2013-04-26
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Holy Spirit had a lot to say about our Strong Tower- Covenant Partner, didn’t He? Now, I have been instructed to begin a new segment of the “Our Covenant” series called “Willing to Die For Covenant.” It is here where we must learn to put the rubber to the road in matters of our faith. Suppose we read a sign with the following on it:
Belief in Christ is for the Courageous.
Join us and be joined to Him by the blood,
Committed to Christ unto death
for life eternal!
What do you think the response would be? We can actually find this out, because this is the message that we should understand about having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Due to the sinful nature of humans, more of them give in to the desires of the flesh than to the teaching of the word of God and the Holy Spirit. This helps us to understand why fewer people than not become true believers. We need only look around the world surrounding us to see this. However: we may be fewer in numbers, but we are greater in strength, through Him. PHIL 4: 13, “I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength.” What we learn about a believer’s ability to overcome the work of the devil is first seen in Christ’s ability to banish the devil after his 40-day challenge to Christ’s faith in the wilderness [MT 4: 1-11]. Christ gives each true believer the same power in spiritual warfare as God used to raise Himself [Christ] from death to eternal life [EPH 1: 18-20].
It is human nature, if our history is any teacher, that when someone is martyred for his faith, the movement to which he belongs is often furthered. We see this in the rise of the early Christian church. Each and every apostle was martyred after making a contribution toward making more people see the truth and become saved. John was the only apostle to reach old age, and even he ended his life imprisoned on the isle of Patmos off Asia Minor [present day Turkey]. God acknowledges these martyrs in REV 6: 9-11. “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of Go and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.” This helps us to understand that God allows some leaders to be martyred for His greater purpose, which, was the spread of the Christian church. One will remember that a white robe is the symbol of righteousness in God’s sight and full salvation in this context. These martyrs were not ever lost, but were acknowledged for their courage. Their blood spilled became the seedbed of the church.
One might ask, what is the main difference between Judaism, based on the Covenant of the Law and Christianity, based on the Covenant of Grace? The answer to that question is more than just that traditional Jews reject Jesus Christ as Messiah, although that is certainly one of the differences. A more basic answer is the replacement of a belief system based on a legalistic interpretation of God’s word, believing only in the OT. This is accomplished with a faith based on love, which embraces both the OT and the NT. Moreover, it must be understood that in addition to the written law or “written Torah,” traditional Judaism also accepts the “oral Torah”-series of on-going writings of the rabbis which attempt to pass on rabbinical interpretations of the law, the law itself, and stories that “read between the lines” and pass on Jewish culture, - Talmud, Midrash, and Mishnah respectively. While the written Torah is God’s writing, the oral Torah is human-crafted, mostly rabbinical writings from the 1st century to the 3rd century AD, but still continuing.
One might remember that in the last week of His earthly life, the Lord Jesus had a colloquy with the Pharisees in the temple. This somewhat heated discussion was about the focus on form over the Spirit of the law, focus on form being their practice. If the details of this don’t come to mind, consult MT 21: 12-16; MK 11: 15-18; LK 19: 45-48; JN 2: 12-16 about Jesus in the temple; MT 22: 41-23: 7; MK 12: 35-40; LK 10: 41-48 about whose Son is Christ? This form vs. content argument extended to Paul’s writing in RO 7: 6 and RO 8 :4 about letter vs. Spirit of the law. “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code…In order that the righteous requirements of the law might by fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.” Our own faith Christ and willingness to testify to it both by example and vocally, can be the seedbed of stemming the tide of the spread of secularism, traditional Judaism, Islam, and other belief systems which reject Christ as our Savior and Messiah.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come to You with the intention of learning what not to be or do from mankind’s history. Mankind is often fickle, foolish, prideful, and sinful. We offer You our reverence and bow before Your throne in prayer. You have not held back Your Son’s physical life [JN 3: 16: RO 3: 24-25], nor have You refused to supply our other needs [PS 37 :11]. The story of Your challenge to Abraham’s faith in ordering him to offer his son of the promise, Isaac, on the altar is not only a story of Abraham’s courageous faith, but it also reveals Your loving generosity toward all mankind. GN 22: 16-18 [God speaking], “’I swear by My Self,’ declares the lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you obeyed Me.’” We have studied Your word and know that through Abraham’s genealogy, the royal line of David was established [2 SAM 7: 12-13], and out of it arose our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ [IS 11: 1; IS 53:4-5; DN 2: 34-35; DN 9: 27; MT 1: 21-22; REV 1: 17-18; REV 19: 11-16]. And yet, so many people have rejected Him and have embraced other belief systems which are destructive to their very chances for eternal life. We are hopeless and useless without Your guidance and intervention in our lives. PS 73: 23-24, “Yet I am always with You; You hold me by the right hand. You guide me with Your counsel and afterward You will take me into glory.” So, we seek it now, in a world where there is such a concerted effort to stamp out all practice of faith in Jesus Christ. We acknowledge Your superiority, wisdom, compassion, supremacy, and sovereign power to do what is righteous. We thank and praise You in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, our true Messiah and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to continue writing in this segment called “Willing to Die For Covenant” by relating some of the history of how the early church spread in Europe and the response to it. In the meanwhile, if we look at the central theme of today’s message in italics above, we can begin to understand that there are times when fewer people can wield greater power. The story of David and Goliath is just one example of the power of being on God’s team. What I mean by this is that people who seem unqualified for big tasks assigned to them by God are given the power to do them. Historical accounts describe Saul of Tarsis (later the apostle, Paul) as being short, bald, and with an ordinary speaking voice. And yet, once the conversion of Saul happened on the road to Damascus [AC 9: 1-6], his ability to think ahead, coming up with solid arguments that trumped every objection to God’s teaching given to Him, was obviously of Divine origin. It was God’s will that this ordinary-appearing and sounding man, one with a history of persecuting believers in Christ, should be one of the greatest apostles for Christ that ever lived. He was “set apart for the Gospel” [RO 1: 1]. This is only one example of such a man set apart for greatness. Gideon, who described himself as “My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family,” was called upon by God to be on His team and to strike down the Midianites, who were at war with Israel [JG 6: 14-16, 23; JG 7: 22, 25]. With fewer soldiers than the enemy and no history of battle-wisdom in leadership, Gideon, leading the army ofIsrael, vanquished the enemy! If we are willing to seek the Lord’s will, we, no matter how ordinary we are, will carry out His purpose for us and enjoy the richness of His eternal blessings. Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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