2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Fellow Believers,
As God leads me to continue writing about keeping our end of the Covenant of Grace. He directs me to look at the importance of spreading the Gospel and the consequences of not doing so. Not all of us can be pastors, but we can do a great deal to share our faith with others willing to listen. Each of us has been given specific talents by God to do His work. In this way, we can not only help God to bring real blessings to others, but we can also be blessed. As a Jewish believer in Christ, I am trying to obey God’s commands given to the Jews in EX 19: 5 and IS 49: 6 to be “a people dedicated to Me alone, to be a nation of priests, and to be a light to the nations.” In no way do I take this responsibility single-handedly, nor do I get the idea that my work for Him is any more important than anyone else’s. But, these are the commands I feel obligated to obey. In view of the metaphor of the wild olive tree being in-grafted to the cultured one that Paul used in RO 11: 16-24 and the Lord’s own great commission found in MT 28: 19-20, all Gentile believers also have that same obligation. Thus, spreading the Gospel accurately is a vital part of our active, faithful participation in the Covenant of Grace.
When Paul was writing from prison in Rome to his young protégé, Timothy, he took up the issue of imparting the Gospel to others with accuracy. 2 TIM 1: 13-14, “Hold firmly to the true words that I taught you as the example for you to follow, and remain in the faith and love that are ours in union with Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in us, guard the treasure entrusted to you.” This citation has huge implications. I would like to go out on a limb and say that many denominations wouldn’t even be split off from others today, if this had been done to the spirit of God. That’s a pretty bold statement to make, but it is what I believe. I would like to think that I can take Paul’s view that there should be one Body of Christ, that its members were serving the stated purpose that it should be unified and edified. Instead, there has been splintering of God’s children into denominations that squabble over interpretation of certain Scriptures, disagree on how they should be administered, and even (in some cases) take Scripture our of context, placing it in a man-made one. I may be accused of simplistic thinking for saying that we should take God at His word and pay attention to the message of 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and us useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.” When John’s concluding words from REV 22: 18-19 are added to this, we can see the picture clearly. “I, John, solemnly warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this Book; if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to his punishment the plagues described in the Book. And if anyone takes anything away from the prophetic words of this Book, God will take away from him his share of the fruit of the tree of life and of the Holy City, which are described in this Book.”
When Paul writes the concluding words in his epistle to the Romans, he reveals to us what comes to us and those to whom we witness from taking this part of our covenant commitment seriously. RO 16: 25-26, “Let us give glory to God! He is able to make you stand firm in your faith, according to the Good News I preach about Jesus Christ and according to the revelation of the secret truth which was hidden for long ages in the past. Now, however, that truth has been brought out into the open through the writings of the prophets; and by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations, so that all may believe and obey.” That secret truth, which in Greek is called the “mysterion,” is that life-giving information that was gradually revealed by God to mankind as the latter were ready for it. God, alone, knows when what we are ready to hear and when. When the Gospel is not conveyed accurately, we are not joining God in His work. The consequences of that are unthinkable! God has allowed us to know that when we spread the Gospel in a way pleasing to Him, others are brought to faith in AC 6: 7, “And so the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew larger and larger, and a great number of priests accepted the truth.” We also see this in 1 THESS 1: 6-8, “You imitated us and the Lord; and even through you suffered much, you received the message with the joy that comes from the Holy ‘Spirit. So you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For not only did the message about the Lord go out from you throughout Macedonia and Achaia, but the news about your faith in God has gone everywhere…”
We can learn from the fate of all those Jews who were over twenty years old, except for Joshua and Caleb, who never were allowed to enter the Promised Land because of their refusal to believe the truth [NU 14: 23-24, 29-30 ; HE 3: 18-19]. Christ’s words from JN 8: 32, “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free,” really do matter. We must take time to meditate on how you are using your talents to join the Lord in His work to tell the truth. We must ask ourselves if we convey it accurately, live according to its message, and find ways to convey it appropriate to those willing to hear us.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have balanced privileges for us with responsibilities. The message from You is clear that You want us to join You in Your work, and that one way to do this is to use our talents to spread Gospel truths. There are many ways to do this, some by example, some by special service we can provide, and some by the spoken word. Whatever way we use, You have commanded us to spread Your Good News with accuracy. Dearest Lord, we beseech You to guide us to those who are have not yet come to faith but are willing to listen. We also pray that You will help us find a way to convey Your word with sensitivity to the needs of those who listen never compromising accuracy. That is one of the responsibilities of keeping our covenant with You. We acknowledge how blessed we are that we obey this command to Your glory. That is the privilege You give us out of Your grace for being Your children. We understand that there are terrible consequences when we refuse to obey You and that You have shown us this through stories like those of Korah and his followers, the Jews over twenty who didn’t get into the Promised Land, and the revelation of what will happen in the judgment and resurrection of the lost found in Revelation. You do not want us to suffer those consequences, which is why You sacrificed Yeshua, Your Son, on the cross to save us. For that and so much more, we humbly approach You this day with our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to begin a segment of this covenant series called “Walking Between the Pieces.” This refers to the making of a covenant with God and is symbolized by walking between the pieces of a sacrifice that has been cut in half. While we will review some of the basic covenant theology that I’ve been sharing, we will have a chance to look at more that a restatement of OT animal sacrifices. Hopefully, we will discover together what this means to us today. In the meanwhile, the challenges that we each face today will be greatly conquered by remembering that everything written in God’s wonderful words to us is meant to reveal His enormous capacity to love each of us and His willingness to do so every minute of every day. Remember, God is only a prayer away! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn