Tag: Spurgeon

Influence is a powerful thing!

When I read the book of Ruth, I truly wonder what it was that Naomi did to win Ruth over to the LORD. What did she say, how did she conduct herself? Her influence had to be powerful. It was enough to make one sinner sad and cry about her choice to stay living in sin, and powerful enough to bring another person straight to the cross. Influence is a powerful thing! Sometimes, it is all that a Christian has. How we use it can be good or bad. So when I read this story, I wonder about what she did that was so powerful, and that I want to be that influence in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi~ You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

I believe Gandhi was talking about peace, but his words remind me that if I want to bring people to the cross, I have to model the behavior of the one who died on the cross. I have to be that person who can be the influence, not just by words, but by behavior. I believe that Ruth had to have the right combination of teaching and story telling with model behavior to have such an influence. She had to be the change she wanted to see in her daughters-in-law. Today’s Christians have to be the change we want to see in the world.

The behavior of Elimelech was no Godly model to follow, and neither was that of the sons. In fact, we see that their behavior was outside the will of God. These three men were as disobedient as could be. Not only did their behavior cause them to fall out of fellowship, but they broke their covenant with God. They paid the ultimate price for that. Elimelech was killed almost immediately upon entering into Moab, and the sons died ten years later. Some may say that their biggest offense was marrying someone outside the faith. While there were no laws against the marriages at the time, we all realize that we are not to marry non-believers. That would represent a relationship that is unequally yoked. I would suggest that they did not marry outside their faith, but rather married into the life of sin that they had come to love more than God. They turned their back on God and walked straight away from the chosen people. Again, we see these men died with no explanation. It must have been quick and with the understanding that since God was offended by the Moabites, He was not at all pleased with their behavior, Deuteronomy 23:3.

Deuteronomy 23:3 “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever,”

So here we are. Naomi’s husband- dead. The two sons- dead. All that is left are the two daughters-in-law and the mother, Naomi. Naomi has heard that God has delivered food to the land of His people back in Bethlehem-Judah, the land of bread and praise. Naomi makes the decision to return home to be with her people, God’s chosen people. Even though Naomi loved these two ladies, and even though she most likely would have loved their companionship, Naomi offers them an opportunity to leave her. This was important because following her into the house of God has to be a voluntary act. So she advises them to return back to their homes. She is now in the position to make her own choices and is making far better choices than the men in her life. She is making choices that show the fruit of her faith. She knows Orpah and Ruth are not Israelites, so if they make the decision to come to Christ, they must do so understanding that there is no obligation to do so. They need to have the free will to make the choice. This is a picture of our free will today. Christ does not make people follow Him. It is a decision that needs to be made freely and completely. But up until this moment, they do not share her faith. They are from a land of sin, a land and a people despised by her God for all their idol worshiping.

Orpah loved her mother-in-law and Naomi loved her. Noami kissed her good-bye and Orpah cried. Then Orpah kissed Naomi good-bye and returns to her people, the people of the land of great sin and idol worship. Such is the case for many today. We will see that there was something during the ten years that Naomi did to show her faith. And at this point, Orpah wants to go with Naomi, but turns back. Today we see many people who want to follow Jesus, and may even say that they believe they do follow Jesus, but they do not turn from their sin. It is always right there. Some find it so enjoyable that they just flat out refuse to follow God, and make up a ton of excuses why “Religion” isn’t for them. Some are lukewarm Christians. They proclaim Christ, yet they do not follow. They proclaim faith, but have no works generated by the spirit that is supposed to be in them. They think that is a decision for Christ, but fail to realize that Christ says this is not a decision for Him, but rather a decision for themselves. There is no middle ground, either you are a believer and enthused about that, or not. It was an “or not” for Orpah as she sadly and fatally chose to return to sin from where she came.

Charles Spurgeon~ The one would like to follow Jesus, but the price is too much to pay; so there is a kiss somewhat like that of Judas, and Orpah goes back to her people, and to her idols.

Matthew Henry~ Orpah was loth to part from her; yet she did not love her well enough to leave Moab for her sake. Thus, many have a value and affection for Christ, yet come short of salvation by him, because they will not forsake other things for him. They love him, yet leave him, because they do not love him enough, but love other things better.

Jesus the Christ~ Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

But the wife of the oldest son, Ruth, she “clave” unto Naomi.

Key Verse~ Ruth 1:16-17 “16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

This word clave, דָּ֥בְקָה, gives us a picture that is more than ‘held onto’. It is more like, ‘joined’ or ‘become one’. Ruth was not hugging, she was clinging and squeezing onto for dear life, as if to never let go, as if they were conjoined twins needing surgically removed from one another. And then Ruth gave one of the best speeches I have ever heard. It is the speech that draws out the topical question of this article. What did Ruth do, and what did she say all those years? I think to myself, I want to be that kind of Christian. I want to act and speak in that kind of way. I want to represent God to such a degree that, after spending time with another, when parting with that person comes to pass they fall to the ground and clave onto me for dear life and say, “I want Christ as the head of my life! I want to serve your God! I want to have what you have!” I often say that when I die I want to be exhausted. I want to be totally used up. It was a lot that Naomi went through during her time in Moab, but she brought a lost sinner to the cross. All that for just one person and it was glorious. I think that even though God made clear how he felt towards the Moabites, he had mercy on Ruth when she fell to the ground and begged to be brought into the people of God. When I think about this I am overcome with joy and hope that I can obtain, with plenty of prayer and obedience and hard spirit filled work, the example that Naomi was to Ruth. What an example Naomi must have been. Never giving up on the God of Israel when her husband and sons did. Talking and teaching about all that God did for his children of Israel. And then being the determined follower to the point that she would just pick-up and return after the death of her loved ones.

Adam Clark~ A more perfect surrender was never made of friendly feelings to a friend: I will not leave thee – I will follow thee: I will lodge where thou lodgest – take the same fare with which thou meetest; thy people shall be my people – I most cheerfully abandon my own country, and determine to end my days in thine. I will also henceforth have no god but thy God, and be joined with thee in worship, as I am in affection and consanguinity. I will cleave unto thee even unto death; die where thou diest; and be buried, if possible, in the same grave. This was a most extraordinary attachment, and evidently without any secular motive.

I just had lunch with a good man the other day who spoke about a sermon he gave. He asked his church, what does their conduct say about the kind of Christian they are. I asked that of myself and was disappointed in my truthful answer. I am my own worst critic, much harder on myself than others are on me. But the truth is that, compared to whatever it was that Naomi did and said, I am falling short. I can improve every day, I want to improve every day. The worst thing I could for my relationship with God is be content with where I am at this moment. The worst thing I can do is come up with excuses to try to claim Christ and claim the world at the same time. Being a lukewarm Christian is like not being a Christian at all, in the eyes of Christ. The featured picture here is my thermostat. In life on earth, 68-75 degrees is a comfortable middle of the road temperature for me. My wonderful wife affectionately calls me her Polar Bear because I would love a life in the high mountains of Alaska! However, if this thermostat was a gauge for my salvation, I would be in serious trouble! I would hope that top needle would be buried to the far, far right! I don’t want to ever be happy with where I am in my walk in Christ. There is more to learn, there is more to do. May my run to Him always be a full-out sprint. Being a Christian is not boring and it is tons of fun. I want to feel alive and excited about being redeemed. I have a thirst for my LORD, the worse thing I believe that could ever happen to me is to feel like that thirst has been quenched. May I live my whole life on earth searching to quench that thirst, yet dying a thirsty and worn out old man!

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

 

If you can’t beat’em, join’em

So many times in my life I have used the circumstances of my situation and environment to justify what I knew to be a wrong behavior. To this very day I still do it, and I still hear others do it. It is weird but also amazing what you hear and observe when you admit to yourself that you do the same thing. I know a lot of people who conform, even pastors, yet they would never admit it because they know it’s wrong to do so, but even they have been socialized. I have used, and am willing to assert that you have used (if you stand in that mirror and are completely honest with yourself) some of these justifying statements.  Number one- “But everybody is doing it.” Number two, “If you can’t beat’em, join’em.” Number three, “That was then, this is now.” Number four, “Times change, people change.” Number five, “These things we have today weren’t even made in the times of Jesus.” I am certain that there are many variations of these phrases, but they all lead to the same principal. We make excuses galore to be content in our earthly disobedience.

There are many examples of disobedience in the Holy Bible. Everyone would be right in saying that most all of what we have today was not present in the times of Jesus. However, everyone would be incorrect to say that the relevance of the principles Jesus taught are not the same, and not applicable to our lives today. First remember that Christ created everything, and then that he knows everything. If you believe that then the stories that He spoke were spoken to you! Let’s take the story of Elimelech.

The example that Elimelech left for his sons is that it is okay to try to solve all your problems on your own and not take the word of God seriously. Elimelech lived and was raising a family during a time of famine. He heard there was plenty of food and life in Moab. So he decides to move his family. The issue here is that the bible mentions no instance of prayer, or divine guidance. He left God and God’s people to go to the pagan city filled with food, but also filled with sin. The Moabites worshiped hundreds of Gods. They sacrificed their own children to these Gods. He marched his family of faith into the den of vipers. Upon arriving into the land of sin, Elimelech dies.  In those times that meant the son’s, particularly the eldest, are now the head of the family. Do they exercise faith and obedience to God and return to their people, the chosen people of God? Nope

Key Verse

Ruth 1

4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

They married women from Moab. Now, just in case we need some reminders about this type of activity, let’s look at the word of God and try to see if we can clearly get God’s take on this activity.

Deuteronomy 7

7 When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

That seems pretty clear to me. Remember that this is the same God we serve today. God HATES SIN!!! I believe we have become a people who live according to our flawed definition of love. God’s love is righteous, and people will be held accountable. Here, these nations that God is calling for complete destruction of are nations who chose to live in sin, and not under His love.

Genesis 6

6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

I can hear people now, wait Mike, I don’t understand what Genesis 6 has to do with this. Awesome, let me explain. Re-read it, but before you do, think about how this all came to be. Cain killed Able. Able’s heart was true, and God was well pleased with him. Cain was selfish, and thought more of himself than he did God. His heart was not true; and when God was displeased with the behavior, Cain became overwrought with envy, and hate. Instead of taking the correction and doing better next time, he lashed out and murdered his brother. God banished Cain from the family. He sent him out into the world to be on his own. As the story unfolds, we see descendants of Seth and Cain mixing, taking husbands and wives without regard to God’s desire to remain separated from the sinful world. This mixing was not about black and white like most people would like to suggest. This was about God’s people, and worldly people. The result was that there were so many offspring from these “unequally yoked” relationships that God was hurt. The whole earth became corrupt with sin. The Bible talks about how man was so wicked that he corrupted even the dirt of the earth. And so God needed to destroy all of it. I praise God for Noah, and that in spite of what society was telling him, in spite of how the people of his time were making fun of him and persecuting him, in spite of what everyone was doing, and, praise God, in spite of all the hardships of preaching an unwelcome word, giving warnings of a end of time revelation, Noah NEVER said, “If you can’t beat’em join’em!” No, he remained faithful to the end. All of that destruction, because the line of Seth mixed unequally with the line of Cain.

Even though the Israelites knew this story, we see the sons of Elimelech thinking and acting just like their dad. They took wives from the pagan group of idolaters, murderers, and all-together immoral people. Not only did they take wives, but they pitched their tents and squatted for ten years.

Charles Spurgeon commented,  “Which was about ten years too long. Probably they did not intend to remain so long when they went there, they only meant to be in Moab for a little while, just as Christian people, when they fall into worldly conformity, only purpose to do it once, “just for the sake of the girls, to bring them out a little.” But it happens to them as it is written here: “and they dwelled there about ten years.”

Adam Clark comments,

“The Targum very properly observes, that they transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, and took to themselves strange women.”

For those who do not know, the Targum (pictured above, and no it is not the original) is a collection of commentaries from the first century. It is not the bible, but it is interpretations as Rabbis read Hebrew and taught and preached in Aramaic. So they needed to explain a lot. So Clark used the Targum to show that the boys were acting outside the will of God in their marriages here. Some believe that the wives converted to Judaism before they married, otherwise known as “proselyte”. Again, you cannot, if you want to be an obedient child of God, marry a non-believer. Many non-Christian religions today require conversion, if they do not outright forbid the marriage. Unfortunately, the Christian Church, with only a few denominations withstanding, don’t care who they marry. They will marry believers, non-believers, same gender marriages, all in the name of man’s own flawed definition of “Love”. A believer in the Christian faith should never even date a non-believer. What comes first is witnessing and bringing that person to the cross. Since Christ is the head of our home, the man and the woman should both be of Christ in order for Christ to be the head of the house. It is the number one reason for divorce. I do blame the American Church’s decline of this standard for the inflation of divorce, which has been high for a long time, not just recently. Even in the 50’s when Dr. J. Vernon McGee preached, he spoke of divorce rates of 50%. So I tend to agree with the likes of Clark and Spurgeon, and disagree with the likes of Coke and Gill on this. I do not believe they converted but that the men lived in the moment and turned their backs to God. The boys spent no energy even trying to be obedient.

In the first chapter of Ruth we saw the leader of the home make some bad choices that cost him, but also his lineage. The boys followed in the dad’s footsteps and they reaped the same consequence. Why did it happen ten years later; I have no idea. But it really doesn’t matter, does it? It was all according to God’s plan. And the story is told so that we can see that God is not weak, He is not confused. We are weak and we are confused. The bible is the living word of God and it is here for us to not only study, but to follow. It is our guide.

On the marriage Ellicott comments, “This seems to have been after the father’s death. The fault of settling on a heathen soil begun by the father is carried on by the sons in marrying heathen women, for such we cannot doubt they must have been in the first instance. The Targum (or ancient Chaldee paraphrase) says: “They transgressed against the decree of the Word of the Lord, and took to themselves strange wives.” This act was to incur a further risk of being involved in idolatry, as King Solomon found”

It is my belief that not a single one of us is perfect. We will ALL fall short. We will ALL violate God’s will for us; we will ALL be disobedient every day. That is not in question. What is in question is, “What are you going to do about it?” Are you going to make some changes in your life? Remember that when we become believers we should behave differently than the world. We are to be a peculiar people. Or, are you going to say well society says it’s okay, so it must be. No matter how hard it is, we never join them. No matter how many magazines say that the spaghetti strap and thong bikinis are good, no matter how many GQ magazines say that peanut shell speedos are the trend, no Christian should ever be exposing that much of their body. We are to be a modest people. In America sex sells! That’s the truth. No Christian should dress like they are selling their sexuality. I see people come to church dressed like that, let alone anywhere else in the world. Some say, well it makes me feel good to have all my flesh hanging out, or to go to church or even church functions, in front of children looking like an extra from Saturday Night Fever. And at the end of the day, our relationship with God is not about us feeling good. These boys, should there not have been any God Jehovah fearing women in Moab, should have lived a peculiar life and drawn people to God through their conduct. That didn’t happen. There is no reverence for God in selfish and idolatrous behavior. In a church house you should be screaming “PRAISE GOD”, not “LOOK AT ME”! We need churches who still preach the truth. And if people pick up and go to Moab, well, that’s between them and God. A friend of the world is an enemy of God. Again, I believe God is serious; I don’t think He is kidding. What are you conforming to? What behaviors are you making excuses for because they are just too enjoyable to give up? It is hard, but it is true. When does the God fearing hero stand up and say that enough is enough? When do we say, “I will NOT conform!” It all starts with that look in the mirror.

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

Are You ‘Declared’ to Receive a Crown?

I was in a bible study just a couple weeks ago and the preacher teaching the class directed us to the book of Romans, and proceeded to teach the first seven verses. My attention was grabbed by the beautiful words in verse 4.

4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

I am drawn to the word declared. Sometimes the idea of God being both man and God can confuse a person. It is certainly a piece of our faith that non-believers point to and say, “How can that be?” As man, as flesh, I understand how that can be a distraction. This particular idea is more meat than milk, and if you are looking for ways to disprove or dilute the word of God by way of confusion, this is a useful idea that will bewilder a babe on the milk. But I ask, “Are you ‘declared’ to receive a crown?”

First let’s look at the word ‘DECLARE’. If you are to read this verse like you read a novel, or the newspaper, you will read right over the word and attach the meaning regarding speech. To most of us, ‘declare’ means I said something. However that is not what it means here.

The Greek word here is Horizo. It means to define, mark-out, appoint, and determine.

Adam Clark writes of this word, “The word ορισθεντος, which we render declared, comes from οριζω, to bound, define, determine, or limit, and hence our word horizon, the line that determines the farthest visible part of the earth, in reference to the heavens. In this place the word signifies such a manifest and complete exhibition of the subject as to render it indubitable. The resurrection of Christ from the dead was such a manifest proof of our Lord’s innocence, the truth of his doctrine, and the fulfillment of all that the prophets had spoken, as to leave no doubt on any considerate and candid mind.”

The son of God has always existed, just as the spirit has. The trinity was in existence at the time earth and man was created. This is the reason for the pluralism, ‘our’, when we hear that man was made in ‘our’ image. Jesus was not defined the ‘Son of God’ during his life on earth, but long ago. However, the resurrection, an activity that only ever happened once (Lazarus was resurrected by Christ, Christ resurrected himself) is undeniable proof that Christ is who he says he is, and was ‘declared’ to be. If you go back to verse 3 you see Paul describing Jesus as flesh when he refers to him as the ‘seed of David’. Paul points to his humanness at a period of time, life of David, when Jesus was not yet born from the virgin Mary. But yet Jesus ‘was made from the seed of David’. Christ has always been as he was prophesied to be since the old testament. This is important to observe because we as man need to fully understand and believe that Jesus was man and is our example as to living according to the Father’s will and not our own. Jesus had to be man, he had to be just like us so that we could not say, “yeah well he was God and I am not”. He was tempted like we are, hungry like we are, thirsty like we are, hurt and alone like we are, and if anyone reads about his walk to the cross with any amount of sincerity, you have to admit that his body was broken like ours are.

To this point, Charles Surgeon said, “He is as much the Son of God as he was the Son of man. The humanity is as true as the divinity, the divinity as true as the humanity.”

Why is this so important to understand? Because just like Christ was flesh, so are you. Christ is God, and you are not. You and I, we are sinners. We are the children of man, and a creation of God. We have no power and authority over our flesh, and to ward off satan. However, because Christ came and sacrificed himself on the cross, we have the opportunity to accept the spirit into our flesh. At that moment, this part of Paul’s teaching becomes paramount in our faith. It is a teaching to the difference of being a man open to the sin of the world without Christ and being a redeemed soul in Christ living in our flesh. The difference between being alive in flesh, and being dead in flesh. With the acceptance of the spirit, we become appointed, marked out for heaven. Man is broken and needy. We are poor and sinful. We have no hope, just the coming of death. In the spirit we are rich. We have hope in the promise of Christ. We have the coming of a transition to eternity. We are the called of Jesus, because we saw the flesh and warred with it, losing every time. Until that day we called on Jesus, the son of God, and requested to be filled with the spirit so that, as the war against the flesh continues, we may turn that war over to Him, for He already has be victorious.

The proof of this meaning is noted in verse 6 of Romans 1, “Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:”

Calling on the LORD with the sincere repenting mind, we too become a child of God. Reflecting back to verse one Paul said that he is, “separated unto the Gospel of God.” There is a pattern here. Christ was always marked-out as the son of God, Paul received the spirit and was therefore “separated”, or marked out, unto the Gospel. Our flesh is not to be held onto. Understand that this part of your body is not the priority. The soul is. It is not what we are that should drive us, but rather what we are defined and determined and marked-out to be that drives us. We are marked-out to have fellowship, a true relationship, with God the father. We cannot do that when we allow our flesh to get in the way. We cannot do that when we do not see ourselves as marked-out, as different from the rest of the unredeemed world. We are not better than anyone, we are separated because we know how weak we are, how defenseless we are, and how much we need Christ. We separate ourselves because that is the example of Christ, and the apostles.

I am grateful that Jesus came in the flesh to show me being in the flesh alone is not good. I must have a power inside me, His power. I am glad that Paul recorded this message, that I might see the importance of knowing that I am appointed for something greater than just living in sinful flesh, so that I can understand, and help others understand, that the flesh is broken and useless, that I can doing nothing to save myself but confess to the Father that I want to be marked-out for His Glory and His plan.

If you stand in the mirror what will the reflection tell you about yourself, and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your house, straight from the cross to the Christian!