RIGHTEOUSNESS OR RIGHTNESS …Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Galatians 2:16

 

Definitions are the single criteria for understanding a language.  This can also be said to be so of any communication.  It seems as if I remember someone of note saying that if they were allowed to define their terms they could win any debate.

But under any flag, definitions are critical.  This gives rise to dictionaries, glossaries, and translations.  Writers are expected, if writing in a commonly known field to use the commonly agreed definitions of that field.  When a writer changes those definitions he is expected to define his changes.  But the changes really should be limited.  For a writer to redefine the technical terminology of the field of interest is both confusing and disturbing to readers.

The text above has some common technical terms.  They are “justified”, “works”, “law”, “faith”, “believed” and “flesh”.  There might over time have been minor differences but there has been general agreement.

But there has come to popular understanding new definitions and of course these new definitions have given a different understanding.

Tom Wright, in Paul for Everyone, Galatians and Thessalonians, 2002, provides a good illustration of the change.

On page 26 of the book named above, Wright “Who then are we?  We are the Messiah’s people, with His life now at work in us.  And, since the central thing about Him is His loving faithfulness, the central thing about us, the only thing in fact that defines us, is our own loving faithfulness, the glad response of faith….This is the very heart of Christian identity”. 

The subtle change, which may not be so subtle, is that he changed “justified” from a righteousness that is imputed (the acceptable definition among Protestants) to active work because of an imparted energy or desire to please God.

The standard orthodox view is represented by John Eadie, “works are not the source out of which justification springs; or with a slight change of relation, works are not the cause of justification….The phrase “except” has its usual meaning…and refers only to “not justified,” a man is not justified by the works of the law, or a man is not justified except by faith (believing) in Jesus Christ”, Greek Text commentaries, Galatians, John Eadie, pgs 164-165.

This is Paul’s raging dispute with the  Pharisees.  It is always the battle for a true Gospel.  For the Gospel is a statement of the sufficiency of Jesus.  This must be our witness.  For this we must be jealous.

Please read Romans 1:14-16.

CHRIST IN PROPHECY …Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Matthew 2:5-6

⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

⁶ ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For out of you shall come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

Certain prophecies found among Old Testament writers, though they are plain, are not as striking as others.  The two that I find the most overwhelming are the one quoted above and the Melchizedek prophecy in Psalm 110:4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”  Neither of these are what you think of when you consider their mention or importance given to them at their writing.

It is at least somewhat incidental that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of a descendant of David.  In a tribal society the home place of an important ruler might even have been expected to be at some time the birth place of one of his descendants.

What makes this prophecy so interesting and arresting is the providential background by which it was fulfilled.

The arrangement of events; a government tax, a pregnancy coming to term, the relation of Joseph to David, and the Magi’s search are convincing just because of the complication involved.  Relieve this narrative of any of those named circumstances and the event would not have happened or if it did happen, would not have made the news of that day.

So in the same way a great event in 2100 BC is duly reported.  But for a century or more, it is never mentioned.  Then in a somewhat casual way, it is a prophetic certainty in a Psalm of David.  But this again is not mentioned or explained for another thousand years.  When of a sudden it is explained as a centerpiece of Jesus ministry.  He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek.  There is nothing that can account for this but Divine Inspiration.  I do not believe men’s minds work like this.

The Scriptures state that Mary was a virgin mother.  For we who are Christians that is a cardinal truth.  But we cannot prove it.  The holiness from birth of Jesus is cardinal truth.  But it is not demonstrated other than by the resurrection.  He was born our King.  But it is a prophecy which is necessary and provable.  Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem and Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  God, by this predestination so coordinated the events of history that all the world became a witness to the birth of our Savior King.

The Magi are denied.  Herod’s horrible decree is denied.  The star is denied.  Denial is the only solution to this otherwise overwhelming certainty of the birth of Jesus.

The great Bishop Butler wrote of undersigned coincidences.  He was describing events that were in the Scriptures which had no other explanation than that they were true.  In the confluence of events which make this account so true take any one of the contributing facts out and it no longer is possible.  From Divine perspective it is by Sovereign design and the Christian can both see this and believe it.

I reckon we need here the poet.

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.

Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.

Refrain:
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

                                                                                                              John H. Hopkins, Jr. 1857

Please look at John 20:31.

HALLELUJAH!  WHAT A SAVIOR…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Luke 2:11

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The issue which Christians face is contained in the text for today.  Into history at a particular time in a particular place a Savior has been born.  God has entered time and space in human form.

This fact is offensive to man.  The issue is joined.  Either God has made man or man has made God.  And if God takes the initiative, invades space and time, comes as man’s Savior, then man must face two certain facts.  First he needs a savior.  He is an offender.  He cannot perfect himself in this life and face God who he has offended in the life to come.  Secondly God has revealed that as a Savior He takes the initiative.  Those who oppose God cannot define the terms of their acceptance.

Man’s thoughts of God are frustrated by this invasion.  The Psalmist in 50:21B writes of God’s estimation of the sinner, “You thought I was altogether such a one as you are.”  In this historical timely birth God demonstrates the great difference.  His Being is supernatural, Luke 1:35    He will from conception be “the Holy One.” 

The temptations which are common do not overwhelm Him.  The sin which is ours does not touch Him.  “He is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” 

Man’s need is Jesus’ mission, “For there is born to you this day a Savior”.  Again look at Paul’s statement, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinner.”  How frustrating this is to a self-sufficient person to be faced with God’s absolute, “You need a Savior.”

What is the response to this?  “I’m good.”  There might be any number of reasons for this reply that doesn’t matter.  It is the lie which the world has claimed from Adam to this day and which will continue, “I’m good.”

These are the two choices man faces, his goodness, or God’s Savior.  There are no other choices.  When the balances of judgment are struck before God on one side of the scale will be Jesus; on the other side the sinner stands.  Daniel told the trembling king, “You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.”  But unto us a Savior was born.  We place Him in our stead on the scales of divine justice and have no fear that He will be found wanting.

Please read Acts 17:30-31.

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Jesus! I do now receive Him,          More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

Hallelujah! what a Savior!

Hallelujah! what a Friend!

Saving, helping, keeping, loving,

He is with me to the end.

J. Wil­bur Chap­man, 1910.

THE JESUS I KNOW…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Matthew 1:21 

 She will bear a son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

I Timothy 1:15

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 

There is in the last verse of John’s Gospel a most interesting comment on the ministry of Jesus.  John 21:25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did.  Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.  And many of those things done by Christ are made the reason for his coming.  He came to be King of the Jews; He came to provide healing for His people; He came that we might have an abundant life; He came to bring peace to the world; He came to be for us a model of all God would have us to be.

While the issues named may be debated by some, the simple Christian such as I rejoices to hear the revelation from Joseph’s dream and positive testimony of Paul, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”  If that is not enough, Paul sets the standard of this saving benefit by the additional claim to primacy, “Of whom I am Chief.”

I will add this to Paul’s statement, “this is the Jesus I know”.  He saves His people.  Matthew writes with the same clarity as Paul, “He will save His people from their sins.”  When the convinced sinner sees these words, “from their sins” the whole of God’s purpose in a Savior from the virgin birth to the present reign in heaven is explained.  The burden is gone.  The light of heaven shines through the darkest cloud.  There is a way to have peace with God.

It is true that salvation is not given as a fire escape.  But as one who has looked over the edge into the great abyss, salvation that delivers from God’s eternal wrath as a result of my sins is most welcome.  And anyone who underestimates the fear of God’s eternal perdition has failed to appreciate the extent of the merit that is the wages of sin.

Jesus the heaven born son of Man, the light of heaven and earth is the Savior of a poor lost sinner such as I.  This is the Jesus I know.

Please read Romans 5:6-11.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

                             Charles Wesley, 1738

HAIL MARY!…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Luke 1:26-30

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 

²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 

²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 

²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 

³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

Any who begins to write about Mary the mother of Jesus must do so with caution and sensitivity.  There is an excess to the extreme on both sides of the honor due her.  For some she cannot be over-exalted or accorded too great a place in the salvation of a sinner.  Others do not think there is any special honor due her.  Enough is said when she receives recognition as the virgin-mother of the Savior.

An excess of honor given her should never detract from the true honor due her.  There are many in the Roman Catholic Church who want her to be declared the fourth member of the Godhead.  A former Pope was petitioned by a large majority of dignitaries, priests, and nuns to declare her as deity and it was stated at that time he gave serious consideration to this.  These are the same ones who worship her as redemptress, intercessor, and the first source of forgiveness of sins.

Protestants rarely take part in these excesses.  But it is the error of many to fail in giving her the credit and dignity of the Scriptures.  Alexander Whyte in his most worthwhile, (among a treasure of worthwhile biographies) description of her allows a glimpse of her as she is in the Scriptures, “For my part I do not know the gift or the grace or the virtue any woman ever had that I could safely deny to Mary.  The divine congruity compels me to believe that all that could be received or attained or exercised by any woman would be granted beforehand, and all but without measure, to her who was so miraculously to bear, and so intimately and influentially to nurture and instruct, the Holy Child.  We must give Mary her promised due.  We must not allow ourselves to entertain a grudge against the mother of our Lord because some enthusiasts for her have given her more than her due.  There is no fear of our thinking too much either of Mary’s maidenly virtues, or of her motherly duties and experiences.” Bible Characters, Joseph and Mary to James the Lord’s Brother, page 7.

There is another quote from Whyte that demands reading,  And again, if we are to apply this sure principle to Mary’s case, “according to your faith so be it unto you,” then Mary must surely wear the crown as the mother of all them who believe on her Son.  If Abraham’s faith has made him the father of all them who believe, surely Mary’s faith entitles her to be called their mother.  If the converse of our Lord’s words hold true, that no mighty work is done where there is unbelief:  if we may safely reason that where there has been a mighty work done there must have been a corresponding and a cooperating faith; then I do not think we can easily overestimate the measure of Mary’s faith.  If this was the greatest work ever wrought by the power and the grace of Almighty God among the children of men, and if Mary’s faith entered into it at all, then how great her faith must have been!  Elizabeth saw with wonder and with worship how great it was.  She saw the unparalleled grace that had come to Mary, and she had humility and magnanimity enough to acknowledge it.  “Blessed art thou among women:  Blessed is she that believeth, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.”  Ibid pages 8-9.

Any fair appraisal of this 15 year old maiden in a family, a country, and under a religious system that offered no mercy to a woman pregnant out of wedlock must see in her a greatness that is without peer.  I have heroes such as David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Josiah, but none can sit in anywhere but at Mary’s feet.

The Bible never intends her to be anything other than a sinner who had God’s grace.  She is the mother of other children.  We are told Jesus had brothers and sisters.  Mary sinned in coming with her family to take Jesus away from his work.  But how can we do anything but look with amazement at the Angel’s words, “ Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”  “You are endued with grace, that is, the Lord is with you.”

What should our response be?  With God’s New Testament Church we both should and can bow before God and thank Him for such a hero of our faith to be the mother of the Savior.  Never sinless, no Savior, no intercessor she, but a truly great saint in God’s church who takes her place with those worthies that have so greatly contributed to the being and growth of God’s Kingdom.

Please read Luke 1:46-49 and consider this as an encouragement to your faith.

JESUS IS SOVEREIGN…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Matthew 11:25-27

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 

²⁶ Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 

²⁷ All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

The failure of the unenlightened person to know God is throughout the Scripture.  Any knowledge of God is an act of grace toward the otherwise ignorant and unconcerned person.

Christ in this prayer in VS 25, by a striking statement, introduces a great truth about knowing God.  God not only must reveal Himself but He by intention “hides things” from all those except the ones to whom He reveals the necessary truths, “babes”.

What is included is strange unless God’s absolute sovereignty in salvation is accepted.  Jesus praises the Father, Lord of heaven and earth for His activity in hiding and revealing.

This activity is by Jesus given a single cause, “VS 26”.  This explanation, “well pleasing,” is without a single exception used to designate God’s absolute uncaused will, cf Ephesians 1:5.

Let our attention proceed to VS 27, where there are two matters of concern for this study. 

1.  “All things…”.  This is the same truth that is found in Matthew 28:18.     This is nothing less than Jesus’ sovereignty over all things in heaven and earth which is found in many statements such as Col. 2:9-11.
2. The will of the Son is absolute in the knowledge of God.  VS 27D and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him..

This is the intent of John 1:4-5, 9 with 1:18.  As surely as Jesus is holy, impeccably sinless, as surely as He is to have the preeminence in all things, He is sovereign.  The angel who came to Mary bore this message to her, and it is here for all to know who this lowly child truly is, Luke 1:30-33 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

Please read Luke 1:46-55.  This deserves the careful consideration of all who read it.

JESUS IS HOLY…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Luke 1:35

³⁵  

The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter seven, paragraph 2 states “The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God…did when the fullness of time was come, take upon Him man’s nature, with all the essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin.”  These are for our discussion today the important words, “yet without sin”, a quote of Hebrews 4:15C.

Therefore I believe the Scriptures teach that Jesus is impeccable (not able to sin).  And I believe my confession teaches that Jesus is impeccable.  Please note I write this in the present tense.  I will explain this later.

I began to read the English Puritan writers in 1963.  Some of these, Thomas Goodwin is one, were involved in writing the Westminster Confession of Faith with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.  None of these who were involved in the Westminster responsibility nor any of their contemporaries who took that confession as their confession ever confessed anything other than the fact that Jesus is impeccable.

The statement for them from Hebrews 4:15C “without sin” could not be twisted to indicate “without sinning.”  That He committed no sin is so plain that none but heretics would dare say that Jesus sinned.  Do not be deceived.  This has never been the issue.  It is agreed among Christians that unless Christ was sinless He could not have been our Savior.  If He had sinned He could have paid only for His sins.

When in the Confession we read “without sin,” it, without contradiction among the writers and subscribers of that day, meant Jesus is impeccable.

But I also believe Jesus is impeccable because the Scriptures teach this truth.  Let me give you three illustrations:

1.        Isaiah 6:3  And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”

It is not too bold or extreme to say this statement of the trice holy God speaks of One Who has not, cannot, and will not sin.  If anything less is said or thought it is blasphemy.  Hear the first stanza of Reginald Heber’s great hymn Holy, Holy, Holy.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

            The church universal has, and those who have the sense to do it still do, sing this hymn without fear of transgressing Scripture or propriety.  But what do the Scriptures say?  John 12:41  

It is without fear of contradiction I can say this statement was made about Jesus.  The context leaves no doubt of whom John spoke.  The question is, is there something that happens between Him being high and lifted in Isaiah 6 and Him being high lifted up on Calvary.  I think not.

2.   John 14:30  I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;

George Hutchison, an English Puritan in his commentary on John, page 312, writes, “Christ being without sin, Satan hath no power over him in any of these respects.”  He then lists guilt and corruption as that which Satan could not find in Christ.  By doing this he vindicates the human nature of Christ.  Sin of any kind has no attraction for Him.  This was proven at His temptation.  Satan there at His temptation found himself with a failed errand.

3.  Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.;

1:12  And like a mantle You will roll them up;
Like a garment they will also be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end.”

Again we are faced with a statement of uncompromising theological fact.  There is in Jesus an eternal unchanging nature.  Whatever is said about Him must be true yesterday, today, and forever.  It is a Christian confessional truth that Jesus is without change.

Those who say Jesus could have sinned when He was on the earth must be able to say He can sin today or anytime into the eternal forevers.  If Jesus was peccable in 20 AD or anytime in His life then by any rule of Scripture understanding He is the same today and forever.

What do you say?  “He could have sinned” you say?  Then I replay, “We have no Savior”.  He may fall at any time today or in the future.  Our desperation knows no bounds.  All assurance is destroyed.  Woe! Is me.

But it is not so.  We have a Savior, “Holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Please read I Peter 2:6.

WHO IS NUMBER ONE?……Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Colossians 1:18

¹⁸  He is also head of the body, the church; and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

This time in the year when Christ’s birth is celebrated is dear to believers.  The first advent of Christ has taken the hearts and talents of so many that we have a wealth of art, poetry, and hymns.

Dora Greenwell’s hymn I Am not skilled To Understand has a stanza summing up the mystery of His coming.  This 3^rd stanza, “that he should leave his place on high and come for sinful man to die, you count it strange?  So once did I, before I knew my Savior!”  The whole of this hymn is so excellent and moving that it is one of my favorites.  Find it in your hymnal and read it.  If your hymnal does not have it you need one that does.

There are two truths of Christ’s coming that are especially important.

1.  The love of the Father who sent Him.  His designation as “the Apostle of our confession” in Hebrews 3:1 states the truth of God’s sending Him.  Apostle is by definition a sent one.  He is of all the Apostles, the Apostle above any other.  He is the model and the authority from which the Apostles are given to the church.

Jesus places His ministry and the authority which identifies Him directly on the sending of the Father.  Note this in John 5:30, 36, 37.  Then in John 5:42-43 Jesus again places His Apostleship as the criteria for judgment.  In John 3:16 the cause of God’s sending and the result of it is stated.  Out of His love, He gave.

Smeaton, in The Doctrine of Atonement as Taught By Christ Himself states, and correctly so, “it has the sacrificial sense of being given up to death,” Pg. 44.  His Apostleship is completed in His sacrificial death.  The birth separated from His mission is fable.  He came into the world to save sinners.

2.  The second important truth of His coming is the humility that is the essence of His life and death.  It is a complete failure to attach the humility of Christ to His death alone.

In Philippians 2:8, Paul states, “He humbled Himself and became obedient.”  This humility began in His birth process and extended throughout His life.  A life in which, “He took upon Himself the form of a bondservant.”  There was nothing lower than this in Israel.  The Lord of Glory was a bondservant.

Paul sees this humility bringing Him into death.  The author of life dies, amazing humility.  But Paul stops here as in wonder and writes, “even the death of the cross”.  “You count this strange?  So once did I”.

Paul’s conclusion is both self-evident ad necessary, “that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

Please read Colossians 1:15-18.

UTOPIA……Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Isaiah 11:6-9

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
⁷ Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

St. Thomas More (1478-1535) was a patriot, lawyer, and scholar.  He was at one time Lord Chancellor of England.  He was a devout Roman Catholic and was executed in 1535 at the order of King Henry VIII.  He is noted as the author of one book, Utopia.

More is an example of the fascination this subject Utopia has for many.  Plato wrote, The Republic and many others have written on this interest.  But it is more than an interest, it is a consuming fascination for men in general.

Much of millennialism is taken up with a Utopian sentiment.  Following the extremes of a crude and literalistic Rabbinic Judaism, Christian writers have made claims for millennial health, wealth, and happiness that seem to go far beyond anything the Scripture will support.

The verses in Isaiah 11 are quoted as support by some of the literalists for their ownership of millennial glory.  This is not hard to see.  These verses are a statement of a peaceful and prosperous earth than lends itself to Utopian expectations. 

The issue fairly stated is whether the description is to be understood literally or is a description of the great change Messiah will accomplish at His advent?  Is there anything in this context that would alert the reader of how it is to be understood?

There seems to me to be two keys to this passage.  First is the statement in Isaiah 11:1-2.  This prophecy of the Lord’s advent is put in what is contemporaneous with VSS 6-9.  The sense is that the advent in 11:1 is causative to all involved in the VSS 6-9.

Secondly VS 9B, “For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.”, have the best fulfillment in the New Covenant guarantee that all God’s children will have the knowledge of that as described in Hebrews 8:10-11.  “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.  And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
¹¹ “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them.”

This fulfillment lies in the expanding knowledge and commitment to the Gospel.  The earth’s fullness of this knowledge is no guarantee of universal enlightenment without exception but assures us that Acts 1:8 is continually being accomplished.  ”   

Please read Rev. 14:6 and give it your attention.

“I WAS A WANDERING SHEEP”…Bill Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Psalm 119:176 NASB

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.

Isaiah 53:6

All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

Luke 15:5-6

When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 

⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

For me the greatest single verse in the Scriptures before John 17:3; Romans 5:8, 8:28; II Cor. 5:21 or even Phil. 2:3, is Psalm 119:176

In Psalm 1 the likeness is a tree given every advantage.  In this Psalm 119:176 the likeness is a lost sheep.  This sheep faces danger from predators, thieves, and the elements.  His danger is extreme but as great as it is, it is exceeded by his guilt.  He has “gone astray.”

The shepherd’s affection, labor, and unceasing watchfulness were all bent to prevent a sheep from straying.  There is no excuse.  There is only guilt, “all we like sheep have gone astray”.

Isaiah resolves this extreme difficulty.  The shepherd assumes the guilt and bears it away. “He has laid on him the iniquity” or the guilt with the necessary punishment that is its results.

There remains only the safe return for the wandering sheep.  The Savior in Luke 15:6 fixes this.  “He lays it on his shoulder”, now safety is as guaranteed as rescue is present.  The rescue does not bring bitter recrimination.  The shepherd rejoices and invites his friends to rejoice with him, “rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep.”

The writer does not try to vindicate himself.  He does not repeat his love for the law.  It would be out of place.  He cannot claim he has kept the law, it is evident that he hasn’t.  The best he can do is the truth that endures in the soul of the believer, “I do not forget your commandment.”

Please give some time and thought to Luke 15:1-7.

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”

“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”

A SONG…Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Psalm 119:54-56 NASB

Your statutes are my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
⁵⁵ O Lord, I remember Your name in the night,
And keep Your law.
⁵⁶ This has become mine,
That I observe Your precepts.

Christian assurance is both Biblical and for many of us confessional.  A Puritan wrote a book about this entitled Heaven On Earth, a fit description of this blessing.

Assurance, for me, comes only with a confident faith in Christ Jesus as a fit, willing, loving Savior.  Nothing other than Jesus enters as a cause or reason for assurance.  Good works are not the cause of assurance but bad works can cause the loss of it.

The Psalmist in these verses is clear in his direction for a life of assurance and the blessing it brings with it.  In VS 54, he states that the law of God brings joy.  “Your statutes are my songs”.  Further they are the cause of his praise in all places of his travel.  The sojourner was the visitor or traveler.

When the Psalmist mentions his songs surely we can understand no less than assurance and joy in daily service for God.  It is God who Elihu in Job 35:10 can say, “gives songs in the night.” 

The emotion there is involved with “statutes” or the law of God.  The one who is ignorant of or ignores God’s law cannot expect either joy or confidence in God’s presence.

Obedience is the Psalmist’s commitment.  The knowledge of God and his presence with the writer in the quietness of the night is his subject of study.  The “name of God” is the complete revelation of all his glory.  This name is inseparable from obedience.  It should not be strange to the believer that the Law of God and the name of God are bound together in this way.  His name is His presence with us and wherever His presence is, is Holy Ground.

Obedience to God’s word is the theme of the whole Psalm and in VS 56 this obedience is attributed to grace.  To keep the law is a blessing.  The Psalmist “kept the precepts,” because God’s “blessing” was extended to him.

Obedience is never a given for the believer.  It is a battle, a war, a race, and requires strength.  But it is that for which the saved ones are created to do.  (Eph. 2:10) Paul never fails to remind the believer of this.  In Phil. 2:12-13 our work and God’s provision are equally commended.

Please read Titus 2:11-12.