Eternal Security

John 6:37-51

Have you ever had a coupon for an item at the store, and then when you go to redeem the coupon, you find out that it has expired.  Or perhaps you find out that you didn’t look at it carefully enough or read the fine print, and you found out that it is only good for certain items, ones of a certain size, weight, color, etc.  What you wanted didn’t qualify.  Your coupon was no good, so you didn't get what you wanted.  Similarly, you might have a ticket to a show, or entrance to an amusement park, but then find out at the gate that the ticket wasn’t valid for some reason.  You are denied entrance.  In our Scripture today we find a precious promise that as believers, we will not be denied or turned away.  Let's see more of what Jesus is talking about.

Our Scripture from John’s Gospel continues on with the discourse teaching that Jesus gave shortly after having multiplied the loaves and fishes, and as He teaches about the Bread of Life.  Immediately prior to this, Jesus stated that He was the Bread of Life, and that those who come to Him will never hunger or thirst (John 6:35).  Now the Savior gives us a promise that those who come to the Father through Him will by no means be cast out (vs. 37).

What does this mean, and why is this such a precious promise?  This verse shows that there is eternal security for the believer.  Some folks believe that once we are saved, we can lose our salvation if we later do something wrong.  They spend their lives “getting saved” over and over again after every time they do something wrong.  However, that is not necessary, as we see here.  Eternal security is guaranteed in a number of places in the Bible, this verse being one.  Jesus will never reject the one who truly believes in Him.  Salvation is a permanent, eternal transaction that cannot be undone.

There is no expiration date on this promise.  Jesus won’t cast us out the first time we come to Him, nor the second, nor any time.  Jesus will never, never cast us out.  If we sin after coming to Him, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus the Righteous (I John 2:1)  If we backslide, God promised to heal that, and love us freely (Hosea 14:4).  Just like with King David, Jesus will wash us whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7).

As we continue in our Scripture, we see an indication of Jesus’ deity, as we see that He came down to earth from heaven (vs. 38). He tells the Pharisees that Yahweh, the One they claim to know and serve, is the very One who sent Him.  What Jesus does and says is the will of God.  In everything He did, He wanted to do the Father’s will and bring Him glory.  Jesus’ example should be the pattern for everything we do.  To ignore or reject Jesus is to violate that will.

In verse 39 we read again a reassuring promise of eternal security, as Jesus states that He will never lose those whom the Father has given Him.  If “once saved, always saved” is not true, then Jesus can lose those souls who had come to Him.  However, Jesus promised that He will never lose them, and His Word is true  Jesus will not lose even one person whom the Father has given Him.  True believers are secure in God’s promise of eternal life.  Jesus will not let His people be overcome by Satan and lose their salvation.

As our Scripture continues we read that all the initiative towards salvation is on the part of God towards the sinner, not from the sinner themselves (vs. 44).  When someone chooses to believe in Jesus as Savior, they do so only in response to the urging of the Holy Spirit, who wishes everyone to be saved.  But only those who respond to Him do obtain salvation.  Then, at that moment, salvation and eternal life is obtained immediately upon believing (vs. 47).  It is not something we just get later, but something we presently have.

When the crowds came to Jesus, He did not use soft, flowery, warm and fuzzy words to make them feel good and comfortable (vs. 41-51).  Many preachers choose to give messages that make the congregation feel good about themselves and only “be positive”.  However, Jesus spoke shocking and strong words, ones to shake them up and awaken them to the truth.  One such truth was that He is the Living Bread which came down from heaven, and that the Living Bread is His very flesh (vs. 51).  To eat the living bread means to accept Jesus into our lives, and become united with Him.

If you haven’t already done so, come to Jesus today.  He will not turn you away.  His offer still stands.  However none of us know how long we have left on earth.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed.  Come to Jesus today!

The Words We Speak

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Imagine for a moment, if by some bit of magic, with every word you spoke today either something pleasant or something vile would come out of your mouth, depending on the type of words you spoke.  Good words would bring forth perhaps a beautiful bouquet of flowers, or an art masterpiece, or maybe a delicious, gourmet meal prepared by a master chef.  On the other hand, if our words were less than pleasant, out would come rotted food, or something putrid that gave off a noxious odor.  How would we choose to speak?  In our Scripture passage for today, among instructions that St. Paul gave about how a believer lives, we see some specific attention given to our words.  Let’s take a look.

As we jump right into our Scripture, Paul admonishes us to stop lying, but instead tell the truth to each other (vs. 25).  Some people may not think that lying is such a big deal, but lies can definitely hurt others, and thus would be something rotten coming out of our mouth.  Christians cannot be fit instruments for the Lord if we are not truthful.  We are to strive, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to become more like Jesus, who is Truth (John 14:6).  Thus, we should always be speaking the truth to others.

Verse 26 is a quote from Psalm 4:4.  This is talking about righteous anger against sin and evil, not when we so frequently get angry and lose our temper.  Even righteous anger, however, can turn to bitterness, and should be set aside at the end of each day, otherwise it can become hostile.  If we do slip into anger, animosity, or resentment against someone else, we should always do whatever we can to mend the relationship within the day.  The longer we take, the harder it gets, and the more likely it is for the relationship to become estranged.  If we nurse our anger, we will give Satan an opportunity to divide us.  Don’t let the day end without trying to mend relationships.

Actions such as lying and getting angry can give Satan a foothold into our life and our behavior (vs. 27).  That is not something we want to do, as the more place we give him in our life, the less place there is for the Lord.  However, when our faith is properly placed in the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for us, we won’t be as likely to give the devil any place.  Paul continues on to instruct us to work in order to provide for our needs, rather than stealing and taking from others (vs. 28).  Christlikeness should give us high moral standards.

Now we come to an important verse, verse 29.  Exactly what kind of words proceed out of our mouth?  Are they corrupt or good?  The Greek word used in this verse is “sapros”, which means corrupt, rotten, or putrefied.  That is not something one would want issuing forth out of their mouth!  Foul language should never pass a Christian’s lips.  Instead, our speech should be encouraging and uplifting.  Does what we say build up or tear others down?  We should speak with grace, having Jesus as our standard.  Speaking evil or worthless words is repugnant to the Holy Spirit (vs. 30).  God is grieved when we do not change the old ways of sin that we used to follow to that of righteousness.  The Holy Spirit in us is a seal or guarantee that we belong to God.

Paul continues on with some other examples of behavior and speech that should not be found in a Christian who seeks to follow the Lord (vs. 31).  One is bitterness, which is smoldering resentment.  It is a bitter toxin that we prepare for someone else, but then drink ourselves.  A bitter spirit is like cancer, which penetrates every part of our life.  Wrath is like rage, and anger is an internal, deep hostility.  Clamor is an outcry of strife that is out of control.  Evil speaking is slander, and malice is evil, the root of all vices.

The Apostle then admonishes us to show kindness, compassion, love, and especially forgiveness to others (vs. 32).  Those who have been forgiven so much by God should forgive the relatively small offenses against them by others.  Paul encourages us to imitate the Lord Jesus, which is sanctification, growing in the likeness to the Lord (vs. 1-2).  Just as a child imitates his father, so we are to imitate our Heavenly Father.  We should reproduce the godliness we see as modeled by Jesus, and ordering our behavior within the sphere of love.

In closing, we need to know that it is not enough to just stop doing wrong things when we get saved.  We need to begin doing the right things, and one major thing is by guarding what we say.  Let’s make sure that our words bring forth something beautiful, good, and pleasing to the Lord.

Bless The Lord At All Times

Psalm 34:1-8

Our Psalm reading for the next three weeks, taken from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer, will be portions of perhaps my most favorite Psalm, Psalm 34.  Today we will look at the first eight verses of this special psalm.

The background of this psalm is rather interesting.  As we know, David, the author of this psalm, spent many years during his early adulthood fleeing for his life from King Saul.  At one time he went into the land of the Philistines, a major enemy of the people of Israel, and stayed with King Abimelech in Gath (I Samuel 21:10-15).  (Abimelech was also referred to as Achish in the Bible.)  Shortly after arriving there, though, many of Achish’s advisors and counselors warned him about David, reminding him that David had recently been Israel’s army general, fighting against them.  When David overheard that talk, he knew he was in danger, so he feigned madness, and Achish quickly sent him from the country.  Though he was back where Saul could hunt him down, David knew the Lord had protected his life from the Philistines again.

Knowing that God had protected his life numerous times, the latest being from King Achish and his court, when he was defenseless and an easy prey for them while living in the royal palace, David was quick to give his praise and thanks to the Lord (vs. 1-3).  He knew, though, that it wasn’t just in certain times that we should praise and thank the Lord.  We don’t need to wait until we have been delivered from some danger, we don’t have to wait for Sunday or Thanksgiving Day, to praise Him.  We should praise God at all times (vs. 1).  Sometimes we may not feel like praising God, but feelings don’t have to always fill praise.  Like David, Daniel, and others in the Bible, we should schedule praise breaks throughout the day (Psalm 119:164).  An attitude of adoring trust in the Lord will make an amazing difference in your life.

We know that David had several enemies who wished him harm or worse, including Saul, the Philistines, and other enemy nations, but ultimately his worst enemy was Satan, who wanted to bring him, and every child of God down.  Satan will do everything he can to dishearten us and keep our focus on negative things instead of God.  David knew this, which is why he made it a special point to take the time to praise and magnify the Lord no matter what was happening.

God is all-wise and loving.  When fear starts to overwhelm us, we need to stop and remember that He is our God, and that He will always hold us up if we turn to Him.  When we believe that God is good, we can learn to release our fears.  When we are afraid, it is good to remember the occasions in the past when God has heard and answered our prayers, and delivered us from our fears.

Sometimes the Lord works things in special ways so that the harm that was coming our way somehow bypasses us, and we are safe.  God had worked the circumstances so that David overheard or knew about the things that King Achish’s counselors were saying about him, and was thus able to devise a plan to escape.  Sometimes the Lord sends an angel to surround and protect us from harm (vs. 7).  David could attest to a number of these occurrences.  Who knows how often we have been protected or delivered from harm by an angel assigned to guard us?  Or how often the Lord worked events or occurrences to protect us?

As these opening verses of Psalm 34 can attest, even during the trials of life, we can testify to God’s goodness and faithfulness.  Next week we will look further into this beloved psalm.

Remember The Lord Our God

Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Many families like to pass down from one generation to another stories about some of the big, important, or heroic deeds that various family members did.  We’ll tell our children about the time our father did this or that, and how our grandmother did something very significant.  Many communities will have a statue or a plaque of some sort to remember some notable resident.  We make movies and write books about people in order to remember what they have done.  The history books are full of them.  If we do this for family members and other notable people throughout history, shouldn’t we make a point of remembering the things that God has done for us?  Our Scripture passage for today encourages us to remember what God has done for us.

The Book of Deuteronomy was written by Moses at the end of the forty years of wandering throughout the wilderness, shortly before they were to enter the Promised Land, and shortly before his death.  In this book, Moses goes over the laws God gave His people a second time, and as we see here, he encourages the people to not forget the Lord once they have entered and settled into the Promised Land.  Once things start to go better in our life, when our job and income are secure, there are no problems with our house or car, our marriage, children, and health are good, it is easy to begin to forget about God.  All throughout the Bible we are called to remember what God has done for us (vs. 2).

Moses specifically wanted the Hebrew people to remember all that the Lord had done for them during the last forty years, His provision, protection, love, and care since they came out of slavery in the land of Egypt, through their journeys in the wilderness, up to this day as they camped on the east side of the Jordan River.  The forty years in the wilderness was a time of God’s affliction and testing, so that the people’s attitude towards God and His commandments could be known.  Those years were not easy, as the land they traveled through was harsh and difficult to live in.  However, they were to remember that the Lord provided for their every need - food, water, their health, their clothing did not wear out, and He protected them from their enemies (vs. 3-4).

Israel’s food in the wilderness was decreed by the Word of God (vs. 3).  They had manna because it came by God’s command.  Ultimately it was not bread that kept them alive, rather it was God’s Word.  Every word in the Bible is important.  The Bible doesn’t merely contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God.

Jesus quoted this verse when Satan tempted Him to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:4).  Many people think that life should be satisfying one’s appetites with clothes, food, and entertainment in high style.  But that leaves one empty and dissatisfied.  Real life comes from a total commitment to God.  We should never take God’s protection and care for granted, but instead give thanks for all of His blessings.

We can learn valuable spiritual lessons in difficult times.  We learn that we can trust the Lord, and as we trust Him, He will provide for our needs.  The Lord gave the people of Israel manna and water from the rock while they traveled through the wilderness.  Despite difficult times, God can bless us.  Adversity is not a sign of abandonment.  Though this isn’t always the case, sometimes adversity can be sent from God as discipline.  Frequently in the wilderness He had to chasten His people.  God was seeking to correct their wayward attitude so that they might be prepared to obediently go into the land (vs. 5).  If the Lord doesn’t chasten us, this means we aren’t his child (Hebrews 12:8).

God gave the people enough manna for just each day because He wanted to show us that we need to depend on Him daily.  Because of His provisions, believers should be mindful to give thanks to God before or after we eat each meal (vs. 10).  Not only does the Lord provide for our physical needs each day, for which we should be sure to remember and give thanks, He also strengthens us to face fears, and He feeds our faith through His Word.

Are you faithful to remember all that the Lord has done for you, or have His many blessings slipped from your mind, all the blessings He has given you, your family, and your friends?  Let’s be sure that we remember the Lord our God.

Why Do We Seek Jesus?

John 6:24-35

What attracts certain people to another person?  Often enough you might hear reasons such as that other person gives them security, they make enough money to keep them comfortable throughout life.  They make me feel good, they make me laugh, they do this or that for me, etc.  When we look closer, it seems they are attracted to the other person more for what that person can do for them, rather than for who that other person really is.  This is nothing new, for we see the same attitude with some of the people who followed the Lord Jesus.  Let’s look into today’s Gospel reading.

The day prior to when our Scripture begins, the Lord Jesus has multiplied a few small loaves of bread and a couple of fish to feed over 5,000 people.  The next day the crowds gathered together when Jesus and His disciples had crossed the Sea of Galilee.  He saw them clamoring around Him, and knew the real reason that many of them were there.  As our passage begins, a crowd of people followed Jesus to the other side of the Sea, and then questioned Him how He had gotten there (vs. 24-25).  Jesus knew their mind (John 2:24-25), and that they came to Him because He had fed them food.  Many of the people in the crowds which followed Jesus were motivated by superficial desires of food, rather than understanding Jesus and His mission.

Jesus proceeded to teach the people a lesson about what to seek after.  They were seeking after physical things, gratifying their desire for physical food.  Jesus said to seek after what will endure to everlasting life (vs. 26-27).  What we eat lasts just for a day, it helps our physical body for just a limited amount of time.  When we seek after the Lord, and feed upon His Word, the Bible, that will last forever, on into eternity.

They then asked Jesus what works they could do to achieve eternal life (vs. 28).  However, God doesn’t desire any works that we could do.  What He is asking for is an attitude of the heart and mind.  We are to believe in the One God sent (vs. 29).  Stop trying to do good works or religious rituals to merit heaven.  Those are all fine and good, but under no circumstances can they earn us heaven.  Instead, it is only by trusting Jesus that we can see heaven.  Satisfying God does not come from the works we do, but from Whom we believe, accepting that Jesus is who He claims to be.  The only “work” God desires is faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Messiah and Son of God.

After this statement, the people wanted Jesus to prove Himself.  They wanted some type of sign that they could see which would prove to them that He was who He said He was.  They brought up the manna that their fathers had eaten in the wilderness..  The crowd felt that Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000 was small compared to what Moses did with the manna.  They wanted Jesus to do something similar, some sign and miracle that would “wow” them, that would even outdo Moses if they were to believe (vs. 30-31).

The manna, though, was temporary, and it perished by the next morning.  It was a shadow of what God offered in the true bread, the Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 32-35).  Jesus is the Bread of Life.  He is the only One who can truly satisfy our heart and feed our soul with sustenance that leads to eternal life.

People eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and to sustain physical life.  We can satisfy spiritual hunger and sustain spiritual life only by a right relationship with Jesus Christ.  Bread must be eaten to sustain life.  It does us no good just lying on the table.  Similarly, Jesus must be invited into our heart and life in order to sustain spiritual life.

As we read this Scripture passage, do we identify with these crowds?  Are we more interested in who Jesus is, or in what He can do for us?  Too many people are more concerned about what He can give them than about getting to know who He is.  Let’s come to Jesus, seeking the Bread of Life, for in Him we will never hunger or thirst again.

How Are You Walking?

Ephesians 4:17-25

When your neighbors or your co-workers observe you from day to day, do they see anything different about you from others in the neighborhood or the office?  If they were to find out that you are a Christian, would that be a real surprise to them, or would they say that they could tell by the way that you lived your life?  Today’s Scripture from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church gives us an admonition and encouragement to live our lives patterned after the Lord Jesus.

In our Scripture passage, Paul describes the way believers should walk.  The term “walk” refers to our daily conduct (vs. 17).  We are not to live like the rest of the world lives.  Their life is empty, vain, and without meaning.  Unbelievers do not live their lives the way the Lord desires.  The Gospel seems foolish to those who have never turned to Jesus in faith, and instead they rely on their own understanding.  However, to believers who have trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we must walk by faith, trusting Jesus to teach us His will, and how to serve Him.  God has promised to reveal Himself to us when we seek Him (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

Unbelievers are spiritually separated from God, with spiritual darkness and moral blindness (vs 18).  They are alienated from God, but that is not because God desires to exclude people.  Instead, people exclude themselves from salvation.  They do this because they choose to, because their hearts are hard and stubborn.

Unbelievers are morally insensitive (vs. 19).  They sin, and then rather than turning to Jesus, they turn away from Him. They are behaviorally depraved, willingly succumbing to sensuality and licentiousness.  They have lost all moral restraint.  This is something we are seeing more and more of in today’s world.  Things we wouldn’t even dream of happening, are now blatantly in our face in the world today.  Many of the movies, books, TV shows, and social media that we choose to see have desensitized us to sin, and we begin to lose our conscience.  The first step into sin is growing comfortable with things that should make us ashamed.

As Christians, our lifestyle and behavior should contrast to the insensitive, passion-dominated unsaved folk who desire to only satisfy their lower nature.  Others should be able to see a difference between Christians and non-Christians.  Unbelievers are in darkness, and are children of the Evil One, Satan.  We are children of God, and are to live lives that reflect the Light of the Lord Jesus.

When you come inside, after working outside in your yard, or following cleaning up a basement or garage, your clothes are going to be dirty.  To be presentable we need to change clothes into something clean.  Paul makes the analogy of putting off the “old man”, and putting on the “new man”, to the changing out of dirty clothes and putting new, clean clothes on (vs. 22-23).  The “old man” is the behavior we had when unsaved, the worn out, useless, unconverted sinful nature.  The “new man” is the completely new spiritual and moral nature the Lord gives believers.  When we are saved, our new self is created in the very likeness of God.  We need to take the worldly, sinful behavior off, just as we would take off the old, filthy clothes.  We should repent from sin, and submit to God.

Paul then specifies one particular behavior that is quite common among people, unfortunately including Christians, and that is lying (vs. 25).  Lying is more than just not telling the truth.  It includes exaggerations, or adding to a true story something that is not correct.  It also includes cheating, making foolish promises, betraying confidence, and making false excuses.  These are also a form of lying.  Christians should have no part in any of that behavior.

We have to make a conscious, moment by moment choice to depend upon the Holy Spirit’s power to transform us into the likeness of Jesus Christ.  If we want to be God’s servants, we must decide whether we will base our life on His priorities or on the world’s.  The two are incompatible together. Spend time in the Bible learning what is important to God, and then follow His way so that our walk is a good witness to the world of our life in Christ.

Praises From A Cave

Psalm 57

If you have an enemy who is after you, trying to track you down, you might want to find a good place to hide, especially if that enemy is armed and wanting to kill you.  If that enemy has weapons and others with him, and is diligently tracking you down, you need some place that is safe, not just quickly hiding in a closet or under your bed.   Today’s psalm was written by David during a period when he was fleeing for his life from King Saul, who, along with his whole military, were seeking after him to kill him.  Let’s see where he chose to hide, and take a closer look into the psalm he wrote about that time.

King Saul’s animosity against David stemmed from his jealousy over the great military victories David had against the Philistines, beginning with his defeat of Goliath, and continuing on through a number of further battles against their enemies.  The people praised this young victorious warrior, and Saul was jealous.  He didn’t like that he wasn’t praised, and thus wanted David killed.  Twice in the Scriptures we read of David hiding in a cave from King Saul.  Once was after a brief stay in Philistine territory (I Samuel 22:1), and the other at a different time (I Samuel 24:3).

This psalm has the heading “When David fled from Saul into the cave.”  David was safe there, not because a cave seems like a good place to hide, being dark and there are plenty of places one can slip into or behind to be out of sight.  It was safe because God was watching over him and sheltering him.  Though David found himself hiding from Saul, he knew that his real refuge was not the walls of the cave, but was in the shadow of God’s wings (vs. 1).

David used the picture of a bird who safely hides their young under their wings from all harm and danger to that of God who also protects His children from harm.  If you’ve ever spent time on a chicken farm, or seen ducks and swans with their young, you will see how the chicks will race to their mother’s outstretched wings for protection.  God cares for His own children just like a mother bird protects her own.

As David lay low and quiet in the recesses of the cave, he compared those who were seeking his life, and all wicked people who come against God’s children, to lions, to being like menacing animals with razor sharp teeth (vs. 4).  He also compared them to a consuming fire.   Yet he knew that the best wisdom was not to counter-attack them, but instead to praise the Lord, which this psalm consists of.  In any trial we face, our best response is not anger or worry, but instead to bring praise to the Lord (vs. 7).  David was so eager to praise His Savior, that he couldn’t even wait until morning to praise the Lord for all of His blessings (vs. 8).  When we praise God and give Him our burdens, He will calm us and bring peace to our hearts (John 14:27; Philippians 4:6-7).

David called God here by the Hebrew title “El Elyon” which means “Most High God” (vs. 2).  With all power and wisdom, He is the only One who can help us in our need.  God is our refuge.  With Him as our place of shelter for our soul, we do not need to fear.  He hovers over us like a protecting parental bird, and shelters us when crises arise.

God wants His children to call to Him with their burdens.  We can be assured that He is listening.  Even when we can’t think of what to say, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:26).  The Lord can and will accomplish anything it takes for His purpose to be fulfilled.  He’ll do whatever is necessary to intervene on our behalf, to hold accountable those who oppose us, and to surround us with His love and truth.  We see this as we read through I Samuel, how the Lord protected David against Saul, and the final judgment that came for Saul’s sinful behavior.

David’s praise was conceived in crisis.  Although he was cornered by enemies who wanted him dead, David could still compose hymns of praise. Throughout life, we encounter various trials and tribulations.  Like a sudden storm, they rain down upon us.  When these difficulties and perils surround us, we can take shelter in the Rock that is the Lord, knowing He hears our prayers and offers refuge for us, both now and for eternity.  In whatever crisis we are in, we can run to Jesus for help, and then praise Him as we wait expectantly for His answer.