, and identification with men. This is symbolised in the way in which Elisha stretched himself on the dead boy, putting his eyes were the boy’s eyes were and his mouth where the boy’s mouth was etc. He also held hands with the king on the same bow at his deathbed. Similarly, (symbolically) even in death Elisha brought a young man back to life. This similarity with the ministry of Jesus, identifying himself with the people in need, is seen particularly as portrayed by Luke. It is very clear to the spiritual eye. But Elisha was not the typical prophet, for we have mention of his family life, and he dies a natural death. So in the sense that we can see Elisha identifying with people more, in contrast with Elijah we could say that Elisha was a kind of “Priest\ Prophet”. For a priest by definition is identified as one of the people for whom he is interceding.
Moses by comparison was a giant of a prophet in the sense that he towered over the people like a King, or ruler. He was not warning people of the dangers of not keeping the law (like Elijah or Elisha) He set down the law as a king or ruler. A king is always linked with commandments. Very much as we see in the gospel of Matthew, which denoted Jesus as King, we have the commandments of His kingdom clearly set out, in the sermon on the mount. These are the commands specifically for those in Christ’s kingdom.
So if we compare these prophets we can see a different shade in each. Moses is a prophet with a shade of kingship. Elisha is a prophet with a shade of Priesthood. Not in the sense of sacrificial ceremonies but in the sense of his humanity and identification with the needs of people. Elijah is a prophet with a shade of prophetship. He is as we have said, the embodiment of the typical prophet.
So if you are still following this channel of thought we could quite as easily have had Elisha instead of Jesus appear on the mountain, the priest \ prophet. Take that one step further and in Jesus we see a King Prophet. He gave commandments which contradicted Moses' commands. This would exclude Moses just as Elisha is excluded. And one step further still, Elijah is easily swallowed up in Christ who is the very Living word of God Himself. What we therefore are saying is that Jesus is here being identified with the whole revelation of God to man through the Law and the Prophets and that Jesus stands in the centre and in Him and by him the others only existed to exalt and magnify his Person.
Note that the three men are all prophets. Read Deut. ch 34 v 10, if you had never seen Moses as a prophet. Then read ch 28-31 and you will realise that every other prophetic message almost, is based upon the prophesies of Moses. All that the other prophets said was really a reiteration of the warnings of Moses. Needless to say they all came true. His ‘‘best prophecy’’ is to be found in ch 18 v 15. “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.”
The latter prophecy puts Jesus firmly among the prophets, and Elijah needs no explanation as a prophet for he was the prophet of prophets. All that is typical of the prophet can be found in Elijah. The typical prophetic ministry is that of one who appears on the scene almost out of no-where. He preaches the message he has been sent to give, and almost as quickly disappears from the scene. Within that ministry there is always an element of suffering, persecution and rejection. We read of Elijah the Tishbite. We know nothing else of his identity. Having delivered his message God took him from the scene in a chariot typical of his ministry. By comparison with Elisha who followed him, we read of Elisha’s family. home and occupation etc. So being aware of what we mean by a typical prophet, let us see if by comparison we can see any subtle, or not so subtle differences in the three prophets. Whenever there are three of anything in scripture they can usually be slotted in under three headings or columns. Within these three headings come the ministries of Prophet, Priest and King. - one of the most common and regular threesomes in scripture. Only Jesus was all three, and only Job got any where being like all three. ( He was a prophet, a priest and a prince among his people) David was a prophet\king. Solomon was all king. etc All characters in the bible portray some aspect of the character and ministry of Christ. Moses and Elijah no less than any others are only there to point us to Christ. In the Old Testament there is a trio of prophets, who are ‘‘active’’ prophets. The remainder are more especially known for their prophetic ministry which was written down. These three “active prophets” are Moses, Elisha and Elijah. It is written that Jesus would be a prophet, ‘‘like unto Moses”, yet we have already discussed the great difference between them. This similar pattern of differences equally could be said of Elisha and Elijah.
Elisha and Elijah were alike only in the sound of their names which confuses many. They seemed to have different spirits . You may remember that only Jesus did more miracles than Elisha. He was a prophet closely linked with the needs of people, in terms of food, healing, and identification with men. This is symbolised in the way in which Elisha stretched himself on the dead boy, putting his eyes were the boy’s eyes were and his mouth where the boy’s mouth was etc. He also held hands with the king on the same bow at his deathbed. Similarly, (symbolically) even in death Elisha brought a young man back to life. This similarity with the ministry of Jesus, identifying himself with the people in need, is seen particularly as portrayed by Luke. It is very clear to the spiritual eye. But Elisha was not the typical prophet, for we have mention of his family life, and he dies a natural death. So in the sense that we can see Elisha identifying with people more, in contrast with Elijah we could say that Elisha was a kind of “Priest\ Prophet”. For a priest by definition is identified as one of the people for whom he is interceding.
Moses by comparison was a giant of a prophet in the sense that he towered over the people like a King, or ruler. He was not warning people of the dangers of not keeping the law (like Elijah or Elisha) He set down the law as a king or ruler. A king is always linked with commandments. Very much as we see in the gospel of Matthew, which denoted Jesus as King, we have the commandments of His kingdom clearly set out, in the sermon on the mount. These are the commands specifically for those in Christ’s kingdom.
So if we compare these prophets we can see a different shade in each. Moses is a prophet with a shade of kingship. Elisha is a prophet with a shade of Priesthood. Not in the sense of sacrificial ceremonies but in the sense of his humanity and identification with the needs of people. Elijah is a prophet with a shade of prophetship. He is as we have said, the embodiment of the typical prophet.
So if you are still following this channel of thought we could quite as easily have had Elisha instead of Jesus appear on the mountain, the priest \ prophet. Take that one step further and in Jesus we see a King Prophet. He gave commandments which contradicted Moses' commands. This would exclude Moses just as Elisha is excluded. And one step further still, Elijah is easily swallowed up in Christ who is the very Living word of God Himself. What we therefore are saying is that Jesus is here being identified with the whole revelation of God to man through the Law and the Prophets and that Jesus stands in the centre and in Him and by him the others only existed to exalt and magnify his Person.
The disciples could not have had greater esteem for any other individuals than Moses and Elijah, yet when Peter impulsively suggests that three tabernacles be built, one for each, God himself thunders from heaven, to remind Peter and the others that this was His Son, and he was the only voice that mattered. For all that the others said or did was only to point to Jesus. Hebrews ch 1 v 1 tells us the same. All that God has ever said or revealed is fulfilled in Christ. There is nothing more to see. He must have the pre-eminence. Recently there was heard a report of a Baptist minister who said that the Moslems worshipped the same God as the christians, except that they regarded Jesus as second prophet to Mohammed. What a waste of God-given breath. What utter foolishness! The only true God, is the God of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Jesus said that anyone who did not accept Him, was not accepted of God. The falseness of the Moslem god, is portrayed in the blackness and legalism of their religion. It is still in the Old Testament revelation. Christianity is a New Testament. It is a message of Grace. Grace marks the difference. Grace stamps the genuine. The disciples saw the whole revelation of God past present and future set out before their eyes. They saw the glory of the Lord. This closes the circle of service. If a prophet is anything he is a Servant. Mark's gospel emphasises this point. On the mount we have the three greatest Servants of God in scripture, yet in saying that there is but One. Isaiah 52-53 tells us of that Servant. His physical form was marred more than that of any man. The disciples saw him as he really was before he entered into our world. What disfigurement! ‘‘He will act wisely ’’ says Isaiah and he will be lifted up and exalted.. The disciples saw this passage fulfilled before their eyes and no doubt heard Isaiah ch 53 quoted as these two great men talked with their God and Saviour about his death. Here now is the gospel message of grace. Made possible only by the law and the prophets. The transfiguration virtually marks the end of the ministry of Jesus, in terms of earthly ministry as a man. As far as heaven was concerned he had passed every test with flying colours. His growth in faith had made him continue his calling as the Son of God. Here on the mount, he was transformed back into his former glory. All that he had accepted by faith, from the word of God, ( (his bible) now became reality. From here on in, Jesus knew exactly where he had come from and where he was going to. (John ch 13) He set his face towards Jerusalem after the transfiguration. The only thing left to do was to make himself as an offering and sacrifice for sin.
Other New Testament Studies: (click)
Life of Christ circle 1 -(top of page ) - circle 3 Four Gospels -Mark - Luke - John.
Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Hebrews
Life of Christ circle 1 -(top of page ) - circle 3 Four Gospels -Mark - Luke - John.
Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Hebrews
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