The Verse - 2 Corinthians 7:10

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

2 Corinthians 7:10

Sorry it's been a wee while between posts. The computer had decided to have a hissy fit but all seems to be sorted now. Today I want to share with you the sermon I heard just this morning by a visiting pastor called Jono. I really benefited a lot from his teaching, so I hope that you will too. Jono preached on the above verse, drawing heavily on the work of Thomas Watson, one of Jono's favourite "Christian dead guys."

The message described the difference between godly & worldly grief (or sorrow, depending on your translation), using 6 points to summarise each. I love when pastors divide their sermons into points, as it just makes it so much easier to follow and remember. Better yet if they remember to call out when they have moved to the next point. :)

Okay, so here we go...

Six Characteristics of Worldly Grief

 

1) Worldly grief fears only the effects and punishment of sin and is not sorry for the sin itself. Jono aptly characterised this as a child which cries when it is caught doing something naughty. It is not crying because of its actions, but more because it got caught and fears imminent discipline.

2) Worldly grief confuses the law & the gospel. For example, when we look at our lives and see a sin that we want to put an end to, we try really, really hard to stop doing that sin. In this way we make the law our saviour. We are trying to clean ourselves up instead of God doing it.

3) Worldly grief does not actually deal with sin, because we are incapable of killing the sin in our life. We must face the fact that our sins come from within us, from our wicked heart. We need something outside ourselves to save us.

4) Worldly grief is purely emotional, not spiritual.

5) Worldly grief is horizontal only and leaves God out of the picture. It is completely self-focused. We may think about the person we have wronged, or mourn because we have not lived up to our own standard of "good", but worldly grief does not think about how we have sinned against God.

6) Worldly grief leads to death, as stated in the verse above.

Six Characteristics of Godly Grief

1)  Godly grief enables us to truly see our sin. And how do we do this? By reading God's word, which is the means through which the Holy Spirit reveals our sin to us.

2) Godly grief means we feel sorrow for sin. We mourn over our actual offence against God, unlike worldly grief, which only feels sorrow for the consequences.

3) Godly grief confesses sin. Confessing sin lets sin out.

4) Godly grief produces real shame for sin. It is not completely paralysing, but instead should drive us towards the cross.

5) Godly grief includes a hatred for all sin in our life and a desire to be rid of it.

6) Godly grief includes a turning from sin and turning to Christ (the definition of repentance).

I really like this passage from Thomas Watson on repentance:

“Repentance is a pure gospel grace. The covenant of works admitted no repentance; there it was, sin and die. Repentance came in by the gospel. Christ has purchased in his blood that repenting sinners shall be saved. The law required personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience. It cursed all who could not come up to this: 'Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them' (Gal. 3.10). It does not say, he that obeys not all things, let him repent, but, let him be cursed. Thus repentance is a doctrine that has been brought to light only by the gospel.”

(From The Essential Works Of Thomas Watson)

So if you are a Christian who is not in the habit of showing godly grief for your sin, or should I say continually repenting (because it's more than a one time deal) - and I'm actually preaching to myself here more than anything - there are only one of two reasons:

1) Deep down in your heart you believe that you don't need Christ's sacrifice on the cross

OR

2) You don't think Christ is capable of saving you.

Both these conclusions are wrong. So may I encourage you (and myself) to get real with God and get real with your sin. Bring about godly grief which leads to salvation, as it says in 2 Corinthians, and may your heart rejoice in the Gospel once more!

The Verse - Psalm 90:16-17

Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 90:16-17

On Sunday Luke and I had the privilege of seeing two people from our church get baptised. We were even blessed enough that there was a spot-o-sun for the occasion, although of course with an ample supply of wind.

One of the sisters getting baptised read out Psalm 90, as it was a Psalm that had really helped her in her conversion. She read it in Italian (being Italian herself, not because she was suddenly given the gift of tongues), and I was curious to read what it said in English. 

The verses above really struck a cord with me today, so I thought I would share them with you. Maybe it's because I've been thinking about work a lot and how to glorify God in the workplace, what with trying to get back into the whole 8-5 thing after summer holidays. We have also been discussing relevant topics in theology class, where we've been reading John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life".

As a Christian, the work that we do is work for God, and this is the work Moses (the author of this psalm) is asking God to bless. However, before we can even begin to do work for God, He must work on us first. As Bible commentator Matthew Henry writes:

"God’s servants cannot work for him unless he work upon them, and work in them both to will and to do; and then we may hope the operations of God’s providence will be apparent for us when the operations of his grace are apparent upon us."

Though we were once dead in our trespasses and sins, it is because God resurrected us through the power of the Holy Spirit that His work can be, as Moses says, "...shown to your servants," and His "...glorious power to their children."

Interestingly, John Macarthur believes this psalm was written as the older generation of Israelites who had left Egypt were dying off in the wilderness (Num. 14) and they were now looking to their children who would inherit the land. 

However, I think this is also a prayer which can be prayed by all parents: that they would know more of the Lord and their children would see God's glory. 

Furthermore, I think verse 17 is a petition that we should continually pray: that God would help us in our work, whether this be our ministry to our friends and family or our physical work. That HE would establish pretty much everything we do. As Matthew Henry rightly says:

"We are so unworthy of divine assistance, and yet so utterly insufficient to bring any thing to pass without it, that we have need to be earnest for it and to repeat the request: Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it, and, in order to that, establish us in it."

The Verse - Hebrews 4:16

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16)

The excerpt below is from one of Charles Spurgeon's sermons, and it was so good I wanted to share it with you.

We do not come, as it were, in prayer, only to God's almonry where he dispenses his favours to the poor, nor do we come to the back-door of the house of mercy to receive the broken scraps, though that were more than we deserve; to eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table is more than we could claim; but, when we pray, we are standing in the palace, on the glittering floor of the great King's own reception room, and thus we are placed upon a vantage ground.
In prayer we stand where angels bow with veiled faces; there, even there, the cherubim and seraphim adore, before that selfsame throne to which our prayers ascend. And shall we come there with stunted requests, and narrow and contracted faith? No, it becomes not a King to be giving away pence; he distributes pieces of broad gold; he scatters not scraps of bread and broken meat as poor men must, but he makes "a feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined." When Alexander's soldier was told to ask what he would, he did not ask stintedly after the nature of his own merits, but he made such a heavy demand that the royal treasurer refused to pay it and put the case to Alexander, who in right kingly manner replied, "He knows how great Alexander is, and he has asked as from a king; let him have what he requests." Take heed of imagining that God's thoughts are as your thoughts, and his ways as your ways. Do not bring before God stinted petitions and narrow desires, saying, 'Lord, do according to these,' but remember that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are his ways above your ways, and his thoughts above your thoughts; ask, therefore, after a godlike manner; ask  for great things, for you are before a great throne.

The Verse - Psalm 86:12

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.

Psalm 86:12 (ESV)

So we've been reading John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life at our church's Thursday night theology class. It's a great book and I totally recommend it. After all, what could be more important than finding out how not to waste your life? We only get one very brief chance at it, so it really should be everyone's priority.

I digress... so we're now up to Chapter 8, which is titled "Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5." This is a really great and practical chapter, in which Piper explains why not every Christian should be a pastor or a full time missionary, and how it is just as important to have Christians in the secular working world. But the ongoing problem is, how do you focus on God at work, where if you're like me you have a million and one other things going through your mind? Essentially, how do you avoid leaving God at the door and picking Him up on the way home?

Well, one of the suggestions Piper makes is to have fellowship with God in all our work throughout the day. Great idea, but kind of hard to put into practice. After all, we don't want to fail to do our work because we were busy having fellowship with God.

In this chapter John Piper talks about "breathing out continual thanks to God", which involves memorising bible verses and Psalms that we can reflect on while working. This is a great idea. But then the pessimist in me thought: Heck, when am I going to remember to do that? And then I thought about all the repetitive jobs I do at work that actually don't require 100% concentration. Walking up and down the stairs between floors, standing over the photocopier etc. I'm sure you too have some pretty regular brainless tasks at your work. Well, what if I used this time to meditate on God's word and to refocus myself back on Him.

So that's what I started doing this week with the Psalm above. And I tell you what, it's been really helpful. It puts my focus back on God and makes me remember that I am working for Him - that the only reason I am able to do my job is because of the talents and abilities He has given me by His grace. It also makes me remember that as a Christian, I am a representative of Jesus and that in all I do and say at work I should try to glorify God. 

So what "brainless tasks" do you do every day at work, home or school, which you could turn into precious moments for reflecting on God and all He has done for you?

The Verse - Ephesians 1:3-4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Ephesians 1:3-4

So this Saturday I went to women's Bible study, and we listened to a sermon by Paul Washer on the above verse. He made some really wonderful points which I wanted to share with you. Of course, there is no way I can say it as eloquently as he does, but hopefully it'll be some encouragement for you.

God's Love
Some Christians believe that God started loving them when they became a Christian - this is an incorrect understanding. Other Christians believed God loved them from the moment they were born,  but this is also an incorrect understanding. 

The truth of the matter is that if you are a Christian, God's love for you knows no beginning just like it knows no end, because God's love is eternal. Our human love has a beginning; you can remember when you started to love your husband or wife or child. God, on the other hand, has always loved you from eternity past. Personally, this blows my mind.

Election
The verse above clearly states that if you are a Christian, God has chosen you. You might think that you chose God, but the Bible clearly states that it is God who chooses some and not others. I don't fully understand why He elects some and not others, no one can or does understand, but the Bible teaches this very clearly. For example, God chose Abraham to be his servant. God chose Israel to be his people. And likewise, God chooses his church.

In order to understand election, Paul Washer points out that it is vital to understand the nature of the human condition. Humanity is fallen and completely depraved. Actually, the most fitting description for humanity is evil. And this is what the Bible teaches (Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:19; Romans 3:10, to name a few verses). It's a harsh reality to face, but a very true reality all the same.

3 Truths About Humanity

1) Humanity is radically depraved, and moral depravity affects every aspect of our being (Rom 6:6; Romans 6:12; Romans 1:21). We are depraved in the body, mind and will.

2) Humanity is capable of the most horrendous evil. The reason why we aren't completely wicked and evil all the time is because of something called "common grace" which is given to us by God. God in his sovereignty, grace and love actually restrains the evil of men. This is done partly through something that God gave every human being - a conscience. God wrote his law (Thou shall not lie; thou shall not steal, etc) on our hearts so that we might know him. If God was to take away his common grace, then humanity in its evilness and wickedness would destroy itself in a matter of days. The only reason why there is good in the world is because of God's grace. 

You may ask: What about the good atheist, will he be judged? Well the truth of the matter is the atheist is only "good" because of the gift of common grace to him from the very God that he denies.

3) Humanity is hostile towards God and the will of God. Humanity is at odds with God because God is good and humanity loves evil; therefore, humanity refuses the reconciliation offer made by God. People cannot come to God on their own. Then, you may say, that is unfair and people should not be held guilty. But you see, the reason people cannot come to God is that they freely choose not to, because they hate God, who is good and hates evil. Humanity are not the victims, but rather are enemies of God. Hell is moral because humanity is immoral. The only reason that humans at times appear moral is because of the restraining hand of God. 

But do you know what the amazing part of this is? Despite how depraved we are, God still chose to offer us a way to be reconciled to him through his son Jesus Christ. Jesus, unlike us, was not depraved and did not have a sinful nature. He lived a perfect life, always loving and obeying God. And because Jesus was both fully man and fully God, he was able to take the punishment we deserved. That's what happened on the cross: Jesus stood in our place and took the punishment for our sins, for our evil nature, and not only this but three days later he rose from the grave, conquering death, so that we too may have eternal life. How amazing is this - that God would save you and me, who are so sinful and evil. And Jesus did it ALL. There are no works or good deeds we need to do to pay for our sins, because God completed salvation on the cross from start to finish. All you need to do is repent (ask God for forgiveness from your sins and wicked nature), and put your faith in the work that Jesus did. If you do this, God promises he will give you a new heart, a heart that loves him and wants to please him instead of loving darkness and trying to please itself.

And if you're already a Christian, this is what really blew my mind: keeping in mind that God loves you with an eternal love, and then thinking about how utterly and completely depraved you were before God rescued you. Read Romans 5:8 -

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Mind officially blown.

The Verse: Psalm 130

Sorry for the delay in this post. I'm quite tired so just a quick post tonight. Just wanted to share this awesome song which is based on Psalm 130.

Enjoy!

The Verse - Luke 5:17-26

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. ¹⁸ And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

(Luke 5:17-26 ESV)

Luke and I were reading this passage in our daily devotion the other day. Luke was reading out of the C.S. Lewis bible, which has little excerpts from C.S. Lewis's writings; he read out one of these excerpts, and what it said really made me think, "huh, I've never thought of that." So I thought I might share it with you so you can think, "huh, I've never thought of that either."

C.S. Lewis, in his wonderful work Mere Christianity (if you haven't read it you really must) writes concerning the passage above: 


"We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toes and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult  all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history.

"Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is ‘humble and meek’ and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings."

It's very true, isn't it? The only way Christ could have the authority to forgive everyone for the offences they had committed against other people is if He is God Himself, and if all human beings are primarily wronging Him when they commit sin, because they are breaking His laws. Also, it's interesting that not even non-Christians consider Jesus to be proud or conceited, despite the fact that He made claims which could only be regarded as incredible and megalomaniacal, if He were not who He said He was - the claim to be God, for instance. The reason we believe Jesus when He says He is humble is that He is telling the truth. He is indeed God Himself, exalted above any other name in the universe, and yet He became a lowly human being in order to save us from our sin by dying on the cross. This is the true meaning of humility.

The Verse - Ezekiel 18:20

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:20)

Sorry for the delay in posts. I've been feeling a little under the weather recently so have been somewhat lacking in motivation.

Today's verse might seem like a curious choice, but it's something I've been mulling over for a while now. Essentially, it is the question of whether or not parents' sins have any effect on their children - or vice versa, the children's sins have any effect on their parents. I've had a few conversations about this, and although I had an instinctive feeling about what the Bible says on the matter, I couldn't think of where it is explicitly stated.

So the other day I was continuing my Bible reading plan when I came across Ezekiel 18:20. Here it is very clear that we do not inherit the sins of our parents or indeed our children. This is also echoed earlier in Deuteronomy 24:16, which talks of punishment for sins:

Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.

This might seem like a pretty straightforward thing, but I think sometimes we can get confused about the boundaries of our sin and our relatives' sin. The Israelites that Ezekiel was writing to certainly did. In fact, they even had a proverb that Ezekiel quotes in 18:19:

Does not the son bear the iniquity of the father?

To which Ezekiel responds: Not as long as the son does what is lawful and right.
However, if the son chooses instead to follow his father in unrighteousness then yes, the son will be punished for his sin. In this way a family's continued sin and rebellion against God can seem like a curse, until it is broken by the gift of righteousness which comes through repentance and faith.

Theologian Matthew Henry puts it like this, much more eloquently than I ever can:

"But this people that bore the iniquity of their fathers had not done that which is lawful and right, and therefore justly suffered for their own sin and had no reason to complain of God’s proceedings against them as at all unjust, though they had reason to complain of the bad example their fathers had left them as very unkind... It is true that there is a curse entailed upon wicked families, but it is as true that the entail may be cut off by repentance and reformation; let the impenitent and unreformed therefore thank themselves if they fall under it."

Interestingly, Jesus also spoke on this subject. John chapter 9 recounts Jesus' meeting with a man who had been born blind. Jesus' disciples ask him:

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

As you can see, this way of thinking was very much ingrained in Jewish culture. Suffering, sickness, and disease had to have a cause. Either the person affected or their parents must have done something really bad to anger God into allowing such unfortunate things to occur. It makes logical sense, right? If bad things happen to a person, they or their parents must have committed sin to deserve it - but good things happen to good people. Ironically, this philosophy is not too far from the meritocracy of our own modern Western societies.

However, Jesus' response to the disciples blows these assumptions right out of the water:

Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him..." (John 9:3)

We are all responsible for our own sin, although our parents may perhaps not have been the best role models, or perhaps our children don't love God like we hoped and prayed they would. At the end of the day, when we stand before God it will be our sin and our sin alone that we are accountable for. 

However, although we will all have to stand before God, not all of us will receive judgement. Those who recognise the wickedness of their own hearts and ask Jesus to forgive them and save them will be spared. In fact, the Bible says God will look upon us as if we had never sinned, because of the atonement of Jesus Christ that He accomplished on the cross.

And for you Christians - if misfortune comes your way and if you face suffering, illness, or loss, do not for a moment think that it is some kind of punishment from God for your sin or an ongoing curse you inherited from your family. Instead, know that God is sovereign over all things. Jesus took ALL the punishment for your sin on the cross, and such things happen so "...that the works of God might be displayed in [you]."

The Verse - Matthew 24:36

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." (Matthew 24:36)

I might have mentioned this previously, but we are currently doing an apologetics course at church. We're watching a lecture series by R C Sproul, who uses the classicist approach to apologetics - proving the existence of God through reason and logic. It's been a really enjoyable series and has really caused me to think about things I've never really considered before.

Last week's lesson had to do with Jesus and his divine/human nature, a topic I've never really thought about. Previously I had simply recited "Jesus was both fully man and fully God while on earth." And don't get me wrong, I still believe this. I just guess I'd never thought much more about it than that. 

Well, R C Sproul brought up the verse I have written above. You see, often when we read the gospel accounts about Jesus and He seems to have supernatural knowledge, we automatically think: "oh, He must be tapping into His omniscient (all-knowing) divine nature, and that's how He knows that." One example is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, and there are many others. 

However, that doesn't explain the verse above. You see, if Jesus was fully omniscient while on earth, why did He say that He didn't know the time of His return? If He was omniscient then He would know that. So what's going on here? Is Jesus lying or just pretending He doesn't know? No, that can't be, because we know Jesus can't sin. So it must mean that Jesus wasn't omniscient in His human nature while He was on earth. 

What about the times when Jesus does seem to know things outside the realm of human knowledge? Well, the prophets of the Old Testament also often knew things beyond their capacity. How? Because God chose to reveal things to them through the power of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, Jesus also used his prophetic office to speak for God. Here we see the Holy Trinity working in perfect unity. 

This is why Jesus was able to say in John 12:49:

"For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak."

I had another thought answered the other night, which I have been mulling over for some time: Did Jesus use His divine nature to stop Himself from sinning? If this is the case, then Hebrews 4:15 becomes a little redundant:

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."
 
One of the elder brothers at the church explained to me the reason Jesus didn't sin is that unlike us, He was not born with a sinful nature. All people since Adam have inherited Adam's sinful nature, as it says in Romans 5:12:

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—"

This is why Jesus had to be born of a virgin: so He wouldn't inherit this sinful nature, and so He could be like Adam before the Fall. Like Adam, Jesus was presented with temptation, but unlike Adam He chose to obey God. Now we have to balance this by remembering that Jesus was not only a man but also God, and God cannot sin. However, Jesus was not merely a manifestation of God on earth but a real human in the flesh, and as such He attained a perfect, holy life by conscious obedience to God's laws.

This makes 1 Corinthians 15:45 so much more powerful and also understandable.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

I can't believe I never really understood this before. It also makes the work that Jesus did on earth so much more glorious - not only dying for us on the cross, but also living a sinless life. Each day that He lived, He actively chose to do God's work as a man, because He knew He had to be the last Adam to save you and me.

What an amazing God!

The Verse - Hebrews 12:24

The Bible is so full of inexhaustible riches and treasures. I strongly believe that even if you lived forever, you would never be able to unravel all its mysteries or get to the bottom of its wisdom.

I would like to share a small nugget that was shared with me at church as we celebrated Easter Sunday.

Our verse today comes from the book of Hebrews. The author of Hebrews is unknown; the book is believed to be intended for a mixed audience of Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome. Hebrews discusses the symbolism of the Levitical priesthood and the Old Testament sacrifices as a foreshadow to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
(Hebrews 12:22-24)

In the above verses, the author is writing of the Kingdom to come, God's eternal kingdom. Here He will welcome believers as His sons and daughters, because those who believe have been made righteous through Jesus' blood. This is in direct contrast with the previous passage, which talks about Mt Sinai, where Moses was given the 10 commandments. When the law was given,“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned” (verse 20). At that time even Moses, who was indeed a mighty and righteous man, said“I tremble with fear”(verse 21).

Even now you can see the direct contrast between law and grace. This is a major theme in Hebrews: the fact that the imperfect and incomplete provisions of the Old Covenant given under Moses point to the perfect and complete provisions given under the New Covenant by Christ.

I would, however, like to draw your attention to the last part of verse 24, which speaks of Jesus'
"...sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." Here the author refers to the story of the brothers Cain and Abel, the first murder in human history. Because Abel obeyed God's laws and therefore offered an acceptable sacrifice, Cain became jealous and killed Abel. According to Genesis, this is what happened after Cain killed Abel:

And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground." (Genesis 4:10)

So the question is, what did Abel's blood cry out for? The answer, of course, is justice! He was murdered in cold blood. He had given the best of his flock to God in sacrifice, yet was murdered for his righteous actions. He was calling on God to judge and execute justice upon his brother for this selfish and hateful crime.

Now we read again Hebrews 12:2:
 ...and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

So what is this better word that Jesus' blood speaks? Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 26:28:
"For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

His blood speaks of forgiveness. What a sweet word. Of all people anywhere who have suffered injustice at the hands of wrongdoers, it is Jesus that can most righteously proclaim "Justice! Vengeance!", because He knew no sin. He was spotless and without blame. Yet it is because of Jesus' sinlessness that His blood has the ability to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Peter says: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

Thank you, Lord, that your blood speaks forgiveness and not vengeance. What an incredible Saviour.

The Verse - Psalm 94:1-4

O Lord, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
² Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
³ O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?
⁴ They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.

The verses above might seem a bit random, but let me explain.

So the church Luke and I attend, Gracenet Community Church, has a Thursday night theology class. For the past 4 months or so we have been studying a lecture series on apologetics taught by R. C. Sproul, who uses the classicist approach to apologetics: proving the existence of God through rational thinking. The series has been great as it's exposed me to many thoughts and ideas I'd never even heard of, let alone thought about before.

One of these ideas is Immanuel Kant's moral argument. Kant (1724 – 1804) was a German philosopher  who argued that to have morality, humanity must assume the existence of God. In fact, in order for morality to not only exist but also be meaningful, there needs to be perfect justice. However, one quick look at the morning paper will lead anyone to conclude that perfect justice does not happen in this world. Therefore, for morality to have meaning, one must believe that immoral actions are judged in an afterlife. In order for perfect justice to be administered in the afterlife, there must be a perfect judge who is all-knowing, infallible, righteous and omnipotent.

It is an interesting thought. What makes morality meaningful? After all, if we just do "the right thing" because it makes us feel good, what happens if that changes and suddenly the "wrong thing" makes us feel better? Haven't you ever felt an overwhelming sense of injustice when you hear cases of judges letting child molestors or rapists off with the slightest slap on the wrist? Or when you hear about countries where there is no punishment for certain horrendous crimes? Thinking of these things, doesn't it make you want to join in with the psalmist and shout: "God of vengeance shine forth! Rise up and judge the earth!"

To say that morality evolved gives no meaning or depth to it. And if we are evolving our morals as a society and they are changing, doesn't that mean they could change to anything? We could decide that rape is good or that murder is a good. In a world of relative truths, there is no right or wrong - just preferences. And in my opinion such a world is a very scary place.

Right now, you might be thinking that a righteous and holy judge is a good thing, so that those really wicked people will get justice. But what about you? Would you count yourself amongst the wicked people? The people that pour out arrogant words and boast, according to the psalmist? You see, if God is all-knowing, perfectly just and completely righteous, this means one day He will judge everything we've ever done and said and every thought that has entered our head. Are you sure that He'd be pleased with what He sees in you?

You see, all of us have broken God's laws. Sure, it may not be as blatantly obvious as someone who has murdered, but Jesus said that if you have ever hated anyone you have committed murder in your heart (Mathew 5:21). Can you honestly say that you have loved God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind every moment of your life (Matthew 22:37)?  Have you always loved your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:39)?

The truth of the matter is we have all fallen short of the glory of God, and we all deserve to be judged and punished by Him because we are lawbreakers. The only just punishment for sinning against the almighty God is eternity in hell. However, the good news is that God has provided a way for sinners like us to be reconciled to Him, through Jesus' death on the cross. Two thousand years ago, God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth. Jesus was both fully God and fully man. Unlike us, He lived a perfect life, and willingly sacrificed that life for us on the cross. Because of Christ's sacrifice, His righteousness may be applied to us, so that when God looks upon us, He no longer sees our sin but rather the perfect life of Jesus. Thus we can be saved from God's wrath and have eternal life.

However, salvation is not automatic. We must repent (confess and turn away from our lawbreaking ways) and decare our complete trust in Jesus' saving work on the cross.

So, I guess here's food for thought: where do your morals come from? If morals are to be meaningful, there must be perfect justice, eternal life and a perfect judge. How will you fare in front of such a judge? Are you really a good person?

The Verse - Joshua 24:15

"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Moving into our house has got me thinking about what kind of house Luke and I want to create. Now I don’t mean what style or period (of course the answer to that is cute and comfortable), but rather what kind of spiritual household. After all, a house is more than just walls and rooms; it’s about a lifestyle, choices, and priorities. What kind of home do we want to create for our future family? After all, good or bad habits start now. What kind of house do we want to bring our children up in? What kind of house do we want to be in our street? In our neighbourhood? In our community?

In Joshua's last speech to the Israelites, recorded in the book of Joshua chapter 24, he made it clear what he and his family were going to do. At the start of the speech in Chapter 23, Joshua reminded his audience of all God had done for them: how He had fought for them and drove out great nations; how He brought them out of Egypt; and how He helped them survive in the wilderness before bringing them to the promised land. This was a promised land which they did not labour for, cities to live in which they did not build, and food to eat which they did not plant.

Joshua then says in 24:14-15:

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

After all God had done for them, surely to love the Lord was the only reasonable response. However, God knew that not everyone would choose to do this, so he gave them an alternative option: to follow other gods. Joshua warned the people that if they chose to forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods:

"...then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good." (verse 20)

Like the Israelites, we also have a choice. And like them, we should say: 

“The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”  (verse 25)

What does a life of obedience to God look like? There’s so much to think about and so often we don’t even stop to think about these things. Instead we just let life kind of happen to us, and only later down the line reflect that maybe we shouldn’t have spent every evening around the TV instead of talking to each other. Or that perhaps we should have made praying for our marriage or children more of a priority.

That’s why I want to think about these things now, and you don't have to wait until you reach some significant life milestone like getting married or having kids, because how you live and prioritise today will affect your life now.
What kind of house do you want to live in? Is God a priority in your life? In your home? Is your house a light to your neighbours? In the community? Do they know you are sold out for Christ?

If one of your friends or family members were to be asked what you live for, what you are passionate about, would they respond Christ or would they say something else?

The Verse - Isaiah 45:22

“Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other."


(Isaiah 45:22)

Luke here again. My read-the-Bible in a year plan has recently taken me through the book of Isaiah. The above verses really stood out to me, perhaps because I really enjoy Old Testament verses that speak of salvation for the Gentiles (i.e., the rest of the world apart from Israel).

But before I talk about these verses, a bit of context is in order. Isaiah's prophetic career took place in the late 8th and early 7th centuries BC, during the reigns of four kings of the southern nation of Judah. It was during Isaiah's time that the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria. Isaiah directed much of his writing towards the issues of empty religious ritualism and idolatry that pervaded Judah. 

The entire section of Isaiah that I have just been reading, including the section above, focuses on comparing the true God of the universe with idols. In these chapters, God consistently reminds the children of Israel that He created the earth and heavens, whereas idols are useless blocks of wood or metal that are incapable of doing anything. Because the Lord is the only true God, and because He is almighty, He is the only one who can save Israel. This is a key point, repeated again and again (e.g. 44:21-22, 45:17): God is the Saviour of Israel. In chapter 45, we see a lot of the themes in Isaiah. Just before the above passage, there is a section describing how God created the world and how He is trustworthy and truthful (45:18-19). Following this, God challenges the makers of idols to have their false gods demonstrate knowledge or power to save, if they have any (45:20-21). Then, the above passage shows that God is the only Saviour.

When Isaiah says God is Israel's Saviour, he means it both in a temporal and spiritual sense. In a temporal sense, God would save Israel from oppression by other nations - e.g. the Babylonians - just as He had done so many times before. In a spiritual sense, God would save Israel from their sins, as stated in 44:22 - "I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." This looks forward to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, whose death made a way for not only Israelites but the whole world to be saved - as proven by verse 22 above.

But what about people today? Most of us aren't worshipping stone or wooden images in our homes. However, the core issue is sin, as shown in 44:22. God has given us His law to show us what sin is. According to Jesus Himself, the most important law is: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37) How many of us can say we keep this law for even one minute - let alone perfectly, all the time? I know that I love and focus on so many things apart from God. So this one law demonstrates that we are all convicted sinners. And there are other laws - read the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.

What this shows is that we are sinners and deserve only God's wrath. Although God is loving, He is also holy and righteous, and cannot overlook sin - or He would be going against His holy nature. But the good news is that God did something about this. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sin. Because Jesus was fully God, He was without sin. During His life on earth, He kept God's moral law perfectly. Jesus was also fully man, so he could stand in our place as a substitute, to take the punishment that all humans deserve. For all those people who trust in Christ for salvation, God placed the judgement they deserved on Christ, and applied Christ's righteousness to them. In order to be saved, we must repent - that is, turn from our sins - and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save us. Then we will have His righteousness and eternal life with Him, not by any good works of our own but rather by His grace. 

The Verse - Joel 2:23

“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    the early and the latter rain, as before.

Joel 2:23 (ESV)

My dad is pretty awesome, and I know I don't show my appreciation for him as much as I should. He quite frequently sends me Bible verses throughout the day to encourage me at work. He sent me this verse the other day, and since I had also just finished reading Joel myself, I thought I would share it with you.

Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Minor Prophets. This book is a bit difficult to date given that it makes no reference to contemporary worldly powers, although most scholars believe it was written during the late 9th century BC, during the reign of Joash. However, despite this the message of Joel is timeless and can be applied to any age.

The theme of Joel is the Day of the Lord. This term refers generally to periods of wrath and judgement uniquely coming from the Lord, and may specifically denote the last days that are described in the Book of Revelation. The Book of Joel reveals God's character - His might, power and holiness - in a magnificent way.

The book can be arranged into 3 sections:

1. Contemporary Day of the Lord (1:1-20)
The land of Israel is suffering from massive devastation caused by a locust plague and drought. Details of the calamity are followed by penitence and reformance.

2. Eschatological Day of the Lord (2:1-17)
The narrative moves from the historical plague of the Lord to the judgement in the last days. Using the plague of locusts as a backdrop, Joel paints a vivid and forceful picture of the impending final Day of the Lord (2:1-11) and calls for repentance (2:12-17).

3. The Lord Speaks to the Repentant (2:18-3:21)
Here the Lord speaks directly to the people who have repented, and he replies to their earnest prayer. There is a reversal of calamity into blessings. The Lord gives promises of material restoration through divine healing of the land, spiritual restoration through the work of the Holy Spirit, and national restoration through divine judgement on the unrighteous.

In the passage quoted above we see a specific reversal of the judgements described earlier in Joel (1:18-20), where the prophet talks about famine and lack of rain.

In verse 2:23, God tells us to be glad and rejoice in Him because He has given us "the early rain" for our "vindication". In Old Testament times the first rains came in October-December to prepare the seed-bed and assist germination, while the latter rains came in March-May to provide ample moisture for the grain and fruit crops to be rich and full. Here we can see that while there will be judgement in the End Days, after the judgment comes a time of great blessing as the land and spirits are revived. 

What an amazing God we have! Not only does He save us from our sinful state, but He also promises blessings if we repent and trust in Him.

The Verse - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Okay, so this week has been super-duper-duper busy and it's only Tuesday! O.o! So just to prove that I haven't completely fallen off the edge of the blogosphere, here's a wee post with the lyrics of my current favourite hymn.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;

The Verse - 2 Kings 5:1-14

“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10)

I read the account of Naaman in the Bible the other day, and I think it has a number of applications for our lives. Naaman was a commander of the army of Syria - pretty much the highest-ranking officer. It is recorded that he was a "great man", "an honourable man in the eyes of his master", and "a mighty man of valour". In other words, he was very important and really close to the king, because through Naaman the Lord had given victory to Syria. However, Naaman also suffered from leprosy. 

At this time Syria was a dominant nation in the Middle East and was often at war with the neighbouring country of Israel. On one of their raids the Syrians had taken an Israelite girl who later became maid to Naaman’s wife. One day this girl commented to her mistress: “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” (2 Kings 5:3) Naaman’s wife told her husband, and he reported this to the king of Syria, obviously thinking it was worth a shot. The king told Naaman to go to Israel, and sent a letter with him to the king of Israel, requesting a cure for Naaman's leprosy.

Naaman travelled to Israel with ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. However, when the king of Israel read the letter from the king of Syria, he tore his clothes and said: “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” (2 Kings 7) The king of Israel believed that the king of Syria was using this impossible request as a pretext to wage war on Israel. However, the prophet Elisha heard of this and said to the king of Israel: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:8) 

So Naaman went to Elisha’s house with all his pomp and procession, only to be greeted by a messenger who said to him: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:9) At this Naaman was deeply offended. After all, he was an important man, and this prophet of God wouldn’t even come to greet him personally and heal him. He said: “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” (2 Kings 5:11-12)

You see, Elisha’s actions did not meet Naaman’s expectations. Naaman’s real problem wasn’t the outward rotting of leprosy, but rather the inward rotting of his heart due to pride. Despite his physical illness, Naaman was a man of great wealth, prestige, honour and power. He wanted Elisha to respond to this worldly success in an appropriate way. However, Elisha didn't even come out of his home to greet him, instead sending a messenger. Naaman's angry response reveals the condition of his heart.

Then Naaman's servants reminded him of the reason that he had come to Israel:
“My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” (2 Kings 5:13) Naaman had travelled miles to heal his leprosy and undoubtedly had tried every other cure in the book. He had sworn to do anything to heal his leprosy, no matter how hard. And here was this man of God telling him just to wash himself in a river. 

But you see, the point is that Naaman had to get over his pride to do this. He had to humble himself before the almighty God, get down from his horse, walk to the river and wash.

Naaman followed Elisha's instructions, and the Bible says that when he did this, "his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (2 Kings 5:14)

The truth of the matter is that we aren't that different from Naaman. Pride, according to some theologians, is the root of all sin. C.J. Mahaney says: "Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the stauts and position of God or refuse to ackowledge their dependence on Him." Charles Bridge says it is when we "contend for supremacy" with God.

Like Naaman, it is not our outward body that is the problem, but our inner being - our heart, which refuses to be humble before the almighty God. Pride can take many forms, but it has one goal: self-glorification. As long as we are building ourselves up, we will never seek God or give Him the glory that He alone deserves.

So the challenge today is to see yourself for who you are. We are wretched sinners according to God's law, and sin has rotted our insides just as leprosy had rotted Naaman's flesh. We are headed for death and hell, which is the just punishment for our sin. The Bible says: "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). 
However, there is good news: if we humble ourselves, see our true state before an almighty and righteous God, and ask for His forgiveness, then God promises in His word that He will wash us with the blood of Jesus, which was shed for our sins. If we repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness, He will make us clean, as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).

Praise and glory and power and dominion be to the Lord our God forever!

Amen!