Taking Up Our Cross

Matthew 16:21-27

The man has just had one of the highest moments in his life, and has received a great commendation in front of all of his friends.  Then what happened?  He slips and has a huge, humiliating fall, right in front of every one of them!  None of us would like that to be our experience.  This, though, is what happens to the Apostle Peter in our Scripture reading today.

As we read our passage, Jesus begins to tell His disciples that He will be going to Jerusalem, and the elders and chief priests will kill Him (vs. 21).  But that won’t be the end, He will rise again the third day.  This was not something that Peter wanted to hear. He wanted to protect Jesus from the suffering and death that He had just predicted, and Peter told Jesus that this should not, could not happen to Him (vs. 22).  Peter did not realize that it was for our salvation that Jesus would die, and that if He didn’t die, we would all be condemned to hell.  Peter was looking at things through carnal eyes and man’s perspective, not God’s.

What was Jesus’s response to Peter’s statement?  Our Lord did not hesitate to rebuke the words Peter was saying (vs. 23).  The words of rebuke that Jesus said contrasts quite sharply with the words He had spoken a few verses earlier in verses 17-19.  Peter was speaking the words of Satan.  Jesus’s death was part of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind.  To turn Jesus away from fulfilling this, is to work Satan’s purpose and agenda.  Jesus acted quickly when Satan, through the words of Peter, tried to deter Him from Calvary, and atoning for our sins.  When sin starts creeping near in our own life, we need to act quickly to stop it.  We must never let sin linger near.

Next, in verse 24, we read the familiar words of Jesus, that believers are to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him.  Condemned criminals on their way to execution in this day would have to carry their own cross.  This was a common sight, as executions were quite public, and done for many offenses.  Following Jesus means a true commitment, and could possibly mean death.  A true follower of our Savior will have no turning back.  Whenever we suffer for identifying with Jesus and His cause, we take up the cross.  

We also take up the cross when we deny something that we deeply desire (even if it is not sinful in and of itself) for the sake of Jesus and doing His will.  Jesus doesn’t call every one of His believers to leave their homes and family.  What He does want, is all of His followers to deny their selfish goals in life.  We carry our cross by willingly doing the things God has called us to do without resentment.

Christians throughout the ages have been persecuted and killed for their faith, from being thrown to the lions and other wild animals in the early church age to being shot or beheaded by terrorist around the world today.  Jesus wants total commitment from His followers.  As the old-time hymn, “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus”, says, “The world behind me, the cross before me.  No turning back!  No turning back!”

When people try to live solely for their own physical life they may end up losing out on eternal life (vs. 25 - 26).  What we accumulate here on earth has absolutely no value in eternity, yet that is what so many people do.  Their whole goal in life is to get the bigger, better house, car, smartphones, or electronics.  Consumerism is alive and well, but churches are being abandoned.  Our eternal life should be our focus, not what we can accumulate.

When Jesus returns (vs. 27), He will bring believers to heaven.  They will not be judged at the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), which is for the unbelievers.  Instead, believers go before the Judgment Seat of Christ (II Corinthians 5:10).  Believers are not at risk of being sent to hell.  They will, though, be judged for what we did with the gifts Jesus gave us, the help we gave other Christians, and the opportunities we had to win souls for Him.  I know that on that day, I so dearly want to hear Jesus say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Offering Ourselves As A Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-8

Today’s passage from Romans contains much spiritual food for study.  I want to focus on the first two verses.  These two verses are very important as we seek to grow as Christians.

In the days of the Old Testament, the people of God would frequently bring animals to the altar for sacrifices to God.  The animal was killed, and it, and especially its blood was placed on the altar.  This was for covering of sin, or sometimes for a peace offering of thanksgiving or gratitude to God.  After the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, there is no longer a need for animal sacrifices.  Today, God wants us to bring ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him (vs. 1).  Animal sacrifices in the Old Testament were important, but God has always thought obedience from the heart more important.  Because of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross we no longer need to make animal sacrifices.  They are no longer effective.  Instead, we need to offer ourselves completely to the Lord.  That is our highest form of service.  We are to offer ourselves daily by putting aside our own desires.  We are to put ourselves at His disposal and trust in Him.

God wants us to surrender every part of our life to Him, not just an hour or two on Sunday mornings.  Many people, after getting saved, never learn to live a godly life that pleases our Heavenly Father.  Each day we should give ourselves to Him.  Paul tells us here in verse 1 to lay our wills, as a sacrifice, on the altar to God, and ask Him to use us for His glory.

As we proceed on to verse 2, we read that we are not to conform to the world, but instead, be transformed by renewing our minds.  We are not to conform to this world’s behavior and standards.  It must go deeper than that, though.  Our whole mind and way of thinking has to be transformed through yielding to the Holy Spirit, and the study of God’s Word.  The “world” that Paul is talking about is the system of beliefs and values throughout the world today which are dominated and controlled by Satan.

Our minds need to be committed to listening to God, and obeying Him.  This happens when we read and study His Word.  Our hearts will change when we submit to Him.  We can’t do it by just trying, in our own strength, to sin less.  We have to depend on God and trust in Him.  The Holy Spirit can change our minds from the influence of the world by studying the Word of God, the Bible.  A renewed mind is saturated in the Word, and controlled by it, not the world.

We, as believers are to metamorphosize, to change just like a caterpillar does into a butterfly.  We are to make our outward behavior and lifestyle to conform to what we are internally, as a child of God.  This is done by renewing our mind.  When we live our life according to the dictates of the world, our minds become polluted.  Our minds need to be cleaned, and that can be done through the Word of God (II Timothy 3:16; Philippians 4:8-9).  

The servants of the King should not be too chummy with the King’s enemies.  We are not to conform to the world.  We do not need to be like those “of the world” in order to win them.  That is a lie of the devil that he uses in order to try to bring down Christians, and draw them into the muck of the world system.  Our behavior and actions should be such as to reflect worship and honor to God.  Let’s allow our lives to reflect the change we have had from being worldly caterpillars into heavenly butterflies.

Handling Lies And Accusations

Psalm 26

Most of us can look back at some point in our lives and recall a time (perhaps several times) when someone told lies about us, or brought unjust and false charges against us.  That can be quite devastating, particularly if the lies are thoroughly nasty, or the charges damaging.  This is where we find King David in our psalm reading from this week’s Lectionary.  It’s not indicated in the Scriptures at what point in David’s life he wrote this psalm.  We also are not sure who it was who was bringing these false charges and lies against David.

As we start off in verse 1 we read that David wants to be exonerated from whatever these false accusations or charges that had been flung at him.  Who is it that he turns to?  We read right from the start that David goes to God with his plea.  He comes to God, praying for His help, and pleading his innocence.  Not only is he innocent, David says, but he also says he’s led his life with integrity and uprightness.  Perfect?  Sinless?  No, that’s not what David is saying here.  He, more than anyone, knew that he was not perfect, that he had, and would continue, to do wrong.  What made David someone who God could say in Scripture was a man after His own heart (I Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), was that he was always in fellowship with God.  He would always ask for forgiveness as soon as he realized it.  In this verse David was asking to be cleared of false charges.

In verses 2 and 3 David asks for God to examine, prove and try him.  He wants God to test him, to refine and purify him.  He knows that he hasn’t done whatever he’s been accused of, and he wants God to examine and prove this, and to vindicate him.  David also wants God to examine him for any unconfessed sins.  He wants to make sure his “prayer line” is always clear.

One thing that David wants to make sure in his life is that he is not spending a lot of time associating with sinners and the unsaved (vs. 4 - 5).  There is a difference between being with sinners, and being one of them.  Jesus went and talked with sinners.  When one would invite Him to dinner, He gladly accepted, sat and ate with them.  But Jesus certainly wasn’t one of them.  His sole and only purpose was to seek and save the lost.  Being one of them, where we take part in their activities and become like them, will destroy our witness, and leads to sin and backsliding.  We certainly, though, need to go to sinners and the unsaved to witness to them.

David is trusting in the Lord to hear and answer his prayer.  He does not take matters into his own hands.  If David was king when he wrote this, he could have had these enemies who were lying about him executed.  If it was written earlier in his life, while he was living on the run, he and his band of men with him were well trained in guerrilla fighting.  They could have handled these troublemakers.  Instead, though, David leaves this with God, and instead goes into the Lord’s house and worships Him there (vs. 6-8).  David took enjoyment and participated in public worship, and this he did as he waited for the Lord to answer his prayer for vindication.

Again, David brings a contrast between the righteous and innocent, and the unrighteous, unsaved sinners (vs. 9-11).   As before, David was not saying that he was sinless and perfect.   He knew that he had a strong relationship with God, and wanted to keep sin out in order to keep that relationship strong.  He wanted to keep walking with integrity.   David closes the psalm with another statement of coming together with other believers to worship God (vs. 12).

We can learn from David’s example that when other people lie and falsely accuse us, to bring it to the Lord and trust Him, not take it into our own hands.  We also need to keep our lives free from known and deliberate sins, so that we are able to freely come to the Lord in prayer.  David knew this, and could give thanks to Him in public worship.

A Prophet's Depression

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Jeremiah has been known through the ages as the weeping prophet, not only because of the dark and dire preaching he had to speak against the people of the kingdom of Judah, but also because his message of repentance brought the anger and hatred of so many people against him.  There were days, though, when Jeremiah got very discouraged and cried out to the Lord in his despair and depression.  Our passage today from the Book of Jeremiah catches him in just such a state.  He has been preaching for several years that unless the people individually, and the nation as a whole, repent from their sinful lives and stop worshipping false idols, the nation will be overrun and the people will go into captivity.  And just like today, nobody wanted to hear a message like that.  Jeremiah was attacked verbally, and sometimes even physically, and in this passage he prays to the Lord with a despairing heart.

Verse 15 picks up with a prayer that Jeremiah has made to the Lord.  “Remember me, God!”, he is saying.  With the people of Judah attacking him so, he feels forgotten by God.  He reminds God that it is because he has stood up for God’s name, it is for His sake, that his enemies have been attacking him, so he asks God not to forsake him and to take vengeance on these people.

Jeremiah loved God’s Word (vs. 16), so much so that it was like his daily nourishment.  It was the joy of his life.  He then goes on to remind God how he has kept himself separate from those who mocked God, either by their words or actions (vs. 17).  His was a lonely life because he stayed true to God.  He was angry because of sin, and because those who had God’s laws and Word, continued to turn away from Him to worship the false gods of neighboring countries.  This was so distressing to him, and that he felt forgotten by God, that it was actually painful, like a wound that wouldn’t heal (vs. 18).

In verse 19 we see God answering Jeremiah’s prayer.  God chides Jeremiah for feeling sorry for himself and letting his faith grow weaker.  He tells him to turn back to Him, and not feel as though he has been forgotten.  God still wants to use Jeremiah as His mouthpiece, giving His Word to the people.  The people who had strayed so far away from God needed to repent and change their ways, following the example of Jeremiah’s life.  He warns Jeremiah, though, that he needs to take care and not drop down to their standards.  If Jeremiah is to warn and preach to others, he has to make sure that he is on the straight and narrow.

God warns Jeremiah that the people are going to continue to fight against him (vs. 20-21).  God, though, promises that they will not prevail in their attacks, and that He will always be with him, strengthening his defenses like a fortified wall.  He will not forsake Jeremiah, and promises to deliver him from the hands of all those who wanted to seek his life for preaching the Words of God.

We can learn from Jeremiah’s experiences here that we can come to God in any mood we are in, and we can tell Him anything in prayer.  We can trust Him for everything.  No matter our trials, discouragement, or brokenness, we can trust God and learn from Him.  He will reveal Himself to us, and work through us, just as He did for Jeremiah.  God wants us to have spiritual victory.  He takes our weakness and brokenness, and turns it into strength.  Jeremiah, though prone to further depression, continued on in his ministry, and God was with him every step of the way.

Jeremiah loved God’s Word, as we see in verse 16.  He speaks of “eating” the Word of God.  It was so important to him, that it was like his daily nourishment.  We, too, should be reading the Bible, God’s Word, every day.  We eat food every day, don’t we?  We should be sure that we get our spiritual nourishment each day, as well.  It is there that God provides His children with spiritual guidance, joy, and strength for all of our needs.  And as we follow and practice what we learn from God’s Word, we should be influencing others for God, just as His faithful prophet, Jeremiah, did.

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Matthew 16:13-20

Our reading from the Gospels today tells the account of Peter’s proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God, and God’s chosen Messiah.  Jesus had asked his disciples a very important question.  He asked them who did they think He was.  This is also a question that everyone on earth has to answer as well.  As we read and study this passage we will see what the disciples answered.  What would your answer be?

As we start reading, Jesus and His disciples have come to the area of the city of Caesarea Philippi (vs. 13).  This city was about 25 miles north of Galilee, where most of Jesus’s ministry took place.  For many years the city had been a center of pagan Greek worship. King Herod also had several temples built here, in honor of Caesar, for whom he also renamed the city after.  The city was greatly influenced by both the Greek and Roman cultures.  As a result, the city was filled with pagan idols, particularly to the god Pan, and was the home to many temples, including the recently built temples to facilitate the worship of Caesar as a god.

It was here, amidst all of this worship of false gods, that Jesus asked the disciples who people thought He was (vs. 13 - 14).  They had been traveling with Him for a while now, had heard Him preach, and had seen the miracles He performed.  During these travels they must have heard people talk about Him.  Who did the general population think that Jesus was?  The disciples answered Him by saying some thought He was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or some other great prophet come back to earth.  They acknowledged Jesus was a great preacher of God’s Word, just like those men of the past were.

Okay, that’s what other people said.  Now Jesus wanted to know who they thought He was (vs. 15 - 16).  It was then that Peter immediately jumped in with his answer.  He wasted no time telling Jesus that he believed that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of the living God.  Peter said “living God” in contrast to all of the dead idols that they saw all around them in Caesarea Philippi.

This truth that Peter confessed at this time was something that God had revealed to Peter (vs. 17).  This was not something that he learned by going to the synagogue, or was taught him by the religious leaders of the day.  They had all opposed Jesus.  This was something that God had revealed to Peter as He opened his heart to the truth, and which Peter accepted.

In verses 18 and 19 we read Jesus’s response to Peter’s confession.  Many believe that the “rock” that Jesus spoke of here refers to Jesus, Himself, and to the salvation He purchased by His death on the cross.  Others believe that the “rock” is that confession of faith that Peter had just made, which all true believers believe.  Both are foundational truths and doctrines that the true Church accepts.  True believers are the Church, whose foundation is this statement that the Apostles believed, Jesus being the Cornerstone.

Peter’s name at first was Simon.  Here Jesus gives him a new name - Peter or “Petros” in Greek.  That meant a small rock.  The word “rock” that Jesus said He would build His church on is “petra” in Greek, meaning a large rock or boulder.  It contrasts with “petros”, the smaller rock.  This “boulder-like” truth came from one who was called a smaller rock.

Keys unlock and open up doors.  We have been given keys -  the opportunity to bring people into the Kingdom of Heaven by giving the message of salvation from the Bible.  We must not decide for whom we open or close the door.  The door must be kept open for all.

Why would Jesus, in verse 20, after this great event, then tell His disciples not to tell anyone?  At this point in time the disciples still did not understand the mission of Jesus yet, particularly that He wasn’t a military conqueror type of Messiah.  They needed to understand the complete truth before they should go out.  This would happen after the Resurrection and the Holy Spirit descending on Pentecost.

Now that we have studied this passage, we must ask ourselves the same question.  Who do we say that Jesus is?  Many people today answer the same that the general population of the disciples’ day answered - that Jesus was a good man, a religious leader, but that’s all.  What do we say?  Do we, like Peter, answer that we believe Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of the Living God?  That is a question that everyone, without exception, will answer when they stand before God at the end of their life.  What will your answer be?  If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, I urge you to not wait another moment, before it is too late, and ask Him into your heart.  Accept personally for yourself the atonement, the payment, He made for your sins upon the cross, and accept Him as your Savior.

The Incomprehensible Majesty Of God

Romans 11:33-36

For the last couple of months, the New Testament readings from the Book of Common Prayer Lectionary each week have been from Paul’s Letter to the Romans.  Paul has been proclaiming the truth of justification and salvation through faith alone to his readers.  He has also been stating in this Epistle that it doesn’t matter what one’s lineage is, if we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are a spiritual descendant of Abraham, and a part of the covenant that God made with him.  In our Scripture passage today, it’s as if Paul set down his pen for a moment and broke out into a small but spontaneous brief hymn of praise to God.  The truths he had been writing about in the previous chapters have overjoyed him in worship to the Savior.

While we remain here on earth, we do not always totally understand God’s ways (vs. 33).  The prophet Isaiah corroborates that in Isaiah 55:8-9.  What we can do, even though we don’t understand everything God does in our life and in this world, is to worship Him for His goodness, love, and mercy.  God is omniscient, and we are not.  He knows everything, the past, the present, and the future.  Our knowledge and understanding are limited.  God’s purpose and decrees are not for us to always know, nor the methods He uses to achieve them.

Verse 34 is quoted from Isaiah 40:13.  Can we tell God anything that He doesn’t already know?  Is it possible to go into a problem and work out a better solution than the Lord God can?  Certainly not!  God doesn’t need counsel or advice from anyone.  He doesn’t sit down around a table with a group of the angels, asking their ideas as to what to do about something, and He certainly doesn’t need our help figuring out a problem.  His ways are always perfect!

Verse 35 is quoted from Job 41:11.  Everything in this universe belongs to God, as He created it all, and He does not need us to provide Him with anything.  Nor does God owe us anything, either.  This is where the belief of a “works salvation” is refuted.  With salvation by works, we live a life of doing good deeds and religious rituals, and then after life present them to God with the assumption that because of them, God owes us a pass into heaven, God “paying” us our reward for our good deeds and rituals.  God doesn’t need anything from us, nor owe anything to us.

God is the Source and Sustainer of everything that exists (vs 36).  We are all dependent on Him.  God, and God alone, is the source of all things.  Some people are very proud and independent, thinking that they are the masters of their own life and fate.  This verse, and so many throughout the Scriptures, show that isn’t the case.  God holds our very breath and life in His Hands, and it is through His mercy that we have our life, health, food, and everything we need.

So what can we take away from these verses that Paul wrote?  Though we don’t understand everything, we can rest in the knowledge that He does!  He is all-knowing and all-powerful, and because of that, whatever He does, that is the best.  He gives us the best that He has, which is salvation through His only Son, Jesus Christ.  We can’t give Him anything, but He gives us everything.  For that, for everything in our lives, He deserves our praise and glory, now and forever!

Take Hold Of The Hand Of God

Psalm 138

Singing hymns to the Lord has always been an important part of worship for believers.  The Book of Psalms has been called the hymnbook of the Bible.  Just like there are hymns in our hymnbooks of praise, of thanksgiving, of the different attributes of God, of sorrow for sins, and of our calling out and coming to Him for help, there are psalms in the Bible for the same.  Whatever we are looking for, whether to praise God, call upon Him for help, confession, or give thanks, we can find psalms for that.

Our psalm today, which was written by King David, is one of thanksgiving for answered prayer.  The theme throughout this psalm is that God will work out His plans for us, and bring us through every difficulty we face.  David was giving thanks to God when he wrote this psalm, as he had in so many other psalms he wrote.  While reading this song of praise, we see that as blood-bought children of God, we should praise and thank Him for all of our material and spiritual blessings and answers to prayer (vs. 1-3).

Throughout his life, King David saw and knew about all the false gods that the neighboring countries followed and worshipped, and which were constantly being a temptation for the children of Israel to follow.  David knew that Yahweh is over all of the false gods of other nations (vs. 1).   He would go right before those false gods and sing the praises of the one and only true God, as a token to show that they were nothing, and his God the only true God.  We should not give any false gods any credence or acknowledgment, but give praise and worship to only Yahweh.

Right now we don’t see too many, if any, world leaders who are praising the Lord, do we?  In verses 4 and 5 of our psalm says that one day all of the kings of the earth will praise God when they hear His Word.  Won’t that be a wonderful day, when all world leaders praise God!  In the meantime, we have to be sure that we are getting His Word out.  How else will they hear the Word of the Lord, unless we are speaking it?

Sometimes we might wonder whether God, being enthroned up high in heaven as God of all the universe, has any regard for us people.  Verse 6 reassures us that yes, indeed, He does care about us.  He sees and considers what we go through in our life, and has concern.  He also sees what the proud and those who oppose Him are doing.  One day He will make all things right.  He is not a god who is too busy or unconcerned about the “lowly”, nor unconcerned when the rich and powerful, the “proud” take advantage of them.  He does care, and He will one day make all things right.

Throughout his life, David often had to flee and hide from his enemies.  He knew what it was like to fear for his very life from those who hated him, and would eagerly have killed him.  During those days David personally learned that he could trust and rely on the protection of the Lord God (s. 7).  No matter what our trouble may be, even if it is life threatening, we, like David, can take hold of God’s hand.  His hand is always outstretched to take hold of ours and come to our aid.

The Lord God has a plan for each of us, and that is a plan that He will bring to a perfect end (vs. 8).  Since He knows what is best for us, we need to be sure that we include Him in all of our plans.  Only God can faithfully fulfill His true purpose for us, and His purpose is always best.

In closing I want to look closer at the last line of verse 2.  God has magnified His Word, even above His Name.  Here God says that He has made great and exalted the Bible, His Word, above how great His Name is.  We know how holy and exalted God’s Name is.  The fourth commandment says that we are not to take God’s Name in vain.  Here, though, God says that His Word, which is the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, is magnified or exalted even above His Name.  How do we treat the Bible?  Do we treat His Word as sacred?  Is it important to us?  God’s Word is His revelation to us.  God says it is even greater than His Name.  If His Word isn’t trustworthy, how can we trust His Name?  His Word, though, is trustworthy!  And so is His Name!  Do we love the Name of God, the Name of Jesus?  If so, we should love His Word as well.  Men and women have died for God’s Word, and it should be that important to us, as well.