Days of Praise

[phkrause]

April 16, 2023
Things to Keep
“And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19:17)

The two main Greek words for “keep” in the New Testament both mean more than just “obey,” though this meaning is certainly included. They also mean “guard” and “preserve.” We are thus told by Christ, in our text above, to guard and obey God’s commandments.

The same urgent command to keep what God has given is applied to many other entities in Scripture. For example, Paul stresses that we are to “keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20). In other words, false science (evolution) and vain babbling (humanistic philosophies) will seek to destroy the tenets of God’s truth, so we must always be diligent to guard and protect these truths.

Each person is also urged to “keep himself unspotted from the world” and to “keep thyself pure” (James 1:27; 1 Timothy 5:22). The forces of darkness make perpetual attacks against the spiritual and moral integrity of the Christian, so we must constantly be alert to protect ourselves against their enticements. Then, we must also endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3) and to “keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 1:21), for the enemy will continually try to sow discord and bitterness among God’s people.

There are many verses that stress the keeping of His commandments (e.g., John 14:15) and the keeping of His words (e.g., 1 John 2:5). Finally, in the very last chapter of the Bible, the Lord sums it all up, as it were, when He promises: “Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7). HMM

[phkrause]

April 17, 2023
Tragic Ignorance
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3)

There are several important doctrinal truths about which unbelievers—and sometimes even Christians—seem tragically ignorant, with an ignorance affecting their very lives and destinies. Perhaps the most tragic is that mentioned in our text. Paul was writing specifically of the Jews, but the same ignorance is found in countless others—people who seek to earn salvation by their own religious and moral works rather than through faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ, who died for their sins.

There is also widespread ignorance concerning death and life beyond the grave. “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). With respect to Christian life and ministry, Paul says: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant” (1 Corinthians 12:1). Yet, most Christians neglect to develop or use their gifts, mainly because of ignorance concerning their proper function as described in 1 Corinthians 12, 14; Romans 12:3-21; Ephesians 4:7-16, and other key passages.

We urgently also need to be instructed concerning the deceptions of the wicked one, “lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). For all who seek instruction rather than ignorance, let them study God’s Word, for “all scripture...is profitable for...instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). HMM

[phkrause]

April 18, 2023
The Conclusion of the Matter
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

The spiritual life of Solomon can, to a great degree, be traced through his writings as recorded in the Bible. They are not straightforward history but are rather in a poetic style that reveals his inner thoughts throughout his life. At the beginning of his reign over Israel, he asked God for “an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad” (1 Kings 3:9), and he subsequently became renowned for his wisdom (e.g., 3:28; 4:29).

Unfortunately, as is well documented in Scripture, his thirst for human wisdom led him into compromise and disobedience, setting the stage for national apostasy and idolatry upon his death. The book of Ecclesiastes chronicles a series of experiments that he conducted in search for the highest human good, but each forced him to conclude that “all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, etc.), that there is no humanly discernible pattern in the affairs of men. However, he concludes that life is the gift of God and should be enjoyed (3:13). Furthermore, he recognized the eventual judgment of God and concluded it is best to live in obedience to God’s commands (e.g., 3:16-17).

Our text summarizes the entire book of Ecclesiastes. Here is the secret of human fulfillment. Note the two complementary commands, “fear God” and “keep his commandments.”

A true reverence for God necessarily results in obedience to His commands. Wise Solomon knew it, and Christ and the New Testament writers reinforced it (John 14:15; 1 John 5:2; etc.). Life’s harsh realities and seeming paradoxes are at times incomprehensible to us. Only by adopting a proper attitude toward life and God can we cope. JDM

[phkrause]

April 19, 2023
The Word and the Spirit
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

How is it that some people can read a biblical passage and find it either tedious, confusing, or even foolish, whereas others will receive great understanding and blessing from the very same passage? The answer is that the first group are animated only by the spirit of the world, “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), whereas the others are indwelled by the Spirit of God, having received the Holy Spirit when they trusted Christ for forgiveness and salvation.

It was, after all, the Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures to begin with. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16), that is, “God-breathed,” where the “breath of God” is none other than the “Spirit of God.” Concerning his own divinely inspired writings, Paul said: “We speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

Likewise, it is the same Spirit indwelling each believer who illumines, and confirms, and applies His own Scriptures to the individual Christian who reads or hears them. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). On the other hand, Jesus promised His disciples that “when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

This He does through the Scriptures He inspired, with blessings abundant as we study them prayerfully and with believing and obedient hearts. HMM

[phkrause]

April 20, 2023
Visit
“Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14)

Our English word “visit” has come to mean a social call, but not so in the Greek, where it can mean to inspect, to look upon in order to help, or benefit.

For example, when Christ said “sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not” (Matthew 25:43), He had in mind more than a social call. The prisons of the day were miserable places with no amenities whatever. Prisoners desperately needed help from the outside. Paul wrote to Timothy from his Roman prison, “The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee” (2 Timothy 4:13). By better understanding the word “visit,” Christ’s teaching takes on a richer meaning involving more the idea of a personal commitment.

The events surrounding the birth of the Messiah were considered a “visitation” by Zacharias when he prophesied over the baby Jesus, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people....the dayspring from on high hath visited us” (Luke 1:68, 78). After Christ raised to life a dead boy, the people exclaimed, “A great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people” (Luke 7:16).

In that light, consider our text for today as James explained to the church leaders Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. With our expanded understanding of the word “visit,” we could now expand the verse to read “how God for the first time did look upon the Gentiles, in order to help them. In doing so, he took out of them a people for his name.” God, in His grace, has done all that was necessary to help us, to bring us out of bondage to sin, and to stamp on us His holy name. JDM

[phkrause]

April 21, 2023
Holy Brethren
“I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.” (1 Thessalonians 5:27)

There is probably no word more misused—even abused—than the word “holy.” In our day and age, it usually conjures up an image of sanctimoniousness, or even hypocrisy, and thus often becomes a term of snide ridicule.

Nevertheless, it is a biblical term of highest significance, most often used in connection with God Himself, the Holy Spirit. Since it is also used in connection with things (“the holy place,” as in Hebrews 9:12), it does not in itself necessarily have a moral connotation. Its basic meaning is evidently “set apart” and can refer either to people or objects that have been dedicated to God and His service.

Christians are all “holy brethren” in this sense, regardless of their individual behavior. They are all also called “saints” (same word as “holy” in the Greek—e.g., 1 Corinthians 1:2, even though many of the “saints” at Corinth were far from Christlike in their actions).

By all means, however, we who are called “holy brethren” ought to try, by God’s grace, to bring honor to such a name rather than ridicule. “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him” (Hebrews 3:1-2).

The term “saints,” or “holy brethren,” applies both to men and women, of course, and to believers of Old Testament times as well as New Testament. Peter, for example, mentions “the holy women” who honored and served the Lord “in the old time” (1 Peter 3:5), and also the “holy men of God” through whom God gave the Old Testament Scriptures (2 Peter 1:21). The eternal admonition of God to all believers of every age is “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). HMM

[phkrause]

April 22, 2023
Once, Finished, Forever
“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12)

This verse in Hebrews 10 stands in comparative contrast to the previous verse, which says, “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (v. 11). It’s noteworthy that the Old Testament priests had to “standeth daily” as they did service in the tabernacle.

There were several reasons for this. The first was that “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Another less obvious reason was that the tabernacle of Moses and the later temple in Jerusalem didn’t have a single piece of furniture designed for sitting. In other words, there wasn’t a chair in the holy place for the priest to take a rest. There was the altar of incense, the menorah, and even a table of showbread, but no chairs. This was probably to signify that the work of the Old Testament priest was never finished.

In dramatic contrast, Christ Jesus, functioning in His office of high priest, offered His life as a single sacrifice and payment for all our sins—past, present, and future—and then “sat down” at the Father’s right hand. Jesus emphatically sat down to demonstrate that the work of redemption is indeed finished!

In God’s eyes, His people are forever perfect, spotless, and washed whiter than snow by the precious, eternal blood of His Son. Our part is to believe and receive all that has been done for us by Christ, “whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood” (Romans 3:25). JPT

[phkrause]

April 23, 2023
Hold Fast
“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13)

There are several significant pieces to this important command. We must “hold firm” to the “pattern” of the “wholesome words” that have been given to us. And that firm hold must rest in the faith and love that we have in Christ Jesus.

This is not an option. We are to hold to the form of the sound words. Hupotuposis is the Greek term, only used one other time in the New Testament, where Paul insists that his life was to be “a pattern to them which should hereafter believe” (1 Timothy 1:16, emphasis added). We are to be “under” (hupo) the “outline” or “pattern” (tupos) of the wholesome words. The purpose of the two letters to Timothy was to encourage the young pastor to follow the example of his human teacher Paul, who had completely submitted himself to the authority of all Scripture.

To the Roman Christians, Paul was delighted that they “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered” to them (Romans 6:17, emphasis added). To the Corinthians, he reminded them that the events recorded in the life of Israel had “happened unto them for examples” (1 Corinthians 10:11, emphasis added). Paul also insisted that the people of the church at Philippi should “be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Philippians 3:17, emphasis added).

Both biblical and church history provide us with patterns to follow. But the sound words of Scripture give what is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). HMM III

[phkrause]

April 24, 2023
The Good Deposit
“That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” (2 Timothy 1:14)

The good thing that Paul referred to surely involves God’s “gift” that young Timothy was given as he entered the ministry. All gifts include the gift of “power, and of love, and of a sound mind” that God has given to all of us (2 Timothy 1:7). The Holy Spirit deposited that gift in us, and we are expected to guard it through the same Holy Spirit.

The action and responsibility are ours. The means by which we obey is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, who entered our bodies at the time of our salvation (1 Corinthians 6:19). That unique down payment of the triune Godhead (Ephesians 1:14) made it possible for us to keep the good with which He entrusted us. The breadth of God’s gift to us is beyond imagining, but there are a few insights that may help us understand His bounty.

In the most broad perspective, we are given “to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11). That gift requires that we be given “the mind of Christ” so that we may grasp these great spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2:16). The deposit that God placed with us is not a leap in IQ or mental ability. It is truly a “new man” that God has empowered to be “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10).

But this great spiritual capacity must be guarded. There is no guarantee of spiritual wisdom this side of eternity. We must beware “lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). God has made it possible for us to gain the wisdom of holiness so “that [we] might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). HMM III

[phkrause]

April 25, 2023
Doxology to the King
“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)

In this stirring doxology to the One who allowed him into the ministry (vv. 12-13), whose grace “was exceeding abundant” (v. 14), who “came into the world to save sinners” (v. 15), who showed mercy and longsuffering, and who grants “life everlasting” (v. 16), Paul uses several majestic descriptive terms. Each deserves our attention.

The King eternal. God’s sovereign kingship is in view here. The phrase literally translates, the “King of the ages.” “But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king” (Jeremiah 10:10). He is the King, and we must stand in submission to Him.

Immortal. The Greek word used here implies more than mere exemption from death. A fuller meaning would include total incorruptibility; i.e., the inability to be stained by either decay or death. What a comfort to realize that the believer’s crown in glory will be likewise incorruptible (1 Corinthians 9:25), as will his resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Invisible. God is a Spirit and as such cannot be seen. He has chosen to appear on numerous occasions, most notably as Christ, but is usually unseen, the primary meaning of the word. Christ “is the image of the invisible [same word] God, the firstborn of every creature” (Colossians 1:15). Seen or unseen, He merits our praise.

The only wise God. God is unique in His existence and wisdom, “God only wise” (Romans 16:27). He stands alone, solitary, apart from all others.

Surely to this eternal, incorruptible, unseen, unique, wise, sovereign King belongs “honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” JDM

[phkrause]

April 26, 2023
Creation and the Sciences
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27)

The first chapter of Genesis is the foundational chapter of the Bible and, therefore, of all true science. It is the great creation chapter, outlining the events of that first week of time when “the heavens and the earth were finished, and....God ended his work which he had made” (Genesis 2:1-2). Despite the evolutionists, God is not creating or making anything in the world today (except for special miracles as recorded in Scripture) because all His work was finished in that primeval week. He is now engaged in the work of conserving, or saving, what He first created.

There are only three acts of special creation—that is, creation out of nothing except God’s omnipotent word—recorded in this chapter. His other works were those of “making” or “forming” the created entities into complex, functioning systems.

His first creative act was to call into existence the space/mass/time cosmos. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This is the domain that we now study in the physical sciences. The second is the domain of the life sciences. “God created...every living creature that moveth” (Genesis 1:21). It is significant that the “life” principle required a second act of direct creation. It will thus never be possible to describe living systems solely in terms of physics and chemistry.

The third act of creation was that of the image of God in man and woman. The study of human beings is the realm of the human sciences. Our bodies can be analyzed chemically and our living processes biologically, but human behavior can only really be understood in terms of our relation to God, whose image we share. HMM

[phkrause]

April 27, 2023
Lessons to Learn
“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matthew 9:13)

The Lord Jesus called all who would be His disciples to “learn of me” (or “from me,” Matthew 11:29), and our text verse contains the first use of “learn” in the New Testament, thus indicating a basic item we must learn when we become Christians.

The Lord stressed that God cared nothing about the ritualistic offering of animal sacrifices, as such, but rather desired understanding of the meaning of those sacrifices, accompanied by the motivating love and faith of a repentant heart. He referred them back to their own Scripture: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). This is the most difficult but most basic lesson to learn by one seeking forgiveness and salvation.

There are many subsequent lessons to learn, of course; many of them very difficult even for sincere, believing Christians. Paul notes one of them he had learned the hard way: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Another difficult but vital lesson has to do with Christian humility in leadership, “that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another” (1 Corinthians 4:6).

Even the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect humanity had lessons to learn. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Finally, having learned these and many other such lessons, we must not forget them. Paul, in his final letter, so reminds us: “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned” (2 Timothy 3:14). HMM

[phkrause]

April 28, 2023
The Unseen Angels
“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Psalm 91:11)

God has created “an innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22), and there are many references to them in both Old and New Testaments, but few living men or women have ever actually seen real heavenly angels—or, at least, recognized them as such. We may “have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2), for they can assume the appearance of men on occasion, but normally they are invisible to human eyes.

Nevertheless, they are there! Furthermore, they are “all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). God has given them charge over us—that is, over each believer “that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High” (Psalm 91:1). They “excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word” (Psalm 103:20).

Wide is the variety of His commandments with respect to angelic ministry to believers. “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.... They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psalms 34:7; 91:12).

Not only physical protection but also guidance and encouragement are angelic ministries. When a believer dies, angels translate his spirit to the Lord’s presence (Luke 16:22; 2 Corinthians 5:8), and we can look forward then to meeting and thanking them personally as we come to understand better all their ministries on our behalf during our lifetimes. They are keenly concerned with our salvation and spiritual progress, “which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:12). Finally, “when the Son of man shall come in his glory,” He will bring “all the holy angels with him” (Matthew 25:31) as He judges the world. HMM

[phkrause]

April 29, 2023
Song of Praise to the Creator
“Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.” (Psalm 33:1-3)

Imagine yourself gathered in ancient days for worship, with stringed instruments tuned and temple choir poised to sing a song of praise. The song’s writer had consulted the scroll of the Pentateuch and read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Then he lifted his writing implement and carefully crafted a beautiful piece of music masterfully portraying Yahweh’s creation of and omnipotence over all things.

Believer, imagine hearing these words sung by our choir and accompanied by professional musicians. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). We mere mortals can’t help but stand in awe of Yahweh. We have no choice but to submit to His divine sovereignty.

Why? Because Yahweh used processes like natural selection and millions and millions of years to create His universe? Because He employed mutations, death, and destruction to craft complexity? Because our God authored “creative engines” like the Big Bang? Of course not! Yahweh directly crafted His creation—“His” word, “He” spoke, “He” commanded—and all of His creation salutes Him!

What should be our response? “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him” (Psalm 33:8). Let us sing the Creator’s praise, for “the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth” (v. 4). CM

[phkrause]

April 30, 2023
The Better Hope
“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” (Hebrews 7:19)

Men and women have many false hopes in this world, one of which is that they can earn heaven by good works. Even though God’s law is a perfect law, it can never make a person fit for heaven because no one can keep the law perfectly. There is a better hope, however, and that hope is “the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8) “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

This “hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15) is indeed a wonderful hope. In addition to the one in our text (“better”), there are three other adjectives in the New Testament relative to our Christian hope.

First, it is called a “good hope.” “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father...hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace” (2 Thessalonians 2:16).

Next, it is a “blessed hope.” “Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13).

Finally, it is a “lively [or living] hope.” “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

It is true, of course, that our hope is centered on the eternal future, for “if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Nevertheless, the proved resurrection of Christ makes it a good hope, a blessed hope, and a living hope. HMM

[phkrause]

May 1, 2023
Strong in Grace
“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:1)

In the Old Testament, “grace” (used 69 times) is often applied in the sense of personal favors or physical blessings. “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). In the New Testament, however, the term (used 156 times) often seems to emphasize God’s personal empowerment or the granting of His unique spiritual favor, as is clear in the wonderful passage Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Once the saving grace has been given, the believer is expected to use that grace with victory in mind—confidence that empowers our spiritual life and witness. We are to be “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Hence, we are to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10) as we wrestle against the powers of darkness that battle us unceasingly. Although “[we] can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth [us]” (Philippians 4:13), we must remember that those “things” include the entire spectrum of poverty to wealth and from hunger to satisfaction. God’s grace is strong enough to counter every worldly circumstance.

We must remember, however, that even the greatest heroes of the faith endured intense opposition, seasons of pain and privation, and occasionally were tortured to death (Hebrews 11:32-38). God’s strong grace is sufficient. “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). HMM III

[phkrause]

May 2, 2023
Prerequisites for Christian Unity
“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” (Philippians 2:1-2)

Churches haven’t changed much in 2,000 years. The call to unity in these verses is as needed now as it has always been. Let us examine the prerequisites for unity found here.

Consolation in Christ: The Greek word translated “consolation” is frequently translated “exhortation,” and that seems appropriate here. The “exhortation in Christ” immediately follows this passage where His beautiful life of humility becomes the exhortation to unity among believers, since disunity ultimately comes from pride (v. 3).

Comfort of love: Comfort could be rendered “encouragement,” implying a tender act of incentive. The agape love that the Holy Spirit produces in the life of a believer produces the incentive to unity. When believers truly love one another in this fashion, unity prevails.

Fellowship of the Spirit: The Holy Spirit makes possible a precious relationship between believers. Through the Spirit’s empowering, our wills can be molded into Christlikeness, enabling us to live in unity with our fellow saints.

Bowels and mercies: In the Western world, the heart is referred to as the seat of our innermost affections, here called “mercies,” or, literally, “compassionate yearnings and actions.” When Christians have tender compassion for one another, divisions cease.

The four prerequisites for unity are then Christlike humility, Spirit-produced agape love, a yielding of the will of each believer to the Spirit, and tenderheartedness toward one another. May God grant that they will know we are Christians by our love. JDM

[phkrause]

May 3, 2023
Action Verbs
“Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.” (Psalm 148:5)

The concept of “fiat creation” is opposed by evolutionists and all who believe in the so-called geologic ages. Nevertheless, this is clearly the teaching of the Word of God, and God was there! Psalm 148 exhorts all the stars to praise the Lord, and then notes that, as soon as God spoke, they “were created.” Similarly, “by the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.... For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:6, 9).

It is worth noting that whenever the verbs “create” and “make” are used in reference to God’s work of creation, they are never in the present tense. God is not now creating or making stars or animals or people as theistic evolution requires; at the end of the six-day creation period, in fact, God “rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3).

This is the teaching of the New Testament also. “The worlds [that is, the space/time cosmos, the ‘aeons’] were framed [not ‘are being framed’] by the word of God [not ‘by processes of stellar evolution’], so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear [not ‘out of pre-existing materials,’ as required by theories of chemical and cosmic evolution]” (Hebrews 11:3).

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself confirmed the doctrine of recent creation. “From the beginning of the creation [not, that is, four billion years after the solar system evolved] God made them [Adam and Eve] male and female” (Mark 10:6). Thus, those who believe in the geologic ages are rejecting both the biblical record and the authority of Jesus Christ in order to attain ephemeral acceptance by the ungodly. This is a poor exchange! HMM

[phkrause]

May 4, 2023
The Strength of the Lord
“I will go in the strength of the LORD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.” (Psalm 71:16)

Since God the Creator is omnipotent, if we can go in His strength, there would seem to be no limit to what could be accomplished. The book of Psalms, in particular, over and over again testifies that God indeed is our strength. For example, “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Psalm 18:1-2).

But how do we appropriate God’s strength, and how is it manifested in our own lives? The answer is not what most would expect. “He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy” (Psalm 147:10-11). “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Our text itself indicates that going in the strength of the Lord is essentially to “make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.” Speaking of God’s righteousness (not ours) in the fear of the Lord and the leading of the Spirit, hoping only in His mercy, manifests the strength of the Lord.

Furthermore, “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). And, finally, the apostle Paul, who surely exhibited the strength of God in his life as much as anyone ever did, testified that “he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). His grace and His joy, shining through our own weakness, enable the man “whose strength is in thee” to “go from strength to strength” (Psalm 84:5, 7) in His service. HMM

[phkrause]

May 5, 2023
Results of Religious Compromise
“And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 19:2)

Jehoshaphat was a godly king of Judah who faithfully served the Lord, but he made the tragic mistake of forming an alliance with ungodly king Ahab of Israel in fighting against their common enemy Syria. After all, he reasoned, they were “brothers,” both descended from Abraham, so they could join together in battling the Syrians.

As a result, although God continued to bless Jehoshaphat during his lifetime, this compromise eventually resulted in great tragedy in his family when his son and successor, Jehoram, married Ahab’s wicked daughter Athaliah and then slew all his own brothers, and soon he himself died of a loathsome disease (2 Chronicles 21:4, 6, 19).

The road of compromise eventually ends in a precipice, especially in matters regarding the integrity of God’s Word and His saving gospel. The timeless principle for Christians today is given in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?...or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?”

This warning and command is at least as greatly needed today as it was in Paul’s day. Spiritual, moral, and religious compromise seem to be endemic in the Christian realm today, in both doctrine and practice, and God would warn us that tragedy is imminent in the generation of our children, if not before.

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing” (2 Corinthians 6:17). HMM

[phkrause]

May 6, 2023
Resisting the Devil
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” (Matthew 4:1)

The first recorded event in Matthew’s gospel after Christ’s baptism is His temptation by Satan in the wilderness after He had fasted for 40 days. This amazing account provides us with several practical lessons.

First, we need to understand that the devil is a real and serious enemy. Consider the fact that he wasn’t afraid to tempt the Lord Jesus Himself. This same devil beguiled Eve, deceived David, and sifted Peter like wheat. The Bible tells us that he is a murderer, a thief, a liar, and a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But this enemy is also often very subtle, since he can even appear as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

We also learn from this account that in response to Satan, Christ wielded “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The Bible is the chief weapon we must use to resist the devil. Three times Satan attempted to deceive Jesus, and three times his offer was refuted with Scripture as Christ said, “It is written.”

This is why we need to be diligent readers and studiers of the Bible. We can never fight a good fight if we don’t properly wield our chief weapon. We should not only be familiar with its contents, but also have key Scriptures stored in our memories. In fact, one of Satan’s greatest strategies is to distract us from being diligent, regular, daily, prayerful Bible readers.

Thus, we’d do well to follow the two-step formula given in James 4:7—“Submit yourselves therefore to God,” and “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” JPT

[phkrause]

May 7, 2023
When to Pray
“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

There is no set time to pray, for it is always appropriate. Our text tells us to “continue” in prayer, and this is the same word as in Romans 12:12, which urges us to be “instant in” prayer. In fact, the admonition of 1 Thessalonians 5:17 is to “pray without ceasing.”

Children should pray, as did little Samuel. When the Lord called him, he could answer: “Speak; for thy servant heareth” (1 Samuel 3:10). Young people should pray, as Timothy, who was exhorted by Paul to make “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks...for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1). Adult men should pray, as did Paul himself, who could say to the Christians of Philippi that he was “always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy” (Philippians 1:4). Old men should pray, like Simeon, and old women, like Anna, who “served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:25, 36-37). And even dying men should pray, as did Stephen who, as he was being stoned to death, was also “calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).

We can pray at dawn like David, who said: “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Psalm 5:3). In a Philippian prison, “at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God” (Acts 16:25). Daniel “kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed” (Daniel 6:10). There is no time that is not a good time for prayer. One should pray in times of sorrow and also in times of joy, as did Hannah in both circumstances (1 Samuel 1:15; 2:1).

It is a most marvelous privilege that we have through Christ that we are able to speak to the infinite God in prayer and to know that He hears and cares. Therefore, pray! HMM

[phkrause]

May 8, 2023
Things Not Seen
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” (Hebrews 11:7)

The little phrase “things not seen” is used three times in the New Testament, and interestingly enough, these refer to the past, present, and future works of God with respect to the things that are seen.

At the beginning of the “faith chapter” of Hebrews occur these remarkable words: “Now faith is...the evidence of things not seen....Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:1, 3). That is, the material things of this present world were not made of pre-existing materials; they were supernaturally created by the word of the Creator! These things that are now seen provide evidence (or better, the “conviction”) of the things not seen—that is, of God’s creative work completed in the past.

The “processes” that are now seen (as distinct from the “materials”) date especially from the time of the great Flood. The “things not seen as yet” by Noah—that is, the present atmospheric circulation, the present hydrological cycle, the present seasonal changes, and many other key phenomena of the present order—all were instituted in the days of Noah when “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3:6).

Finally, “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for...the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Just as surely as the materials and processes of the present world once were unseen but now are easily seen, so the future eternal world will soon be clearly seen when Christ returns. HMM

[phkrause]

May 9, 2023
This Same Jesus
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, then later ascended into heaven, His body was immortal, no longer subject to death—yet it was a physical body, capable of being seen and heard and touched, even capable of eating with His disciples. He was clearly recognizable, yet could quickly ascend from Earth to heaven and could pass through a solid wall. As He ascended, two angelic messengers said, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). He was immeasurably different after His resurrection, yet Peter could also proclaim “that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

Furthermore, even when He returns and assumes the eternal throne of the universe, He will still be the same. “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:...they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail” (Hebrews 1:8, 12).

This was the same Jesus whom John the Baptist identified at the beginning of His earthly ministry. “He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:33).

In fact, before His baptism, and even before His incarnation, He was the same. “In the beginning was the Word....The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). This same Jesus who lived among men, identified by John the Baptist as the Son of God, and who died on the cross, is the eternal Word by whom all things were made, as well as the resurrected Savior and coming King. Jesus Christ is truly “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” HMM

[phkrause]

May 10, 2023
The Father's Love for the Son
“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

In this remarkable verse, God the Father, speaking from heaven itself, introduces His beloved Son to the world. This is the first New Testament reference to “love,” just as the Father’s love for the Son was the first love that ever existed. As Christ prayed in the upper room, “For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).

There are many other references to the Father’s love for the Son, including two to the voice at His baptism (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22) and two more in the upper room prayer (John 17:23, 26). One great reason for that love is the following: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life” (John 10:17).

The extent of the Father’s love for His blessed Son was all-encompassing. “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand” (John 3:35). Furthermore, “the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth” (John 5:20).

God also spoke of His “beloved Son” on the Mount of Transfiguration, as cited four times (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35; 2 Peter 1:17). Thus, there are seven references in the New Testament to the Father’s heavenly testimony to His beloved Son. Similarly, there are seven passages where the Son Himself testifies of that Fatherly love. In addition to the six cited above, Christ said, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9).

Seven testimonies from the Father and seven from the Son! Surely the Father loved the Son with a perfect love. And yet—“Herein is love...that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Such love for unworthy sinners merits nothing less than total thanksgiving from us. HMM