03/25/2019

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?

Romans 7:11

¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

“Sin….deceived me.”

Intellectually man has a twofold liability.  He is finite and he is fallen.  In any contest with sin he is sure to lose.  From Jeremiah and from Paul we have the same information.  We, both believers and unbelievers, are liable to be, and will be, deceived by sin.

Sin’s greatest deceit consistent with the Prophet’s complaint is when we think of ourselves in some grand and worthy way.  We deceive ourselves when we excuse ourselves.  There is never an excuse for sin.  God is holy and He hates evil.

We deceive ourselves when we think that some application of God’s Law does not apply.  The Law is holy, just, and good.  And it is the eternal standard of righteousness.  Sin is man’s failure to live God’s Law.  Romans 3:23 gives the result of sin as failing to live up to God’s glory.  This glory might be more but it surely is nothing less that His perfect righteousness.

And sin has deceived us when we think we can love God whom we can’t see without loving our neighbor whom we can see.

03/24/2019

I Cor. 13:1

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

 My concern today is the whole of this chapter. In literature it is probably as classical production the most important production. It is an ethical masterpiece and a spiritual marvel. The simplicity and the beauty is personally beyond explanation to me.

Love as it is understood in the Bible is the fulfillment of the Law. It is least of all things emotion. It is knowledge and commitment. And for it to be real and worthwhile it must begin with God. The definition for love, and it is definable, is the commitment to do good in every way possible for the object of the affections. This is both God's love and ours. Bear in mind the brother in

I John is not loved unless his needs are met. In Malachi Israel is loved because she has God's provisions and protection. Esau’s denial of long term survival is the evidence of God's hatred.

When the writer tells us, "Now abides faith, hope, love but the greatest of these is love," he is not comparing these in quality or quantity.  But all things fail with one exception.  Faith becomes sight.  Hope becomes reality.  Love never fails or ceases. 

Remember!  If you love now, you’ll love then.

03/23/2019

Mark 4:2-3

² And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

These parables found also in Matthew and Luke cannot be overemphasized in their importance.

Mark, in 4:13, makes the understanding of the sower and the seed the test for understanding of all parables.  That being so, what are we to learn from this parable?

What do we know?  We know first that the sower is the same in every instance.  Secondly the seed is the same also.  The only difference is the ground and the reception the seed gets.

In three instances the reception is so undesirable that there is no fruit at harvest time.  There is unconcern and disinterest, there is enthusiasm but no commitment.  There is interest but no perseverance, and yet in the one instance of fruitfulness there is attention, commitment, and perseverance with the satisfying results.

The lesson of this parable is an overruling principle of the Kingdom.  “Fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God is determined by your attitude toward the Word of God”.  cf Mark 4:20.

²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

03/22/2019

Habakkuk 3: 17-19

¹⁷ Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me tread on my high places.

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

I was a very new Christian when I first read this text. I thought then as I now think fifty years later that is beautiful poetry and one of the most noble sentiments I have ever encountered.

What a commitment this is. It is to say no matter what my external circumstances are I have joy in a source that is unchanging. He is not describing extras. These are necessities. Naked, hungry and in the cold my joy is secure. This is what I want but does my faith give me that confidence? No! The sufficiency of grace is the hope that is sustaining.

Philippians. 3:1-2. Any thought of joy should bring us quickly to Philippians as this is Paul's letter of joy. The joy of this statement is followed by an admonition to watchfulness. The need for careful observation and caution with the new boys on the street is always a wise concern.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

² Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

Our joy is to be constant and it is to be our strength, but it is a joy on the battlefield. And as long as you are on the battlefield you keep your sentries in place.

03/21/2019

Matthew 3:1-6

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’”

⁴ Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John the Baptist is a prominent and from Biblical fact an important person. But if you look at the gospel story the whole account of John could be left out and nothing would be missed. It becomes important when it is put in the context of the prophetic presentation of the Christ. John does three things.

1. He fulfills prophecy. These put Jesus in both history and prophecy in the time in which he lived. This is the work of an inspired book. John is not only necessary but important in this inspired account.

2. It places Jesus in a particular historic moment. As a real person He was a cousin of John but not a friend or perhaps as it appears He had never met him. It was a time of great freedom of travel, worship, and industry. At the same time the ruler could have someone executed at a whim.

3. John and his family were testimonies to the faithful who remained in Israel. When God said to the prophet He would have His seven thousand, He still had them. John's contribution which included his life was significant only to this account until eternity.

03/19/2019

I returned from Florida Saturday and promptly fell ill with an old fashioned chest cold.  I got to an M.D. yesterday and today I’m mending quickly. In general promises are either conditional or unconditional promises.  The best he can do is say “if I live”.  He has no guarantee of life and he cannot give his promise.

God makes both conditional and unconditional promises.  Any promise of God that has an “if” in it is a conditional promise.  In the final chapters of Deuteronomy you will find conditional promises to Israel with the blessings that attend the promises if they meet the conditions.  But you can also find the curses they can expect if they fail to meet the conditions.

John 3:36 is an unconditional statement.  You can take this to the bank.

  ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

There is the fact that the believer has eternal or unending life.  This is not a conditional potential.  It is a present fact.  The unbeliever spends 24/7 with the determination of judgment before an Almighty Holy God and eternal destruction to follow.

03/14/2019

I'll be on vacation from my retirement until next Monday. I enjoy retirement so much an occasional vacation is demanded.

There is an earth destroying fact that is being ignored in the light of publicity that is being given to climate change. I do have a very simple question for the climate change fear mongers

But warming is not our problem. This old earth is going down under an ocean of garbage long before boil or bake. If you consider the ten largest cities on the earth and the garbage plus waste they produce each day, then add to that the ignorance and unconcern to even find or use an effective method of disposal and it is seriously frightening.

I once did the maintenance on a waste disposal unit for a 5000 population community. It was a 16" inch pipe running maximum capacity 24 hours a day. This does not include trash. Mexico City has 23,000,000 population and no concern. That’s scary!