HOPE AND MEMORY

HOPE AND MEMORY

“That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” Psa. 78:7

This Psalm may be described as a poem of history. From vs. 9, the singer reviews the history of the people of God dwelling upon their persistent dis-loyalties, and the unfailing goodness of God to them both in chastisement and deliverance. All this is a poetical illustration of the principle laid down in the first eight verses. In that first movement, the singer declares that it is the will of God that the story of His dealings with the nation should be taught systematically to the children of each succeeding generation. In these words the reason of this is set forth, as they reveal the effects which such teaching, adequately given, is bound to produce. Under its influence they will set their hope in God, will remember His works, and will keep His commandments. Observe the idea carefully. The immediate is stated last. It is that of obedience to the law of God. In order to that obedience, two inspiring activities are referred to;

First, Hope which has to do with the future; and -

Second, Memory, which has to do with the past. By such teaching of history as sets it in relation to God, hope for the days to come will be centered in Him, and memory will be instructed by His works. This is a wonderful revelation of our duty concerning the young. It is also a key to the true writing of history. History, written as it should be, will always show that all true prosperity comes from God, and that man has no hope except that which is centered in Him. History should forever be the record of the works of God. That is to emphasize the important factor. History thus written, and thus taught, will so affect hope and memory in youth, as to constrain it to obedience to the God revealed, and this is the way of life for man and nation.

LAW - LAWLESSNESS

LAW - LAWLESSNESS

“But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” 1 Tim. 1:8-10

America as well as many countries of the world today are removing all restraints of law previously followed. It is alarming to witness the flagrant redefinition of terms formally known as truth. New boundaries surface that cross moral barriers. Closet participants now display conduct openly that was formerly known as indecent. Borders and barriers are destroyed and torn down. Anyone suggesting a wall is seen as a heretic to their cause, a one world environment and which finally arrives after He Who restrains leaves this earth with the followers of His teaching concerning Truth and His messages. 2 Thess. 2:7.

What was the purpose of the law?

11.       The law was added because of transgressions. Gal. 3:19

22.       To restrain the lawless and ungodly 1 Tim. 1:9-10.

33.       To give the knowledge of sin Rom. 3:20.

44.       To show the terrible nature of sin Rom. 7:13.

55.       To reveal how great the number of sins Rom. 5:20.

66.       To shut every mouth with the consciousness of guilt before God Rom. 3:19.

77.       To set a restraining guard up on man, until they find true freedom in Christ by faith Gal. 3:23-24.

88.       To witness prophetically, and typically to salvation by grace through the righteousness of Christ Rom. 3:21; Heb. 10:1.

 Lawlessness, which does not mean being without law, but being in revolt against law. The Bible, God and especially the constitution are all restraining hindrances to the free will exertion of a lawless person seeking their definition of freedom. People run for office to magnify this freedom, this so called liberty which in essence is bondage to Satan, following his lead from the very beginning.

Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isa 5:21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Isa 5:22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

Isa 5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Lawlessness  <Law> (of Moses):1 Tim. 1:8-9; Heb 7:19. (Exo 19:1; Gal 3:24) The evil germ within the spirit of man that affects all his mind and heart and soul is lawlessness.

THE ULTIMATE SIGN

ULTIMATE SIGN

“Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” John 2:18-21

The Jews ask for a sign, the ultimate Sign. “For the Jews require a sign” (1 Cor. 1:22; Matt. 12:38). They thought this was required due to OT law to eliminate false claims from false prophets.  Deut. 18:20-22. For the interpretation of that designation we go back to the account of our Lord going up to Jerusalem, and cleansing the Temple. In connection with that He was challenged, "What sign showest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things?" They asked Him for a sign that would demonstrate His authority for the things He was doing. To that He replied in what to them must have been mysterious language. John tells us immediately after recording His answer, that the disciples did not understand Him then, but they came to understand Him afterwards. He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." On another occasion, not recorded by John, Jesus said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." On both these occasions our Lord declared that the only sign which would completely and finally reveal Him and the secret of His authority, would be that which He referred at first as their destroying of the temple which He would raise; and on the other occasion, taking the similitude of Jonah's story, declaring that He would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. In other words, our Lord declared at the beginning, and again on one definite occasion at least, that the ultimate sign of His authority would be His death and His resurrection. He named the two things which, in the merging, would constitute the sign, the ultimate sign, the dissolution of the temple of His body at the hands of His enemies; and His raising of it again. Death and resurrection. The very heart of the gospel preached by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:1-4. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” All foretold according to the scriptures.

GLORY

GLORY

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” John 17:20-22

Glory speaks of a work completed. See all things accomplished in 1 Cor. 15:24-28 to see where all things are headed.. In 2 Thess. 3:1 with John 17:4 a meaning of accomplishing a work. Implies expectation denoting good standing or reputation although modifying adjective could change all this. The great consummation in which God's purposes are perfectly fulfilled.

 "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." is it the glory of the, Eternal Sonship, His essential glory, for which He prays? But this He had not renounced, nor could the Father give it. It belonged to Him His one of the Persons of the Godhead, eternal, unchangeable. The glory for which he prayed could be only the glory which was His due as the Father's visible Image, the Redeemer, the Administrator of His government, the appointed Lord over all His works. This glory could not, be manifested till He had finished the work the Father had given Him to do. Not till His resurrection could He appear in the glory which was His when, anterior to Creation, He stood before the Father as the predestined Heir of all, and His Representative to all creatures. He could not enter into this His glory till made immortal. Then could He sit at the Father's right hand (Luke 24:26). It was this glory which the Father gave Him that He could give to His disciples John 17:22. Of this He could make them partakers, but not of His essential glory.

In their eagerness to maintain the Deity of the Son against the assaults of the Arians and the Socinians, many of the early Fathers and reformers cited some of the texts we have been considering, as proofs of the Son's eternal preexistence, and were, therefore, compelled to affirm a subordination of the Son to the Father in the constitution of the Godhead itself, a subordination not consistent with their co-equality. But if we consider these terms not as spoken of the Eternal Son so far as regards His Person, but of Him as standing to the Father in the relation of His Revealer, the Word, the difficulties are removed. The Father could make the worlds through Him, could appoint Him the Heir of all, could glorify Him, could give Him all authority and power in heaven and earth, and this without denying or disparaging His eternal Sonship and coequality. The subordination is not so much in the Divine constitution as in the Divine economy, a relation taken by the three Persons with reference to certain ends predetermined. How far subordination was involved in the relation of Father an d Son before the worlds were made, we need not inquire here.

"As We are one." First of all, that is vital and essential oneness. He was one with the Father vitally and essentially. Now He prayed that these, kept in His name, may be one in that way; having a vital relationship. Not the oneness of sentiment or intellectual opinion, but the oneness that is living. One in life, therefore one in light, and therefore one in love. He and the Father were one in essential life. He and the Father were one intellectually in all light and understanding. He and the Father were one in love. Keep them there; keep them in the name I have revealed, and manifested to them. Keep them there, that they may be one as We; one in life, one in light, one in love. What a prayer!

PRAYER TO INTERCEDE FAILURE

PRAYER TO INTERCEDE FAILURE

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;” John 17:20

These are the most comforting words for us in this great prayer of our Lord, because they bring us into its interest and intercession. We are among the number of those who have believed on Him through the apostolic word, and so His requests were all on our behalf also. This outlook of the Master Teacher is very suggestive. There He was, after three and a half years of public ministry, approaching an end which seemed to be that of defeat. He was surrounded by a few loving men, who nevertheless would soon all be scattered for utter fear. The outlook was very dark to all but the Lord. He also saw the darkness, and understood it better than any other for He possessed perfect emotion, intelligence and will. And therefore He saw through it, He saw their future and ours, saw the light clearly shining down the coming age; saw these very men, gathered after their scattering, going forth publishing the Word, saw the sacramental hosts of souls believing that Word, and for these He prayed. And His prayer for all of us was as His prayer for those men who were about Him. He knew their weakness, and how they would fail. He knows our weakness, and all about our failures. He prayed for them. He prays for us. He knew His intercession for them would prevail. He knows His intercession for us will prevail. Then let us rest in Him, with the rest of loving obedience and of surest confidence in His coming Kingdom.

THE PERFECT MIND

THE PERFECT MIND

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” Phil. 2:5

The teaching of Jesus, considered and followed to its final conclusions, brings the mind into contact with the infinite wisdom of the Eternal God. The deeds of Jesus, correctly appreciated, reveal the activities of God as to purpose and method. When resurrected, the mind is brought to this point, fully attained, the Divine intention from the very beginning of creation, made in His image and likeness.

The Incarnation of Jesus is first a revelation to man of man as to the first Divine intention. It is therefore also a revelation of God, for perfect man is the image of God. In Jesus there has been revealed to the race God's purpose for every human being, a mind of royal and loyal love, and the activity of self-emptying service, as expressive of that loyalty. The greatest injunction laid upon Christian men by the writers of the New Testament is that of the apostle, "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." (Phil 2:5) His mind was the mind wholly actuated by the principle of love. It was submissive and royally married, submissive to the dominion of love, reigning in the power of love.

FEAR

FEAR

A broad range of emotions that embrace both the secular and the religious worlds. Secular fear is the natural feeling of alarm caused by the expectation of imminent danger, pain, or disaster. Religious fear appears as the result of awe and reverence toward a supreme power.

PROPER FEAR OF GOD

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”  Prov. 9:10

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…..On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  Matt. 22:37, 40

The whole Mosaic economy according to Matt. 22:37, 40 is fulfilled by the man who loves God, the prophets, their denunciation of sin, their call to right character, and all obeyed in answer to the impulse of the love of God. The new fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, is love of God. The old fear of God, which was the beginning of unutterable foolishness, was slavish fear, fear born of ignorance of Him, fear that made men hurry away, banish His Name, and refuse to meet Him. The new fear is not fear that He will hurt me, it is fear lest I should hurt Him, fear lest I cause sorrow to His heart, fear lest my sin would wound Him again. That is the fear that is the beginning of wisdom, and that is the fear of love.

As I have said in previous articles both Jude and Peter call Him the Despot, the only Master. What a serious thing to be under the authority of Someone Who can upset everything in our lives without consulting us, and by a word can mark for us the moment of our departure! That is the government of God. We are wise when we finally realize this truth concerning our Creator and Sustainer. God is absolute monarch wherever He is King at all. His government is autocratic. He does not consult with us as to what He shall do with us, where He shall send us, what He would have us to do. Moreover, His government is an imperative government. He never permits us to make compromises with Him for a single moment. He speaks the word of authority and has every right to. He marks the path without ever consulting us, and having done so, our only relationship to that government is that of implicit, unquestioning, immediate obedience. That takes communion with Him and His desire for that with us. When we finally realize His utter control over our life and purpose here on earth our slavish fear turns to that of fear that I might hurt Him and His cause for my being here on earth.

As Master He teaches us the pathway of true living life and corrects those paths that need correction. The truly saved love the Lord with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind. That is the proper fear of the Lord.