Matthew 5:7 When are we most Christlike?

I have to admit something to you who read this blog. I have been dreading this verse for months. Every since I started the book of Matthew over a year ago I knew this was coming and I was not looking forward to it. You see, I started this study of the gospel of Matthew because I recognize there are things in my life that are not Christlike at all. I am ashamed of it. I’m not nearly as much like my Lord as I want to be. Verse 5, which spoke of gentleness, was not easy for me because there are times when I do not exhibit the characteristic of gentleness. In fact, sometimes I’m downright awful and my temper shows. God has done a work in me and I’m better than I used to be regarding my ability to control my temper but I still mess up far more frequently than I care to admit. Then, I get to this verse and I see, yet again, how fall short I fall. I don’t suppose y’all would let me skip this verse, huh?

No? I didn’t think so. Please pray for me that God will continue to use this book to convict me of my sin and the He will enable to remain true to my convictions regarding expositing His word on this blog in spite of my many shortcomings.

Jesus is again explaining what true happiness is about. If someone wanted to know how to have his or her best life now, this is the guaranteed blueprint to do just that. Our Lord teaches here that someone who is “Blessed” (Gr “makarios” 3107-happy) will exhibit the quality of being “merciful”. In his Notes on the Bible, Albert Barnes remarks that we are most like God when we are merciful. We know that God is a merciful God and that He forgives repentant sinners. We should ask ourselves if we seek to be imitators of God and of Christ, how does this quality of mercy work in a practical sense in our daily lives. What should it/does it look like?

I believe one way we can show mercy is by helping to meet the needs of people who are in distress. If we see someone who is cold, hungry, or sick we can take the opportunity to show the love of Christ to them by helping to meet their physical needs. In Matthew 15;32 Jesus instructed His disciples to feed a group of people to whom He had preached because He was moved with compassion for their physical needs. Numerous times, Jesus mercifully healed someone due to having been moved with compassion (Matthew 20:34 and Mark 1:41). Of course, we are not able to supernaturally heal people today—our God alone does that. However, we can help meet people’s needs as a way of showing the mercy of God to these people.

The primary idea in this verse, however, probably has more to do with you and I being willing to forgive someone who wrongs us. I stink at this. I mean, I really stink at this. God has taken me to the woodshed and convicted me of the sin of unforgiveness many times. My flesh wants to avenge wrongs that people do to me. It’s literally like I have a list and when someone does something to me, it goes on that list and I hold onto it until such time as I can pay them back. I am ashamed to admit that. There are things that people have done to me years ago that I still hold onto. I have said I would lay it down but I usually end up having picked it up again. I feel that I have justification for doing this. I am the victim. They hurt me. I want to pay them back for what they did. I have earned the right to revenge myself, right?This verse doesn’t give me that option. There are no real tricky Greek words here. No dazzling verb tenses or tough exegesis involved. If I am not merciful, I will be judged. As I read these words, I am reminded of the parable of the unjust servant in Matthew 18. I think of the mercy my Lord has shown me and continues to show me. I sin regularly yet He continues to forgive me when I repent and ask for forgiveness. My sin is a greater affront to Him than anything any person could ever do to me. The debt, to borrow the image from that parable, that I owed Him was greater than I could ever hope to pay. My Lord didn’t just forgive the debt, He in fact paid for it with the precious blood of His own Son. He charged His Son guilty and declared me not guilty. And there is no catch with Him. It’s not like He’ll bring it up later and use my past sin against me. As Paul said in Romans 8:1 “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. His mercy is such a great blessing in light of my sinful, wicked heart.

When I think of the depth of my sin I also have to admit that it is far greater than any wrong anyone has committed against me. I usually, when someone wrongs me, want to get revenge. At bare minimum, I want to exclude them from my life. I want to have no further dealings with them on any level. It’s like once you’ve sinned against me, you’ve used up all three strikes in one fell swoop. How would I feel, though, if that is how my Lord treated me. He forgives me and restores fellowship. I want to remain unforgiving and break fellowship. Here’s the deal, some of the people with whom I have hard feelings are people that I have to see on a regular basis. My desire to ignore them has made things uncomfortable. I am typing this and reading the clear teaching of Christ in this verse that those who show mercy “shall receive mercy”.

I want mercy. I am thankful for the mercy that God has shown me. I want to be more like my Lord. That having been said, I recognize that my unwillingness to forgive is sin. I find myself convicted yet again and ask God to change my heart and make me more like Jesus. I pray that God will help me to be forgiving so that I will demonstrate His love. Since He forgave me my great debt, I should be willing to forgive people for their totally insignificant debts.

Praise God for His mercy.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

The Assembling of the Church: Opportunities to Serve

A friend of mine has written an blog entry about some opportunties he has had to share the love of Christ with some people in his area. I believe you will be encouraged and challenged. Check it out.

The Assembling of the Church: Opportunities to Serve

What does love look like?

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!

I have really missed blogging. I am so happy to finally be able to resume this ministry. I'll have a new post up in a few days on Matthew. I'm also working on 2 Peter. Finally, I had the chance a few months ago to preach at my home church. I've got the audio of that sermon that I'm going to post in a series over the next few weeks.

However, the reason I am writing today is to give glory to God for our new home. We moved about 30 minutes closer to my work and to church. We are now three minutes from our church which is a real blessing. This would not have been possible without the providence of our Lord and the help of some of my brothers in Christ. We were literally down to the wire on closing on this house and had to be out of the rental home by July 20th. I was in a panic on how I was going to get everything moved. I was having to work, go to VBS (which went well, by the way), and then get ready for the move.

However, I had three friends come and help me move the stuff out of the house. Doug (who could probably wrestle professionally), Karl (who had the most experience playing Tetris of any of us so he knew how to fit the stuff in the truck) and Kevin (who generously offered to allow me to use his truck/trailer AND his U-Haul type truck). They were such a huge help. Then, when we got to the new home, another set of brothers showed up to help--Jim and his four sons, Kevin, Caleb, and Garrett. I almost didn't have to do anything but tell them what room to put stuff in. It was wonderful to have the stuff moved in so quick so we could get settled in for the night to prepare for worship the next day.

The title of this post asks the question "What does love look like?" I saw love lived out in the lives of those men that Saturday. They did what they did because they love me but more importantly they did it because they love Christ. They saw a need and did what they could to meet it. I honestly have been moved to the point of tears several times over the past week thinking about their generosity. It's like James said "If you see someone who is hungry or cold and you tell them 'All right, well ya'll be warm and go get you something to eat' but you don't do anything to help them all you've done is beat your gums together". That, by the way, is from the Baldwin County Translation.

Again, it's good to be back. It's good to have DSL FINALLY!!! But most of all, it's good to have a church family you can count on.

in Christ

Moving day approaches.

Hello

I found out yesterday after my wife called our new phone company that our phone and DSL won't be hooked up until next Thursday. Therefore, I'm going to be out of pocket a little longer than I anticipated. I appologize for the hiatus. I may see if I can get access to someone's internet to post next week but that may or may not happen. In the meantime, there are several good blogs on my sidebar. I encourage you to check those out. I'll be back as soon as I can get back. Thanks for your patience and prayers.

In Christ

It's official-Closing today

Hello

We got the official word yesterday. We close this afternoon on our new home. This is a real answer to prayer. We have spent many hours traveling back and forth between church and Mother's Day Out and where we live. Now our home will be where our life is. Special thanks to my realtor Kay Self and my lender Morgan Cowle for making this happen.

I hope to be back to a regular posting schedule next week. I'd appreciate your prayers.

Hip and Thigh: Gleanings in Job #15

Fred over at the blog Hip and Thigh has been writing an excellent devotional series on Job. You should check it out.

Hip and Thigh: Gleanings in Job #15

Hectic Week

Hi folks

Just wanted to give a little heads up as to my posting schedule for the next little bit. We're moving to a house about 30 minutes closer to church and my job. We're really grateful to God to have this opportunity. While preparing to move this weekend with all the packing it entails, I am also working VBS this week at church. VBS will be at night so I will go straight from work to VBS. Also, we' haven't been given an official date to move so I'm not sure what day that's going to be. Also, we were given "the email" at work that said we are now officially going to be working ourselves to an early grave to get everything done in support of the biggest audit our office does. Plus, I've got powerpoint presentations to create for VBS and I'd love to find another guy or two that would be willing to help me move. Add to all of that the fact that I will have to wait and see how soon we can get internet hooked up at our new abode and I'm going to be busier than a one legged grape stomper in the winepress of God on judgement day.

Therefore, I hope everyone will be paitient with me if I'm not as regular posting stuff over the next few weeks. Please pray for me and my family as we're preparing for this hectic week.

Thank you

in Christ

Matthew 5:6 A Holy Appetite

In high school, I was a member of the band. I played saxophone. I was invited to a few honor bands where we would be gone for the better part of a weekend. While on theses trips, we usually ate at fast food places. One time in particular, I had been on a three day diet of junky fast food. We pulled into a parking lot with three or four fast food restaurants in walking distance and a grocery store that had a deli. I went to the grocery store deli and got a 5 vegetable plate. My body said “I want something green.”In our spiritual life, we also experience hungers and cravings. We are admonished in I Peter 2:2 to crave the spiritual milk of the Word of God. Jesus, in this verse in Matthew, tells us more about the need of our spirit.

First of all, notice the attitude that He describes. He calls people who have the spiritual hunger that he is talking about “Blessed” which translates a Greek word “makarios” (3107). You could probably translate the word as “Happy” and get a better sense of what it means. People in America are consumed with finding happiness. They act as though it is a commodity that you can purchase in a store on online for that matter. People look for it in jobs, accomplishments, relationships and come to the end of their searches to find themselves still empty and hollow—no closer to happiness than when they started their search. I suspect if most people read these verses and they were asked what they thought about Jesus saying these were the ways to happiness, they would respond in disbelief. Thinking only about this verse, for instance, I can’t imagine anyone saying that being hungry or thirsty for anything would be a key to happiness. In fact, that would be the opposite of being happy in most people’s minds.

This attitude of happiness is related to the appetite of the person Jesus is describing. He says that the person who is “Blessed”will “hunger and thirst”. Now, if a person is hungry or thirsty it stands to reason that they do not have what they are hungry or thirsty for. They hunger or thirst because they lack something. I was traveling to a job interview one summer and I had a leak in my radiator so to keep the engine from overheating between stops I would run the heater to bleed heat off of the engine. I was in a suit and it was a particularly hot summer. When I got to a gas station to get some radiator fluid and gas, I got a large water to drink because I was parched. I can’t think of a more delicious taste that I have ever tasted . It was like drinking cheesecake. I would not have been satisfied by eating some salty pretzels. Water was the only thing that was going to satisfy my thirst.

We should also recognize, regarding hunger and thirst that we can develop an appetite for something that we otherwise didn’t or wouldn’t crave. If we allow ourselves to be exposed to sin and worldliness our unredeemed flesh will crave that. If we want to have an appetite for the things of God, we should exercise spiritually. Paul writes in Philippians 2:12-13 “12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. “. We should exercise our spiritual gifts. We should involve ourselves in ministry. We should study the word of God to draw closer to Him.

Our aspiration in fact should be to draw close to God. As Jesus Himself says in this verse, we should have an appetite for “righteousness” (Gk-“dikaiosune” [1343]). Essentially, He uses something physical to explain a spiritual truth. In the same way our bodies hunger for food and thrist for drink, our spirits as Christians hunger and thrist for God’s righteousness. As we have seen in the verses in this sermon so far, this is the result of a humble heart that recognizes its spiritual poverty (v. 3) and has truly repented of its sin (v. 4) while also being God-controlled (v. 5). A heart that is in that kind of condition will feel the need for the righteousness of God because it will know that its own righteousness is incapable of pleasing God. We will be happy then when we have an appetite for the righteous character of God to dwell within us and live through us.

The most wonderful words in this verse to me are Jesus’ promise that those who have this kind of appetite “shall be satisfied”. The Greek word “chortazo” (5526) translated here as “satisfied” was a term used in dealing with livestock. What it meant was to allow an animal to feed until it was completely satisfied. Quite literally, an animal would be permitted until it did not want to eat anymore. I relate this to a human being at a Thanksgiving lunch. I can remember as a child eating Thanksgiving at my Mawmaw’s house and literally feeling like I was going to pop. We as Christians have the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit and He works to mature us in Christlikeness but we will not be fully “satisfied” until we reach our home in heaven. However, we have the promise here of the One who is completely faithful to all His promises that we will one day have our desire for righteousness satisfied. Praise God for His faithfulness and our future redemption.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

II Peter 1:1-Peter’s Audience-Unity in Christ Jesus

Most families have things in common. For instance, my father and I look quite a bit alike. In fact, my mother said when they brought me to her after they had cleaned me up she thought they had shrunk my dad. My siblings and I watched some of the same TV shows growing up-Looney tunes, Scooby Doo, and the Cosby Show to name a few. My son and daughter both enjoy playing outside as does my wife. They are patient with me when I tag along with them even though being outside isn’t really my favorite place to be. My wife and her brothers all enjoyed math when they were kids. As Christians, we are all members of one family but we are considerably more diverse. We come from different backgrounds and cultures sometimes even though we’re from the same country or area of the country. We have different preferences and ways of doing things. However, we have one thing in common-our faith in Jesus Christ. That faith is unifying and draws us together as a family of believers. As Peter wrote this epistle, probably to the same group he addressed his first epistle to, he stresses this unity in faith as these believers face the threat of false teaching.

First of all, Peter indentifies his audience of fellow believers as being unified in humility. He writes in the second half of verse 1 that these individuals, to whom he wrote, as well as himself, had “received a faith”. A person does not, according to the Bible, come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ by figuring out for themselves that they are lost and going to hell. They don’t use their human brain to contemplate how sinful their life is and their need for a savior. As Paul writes in Romans 3:11-12 “There is none who seeks for God, all have turned aside, together they have become useless, there is none who does good, there is not even one.” Jesus also said in John 6:44 that “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”. We do not seek salvation or work to achieve salvation. Rather, we receive it. The Greek word “lagchano” (2975) is translated “received” in this verse. However, it really means to “receive by lot” (Luke 1:9 and John 19:24 translate the same word using “lots”). This does not imply that our salvation was random but rather that we didn’t have control over it. When teams from the NBA who did not make the playoffs participate in the Draft Lottery to determine the order of their picks, they have no control over which team is going to be chosen. The year before the Celtics won the NBA Championship they had the statistically greatest chance to have the first draft pick. Of course, they didn’t because it didn’t work out that way. They had no way to control the outcome. By no means does this suggest that our salvation comes as the result of some cosmic lottery in eternity past. The analogy is that in the same way as something like the NBA lottery is out of the control of the participants, God’s choice in salvation is equally out of the hands of the elect. This does not negate the responsibility of man to repent and believe in order to be saved. It does, however, give all of us a reason to be humble. We did not choose God, but rather He chose us.

Secondly, Peter says they are unified in their faith. He writes that his audience has ”received a faith of the same kind”. The believers in Jesus Christ may be diverse in their spiritual gifts, backgrounds, social standing, or education, but all believers have “a faith of the same kind (Gr “istomos”-2472). According to Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, this word does not usually mean alike in value or amount but rather being alike in honor or worth. In other words, while the people to whom Peter wrote were not gifted in the same way he was as an apostle and did not have the privilege of receiving direct revelation of scripture from the Lord, they had a faith that was just as precious and which made them as spiritually worthy as Peter or any other apostle.

Finally, the were also unified in the source of their faith. Peter writes that they received this faith by “the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”. Knowing that they had no righteousness or goodness in themselves, they were unable to come to God because of their sin and God’s holiness. However, when they received this faith, they received a right standing before God. As the book of Genesis 15:6 says, Abraham was declared righteous by God because of his faith. This righteousness, which we did not have and could not produce, comes from Jesus Christ who not only is our “Savior” but as Peter notes in this verse, He is also our “theos” (2316) which is translated God.

We can praise God for the unity we have as followers of Jesus and stand unified against false teachers as a family of believers.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Psalm 23:5-6 God’s Provision and Our Redemption

I am blessed to live in a country where we have the kinds of freedoms that we do. There are a lot of brave men and women who died to make sure that my family and I can sleep in peace in a great country. They provided this freedom at the cost of their very lives. However blessed I am to live here in America, I am fully aware that I will not be here forever. Eventually, my God will take me home to the place prepared for me before the foundation of the world. While I await the day of my heavenly homecoming, however, I know that my God, in His providence, provides for me here on this earth.

This is echoed in the last part of verse 5 where the psalmist writes “My cup overflows”. I have experienced hardship and tough times in my life. From changing careers to going back to school to studying accounting and being laid off 3 times in a row all while dealing with the trials of a first time father, there was a period of a few years there where I honest to goodness thought I was going to crack up. I can still feel the scars, metaphorically speaking. I once described myself to someone as being like a clay pot that had been under too much pressure and had developed small little cracks. I was held together but only barely. However, even in those dark days, my God allowed me to keep food on the table, gas in the car, clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, and diapers on my baby girl’s butt. I didn’t have everything I wanted but I had what I needed. Compared to what my situation could have been, I would definitely say my cup did, in fact, run over. God blessed me abundantly beyond what I deserved. It was by His sovereign grace that I was able to finish school and land this really great job. Even though things looked bad sometimes and I didn’t know how I would make it, God definitely filled my cup to overflowing and I praise Him for that. The psalmist echoes those sentiments in this verse.

Of course, I realize that this world is not my home to quote the old hymn “I can’t feel at home in this world anymore”. I can have joy, peace, and contentment in this world because of my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I know, however, that the ultimate peace and joy will not come until I reach heaven. I can picture what it’s going to be like when I finally get there as I read the last verse of this psalm. I will experience God’s “goodness and mercy” while I live here on earth, but when I reach heaven where I “will dwell forever”, I will know what true contentment is. The psalmist, speaking as a sheep of the Lord, echoes here his feelings of complete satisfaction. He says “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. Where else, he might say, would I rather be than here where my Shepherd who has provided for me as we journeyed into the table land of the mountains and back again. My Shepherd loves me and takes care of me. I wouldn’t leave here because I am so bountifully blessed. When we arrive home in heaven, we’ll know—truly know—what the psalmist means. We will experience first hand the blessings that will come from dwelling in the presence of God in heaven forever.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission

Matthew 5:5 Nice Guys Always Finish…….First?

A little better than a year ago when I began to exposit the book of Matthew, even a few weeks before I started this blog, I had a very specific purpose in what I was doing and why I chose Matthew to work through. I wasn’t preaching anywhere and I hadn’t been given the privilege of teaching in Awana on Wednesday nights so it wasn’t like I needed to get material together to teach. I looked inside of myself and saw a problem. I got saved when I was 12 years old (7th grade, Thursday, after JV Basketball practice) and had been given the glorious privilege to serve God as a pastor of a little church in Northeast Alabama. With almost 23 years of being a Christian under my belt and having served as a bi-vocational minister, I still wasn’t very Christlike. In Romans 8:29, we’re told that God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus. I saw how far short I fell of that. I therefore decided “If I want to be conformed by God into the image of Jesus, I need to make sure I keep a picture of what Jesus looked like in my mind”. To me, the best way to do that was to exposit a gospel. I had never really studied through Matthew and I knew the Sermon on the Mount was a powerful work. I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to study through this marvelous gospel. And so, here today, I get to the verse that describes the very core of my problem.

In Matthew 5:5, Jesus, again describing the character and life of someone who is “Blessed” (Gk-“makarios” [3107], happy), says that a person who is happy is one who is “gentle”. The King James version renders the same word as “meek”. In either case, I’m not so sure the English translation is a great deal of help here. The word in Greek is “praus” (4239) and according to Thayer’s Greek Dictionary it means “mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit.”Most of us, me included, think of something very different than what Jesus had in mind when He said this. I picture a soft cloth or something fluffy like a teddy bear. In my mind, it would be something cuddly and snuggly. As usual, the picture that I have in my mind has nothing to do with what this word really means.

The Greek word “parus” has the idea of strength this is under control. In the culture of the day, it was used to describe the virtue of being in control of one’s passions instead of being out of control with wrath on the one hand or passive and unresponsive on the other. It was a word that described someone who was self controlled. The Christian, however, is not supposed to be self controlled, but rather God controlled. For instance, Paul writes in Romans 12:1 that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. In Galatians, Paul says that “20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Furthermore, this quality of being gentle does not imply weakness. Rather, it is power under control. The word was used to describe an animal like a horse that had been bridled so that it could be ridden. There is no question as to who is more powerful when you compare a human behind and a horse. Obviously, God designed the horse with much more powerful muscles than a man. However, the horse, when properly trained, has it’s power under control. The power is still there but it is now directed to the task that the man gives it whether it is to carry the man somewhere or pull a plow.

Jesus, of course, is the perfect example of gentleness. Even so, Jesus never compromised on calling for repentance from sin or exposing religious hypocrites. Even when He had confrontations with people, though, He was never out of control. He did what God called Him to do to the extent that God told Him to do it. If you and I are truly being meek, we are living a God controlled life. We are not forceful or rude nor do we seek our own way. We can respond with a kind word when we’re wronged because we know that God is in control over everything anyway. Notice also how this quality follows logically from the other two Jesus has listed. When we recognize our own poverty of spirit (v. 3) and mourn over our sin (v. 4) we will be more than willing to allow God to control and direct our lives. We won’t need to lash out in anger or revenge because we recognize ourselves as sheep with God as our Master Shepherd.

We should also recognize our position as we examine the character quality of being meek. Our society tells us that if you want something, you’ve got to go out and get it. I have been in sales before. Actually, I have a string of plastic name badges that is embarrassingly long, but that’s another story. Some of the sales people that I worked with had the idea that you had to be assertive and treat the customer as if they had your money in their pocket and it was your job to take it from them. We have seen numerous accounting scandals where management felt that they were under tremendous pressure to get the job done no matter what. We have been told over and over that second place is just the number one loser. No one is going to give you anything-you’ve got to take what you want. Nice guys finish last, right?

Not according to Jesus. He says that those who live the God controlled life of being gentle won’t have to worry about staking their claim to a piece of the proverbial pie bur rather that “they shall inherit the earth”. It might look like they would be left out. I mean, other people might step on them and push them around. In the end, however, they are called from the back of the line all the way up to the front. Instead of getting the leftovers they get the pick of the litter. Now, they aren’t exalted because of what they have or haven’t done. Being gentle or God-controlled isn’t something we can do ourselves. This is something that God works in us for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Just like declaring spiritual bankruptcy (v.3) and mourning over our sin rather than over the consequences (v. 4), the quality of being gentle is something that a sovereign God gives to His children. We should pray for the humbleness to allow ourselves to be molded by the Potter’s hand.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

II Peter 1:1 The Author-His Humility and His Authority

In life, you have to decide what hill you’re going to die on. There are some things that you have to be willing to say “You know what? This isn’t that big of a deal. I’m going to just let this one go.” In auditing, often times I find things that are problems and I have to decide how big of a deal I want to make out of it. I have to apply professional judgments to decide whether or not I am going to consider something to be “material” (that’s auditor-speak for “a big deal”). As a Christian, I also have to make decisions as to how strong I’m going to stand for or against something. For instance, I’m a Calvinist. However, I’m not going to have any sort of problem fellowshipping or ministering with someone who disagrees with me. I’m willing to agree to disagree on that topic. However, there is one thing that I cannot and will not bend on-the sufficiency and authority of Holy Scripture. That, my friends, is paramount for us as Christians to proclaim and stand on. Jesus said in John 8:42 that the truth would make us free. Likewise, Paul says in II Thessalonians 2:9-12 that those who will be deceived by the Antichrist will be deceived because they “took pleasure in wickedness” and that they did not believe the truth. Peter, in his second epistle, writes these believers to encourage them to believe and remain faithful to the truth that they had been taught. As we study this scripture, you and I can be encouraged to do the same.

First of all, let us take note of the author of this epistle. He identifies himself as “Simon Peter”. This, of course is the same Simon Peter who preached the sermon on the day of Pentecost. He is the same Simon Peter who, when asked by Jesus “Who do you say that I am?”, readily affirmed the deity of Christ and the fact that He was the Son of God. Of course, this is also the same Peter who told the Lord “Give me a bath” when Jesus said he needed his feat washed. And yes, this is the same man who was so scared to death when a little girl ID’ed him as being a disciple of Christ that he cursed and denied our Lord. Personally, that’s why I love Peter. When he got it right, he got it right. When he goofed up, it wa a humdinger. I can relate to that. He had his flaws but God still used him. That gives me hope.

Peter further identifies himself as “a bond-servant…of Jesus Christ”. The word translated “bond-servant” is the Greek word “doulos” (1401). A more precise rendering of the word would probably be “slave”. Essentially, someone who was a doulos was property. They had no rights and could not do as they pleased. They lived to serve at the beck and call of their master. As Peter identifies himself here as a bond-servant, he is being quite humble. We all should remember as Paul tells us in I Corinthians that we were bought with a price. If we see ourselves as Peter did, as slaves, is there anything that God would ask us to do that we would say “No” to? Where could He send us where we would “pull a Jonah”? We should serve Him out of love because of the wonderful grace He has shown us but we should always remember that He is not only our Savior but He is also our Lord..

We observe that while Peter is humble and rightly so, he speaks with authority and that authority is not his own. He writes in verse 1 that he is an “apostle of Jesus Christ”. The word “apostle” is a transliteration of the Greek word “apostolos” (652) which means delegate or ambassador. This was not a title that a person could take for themselves. He was one of the men specially commissioned by Jesus to go and preach the Gospel of Christ. He was sent as an ambassador and the message that he brought was not his own. He wasn’t making this stuff up, folks. In the book of Acts, he preached sermons, raised the dead, healed the sick as he had been empowered by God through the Holy Spirit to do.

While the office of apostle is not an active office in the church today, you and I are apostles of Christ in the sense that we are called to preach the good news to people we meet. As we do that, we should follow the example of Peter and recognize our position as humble servants of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Matthew 5:4 Comfort for those who mourn

The life of Saul in the Old Testament is, to me, a great example of someone who wanted to take the easy road to following God. He wanted to keep up appearances and he enjoyed his position as the earthly king over Israel. However, when it came down to it, he wasn’t willing to be completely obedient to God. I heard a preacher once preach a sermon on 1 Samuel 15 called “The Perils of Partial Obediance”. Anyone familiar with that passage would probably concur that the title is appropriate. Saul was given orders to exterminate the Amalekites. Instead of obeying God, he killed most of them. When he was confronted with his sin by Samuel, he had the audacity to plead his cause. He claimed that he had been obedient to God. When he was told that the kingdom would be taken away from him, he then admitted his sin. I submit to you that Saul was not sorry about what he had done. He was instead sorry he was going to have to face the consequences of his sin. In my mind, that is exactly the opposite of the kind of attitude described by our Lord in verse 4 of Matthew 5.

Again, we notice that Jesus is describing someone who is “Blessed” (Greek “makarios”-3107 ). Really, this word means “happy”. He has already described someone as being happy when they declare spiritual bankruptcy (v. 3). Now, if you were asking most people to list characteristics of being happy, they would probably not list their own lack of spiritual goodness. Likewise, they would probably not list mourning as an indicator of happiness. In fact, that would be, in most cases, the opposite of happiness. I mean, mourning is something you do when you’re sad, right. If that’s the case, how can Jesus say “Blessed are those who mourn”?

As we remember the example from the life of Saul in 1 Samuel, we see someone who showed no repentance. He was not willing to admit what he did was wrong. In fact, he proudly proclaimed his innocence to Samuel while there were sheep bleating in the distance-the spoils of his attack on the Amalekites. When he proclaimed that he had sinned and asked Samuel to come and sacrifice with him, he is described in a manner I would describe as being mournful. However, he did no mourn over his sin. He mourned over the consequences. This is not the kind of sorrow our Lord is talking about. When I came to the realization of my sin I was led to repentant by the power of the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t just sorry about the consequences I would face due to my sin. I honestly felt remorse that I had offended a holy God.

As Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. “ Godly sorrow, which results from recognizing ones own poverty of spirit, will lead to mourning over our sin which, as Paul notes, will lead to repentance. Because of this repentance, Jesus declares that we who mourn “shall be comforted”. The Greek word translated “comforted” is “parakeleo” (3870). Jesus uses a similar word in John 14:16 when He said that the Father would send “another Helper” (Gr “parakletos” 3875). Those who God gives the ability to repent and believe will be “Blessed” (happy) because they will have an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, that dwells within their hearts. We don’t have to continue to mourn over our sins. Our Father in heaven has forgiven us based on the death of Jesus Christ and has given us the seal of our salvation, the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and Helper. Praise God for that gift.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Psalm 23:5 The Spiritual Provision of the Shepherd

I have two dogs. The reason I have two dogs is that I do not want 3. Don’t get me wrong, dogs are cute and fun sometimes but mostly they are a big, hairy pain in the neck. Anyway, when I get home in the evening from work, I have to open the gate so I can park. We keep our gate closed not only so our dogs can’t get out but so other dogs can’t get in. After I open the gate, I have to get in and drive into the gate so I can close it. During the time after I open the gate and when I close the gate, my dogs have a clear chance to make a break for it. You know what? They might go outside the gate a few steps or whatever but typically they are back inside before I get out of the car to close the gate. Now, I don’t know for a fact, but I suspect that they have at least enough sense to think to themselves “We’ve got it pretty good here. Food, water, petting, shelter. You know what? I’m going to stay my happy tail right here.” Now, my God is a much better Shepherd than I am a dog-owner. Not only will I experience complete satisfaction when I arrive in my heavenly home, but I can experience satisfaction in my relationship with Him now because He is my loving Shepherd.

First of all, we should observe in the second half of verse 5 is that God provides for us spiritually. The psalmist writes that God has “anointed my head with oil”. As we have noted in our study of this psalm, a shepherd would take his sheep into the mountains during the summer months. During the summer months, all sorts of flying insects pester the sheep mercilessly. Furthermore, the sheep can develop a skin condition called scab which is also very irritating for the sheep. The remedy for this is to apply oil to the sheep’s head. Usually the oil would have some sort of medicine in it as well. David Keller, in his book “A shepherd looks at Psalm 23”, describes how relieved the sheep are when the oil is applied to the areas affected with scab and how much less agitated they are when they are no longer being pestered by the insects thanks to the oil. As he described it, you can literally see the relief on their faces after the oil is applied.

In like manner, we as Christians deal with irritations in our lives. These irritations can range from a small problem like being a few minutes late due to a traffic snafu to a huge problem like finding out we have an incurable disease. However, we don’t have to let these things get the best of us. We have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. For the Christian, this is the “oil” that God anoints us with. We can face the trials and tribulations that come our way with peace because we know that our God works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

The oil that a shepherd anoints his sheep with serves another purpose. Male sheep butt heads in contests where they stand apart from one another, take a running start, and crash their craniums together to try to prove who is the most manly or ramly of the flock. Now, they do have thick skulls but even so, these sheep can injure themselves. Therefore, the shepherd applies some of this oil to the heads of the male sheep. When they line up to butt heads, they slip off of one another instead of hitting square on. The Holy Spirit serves a similar purpose in the life of the believer. God called us as the church to live in unity. Let’s face it, though. Sometimes, I get on my own nerves so I know for a fact that I’m not fun to be around.. However, Christians that are sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit are more likely to let little irritations roll off of their back rather than taking offense.

Aren’t we blessed to have a loving Shepherd who provides for us spiritually by giving us the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts?

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Welcome

Hello. If you've been to my blog before, welcome back. If this is your first stop here, I welcome you. I try every once in a while to pozt something regarding the format of this blog just in case it's not readily apparent what I'm doing or how to get around here.



Primarily, I write bible exposition. I currently am working through the book of Matthew as well as the 23rd Psalm. I have also blogged through Pslam 1. I try to get at least a post a week up. Anywy, the blog lables on the sidebar are set up by book and by chapter. In other words, if you wanted to read everything I had written on Matthew chapter 2, simply click "Matthew 2". I also post links to other blog articles that I find particularly encouraging to me.


Please feel free to leave comments or ask questions. My email address is in my profile if you wanted to contact me.



Thank you for stopping by here at my little corner of the world wide web.



In Christ

Matthew 5:3 Declaring Spiritual Bankruptcy

Frank Sinatra had a hit song titled “My Way”. The lyrics of this song are all about someone who is self reliant and they do things, well, their way. Our culture seems to hold up the idea of a self-made man as a kind of goal for us to strive for. We don’t like to admit weakness, much less poverty. Overall, pride is one of the greatest sins in America. However, as we see in this verse, pride is an obstacle to a right relationship with God.

In verse 5, Jesus begins outlining what it takes for a person to be “Blessed”. The word translated “blessed” is the Greek word “makarios” (3107). A more literal translation of the word would be “happy”. In this world, people search, sometimes there whole lives, for happiness. I used to search for it in accomplishments. I felt that if I could play saxophone well enough or become a successful enough band director that I would be happy. Even after I went back to school to study accounting, I felt like if I could find a job making enough money for my wife to stay home with my kids that I would be happy. However, the more I work and search I find myself relearning over and over again that the only true joy, satisfaction and happiness that I have ever known comes from my relationship with God. I mean, I would describe myself as happy this past Tuesday when the Celtics defeated their arch-enemy, the Lakers, to win the NBA Championship. But this was a temporary emotional high that I assure you was quickly gone when I got up the next morning at 5:15 to go to work. The happiness that Jesus describes here is not some quickly passing emotion but a deep, abiding sense of true happiness that comes from a relationship with God.

Jesus goes on to describe the spiritual mindset of the people He describes as happy. Jesus says that these people are “poor in sprit”. The Greek word “ptochos” (4434) is translated “poor” in this verse. Now, this word doesn’t just describe poverty as a state, as in not having money or possessions, but also as an action. In fact, the same word is used in Luke 16:20 to identify Lazarus as a “beggar”. The word is related to the verb “ptosso” which means “to crouch”. Someone who is bowing or crouching is physically demonstrating meekness or lowliness. I knew someone who claimed onetime that they had been challenged simply because a person had been sitting and all of a sudden stood to their feet. We also speak metaphorically about “standing up to people” or “standing up for ourselves”. In effect, the attitude that Jesus describes here as being “poor” would be the exact opposite of that. Instead of standing, we are crouching. Instead of proclaiming ourselves as rich, we take the posture of beggars.

However, the call here is not for a physical kind of crouching but rather for an inward recognition of our spiritual need. Jesus describes those who are happy as having the attitude of a beggar “in spirit” (Gr-“pneuma” 4151). Someone can feign gentleness, love, patience (to a point) because these are all actions. I often have to paint on a mask at work when someone gets on my nerves because I asked for something 3 weeks ago and they still have not gotten it to me. But I have to admit, inside, I’m pretty ticked off. However, you cannot fake being poor in spirit. You either recognize and accept the total inability of yourself to make yourself rich in spirit and, because you are a spiritual beggar, turn to God for mercy or you don’t. The first step to solving any problem is to admit that you actually have a problem. People who are spiritually bankrupt recognize that they have nothing.

When Jacob came back home with his livestock, servants, wives, and his two girlfriends after living with his uncle, he wrestled with God one night. When God told him to let go, Jacob said “I will not let you go unless you bless me”. Now this man had all the stuff that you would think a man could want and he still asked God to bless him. In other words, he recognized that he was poor inspirit. He recognized what he had was not enough and he wanted to be blessed-not physically but spiritually. In order to be happy, as Jesus declares here, we must also recognize the insignificance of our possession, our positions, and everything else in our lives.

Jesus identifies the source of their blessed condition. He says that those who have declared themselves to be spiritual beggars (as opposed to being proud) will be happy because theirs is “the kingdom of heaven”. Matthew, since his target audience was Jewish primarily, used the phrase kingdom of heaven frequently in his gospel as opposed to the kingdom of God to respect his Jewish readers sensitivities regarding the name of God. However, practically, it means the same thing. Notice with me that the verb is in the present tense. We certainly do have a home in heaven to look forward to and we should meditate on that and encourage one another with that. However, the kingdom of heaven is ours right now. Jesus said that He came to give us life and give that life more abundantly. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:6 that God has seated us in the heavenly places with Christ. We live in a world of trouble but this world is not our home. We once were blind but now we see. While we may endure poverty and trouble in this world, we can take heart and be comforted knowing that we have victory now and the promise of a future in heaven forever with our Lord who saved us. How can we not be happy knowing that?

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

My Testimony

I started this blog back in 2007 as an outlet for bible exposition that I was writing. I had pastored a church bi-vocationally from 2000-2005 prior to moving to Tennessee and was not preaching or teaching at the time. I felt like I needed some kind of outlet. I believe God had given me the spiritual gift to teach and that I needed to use that gift in some way to edify other believers even if I wasn’t in a staff position in a church. Therefore, this blog, with few exceptions, has been geared toward bible exposition with a few blog links thrown in when I read something that was encouraging or challenging to me. I got to thinking the other day, though, that since I’ve gotten to know a few people through this blog that maybe I should post my testimony.

We went to church when I was a child on Sunday mornings. I don’t remember that much about it. To me, it was an excuse to get dressed up in my suit and pretend that I was a superhero with a costume on underneath. We moved to Tennessee when I was in 2nd grade. We pretty well stopped going to church when we got moved up there and I didn’t start going back to church until I was in 6th grade. We had moved back to Alabama (where I was from originally) and my younger brother and sister had started going to children’s choir at Silverhill First Baptist Church. I’m not sure why, but music was always a draw for me. There was just something special about singing or playing music. Anyway, I heard the children’s choir sing one song and I was like “Dude, I want to do that”. Actually, my voice had started to change so I think I was the only boy who sang in the bass clef in that choir. I sounded like a bullfrog.

Anyway, I went from going to Children’s choir to graduating up to youth choir. I then started staying for Discipleship training, going to church service, and attending Sunday School. As I went, I began to hear about how I was a sinner and that Christ had died for my sins. As I heard this, I began to feel what I realize now was conviction. Finally, on a Thursday afternoon in September after a JV basketball practice, I went to my room and asked Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins and become my Lord and Savior.

I was not discipled very well. I think, especially in Southern Baptist churches, we do a pathetic job of making sure that someone grows as a Christian once they’re saved. I mean, we’ll witness to you all day long, but when it comes to discipleship, buddy, you’re on your own. I suppose that is why I am so passionate about teaching God’s word. I had been Christian for nearly 14 years before I seriously started to study God’s word. Obviously, I had not grown much in that decade and a half. However, God has used His precious word to help me mature----some. I’ve got a long way to go. Praise God that He’s still working on me.

Again, this is something of an unusual post for me. The title of my blog is Hear God Speak and it is my goal to help people do just that through the exposition of scripture. However, I thought since I had been at this awhile people would recognize that my focus is and will be the bible. I just thought we could get to know each other here. Feel free to leave comments or questions on my posts. Thanks and may our Father bless you and yours.

In Christ

Matthew 5:1-2 Jesus, the Master Teacher

I have spent a lot of time in school. Of course, I finished the normal kindergarten through senior high school that most everyone in America does. I then went to the University of Montevallo for a degree in music. Finally, I went to Athens State University to study accounting. One thing I was very thankful for in school was the fact that I had some excellent teachers. A good teacher not only explains the material but can help you with individual problems that you have learning it. A good teacher knows the subject matter backwards and forwards and is able to guide students in practical application of the material. Here, in this most masterful sermon, we see Jesus as that kind of teacher revealing God given truth and refuting error that has been taught. As we begin to study this scripture, let us pray for God to speak to us and teach us through the words of Scripture.

First of all, observe the setting of this teaching. Jesus, as noted in verse 1 of this chapter, “saw the crowds”. As noted in chapter 4 of the book of Matthew and elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus drew large numbers of people. Some of them, of course, were just there for “the show”-He was healing and performing miracles and they were interested to see what was happening and what would happen next. We know that there were also people there who were drawn by God and allowed to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. Matthew does not record the particular instance of this crowd but, for whatever reason, Jesus and His disciples found themselves among a throng of people. Now, imagine, if you will, wanting to teach a small group of people in the midst of a larger group of people. I was a band director for a few years. One of the most challenging things as a band director was fixing a problem with a section, say the trombones, while the rest of the band sat and waited for me to call the whole band to play again. Of course, the little flute players up front would sit quietly as I worked. The further back in the band you went, however, the noisier it would get. Eventually, I had to do something to get the room quite again so I could work. I can imagine that on some level, as Jesus prepared to teach, the large crowd would’ve proved to be a distraction for the students. However, the Master Teacher knew that and provided a better environment for instruction.

Before He began to instruct His disciples, we should notice that He spent some time in solitude. Verse 1 records that “He went up on the mountain”. In a parallel passage in Luke, it is recorded that He went to pray during the night. As He did before He was tempted by Satan in chapter 4 of Matthew, He again seeks time alone to prepare and commune with the Father. Those of us who preach and teach God’s word should take note of this. Our Lord and Savior was the living Word of God. Even with all of His divine power, He still took time to pray and prepare Himself before He would begin to preach this epic sermon. We, too, should earnestly seek God’s face and spend time in prayer as part of our preparation.

When the appropriate time came to teach, Matthew records that “He sat down”. This was typically the position Rabbis took when they prepared to teach. By assuming this posture, Jesus was taking a position of authority. As Jesus noted in Matthew 23:2, the teachers of the day “have seated themselves in the chair of Moses”. Jesus, since He was not given authority by any man but had authority since He was God in human flesh, had more right than any of these so called “teachers” to seat Himself in the position of authority and speak the word of God.

We should observe that not everyone came to hear him teach. The crowds that followed Him were large and it is probably that some came only to see something miraculous or supernatural. The majority of them, therefore, had no interest in spiritual truth. His teaching did not tickle their ears. However, when He was seated and prepared to teach, “His disciples came to Him”. The parallel passage in Luke suggests that he had selected His 12 apostles and certainly they also were among those who came and sat themselves down to hear Him teach. I suspect that the number was larger than just 12. As John records in the 6th chapter of his gospel, many people who had followed Jesus turned back after He preached the “bread of life” sermon because what He taught was a “difficult statement”. Not everyone who came to hear Him teach here on the mountain was there because they truly had saving faith. While they were all numbered among His disciples, they were note all truly His disciples.

Regardless of that fact, “He opened His mouth and began to teach them”. After He was seated in a position of authority and His students were seated around Him, He “began to teach” (Greek-didasko). This was regular, systematic instruction in the truth. These people had the privilege to have the word of God explained by the Word of God. Over the years, men had corrupted the scriptures with their own ideas and twisted the truth to serve their own selfish ends. Here, in this marvelous sermon, the Lord would explain to His disciples what true righteousness was and just how impossible it was for a person to obtain it..

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Blog Link-Doctrine of Election

A friend of mine has posted some excellent thoughts on the doctrine of election on his blog. I've always found his blog to be edifying and highly recommend going over there and checking it out.

Hammer and Nail: I Wouldn't Have Chosen God#links

Psalm 23:5 Son, that ain’t no dinette set.

Probably the most difficult thing about this Psalm is our familiarity with it. We have heard it read and preached so often that we only half listen when someone is teaching it. We’ve had it memorized since we were little kids and can probably quote it backwards if we ever needed to. This verse, in particular, probably is the one most misunderstood verse of the entire psalm.

Here is what I used to picture when I read this verse-It’s a sunny day. The sky is blue with little puffy white clouds. I’m standing in a clear, grassy spot in the middle of a forest. In front of me is a long table with all sorts of food (fried chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens, biscuits, etc). There is only one chair. The Son of God stands by that chair what an arm outstretched as if to say “Sit down and eat”. As I approach the chair, I see red, beady eyes peering from the forest all around and hear soft growls. My enemies see me about to eat this huge banquet and are jealous because they can only look on and watch. I sit and prepare to chow down. Did I mention there was a big ol’ jug of sweet tea on the table too?

That, my friends, has absolutely nothing to do with what this verse says.

The shepherd has taken the sheep out from the farm and through “the valley of the shadow of death”. They have now ascended into the mountain. The top of the mountain is called the table. If you remember the old hymn “Higher Ground”, there is a phrase in the chorus that says “Lord, lift me up and let me stand/By faith on heaven’s table land”. I believe this kind of table is what David had in mind when he wrote this psalm because it fits into the kind of work a shepherd would do. In order to “prepare a table” for his sheep, a shepherd would have to go before them and make the table land safe for his flock. He would have to pull up the plants that would be poisonous to his sheep (because that would be the first thing they would want to eat). He would have to make sure there was safe, drinkable water. And sense the flock was in the wild, his sheep would be in the “presence of [their] enemies”. Therefore, the shepherd would have to make sure that he killed off or ran off as many of those dangerous critters as he could. The safety of his flock depended on it.

In like manner, our shepherd has gone before me to “prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. God providentially guides and directs my steps to keep me within His will. While He certainly never causes me to sin nor is it His will for me to sin, He is able to accomplish His purposes in my life in spite of it. We can go confidently forward to carry out His will knowing that our God not only will go with us but has already prepared the way before us. When you go to witness to someone, you can be encouraged by the fact that God has gone ahead of you to prepare the way as you seek to share the gospel.

Further, we should not be afraid of our enemies. As we read in Luke 12, we should not fear those who can only kill our bodies. They really have no power over us if that’s all they can do. We are coming to a time in this country I believe where the enemies of the gospel are going to try in some way to persecute us who stand for Christ. However, we know that ultimately, they have no more power over us than that which God has granted them. They can’t hurt us in any eternal sense. As hard as it is to live a life pleasing to God and share biblical truth with people that is exactly what God, our Shepherd, has led us here to do. Since He has prepared the way and He will protect us from our enemies let us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, serve Him as He has called us.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.