Deny Yourself and Worship - Matthew 1-2

 Matthew 1:24-25 (ESV)

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Imagine Joseph’s emotional state of mind.   He has just been told that his betrothed wife is pregnant (in those days it would be the normal thing to disown her and break off the wedding ... Mary could even be stoned to death).   Instead of shamming Mary, Joseph plans to privately leave her.  But, God stops him with this announcement about the baby.  Joseph remains with her.  This is complete counter to the culture of the day.   

But, not only is he told that Mary is pregnant, he is told that the child in her womb is that of the Son of God, Immanuel.   Remember, up to this point, in Israel, we have had about 400 years of silence from God.   The Temple functioned.   The Priest did their priest thing.  But, there was silence from God.   So, now a young man is told, by an angel, no less, that his bride-to-be is pregnant with a God-child.    

Also imagine that Joseph is a young man with young man desires.   He has a young wife.   He is now going to live with her but not physically engage in sexual relationships with her, until the child is born.    Again, imagine his emotional response.   This is an amazing act of faith that allowed him to withstand from relations with his wife as the child Jesus grew in the womb.  There was no physical reason he could not do so.   This was his commitment to holiness.  He recognize that this was a holy act being carried out by Mary and that was his worship.   Withholding himself was an act of faith, committed to holy worship of God.   We hear little of Joseph from this point forward.   But, his significance is not in what he did, but, perhaps in what he did not do.   Holiness can be an act of denial as much as an act of worship.  

God Has A Day!! - Isaiah 1-6

 Isaiah 2:12-19 (ESV)

For the LORD of hosts has a day

against all that is proud and lofty,

against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;

against all the cedars of Lebanon,

lofty and lifted up;

and against all the oaks of Bashan;

against all the lofty mountains,

and against all the uplifted hills;

against every high tower,

and against every fortified wall;

against all the ships of Tarshish,

and against all the beautiful craft.

And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,

and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,

and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

And the idols shall utterly pass away.

And people shall enter the caves of the rocks

and the holes of the ground,

from before the terror of the LORD,

and from the splendor of his majesty,

when he rises to terrify the earth.

He has a day!!!   The world today keeps spinning but doesn’t realize it is spinning out of control.  It does not comprehend what is before it.   There is coming a day, prophesied over 3,000 years ago, when God will judge the people of the world.    Isaiah’s prophesy has two meanings throughout the 66 chapters.   One meaning is the historical context for the day Isaiah spoke it.  That context is that there was coming a day when Israel will be judged by a wicked nation (Babylon) for their rejection and disobedience of God’s holiness, as outlined in God’s word.    But, the second meaning is that Isaiah is also talking about all the kingdoms of this world that will equally be judged for the same reason: Rejecting the holiness that was given by the Servant King, the Messiah, Jesus.   God has a day!!!  In that day He will judge all those, who through their pride and arrogance, rejected God’s plan for holiness of mankind.   The proud and the lofty will be exposed and will be extinguished.   That is the story of Isaiah’s prophesy.  The above passage outlines this “day of the LORD” that is coming on all mankind.   Isaiah is “The Revelation” of the Old Testament.   The last book of the Bible, The Revelation of St. John, gives us all the details of “how” the above passage of Isaiah will be actually carried out.  But, Isaiah gives us the “why”.   Pride and arrogance prevent mankind from seeing their sin and their need for a Messiah, a savior.   Because of that pride, God will bring them low and it will God, alone, who will be magnified.    This is the story of the world today.   They keep heading for certain destruction because in the pride they can not see that God has a day!

Our Only Response to Suffering - Job 1-2

 Job 1:13-22 (ESV)

Satan Takes Job's Property and Children

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Our only response to this should be what we read in this passage:

Habakkuk 3:17-19 (ESV)

Habakkuk Rejoices in the LORD

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

GOD, the Lord, is my strength;

he makes my feet like the deer's;

he makes me tread on my high places.

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

Walk in the Fear of the LORD! Psalms 1-2

Psalms 2:11 (ESV)

Serve the LORD with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

For those New Testament believers who love God and see God as ONLY a God of love, the Old Testament warnings, like the above, to serve the LORD in fear, must cause great pause in their worship.  Notice what one commentary stated about Psalm 2 as a whole:

(Understanding the Bible Commentary Series) There is no avoiding the fact that Psalm 2 threatens the use of force, which may not be a popular notion today. But we must be clear that Yahweh uses force only when provoked in the face of defiance. And we must be clear what is at stake: not merely the status of one ethnic nation but the rule of “the One enthroned in heaven” expressed through his appointed earthly agent.

Psalm 2 contains both blessings and, as the above, warnings to those who “serve” the LORD.   This little song is quoted almost 20 times in the New Testament (verse 7 by itself is quoted ten times).  The writer is not mentioned but because of the mention of kingdoms and kings, it was probably a worship song that was sung to remind the nation of the path before them for obedience and/or disobedience.   This theme of the “fear of the LORD” was a popular theme of King Solomon:

Proverbs 8:13 (ESV)

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 14:27 (ESV)

The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 16:6 (ESV)

By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,

and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

It is by the fear of the LORD that we turn from the evilness in our hearts.   Today’s comfortable believer does not realize the power of being in awe of God and living in “fear” of His power and presence.   In one of the six “warning passages” in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, note what the writer warned the early church who was tempted to drift away from Christ:

Hebrews 12:28-29 (ESV)

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

And ...

Philippians 2:12-13

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, WORK OUT your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who WORKS IN you, both to WILL and to WORK for his good pleasure.

That is not how we think in the Church-age.  But, that is how we should think.   We tend to believe our sins of indiscretion do not matter.  Yet, we believe that the “wages of sin is death.”  And we believe that “whatever we sow we reap.”   This law of “sowing and reaping” cannot be avoided.   We might not see the death (separation from something) when we sin and we may not see the reaping from the seeds of sin we sow, but it is never-the-less alive and impacting our day-to-day world.  As this little psalm warns the worshiper of Yahweh, we are to fear the LORD and rejoice in Him with “trembling.”   We are not to take lightly our walk with God.  He is holy and those who walk with Him fear His holiness:

Isaiah 6:3-5 (ESV)

And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Commemorate the Great Things God Does For Us - Joshua 1-5

 Joshua 4:1-3 (ESV)

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’”

We ought to commemorate the great things that God does for us.   In the above text we read about the instructions God gave Joshua after the nation crossed over the Jordan, on dry ground.  Just has He had done with Moses, now God had done with Joshua.  God parted the Red Sea and now dried up the Jordan River.   By doing so God did three things:

1. He melted the heart of the people of the land to know that God was on the march (Joshua 5:1). 

2. He established Joshua’s leadership in front of the people.  They now knew that Joshua had the same authority as Moses (Joshua 4:14).  

3. He established a memorial for all the people to remember the great thing God did that day for them (Joshua 4:1-13).  

This memorial would be a sign for them for many generations of the great things that God did for them and would do for them.  We are to memorialize God’s good works in our midst.   Note:

Psalms 119:27 (ESV)

27 Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.

We are to meditate upon God’s wondrous works. But, the only way we can do that is if we see the wonderful works that God can do and is doing.  When Elisha’s servant was afraid and thought they were left alone, here is what Elisha prayed:

2 Kings 6:16-17 (ESV)

He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

When King Saul was afraid of the opposition, Samuel stated:

1 Samuel 12:16 (ESV)

Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes.

The twelve stones the nation took out of the Jordan River would be a physical commemoration of what God had done for them.  They were to look back at this over the next years to remember that God saves by His great strength.   We often forget the things God does for us.  We ought to have a list of every prayer God answered and every miracle He preformed for us during our walk with Him.   That is one sure what to remember and to trust God for future battles we face.  When you are worried about the foe in front of you, remember the fight God won behind you. 

God’s Presence Exposes Man’s Disobedience - Genesis 1-3

 Genesis 3:8 (ESV)

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

God’s presence expooses man’s disobedience.   When Adam and Eve sinned, by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that evil brought shame upon them.  That shame caused them to have a heart’s desire to hide from God.   Sin causes us to break fellowship with God and hide in our own bushes, out of God’s site (what they believe is out of God’s site).   When men sin they like to get away from God’s presence.  Jonah tried to hide from God by jumping on a boat (Jonah 1).  Jacob tried to hide from God by running away to his uncle Laban at the request of his mother, Rebekah (Genesis 28).  David tried to hide from God that he slept with Bathsheba and killed her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11).  Achan tried to hide from God by burying his stolen treasure under his tent (Joshua 7).  Anna is and Sapphira tried to hide from God what they actually sold their property for and lied about it (Acts 5).  The false teachers in the New Testament tried to hide from God their evil hearts and motives for unjust gain (Jude).   We cannot hide from God:

Hebrews 4:12-13 (ESV)

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The ironic aspect of this story is the contrast between where Adam and Eve were in their relationship before their disobedience and where they were after.   Note:

Genesis 2:25 (ESV)

25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

VS 

Genesis 3:7 (ESV)

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Sin introduces shame into our lives.   Shame separates us from God and we attempt to hide among the bushes of life.   Yet, God still comes to pursue us.  That is the positive side of this story.  Despite disobedience God still pursues us to reconcile us to Him.  

Jesus Came to Save and to Judge - Jude

 Jude 1:5 (ESV)

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

The above verse is not something most believers think about when they think about Jesus.    Even 30-40 years after Jesus death, burial and resurrection Jude thought it necessary to “remind” his readers about the above truth.   We all think and rejoice in Jesus coming to save us.  He came to give His life for us.   But, Jesus is not only going to save those who are redeemed and who have received His free gift, He is also going to judge those who reject Him.    To illustrate the point that Jude is making he uses the picture of the nation of Israel being escorted out of Egypt and the slavery there.   Just as Jesus saves us from the slavery of sin, He saved the nation of the slavery of the Egyptians, who are the Bible picture of the sin nature.  Jesus redeemed them from the Egyptian system.    But, that is not the only task accomplished in the exodus.   Jesus also condemn those who rejected him to death during the exodus lead by Moses.  This is the point that Jude wants to make.  Why?  He is writing to the church and he wants to warn the false teachers of the danger facing them.  He wants to warn believers that those teaching false doctrine will be punished, as those Egyptians who refused to believe in God.   Jesus came to save and condemn.   He saves now and, some day, condemn those who reject Him.   We can preach that “Jesus saves,” but we must also preach that “Jesus is the judge.” 

Revelation 17:14 (ESV)

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”