spirit

This week we begin worship with:

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, . . .

This verse follows after Peter's encouragement for believers to keep a good reputation and to be willing to suffer for doing good.  Peter here, puts forward as our example, the one who "also suffered", Jesus Christ, our Lord, whose reputation was spotless, who was sinless, and who suffered to the point of death.

Jesus died at the hands of men, but better said He died within the sovereign will of the Father.  This is why Jesus, in His divinity as the Triune God could say:

John 10:17-18

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Our passage goes on state what He did while in the spirit for the three days, prior to taking up His life again (1 Peter 3:19-20).

It is this transition from flesh to spirit, and from spirt to a new body that we await, and it is what Peter is encouraging us with here.  For it is not only Christ who will do this, but by His authority, He will "bring us to God", who is spirit (pneuma).

help

 This week we begin worship with:

Hebrews 2:17-18

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Without atonement, we would be met by the full wrath of God for sin, our sin.  A priest mediates atonement to prevent that wrath.  But to serve in that role, our LORD Jesus Christ had to become "in every respect" like His brothers.  For if in some respect He was not like His brothers, His divinity would have delivered wrath, rather than atonement.

The aspect most essential was that He "suffered" (paschō):

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

On the cross, His pain was real.  He suffered and died.  Sinless, He became the atonement. This is past tense (and so is the verb!).  It is done.  It is not ongoing.  It is never to be repeated for Christ.

We, however are "being" tempted.  And if we look, we find Jesus holding out His helping (boētheō) hand.

redeem

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 130:7-8

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

    and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

    from all his iniquities.

This verse uses “he”, “him”, and “his”.  Most refer to God; the last does not!  The phrase “his iniquities” refers to the masculine collective noun “Israel”, and can be modernized into “their iniquities” (See NIV).

When we share our faith, there is a seed to plant.  Our verse this week does it so well.  We must convey to them that God loved them so much that He made them, and that if you hope in that He will redeem you.  When the false narrative of evolution fails in their mind, when they see design in nature rather than chaos, that seed will grow.

The phrase “steadfast love” (ḥeseḏ) is covenantal.  We never earned it.  We were chosen.  Better said, we were designed, loved, and then made.

Ephesians 1:3-5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us[a] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, . . .

 

glory

 This morning we begin worship with:

Psalm 115:1

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

This is not a praise song.  This is a prayer.

Glory (kāḇôḏ) is weighty.  We cannot contribute to it.  For no matter who we are, we are but dust on the scale.

Psalm 62:9

Those of low estate are but a breath;

    those of high estate are a delusion;

in the balances they go up;

    they are together lighter than a breath.

So, we are asking the LORD to glorify Himself.

That glory occurs "for the sake of" (ʿal) or because of His unending, unfeigned, and for us His undeserved love.  

Yes, you should be picturing your Heavenly Father on the other end of the see-saw at the park.

May He indeed glorify Himself in our lives today.

light

 This week we begin worship with:

Matthew 4:16-17

”. . . the people dwelling in darkness

    have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

    on them a light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus had completed his time of testing (Matthew 4:1-11), and John had just been arrested (Matthew 4:12).   It was at this moment that Jesus began to preach.

Our passage is Matthew's explanation that the ministry began in Capernaum and was the fulfillment of Isaiah's great prophecy concerning the birth and ministry of Christ (Isaiah 9:1-7).

His 'preaching' did not have three points, it did not have a joke, it did not have a heart tugging story.  It had one very bright light.  He said "Repent" (metanoeō).  His presence, His love, His words, all illuminated the darkness into which they had fallen.  

We say when a new actor gets their breakthrough, that they step into the lime-light.  Not so with Jesus, He is the light.

good

This week we begin worship with:

Nahum 1:6-7

Who can stand before his indignation?

    Who can endure the heat of his anger?

His wrath is poured out like fire,

    and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

The LORD is good,

    a stronghold in the day of trouble;

he knows those who take refuge in him.

If God was not scary, He could not protect us.  This is true of husbands, police officers, soldiers, and even mothers with a raised flip-flop.  It is the next verse that makes all the difference.  

"The LORD is good . . ."

Any human institution can become corrupt and quickly turn from protection to oppression.  But God is good (ṭôḇ).  This is not His purity of holiness.  This is God's benevolent character.  

But, if a parent does not know that a child has a fever, all their other efforts to care for the child will not help.

". . . he knows those who take refuge in him."

God knows us deeper than we know ourselves.

Psalm 139:1

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 

And He wants what would be best for us. 

work

This week we begin worship with:

Philippians 2:12-13

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We are to “work out” and God “works in”.  Those English words are convenient opposites, that unfortunately hide that one is a direction and one is a position. 

In fact, working out (katergazomai) is the direction “down” like working yeast all the way through the dough. Our salvation is already present but we need to make sure it reaches all aspects of our lives and relationships. 

Working in (energeō en), like the yeast itself, God is the source of what is happening.  While we are instantly a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), we all know the struggle of Paul as a “wretched man” (Romans 7:21-24). 

So today, let us rejoice with Paul:

Romans 7:24-25a
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

consider

This week we begin worship with:

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

This verse asks us to focus, not on ourselves, but on others. And that focus is not one way but reciprocal. 

The word “consider” (katanoeō) requires us to swing our eyes off ourselves, off our devices, off the distractions of the world, and onto people, and specifically believers. We are to do this to “one another” (allēlōn).  This word is a beautiful word, which takes two individuals and makes them mutually responsible for each other. 

Tonight, a group of us volunteer at Camp-of-the-Woods to run the TeePee, which is a gathering spot for guests after concerts and services. We scoop icecream, so that all the staff can have an opportunity to worship together. Collectively it is a highlight of our week.  Leading up to it we greet each other with “You going to be there Sunday?” or “See you tonight?”.  We gather, we pray, and we love on each other and the guests.

Where is your focus?  Who are you encouraging?

keep

 This week we begin worship with:

John 15:9-11

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

God first loved us.  That truth is under all of scripture.  God loved us before He made us.

Ephesians 1:4b-5

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, . . .

That love is un-ending.

Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, . . .

Even if we slip up, it does not change.

2 Timothy 2:13

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself. 

It has been observed that John never used the word "faith", he always used the active word "believe".  To remain in that place of joy, our task is to actively "keep" His commandments.  Inaction separates us from the joy God intends.

Let

 This week we begin worship with:

Ephesians 4:31-32

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

This comes at the end of Paul’s instruction to live the new life we have been given. 

Ephesians 4:22-24

. . . to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

We are to put off the old and, yes we are to put on the new, but let us never forget that in order for that to be even possible there must be something new!  And it is God “in the spirit” who has done that renewal.  And being renewed in that way the new self takes on the very “likeness of God”.

Guys know this experience.  It is like putting on a well tailored suit. It simply fits. The old pattern doesn’t. The new pattern does.  

In fact, it fits so well, that our text for the week is passive. We don’t put away “all bitterness . . .”, we “let” it be put away.  Enjoy the fit. The new self looks good on you. 

shine

 This week we begin worship with:

1 John 3:2-3

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

We are already a child of God and we have been taught to call Him, "Heavenly Father" (Matthew 6:9-13).  But we have not received our new body, for we have not yet suffered death like Jesus, and we have not yet heard our name calling us anew from the grave.  When that does occurs we will then be "like him" in body:

Philippians 3:20-21

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

What makes us "like him"?  The word "because" in this week's verse explains that this happens because we will "see him as he is".  His absolute purity is transformative and will be glorified by it.

Isaiah 60:1,19

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

    and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 

The sun shall be no more

    your light by day,

nor for brightness shall the moon

    give you light;

but the Lord will be your everlasting light,

    and your God will be your glory.

But between now and then we have been given a task ("purifies himself").  Our actions today should already start to reflect that future glory:

2 Corinthians 3:15-18a

Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 

Each morning my mother would come to my room and wake me with a cheerful "Arise and shine".  Thanks, Mom. 

infinite

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 147:5-6

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.

I prefer the King James "infinite" (KJV).  His power and understanding is not simply beyond our ability to measure, it has no end.

Then what is incredible is what God does with that infinite capacity, He shares it with those dependent on Him.

For it is that dependence is the entrance requirement for the Kingdom of God:

Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

relents

This week we begin worship with:

Joel 2:12-13

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

    “return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

    and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

Return to the Lord your God,

    for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

    and he relents over disaster.

Last week we came to understand that God cannot change (James 1:17). Yet this week we are told that God “relents” (nāḥam). The word is passive and has been translated “repenteth Him of evil” (KJV). God is not changing we are. 

So, the course of our destiny changes as we turn from our wickedness and into the arms our gracious Lord!

will

 This week we begin worship with:

Numbers 23:19

God is not man, that he should lie,

    or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

    Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

When quizzed one might stumble to start a sentence with "God can't . . .".  But this verse calls out two things that are so deep in God's character that we do go past "won't" to "can't".

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

God is not simply truthful, God is truth, out of which a lie cannot come.

1 John 1:5
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

James 1:17 
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

God is not simply unchanging, God is light, light so pervasive, He cannot produce a shadow.  No part of creation, no part of us, escapes His celestial light and that cannot change.

answered

 This week we begin worship with:

Matthew 4:3-4

And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command

these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man

shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of

God.’”

When Satan demanded proof for His divinity, Jesus instead responded with His humanity.  Instead of using His divinity to end a 40-day fast, Jesus refused.

When Satan demanded proof of the Father's power and asked Jesus to test the Father's ability to save Him from a fall, Jesus refused to put the Father to the test.

When Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship.  Jesus refused to alter His relationship with the Father.

These are not vague statements.  They are rigid, prepared, fixed, immovable, non-negotiable.

May we be as prepared and determined and direct in response to our next temptation.

within

This week we begin worship with:

Jeremiah 31:33

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their

hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

To understand this verse we must read:

2 Corinthians 3:3

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

God by indwelling of the Holy Spirit moves the law from external to internal and from “don’t” to “do”.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

When Jesus explained the Law, He used the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).  May His concluding words ring in our ears “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37b).

renewal

 This week we begin worship with:

Romans 12:2-3

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Yes, our transformation is because of our renewal.  But recall please the conclusion of the first eleven chapters (Romans 11:36).  Our renewal is God’s doing, not ours, and it is already done. To underscore this, the Greek word for “renewal” (anakainōsei) is a noun and not a verb.  It is a completed thing and not something still necessary to do. 

So, we are not being asked to renew our own mind.  We are simply being asked to use it.  

Pirates bite gold coins.  We hold $100 bills up to the light.  We delete emails that ask for our social security number.   We are not locating God’s will as if it is elusive and secretive.  We are being asked to reject choices that are simply not part of His revealed will.  

We use our renewed mind to discern (dokimazō) what is and what is not the will of God. Translators have used the words “test” and “prove”.  But dokimazō is not experimental.  It is analytical and observational with its root words having to do with the eyes.  There is no need to taste poison.

Spirit

This week we begin worship with:

John 7:37-38

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If

anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the

Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

By the time of the Second Temple, the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) (Leviticus 23:33–43; Numbers 29) had grown to include the Water Drawing Ceremony or Simchat Beit HaShoavah.  

Each morning of the seven-day feast, a priest would go to the Pool of Siloam, draw a golden pitcher of water, return through the Water Gate, to the temple and pour water and wine over the altar (Mishnah Sukkah 4:9–10).  

This was a time of great rejoicing and the acknowledgement of God’s provision through rain with music, dance, torches, and celebration that lasted through the nights of the festivals. 

Prayers for the next year’s rain would begin with the Amidah prayer on Shemini Atzeret (the day after Sukkot).  For it would we inconvenient for it to rain while dwelling in booths!

Recall please the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42) who had to draw the water from such a great depth, to whom Jesus offered Living Water.

John 4:10

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

This echoes the effort of the priest drawing the water from the distant Pool of Siloam, which was a 20-minute procession with about a 400-foot elevation change.

Jesus, in this way, continues to press the Gospel.  Faith, rather than misguided effort, would unleash God’s blessing of Spirit-filled and eternal life -- "the gift of God" (John 4:10).

Fortunately for us, John explains who is the "Living Water".

John 7:39

Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

For those that have a moment, please read Galatians 5:16-26:

It has three sections: 

• The works of the flesh: things we should never do as part of the temple of God.
• The fruit of the Spirit: things that flow out of us over the thresholds of that temple (Ezekiel 47:1-12)
• The footprints of the Spirt: cautions that keep the mortar tight be-tween each brick that makes up the temple.

 

 

true

 This week we begin worship with:

Hebrews 10:19-22

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Recall please that the consequence for the high priest of improper preparation or performance in the Holy of Holies was death (Leviticus 16:2,13; Exodus 28:35).  It is with that terrifying background that the author of Hebrews tells us that we should have confidence when we approach!

Our confidence is not in what we are or have done, but instead in what our Lord Jesus Christ is and has done. He is the “great high priest over the house of God”.

But note, we are approaching with a “true” (alēthinos) heart, not a “pure” (katharos) heart.  We can approach confidently with our “evil conscience” because He has successfully and perfectly cleansed it (past tense!).

Recently I told the Grandchildren in jest to be careful and only brush the teeth they want to keep.  This verse tells us to be careful and only confess to God what we want forgiven. Let’s be true with Him. 

heart

This week we begin worship with:

1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

The depth of God’s gaze is illustrated by David’s charge to Solomon:

1 Chronicles 28:9

“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

The heart is deeper than simply a “willing mind”.  With God it is not “the thought that counts”!

Paul experienced this:

Romans 7:22-25

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

But in Christ we are made new and He takes control. 

2 Corinthians 5:14,17
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; . . . Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.