Friday, September 30, 2011
Rejoice in the Lord...I say this for your safety
Paul brings his letter to the Phillipian church to a close with these words:
"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you." 3v1 [NIV]
Paul urges them to rejoice in the Lord. Why? Because it is a safeguard for them. He continues from here in the following verse to warn them against the false, evil teachers who are trying to convince them to get circumcised to be right with God (3v2&3). How are they to guard against this threat? I believe that Paul starts this section with these words because he intends for them to fight these attacks by seeking joy, and rejoicing in God.
Paul goes on to show that for all that he has gained, and for all that may be credited to him for his deeds on earth, none compare to the joy and rejoicing that he looks forward to in the next life. He speaks of a fascinating eagerness and happiness of knowing Christ, and finally being with him on the last day in full communion. He refers to it severally in the letter
"...I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." 1v23b-24
"Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. So that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus may overflow on account of me." 1v25-26
I tried to not comment until the end of the passages, but I just couldn't. Paul, so eager to go and be with Christ, so filled with joy of fellowship with him, is convinced that he will not die yet, because his job is as yet not complete - to fill the Phillipian church with the same joy in Christ that he has come to know. Fascinating...is this our assurance of life on earth? Do we see the next life as so joyous, because we shall be with Christ, that the ultimate pinnacle of our love for others is to bring them into this same eager excitement for him?
" But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake Christ, what is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ..." 3v7&8
"[referring to those who live as enemies of the cross] Their destiny is destruction, their God is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly expect a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will bring our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." 3v19-21
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" 4v4
This joy is not only our hope for our future life with Christ, but is our steadfast safeguard here on earth. It is both what keeps us on the path of seeking God and what moves us along it as through it we see the end in the distance. Consider how Paul follows up from the passage in 3v19-21 above:
"Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord." 4v1
Let us seek to rejoice in the Lord with every breath. It is a safeguard, and a beacon of hope of where we belong, and where we shall be. And as he fills us with this eager joy of his fellowship, may we give of our lives to urge others to do the same.
May he be glorified,
Love you all,
hUNJA
Friday, September 16, 2011
Your unfailing love, - Psalms 119:41-43
Psalms 119:41-43
41
May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; 42 then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word. 43 Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.
These three verses bring out some wonderful truths that got me thinking yesterday. V41 shows us that God's unfailing love is revealed in his salvation. And his salvation, came through his promise, as a fulfilment of things he said in the past.Whatever situation you may be facing today, or tomorrow, please know that it is NOT happening because God's love has been taken away, or has been tempered. No, he has already given the clearest indication of his love for us on the cross, which has wrought for us salvation, which is eternal. So our God's love, is unfailing, to the end of time. The situation you face, is not. Look unto the cross if ever in doubt of his unfailing love for you.
v42 reaches back into v41, to God's unfailing love, and grounds in it as a basis to answer he who taunts us. Revelations 12:10 calls Satan "the accuser of of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night". Satan accuses us before God, every single day. He points out our sins, he mocks our weaknesses, he tries to cast doubt over our life. Did he not seek to bring out Job's sinfulness before God in Job 1, did he not use Peter, Jesus trusted friend to try and sway him from his task in Matthew 16:23 with the innocent reply (after Jesus had explained he has to suffer all things and be killed) of "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!" To which Jesus replies to Peter, "Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." And this is not the only time that Jesus encountered Satan in the Scriptures, as evidenced by his temptation in the desert reported in Luke 4. Let us be mindful, friends, that Satan lives, and is concerned with nothing else but to lead the world astray (Rev 12:9) and to make war against those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus (Rev 12:17). The Psalmist, however, shows us the great hope we can have in the midst of this taunting, and deception of the enemy. The Psalmist answers him, because he trusts in the Word of God. Is this true of our lives? Do we trust so fully in God's word, and do we find his unfailing love, his of salvation, according to his promise as comforting enough, and reliable enough to stand up under Satan's taunts? Revelation holds that it is this very word, and the salvation through the death of Christ that overcame Satan. Rev 12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
V43 gives a good idea of what such trust may look like in.The Psalmist asks that the word of truth never be snatched from his mouth, as he has put his hope in God's laws. A number of alternative translations put it as:
And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. ESV
And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances NASB Do not completely deprive me of a truthful testimony, for I await your justice. NET
The Psalmist's hope is in God's laws, in his rules and his justice. It is for this reason that he asks never to have the word of truth, the testimony of God, from his mouth. A quick aside, consider the intimacy the Psalmist has with God's word. He asks that it not be snatched from his MOUTH, not from his hand. The word of God is at his tongue, at his mouth, and it would make sense, if his word is my hope, the very thing I wait upon, would it not be at the very tip of my tongue at all times, ready to fire out a reply to he who taunts? Okay, back to the main thread:) So, if there is indeed a thread through these three verses, then it is that God's very word, the truth of his testimony, his laws which portray his justice that gives the Psalmist the answers to the one who taunts him. And God's salvation is his justice, in which his unfailing love is shown most clearly. We are completely forgiven. Isaiah reminds us of this: "...the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" Isaiah 53:5b Taking the passage from 43 back up to 41, the Psalmist can be seen to say that he clings to the laws and justice of God, and it is with this that he answers he who taunts him because that justice has been served through the LORD's salvation, according to his promise. Such love, such unfailing love.
May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; 42 then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word. 43 Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.
These three verses bring out some wonderful truths that got me thinking yesterday. V41 shows us that God's unfailing love is revealed in his salvation. And his salvation, came through his promise, as a fulfilment of things he said in the past.Whatever situation you may be facing today, or tomorrow, please know that it is NOT happening because God's love has been taken away, or has been tempered. No, he has already given the clearest indication of his love for us on the cross, which has wrought for us salvation, which is eternal. So our God's love, is unfailing, to the end of time. The situation you face, is not. Look unto the cross if ever in doubt of his unfailing love for you.
v42 reaches back into v41, to God's unfailing love, and grounds in it as a basis to answer he who taunts us. Revelations 12:10 calls Satan "the accuser of of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night". Satan accuses us before God, every single day. He points out our sins, he mocks our weaknesses, he tries to cast doubt over our life. Did he not seek to bring out Job's sinfulness before God in Job 1, did he not use Peter, Jesus trusted friend to try and sway him from his task in Matthew 16:23 with the innocent reply (after Jesus had explained he has to suffer all things and be killed) of "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!" To which Jesus replies to Peter, "Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." And this is not the only time that Jesus encountered Satan in the Scriptures, as evidenced by his temptation in the desert reported in Luke 4. Let us be mindful, friends, that Satan lives, and is concerned with nothing else but to lead the world astray (Rev 12:9) and to make war against those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus (Rev 12:17). The Psalmist, however, shows us the great hope we can have in the midst of this taunting, and deception of the enemy. The Psalmist answers him, because he trusts in the Word of God. Is this true of our lives? Do we trust so fully in God's word, and do we find his unfailing love, his of salvation, according to his promise as comforting enough, and reliable enough to stand up under Satan's taunts? Revelation holds that it is this very word, and the salvation through the death of Christ that overcame Satan. Rev 12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
V43 gives a good idea of what such trust may look like in.The Psalmist asks that the word of truth never be snatched from his mouth, as he has put his hope in God's laws. A number of alternative translations put it as:
And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. ESV
And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances NASB Do not completely deprive me of a truthful testimony, for I await your justice. NET
The Psalmist's hope is in God's laws, in his rules and his justice. It is for this reason that he asks never to have the word of truth, the testimony of God, from his mouth. A quick aside, consider the intimacy the Psalmist has with God's word. He asks that it not be snatched from his MOUTH, not from his hand. The word of God is at his tongue, at his mouth, and it would make sense, if his word is my hope, the very thing I wait upon, would it not be at the very tip of my tongue at all times, ready to fire out a reply to he who taunts? Okay, back to the main thread:) So, if there is indeed a thread through these three verses, then it is that God's very word, the truth of his testimony, his laws which portray his justice that gives the Psalmist the answers to the one who taunts him. And God's salvation is his justice, in which his unfailing love is shown most clearly. We are completely forgiven. Isaiah reminds us of this: "...the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" Isaiah 53:5b Taking the passage from 43 back up to 41, the Psalmist can be seen to say that he clings to the laws and justice of God, and it is with this that he answers he who taunts him because that justice has been served through the LORD's salvation, according to his promise. Such love, such unfailing love.
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