Spiritual Lessons From My Cat

I wanted to share about an enlightening experience I had this morning with my cat, Shiloh. Now, many people believe that all attachment cats and other pets have to their people is purely instinctual, and that they do not truly feel any emotion whatsoever. I do not want to argue against or in favor of this view. But I would like to point out that regardless of whatever it is that cats feel, they are capable of strong attachments, and it is my cat's attachment to me that inspired and convicted me today!

I was trying to get ready for my busy day, rushing around my room and wanting to be sure to get time with God before I got started with everything. My bedroom is the regular hang-out place for all the cats whenever I am home, but they are not allowed to be in there when I am out and about. I opened my door hesitantly and just wide enough for me to slip out for a minute, not wanting to let any of the cats inside to disturb my time of prayer and not wanting to have to throw them all out when I left today. Immediately Shiloh darted inside my room – he often waits outside my door for me to let him in. I sighed, and determined to ignore him. But as I eventually settled down on the floor and hugged my knees to my chest to pray he came up to me, put one paw on my knee, and waited. He looked up at me expectantly. Thwarted twice and warmed by his persistence, I gave in and let my knees down just a little bit, and he crawled into my lap, even contorting his body to fit in the small space I allowed. I figured he might leave and stop bothering me if I did not pet him, but he didn't. He just laid there, perfectly happy and content even though I was not interacting with him at all.

I noticed three things about Shiloh this morning. First, his eagerness, next, his persistence, and lastly his contentment to simply be with me. This both touched me and challenged me. Am I this way with God? Does my cat, who “potentially” is only motivated by the fact that I feed him and pet him, make a greater effort than me to be with his master? My cat eagerly waits daily behind my closed door for me – do I daily wait eagerly and accept my Lord's invitation to knock on His door, believing His promise to open? (Matthew 7:7) When in the same room, my cat will not rest until he gets my attention in some measure. When I enter the throne room of God, do I persist until I know I am communing with God and do I “pray always without losing heart” like Jesus taught us to do with The Parable of the Persistent Widow? (Luke 18:1-8) And even when I am not showering my cat with attention, he sits with me and purrs with contentment. When it seems as though every worldly comfort is removed, am I still content to simply be near to my Father, who has adopted me and sacrificed His perfect Son to redeem me? Will I be satisfied as with rich and fat food by simply remembering the Lord on my bed and meditating on Him in the watches of the night? (Psalm 63:5-6)

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, 
and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; 
your right hand upholds me.”

~Psalm 63:1-8

Live by faith, not by sight

I was thinking this afternoon about the fiery trials that the Lord puts us through in order to "smelt away the dross as with lye and remove all alloy (Isaiah 1:25)," specifically when it feels as though the Lord has withdrawn His presence from a believer. Amidst the trials and darkness of some seasons of life as a Christian, it can feel as though God no longer walks beside you, no longer upholds you with His strong right hand (Psalm 63:8). For example, Darlene Rose, in that Japanese death camp when she was in solitary confinement awaiting execution. During that time, she felt exactly that thing happen - the Lord withdrawing His presence, even in the midst of soul-soaring worship. However, God brought to her mind 2 Corinthians 5:7: "we walk by faith, not by sight." She was filled with such joy at the thought that she was able to sing hymns and praises to her Father amid Job-like affliction! It's an incredible encouragement, but our example for living, really, is Christ Himself; as 1 Corinthians 11:1 says, "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ."

We are to follow His example in every aspect - dealing with grief and sorrow is no exception. In fact, it seems only natural to imitate the "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. (Isaiah 53:3)" Christ was wholly perfect in His time on earth, always totally believing the promises of God for every second of every day. When on the cross, bleeding and dying and suffering the most agony any being will ever endure, even crying out "My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46, Psalm 22:1)" He truly was living by faith and not by sight, as shown by the rest of the Psalm Jesus quotes there. Forsaking His earthly "self" in order to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15), let us imitate Christ, as Paul did, and violently crucify our worldly "selves." "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)" Then we, like Paul, can truly understand what he wrote to the Corinthians: "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-20)"

Do not lean on your own understanding, brethren, but "in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5 & 6)"

Be Wise and Attend to the Obeying

The devotional for today in Morning by Morning by Charles Spurgeon made me marvel at God's infinite wisdom and sweet attentiveness to His children's needs daily! My unbelief is shown to me every time I am so shocked by how timely these entries can be for me on the exact day I need them and how well they answer my darkest struggles and trials.

The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. -Proverbs 16:33

"If the disposal of the lot is the Lord's, whose is the arrangement of our whole lives? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by Him, how much more the events of our entire lives, especially when we are told by our blessed Savior, 'The very hairs of your head are all numbered' (Matt. 10:30). Not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from your Father's will (v. 29). It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were always to remember this. It would relieve your mind from anxiety, so that you would be better able to walk in patience, quiet, and cheerfulness as a Christian should. When a man is anxious, he cannot serve his Master; his thoughts are serving himself. If you would 'seek... first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness' (Matt 6:33), all things would then be added unto you. You are meddling with Christ's business and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying 'providing' work and forgetting that it is yours to obey. Be wise and attend to the obeying; let Christ manage the providing. Come and survey your Father's storehouse, and ask whether He will let you starve while He has laid up so great an abundance in His garner. Look at His heart of mercy. See if that can ever prove unkind! Look at His inscrutable wisdom. See if that will ever be at fault. Above all, look to Jesus Christ, your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while He pleads, can your Father deal ungraciously with you? If He remembers even sparrows, will He forget one of the least of His poor children? 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved' (Ps. 55:22)."

My soul, rest happy in thy low estate,

Nor hope nor wish to be esteem'd or great;

To take the impress of the Will Divine,

Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

50 Great Nature Pictures of 2011

Click the link below to see some very beautiful pictures! I like number 49 but you don't have to agree. :)

Click Here!

432 in the Redemption

I found this hymn tonight as I was reading through a non-Redemption hymnal at the house. I can't believe I don't know this song! The words are amazing! I found the second verse especially poignant. The idea of Christ being both the way and the prize paints all else in a way that makes it conform to the reality of Philippians 3:8. I often find myself wandering from that truth and as a result I sit in a slouch, wallowing in a mire of filth like the sow and eating my own vomit like a dog (2 Peter 2:22). Fight with all of your might, brethren! There is a war going on around us and we must be prepared to do battle!
[If you happen to know this song, please teach it to me when next we meet?]

Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right;
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race through God's good grace,
Lift up thine eyes and seek His face;
Life with its path before thee lies,
Christ is the way, and Christ the prize.

Cast care aside, lean on thy Guide;
His boundless mercy will provide;
Trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life and Christ its love.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near;
He changeth not, and thou art dear;
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.

Verified Sonship

"The voice attesting His sonship came to Christ in prayer. The witness of our sonship, clear and indubitable, is secured only by praying. The constant witness of our sonship can only be retained by those who pray without ceasing. When the stream of prayer is shallow and arrested, the evidence of our sonship becomes faint and inaudible." - EM Bounds: The Reality of Prayer

"Fruitless Discussion and Opposing Arguments" -Clint Leiter Bible Study 12/6/11

This is often the case on MU campus outreaches with people who want nothing but arguments

1 Timothy 1:3-7:

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."

Jews coming with a lot of myths that they're trying to introduce to Christianity

Genealogical distinctions had been done away with in Christ

-They're just not pertinent anymore

-the result of these is speculation rather than edification

--they don't promote true religion or anything good in the soul

--misses SALVATION

Verse 5 here: "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

-this is a foundational principle for the Christian life

--love to God from a pure heart that's been cleansed by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit so that we have a clean conscience, all through the conduit of faith in Jesus Christ

Verse 7 is talking about proud, ignorant men without knowledge of what they're talking about or the ramifications of that knowledge

1 Timothy 6:3-4:

"If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions"

advocating a different doctrine that doesn't agree with sound words - i.e., Christ's teaching

-doesn't accord with godliness

"values himself superior"; ignorant and puffed up with conceit

-often ignorance and conceit go together with "confident assertions"

"sick interest in controversy"

-nothing good comes from these conversations since their only aim is the argument itself rather than Truth-seeking

the closing of the letter is the same a the opening in that it's a strong warning

-guard the Gospel; the teaching entrusted to you

"irreverent babble" - the result of argument rather than informative conversation

"knowledge" -> science

-again, many Speaker's Circle conversations about this kind of false science

--the word science comes from the same Greek word from which we get knowledge

2 Timothy 2:14-17a

"Remind them of these things and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will led people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene."

avoid quarrels about words - explain the Truths

-does no good - useless; leads to the ruin (catastrophe) of the hearers

diligently being accurate with the Word of Truth

-unashamed workman; conjures the image of a man adept at the use of tools, like a craftsman

"irreverent babble" comes up here again

-further ungodliness; will spread like a debilitating infection

refuse to engage in foolish and ignorant controversies and speculations

-one is not in a right mind when arguing in this way

--calls people starting these conversations fools

Titus 1:13-14

"This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth."

commandments from men who've turned from the truth

-yet another warning against foolish controversies and genealogies

--"morose" in Greek - where we get "moron" in eng; lit., stupid controversies

--blunt descriptions of apostatizing; knowing and seeing some Truth - even giving a mental assent to it for a season - but not living life according to those Truths because of the lack of the Holy Spirit's work on one's soul

People are perishing! Devote yourself to heeding these exhortations!

-be praying that you wouldn't be drawn into these conversations

-The account of John 4:1-42 where the Lord is talking with the woman at the well is an example of how best to guide conversations towards things of merit - there is discussion about what seemed to be the woman's concerns, but as a whole the conversation is geared toward the salvation of her soul.

"The bible is a proclamation, not an argument - you can't argue someone into the Kingdom." -Clint Leiter

Bands Who Play Hymns Well

Here are some bands that, in my opinion, play hymns wonderfully.  These aren't in any particular order:

1) Indelible Grace
2) The Enfield Hymn Sessions
3) High Street Hymns
4) David Potter
5) Jadon Lavik
6) Page CXVI
7) Chris Rice

Sunday Meeting 12/4/11

We had the wonderful privilege of having our dear brother Mason Vann come share with us on our last Sunday Meeting. I did take notes, but he happened to be sharing a message he recently preached at Lake Road Chapel, so I thought I would post a link to the message on their podcast instead of my notes this time so you can actually listen to it! :)

http://sermon.net/lakeroad/sermonid/119746860

What an important topic! Satan hates unity among believers and loves to divide brothers and sisters in Christ! But our love for one another and the way we interact amongst ourselves is something that Jesus says is evidence that we are even Christians: "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)

On What Basis Will God Judge Those Who Have Never Heard?

On What Basis Will God Judge Those Who Have Never Heard?

This question comes up a lot during evangelism. Justin Taylor shares a excerpt from Schaeffer. Just click the link if you're interested.

A Snapshot of Finishing Life Well

A Snapshot of Finishing Life Well <- Click here for the original post by Justin Taylor

Here is a great example of love and faithfulness to the woman or man that God has called you to marry.

Nathan Rages 11/29/11 Achan & Sin

[NOTE: Sorry to anyone who looked for this post yesterday and did not find it. I did finish the notes yesterday, but I failed to post them as promised! I am thankful for the opportunity to grow in diligence and faithfulness through keeping up with this blog and providing notes for those who've asked. As some of you may have picked up on by now, it is an area I need and desire to grow in! ~HCK]

Joshua 7

“But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.”

• This is a weighty story. And the Bible says these things are written for our instruction. This is not for our entertainment. In this study I want to focus on what I think the heart of the story is about: Sin.

• Sin just means disobeying God, acting contrary to God's instruction. That is exactly what happened here in this account

• You see the effects of sin here: how it affects Achan, his family, his leader, and all of Israel

What truths about sin can we see illustrated in the sad story of Achan?

Sin is serious

• Sin causes great misery and trouble

• 7:25 “Why did you bring trouble on us?”

• All the problems in the world can be traced back to sin in some way

• Sin is horrible, devastating, and destructive. It ruins and defiles everything it touches. It is like a cancer, and it robs us of everything that is precious

• Is that how our culture views sin?

  • Some sins, but in general our culture does not consider sin serious. We hardly even hear the word sin; we talk about crime, fault, and error – but sin is explained away and even laughed at

  • Take the average sitcom, and you find that most of the jokes are making light of sin

• Even Christians can fall into the trap of taking sin lightly

  • We can even begin to focus on the fact that we are forgiven, or even accuse ourselves and others of being legalistic when they seriously pursue holiness

  • But we are supposed to hate sin – it is evil, and God hates it!

God distances Himself from sin and punishes it

• Isaiah 59:2 “...your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God...”

• God tells Israel that they will not make any more progress or have victory if they do not cleanse themselves from the sin

• This is an example of God's chastening

  • He showed them that they had a problem and that they needed to fix it

  • “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord...”

  • God will chasten His children; He will not allow us to continue in sin. There are real consequences to disobeying God. He loves us too much to simply let us go on – He wants us to be holy.

  • Some became sick and even died from abusing the Lord's supper in the Corinthian church

Sin impacts others

• The spies underestimate the situation, then Joshua gets off track and follows their advice resulting in the death of 36 others. Then Achan's family and livestock are killed with him. The whole nation is put to shame.

• Do we really believe this? We sometimes think that our personal sins won't affect others, but they do

  • Your family will suffer from lack of positive example, the church will suffer lack of your spiritual gift. It will definitely affect your walk with God which in turn affects your interactions with others.

  • “If one member suffers...”

    • When there is a problem with one tiny root of your tooth, the whole body suffers.

It glorifies God to confess sin

• “Give glory to the Lord and tell me what you've done”

• How does it glorify God?

  • It is acknowledging God is right

• But it did not save Achan, and it is the same with us

  • We not only need to confess our sins, but we need a Savior. We need atonement for our sins!

God hates sin

• “The anger of the Lord burned...”

• The whole chapter is about the wrath of God. That is why sin is a big problem – it not only causes other problems but is displeasing to God

• Are we comfortable with this truth? Do you apologize for this attribute of God? How can we worship God and rejoice for this?

  • Without wrath, there would not be mercy

  • God has wrath because He is holy. God would not be a just judge if He tolerated sin.

  • One reason people can become uncomfortable with this is because they picture a human full of anger and wrath. People are usually wrong when they are full of wrath, but God is perfectly right in His judgment.

• Is God's wrath always carried out immediately?

  • No. God is so patient!

Sin needs to be dealt with quickly and violently

• God told Joshua to immediately take care of this

  • This illustrates the role of a pastor and even other believers to deal with sin in the church

  • Joshua confronted the congregation and together they stoned Achan and his family

• We are to be concerned about sin in each other – the Bible tells us to reprove sin lovingly and gently

  • Proverbs 27:6 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy”

Sometimes we still bear the consequences for certain sins even after we are right with God

• Sin can have a longterm effect

  • Some people who are drug addicts permanently damage their brains and become Christians, but are not instantly healed of the damage or anything. They still feel the consequences from their former sins.

• It is an warning to us that we do not always know when God will cause us to be immediately punished or feel longterm consequences.

The implications of sin go beyond the act in itself

• Many people would not consider Achan's sin worse than murder or something like that. Adam and Eve only took a bite of some forbidden fruit. But sin is ultimately disobeying God

Sin is not worth the consequences

• The things he stole could not even be put into use.

• “Fleeting pleasures of sin”

Sin results in death

• Achan did not just get a reprimand, but he was killed.

• “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6)

• If you are lost, you will come to the judgment seat of God like Achan

  • He was caught red handed, with no escape. In the end he confessed, but it was too late, and will be for all those who do not have Christ as their substitute.

  • This is the backdrop on which the gospel shines. Christ came to save us when we are just as guilty as Achan. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life!

Fear of God

A question that seems to be consistently brought up at bible study is the meaning of the word "fear" when talking about the Lord, since it's used to describe a position towards Him with a very different connotation than we're used to hearing it in our everyday lives. Yeah, I'd be filled with fear if a bear were charging me, but why does the Bible continually talk about the fear of the Lord being the beginning of knowledge, wisdom, understanding, et cetera, especially in light of Christ's exhortations to fear not? Well, I've done a little bit of digging around in some languages I don't really understand to try and figure it out.

First of all, I wanna bring up a few verses as an example of what it is that I'm talking about.

Proverbs 1:7(ESV) - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 9:10(ESV) - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight."

Psalm 111:10(ESV) - "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!"

All of these verses talk about fearing God as the fountainhead from which all Truth flows. The building up of our souls, since it usually comes by way of the Word, seems to be dependent on wisdom, knowledge and insight, be it in relation to what we read or what's being presented by a pastor. However, in the Gospels, Christ is portrayed as saying over and over again "fear not." (Luke 8:50, 12:7 & 32, Matthew 8:26, Mark 4:40)

First of all, as Nathan Rages and others have pointed out a few times, God is described in Hebrews chapter 12 as "a consuming fire." regardless of everything else, God is clearly to be feared since He is capable of much more power than a charging bear, and God is "angry with the wicked every day. (Psalm 7:11 KJV)" There is righteous judgment to be feared by the wicked man, and the way of salvation from that wrath is only found in Christ. You - His creature - must follow the way He has set up in His Scriptures; YOU have sinned and in His goodness He has made a narrow path for your redemption. But it seems like Christ's exhortation in Matthew chapter 10 and Luke chapter 12 to "fear Him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell, (Luke 12:5)" is directed at Christians - the Lord first spoke these words to his disciples (Luke 12:1).

The verses in Proverbs and Psalms that we looked at all use the Hebrew word "yir'a," which can be translated a few different ways. The word does mean "fear," but with a connotation of reverence and piety inherent therein. Taken from Strong's description of the related word "yare", "to be afraid, be frightened; to revere, respect… in some contexts fear relates to terror and fright, in other contexts fear relates to honor, respect and awe, as in 'the fear of the Lord.'" It's a similar situation with the Greek of the gospel narratives. In the previously quoted text from Luke, the word is "phobeo," which, again referring to Strong's, means "to fear, be afraid, alarmed, in some contexts improper and an impediment to faith and love; to reverence respect, worship, in other contexts a proper fear for God, a deep reverence and awe." There is a subtlety in the Hebrew and Greek that doesn't seem to be conveyed in our English translations. It seems like both words, "yir'a" and "phobeo," have both meanings built into them that their contexts would bring out, either the fear with reverence or the reverence with fear. Our wording is almost more specific, so the reverence seems to get dropped from the word and we just get fear, or we only have the reverence and we lose the sense of fear that goes along with it. There doesn't seem to be that kind of a distinction in either the Hebrew or the Greek.

It seems to me that, with the verses from Psalms and Proverbs combined with the information about the Greek and Hebrew words, proper reverence for God has a healthy fear of His might behind it, and fear of His infinite might will lead to reverence and worship. Paul Washer has a wonderful way of putting this that I can't quite quote, but he basically says that yes, there is judgment for a believer and it will be absolutely terrifying - but when we go to the judgment seat of the Lord of lords and the King of kings, we won't see a face of wrath and malice but the tender, loving smile of our Father and our Brother.

For as long as this is, it really only scrapes the tip of the iceberg of this issue, but I really hope this can be of some use to you. There are over 400 uses of the word "fear" throughout the bible, so there is a lot there to study if you need further examples. I'll leave off with this one - one that I have found to be fairly helpful: "Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.' (Exodus 20:20)"

Last Week's Study

I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that there were no notes from last week. In light of Thanksgiving we talked about Thankfulness with Asa Julian however, and it was a refreshment to my soul! There is SO much to be thankful for, my friends! Meditate on what God has done for you and be thankful for salvation!

"I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

I will ponder all your work,

and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy.

What god is great like our God?

You are the God who works wonders;

you have made known your might among the peoples.

You with your arm redeemed your people,

the children of Jacob and Joseph." (Psalm 77:11-15)

This week's notes will be posted by tonight or tomorrow! :)

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south... Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! For He shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron." Psalm 107:1-3&15-16

Apollos-An Example

Acts 18:25b "he (Apollos) taught accurately the things concerning Jesus though he knew only the Baptism of John."

Here are some things I felt convicted about concerning this passage:

• I ought not to judge brothers and sisters on their lack of Bible knowledge. Especially at the beginning. Apollos knew little yet he could teach accurately by the Spirit of God. Priscilla and Aquila proceed to teach him more fully the way of God, but you don't get the idea that they chided him for his lack of knowledge. Rather, it was probably done out of love and recognition of the zeal in him.
  

• We ought to be humbled concerning our own hearts. Apollos only had a baptism given by man to spur his teaching. I have the baptism of The Holy Spirit and the entire New Testament to light me on fire for Christ and yet I am often cold and unwilling to share with others.

Let us press on to have our hearts so full of the gospel that we pull along side brother and sisters with a lot of zeal but not a lot of knowledge. Let's encourage them in the whole truth. It wouldn't hurt for some of that zeal to rub off on us either. :)

Clint Leiter 11/15/11 The Demoniac's Ministry

Mark 5:18-20 “And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.' And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”

This is an unusual account in two ways: First, a man wants to return with Christ, but is denied the opportunity. Also, so many people received warnings from Jesus not to say anything about what was done for them, but here Jesus tells this man to go proclaim it.

The words used here are literally translated “show and tell.” That was this man's ministry! It was simple

• Of course the application we draw for ourselves is that this can be our ministry too! You don't have to be an evangelist, preacher, or a missionary. But each one of us can have a simple ministry like this one: go and report what Jesus has done in your life!

• In case it isn't fresh in your memory, what happened here to this fellow prior to these verses is he met Jesus at the shore and was possessed by a whole legion of demons. People tried to chain him and bind him, but he was supernaturally strong. It says he gashed himself with stones and cried out night and day. Jesus casts the demons out of this man into a herd of pigs, which ran off a cliff.

It was a public ministry

• The King James says he went away and “published” Jesus

• This man preached to the public in Decapolis

It was a widespread ministry

• Decapolis means “10 cities”

• He proclaimed Jesus to that entire region

It was an effective ministry

• The passage says that everyone was “amazed” or they “marveled”

His ministry was ordained by Jesus

• Jesus was the one who sent him out

• Think of the confidence he could go and start this work with!

• But Jesus has done the same with us – we are commanded to make disciples of all nations

His ministry started at home

• We have a tendency to want to be involved with all the big missions. We want to be the pastor of a church, an evangelist, or a missionary to an unreached country. But here, Jesus gave this man a simple ministry that started in his own home. We can all do that, can't we?

The Demoniac's ministry was very personal

• What was the material for this ministry?

  • The great things the Lord had done

  • The Lord's mercy shown to him

• Every Christian has this testimony!

• We don't have to be on a team to do good. Jesus sent just this one man.

What great things is he to be proclaiming?

• Deliverance from the demons

  • The man was occupied by so many demons that the leader's name was Legion

  • One of the parallel passages says that he was possessed for “a long time” - this did not happen over night. But Jesus prevailed.

• His desire for Jesus – a love and devotion

  • That does not happen without God's intervention, so it is a great thing when the Lord puts a love in a man's heart for Him

• His sanity was returned

  • It is a great thing for any man to get his mind back. He was a lunatic, but now here he is sitting at the feet of Jesus

  • Oftentimes a distressed mind is worse than physical impairment and pain

  • It says he screamed night and day in the tombs.Where is rest for a man like that?

• He got a real revelation of who Jesus is

• He got to go home instead of live in the tombs

  • It was a dark life, he lived in a graveyard! But he got to go back to his house and lay in his own bed.

• He got to go back to his family/friends

  • Luke's parallel tells us that he was from the city. He had a life before he became oppressed. The Lord told him to go back to his family/friends.

• He was given a zeal for Christ

• He was able to serve the Lord without fear

  • He was willing to be distant from the Lord, indicating he wasn't overwhelmed with fear that they would come back

• He was no longer a threat to himself

• He was no longer a threat to society

  • The people could not pass by him because he was so fierce

• He was no longer naked

What was the mercy that God had?

• He was sought out by Christ

  • He was a lost, hopeless case who did not seek Jesus, but Christ came to him.

  • The entire trip was for this one man. After this one encounter he was sent away!

• He was kept by the power of God from destroying himself before he ever met Christ

The Demoniac's ministry had a beginning

• Some of you may feel that for whatever reason you have not been very used yet, but that can change

• There can be a beginning of a new day of usefulness for you in the Kingdom as simple and effective as this one

• Go home and tell about the great things God has done for you and the mercy that he has had on you!

What makes your heart beat faster?

"Let nothing ever set your heart beating so mightily as love for Him. Let this ambition fire your soul. May this be the foundation of every enterprise on which you enter and your sustaining motive whenever your zeal would grow cold. Make God your only object. Depend on it. Where self begins, sorrow begins."

~Charles Spurgeon

Nathan Rages 11/8/11 Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:1-10 “I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

1-6

• Paul is a humble man who does not want to boast about himself, but he is being forced to defend himself as an Apostle to people who should be loyal to him. He preached at Corinth for over a year and kept in contact. At this point in time there is some sort of revolt under way

• He is clearly talking about himself being caught up in the third heaven (vs. 7), and saw things he would not even talk about!

• But he will talk about one thing – his weaknesses

  • Nobody likes being a weakling – we don't like to think of ourselves as needy or unable to handle things. We tend to despise weak things, and like things that are strong. But Paul wants to talk about his weaknesses; Being a hurting, struggling, deficient person.

  • This is a really important and practical issue. And it is an area where Christianity is completely different from the whole direction of the world with our natural inclinations.

How do we deal with the pains and problems with this life?

vs. 7-10

• “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations...”

  • This is where Paul refers to the revelations in the preceding verses. But he also had other miraculous experiences with God – not many of us had incredible conversion experiences like his (being struck blind, regaining sight, a vision of Christ...)

  • God also revealed a lot of truth to Paul – much of the New Testament is comprised of his letters!

  • There is a great honor in all of this, but also the great danger of pride. We tend to think of Paul as some kind of superhero who never gets tempted with the same things we do. But he confesses that he was tempted with pride

• Are we susceptible to this, or is it just people who have visions?

  • It doesn't take some big vision for any of us to have pride problems

• What does the Bible say about pride?

  • James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”

  • (Speaking of becoming an elder) 1 Timothy 3:6 “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.”

  • Proverbs 6:16-17 “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: Haughty eyes...”

• Paul was given something to protect him against the danger of pride

  • He was made weak by the thorn in his flesh, and a messenger of Satan

  • This word “thorn” is actually indicative of a large sharpened stick, not a tiny rose bush thorn

  • Some suspect the thorn is a physical ailment

  • The other part, “a messenger of Satan,” is referring to demons

    • They can cause physical problems – Job was covered with boils

• But I think the thorn has been kept especially vague by the Holy Spirit so we can apply this to ourselves

  • God gives us problems so we will be weakened and needy and helpless

  • We have physical problems, health problems, family problems, church problems, work problems

• Where did Paul's problem come from?

  • The verse mentions a messenger of Satan, but he also says it is given to him. It ultimately came from God.

• So is this a good thing or a bad thing?

  • The thing in itself was not good, but the results of it were really good. The results were so good that Paul's whole attitude towards them changed. When he first had this problem, his immediate reaction was to ask God to take it away, but over time we see he eventually comes to embrace it and rejoice because of it.

• If you have a thorn in your life, you should follow Paul's example and pray earnestly about it. It may be something given to you to learn that God's grace is sufficient, like Paul – or He could take it away.

• Right there we have a lesson in our prayer life – we may think that we know what we need, but God knew that it was better for Paul to have the thorn. God does not ignore our prayers, He does answer. But sometimes He answers in a very different way than we expect.

• vs. 9

  • This is a wonderful promise from God. We can apply this easily to ourselves in our problems.

  • What does He mean by His “grace” in this situation?

    • God's help given to cope with a problem

• As we have need, God will pour out His sufficiency to make up for our deficiencies.

  • How irrational is it to say that when you have a little problem, you can go to God – but with big ones you need to go to the “human expert”?

• Whatever our trouble is, if God will not remove the trouble, we can hold on to this promise. God can give us the grace to handle every problem.

• What does it mean that His power is perfected in weakness?

  • A weak person who is able to thrive magnifies the power of God to accomplish results. It makes it clear that victory is from God

• If we never have need, we are never able to experience the power of God in this way

• Paul says he is able to rejoice in his suffering, not in spite of. He is happy about the weakness.

• “That the power of Christ may dwell in me”

  • This is where Christians want to be – near to and used by Christ.

  • This is found in our weakness, not in our greatness. It is not the picture of a mighty man effortlessly doing amazing things for God. The disciples were not impressive people!

• “Well content with...” King James says “take pleasure in...”

  • Paul probably suffered more problems than any Christian, but he embraced these trials as friends

• We must be empty of ourselves to be filled with God

• “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

• This reaction does not happen automatically

  • Job worshiped God, his wife cursed God. We have to remind ourselves and each other of these things so that we respond to trials in faith.

Dick Ochs 11/1/11 Verbal Communication

One of the main things we should get out of Genesis 1-3 is that we are made in God's image. It is such a massive truth as it applies to all facets of life – when we deny it, our humanity falls. Conversely when we really believe this, it impacts the way we treat others and view ourselves. Our ability to have a relationship with God is because we are made in God's image. One important characteristic of being made in God's image involves our unique use of language. Many of the thoughts and ideas in this study come from The War of Words by Paul David Tripp.

Our ability to communicate with words distinguishes us from the animal kingdom

• No animal is capable of speaking in a manner in which humans can understand

• From Language Instinct, (not a Christian author) “As you are reading these words, you are taking apart of one of the wonders of the natural world, for you and I to belong to a species with a remarkable abilities....simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other's minds. The ability occurs so naturally that we forget what a miracle it is.”

Before creating us, God was already a speaking God. The reality of language existed before He created humans

• Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, let there be light. And there was light.”

  • God brought the universe into existence by speaking

• Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man...”

• Genesis 2:23 “And the man said...”

  • God is speaking, and later on man speaks.

• Genesis 1:5&8&10 “Called the light day, expanse heaven, earth, seas...”

  • He is speaking things into existence

  • He is then naming the things He speaks into existence

• Isaiah 40:26

  • He calls all of these billions and trillions of stars by name!

• John 17:24

  • We also know that there was a love relationship with fellowship and communion between the persons of the Trinity before the foundation of the earth

• John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word...”

  • The second person of the Trinity is called the Word

“The Eternal Word” -Faber

The first words a human being ever heard were not from another human, but from God

• Genesis 1:28 “God said 'Be fruitful...'”

• The first words to men were instructions from God

• Adam and Eve understood

  • This shows that the first humans were programmed with language learning abilities. This is a characteristic that animals do not have – it is innate in our makeup because we were made in the image of God.

  • This was not just people grunting like cavemen, but it was language understood by Adam and Eve, and they could respond.

  • Their ability to respond was programmed, but their actual responses were not. They were not little recorders in little puppets because God made us to be relational beings

• Try thinking without using words!

The vital importance of language in having a relationship with God

• If we are going to understand much about God, it will be through language because He has chosen to reveal Himself that way

• God right off the bat begins to teach man through words, through language

• He can be known because He is a God who speaks

His words not only give us understanding about who He is, but about who we are

• What if God created us, put us here on earth, and said nothing?

  • We would have question upon question. Adam would ask “What is going on? What is all this? Why am I here?”

  • He could not understand his existence without God speaking

• This is the dilemma of modern man – if you reject God, you end up with meaninglessness or absurdity and no true meaning of life

• You cannot make sense out of life unless you hear what God has to say about it

One of the first uses of language by man was in accordance to God's words to him

• In ancient times, to name something was to have authority over it

• God allowed Adam to name the animals because He delegated authority over these things to Adam

• Adam named Eve because he was in a position of headship in their relationship

  • This is not derogatory or demeaning

  • Genesis 2:23

    • I think this can be taken as a love song, or love poem. I think it was addressed to both God and Eve – he was thanking God and adoring Eve.

    • It is the use of language as it should be – expressing thankfulness and love

• Until the fall, words were only used to glorify God

• There were no arguments, hate, lies, yelling, cursing, condemning, manipulated words, selfish words... there were only true words spoken in love

The purpose of language is to communicate truth in love from God to us, us to God, and us to each other

...But into that Paradise came another speaker

• For the first time words were spoken on earth in order to plant doubt about God's word

• Satan's lie was spoken in complete opposition to God's plan for language

• Human speech has since become “a world of iniquity”

  • James 3:6

  • What evil, what corruption, what terrible results have come through the tongue!

God is not done with the tongue yet – He is working to bring communication back to what it is meant to be

• He will sanctify our speech through what He has done through Christ

• In Heaven, all our communication will be for the glory of God and the good of others

• It will all be used for its original intentions

• Right now as we are being conformed to the image of Christ, this area of our lives is improving and changing

• We need to daily offer our lips to Him to be used the way He intended

  • James No one can tame the tongue, no person – only God can

  • Our desire should the same as the psalmist “Let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable...”

Made in God's Image

Do you know that you are made in God's image - or are you making a god in your own image? If you decide who God is simply by your own opinion of what you think is right, or how He "should be" over who He says He is in scripture, you have made yourself the creator... Can you see the problem there?

Prayer

Fill me with zeal unyielding, unbending;
Fill me with love undying, unending.
Burn in my soul Thy convictions O Lord!
Cut at my sin with Your Holy Word!

Tis' mystery and mercy that you chose to save any,
but yea, much more- you vow to save many.
It is not a new theme, it has been planned since forever,
that we would gain Christ as our eternal treasure.

Oh God, with fervor reign down on my soul,
white-hot fire from heaven and revive these dead coals.
Bring reality upon me with such weight and pressure,
that my pride and my will are lesser and lesser.

You sit in power enthroned in truth!
I sin in doubt and live cold--aloof.
But Oh, God of Heaven, this earth you have made,
and from your presence no man has found shade.

So crush me Lord Jesus, who paid all our debt!
Mold me and form me lest I should forget,
who owns this life and demands my all.
Morning, each morning to answer your call!

Age of Accountability: Scriptures and Thoughts

The topic of an "age of accountability" comes up quite often; I've discussed it probably five times since I became a believer almost three years ago. Here is a verse from Isaiah I found today:

"For before the boy knows how to refuse evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted." (7:16)

If the issue is whether of not the young child or unborn infant is innocent, then this passage seems to answer very clearly "NO!". The child has not learned how to choose good and refuse evil and this means that he is engaging in evil acts and acting according to the slavery of sin as described in Romans 6 and 7 (7 is pending in some circles). Acts against the law of God are punished by God in His holiness and justice: Habakkuk 1:13, Psalm 11:5-7, Isaiah 5:16, and Deuteronomy 27:26.

But most people who take the "age of accountability" stance, probably agree with all of these verses above and would even agree that the baby is guilty in some form. What they might say is that the babies are given "special grace" to get into heaven without being born or reaching an age that the culture defines as "responsible".

So here we find ourselves in the grey area that will always come about in this discussion. Some thoughts that I have are 1. John 14:6 2. Romans 9:15 3. Acts 4:12 and lastly, I would caution you not to be the objective source on who God gives "special grace" to. Unless the Bible says that special grace will be given to a person or people it is dangerous to say so just because it meets our idea of "just" which can be grossly warped and wrong.

In heaven, every person will be glorifying Christ. No one will say, "I didn't really need Jesus to get here, I just got lucky enough to be killed before I was responsible for sin". Furthermore, regeneration is absolutely needed to make it to heaven- John 3:3. So when does the child/infant experience this? Obviously these are rhetorical pictures, but they can help us think through what we do know for certain and at least shed a little light on what is uncertain.

Where does all of this this leave us? With a huge amount of reverence for God's divine purpose and will, but also with a deep value for every human life. If the Bible is not 100 % clear on this issue then young children should not be written off as "not accountable yet" and babies in the womb should be fought for so that they have a chance to be born and hear the gospel. You can probably tell the side that I lean to on this issue but please do not take my words as final! Read the Bible and pray over these things and in the end if you disagree with me then I'm fine with it! But let's not use the grey area spoken off above as an excuse to forget the black and white truth that every soul will meet God. Hebrews 9:27.

Bible Study: Nathan Rages 10/25/11 Colossians 3:1-4

Colossians 3:1-4 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Verse 1

“If then, you have been raised with Christ...”

• I don't think this “if” indicated uncertainty, but that is means “since” or “because”

• It does not say “you will be” when Christ returns, but that it is something that has already happened

• What does it mean that Christians have been raised with Christ?

  • It is pointing to our justification and sanctification

  • The old self is destroyed, and the Christian becomes a new creature (regeneration)

  • It is a permanent state of life in Christ

  • It is a permanent state of life with Christ – a unity with him. He died to accomplish our justification, so that our sins would be forgiven. He did it so we would have the Holy Spirit and be sanctified. We are united with him and share with all he accomplished for us!

“Keep seeking the things above...”

• Because we have been raised up, we keep seeking the things above

• Notice he does not say “start seeking” but “keep seeking.” It is something that has already begun

• What does it mean to seek?

  • To look for – but to possess it, not to observe it. What is your goal, your treasure that you are trying to get?

• What are these things above?

  • Wisdom, instruction, understanding

  • Treasures in heaven

    • Matthew 6:19-18 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

  • His Kingdom and His righteousness

    • Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

  • Spiritual virtues – to be like Jesus

    • Colossians 3:12 “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience...”

“Where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God...”

• Me being joined with Christ means that I am there too, in Christ

• What is the significance of him being seated?

  • He finished his work!

Verse 2

“Set your mind on the things that are above, not on things that are on earth...”

• We are told not only to seek these things, but to think about these things

• Can we control our thoughts?

  • Yes. Maybe not perfectly, but to a large extent we control what we think about

  • Sometimes we have to think about our jobs and things that are going on, but we also must make a deliberate effort to think about certain things. We can direct our minds to certain thought patterns and topics

  • We can't always control what thoughts pop into our minds, but this is part of the battle. We have to reject sinful thoughts. We can't keep things from coming in but we can control what stays.

• 2 Corinthians 10:5 “...take every thought captive to obey Christ...”

• Philippians 4:8 “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

• Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...”

  • How can we prevent ourselves from being conformed to this world? By controlling our thoughts – not giving in to our natural inclinations and the way of the world.

  • We have to constantly refill our minds with truth or the devil will fill it with error

• Are we thinking about the temporal issues, or are we thinking about the unseen, the eternal things?

Verse 3

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God...”

• In what sense are Christians dead?

  • The old nature is dead. We are not dead physically or spiritually, but the “old man” is dead

    • You have died to that old life you had! You are not the way you used to be anymore!

    • We can still commit sin, but the old enjoyment of sin is gone

  • We are dead to the law

  • We are dead to the world

• Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me...”

• What does it mean that are lives are with Christ?

  • We have life through him – if there was no Christ, we would still be dead in sin

  • Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”

  • John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life...”

  • Our lives are wrapped up in him – not food, jobs, earthly pleasures. We get our sustenance from Christ.

    • John 15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

    • Jesus does not give us a squirt of eternal life and send us on our way. We are connected with him, living off of him

  • This is a real test – if your life is not all about Christ, you are not a Christian

• In what way is this hidden?

  • It is mysterious – what has happened to us is mysterious to the world

    • It is not a physically visible thing, but it is spiritual

  • It is a security – no one on earth can harm you because you are with Christ

    • John 10:28 “No will can snatch them out of my hand...”

    • Exodus 33:22 “And while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed.”

  • It is also hidden from us in a sense – we cannot fully grasp the glory of it all!

Verse 4

“When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

• When will Christ be revealed/appear?

  • His second coming

  • 1 John 3:2 “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.”

  • Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.”

    • The very people who persecuted him will see him and see that he is who he says he is

• Is Christ hidden now?

  • He is to unbelievers, but he has been revealed to believers by faith

    • But he will be revealed fully and we will see him face to face!

• It is not just Jesus that will be revealed, but Christians will too

  • We will be publicly unveiled

  • In that moment it will be revealed and identified whether your life really was in Christ or not

  • We know there will be many who will be shocked

    • Matthew 7:22-23 “On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prohpesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you...'”

• When Jesus is being revealed in all his glory, we will be there with him. It is like he wants to share that moment with us – he alone is worthy of glory and recognition, but he will put us on display with him. “Here is my bride, without any spot or blemish.”

• View everything through the final revelation of Christ in glory! Look to this big glory that is coming

• Romans 8:18 “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”