We Are To Have Evidence of Our Faith - Luke 3-4

Luke 3:10-14 (ESV)

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

The above statement is about the teaching of John the Baptist.  It is the big idea of his teaching:  Faith demands evidence.   Just prior to the above passage Luke records this statement from John the Baptist.  

Luke 3:8-9 (ESV)

Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Bear fruit worthy of repentance.  That is evidence.  You don’t know if someone is a doctor until they start practicing medicine.  You don’t know if somone is a truck driver until they start driving a truck. You don’t know if someone is a baker until they show up with bake goods.   That is John’s point in the above passage.   He wants them to be challenged that faith in God is a faith in action.  There is a difference between head knowledge and life changing faith in Christ.   We are to look different than those who do not have Christ.   What is our evidence?  The fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 is certainly that evidence.  The actions stated by James in his epistle are evidence.   As believers in Christ, we are to look different in our actions.   We are to have evidence. 

Disobedience Creates Disaster - Jeremiah 37-41

Jeremiah 40:13-16 (ESV)

Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe them. Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Please let me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life, so that all the Judeans who are gathered about you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah would perish?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael.”

It is important to understand the timing of the above narrative.  Babylon has just captured Jerusalem.   Jeremiah was given the choice to stay in Jerusalem or go to Babylon or go wherever he wanted.  He chose to stay in Jerusalem.    The King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, puts Gedaliah in charge of all those who are left in Jerusalem.  

However, this still created a leadership vacuum.   Ishmael, someone part of the past royal family, has his own mind of who should be in charge.   It was him.   In the above passage Gedaliah was warned about Ishmael.  But he does not listen.  In the next chapter he is killed by Ishmael.     Later, Ismael will also be killed by someone avenging Gedaliah’s death.   

This is the life post the Babylonian conquest.  Israel has gone from being one of the most powerful nations in the world to a remnant of in-fighters and wannabe leaders.   Disobedience to God’s word will do this.  But standing in stark contrast to all this is the prophet Jeremiah.   He is given permission to live where he wants and is cared for, even by the enemy.  When we walk with God we are protected and cared for.  God watches over those who obey Him!  Note:

Jeremiah 40:2-6 (ESV)

The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God pronounced this disaster against this place. The LORD has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you. Now, behold, I release you today from the chains on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well, but if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go. If you remain, then return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

God Can Set The Boundaries For Our Days - Job 38-39

Job 38:8-11 (ESV)

“Or who shut in the sea with doors

when it burst out from the womb,

when I made clouds its garment

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

and prescribed limits for it

and set bars and doors,

and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

Imagine telling a profession of quantum physics that they don’t know basic math.   Imagine insinuating to a heart doctor they are failing in the basics of taking someone’s temperature.  Imagine telling an engineer they are inept at building something with LEGO blocks.   These things would be utterly ridiculous.  Yet, imagine telling God He doesn’t know what He is doing with your life! Utterly ridiculous! 

This is Job’s plight, however, at this point in the story.  He has lost everything.  He has nothing left.  Even now, the friends who came to console him, have judged him.   He claims God has abandoned him.   Job has called God out.  He is claiming God is inept at caring for him.   In this section of Job, however, God now gets to talk.  God’s opening line to Job must have been a shock to Job’s system:

Job 38:2-3 (ESV)

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Dress for action like a man;

I will question you, and you make it known to me.

Imagine in the midst of all this to suddenly hear God’s voice!   Job is about to be examined by God about what he knows about the universe that God created. The one Job is part of.  In the above lines Job is questioned about his ability to control the seas.   God simply asks him if he has control over the boundaries of the seas, like God does? 

Throughout this section of Job, God never answers Job’s burning question as to “why” did all this happen to him.  Instead God moves Job’s eyes away from himself and onto God’s majesty and glory.   It is easy for us to try to out-master God.   We know what is best for us, or so we think.    God is in control of the universe.  He knows what is best for us.  He wants the best for us.  When we focus on us and our circumstances we lose sight of who God is.  God has to often come in an ask, “Who is this that darkens the counsel by words without knowledge.”    Let us not get so focused upon our own desires that we forget that God has set the boundaries for the seas.  He therefore can set the boundaries for our days. 

God Sustains Us In Times of Trouble - Psalms 57-59

Psalms 57:3 (ESV)

He will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

Psalm 57 is a prayer of David when he is hiding from Saul in a cave.  We don’t know if these type of songs/prayers were written at that very moment, or later in his life.  It is hard to imagine David carrying a scroll and pen to write with as he fled from Saul.   Yet, the pain he was feeling certainly comes through his writings.   

He begins the psalm with great assurance:

Psalms 57:1-2 (ESV)

TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO DO NOT DESTROY. A MIKTAM OF DAVID, WHEN HE FLED FROM SAUL, IN THE CAVE.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

till the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

In verse three, therefore, we read this great refrain that God’s steadfast love and faithfulness will sustain David.   This is the hope, power and encouragement to all believers.   Notice how Psalm 91 states the same thing:

Psalms 91:1-4 (ESV)

My Refuge and My Fortress

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

We can be assured that in the midst of our struggles (even when others are trampling after us) that it is God’s faithfulness that is our shield and buckler.   We rejoice in His ever presence and constant care.   Not because we deserve it all the time, but because He simply promised to provide it all the time.   

Beware of Those Who Bring Gifts - 2 Samuel 15-19

2 Samuel 16:1-4 (ESV)

When David had passed a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, bearing two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. And the king said to Ziba, “Why have you brought these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who faint in the wilderness to drink.” And the king said, “And where is your master’s son?” Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father.’” Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I pay homage; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”

We have to be careful of those who come bearing gifts.   We don’t always know if their heart is true or false.  Solomon said it this way:

Proverbs 21:27 (ESV)

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

how much more when he brings it with evil intent.

Proverbs 26:23 (ESV)

Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel

are fervent lips with an evil heart.

The Greeks said it this way:

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. 

Our society says it this way:

Beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  

In the above story of David fleeing Jerusalem because his son, Absalom, was revolting against him, Ziba comes with gifts for David and his friends.   Ziba, a steward for Mephibosheth, claims that Mephibosheth has also revolted against David and wants to simply help David in his escape.   Later we will read that Mephisbosheth has a completely different story (Read 2 Samuel 19:24-30.)   

David will sort it out, but this first act of the plot can be deceiving.   Ziba was simply trying to when favor more than he was trying to meet needs.   He will get some financial and moral boast out of this act.  But it is obvious that there was some deception in play.   

We have to be aware of those who may try to win us with a bribe.   Bribes are powerful:

Proverbs 17:8 (ESV)

A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;

wherever he turns he prospers.

Proverbs 17:23 (ESV)

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret

to pervert the ways of justice.

Ecclesiastes 7:7 (ESV)

Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,

and a bribe corrupts the heart.

Be careful when others come with gifts.  Their heart may not be entirely with you. 

Where God Commands, He Equips - Exodus 25-29

Exodus 25:23-30 (ESV)

“You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. And you shall make  for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders for the poles to carry the table. You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. And you shall make  its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly.

The phrase And you shall make occurs so many times in this book it is hard to count.  The word for make in the Hebrew is used over 3,500 times in the Old Testament and 650+ of them it is translated make.  They are told to make, in this section, the Table for the Show Bread.  But the focus of this post is more on this notion of the nation of Israel being  told to make all these things from the Mercy Seat to the Tent to the Ark of the Covenant to the Curtains, etc.   

To put this in perspective, they are living in tents in the wilderness.   They are moving from place to place.  Their enemies are all around them.   They are gathering mana from heaven each morning for food and drinking water that, at times, has to be brought out of a rock.  In the midst of all this they are told to make all the items for the Tabernacle and there is not Home Depot for centuries.   

This is an absolute miracle of God as He instructs them, provided for them when they left Egypt (with the goods the Egyptian showered with them when they left), and provided talented people with skills in these crafts to created this magnificent Tabernacle in the wilderness.  It could be disassembled in a moment and transported over rough terrain, only to be reassembled and up in operation upon arrival to its next location.  

Many miracles are recorded in the Bible.  This is probably not one that is often referred to when we count them.  But where God calls, He equips.  Where God demands we make He provides the ability to do so.   Nothing God calls us to do is every absent God’s power to do it.  

Married or Single For Christ? 1 Corinthians 6-7

1 Corinthians 7:8-9 (ESV)

To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

To find clarity about the above text we have to understand what is both happening in the Corinthian church and what Paul’s instruction and mindset is regarding marriage and being unmarried.  

The Corinthian church is in the midst of a sexual deviant city.   Many of the men coming to Christ would have already had multiple wives.  Many of the women would have already been divorced by an unbelieving man who simply wanted a new wife.   The church actually sent a message to Paul asking about some clarity regarding marriage and even sexual activities in the marriage.   Note:

1 Corinthians 7:1-4 (ESV)

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

With this background it is important to understand that Paul thought being single in Christ was a spiritual gift.  Note:

1 Corinthians 7:6-7 (ESV)

Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

This spiritual gift from God came with the beauty of not having these sexual desires that those who do marry have.  In verses six and seven Paul’s statement that it is better to marry than to burn with passion, is not meant to be a limitation or a negative condemnation of believers who has sexual urges.  What Paul is saying is that the gift of being single, to serve the Lord, comes with the strength to resist those urges.  Those who are called to marriage are not given that strength and, therefore, should marry, least the need for sexual relationships become a weakness in their walk. 

Paul is firmly telling the church that there is a place for marriage (that comes with sexual urges) and there is a place for being single in the church (that focuses more on complete devotion to Christ) and the gift of not having those same urges.   

Paul is not promoting one life style over the other. He is not condemning one over the other.  He is stating to them that God puts us in the situation He wants us and therefore we need to stay in that situation, being gifted and equipped by God for it.  This is why he ends the letter this way:

1 Corinthians 7:20-24 (ESV)

Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.