The Church at Smyrna, Part 1

The church at Smyrna was one of only two churches (of the seven in Revelation) that received no rebuke from the Lord.

And unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write, These things sayeth the First and the Last, which was dead and is alive;

I know thy works, tribulation and poverty, (but thou art rich), and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not, and are the synagogue of Satan.

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Rev. 2:8-11)

It always amazes me how much can be said in so few biblical verses!  There is a world spoken here in this passage: a world containing faithful believers in Christ who will suffer terrible persecution, and whom the Lord expects to be faithful, and I believe many were; a world in which those same Christians do battle against spiritual forces not only in their government, the Romans, but also against that spirit called Satan, that is found in the local Jews who do all they can to condemn the Christians to death, just as the Jews of the same spirit did to Jesus who was a Jew as well, but one of a different Spirit.  What denunciation is spoken of these types of Jews by the Lord! How terrible for those who held onto their lives by dishonorable means only to receive the second death; how wonderful for those who freely gave their lives rather than hold life in dishonor to the Lord, and who have received life everlasting in the presence of God! 

The question that we are to ask ourselves as we study the effects of persecution on this church is this: do we have within us the same Spirit as these believers who chose to give up their lives rather than compromise with the world around them?  Would we heed the Spirit and stand strong even in face of death?  Keep these questions in mind as we continue.  Some in Smyrna gave up everything for Christ, living in abject poverty, and then giving even their lives for the honor of His Name's sake. Others compromised and saved their lives; but horribly lost them in eternity!  There is a cost to the grace that we have received, and we must be willing to pay the price of obedience for the glory of Jesus, even as He paid the price for us! 

The Greek word Smyrna,  pronounced smurna, means "myrrh." It is resin from a tree that when crushed gives off a very fragrant aroma.  It was one of the gifts presented to the baby Jesus by the wise men.  It was mixed in wine, poured onto a sponge, and handed up for Jesus to drink from while He hung on the cross (Mark 15:23); but He refused it, and some scholars say that it is because myrrh holds anesthetic qualities as well, and Jesus would not compromise the will of God for even one moment of less suffering.  We know that myrrh was what Mary carried with her to the tomb on the morning that Jesus rose from the dead, intending to anoint His dead body with it, for it was common practice at that time to anoint dead bodies with the fragrance.

And just as the resin itself has to be crushed to release this fragrant aroma, so was this small church in Smyrna crushed to release its aroma unto the Lord.

At the time John wrote down the description and words of the vision that Jesus showed and spoke to him, the Roman Caesar Domitian was the emperor of the Roman empire. It was a decree of Domitian's that caused John to be in exile on the isle of Patmos...because he would not forsake the Lord in order to give honor to Caesar Domitian.  Caesars considered themselves to be gods, and demanded worship.  John would not give it to any but God.

Surely some Christians at Smyrna suffered exile or worse during the reign of Domitian.  But if not there were nine other periods of persecution from Roman Caesars that spewed danger, often violently, at believers both in Smyrna and elsewhere in the Roman empire, such as Jerusalem, and Rome, and Antioch which is in Africa.

In the mid to late second century, the bishop of the church at Smyrna (located in what is now Turkey), whose name was Polycarp, was burned at the stake for refusing to worship Caesar whose name then was Marcus Aurelius.  The booming metropolis of Smyrna was especially loyal to its Roman emperor, and considered any who did not worship him to be "atheists."

Here is an excerpt from a letter written by an eyewitness to not only Polycarp's execution, but of many before him in Smyrna:

All the martyrdoms which God allowed to happen...were blessed and noble.  Who could not admire their honor, their patience, their love for the Lord? They were whipped to shreds till their veins and arteries were exposed, and still endured patiently, while even those that stood by cried for them.  They had such courage that none of them let out a sigh or a groan, proving when they suffered such torments they were absent from their bodies - or rather that the Lord then stood by them and talked with them.  By the grace of Christ they despised all the cruelties of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by the suffering of a single hour.  The fire of their savage executioners appeared cool to them, because they fixed their eyes on their escape from the eternal unquenchable fire and the good things promised to those who endure - things 'which ear has not heard, nor eye seen, nor the human heart imagined' but were revealed to them by the Lord....In the same way, those who were condemned to the wild beasts endured dreadful torture.  Some were stretched out on beds of spikes.  Other were subjected to all kinds of torments, all in the Devil's attempt to make them deny Christ. 

In all that the Devil attempted he failed, thanks be to God.  The heroic Germanicus encouraged the weak by his own endurance, and fought bravely with the wild animals: when the Proconsul tried to persuade him to cooperate for the sake of his own youth, he drew the wild beast towards himself and provoked it, in order to escape more quickly from this wicked world.  Seeing all this, the amazed crowd of spectators cried out, "Down with the atheists! [i.e., those who do not believe in the Roman gods] Get Polycarp!"

When he heard this, the redoubtable Polycarp was not in the least upset.  Three days before he was arrested, while he was praying, he had a vision of the pillow under his head in flames.  He said prophetically to those who were with him, "I will be burnt alive."

When the crowd heard that Polycarp had been captured, there was an uproar.  The Proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp.  On hearing that he was, he tried to persuade him to apostatize, saying, "Have respect for your old age, swear by the fortune of Caesar.  Repent, and say, 'Down with the Atheists!"

Polycarp looked grimly at the wicked heathen multitude in the stadium, and gesturing toward them, he said, "Down with the Atheists!"

"Swear," urged the Proconsul, "reproach Christ, and I will set you free."

"Eighty-six years have I served Him," Polycarp declared, "and He has done me no wrong.  How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?"

"I have wild animals here," the Proconsul said.  "I will throw you to them if you do not repent."

"Call them," Polycarp replied.  "It is unthinkable for me to repent from what is good to turn to what is evil.  I will be glad though to be changed from evil to righteousness."

"If you despise the animals, I will have you burned."

"You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and is then extinguished, but you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly.  Why are you waiting?  Bring on whatever you want."

It was all done in the time it takes to tell.  The crowd collected wood and bundles of sticks from the shops and public baths.  The Jews, as usual, were keen to help.  When the pile was ready...they went to fix him with nails, he said, "leave me as I am, for He that gives me strength to endure the fire, will enable me not to struggle, without the help of your nails."

So they simply bound him with his hands behind him like a distinguished ram chosen from a great flock for sacrifice.  Ready to be an acceptable burnt-offering to God, he looked up to heaven, and said, "O Lord God Almighty, the Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of you, the God of angels, powers and every creature, and of all the righteous who live before you, I give you thanks that you count me worthy to be numbered among your martyrs, sharing the cup of Christ and the resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and body, through the immortality of the Holy Spirit.  May I be received this day as an acceptable sacrifice, as you, the true God, have predestined, revealed to me, and now fulfilled.  I praise you for all these things, I bless you and glorify you, along with the everlasting Jesus Christ, your beloved Son.  To you, with Him, through the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and forever.  Amen."

Then the fire was lit, and the flame blazed furiously.  We who were privileged to witness it saw a great miracle, and this is why we have been preserved to tell the story.  The fire shaped itself into the form of an arch, like the sail of a ship when filled with the wind, and formed a circle around the body of the martyr.  Inside it, he looked not like flesh that is burnt, but like bread that is baked, or gold and silver glowing in a furnace.  And we smelt a sweet scent, like frankincense or some such precious spices.

Eventually, when those wicked men saw that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to pierce him with a dagger.  When he did this such a great quantity of blood flowed that the fire was extinguished.  The crowd were amazed at the difference between the unbelievers and the elects - of whom the great Polycarp was surely one....[https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/polycarp/]

Whether it was the fire, the dagger, or the loss of blood that miraculously extinguished the fire... whichever method actually killed Polycarp should not be our focus here, but rather, how willing he was to die rather than to dishonor the glory of the one true Lord.

Polycarp was bishop of the Christian church at Smyrna at the time of his death in the second century.  One hundred years later, another bishop of the church at Smyrna would do just the opposite of Polycarp; he would compromise his faith, saving his life, by actually sacrificing to the Roman Emperor Decius, and receiving a certificate (known as a libellus) proving that he had done so; causing a crisis in the church of what to do with so-called believers who could compromise in such a manner, proving only that they were 'liars' of the faith. 

This would give rise to a group in the third and fourth centuries known as the Donatists of Africa, who refused to be baptized by those who had compromised their faith in such ways, and yet had been restored to spiritual authority in the church.  They believed that any believer who had already received baptism and had fallen away from the faith during persecution, had no right to be restored to leadership in the church; "holding that the church must be a church of saints, not sinners." [Wikipedia: The Donatists]

I wonder what our view would be today with churches compromising the truth of God in so many ways in the name of tolerance?

If Paul [as seen in the previous postings concerning the church at Ephesus and antinomianism] commanded the church in Corinth not to even eat with one who called himself a believer yet was living in sexual immorality, what would he have commanded the church at Smyrna to do with their own bishop who had offered a sacrifice in worship to the Caesar rather than lose his own life?

More on the church of Smyrna in next posting.  We have only scratched the surface of what there is to learn from the instructions of Jesus Christ to the church at Smyrna.

The Church at Ephesus, Part 2

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Rev. 2:6)

 

According to Strong's Concordance the word Nicolaitans literally means "destruction of people" and refers to "a sect who were charged with holding the error Balaam by upholding the liberty of eating things sacrificed to idols as well as committing fornication."

The term for this error was first dubbed "antinomianism" around 1517, shortly after the Protestant Reformation.  When a believer in Jesus Christ goes beyond the tradition of sound doctrine held by the early church and allows justification by faith to become something that allows him to go specifically against the commandments of God, he is held to be an "antinomian."

The Merriam-Wester Dictionary tells us that the word antinomian comes from the Latin anti meaning against, and the Greek nomos meaning law; in other words against law.  It goes on to define the word as: "one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation; one who rejects a socially established morality."

I suspect the apostle James would disagree with antinomianism: But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20)

According to Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary antinomianism is "the false teaching that since faith alone is necessary for salvation, one is free from the moral obligations of the law.  The word antinomianism is not used in the Bible, but the idea is spoken of....Since we have been freed from the dominion of sin through faith in Jesus, we have also been freed to practice the righteousness demanded by God (Romans 6:12-22).

It is obvious that God would "hate" any false teaching that causes his people to live contrary to His commandments.  And the Ephesian church that also "hated" this error of doctrine, is praised by the Lord. The question is: would He praise our churches today?  Perhaps the following passages and quotes from various sources will help to better identify what it means to be antinomian:

Paul spoke against antinomianism in the earliest form of it that threatened the church at Rome:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! (Romans 6:1)

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  Certainly not! (Romans 6:15)

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! (Romans 7:7)

Has then that which is good [the law] become death to me? Certainly not! (Romans 7:13)

And the same evil appeared in the church at Corinth:

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles - that a man has his father's wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who had done this deed might be taken away from among you....your glorifying is not good.  Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?...I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.  Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world...since then you would need to go out of the world.  But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolator, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner - not even to eat with such a person...Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person." (1 Corinthians 5:1-13)

Paul himself was accused of antinomianism in Acts 21:19-26, but refuted it by performing the ceremonial law of purification at the temple, complete with an offering that appears to have been money.  He was obviously more concerned about being considered "against the law" than to be considered "legalistic" as some would call him in this day and age:

On the following day ,Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.  When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry,  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord.  And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.  What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come.  Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow.  Take then and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law....Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.

Even further along in the 1500's, Martin Luther was also erroneously accused of antinomianism, yet strongly defended himself with his disputations:

To the reverend and learned Dr. Caspel Guttel, pastor in Eisleben, my especially good friend in Christ: Grace and peace in Christ, dear Doctor. I assume that you received some time ago a copy of the disputations against the new spirits who have dared to expel the law of God or the Ten Commandments from the church and to assign them to city hall.   I never expected that such false spirituality would occur to the mind of man, much less that anyone would support it...It is most surprising to me that anyone can claim that I reject the law or the Ten Commandments, since there is available, in more than one edition, my exposition of the Ten Commandments, which furthermore are daily preached and practiced in our churches...Furthermore, the commandments are sung in two versions, as well as painted, printed, carved and recited by the children, morning, noon and night.[Martin Luther's "Against the Antinomians" 1539, Translated by Martin H. Bertram]

The following is an excerpt from a Wikipedia search on "Antinomianism" concerning Jesus and the idea that He also has been cited (by modern day churches) as being against the law, in favor of grace alone, especially the law of the Sabbath:

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus' disciples were picking grain for food on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28).  When the Pharisees challenged Jesus over this, he pointed to Biblical precedent and declared that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Some claim Jesus rejected complete adherence to the Torah [the law]. Most scholars hold that Jesus did not reject the law, but directed that it should be obeyed in context. E. P. Sanders notes, "no substantial conflict existed between Jesus and the Pharisees with regard to Sabbath, food, and purity laws...The church took some while to come to the position that the Sabbath need not be kept, and it is hard to think that Jesus explicitly said so."

[In fact, the church didn't change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday until the 4th century B.C.  Which begs the question:  was the church in error for all those centuries, between its beginning in the time of Christ and the 4th century, by abiding by the Saturday Sabbath...or has the church been in error for the past 17 centuries because they changed the Sabbath to Sunday?  It seems logical that it must be one or the other...which period of time was it that the church was in error?  Why did it take them so long to decide to go against Saturday as the Sabbath?]

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Rev. 2:2-7)

Jesus is telling us how important it is to hear what is being declared to the seven churched in Revelation, and it is being declared by the Holy Spirit.  We were given the Holy Spirit to guide us into all righteousness, which apart from the law, we would not know that we have; we have to first recognize what sin is before we can then know what righteousness - the goal of the law - is.  The Holy Spirit enables us to be overcomers of sin; if we will daily choose to walk in Him!

The tree of life - eternal life in the presence of God - is the reward for those who listen.

The Church at Ephesus, Part 1

I believe that studying the seven churches of the Book of Revelation (which also happens to be a bible study I am currently leading in a small group setting) might be the best way to continue along the line of the previous postings.  My studies in preparation for this small group study has convicted me in many areas.  The Word of Jesus to these seven churches is powerful in its ability to convict!

Let's begin in Rev. 1:19:

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

 

The things "which thou hast seen" refers to the vision that Jesus is giving John, the apostle who is currently in captivity on the island of Patmos; some of which things "are" in John's own time period then, and others which "shall be hereafter" in the future pertaining to future churches.  This indicates that the praise or criticism that Jesus gives each church applies not only to the church by that name in the time of John, but also to a church by another name somewhere in the future.  There is nothing to indicate whether this "future" church is a single-event, or happens several times throughout history.  But we do know that it is prophetic not only of the early apostolic church, but also of the future church. In other words, the same problems happen over and over again in the history of the church of Jesus.

 

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks...(Rev. 2:1)

 

This describes Jesus who is holding the seven stars (the angels of the seven churches according to Rev. 1:20) in His right hand and the seven candlesticks (also as explained in Rev. 1:20) are the seven churches that form the second and third chapters of Revelation.  Jesus is standing in the midst of the seven candlesticks, indicating that He is always very aware of everything that goes on in these seven churches; as He of course would be since He is the head of them.

 

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne and hast patience and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. (Rev. 2:2-3)

"Works" speaks of their deeds; "labour" speaks of their continuing effort in which they have not grown weary or "not fainted"; "patience" speaks of their perserverance.

Regarding those that are evil: Ephesus was a major seaport and major center of worship to Artemis, the pagan goddess of the moon, of fertility, of both human and animal nature, represented in Ephesian statues as a many-breasted woman. The temple to Artemis, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was supported by 127 columns that were each 197 feet high; I think that might be somewhere around twenty stories tall. Try to imagine that if you can.  The Roman Empire took great pride in this temple, even minting coins to its goddess whom they called Diana.

There was found in Ephesus a Christian inscription that reads:

"Destroying the delusive image of the demon Artemis, Demeas has erected this symbol of Truth, the God that drives away idols, and the Cross of priests, deathless and victorious sign of Christ." [Wikipedia: Artemis]

One such "evil" man, named Demetrius, gave Paul and the church at Ephesus much grief.  Demetrius was a silversmith, a maker of "shrines" to the goddess Diana (Artemis).  Paul and the church had the potential of wrecking the livelihood of Demetrius who went to great lengths to cause the Christians trouble, even inciting riots around Paul. The entire chapter of Acts 19 concerns the trouble begun by Demetrius.  The church at Ephesus had some strong persecution going on against them. They were blessed to have Paul residing with them for three full years.  Eventually, they were left with Timothy as the bishop of the church to help them withstand the evil of their day.  It is believed also that John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, lived there after his exile to Patmos and was buried there.  I believe it must have been a large church.  And yet, there is one criticism that Jesus offers to the church:

 

Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

 

Remember, therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.

 

Or else I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. (Rev. 2:4-5)

Some form of love is missing. It is called "first" love.  Is it love for God?  Is it love for the brethren?  Is it love that sends them out into the streets seeking the lost?  Is it the love that a bride has for her bridegroom?

Here are some things that Paul tells the church at Ephesus during his time:

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers. (Eph. 1:15-16)

But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Eph. 4:15-16)

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Eph. 5:1-2)

Paul indicates in the first passage that the church at Ephesus is famous for its "love for all the saints" - the brethren, in other words.  So it doesn't sound exactly like brotherly love is lacking.  But the next two passages do seem to indicate some personal growth is lacking, and that holiness ("imitators of God") might be lacking as well.

Paul urges them to walk in love; the same kind of love that brought Jesus to the cross.

This speaks of obedience!  The love that is missing is the obedience by which we are known to love God according to the book of 1 John.

It appears that the Ephesian church is busy with many "works" and continuous in its "labours" and even "cannot bear" the evil that surrounds them pertaining to this false goddess, Artemis.  And Jesus even says that He recognizes that they are laboring for His "name's sake."  So all that they are doing, they are doing in the name of Jesus.

Yet, they are neglecting the "first" thing, the "first" kind of love; love that I believe speaks of obedience that can come only from the heart that is grateful, and very aware at all times, of all that Jesus has done for it.  And it is a very dangerous thing to be lacking as the candlestick will be removed if they do not repent of this thing.

Here is another scripture, but not from Ephesians.  These are the words of Jesus Himself:

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.  And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.  And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.  And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. (Matthew 24:9-12)

Jesus is speaking of a split in the church, at least in what was called the "early church."  The split, of brethren against brethren, will come about because of false prophets, also known as false teachers, who do not teach the law, but instead teach lawlessness.  And brother will turn against brother as the church splits.  And the love of God, and thus of one another, will grow cold because the law is not being teached, so that lawlessness abounds.

Without the fear of God, without working out our salvation with fear and trembling, there is no need for obedience and there will be no obedience, but only lawlessness.

Jesus tells the church at Ephesus to "repent" - this means repent of disobedience which is sin, for there is nothing else to repent of except the sin of disobedience or rebellion to God's will.  He tells them to remember the lawlessness that they came out of and to repent and return to the "first" love. And He tells them to do so quickly, or He will remove their candlestick.

This speaks of removing their "light" to the world; of them losing their testimony to the world.  They will be a church with no testimony; powerless against the world that surrounds them.  Flavorless salt that is only worth being trampled on.

All because they lost that "first" love; the thing that produces obedience - righteousness before God.

Not much different than our churches today: busy in projects, self-denying even in terms of their time, yet neglecting God, hardly mindful of Him, at least in terms of personal obedience and what was once known as the Christian disciplines of prayer and fasting and study of the scriptures.
  

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

 

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Rev. 2:2-7)

We will discuss these last passages, a recommendation to the church of Ephesus, in the next posting.
 

When We Walk by the Spirit...

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)

I believe that part of the confusion about grace versus the law (rather than grace that allows us to become obedient to the law) comes from misinterpreting the scripture above.  It has become common practice to read this scripture to mean that as long as the Spirit of Jesus lives in us, we are saved.  But that if we try to be obedient to the law, we are then taking ourselves out from under grace and now living "according to the flesh."

But this omits the tiny word "walk".

It is only as we "walk" according to the Spirit, which signifies obedience, that we are saved and have no condemnation.  Because obviously 'having condemnation' means 'not saved.'

Can we truly have the Holy Spirit residing in us all week, and not give any thought to the Father or Jesus during that whole time until Sunday arrives and forces us to do so?  Or would doing so grieve the Holy Spirit so much, that He might in time leave us? Why does David, a man after God's own heart, plead with God not to take His Holy Spirit from him, if the Spirit will always stay once He arrives?

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

"See there!" you might say, "We have been made free from the law!"

But that is not what is being said at all.  What is being said is that we have been made free from the condemnation of death that sin brings, WHEN we abide by the law of the Spirit in us, the Spirit that we receive through Jesus Christ.  Again that implies that we are walking by the Spirit rather than by the flesh.  It does not imply that simply because the Spirit has taken up residence in us, we are now made free. 

It is our obedience to the law of the Spirit that sets us free from the death that sin brings.  If we are not consciously walking by the Spirit, but neglecting the things of the Spirit instead and walking only according to our own desires, then we are not being obedient to the Spirit, and are back under the law of "sin and death".

What is the law of the Spirit but the will of God?  What is the will of God except that which is expressed through His commandments? What then does the Holy Spirit allow us to do but walk in obedience to the commandments, the will of God, rather than according to the desires that our flesh wants which will always turn us away from doing the will of God?

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

Jesus condemned sin in the flesh by first walking in perfect obedience by the Spirit, as an example of what is possible when we live by the law of the Spirit, and then he condemned sin in the flesh by giving US His Holy Spirit to enable us to do as He did..walk in obedience to the law (the will) of God.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5)

Again, we must take honest inventory of our lives, working out our salvation with fear and trembling: are we living in the things of the flesh or are we living according to the things of the Spirit?  Which one are we mindful of?  Which one are we paying attention to?  Which one are we living according to? Are we living according to the Spirit of God?  Are we then being obedient to His will in all things?  How can we be when we don't even remember what all those things are because we don't have enough of the Spirit regulating us to even read His Word?  It is really quite simple to determine where our hearts are; our heart is where most of our time and thoughts are spent.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Romans 8:6-7)

Wait, the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God?  So if I am placing myself under subjection to the law of God, I must not be carnal.  Right?  I must be doing so by the Spirit of God.  Because the flesh cannot be subject to the law of God.  But the grace doctrine says that abiding by the law is legalism and not grace at all!  How can that be when the Word says that it is only those who are carnal that do not subject themselves to the law of God?

So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)

Now how are we going to rationalize that one?  What are we going to tell ourselves so that we feel better about this scripture?  Oh, I know, let's go to that scripture where Paul says:

For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. (Romans 7:19-20)

"See" you say, "Paul sinned too! Yet we know he was saved!"  But again you misinterpret his words.  Read on in Romans 7:1:

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

and Romans 7:6:

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin?  Certainly not!

and back to Romans 7:24-25:

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

What he is saying here is that our flesh, our desires, must die, in order to fulfill the law through the Spirit. But it does not make the law evil.  It simply means that now we abide in the Spirit who will fulfill righteousness in us and thus we will be saved...not because we are living according to the letter of the law, for this type of obedience excludes the Spirit, but according to the will of God that the law contains, being obedient to the law THROUGH the Spirit.

But in no fashion does Paul ever declare that he is not anything but obedient to the law in every way...THROUGH the Spirit of Jesus Christ that resides in him.

You may say, this is all just semantics.  But that is not the case. 

It is just semantics that leads us all to death through a grace doctrine that does not bring about righteousness.

This is why, in Acts 15, when some of the Jewish believers wanted to force the Gentiles to be circumcised, saying:

"Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." (Acts 15:1)

Peter stood up at the Jerusalem council to say:

"Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. [He is referring here to the house of Cornelius]. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us." (Acts 15:7-8)

Let's take a quick look at that scripture concerning the house of Cornelius to see what it was God saw in them:

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously, to the people, and prayed to God always. (Acts 10:1-2)

Peter's response to Cornelius in Acts 10 was this:

In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. (Acts 10:34-35)

Cornelius was not circumcised according to the law, and was not even allowed into a Jewish synagogue, but in whatever way it was possible for him to be obedient to God, including almsgiving, he was doing so.  It was because of his living in righteousness, according to Peter's words, that the Spirit was given to Him.  A willingness, in fact, a strong desire to be obedient to God, is what the Lord saw in Cornelius to then give him the Holy Spirit.

Back to the Jerusalem Council, here is what Peter continued saying concerning the Gentiles and circumsicion, he was not speaking about the law, merely circumcision:

Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same manner as they." (Acts 15:10-11)

In the same manner as they, these Gentiles, meaning by works of righteousness?  By fearing God? Yes, exactly! Not because they had the ritual sign of circumcision, but because they had hearts striving to please God through obedience to His law!

Not by grace because they believed in Jesus.  They didn't even know Jesus until Peter came and preached Jesus to them.  The Holy Spirit sent Peter to tell them about Jesus. But they feared God and "walked" righteously already.  The Jews did not consider them righteous only because they had not converted to Judaism through circumcision, this was ritual of the law.  But the law that contained the will and desires of God, that was the part of the law that the Cornelian Gentiles were being obedient to.  As are we to do still today. And then, by grace, Jesus blessed them with the Holy Spirit to enable them to become even more righteous...to transform them to perfection in the image of Jesus Christ the One who was obedient in every way to the Father's will.

But we must continue on just a bit further to discover what the Jerusalem council decided to do with the Gentiles:

Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. (Acts 15:19-21)

In other words, here are the four most important "laws" for the Gentiles to abide by, and the rest of the law will be taught to the Gentiles from others who preach the law in every city, the Jews who are also believers in Christ, who have heard the law of Moses every Sabbath in the synagogues all of their lives, and are thus apt teachers of the law to these Gentile believers.

Law is still important to God.  Law must still be important to us.

Grace gives us the ability to abide by the law through the Holy Spirit.

The grace doctrine of once saved always saved, however, promotes laxity in the law.  Under the doctrine of once saved, always saved, we have no need to carefully work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Case in point:  I met a beautiful young girl recently who "loves" the Lord, and witnesses to her boyfriend about Jesus often, especially about grace...even as she lives with him in sexual immorality.

The law is not being preached in pulpits today, but grace is being preached, and it is producing a generation of believers who are not being spurred on to acts of righteousness, but instead to acts of doing whatever they "feel" the spirit is leading them to do.  I must question what spirit that might be.

The grace doctrine today has superseded righteousness in favor of licentiousness, a doctrine known as antinomianism. The thing that we will see in the next posting, concerning the seven churches of Revelation, is that antinomianism, grace without the law, is the thing that God hates.

"Work out your salvation.."

And that which fell among thorns are they, which when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.  (Luke 8:14-15)

They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods... (2 Kings 17:33)

Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved?  And He said unto them, Strive to enter into the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (Luke 12:24)

The scripture in 2 Kings above describes a people who agreed to obey God (for fear of judgment from Him if they didn't) and yet continued to build their own gods and to serve them at the same time as they considered themselves "safe" with God. 

That also seems indicative of religious life here in America, and perhaps in many other countries, where people feel "safe" because they go to church, or call themselves Christian, mentioning the name of Jesus only whenever politically correct to do so (such as in church); and yet still continue to prioritize their lives in such a way, that God takes up only a minimal part of each day (or of every other day, or of only one day a week), serving other desires instead, but certainly not what we want to call "gods".  Yet God's Word does call them "gods" when they outweigh His presence and influence in our lives.

The scripture in the 12th chapter of Luke above indicates that only a remnant will be saved, out of the multitude that think that they are saved. This is a scary thought.  And I think this might have been the scripture in Paul's mind when he instructed the Philippian church to:

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. (Philippians 2:15)

Paul goes on to say:

For I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state.  For all seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's. (Philippians 2:21)

It seems the problems of 2 Kings (Luke chapter 8 passage above) were being experienced in the early church....as they are even today.

But we cannot omit the passage in Philippians in which Paul reminds them of the source of their obedience:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus....He humbled Himself and became obedient unto, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8)

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Phillipians 2:13)

The problem is that we take that last passage to mean that there is nothing for us to do, that God takes care of it all and we are to sit by like bumps on a log, ignoring that Paul just said "Work it out."    We ignore that Jesus is all about obedience, as we should be also.  Jesus is not just a good feeling. He must produce obedience in us, or what we have is not Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is God in us "working" the will and the obedience (the doing of God's good pleasure) in us.  But we are flesh AND spirit.  We can want to do many things, yet accomplish little, if our flesh is in control rather than the Spirit of the Lord.

And if we take lightly, because of the doctrine of grace, the "endurance" that is necessary to remain in obedience to the will of God, then we place ourselves at great risk of damnation instead of salvation.  Jesus is clear on this...few enter in.

All because we allow the flesh to have its way, deceiving us into death.  Grace is not given to us by Jesus so that we can become spiritual wimps and weaklings.  Grace is given to us to enable us to be strong, and endure, and remain obedient to the commandment of God.

Thou, therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.  And if a man also strives for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully. (2 Timothy 2:1-5)

How entangled with the affairs of this fleeting life are we?

How much are we striving to be lawful (obedient to the commandment of God)?

How much hardness (affliction, discipline,  not persecution) are we enduring for the cause of Jesus Christ?

Do you see "many" around you who are seeking the things of Jesus MORE THAN they are seeking the things of their own desire in this age of technology? Can you look around in your own social circle and find some?  If you can, out of all the number of people that you know, what is the number of those who seek ONLY Jesus and NOT the things of this world? Or even those who seek MORE of Jesus than the things of this world, as indicated by what their time is spent on and their money is spent on and their efforts are spent on?

Are there many, or are there few? And which group do you fall into: the many or the few?

If you are one of the many, it is not too late to change your focus from things of the world to things of Jesus Christ, making Him your priority in ALL things.  The word of the Lord to the people who tried to serve Him and other gods at the same time is still the same word that He speaks to us today through Jesus, through His Word:

Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols.. (Ezekiel 14:6)

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3:2)

And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. (Acts 17:30)

But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles,  that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. (Acts 26:20)

Walking the Narrow Path

Here's a sadly funny thing:

Many Christians today want to only look at two commandments, and disregard all the others that the Word of God instructs us with, in order to remain safely non-legalistic.  Thankfully, for those Christians, the two commandments of which I speak are in the New Testament, very far from the Old Testament Law of Moses, so they should be safe:

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 

And the second is like,  namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 

There is none other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31)

The reason I say this is a funny thing is because Christians think they are being proper (and more importantly non-legalistic) by just keeping these two commandments, instead of all the others in the Word of God. [By the way, those two commandments are called "the greatest", not "the only" and not "the last".]

But I say, if we can keep only these two commandments, then any other commandment in the Bible should just be a walk in the park for us!

The big problem is that we like to think we are keeping these two commandments, but I am pretty sure the first commandment is the one that "few" are keeping even though "many" are calling Jesus Lord (referring to the prior blog posting and Matthew 7:21-23.)

And if we cannot keep the first, how could we possibly keep the second? 

Not possible.

The only way we can love others is by first loving God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength; without knowing and loving Him that intimately, we will never know what love looks like and will never be able to imitate it, will we?

And we can only return God's love (the first of the two "greatest" commandments) if "self" is dead.

That's another commandment by the way:

And He said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.  (Luke 9:23-24)

You see, I think that's what the folks were doing in Matthew 7:23-24...works that didn't cost them their lives. They did works that were convenient or comfortable for them.  It was still all about them, not God. It wasn't that the works were wrong, they just were works done by folks who didn't really love God more than they loved themselves. 

But there are others who do the opposite:  claim they know God and have no works.  Works, these Christian say, show that you aren't trusting in Jesus' finished work on the cross. And we have to be careful, these Christians will say, about obeying commandments because obeying commandments (the law of God) is legalism. 

Although the same folks who worry about legalism apparently think it's ok to obey the Ten Commandments, the ones their childen were raised up on...oh, but that's right, the first one of those is still the one we seem unable to keep...and thankfully the fourth one doesn't apply to us Gentile Christians - we changed it to Sunday, the first day of the week, to make sure we didn't appear to be too Jewish!  [Wonder why the other nine are still considered Gentile-safe?]

It is sadly true that we Christians worry so much about becoming legalistic Pharisees following 600 some odd commandments, when, in fact, we haven't even bothered to commit enough to God to follow the first commandment!  What exactly are we worrying about? Paul himself, even after he came to know Christ, said 'I am a Pharisee.'  He didn't say 'I was a Pharisee but now I don't worry about commandments.'  He remained faithful to the law of God for as long as he lived.

Instead of worrying about becoming legalistic, or overly Jewish, or whatever other excuse we can find to ignore God's Word...why don't we get our thoughts off of labels and just focus on obeying God like Paul did, and more importantly, like Jesus did.

In fact, that's what these several blog postings are about: getting off the wide path of SELF and getting onto the narrow path of JESUS.

Do you know JESUS?

Here's how to know if you do: 

And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. (1 John 2:3)

He that sayeth, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:4)

But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. (1 John 2:5)

He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself to walk, even as He walked. (1 John 2:6)

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.  The old commandment is the Word which ye have heard from the beginning. (1 John 2:7)

JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD.

Thus, calling Jesus "LORD, LORD" (doubling it makes it a surety in scripture) means we are declaring that we are absolutely obedient to the Word of God, including the first commandment and second of the two greater commandments that Jesus speaks of in Mark 12:29 above.

We have been called to obedience without rationalization (rationalizations=interpreting scripture in ways that allow us to remain in our comfort zone).

We only walk like Jesus when we walk in obedience to the commandments of God as declared in His Word.  And since Jesus is THE WORD OF GOD (according to John chapter 1), then Jesus is in all of the Old Testament commandments as well as all of the New Testament commandments.  And we cannot call Him "LORD, LORD" if we are not obeying HIM, THE WORD, completely. Or else we are false.

This is not merely an opinion.

It is the Word of God according to the beloved disciple John.

Are we prepared to call John "legalistic" in order to retain the comfort of the "once saved, always saved" doctrines that don't motivate us to endure affliction (discipline) til the end?

Are we prepared to remind John that Jesus said on the cross "It is finished" and therefore obeying commandments is contrary to the grace of God?

Are we prepared to tell John that if we strive to be obedient to commandments then we are trying to "work" for our salvation and rejecting "grace"? 

John says that nothing about what he is saying is new, or a new commandment.  He says that he is speaking of the commandment that has been there all along...in the Word. In fact, the commandment IS the Word, ALL of the Word, both Old Testament and New!

Keep in mind, that in John's time there was no New Testament.  They had the experience of Jesus, and walking with Him, and witnessing all that transpired with Jesus: miracles, death, resurrection, ascension, Pentecost; AND they had scripture...all of the Old Testament....filled with commandments that John was referring to from the Old Testament...such as:

And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.  And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him; then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:

And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day to go after other gods, which ye have not known. (Deuteronomy 11:13-28).

Now here's the deal:

We Gentiles were grafted into the olive tree called Israel (did you not hear Jesus say in Mark 12:29 - "Hear O Israel" right before He proceeded to proclaim the two greatest commandments?  Who all is included in Israel if not those who trust in Jesus, both Jew and Gentile?)  That tells me that not only are all the promises AND covenants applicable to me, grafted-in Israelite that I am, but also all the curses.  You cannot have one without the other.  And depending on how many grafted-in Israelites here in America are loving God in the way that HE has prescribed, my nation just might get saved as well.

OR God might move me out of it before He destroys it; if I have truly "loved" Him.

So what am I going to do?

I am going to BEGIN by reading the Word of God from beginning to end, over and over again.  And I am going to highlight any command that is at all possible for me to be obedient to, without breaking the law of the land that I live in (which means that stoning rebellious children is out.)  And I won't be sacrificing animals to atone for my sin (because Jesus DID take care of that one, once and for all, with His own sacrificed life.)

And then I am going to be obedient to those commandments that I have highlighted in my Bible. That is the minimum that I am going to do; not the most that I am going to do.

Yes, I am going to "work" at being obedient to the Lord.  I am going to "love" God (be obedient to God) with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. Jesus says that in Him I can do all things!  He says His grace is sufficient for all that I need.  I need HIM in order to be as obedient as He was! But He is not going to take my foot out of the boat and force me to walk on water.  I have to step out in faith that openly declares (not with words, but with steps of obedience to the Word) that I trust completely in Christ to show me the path of obedience, and to keep me on it with His guidance.

And even if it makes me uncomfortable, I am not going to rationalize my way out of obedience!  Instead, I am going to rely on His strength to help me through it.

I am not going to "work" as though doing so will justify me with God.  Because it won't.

Only faith in Jesus justifies me with God.

But I have a lot of "love" to "show" God for all that He has done for me through His Son.

Now it's time to stop talking and start loving God.

In the next postings, we will look at some of those commandments, and we will look at some more warnings that follow for those who still choose not to love God with ALL that they are. We will look at what it really means to die to self as we walk this narrow path of loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

ALL is a key word...it won't be a mere 10% of ourselves that we give to the Lord.  It must be ALL.

The Narrow Way

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Not every one that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23)

Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock.  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

The winds are blowing in our world in which iniquity abounds, even amongst many who are doing "works." The Lord Himself has declared that this is a fact.  "MANY will say to me..."

The rain is about to descend. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.  Likewise also as it was in the day of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30

What follows once the rain has begun, will wash away anything that you are holding onto that is not of faith.

And if there is NOTHING that you are clinging to that IS of faith, you will be lost.

This is a time for all of us to see clearly what it is we are about: individually, and as the church.

This is not a time to keep building, and buying, and selling, and marrying....and eating and drinking.

This is a time for mourning, and fasting. And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then shall they fast. (Matthew 9:15)

This is time for deep intense prayer, deep intense soul-searching that only the Lord can do through our time spent with Him: "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man, according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." (Jeremiah 17:10)

Are we listening to what He is telling us He has found in us? Is the church as a whole listening, or are they busy "laughing" their holy laugh?

Are we waiting for "tomorrow" to do the things He is commanding us to do?  Do we think He is sitting by indifferent to all that is going on not only in the world, but in our own hearts?  His eye is on all of us, all of His sheep, whether lost or found. And He IS searching our souls, even now. And He is speaking to us, through the words of Jesus and through the words of His prophets.

And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men who are settled on their lees; that say in their heart: the LORD will not do good, neither will He do evil. (Zephaniah 1:12)

At this time of chaos, and trouble, and abounding evil, a candle has been lit, named ISON. [ http://www.space.com/23006-comet-ison-comet-of-the-centry-chances.html ]

I am not the one to say whether this is THE fire or THE lamp of Revelation 8.[ http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rev&c=8&t=KJV ].

Only the Father knows that. 

But He gave us warnings and signs to look for, so that we would be prepared. Are we watching for those signs?  Or are we so distracted by the cares of this life, or too busy being entertained by all that television and theatres and computers and facebook  and the latest smart phones have to offer, to look up into the heavens, and compare those signs with the Word of God?

Here's another sign: October 21 this year corresponds to the day on the Hebrew calendar that the rains began falling on the earth at the time of Noah's flood...in other words, the day that God allowed judgment to fall on the evil inhabitants of the earth...out of what has been calculated to be at least a minimum of 235 million people on the earth at that time...only 8 were found righteous and saved.

Who do we think we are, to give so little heed to ALL of God's word, and to  not be searching out these things diligently, to be as prepared as He wants us to be?

The question is, Are you prepared?  "MANY" think that they are, Jesus said, but are deceiving themselves.  But then there are MANY who have a different JESUS than the one in the Bible. 

The Catholics have a Jesus who is Co-Redeemer with Mary, his mother. In fact, you can only get to Jesus through his mother Mary. The Mormons have a Jesus that is the literal spirit-brother of Lucifer; their Jesus was created right alongside Lucifer.  The Jehovah Witnesses have a Jesus who was a powerful godlike one, but clearly not the Almighty God.  The Muslims believe that Jesus, who they call 'Isa, was not killed or crucified, and that those who said he was crucified lied.

There are Buddhists who think Christianity is a form of schizophrenia.  While Ron Hubbard's Scientology claims that neither Buddha nor Jesus rate very high on their scale of spiritual advancement.

Who is your Jesus?  For there is only ONE who can save you. Better make sure He is the REAL Jesus!  And who better to ask than God Himself, whose Word declares clearly and specifically for us who Jesus is.

The real Jesus is the One who was born of a true virgin whose name was Mary, but who needed her Son as her Savior equally as much as each and every one of us do. She could no more save herself, or us, than we can!

The real Jesus is the SON OF GOD and He is the Creator of all that IS because the real Jesus is the WORD OF GOD present at creation; He is not Himself a created being: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:1-5)

The real Jesus did die on a cross, a spotless sacrificial Lamb, the only begotten Son of God, provided by God Himself, to atone for OUR sins "for God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have life everlasting." (John 3:16)

Strait is the gate...and narrow is the way...there is only one way to the Father...and that is through the real Jesus Christ, the One that was raised up from the dead by the power of God Himself, the firstfruits of many who would have life everlasting because their hope is in Him alone for salvation.

For those of you who say you know the real Jesus, the question is: How well do you know Him?  Do you know Him enough to TRUST Him with your life?

My pastor preached a sermon recently that gave the example of a man who crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope.  The tightrope walker turned to the crowds and asked if they had faith that he could cross the falls on this tiny rope.  One man spoke up and said "Yes, I have faith that you can do it!"  And the tightrope walker turned to him, and said, "Good!  Then climb up on my back and let's go!"

Believing is not the same as TRUSTING.  Without faith (unrelenting trust) it is impossible to please God. 

Then there is the fact that how well we know Jesus is proven by our obedience to His commands.The following article helped me to examine the fruit of my actions...especially in this day and age where we have so compromised the Christian walk that it is often not even discernible from the world around us.

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Narrow_Gate/narrow_gate.html

How are you doing at loving those who hate you?  I don't mean just saying to yourself, "Oh, I have forgiven, I can say I love them."  I mean how are you doing performing actions that prove your words?

Jesus said the righteous are not those who call Him Lord with their lips only, but "he who doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

How are you doing at loving those who are lost...whom you neither love nor hate...but are indifferent to because you are busy acquiring things of the world?

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

The time to act is now....not tomorrow...for tomorrow might not be here when you expect it to be.

Jesus in the Simchat Torah

Let's take a quick overview look of the seven Feasts of the Lord and their relation to each other in terms of dates.

Three of the four Spring Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits) occur within a day or two of each other, as you can see from the calendar dates I have posted below showing you the dates those feasts fall on in the current year of 2013.  The Feast of Week arrives almost two months later.  And the three Fall Feasts (Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles) all arrive within two weeks of each other.

All of which means, that Jews who had to travel long distances to observe these Feasts at the Temple in Jerusalem, had to travel three times a year for these specific feasts; but that is better than doing so seven times!  There are other feast celebrations that are not specifically prescribed by the Lord through the Law; these are Tisha B'Av, Hannukkah, and Purim. We will learn about those later.

For now, let's look at how closely together some of the seven feasts fall on the calendar.  Please keep in mind that the dates change each year as our calendar is not in sync with the Jewish calendar.  I check the dates each year on the internet or purchase a Jewish Feast Day Calendar in order to keep track of them.   These dates given are only for the year 2013 and are the dates on which the feast commences; some feasts lasts longer than one day:

       Passover:                 March 26
       Unleavened Bread: March 27
       Firstfruits:               March 28

       Weeks:                     May 15

       Trumpets:               September 5
       Atonement:             September 14
       Tabernacles:           September 19

Simchat Torah, as discussed in the prior posting, is the 8th day, or the day after the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles; it means "the Rejoicing of the Law."

So, on a day when the people of God are to be rejoicing in the Law, rejoicing in the goodness of God shown to them through the Law provided not only for their benefit but for identifying them as people belonging to God, it is perhaps not surprising to see the scribes and Pharisees, in unison, neither rejoicing, nor even heeding the law, but rather misapplying it according to their own deceived thinking!  Rejoicing therefore must be provided by Jesus Himself on this day in approximately the year 30 A.D.:

John 8, beginning at verse 1:

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned.  But what do You say?"

This they said testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.  But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."

And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Then those that heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.  And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"

She said, "No one, Lord."

And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

At this point in the scripture, a somewhat lengthy discussion ensues between Jesus and the remainder of those in the Temple; a discussion that culminated in Jesus declaring that "before Abraham was, I AM."

Picking it up from John 8:59 and continuing into John chapter 9:

Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going though the midst of them, and so passed by.  Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.

And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing...now it was a Sabbath wen Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

All of this happened in one day.  Recall, if you will, that the Simchat Torah, the 8th day, is considered a day of sacred assembly or a Sabbath day, just as the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles is also considered a Sabbath day.  And according to the Law no work was to be done.  Yet, Jesus had already reminded them during the Temple services that they believed circumcising was allowable on the Sabbath; a point He did not declare to be wrong.  Their only wrong was in finding fault with Him healing on the Sabbath.

So, on Simchat Torah, a day of rejoicing in the law, the scribes and Pharisees broke the law (where was the man with whom the woman committed adultery; the one that the law declared must also be stoned?), and Jesus was left to return rejoicing to the heart of the woman - a woman first accused, then sentenced to death, and then suddenly set free!  Rejoicing such as was found later that same day in the man who had been blind since birth, whose sight was miraculously restored!

It has often been conjectured that Jesus wrote the sins of each of the scribes and Pharisees in the dirt.  But look at this passage from Jeremiah 17:13 -

O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be ashamed.  "Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters."

Perhaps Jesus chose this particular scripture to write in the dirt that morning with the woman and her accusers standing before Him.  Then, perhaps, when Jesus bent down the second time to write, each man saw his own name being "written in the earth" in fulfillment of the scripture. 

What we also don't know is whether or not Jesus knew these scribes and Pharisees personally by name; or whether God gave Him the knowledge of each man's name to be written in the ground.

What we do know is that one by one, as each name appeared perhaps, each man left the Temple.  For the One who had only the day before declared Himself to be sent by God wrote in the dirt that day with the knowledge and authority of One sent by God.  There is no doubt that the scribes and the Pharisees recognized it as they quietly left the scene; no matter what they chose to do with that revelation in future days.

Interestingly, the verse in Jeremiah that immediately follows the verse above would apply to both the woman and to the blind man that day as well:

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved. For you are my praise!(Jer. 17:14)

Now, did you notice that in both cases (that of the adulteress, and that of the blind man) Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Light of the World?  Those words, as with every single thing that Jesus did on earth, were directed by God to be spoken at the most appropriate of times; the most appropriate of times being the Feast of Tabernacles.  The following passages from the book "The Feasts of the Lord" explain the emphasis on "light" that was demonstrated every single evening during the Feast of Tabernacles:

The celebration of the water pouring (as opposed to the ceremony) was observed during the evenings of the feast by an impressive light ceremony in the Temple. It was known as the Simchat Bet Hasho'ayva ("The Rejoicing of the House of [Water] Drawing")....in the center of the court [the vast outer court of the Temple] stood four towering menorahs (lampstands), each with four branches of oil lamps.  Their wicks were manufactured from the worn-out garments of the priests.  Each menorah had four long ladders leading up to the lamps which were periodically refilled by young priests carrying large pitchers of olive oil. The Feast of Tabernacles began in the middle of the lunar month when the harvest moon was full and the autumn sky clear.  The outline of the surrounding Judean hills was clearly visible in the soft moonlight.  Against this backdrop, the light of the Temple celebration was breathtaking.  All night long, elders of the Sanhedrin performed impressive torch dances, while the steady yellow flames of the menorah oil lamps flooded the Temple and the streets of Jerusalem with brilliant light...this celebration was repeated every night from the second night until the final night as a prelude to the water drawing in the morning.  Nothing in ancient Israel compared to this light celebration.  It was so spectacular that the ancient rabbis said: "He that hath not beheld the joy of the drawing of water [the Simchat Bet Hasho'ayva celebration] hath never seen joy in his life" (Sukkah 5:1). The light celebration was reminiscent of the descent of the Shekinah glory in Solomon's day and looked forward to the return of the Shekinah glory in the days of the Messiah (Ezek. 43:1-6). (p. 140)

When Jesus proclaimed to the Pharisees who had come to entrap him with the woman caught in adultery: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12)... the Pharisees did not question the meaning of His statement.  They knew it was a messianic claim, for they immediately called Him a liar. They were familiar with the many titles in Scripture which ascribe light to the Messiah. He is called the "Star out of Jacob," the "light of Israel," the "light of the nations [Gentiles]," a "refiner's fire," a "burning lamp," and the "Sun of righteousness." (p. 141)

Later that day, the Messiah reinforced this same truth when He healed the blind man.  As He did so, He repeated, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:5).  The Pharisees were again angered at Jesus.  The issue continued to be His messiahship (John 9:22).  This time, however, they chose to find fault in that He had healed the blind man on the eighth day, which was considered a  Sabbath by Scripture (John 9:14)....More than just a messianic claim, Jesus' claim to be the "light of the world" carried a reference to the Temple light celebration.  The celebration was still vivid in their minds.  They had just celebrated it six nights in a row.  The light that He offered (i.e., salvation, Isa. 49:6) would light not just the Temple, it would light the whole world.  He Himself was the source. (p.141)

How wonderful to have been alive to see the Temple light celebration and then to hear Jesus teaching about the light of the world, spoken with such authority, followed with such miracles; and then to have the Holy Spirit quicken those words to your heart, helping you to connect the dots between the Scriptures you have been taught since childhood and the miraculous works of this one humble man, Jesus, so that you recognize Him as your Messiah immediately.  As some did. 

While others never would.

It is because of Jesus that we can rejoice in the Torah, the Law.  He left us the power of the Holy Spirit enabling us to be obedient to the Laws of God that were so impossible to keep on our own. And He removed the sting of the Law - death - from those who know that their salvation rests not in the Law, but in Him alone.  Today obedience to the Law is simply that which is done from a thankful heart to the One who has written those laws on our hearts and provided all that we have ever needed, or ever will need; to the One whom the Feast of Tabernacles and Simchat Torah teach us to rejoice in!  Our Savior and Lord, Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach!
 

Jesus in the Feast of Tabernacles, Part 2

It is approximately the year 30 A.D. and the seven days of rejoicing during the Feast of Tabernacles is about to commence. Let's look at what Jesus was doing during this Feast, as seen in the Gospel of John, chapter 7.  But first we must lay out the scene and speak of things that happened prior to the Feast.

The Temple was still standing in Jerusalem at that time and so all Jews were required to go to Jerusalem to the Temple for the services that were held each day of the Feast. They came from all over the nation and from various parts of the world.  They arrived early enough to have constructed the sukkahs that they would live in during the Feast, none of which were more than a little over a half mile from the Temple, so that they would not be in violation of the Sabbath rules and regulations.

Prior to this Feast Day had been another of the Fall Feasts, the Feast of Trumpets, followed immediately by the seven days of affliction (searching for sin in one's life), and ending on the Day of Atonement.  Somewhere in the midst of these Feast Days, Jesus, on the Sabbath according to John 5:1-16, healed a lame man. This " one work" will be the thing marveled at, and at the same time causing a major upset, in the scripture passage of John 7 that we will get into in this posting.  (The words of this uneducated Galillean named Jesus, spoken with boldness in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles, will also cause men to marvel.)

The "brothers" referred to in the first part of this 7th chapter of John are the actual blood brothers of Jesus, part of his own family, the sons of Mary and Joseph that followed after the virgin birth of Jesus.

The "things" being referred to by the brothers of Jesus were the miraculous works of Jesus, including not only the lame man who was healed, but also the feeding of five thousand with only five barley loaves and two fishes (John 6:9-13).

The word "Jews" refers to the Judean Jews, those who resided in Jerusalem and surrounding areas of Judea, and is rather misleading as ALL the people who arrived at the temple for the celebration of this feast were either Jews or converted Jews from various parts of the country and elsewhere; Jesus himself, and all of his family, were Jews, but they are not included in this usage of the term "Jews".

John, Chapter 7, beginning at verse 1:

After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee: for he did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to him, "Depart from here, and go into Judea that your disciples also may see the works that you are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If you do these things, show yourself to the world." For even his brothers did not believe in him. 

Then Jesus said to them, "My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come." When he had said these things to them, he remained in Galilee.

But when his brothers had gone up, then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, "Where is he?" And there was much complaining among the people concerning him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, he deceives the people." However,  no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.

Now about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this man know letters, having never studied?"

Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not mine, but His who sent me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the One who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?"

The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill you?"

Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives a circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not he whom they seek to kill? But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this man is from, but when the Christ comes, no one knows where he is from."

Then Jesus cried out, as he taught in the temple, saying, "You both know me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of myself, but He who sent me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent me."

Therefore they sought to take him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

And many of the people believed in him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more than these which this man has done?"

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent me.  You will seek me and not find me, and where I am you cannot come."

Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does he intend to go that we shall  not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that he said, 'You will seek me and not find me, and where I am you cannot come'?"

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."

Others said, "This is the Christ."

But others said, "Will the Christ come out of Galillee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"

So there was a division among the people because of him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on him.  Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought him?"

The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this man!"

Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."

Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"

They answered him and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galillee."

And everyone went to his own house.

Now, if you were observant, and if the Spirit of the Lord spoke to your heart, you saw in this passage of John that it was on the last day of the feast, that Jesus cried out and made an amazing statement. The last day of the feast is the day when God's provision of the coming rain is in everyone's thoughts; that which will bring nourishing water so that the people will be have life and not perish from starvation and thirst.   It was on this very day, that Jesus proclaimed himself to be the source of "living water" and issued the invitation: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink!"

Of course, there is  great significance to ALL the words Jesus spoke during this Feast.  He was declaring their hypocrisy because they accused him for healing on the Sabbath, when they themselves circumcised on the Sabbath.  He was declaring them to be blind hypocrites when they marveled at this one work of His (healing the blind man on the Sabbath), but did not recognize His miraculous works as coming from God; and instead judged him according to the superficial measuring standard of a man-made Sabbath rule rather than according to the righteousness that was demonstrated by the healing. He was declaring that He had been sent from God to do these works.  He was declaring Himself to be the very answer to their prayers to God for provision and for the water of life that this Feast of Tabernacles was all about!

We also know now that Jesus most likely stayed in a sukkah somewhere in or around Jerusalem, during the Feast of Tabernacles, rather than going home each night to Galillee...or staying at an inn or whatever other accommodation might have been found. 

In the next posting, we will observe Jesus rescuing the woman caught in adultery; all of which happened on the 8th day, the day AFTER the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles - the day known as Simchat Torah ("the Rejoicing of the Law").