In Jesus's Name

 John 14:8-17

Sometimes the president of a company or large corporation will give authorization to a lower staff member to make decisions or make agreements with other companies.  This other staff member will go out in the name of the head of the company, perhaps using his personal letterhead or stamp, and make these decisions.  Of course, this staff member is to only make decisions that he knows his boss would approve of; ones that the boss could give his name to, his seal of approval.  If instead he makes selfish or improper decisions in the name of the boss, that privilege might be revoked.  In our verses today from the Gospel of John, we read about a privilege that has been granted to believers.  Let’s look at this and what other things the Lord Jesus tells us in this Scripture passage.

As our passage opens, the apostle Philip asked Jesus to be able to see God the Father.  Jesus responded by telling the disciples that whoever has seen Him has seen the Father (vs. 8-11).  This proves the falsehood of heretical beliefs which teach that Jesus was a created being, was not divine, or not divine until after the resurrection.  Jesus is God in the flesh.  He is the visible, tangible image of the invisible God.  There are no attributes of deity that Jesus does not possess.  Everything that is true of the Father is true of the Son.  The only way to see the Father, to know Him, is through Jesus.  The words that Jesus spoke are actually ones coming from God the Father.  The honest search for God and truth will end in Jesus Christ.  To know Jesus is to know God.

Jesus continues by stating that His followers will be able to do the works that He did, and greater works than Him (vs. 12).  This is greater works in number, not in magnitude - bringing the Gospel to the world.  Jesus’s ministry was mainly limited to Israel.  The disciples and those following were to go to the ends of the earth, and have brought countless numbers of people to the saving knowledge of Jesus.  The only way the disciples would be able to do this was through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He could not be sent until Jesus returned to heaven.

Then Jesus stated a very wonderful promise, that if we ask anything in His Name, He will do it (vs. 13-14).  There are some things that we need to understand about these verses.  Jesus has instructed us to come to the Father through Him, and to ask for what we need.  Those who have a saving relationship with Jesus have the right to use His Name in prayer.  For God to hear and answer our prayers we must first be saved.  After salvation, we must walk in righteousness before Him.  If we knowingly continue in sin, and do not repent, God will not listen (Psalm 66:18).

“In Jesus’s Name” is not a magic charm or formula.  Our prayers must be consistent with Jesus’s character and will.  God is able, and will do whatever is in His will.  We need to submit our desires to His will.  We must obey Him and His will, not our own.  We must come to Him with clean hearts and hands, solely on the merits of His Son, Jesus.  God will not say yes to what will hurt us or derail His purpose.  Are we seeking to glorify God, or are our motives selfish, greedy or impure?

Praying “in Jesus’s Name” means we are acting as His agent, and is not something we should just randomly tack on to the end of any prayer of ours.  We are to be acting as the agent of Jesus’s will, and when we are, He promises us unlimited resources to do His will.  God will not grant requests that are contrary to His nature or His will.  However, when we recognize Jesus’s authority as the Son of God we can pray in His Name and have access to God.  Asking in Jesus’s Name means we want to do God’s will and to glorify Him.

Jesus then promised to send the Holy Spirit to all believers (vs. 16-17).  God has not deserted us.  We have His continual aid through the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers.   The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, called alongside for aid in times of trouble.  The Holy Spirit is the source of truth, and communicates this truth to believers.  Apart from Him, no one can know God’s truth.

Let’s take comfort and strength with these promises that Jesus has given us, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the authority to come in prayer to God in the mighty and powerful Name of Jesus.

Spiritual Gifts

 I Corinthians 12:4-13

Did you ever go camping with a scouting or youth group when you were younger?  Before leaving the leader might send a few out earlier to locate a good spot to set up camp.  When they arrive, they might assign some different tasks to various ones in the group.  Some might be given the task of preparing a meal.  Others are assigned to set up the tents, others to gather firewood, others to plan some activities for the evening or the next day, etc.  A good troop leader will assign the tasks based on the skills of each one.  Physically stronger ones would be best in carrying wood or large rocks for a campfire.  Best not to choose someone who can’t even boil water to make the meal!  And someone good at reading a compass and a map, and good at marking trails would be best to send to scout out the area.  The same holds true with setting up a softball team.  A good coach will assign the positions based on skill.  When picking out gifts for various people, we also take into consideration what each person is like.  Someone who has little interest in sports would not really want season tickets for the city’s football team.  In this way, the Holy Spirit is like that good scout leader or good coach.  He knows just which gifts to give to each believer, as we shall see in our Scripture passage for today.

As our Scripture opens, Paul is telling the church in Corinth that spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit, and that He alone is the one who decides which spiritual gifts each believer receives (vs. 4 - 7).  When the Lord Jesus returned to heaven on Ascension Day, He had promised to send the Holy Spirit to His followers, which occurred on the Day of Pentecost.  Jesus had instructed His followers to spread His message throughout the world.  In order to effectively do that we would need the power of the Holy Spirit, we would need the special spiritual gifts He would bestow.  Without the Holy Spirit and His gifts, the church would not survive, both from attacks on the outside and from within.

Some of these gifts are listed here, and some more are listed further down in the chapter.  These spiritual gifts are not natural talents that both the saved and unsaved have.  These are bestowed by the Holy Spirit.  Every believer has at least one gift that he is to use to help edify the church, and to glorify God.  He will also give us unique ministry areas in which to use the gifts He has given us.

One of the gifts of the Spirit is the gift of wisdom (vs. 8).  This is the ability to understand God’s Word and His will, and to skillfully apply that to life.  Another gift that the Holy Spirit gives to some is the word of knowledge (vs. 8).  This is the ability to understand and speak God’s truth with insight, grasping the meaning of that truth.

The gift of faith is another of the spiritual gifts that is given to some believers (vs. 9).  This is different from saving faith, the faith that all must have when they accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior.  This is a special spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit.  This gift of faith is shown in persistent and confident prayer and endurance, along with a strong trust in God in the midst of difficult circumstances.  People with this gift show unflappable faith and trust in God despite anything that happens.

Paul mentions the gifts of healings, of miracles, and of tongues (vs. 9-10).  These are sign gifts.  Some Christians today believe they were gifts only for the days during the events of the New Testament, during the days of the Book of Acts.  They believe that these gifts were only given then to authenticate the message of Jesus and the apostles.  Other Christians believe that these sign gifts continue on through today.

Another gift of the Spirit is that of the gift of prophecy (vs. 10).  The biblical definition of prophecy is simply speaking forth and proclaiming God’s message with power, not predicting the future.  Only a small portion of the Old Testament prophets' messages in the Bible were predictions of future events.  Most of their preaching was proclaiming God’s message to the people in power.  One who has this gift proclaimed God’s Word, the Bible, to others with His power.

The last gift of the Spirit that is discussed in this passage is that of discerning of spirits (vs. 10).  Satan and his demons try to counterfeit any work of God.  This gift recognizes lying spirits and identifies deceptive and erroneous teaching and heresies and will call it out as such.

The Holy Spirit decides which gifts each one of us should have.  We are responsible to use our gifts, but should take no credit for what God has given us.  Like a body, which is composed of many parts, but is one body, each part doing its job to make the whole body work, so is the Church, the Body of Christ (vs. 12-13). The church is composed of many types of people from all types of backgrounds, but all united through faith in Christ.  Let us be attuned to what spiritual gifts we have, and use them for His Glory.

Where Do We Place Our Trust?

 Psalm 33:12-22

Who we look to for help when we have a problem or are in trouble is important.  If someone came to me asking for help with car trouble, they would be out of luck, as I have absolutely no mechanical ability.  Calling upon the wrong person can actually be dangerous at times.  You don’t want someone who doesn’t know what they are doing to be fixing the electrical wiring in your house!  Someone may claim they can help you in your time of need, but end up being a poor choice.  This holds true in every area of one’s life.  As we look into our psalm for this week, the psalmist tells us where to look, and where not to look for help.

Our Scripture passage, the second half of Psalm 33, begins with the statement that those who have chosen Yahweh for their God are a blessed people (vs. 12).  Since this is true for the individual, it would be even more so for a nation.  Yet there really has never been any nation that has completely followed the Lord.  Even the nation of Israel throughout the Bible kept turning away from God and would worship the false pagan gods of the people around them.  There were brief times now and again when they repented and turned back to Him, but then quickly returned to their idolatry.  And today, though there are true Christians in nations all around the world, no country as a whole is committed to following Jesus and His Word.  Following Jesus, and Him alone, is the only true way to be blessed.

As we continue in our psalm, we are reminded that God is omniscient.  He knows all things.  There are no actions, people, or situations, whether past, present, or future, that is hidden from Him (vs. 13-15).  God isn’t watching us just for His amusement.  He is concerned with everything about us.  Jesus has told us that every hair on our head is numbered (Luke 12:6-7).  That shows a lot of concern for us.  If He cares about when a sparrow drops to the ground, then He certainly cares about us!  Everything on earth is under His control.  Because all is under God’s control, it would make sense that we turn to Him when we have any needs or problems.  We certainly don’t have all under our own control, nor does any other person, yet so often Jesus is the last One we turn to.

Our psalmist states that God has fashioned each of us individually, just as a potter does any vessel he makes (vs. 15).   He made our hearts and our minds.  God did not make some hearts to be evil and some to be righteous.  God did not fashion some deliberately in order to destroy them.  We were all made equally, and each of us has the power of choice.  We can choose God, accepting His Son Jesus as our Savior, or we can reject Him.

The psalmist next turns his attention to nations and their rulers, and to whom they turn to for help (vs. 16-17).  How many people and nations, whether in the past, or even today, put their trust in the size of their army to deliver them from danger?  We are told that the size of our army won’t help us.  As a child we might have looked to the strongest person in class and make friends with him in order to be protected from bullies.  However God tells us that the strongest of men cannot help us.  The horses mentioned here figured military strength.  They are not a help.  God rules over every nation.  We should not put our trust in any leader.  Military might should not be the grounds of our hope, nor any supposed political savvy or the many promises politicians make.  Our trust should only be in God.

When we put our trust in Yahweh, and not in some human power or might, we have the assurance that He will continually watch over us (vs. 18-19).  If you are a parent, or if you can remember back to when you were a young child, you might remember your parents keeping an eye on you.  Parents watch over their children, keep their eyes on them, to protect them from any harm.  God’s eye is on us, all those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus.  He will watch over all those who fear Him.  Jesus promises to give us the help we need, either against any enemies or in any problems.  We are never alone or abandoned in our struggles.

Happy Birthday To The Church!

 Acts 2:1-11

Birthday parties are supposed to be fun, whether it is for someone else, or especially if it is your own birthday party.  The birthday cake, ice cream, balloons!  Often fun or silly games are played.  It’s generally a very happy day for everyone, and especially for the birthday guest of honor.  Today is the Day of Pentecost, the day when the promised Holy Spirit came and descended upon the disciples which were gathered together in a room, awaiting just this event.  This event, the coming of the Holy Spirit, would mark the beginning of the Church, the Church’s birthday.  Since we can’t all gather together in my Chicago backyard for a birthday party, let’s celebrate by reading about the birth of the Church in our Scripture passage today.

As the Scripture passage opens, we see that the disciples were all gathered together (vs. 1).  Ten days prior, right before He ascended back up into heaven, Jesus had instructed the disciples to remain in Jerusalem and await the Holy Spirit, which He promised to send (Luke 24:49-52).  The disciples obeyed the instructions that Jesus gave.  They didn’t go and scatter all over the land, back to their former businesses.  They didn’t lose faith and hope as the days progressed to now over a week.  They didn’t give up and leave.  No, they were all “with one accord” and in “one place”, in prayerful expectation of the Holy Spirit.

As the disciples were together in prayer, the Holy Spirit came upon them, accompanied by the sound of a mighty, rushing wind, and the appearance of flaming tongues of fire upon each (vs. 2-3).  Before the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit only came upon certain people temporarily.  This was to empower these chosen people for certain, specific reasons or tasks.  After Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes to permanently indwell all born-again believers.

Every believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit when they are saved.  That is when the Holy Spirit comes to indwell the new Christian, and is a one-time event.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit is something different.  That is something that the Bible tells Christians to be doing on a regular, daily basis.  Since not all Christians follow this Biblical instruction, not all are so filled, or experience it.  Paul told the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), as that is something a believer who wishes to live a closer and more effective Christian life chooses.  Being filled with the Spirit is a continuous experience within the Christian, whereby the Holy Spirit keeps control over his life.

The Day of Pentecost was the Jewish festival of the harvest of the first fruits, the harvest of the spring crops of the year.  I believe that the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost as a sign that He is the first fruits of the believer’s inheritance.  We have a wonderful inheritance, and the Holy Spirit is the down payment.

Jewish people from around the world would come to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost, so on this day there were many foreigners in the city.  This was an opportune time to begin the spread of the Gospel message.  When the Holy Spirit came down that first day, He enabled the disciples gathered there to speak in other tongues, in other languages (vs. 4).  What these believers were speaking were the languages and dialects of the people who were in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost.  It was not meaningless babble or some unknown language.  The Holy Spirit miraculously enabled them to proclaim God’s message to the people in their own language.  If they got saved, they in turn, could return home and tell their family and friends, and the Gospel message would be spread throughout the world.

The second half of our passage today lists some of the many languages that these disciples were enabled to speak, and shows just where the Gospel could begin to be spread to (vs. 7-11).  The Parthians, Medes and Elamites were people and languages far to the east of Jerusalem, what is today modern Iran and further east from there.  Mesopotamia is today in modern Iraq and eastern Syria.  Cappadocia, Pontus, Phrygia, and Pamphylia are all areas in modern Turkey.  Libya and Cyrene are in the northern coastal areas of Africa, along the southern shore of the Mediterranean.  Cretans are from the island of Crete, and Arabs are from south of Judea.  Christianity is not limited to any one race or one group of people.  Jesus Christ offers salvation to all people, without regard to nationality.  On this birthday of the Church, God wanted to be sure that His message of salvation spread to everyone.  So, Happy Birthday to the Church!

Kept Secured And Sanctified

 John 17:11-19

One thing that is of comfort to Christians is knowing that when there is a need, we can have other believers praying for us.  Knowing that other believers are praying for us can help carry us through the long hours in the hospital waiting for news of a loved one in surgery.  The prayers of others can give us the boost of encouragement we need when looking for a job during months of unemployment.  Somehow knowing that a great man or woman of God is personally praying for us seems even more heartening, despite the fact that their prayers really don’t carry any more weight with God than those of one of His humble servants.  What about knowing the Son of God is praying for you?  Those are prayers that would carry special weight in heaven!  And here in our Scripture passage today from the Gospel of John we read a portion of a special prayer that Jesus prayed on behalf of His followers, just a few brief hours before He was betrayed and then crucified.

The complete 17th chapter of John’s Gospel is a prayer that Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father on behalf of His disciples and all future Christians, as well, which would include us.  Jesus prayed for His disciples because they would be facing the world’s temptations, along with their hatred, without His immediate presence.  For the previous 3 - 3 ½ years Jesus had been physically present with all those who followed Him and believed in His message.  Now Jesus would no longer be physically with them.  He knew that going into the future believers would be under attack from His enemies, enemies of God.  There would be the temptation to become discouraged, maybe even to give up, so Jesus held them in special prayer right then.

As we look into this prayer of Jesus we see that those who have accepted Him as their Savior are eternally secure (vs. 12).  We are kept by Him.  Kept, and not lost.  We are secure forever because we are held by Jesus.  The Son of God is not like a little child who loses some of his toys, allowing them to fall out of his hands, or accidentally leaving them behind in the playground.  He has kept us, safe and secure in His almighty hands!

Knowing this should bring us great joy (vs. 13).  The key to great joy is living in intimate contact with Jesus Christ, the Source of all joy.  Walking and living in daily communion with Jesus, and knowing that He is continually interceding for us will bring us joy (Hebrews 7:25).

Why would the prayers of Jesus and the fact that He keeps us so secure in His hands be so important?  The reason is found in verse 14.  It is because the world hates Christians, true Christians who follow and obey His Word.  The world hates Christians because we have different values from theirs.  You might notice that when you listen to some of your fellow co-workers talking in the lunchroom, laughing at dirty, off-color jokes, when you search on TV for something decent to watch, and see only programs that are offensive.  You see this when you try to stand for righteousness against a crowd that is following the path of the evil one.  A Christian won’t join in the world’s sinning and immorality.  They follow Satan’s agenda, and he is the enemy of Jesus and His people.

Jesus promised to protect believers from Satan and all of the wicked forces following him (vs. 15).  Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, but he is still loose in the world, and orchestrating his evil plans.  You will notice in this prayer that Jesus didn’t pray to take us out of the world.  Sometimes we may wish that, but He wants to use us in this world.  He sends us into the world to bring His message, but not to become a part of them.

We are not to be a part of this world’s evil system.  Jesus prayed for us to be sanctified (vs. 17).  To be sanctified means to be set apart, special, for God’s purpose and use.  God has a special plan for each and every one of us, and we need to be set apart for Him to use.  He has cleansed us and made us holy, and we remain that way by believing and obeying God’s Word.  Daily reading and applying the Bible has a purifying effect on our minds and hearts.

When we begin to feel down or discouraged, thinking the Christian life is too hard and the enemy is too strong, remember that the Savior prayed for you.  And not just that night before He was crucified, but He is right at this moment, seated at God the Father’s right hand praying for you, as well.  You are kept in Jesus’ love, and set apart, just for Him.

Do You Believe What God Has Said?

 I John 5:9-15

No one likes to be called a liar.  We can get rather upset when someone makes that accusation against us, especially if we are telling the truth.  Our integrity and reputation becomes impugned when so challenged.  Most of us, though, at one time or another have probably been called a liar, and also called others one, too.  But have you ever called God a liar?  We might not hesitate to call someone else one if we felt they weren’t telling the truth, or we’d act as if we didn’t believe them, but we might draw the line at calling God a liar!  In our Scripture passage for today from the Apostle John’s first epistle, we will read about just such actions.

When someone tells us something, we have the choice to either believe what he is saying, or to reject it as false.  It is one or the other.  We either believe he is telling the truth, or don’t believe it.  This is the case whether they are talking about a current event, the weather, or anything, including spiritual matters.  The Apostle John begins our passage by saying that if we are going to believe what some common man tells us about a spiritual matter, all the more we should believe the message if it comes from God (vs. 9).  Whatever God has said should definitely carry more weight than what some human has said!  He has given us His Word, the Bible, and has also spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ.  To deny the Biblical witness of Jesus Christ is to reject God Himself (vs. 10).  To refuse the testimony of God about His Son, Jesus Christ is the ultimate form of blasphemy, calling God a liar.

What does God’s Word say about those who do not believe God’s testimony about Jesus, those who have essentially called Him a liar?  It is very clear.  The Bible says that those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior have eternal life, and those who have not accepted Him do not have eternal life (vs. 11-12).  The one has an eternal place in heaven with God, the other will have eternal damnation.  The Bible describes people who do not have a personal relationship with God as lost.  They are off track, deluded, disconnected, and out of touch with the Lord.  They may go through life thinking they are right, but the result is eternal doom (Proverbs 14:12).

If you have asked the Lord Jesus to come into your heart by faith as your Savior, to forgive you of your sins, you have eternal life.  If you haven’t, you do not have eternal life.  We don’t have to just hope we have eternal life.  We can know we have it (vs. 13).  It is based on God’s promise given to all who accept Jesus.  It is not based on feelings, but based on fact, on the truth of His Word.  Once we are saved, we remain saved forever.  There is no on-off salvation - saved today, lost tomorrow.  That is not the case.  We can trust God’s hold on us more than our hold on Him.  His faithfulness doesn’t depend on ours.

Assurance of salvation leads to our being able to have confidence in prayer (vs. 14-15).  The confidence we have in prayer is not because of how earnestly we pray, or how much passion we put into our prayers.  Our confidence in prayer is because of our relationship with Jesus.  If we have a personal relationship with Jesus, when we pray we can have assurance of His power, wisdom, and love.  Jesus has promised us the victory when we follow and obey Him.

Effectual prayer is one that is prayed according to Jesus’ will. When believers yield themselves to God, they will find their way to the right requests, one’s that are according to God’s will, and those will bring the best possible answers.  God has promised that a prayer that is in accordance with His will, will be effective (James 5:16-18).

We should never give up in prayer.  Christians need to remember that we have an adversary, one who is fighting against us when we pray, and the answer to our prayers may have to withstand a battle before it comes through (Daniel 10:12-13).  Too often we stop praying just as our answer is ready to be delivered.  Persevere and be confident God hears.  Our Father is a good father who delights in giving His children good gifts (James 1:17).  He is listening when we cry out to Him.

Widows And Orphans

 Psalm 68:1-20

When we look throughout the world to see who is often at the bottom rungs of society, who have it the most difficult, we will often see the orphans and widows.  Those children who have either no parents or whose fathers are gone, and the women who are raising children alone because their husbands are dead or who have left them, are often the most destitute.  This was especially true in the days before the modern social service agencies that many countries have today.  Unless their father or late husband left them a fortune, they were doomed to be destitute.  Even today there are many who find themselves down at the bottom with no help, nowhere to turn to, no one who can or is willing to help them.  What are they to do?  Who can they turn to?  Our psalm for this week answers this question, showing us who is our help, no matter what our situation is.

In the days of the Bible, and in fact until sometime in the 19th century, if both of a child’s parents died, leaving them an orphan, his fate was rather grim.  Unless there was a relative or some kind-hearted and well-off neighbor willing to take them in and train them to be an apprentice, they were doomed to wander the streets, beg, or possibly be taken in as a servant or slave.  The fate of a widow was equally, if not more grim.  If she was young and pretty she might hope to be able to remarry, especially if she didn’t have any children.  If she wasn’t young or pretty, or if she had several children, unless her husband left her with a lot of money, her prospects were not good.  If the widow had an adult son who would care for her, that was good.  If not ……   Today women can work in just about every occupation they wish, but not that long ago there were very few ways any woman was permitted in society to earn her keep.

In pagan societies these unfortunates, the widow, orphan, and those whose fathers or husbands deserted them, were left to beg and perhaps starve to death.  This is where Yahweh shows Himself different from the false, pagan gods, which are in truth no gods at all.  He has stated in so many numerous places in His Word, the Bible, that He cares for the widows and orphans (vs. 5-6).  As stated here in this psalm, Yahweh is a father to the fatherless, and a defender of widows.  Only in Him is there hope for orphans, widows, and all who are alone and are disadvantaged.

God is a father to not only those who literally are without a father, but also to everyone who has never known a father’s love.  There are and have been countless people whose fathers might have walked out and abandoned the family, or who perhaps were there physically, but never bothered to spend any time or interest in their families.  The idea of a loving or attentive father is alien to them.  There are also the countless children who have parents who are physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive to them.  For them father is someone to be afraid of.  As they are being beaten and abused their hearts cry out to God, and we can be sure that He takes notice.  These may not be literal orphans, but God has a special care and love for them, as well.

Scriptures say that Yahweh cares for the widows, whether elderly after years of marriage, or younger one’s whose husbands have been tragically taken earlier.  I also believe that this would include, just like with the children, those women who have been abandoned by their husbands, and those husbands also abuse them.  God promises that He will be a type of husband to these (Isaiah 54:5-8).  Especially in days of the past, there were no options available for these women and children.  Both then, and today, their hope can only be found in the Lord Jesus.

When we turn to Jesus we can know His protecting love.  He promises His children, those who have called upon Him for salvation, that He will load us with His benefits, His blessings, each and every day (vs. 19).  Right now you may feel that you have a load to carry, but it sure isn’t one of blessings.  It is a load of cares, problems, and worries.  When we feel the heavy weight of our burdens, we can know that God has offered to take that care (I Peter 5:7).  We need to give that load to Him, so He can load us with the blessings He has promised.

In times of trouble, no one is closer than the Lord Jesus is for a Christian.  We don’t have to struggle on our own with fears and worries.  Jesus invites us to come to Him with our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30).  When we feel lonely and burdened, we can turn to the Lord Jesus, who gave His life on the cross to reunite us with God and bring salvation to us.