The World vs The Church - 1 Thessalonians 1-3

 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 (ESV)

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

What happens when we become “imitators” of what God wants us to look like in church?   Suppose all the churches in the land started to act, in a perfect way, like God wants churches to act?  What would the world do?  We don’t have to guess.  The above passage tells about the churches located in the area of Thessolinca that acted the way churches were designed to act.  Notice what happens:

1. They suffered.    This is something the church today can not accept.  We are told that coming to Christ is a blessing. To some, a financial blessing.  We are not told we would suffer.  But, that is the truth taught in the New Testament.   

2. They suffer at the hands of the familiar, not just the foreign.   We would expect that those who unfamiliar with us to cause some suffering.   That is the basis of most suffering: Ignorance.  But, this was a group of believers who suffered at the hands of those who knew them well.  It was their own countryman.    Don’t be surprised, after coming to Christ, that the church will shot at their own members.   

3. They were hindered from speaking to others about Christ.  This might be the most egregious part of the church in Thessalonica’s plight.  They were being hindered from spreading the Gospel to others.   God will, of course, judge such hinderance in the future.  But, the making of disciples is the purpose of the church.  When they cease to do, refrain from doing it, or are hindered from doing it, that is what Paul describes, “to fill up the measure of their sins.”   He is telling them that they might be hindered from making disciples but God is not hindered from carrying out His wrath.  

When the church starts to act like the church, the world will start to act like the world.  Those two bodies are different.  They should be different.  They cannot co-exist, at least if you read the prophecy of God’s Word.   Yet, the church tries to look like that world and that hinders their very purpose of making disciples.   

False Narratives - Luke 23-24

Luke 23:1-5 (ESV)

Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”

It is interesting to read the above text and then read or listen to the current new cycle about our country.    The power of false accusations was a tool in our day and age, just as it was in the first century.  You would have thought that we were the ones that created this narrative approach to destroying your opponent.  But, here we are in the crucifixion story and the same corrupt narrative is being utilized.   Politics have not changed.   Something becomes political if you are doing it for the purpose of obtaining, retaining, or acquiring power over others.   In this case the religious rules of the day were fearful that they were losing power.   Pilate, eventually fears he will lose power.   Herod, who investigates Jesus later in this chapter, if fearful he will lose power.    They all wanted power and control over the minds and hearts of the people.   Does that sound familiar?  Of course, the above example has far greater implications than our local or national political frameworks.   Jesus had to be crucified.   He was innocent.  So, what truth could be said to make that happen?   If the truth were stated, Jesus would not have been crucified.   So, God used the nature of man to accomplish the death of the Son of God.   The nature of man will be to always use false narratives as leverage over another person.  People do it every day.   In this case, it was used to crucify the Son of God.  

Fear Not, God Controls World Leaders - Ezekiel 37-42

Ezekiel 38:1-6 (ESV)

(Prophecy Against Gog)

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.

Is that not inspirational reading?  Probably not, to most of us.   Our first question might be, “Who is Gog, Magog and Tubal?”    The second question we might ask is, “Why do I need to know this?”   The above text stretches us in regard to what the Bible tells us about all Scripture:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

ALL Scripture is said to be profitable for us to read.   Therefore, that makes the above passage on Gog and Magog and Tubal important to us.   There has been much discussion as to the exact location, meaning and/or identification of these “cities, countries and/or leaders.”   The passage seems to have a general and somewhat ambiguous approach to it.   The point that we do know is that in the future God is going to bring all the most powerful nations on the earth to fight against His people, Israel.   In chapter 37 we read God bringing Israel and Judah back together as one nation. In chapter 38 we read God bringing all the nations of the earth into one army to attack Israel.  That is the point of the passage.  God is controlling the nations and will bring them to a place.  At that moment and time God will destroy all nations that do not honor Him and His chosen people.   The take-a-way for us can be multiple truths, but at the top of that list is that God determines the course of the nations.  Note:

 Acts 17:26 (ESV)

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

Proverbs 21:1 (ESV)

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;

he turns it wherever he will.

We may lose heart when we see the turmoil in the world today.   We can certainly get confused as to what is happening in the world as we watch the world powers unfold their plans.  But, it is God who has a plan.  He is control of all kings and supremes and governments.   He is in total control to work His final plans for the earth.  Whoever these are in Ezekiel 38, they are controlled by God and brought to a certain point, at a certain time, for definite reason.   

The Light of the Righteous vs the Light of the Wicked - Proverbs 13

 Proverbs 13:9

The light of the righteous rejoices,

But the lamp of the wicked goes out.

The light of the righteous rejoices ... or shines brighter.   In this first line of the proverb we read that those who God declares righteous will shine bright ... and, according to the second line, it is brighter than the light of the wicked.  When the righteous and the wicked are compared with each other it will not be tough to see who is who.  The wicked will be in the dark.   The righteous will light the room.  This is all of God's work in our life, however.  We don't shine bright because we have some internal glow.  We shine bright because God is shining in us.  If God is shining in us we have no worries to be seen for what we are.   God does what He does in us for the purposed of shinning His light.   He shines His light in us so that man will see that light and glorify Him.  We don't have the responsibility in shinning the light.   We have the responsibility for being the vessel He has chosen for the light.    We need only be the willing vessel for Him to use as He would.  We simply are the portal for the chosen light.

The light of the righteous also, according to this proverb, has two aspects that the light of the wicked does not:

1. The light of the righteous rejoices.   That means it celebrates eternal glories, not temporal.  The light of the wicked can certainly rejoice.  But, they are limited in that they only have this earth’s pleasures.  In one sense we ought to want them to have some joy here, because they cannot rejoice in things about life hereafter.   But, as they enjoy here, they forget about “there.”    The righteous rejoice because they have eternal treasures. 

2. The light of the righteous burns on.  The light of the wicked burns out.  This, again, is the eternal vs the temporal aspects of their lives.    The wicked ONLY has this time here on earth to find “life.”  The righteous rejoice because their light burns FOREVER.   That is a reason to rejoice.   

The Gospel in the Old Testament Psalms - Psalms 87-89

 Psalms 89:13-16 (ESV)

You have a mighty arm;

strong is your hand, high your right hand.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,

who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,

who exult in your name all the day

and in your righteousness are exalted.

Psalm 89 is about God’s steadfast love. It is especially highlighting the faithfulness of God in regard to His covenant with David.   In this song the writer sings praises to God for loving David and establishing his throne forever (through the Messiah, a descendent of David’s family).   Despite the failure of David (and he had many), God remained faithful to him.   As the section of the song states, God has a “mighty arm” and His faithfulness is based upon His “righteousness and justice.”   God is both “righteous” and “just.”   He can never not be “righteous.”   In order to remain “just” and still continue His steadfast love to David, he must someone how apply His own “righteousness” to David.  This is the Gospel.  Note how Paul will state it centuries later:

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (ESV)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It is only with this truth that we can “walk, Oh Lord, in the light of your face.”   We can “exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted.”   This is the truth of the Gospel, written years before Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross for us.  But, the truth remains, He is righteous and just and applies that to those who believe in His name and His mighty work.  

God’s Control Over the Affairs of Mankind - 2 Kings 19-21

 2 Kings 19:25-28 (ESV)

“Have you not heard

that I determined it long ago?

I planned from days of old

what now I bring to pass,

that you should turn fortified cities

into heaps of ruins,

while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,

are dismayed and confounded,

and have become like plants of the field

and like tender grass,

like grass on the housetops,

blighted before it is grown.

“But I know your sitting down

and your going out and coming in,

and your raging against me.

Because you have raged against me

and your complacency has come into my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose

and my bit in your mouth,

and I will turn you back on the way

by which you came.

The above words are spoken by God, through Isaiah the prophet to King Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.   Sennacherib had recently come to besiege Jerusalem and their king, Hezekiah.   Sennacherib’s commanders made great proclamations and boasting about Assyria’s accomplishments.  As a leader of the most powerful nation on earth, at that time, Sennacherib had a complex about his greatness.   In the above passage God reminds him (as all leaders of the world should know), it is God who makes the plans and the one in charge of the world’s movement of power.   It is amazing how quickly a mere mortal can assume they are more than temporal and flesh.   As a result of these words, notice what god does to Sennacherib’s army and commanders:

2 Kings 19:35 (ESV)

And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

The world does not understand God’s sovereign rule over the nations.  The powers in governments around the globe believe they are totally in charge.   Yet, it is God who directs, plans, establishes and determines their boundaries:

Acts 17:26-27 (ESV)

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

We can worry about our political leaders and fall into the same trap that Hezekiah and Judah did when Sennacherib came to flex his muscles.   Or, we can trust the truth that it is God who sets up one and takes down another:

Psalms 75:7 (ESV)

but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

Practice Justice - Leviticus 19-21

 Leviticus 19:15-16 (ESV)

“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

Justice matters to God.  God is just!   Therefore He demands that His people are also just.  The book of Leviticus is often hard to read. At times, it has many laws and guidelines that make little sense to us. The point of the book, however, is to teach the nation of Israel to be “different” than their neighbors (especially when they entered the promise land).  They were not to do the things the evil nations around them did. They were to be holy, like God is holy.   That was best demonstrated by practicing the justice of God in their daily lives.   Notice how God has outline His desire for His people to practice justice:

Micah 6:8 (ESV)

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

Psalms 15 (ESV)

A PSALM OF DAVID.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?

Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right

and speaks truth in his heart;

who does not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

in whose eyes a vile person is despised,

but who honors those who fear the LORD;

who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

who does not put out his money at interest

and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

God demands justice. How we treat one another shows that justice.   We are to make sure that we act like God in front of our unbelieving neighbors. That is the entire theme of the Old Testament. Israel was supposed to be the example.   They failed and Jesus became that example to us.