Sin Is To Be Destroyed - Colossians 3-4

Colossians 3:5-7 (ESV)

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

The concept of put to death in theological terms is called the mortification of sin.  In psychology terms, mortification of something is be subjugated to shame, humiliation and the destruction of all pride.  But in theological terms is the death of sin.   Paul is addressing the past of those he is writing to in the city of Colossae.   He is reminding them of who they were before their lives were hidden with Christ (3:3).   But there is an imperative in Paul’s words.  Although they have been set free from the penalty of the things he lists in the above verse, they are not set free of the presence of these things.  Therefore, by the power of the Holy Spirit they are to put to death that which Christ already crucified for them.  We are, hidden with Christ, to kill these things in our lives.  This is the act of sanctification.  We were living in these things.   But now we are NOT.   We have, hidden with Christ, been set free from their penalty and their power.   It is their presence that haunts us.  As Paul stated in Romans 7, they are always with us.  But Christ has empowered us, if by faith we mortify them.   They are not to be played with.  They are not to be pampered.  They are not to be simply paused in our life.  They are to be mortified; put to death.   Don’t toy with the sins that lurk in your life.  They are to be utterly destroyed.   

Don’t Deny Him - Luke 21-22

Luke 22:54-62 (ESV)

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

The denial of Peter is one of the most famous stories of the Gospel accounts of Jesus life.   It was predicted at the Passover meal and fulfilled at Jesus’ first trial.   Peter, after boasting he could never leave Jesus, denies he even knows Jesus. Not once; not twice; but three times.  And perhaps the worse part of this entire story (only recorded by look) was the face Jesus made to Peter at that moment.  Note the last two verses of the above passage, again:

Luke 22:61-62 (ESV)

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Imagine the face of Jesus.  If you have ever had a parent look at you in disappointment you might be able to relate to what Peter saw that day.  But this is not our parents.   This is the Son of God, the Savior of the world.   It is important to remember that we, too, deny Jesus in our lives.  When we don’t speak up for Him in a crowd that does not prefer Him, we deny Him.  When asked about success in life and we point to our resume’ of life, we deny Him.  When we are lost and need answers and we turn to mankind’s solutions, we deny Him.  It is not hard to condemn Peter for what he did.  It is much easier than we think, however, to act just like what Peter did.  

Discipline is Intended for Redemption - Ezekiel 31-36

Ezekiel 36:37-38 (ESV)

“Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

This section (Ezekiel 31-36) is all about God bringing desolation on the cities and countries that went either against His word of His people.   Israel and Judah are among these hordes that rebelled against God.   There is much judgement in this section due to the rebellious nature of actors.    But in the end, we come to the above moment.  In the above we read about God’s great restoration.   The entire point of the discipline is to being us to redemption.  The entire point of the discipline is for them to know who God is.   They are lost and running away from God.  God, however, intervenes and brings them back to Him.  For what purpose?  That they may know God.  Note how God’s own Son would say this prior to His crucifixion:

John 17:3 (ESV)

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Eternal life is to know God and His son, Jesus Christ.   That is the point of Ezekiel’s writings.  God is using the prophet to prepare the hearts of the people for their need of a Messiah.  This discipline and destruction of rebellion is to bring them to the point of redemption.   

Wisdom Provides Satisfaction - Proverbs 11-12

Proverbs 12:14 (ESV)

From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,

and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.

Making sure our words match our work is the content of this verse. Both lines are written in conjunction with the other. You can’t have good come from your lips and not have good works from your hands. You can’t wish someone a Merry Christmas with your lips and not give them what they need with your hands. That is hypocrisy. Solomon is telling us that we will be rewarded if we have consistency between our lips and our lives. Doing what we are saying is a theme in the book of James (see James 1:22-27). Those who “walk their talk” will have great reward from God. He does not mention what the reward will be. However, there are plenty of verses in Proverbs that tell us what the penalty is for not matching the two. We must make our walk match our talk.  Folly does not do that.  She talks a good game, but in the end she is death.   That is what Solomon has been trying too tell us throughout the book.   Each, single, proverb is to drive home the point that Lady Wisdom can be trusted (her works match her words) but Adulterous Folly can’t be trusted (her works do not follow her words ... they go in opposite directions).    

However, another way to read this proverb is that when speak (the fruit of his mount) and it is intended to be something good that we say, we can be satisfied, as those words won’t come back to hurt us.   The second line, then is to warn us and remind us, that our words come back at us.   So, we should be careful what we say about life, about others, about our views, about our actions.  Because, our words can bite us in the end.   If we have a pure heart and speak from a pure heart, we will be satisfied, because those words will come back and satisfy us.   Either way we interpret this proverb our heart must match our words and our words our heat.  If we are doing that, we will be satisfied.   

God’s Glory is Seen in His Salvation - Psalms 84-86

Psalms 85:8-9 (ESV)

Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

As much as the above verses give us much truth and we are limited in space to develop their meaning, we really can’t understand them until we read the proceeding verses.   The four verses before the above are a pleading for salvation, spoken before the above.   Note:

Psalms 85:4-7 (ESV)

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,

and grant us your salvation.

The writer of this song/prayer is asking God for His salvation.  He then sits on the watch tower listening for God’s response.   The response from God does come and He  says:

1. I will give you peace.   The aspect of peace is presented because they were in the path of God’s wrath (vss 1-3).   God wants to save us and wants to give us His peace and restore peace between us and Himself (Romans 5:1)

2. I will require you to turn back from folly.   God’s peace and God’s salvation does not come without our repentance from our sin.  

3. I will provide salvation to those who fear me.   Salvation is only available to those who, by faith, put their complete faith in Him.  They become on awe of Him.

4. Along with peace I will provide glory for the land.  God’s glory (Hebrew word for glory, Kabad, is the weight of God.  His glory carries all of who He is and that is weighty.   The nation is promised this “glory” to be in the land.  This is God’s relationship with Himself because He sought to restore His glory to us.   

When the writer of the psalm was desperate and needed salvation God responded with His glory.   He always will.   

Make No Provision for the Flesh - 1 Kings 11-15

2 Kings 15:1-7 (ESV)

In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. And the LORD touched the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house. And Jotham the king’s son was over the household, governing the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.

The above is the theme of 2 Kings.  The book is about how the kings of Israel (North) and Judah (South) come to become the king and then cease to be the king; and a brief explanation of what happens in between.   The above is a perfect picture of many of the kings.   None of the kings of Israel are ever stated as doing what was right in the eyes of the LORD.  There are some of the kings of Judah who did what was right and the above summary of Azariah is one of them.  But like many who did what was right he did not do enough.  He left the high places in tact.   The high places were where they offered sacrifices to false gods.  As with all believers, when you leave a place in your life where sin can happen, it will happen.   Note what Paul warned the Roman Christians about:

Romans 13:14 (ESV)

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

When you make provision for the flesh, the flesh will avail itself of that provision.   But God does not stand idle in those situations.  He demands holiness from us.  In this case Azariah was cursed with leprosy.  Note something else God states through Paul:

Galatians 6:7 (ESV)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

These examples of the kings in the Bible are for our learning.  Learn this lesson from Azariah.  

1 Corinthians 10:6 (ESV)

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

Honor the Life God Created - Leviticus 16-18

Leviticus 17:13-16 (ESV)

13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 

14 For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 

15 And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 

16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.”

When we read the Leviticus commands it is often hard for the western mind and the post Old Testament thought to understand all the rituals and the commands of God.  But perhaps by breaking the above down verse by verse, we can see some practical truths  for us today:

Vs. 13a - The commands from Leviticus, no matter what the command, is for all Israel and anyone living among them.  Israel in this case is the archetype of God’s people.  So anyone wishing to benefit from being a people of God must obey the commands of God. 

Vs. 13b - The subject of the above command is the blood of an animal caught in hunting.  The command is to pour out the blood.   In the proceeding verses God had informed them that life is in the blood (He will repeat that in the next verse).   The blood is to be poured out and covered with the earth.    The lesson here is that God created life and there is a sacredness to it.  No matter the life.  

Vs. 14 - Again God states that the blood of all creatures, according to God, is the life of the creature.  God intends us to know this and to honor this.  In fact, a violation of honoring the blood of creatures is subject to being “cut off” from the nation.   This is a serious truth from God.  

Vs. 15-16 - The command about the life of a creature being in the blood is so serious to God that if someone (from Israel or sojourning with Israel) even touches a dead creature that died of natural causes or is torn apart by another creature, that person is considered unclean for worship.   It is actually a sin to not cleans yourself from touching a dead corps of a some creature.   There is some hygiene truth here. (Remember, Israel was living in the wilderness.)  The transmission of disease was always a concern.   But the real truth about this is that the life of a creature in in the blood and to touch a dead creature was to be touching that dead life.   A person was to cleanse themselves from that dead animal.  

What God is trying to tell them is the sacredness of life.   God created creatures and His holiness demanded that we both honor the living and the dead.   God wanted this nation to be different than the world around them. The world around them gave little care for life or death.   God demands we honor Him but honoring the creatures He made and how to treat His creation with sacred care.