5/11/13

From Gary... Far and Near





Spring has arrived in Florida!!!  The grass is turning green again and the flowers are blooming in all their glorious splendor!!!  Some of you out there might not think a lot of this, as Spring comes EVERY YEAR!!!  To those people I say - get a life, look around- there is beauty everywhere.  And the closer you look, the more you will be amazed at what you see, because life is simply W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L !!!!  The same is true in the spiritual realm as well.  Some people (like those who would just look at the topmost picture) consider God from a distance and just do not want to get involved.  Others, may see the possibility of fellowship with God, but just not sit down and spend some time with HIM (check out the bench).  Still others may associate with HIM somewhat, but just will not immerse themselves in HIS fellowship (like getting into a swimming pool).  Lastly (and best of all) are those who want to know every little thing about HIM and get close enough to see the majesty and glory of knowing him.  And so, with all this in mind, I came to the second chapter of Ephesians...

Ephesians, Chapter 2


  1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,  2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;  3 among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,  5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;  8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  9 not of works, that no one would boast.  10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. 

  11  Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision”, (in the flesh, made by hands);  12 that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.  14 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition,  15 having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;  16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby.  17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near.  18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.  19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,  20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;  21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;  22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. 


When you come close to God the father, you do it through obeying from the heart the Gospel of Jesus. It does not matter if you were a Jew or a Gentile, rich or poor, slave or free, young or old, male or female- If you are IN JESUS (Galatians 3: 22-29); then you are REALLY IN!!!!  And the more you grow in Christ,  the more spiritual insight you develop and the more love and effort you will expend in building up the household of God.  Today, spend some real quality time alone with God; ask for guidance and just one thing to do in order to express your love for HIM.  Even if it is something as simple as viewing a leaf and seeing it for the marvelous jewel that God has made - ask!!!  God will listen and you will be amazed how alive you will feel!!!

From Jim McGuiggan... Wrath or Love?



Wrath or Love?

You remember the little girl that was asked why God was sterner in the OT than in the NT? The one that thought for a moment and then said, "That was before God became a Christian." She wouldn’t have known it but she was voicing a lot of modernist and some evangelical theology.
The OT is much larger than the NT and it rehearses much more history than the NT. But, more to the point, its central concern is with God working with sinful Israel and the sinful nations whereas in the NT the central story is his work with Jesus Christ (Gospels and Acts) and the outworking of Christ’s person and work in the Epistles. So while there is certainly tough speech from and about God in the NT, for obvious reasons, it isn’t nearly as packed with it as the OT.
Still, since Jesus is the express image (in human form) of the invisible God and since he was so kind and caring and healing in his life we’re inclined to wince a little at some of the almost brutal responses of God rehearsed in the OT. "Modernists" had no problem there—they simply denied that the OT presented the truth. People thought God did these awful things and writers said he did them but anyone that had a heartknew that he didn’t do them.
Evangelicals (in the main) don’t feel at liberty to go the modernist direction. They can’t permit themselves to dismiss the OT’s witness so what do they do? Well, many of them just try to "balance" the record. They can’t deny God’s wrath but they emphasise his love and hope that that will lower the emotional temperature about the wrath. That works (and should in some ways) at the therapeutic level. "Well, he’s not all anger. The wrath sections are God sort of ‘acting out of character’."
But I’m sure our central problem in this area is that we construe God’s "wrath" as the absence of his love. This is a very great mistake! God can never act lovelessly! Not even once! God’s wrath is the form his love takes when he must chastise.
I’m going to ignore for now the proposals of those that are utterly opposed to the very idea of "punishment". I think this is a wrongheaded view of things. In any case, the Bible doesn’t agree with their viewpoint. Suppose a child repeatedly and knowingly does something very wrong and the parent punishes the child. Observers who don’t know the ins and outs of the situation and know even less about the parent might conclude that this is a loveless act. The parent and those that know the parent is devoted to the child’s welfare won’t construe the chastisement as the absence of love. Inflicting on the child what is painful or displeasing is love making its presence felt and made visible in the chastisement/punishment.
If we define love in such a way that it can never under any circumstances inflict pain or loss on a transgressor why, then, the wrath of God would be loveless. But it’s only when we so define love that we have a moral problem. Even if we believe that love may well inflict pain and loss under certain circumstances we might still feel emotional protests rising (see Hebrews 12 on chastisement). Haven’t parents hurt when they chastised their children? Haven’t we felt misgivings when (some) criminals are sent to prison? None of those feelings is surprising.
Let me repeat and move on. The wrath of God is one of the faces of his redeeming love.
It would help also if we took a close look at the context of some of God’s strange acts. [Note that in Isaiah 29 he attacks his own chosen city Jerusalem—just as David did earlier—but he did it in order to put his name there.]
Some young people from Bethel (a centre of idol worship) insult God’s prophet and God slays them. Is the issue simply the insolence of the young people or is there a message for Bethel and the Northern Kingdom of Israel?
In Leviticus 10 God slays Nadab and Abihu in circumstances that are far from clear. But it's clear that as representatives of God they dishonoured God. Before the chapter closes he passes by another violation of his Tabernacle law, committed by Aaron and the other two sons; a violation carried out because they honoured God in their hearts. He slew Uzzah in circumstances that make even his devoted servants raise their eyebrows. Click here.
I’m not suggesting that I approve of war but I do want to say that there was a time when hosts of men and women took up weapons to kill people, precisely because they thought human life and freedom were precious. We can sneer at that if we wish or we may rationally and calmly disagree with war, nevertheless, millions of people who "wouldn’t hurt a fly" said to predatory nations, "We will kill you if we have to because we hold life precious." Can you take a human life because you hold human life precious? I think you can; courts do it sometimes. Can God’s love show itself as wrath? I think so. God in wrath purposes to remove the sin that generated the wrath in the first place.
This little piece may have lost its way somewhat but two points I think are worth remembering. God’s wrath is not the absence of God’s love; it is God’s love taking a form we don't like. Two, a close examination of context and a broad survey of God’s purpose for the human family will open our eyes to truths imbedded in tough sections.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland The Blind Man At Bethsaida


                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                  The Blind Man At Bethsaida (8:22-26)

INTRODUCTION

1. Among the many people Jesus healed included the blind...
   a. As foretold by Isaiah - cf. Lk 4:18
   b. Offered as evidence to John the Baptist - cf. Lk 7:20-22

2. The healing of a blind man in our text is unique in two ways...
   a. It is found only in Mark's gospel
   b. It is the only miracle by that occurs in two stages

[Opening our Bibles to our text (Mk 8:22-26), let's first examine...]

I. THE NARRATIVE

   A. JESUS ARRIVES IN BETHSAIDA...
      1. Bethsaida Julias, near where the 5000 had been fed - Mk 8:22;
         cf. Lk 9:10
      2. On the NE side of the Sea of Galilee, near the entrance of the
         Jordan

   B. A BLIND MAN IS BROUGHT TO HIM...
      1. By those who begged Jesus to touch him - Mk 8:22
      2. By concerned friends, similar to those who brought the
         paralytic - cf. Mk 2:3

   C. JESUS TAKES HIM OUT OF THE TOWN...
      1. Leading the blind man by the hand - Mk 8:23
      2. Similar to what He did with the deaf mute - cf. Mk 7:33

   D. JESUS HEALS HIM IN TWO STAGES...
      1. Stage one - Mk 8:23-24
         a. Jesus spat on his eyes and then touched him
            1) Similar to what He did with the deaf mute - cf. Mk 7:33
            2) Perhaps to convey to the blind man His intentions
            3) The spit - His intention was to heal, saliva was thought
               to have medicinal properties
            4) The touch - "Something will be done for your eyes...and I
               will do it."
         b. When asked if he saw anything, he looked up and said, "I see
            men like trees, walking"
      2. Stage two - Mk 8:25
         a. Jesus put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up
         b. His sight was completely restored and saw everyone clearly

   E. JESUS SENDS HIM AWAY WITH AN ADMONITION...
      1. To his house, not into town, not to tell anyone - Mk 8:26
      2. Similar to earlier admonitions following His healings - cf. 
         Mk 1:44; 5:43; 7:36
      3. Undue attention would hinder His ability to travel and do His
         work
      4. Especially by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Herodians - cf.
         Mk 8:11

[With the account of this unusual miracle fresh on our minds, allow me
to share...]

II. SOME OBSERVATIONS

   A. WE DO NOT KNOW WHY JESUS DID IT THIS WAY...
      1. Why take the blind man out of the town of Bethsaida?
         a. To avoid publicity?
         b. To establish a one-to-one relationship with the man?
         c. Because Bethsaida had been judged already? - cf. Mt 11:21-22
      2. Why didn't the man receive perfect sight immediately?
         a. Was it the spiritual condition of the man himself?
         b. Was it to illustrate the slow progress of the disciples'
            faith? - cf. Mk 8:18
      -- Any explanation is speculation at best

   B. THE LORD DOES NOT ALWAYS DO THINGS THE SAME WAY...
      1. Jesus healed at least eight blind men, using a variety of
         approaches
         a. Two men were healed by a simple touch of their eyes - Mt 9:27-31
         b. A blind and mute man was simply healed - Mt 12:22
         c. Two more blind men were healed by a simple touch of the eyes
            - Mt 20:30-34
         d. In our text, the blind man was healed with touch and
            spittle, in two stages - Mk 8:22-26
         e. Blind Bartimaeus was healed with but a simple word - Mk 10:46-52
         f. A blind man was healed with the anointment of the eyes with
            clay and spittle, followed by washing in the pool of Siloam
            - Jn 9:1-7
      2. Similarly, prayer is not always answered the same way
         a. God may say "yes" and the prayer answer immediately
         b. God may say "yes, but wait awhile"
         c. God may say "yes, but not in the way you expect"
      -- Faith is content to receive God's working, however He deems
         proper

   C. SPIRITUAL GROWTH OCCURS IN STAGES...
      1. Similar to how this particular miracle occurred
      2. Such was the case with Jesus' disciples - cf. Mk 8:18
      3. So we should expect our spiritual growth to take time - cf. 
         1Co 3:1-2; 2Pe 3:18
      -- Faith is patient, understanding that important things often
         take time

CONCLUSION

1. Many commentators have noted our similarity with "The Blind Man At
   Bethsaida"...
   a. We are spiritually blinded by sin, in need of "healing" - Ro 3:23
   b. We need the special attention of Jesus to be "healed" - 
      Mt 11:28-30; Mk 16:15-16; Col 2:11-13
   c. When Jesus "heals" us of spiritual blindness, it may take awhile
      to see clearly - He 5:12-14

2. Are you still in sin...?
   a. Blinded by sin, and alienated from the life of God? - cf. Ep 4:17-19
   b. Then you need Jesus to be renewed in righteousness and holiness
      - cf. Ep 4:20-24

Begin by coming to Jesus through obedience to His gospel, and continue
by walking with Him, seeing more clearly day by day...!




Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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