July 30, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9 through 13:

    In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
    name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
    Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
    our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
    evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  
    Amen.

Let’s continue to investigate the meaning of verse 12:  “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  We have seen in Monday’s blog that if indeed we have eternal security, then our being forgiven by God is not conditional on our forgiving others!  Forgiving others is really the result of understanding how much God has forgiven us through the work of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who took our sins upon Himself on Calvary’s cross, and robes us with His own righteousness when we come to Him in faith believing!

There are in the Bible several passages that shed light on this phrase,   “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  Here are three:

First – Luke 7:36 through 50 is the account of Jesus dining with the Pharisee Simon at Simon’s house.  The dinner must have taken place in the open courtyard of the house because a sinful woman – perhaps a prostitute – came in uninvited from the street and anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil after washing them with her tears and drying them with her long hair.  The Lord used this incident to teach Simon – and us – about forgiveness.  In verses 44 through 47 Jesus said to Simon:

    Do you See this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My
    feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair
    of her head.  You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My
    feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this wo-
    man has anointed my feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, Her sins,
    which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is for-
    given, the same loves little.

It is not that Jesus forgives some people just a little, and others a lot!  John wrote in I John 2:2, “[Jesus]…Himself is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.”  He paid fully for all our sins – everyone’s sins!  What makes the difference is how we perceive ourselves as sinners before God!  Simon was self righteous, and so he did not think of himself as a gross sinner – as in his mind this ‘sinful’ woman was!  So he did not have much love for God because in his self-righteous opinion he had hardly ever sinned!

I talked with a young man three weeks ago.  I asked him if he had ever sinned.  He told me, “Oh, a few times when I was younger.”  I then showed him God’s standard of holiness as Jesus gave it in Matthew 5:48:  “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  Be as perfect as God!  That’s God’s standard – and who can live up to such a holy standard?  We are all sinners to – as some might put it – to the nth degree!  Paul wrote about this in Romans 3:10 and 23:  “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no, not one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ ” By the way, my young friend mentioned above began to understand his need before God and prayed for Jesus to come into his life to be his Savior.

If you understand how great a sinner you are – if you realize Jesus paid for your multitude of sins – then you will love the Savior “…with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30).  And if you have accepted that immense forgiveness into your own life, you will be willing to forgive others their offences against you!

This idea of “…forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors…” is so important, we will explore it in at least one more blog on Friday.

July 28, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9 through 13:

    In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
    name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
    Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
    our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
    evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  
    Amen.

For today’s blog, let’s look at verse 12:  “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  Matthew must have been a Presbyterian!!!  For Presbyterians use the words debts and debters!  Other denominations use sins and those who sin against us (the Baptist church to which my wife and I belong); or trespasses and those who trespass against us (other churches in which we have worshiped.)  Debts, sins or trespasses – they all means the same thing, so let’s delve into verse 12.

Notice that this seems like a conditional part of The Lord’s Prayer.  It looks like we have to forgive others in order that we be forgiven!  Does God predicate His forgiveness upon our forgiving others?  Does He draw one to Himself, but then cast that one away when he or she is not able to forgive another offender?  I do not think that this is the correct interpretation of what Jesus gave us in The Lord’s Prayer – the guide for our own prayer life.

I believe in eternal security.  It would take a few blogs to explain why I hold to this view, and someday soon I will explore that subject.  But briefly, here are three reasons why I do not believe we can be cast away from our salvation in Jesus – if we truly come to Him in repentance and faith.

First – Jesus said in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

Second – He told us in John 10:28 and 29:

    …I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone
    snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater
    than all; and noone is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

Third – Eternal life is just that – eternal!  And eternity never ends!

•    Now let’s apply this eternal security truth to Matthew 6:12:  “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  If it is not that we will lose God’s forgiveness if we are unwilling to forgive others, what does it mean?  We will see what James says about the matter in James 2:17, 20 through 22, 24 and 26:

    …faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead….do you want to know, O
    foolish man, that faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father
    justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  Do you see
    that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made
    perfect?…You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
    …For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
    also.

Martin Luther struggled with this matter of faith and works, and he sought in his earlier years to be acceptable to God because of his own efforts – his own goodness and righteousness, though he felt he had none!  He knew he failed miserably!  But then he came to understand Romans 1:17:  “The just shall live by faith.”  It is translated as Martin Luther understood it in Beck’s, The Language of Today – “By faith you are righteous and you will live….”  Luther was so incensed by James’ point of view, he called the book, “an epistle of straw”!

But James was looking at the matter from man’s perspective.  We cannot see the heart as God can.  But we can see the works a changed heart – a saved soul – produces!  And it is by such works we can pretty well discern whether a person is saved or unsaved!

Applying this concept to what Jesus said in The Lord’s Prayer:  “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  If we do not forgive others, it may be an indication that we have never received the forgiveness God offers us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ!

We will continue on this point in Wednesday’s blog.

July 25, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9 through 13:

    In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
    name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
    Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
    our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
    evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  
    Amen.

We now come to a statement with which we all identify:

•    Verse 11 – “Give us this day our daily bread.”  We all need daily nourishment, and it all comes from God whether we recognize that fact or not.  There are three passages in the Psalms that speak to this issue – two by David and one anonymous:

Psalm 103:5 – The Lord “…satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Psalm 107:9 – “…He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

Psalm 145:15 and 16 – “The eyes of all look expectantly to You; and You give them their food in due season.  You open Your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

Israel’s history shouts the same truth.  For 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula – because they did not believe in God and His power to overcome their enemies as He led them into the Promised Land of Canaan   But God did not forsake them, even in His chastisement.  Moses said in Deuteronomy 8:3 and 4:

    …He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you
    did not know nor did your fathers know; that He might make you know that
    man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds
    from the mouth of the LORD.  Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did
    your foot swell these forty years.

Jesus expanded on the subject in Matthew 6:25 and 26:

    Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor
    about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the
    body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow
    nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are
    you not of much more value than they?

It all comes from God!  But in The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is telling us to think far beyond the food  – the “…daily bread…” we eat!  I am reminded of one of my favorite scriptures – Deuteronomy 33:25:  “As your days, so shall your strength be.”  The idea – as Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, is that “…my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus…” – God will give us what we need for every situation we face, whether it be physical, material, mental, emotional, spiritual or relational!

And we dare not miss the truth Jesus applied to Himself, summarized in John 6:35, 51, and 53 through 55:

    I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who
    believes in Me shall never thirst….I am the living bread which came down
    from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread
    that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world….Most
    assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink
    His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My
    blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is
    food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

Here is our biggest need – our spiritual need!  And it is fully satisfied by the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ!  We are eternal beings!  And we will spend eternity someplace – either heaven or hell!  What we do here determines our destiny.  If we accept God’s provision of His Son, we have eternal life!  If we reject that heavenly food and drink, we will experience eternal death!

So thank God for His provision – realizing He has already provided!  “Give us this day our daily bread…” is not so much a plea to open the reluctant hand of God.  It is more a plea for Him to help us consume what He has already given!

July 23, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9 through 13 is as follows:

    In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
    name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
    Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
    our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
    evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  
    Amen.

Let’s move on in our study of The Lord’s Prayer to the next phrase:

•    Verse 10 – “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  First, let’s answer the question, “How is God’s will done in heaven?”  The answer is “Completely and absolutely – without question and without hesitation!”  It says in Psalm 103:19 through 22:

    The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules
    over all.  Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do
    His word, heeding the voice of His word.  Bless the LORD, all you His
    hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure.  Bless the LORD, all
    His works in all places of His dominion.

And in the next Psalm, verse 4 is quoted in Hebrews 1:14: “[He]…makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.”  “His ministers…” implies complete obedience, as a dedicated servant to his master.

The only one in heaven who did not obey God – who rebelled against His rule – was “…Lucifer…[the] covering cherub…” (Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:16).  And he was expelled from heaven (see Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:8 and 9) to become Satan, the devil.  Even so, according to Job 1:12 and 2:6, he is still under the control of God and cannot go beyond the Lord’s command!

So what are we asking when we pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”?  We are imploring God that His will be accomplished on earth, now, as readily as it is carried out in heaven – “Completely and absolutely – without question and without hesitation!”  Are we willing to accept such Lordship in our lives?!!  Remember also that “…the greatest commandment in the law…” is this, recorded in Matthew 22:37 and 38 (NIV):  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.”  Jesus then equated such love to obedience with His statement in John 14:15:  “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”  So we are to obey, the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind – just as quickly and completely as those in heaven obey Him!

There is a story that comes out of the ministry of the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody.  He was speaking in a large church, and dared to say to the congregation that they were all sinners before God!  After the service a well-dressed lady came to him and chastised him, saying, “I take offence that you called me a sinner!”

Moody looked at her and said, “I am sorry.  I meant to say you are the greatest of sinners!”

She involuntarily drew in her breath in response.  But Moody continued.  “Now do you know the first and greatest commandment?  It is found in Matthew 22:37 and 38 (KJV): “‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.’”  Moody went on:  “Have you accomplished this in your life – all the time?”

She lowered her head and replied, “No.”

“So,” Moody concluded, “you have broken the first and greatest commandment!  Does that not make you the greatest of sinners?”

Is it any wonder that Paul called himself the chiefest of sinners in I Timothy 1:15?  And we are right up there with him – especially if we glibly pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” and do not intend to make that request true in our own lives!

July 21, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

In this third blog on The Lord’s Prayer, I again reproduce Matthew 6:9-13:

    In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
    name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
    Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
    our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
    evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  
    Amen.

Let’s look at the fourth statement of The Lord’s prayer:

•    Verse 10 – “Your kingdom come.”  Several blogs ago, I started a study on What Will The Millennium Be Like?  And for six blogs we looked at the Millennial Kingdom.  We may get back to that study in the future because there is a lot more in the Bible that reveals What Will The Millennium Be Like?  Briefly, here are a couple of things that apply to the statement, “Your kingdom come.”

First – Jesus Himself will reign from Jerusalem over all the kingdoms of the earth (see Isaiah 9:6 and 7; Luke 1:31 through 33; Revelation 11:15).

Second – It will be a godly rule of the King of kings, and all people will voluntarily submit to His authority (see Isaiah 11:9 and 10; Jeremiah 31:33 and 34; Habakkuk 2:14; Hebrews 8:10 through 12).

Third – It will be a time of peace, both among the peoples of the earth and even among all the rest of creation (see Isaiah 9:7; 11:1 through 11; Romans 8:19 through 23).

Fourth – Satan will be bound, and his sinful influence will be banished from the earth for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3).

Perhaps we should emphasize the fact that God will rule the world both in its inter- and intra-national relations, and among and within individuals.  Paul wrote in Colossians 3:15, “…let the peace of God rule in your hearts….”  What will be true worldwide in the Kingdom should now be true in the hearts and lives of Christians!

So when you pray, “Your kingdom come…,” you are asking God to help you realize the Lord Jesus Christ’s rule in your own life.  Furthermore, you are asking Him to help you to live so that your life will influence others to submit to His rule!  Yes, we are pleading with God to hasten His kingdom upon earth – when all people submit to Him.  But when we pray “Your kingdom come…,” we are asking God to help us manifest Kingdom principles here and now!  

By the way, it says in Romans 11:25 and 26:

    …I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
    you should be wise in your own opinion; that hardening in part has happened
    to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will
    be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will
    turn away ungodliness from Jacob….”

This refers to God dealing with the Jews during the last seven years of this age – also called the Tribulation.  Notice Paul writes that this will not happen “…until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.”  In other words, the Rapture of the Church (see I Thessalonians 4:13-17, Revelation 4:1) will not take place until the last soul is saved during the Age of Grace also known as the Church Age.  The Kingdom immediately follows the Tribulation!

So what are you doing to hasten the kingdom?  Are you sharing the gospel with others so they can be saved?  Are you helping to disciple young Christians into mature believers who will also share the good news of Jesus Christ with others?  If you dare pray, “Your kingdom come…,” are you doing what you can to bring about its arrival?  If not, perhaps you had better not be so ready to pray, “Your kingdom come…”!

July 18, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

If The Lord’s Prayer is part of our regular church worship repeated every gathering, then it probably becomes too familiar, and rolls off the tongue without much thought behind it.  But if it is the divine model for our prayers – as Jesus intended The Lord’s Prayer to be – then we need to renew our understanding of it so we can follow its prescription more closely.  Here, again, is what the Lord gave us in Matthew 6:9 through 13:

    In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
    name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
    Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
    our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
    evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  
    Amen.

In the last blog, we looked at the opening statements of The Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”  And we saw that it starts with recognizing the sovereignty and authority of God over all!  Then comes acknowledgment of holiness – both God’s innate holiness and our imputed holiness when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s move on:

•    Verse 10 – “Your kingdom come.”  There are many aspects of the Kingdom explored in the scriptures, but let’s focus on one:  Jesus Christ will rule all nations in righteousness and justice.  It is prophesied in Psalm 2:6 through 9:

    …have I set My King on My holy hill of Zion.  I will declare the decree: the
    LORD has said to me, “You are my Son, today I have begotten You.  Ask of
    Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the
    earth for Your possession.  You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall
    dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

And in Revelation 11:15 an angel announces:  “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our LORD and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.”  Further, it says in Habakkuk 2:14:  “…the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

We – as His children and followers – are in training to help administer that Kingdom!  For it is written in Revelation 5:9 and 10:

    And they sang a new song, saying:  “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to
    open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood
    out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings
    and priest to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”

Are you taking this training seriously?  And are you laying up treasure in the coming Kingdom?  Jesus exhorted us to “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven….”  The most precious thing in God’s eyes is people! (see Revelation 18:11 through 13.  To get God’s perspective on what is valuable, just reverse the list of Satan’s values!).  So how many people – how much treasure – are you laying up in heaven by living your life for the Lord here and now?  How many people have come to faith in Jesus Christ because of your witness unto them?  If you dare pray, “Your kingdom come…,” are you living with the Kingdom in focus – to hasten its coming and to stock it with treasure for the glory of the Lord?

One more thing:  The Lord Jesus laid out Kingdom principles by which His disciples are to live here on earth now!  Such principles comprise the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 (from which comes, by the way, the version of The Lord’s Prayer under consideration in this study.)  So the Kingdom is not just in the future.  As Jesus said in Luke 17:21, “…indeed, the kingdom of God is [now] within you.”  The Kingdom is here and now – and its principles are to be lived out here and now!  So when you pray, “Your kingdom come…,” you are confessing your willingness to let Jesus Christ the King rule in your heart, and to demonstrate that divine rule in your life!

Keep this in mind the next time you pray The Lord’s Prayer.  Repeat the words, “Your kingdom come…,” determined to have your life reflect God’s Kingdom!

July 16, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

It is known as The Lord’s Prayer.  Two versions of it are found in the gospels – one in Matthew 6:9 through 13 and the other in Luke 11:2 through 4.  Here is the one from Matthew:

    In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
    name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  
    Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
    our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
    evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  
    Amen.

By the contexts in Matthew and Luke, it looks like Jesus gave this model prayer on two different occasions:  the first within the context of the Sermon on the Mount – Matthew; and the second when His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray – Luke.

The Lord’s Prayer is not actually a prayer recorded in the scriptures that Jesus prayed.  It is given to us for a model for our prayers as we seek the ear of the Father.  That Jesus gave it as a model is shown by the words with which He introduced it:  “In this manner, therefore, pray….”  Perhaps it should be called ‘The Disciples’ Prayer,’ for it can only be accurately prayed by true disciples of Jesus Christ.  John 17 – its 26 verses recording the prayer Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was arrested – is probably more logically a candidate to be called The Lord’s Prayer.  

But The Lord’s Prayer is the model for our prayers – given to us by the Master Himself.  And in many churches its words are repeated as a regular part of worship.  So let’s analyze The Lord’s Prayer, and see if we can improve our own petitions before our God.

•    Verse 9 – “Our Father in heaven….”  It starts with recognizing the sovereignty and authority of God over all!  Paul, in II Corinthians 12:2, called it “…the third heaven.”  In Jewish thinking, this was the dwelling place of God, the unassailable throne from where all is under the control of Him who sits thereon.  Lucifer tried to assail God’s enthroned position – recorded in Isaiah 14:12 though 15 – and it proved to be his downfall.  But, as the devil has found, even he has not been able to defeat God, and Satan can only act within the limits set by the Father (see Job 1:12 and 2:6).

Even Solomon – later in his life when he slid back from his godly start, and when he wrote Ecclesiastes, the point of view of a man disappointed with all the world has to offer – Solomon recognized God’s preeminent place in heaven.  He said in Ecclesiastes 5:2 (NIV), “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

“Our Father in heaven…” – However many words we might add to our prayers – this is a great place to start!

•    Verse 9 – “Hallowed be Your name.”  The name in Bible times often was descriptive of the person – as it is with the name Jesus, meaning “Jehovah saves.”  The Lord gave a succinct description of why He came in Luke 19:10:  “…the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost…” – Jehovah saves!

So the name of God here really refers to the person of God.  And God is hallowed or holy.  When we come before Him, we must keep in mind His holiness.  And not just His holiness, but the fact that He calls us to be holy also if we are His followers.  

How holy is God?  And how holy does He demand us to be?  The answer is in Leviticus 19:2:  “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”  The idea is expressed another way in Matthew 5:48:  “…you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” As perfect as God!  As holy as God!  How can anyone live up to that requirement?  No one can………except Jesus!  And He not only took our sins upon Himself, but He makes His own righteousness available to us!  We wear it as a robe!  And being so clothed, we are totally acceptable unto the Father because we are positionally as holy – as perfect – as Jesus Christ Himself!

Coming to the Father in prayer – if we recognize His sovereignty and authority; if we realize He is totally holy and perfect; if we remember all that He has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ – we will then respond with praise and thanksgiving from our hearts, and we will begin our prayer aright!

July 14, 2014
Philemon 1:10, 17-20

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Back on March 27 of last year I wrote a blog called The Great Exchange, based on II Corinthians 5:21.  To get the fullest understanding of today’s blog, I suggest you go back and read The Great Exchange.

But I will still summarize what I wrote over 16 months ago.  In II Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes, “For He [the Father] made Him [the Son] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  The Great Exchange was Jesus taking our sins upon Himself and totally paying for them by His death on the cross.  But He also offers us His own perfect righteousness to wear as a robe covering our nakedness.  So we stand before God, not only free from sin and condemnation, but clothed in Jesus’ own goodness – as perfect before the Father as the Son Himself!

In Philemon Paul applies these principles to a runaway slave – Onesimus, to his owner – Philemon, and to himself – Paul.  Onesimus was a bond-servant to Philemon, apparently a well-to-do citizen of Colosse in Asia Minor.  It seems Onesimus had stolen from his master and escaped to Rome where he met Paul.  The apostle was then incarcerated – his first Roman imprisonment.  Paul had led the escaped slave to faith in Jesus Christ, and Onesimus had confessed and repented of his sins – including stealing from Philemon.  Paul would have liked to keep Onesimus with him as a helper and attendant, for Paul identifies himself at this time as “…Paul, the aged…” (Philemon 1:9).  He was in his sixties and his hard missionary life had taken its toll on his body (see II Corinthians 11:23 through 29).  But Paul would not do anything without Philemon’s permission.  More important, the apostle felt the repentant slave should go back and be reconciled to his master.  So he sent him back to Colosse with this letter.  And The Great Exchange of Debit and Credit is illustrated in verses 10, and 17 through 20 of this one-chapter epistle:

    I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my
    chains….If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.  
    But if he has wronged you, or owes you anything, put that on my account.  
    I, Paul, am writing with my own hand.  I will repay — not to mention to
    you that you owe me even your own self besides.  Yes, brother, let me have
    joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.

Do you see  The Great Exchange of Debit and Credit here?  The Debit is in verse 18 – “…if he has wronged you, or owes you anything….”  We don’t know what Onesimus did exactly, but he had wronged Philemon, and if he had stolen property from his master, he certainly did owe him!

We have all wronged God!  God created us in His own image (Genesis 1:26 and 27), endowing us with god-like qualities that no other creature possessed!  But we all have disobeyed Him.  “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no, not one;’…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:10 and 23).  We have offended our high and holy God!  These sins are multitudinous, and are plainly written on our account!  And if something is not changed, we will forever be paying for these sins in a hot and torturous hell, eternally separated from our Creator!

But on to the Credit part!  Paul emphasizes this three times:

•    …in verse 17 – “…receive him as you would me.”  Receive Onesimus as if he was Paul!  This is marvelous – especially when we apply it to our situation before God!  When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are then accepted by the Father as if He was receiving Jesus Christ – His own Son – Himself!

•    …in verse 18 – “…if he has wronged you, or owes you anything, put that on my account.”  In other words, Credit my account with his Debit!  That is exactly what God does for us in the Lord Jesus Christ!  He credits us with the full righteousness of Jesus!  We stand before the Father in the Son as if we had never sinned at all!

•    …in verse 19 – “I, Paul, am writing with my own hand.  I will repay….”  Jesus has written on our bill – our long list of sins – one word in the Greek, which He uttered from the cross – Tetelestai – meaning, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).  That one word might be written across a bill of sale when payment was received – “Paid in full!”  And the Lord wrote that word with His own blood!  Our sins are totally paid for!  We do not owe anything more when we are in Jesus Christ!

Yes, Paul does remind Philemon that he didn’t have to promise to repay Onesimus’ debt.  “…not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.”  After all, Philemon’s Christian life and training were apparently all the result of Paul’s work.  God did not have to provide for The Great Exchange of Debit and Credit through His Son.  He would still be God if we all went to hell!  But He loves us so much “…that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

One more thing – in verse 20 Paul writes, “…let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord ” Do you know you can rejoice and refresh the heart of God?  Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and living in obedience to Him as Lord does just that – it refreshes and rejoices the heart of God (see Hebrews 12:2)!

May this give you new insight into the Debit and Credit of your account!

July 11, 2014
Psalm 68:19

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

We have started a prayer ministry at our church.  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning anyone who can come stays for however long they can – praying aloud or silently.  We are especially lifting up our nation as well as our church.

As I was praying this morning, a verse – Psalm 68:19 – came to mind:  “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation.”  It made me think of the marvelous benefits we have from God in this United States:

•    Peace – War rages in so many areas of the world today.  There is increasing violence among different sects of Islam in Iraq.  There is violence in the Ukraine as the government fights pro-Russian rebels.  Syria’s three-year conflict continues with mounting casualties – over 160,000 so far!  Israeli and Palestinian tensions are on the rise with escalating violence, …and on and on!  Yet we experience peace in this country – with very few incidents of terrorist violence since 9/11/01.

•    Prosperity – I heard it said yesterday that even the homeless in the US are rich in comparison with so many people who are suffering extreme poverty in other parts of the world.  And whereas in many poor countries, people spend 40 to 60 percent of their income just to provide for daily food, here we spend an average of 6 to 8 percent!  I know I have not gone hungry, homeless, unclothed or medically untended for all my life.

•    Freedom – “Four Freedoms” were articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941 – Freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear.  These four were made famous in paintings by Norman Rockwell.  Just consider the second one, Freedom of worship:  The official figure is that there were 3,239 Christian martyrs in 2013.  But other estimates put the figure as high as 105,000 a year – the majority from Republic of Congo violence.  On March 8, 2009, Pastor Fred Winters was shot and killed while preaching at First Baptist Church, Maryville, Illinois.  This made headlines all around the country.  Why?  Because it was such an unusual event!  In the Republic of Congo, he would be “just another Christian martyr.”

•    Opportunity – In recent years we have seen people succeed in business beyond their (and our) wildest imaginations.  Consider Bill Gates – Mircosoft; Kenny Troutt – Excel Communications; Howard Schultz – Starbucks; Do Wan Chang and Jin Sook – Forever 21 Clothing; Larry Ellison – Oracle; Mark Zuckerburg – Facebook – just to name a few!  But so many others have succeeded in their dreams, maybe not as publicly, and not just in business!

We are blessed with benefits in this country – loaded with benefits – as the psalmist puts it.  And the first and greatest benefit is then identified in our scripture – “…the God of our salvation.”  Where would we be without “…the God of our salvation…”?  We might be loaded down with temporal blessings but, as someone said, “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul!”  Jesus said it this way in Mark 8:36 and 37:   “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  In Psalm 49:6 through 8 says:

    Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches,
    none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
    ransom for him — for the redemption of their soul is costly….

Where would we be without “…the God of our salvation…”?  We would be forever lost in our sins, and headed to suffer eternity in hell!   And this fact would stand no matter how comfortable this life might have been!

So have you thanked God for His benefits lately – especially the benefits we experience in this country?  And have you thanked and praised Him for providing salvation through the death and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?  Your life ought to be lived for God as an on-going thank you for all His benefits He has loaded upon you!

Think about it!

July 9, 2014

Proverbs 15:2-4 (NIV)

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I have friends whose son recently underwent aggressive surgery for cancer of the tongue.  The surgery seemed to go well and the prognosis looks good.  But this young man – only in his 20’s – now has only a bit of tongue left in the back of his throat, and is understandably depressed as he deals with the reality of the loss of his ability to speak clearly.  I am praying for him every day.  And the main concern is not the loss of his tongue and the resultant adjustments to living out his life, but that he is not a Christian.

This led me to think about The Tongue In Eternity.  For in eternity, this young man’s tongue will be restored – as will all malfunctioning or missing body parts.  And this is not just for Christians!  Yes, we believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have that hope of a perfect resurrected body – a physical body like Jesus’ post-resurrection body – perfectly adapted to eternal spiritual living.  Paul summarized this truth in Philippians 3:21 when he wrote, “…the Lord Jesus Christ…will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (see also I Corinthians 15:35 through 54; I Thessalonians 4:16 and 17; I John 3:2).

But unbelievers also will experience resurrection and physical restoration!  As it says in Daniel 12:2, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.”  There are two resurrections and – according to Revelation 20:5 – they are separated by a thousand years.

Although the evidence in scripture is rather scant for what the eternal body of unbelievers will be like, it points to a restored physical body designed to last forever – even under the terrible conditions in hell!

I was looking for an appropriate scripture to capture the ideas of this blog, and I came across Proverbs 15:2 through 4 (NIV):

    The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool
    gushes folly. The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the
    wicked and the good.  The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but
    a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

In verse 2, the wise is the person who has committed his or her life to God – trusting in God’s provision through His Son to cleanse us from our sin and give us righteous standing before the Father.  The fool is the one who has chosen not to do this, and is trusting in his or her own choices for this life and eternity.  The tongue simply declares those choices we make!  And – verse 3 – God sees and knows it all!  The result of it – in verse 4 – is either healing for the wise or a crushed spirit for the fool – both now and forever!

What about The Tongue In Eternity?  What will it be used for?  In heaven it will be to give praise and glory to God!  A beautiful picture of this is in Revelation 7:9 through 12:

    After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one
    could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before
    the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches
    in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to
    our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  And all the angels stood
    around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on
    their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:  “Amen!  Blessing,
    and glory, and wisdom, thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be
    to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”

By the way, if you want to follow a good example of how to praise the Lord, just repeat from your heart verse 12!

How will the resurrected tongue be used by those in hell?  Forever they will be cursing God, screaming in pain, and begging as the rich man did in Luke 16:24 for just a drop of water to cool his tongue! (see also Matthew 8:12; Mark 9:43 through 48; Revelation 14:10 and 11).

Dear one, heaven is real!  Hell is real!  Eternity is forever!  The use of The Tongue In Eternity is determined by what you do with it now!  As it is written in Romans 10:9, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”