Days of Praise

[phkrause]

September 1, 2023
Author of Peace
“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

Although these words were written with respect to church order, they express a general principle. “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated....And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3:15-18).

Our world and our natural lives seem perpetually in confusion, turmoil, and strife, and the source is the evil one—“the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The only one who can bring true peace is the Author of peace.

This is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, for only “he is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). He is the Author of peace, just as the devil is the author of all confusion and strife. Note the other titles of our great Author of peace.

He is called “the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus” (Hebrews 13:20). He is also “The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Melchizedek, who was at least a type of Christ, if not an actual pre-incarnate theophany of Christ Himself, is called “King of Salem, which is, King of peace” (Hebrews 7:2). In 2 Thessalonians 3:16, He is “the Lord of peace.”

He is the Author of peace, the Lord of peace, the Prince of peace, the King of peace, the very God of peace! He is our peace! Someday, “he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:10). In that day, “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20), and “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:7). HMM

[phkrause]

September 2, 2023
Knowing Him
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20)

John uses two words for “know” in this short letter, both of which are used in the final instruction to his readers. The Greek word ginosko is used 25 times throughout this epistle, stressing knowledge that is gained through personal experience. The other word, ei’do (or oi’da), is used an additional 17 times, emphasizing mental understanding and comprehension.

The Intellectual Confidence

We “know [ei’do] that he was manifested to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). We “know that we have passed from death unto life” (1 John 3:14). We “know that [we] have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). We “know that we are of God” (1 John 5:19). We “know that the Son of God is come” (1 John 5:20). All of this “head knowledge” is, of course, straight from the Word of God. These are the basics of our belief in the work of Christ.

The Personal Experience

We “know [ginosko] that we know [ginosko] him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). “There [are] many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18). “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2).

Thus, our intellectual “knowledge” of God’s Word is “experienced” as we “work out [our] own salvation” (Philippians 2:12). Being “born again” is just the beginning. We should “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). HMM III

[phkrause]

September 3, 2023
Desiring Our Lord and His Word
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19:1-3)

In Psalm 19, David focuses our attention on Yahweh’s stunning creation. However, there’s so much more in this passage. Verse 7 links creation to a believer’s deliverance from sin, a recurrent theme in most texts describing God’s powerful role in creation. David then notes what’s critical for our spiritual transformation—a steady diet in the Word of God.

The transformative work of God’s refining Word is traced in Psalm 19:7-9.
 

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.”
“The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
“The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.”
“The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.”
“The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever.”
“The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.”

Yahweh’s God-breathed words (2 Timothy 3:16) are “more to be desired…than gold, yea, than much fine gold” and “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).

Lastly, we are reminded of the role of God’s Word in keeping us mindful of God’s requirements and of the reward for those who keep them (v. 11). It’s easy to be influenced by the outward pressures of compromise, but may His words influence our inner conviction and may our daily meditation “be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer” (v. 14). CCM

[phkrause]

September 4, 2023
The Gift of Labor

“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” (Genesis 2:15)

When God first created man, He gave him work to do. Although “the LORD God planted a garden” for man (Genesis 2:8), it was up to man to take care of it if he would continue to eat its fruits. Thus, having to labor for one’s living is not a divine punishment for man’s sin as people sometimes interpret it, but rather a divine benefit for man’s good.

Similarly, even in the new earth, when sin and suffering will be gone forever, there will still be work to do. “There shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him” (Revelation 22:3).

We don’t know yet what our assignments will be there, but they will somehow be commensurate with our faithfulness in serving the Lord here. “My reward is with me,” says the Lord Jesus, “to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12).

It is, therefore, a God-given privilege to be able to do useful work, whether that work consists of preaching God’s Word or improving God’s world. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do” (whether being paid for it or not), “do it with thy might; for there is no work...in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). As Jesus said, “The night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).

No matter what the job may be that has been provided for us to do, it is important to remember and obey the admonition: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24) and “your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). HMM

 

[phkrause]

September 5, 2023
Behold, My Servant

“His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” (Isaiah 52:14)

The last three verses of Isaiah 52 begin the well-known Suffering Servant passage (Isaiah 52:13–53:12). The passage begins “Behold, my servant” (Isaiah 52:13) and uses abrupt topic changes. It says “he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high” (v. 13), then without transition switches to today’s text. This doesn’t read with much flow, but God through Isaiah had a reason. 

The sudden change makes the reader pause. The text jolts us into reading it again. Like a preacher who lifts his hands in a moment of passionate conviction, Yahweh wants us to behold His Servant with a double-take.

What’s so important that it deserves a closer look? The next verse tells us: “So shall he sprinkle many nations” (v. 15). The very act of the Servant’s disfigurement is the means by which He will fulfill His purpose to “sprinkle many nations.” The apostle John saw those future nations. “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne…saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9-10). 

What could He sprinkle that would redeem such a throng? Surely this is Jesus’ blood, “which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He sprinkles His blood over us now. His shed blood is the only way to remove our sins. His death means our life. Now, that’s worth beholding. BDT

 

[phkrause]

September 6, 2023
Believe Our Report

“Who hath believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1)

In Isaiah’s Suffering Servant passage, the last lines of Isaiah 52 belong with Isaiah 53: “Kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider” (Isaiah 52:15). The very next verse contrasts the seeing and considering of kings—and presumably of their nations’ inhabitants, as suggested in Revelation 7:9-10—with an implied shock over how few are believing “our report.”

What’s going on here? On the one hand, “he shall sprinkle many nations” (Isaiah 52:14), with those nations’ kings seeing and hearing some revelatory thing. On the other hand, nobody seems to be listening to a certain report. The incongruity vanishes if the kings’ experience occurs at a different time than when so few believe the report.

So, where might these two events fit on a timeline? History has no record of kings seeing or considering a Suffering Servant—at least, not all at one time. If Revelation 7 describes this event, then it remains future, closer to Jesus Christ’s second advent. Meanwhile, the history of His first advent recorded in the gospels confirms that few indeed listened to the report. What report? That Immanuel has come to pay our sin debt and rescue us!

“But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:37-38). And yet, some did believe. And some do even now. “He that believeth on him is not condemned” (John 3:18). Believe our report! Trust in Christ. BDT

[phkrause]

September 7, 2023
Esteem Him
“He was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)

In this, our third consideration of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant passage (Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12), we learn that people looked down upon Him whom the Lord will exalt. The expression “for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant” (53:2) likely refers to a sucker limb. These scraggly sprigs grow straight out of the side of tree trunks. Homeowners find them annoying enough to pay tree services to cut them off. That’s just what the world did to the Savior (53:8).

“As a root out of a dry ground” (53:2) lies poised to trip an unsuspecting pedestrian, so the religious people alive at the Savior’s first coming saw Him as a danger. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11).

At the same time that “we hid as it were our faces from him” (Isaiah 53:3), the Father esteemed Him by giving Him a new title. Irish Hebraist J. Alec Motyer did well to translate Isaiah 53:1 as “Who believed what we heard? And Yahweh’s Arm, to whom was it revealed?” The title Yahweh’s Arm refers to His Servant’s abundant strength.

Isaiah reveals tension between Yahweh’s high esteem for His strong “Arm” versus the people who “esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). What led His own, especially the religious Pharisees, to despise the same Servant who “shall be exalted and extolled” (Isaiah 52:13)?

Was it not pride? Like the Pharisees, our pride persuades us that we have no need of God, that we need no correction or rescue. Pride even keeps us from seeing our own pride! Humility is the remedy, for “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit” (Isaiah 57:15). With humility, we can see our need and esteem Him. BDT

[phkrause]

September 8, 2023
The Chastisement of Our Peace
“The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Contrasts continue within this Suffering Servant sequence. Even while “we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4), He was “wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). He knew the truth that our sinful souls like to deny: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). He knew, even as He endured His tortured journey toward the cross, that He would die for us “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8).

What a moment of wild contrasts that Isaiah foretold here. The self-righteous Jewish high priest said of the sinless One, “Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death” (Mark 14:64). Christ did not go to the cross because He committed blasphemy. He went to the cross to save even those who had wrongfully accused Him of blasphemy.

What marvelous love He shows to all! He owes us nothing but righteous wrath as we rebel in both heart and deed against His will and ways. He endured the chastisement that the law requires as payment for our sin. He now offers advocacy for us in the heavenly court (1 John 2:1), plus everlasting life and so much more!

Truly, He paid a debt He did not owe, but one we couldn’t possibly pay. The suffering of Yahweh’s Servant took care of that debt for you and for me. What a glorious contrast. Our Savior permitted sinners to sacrifice His sinless Self so He can dwell with them one day. He will commute anyone’s ultimate sentence when they act with “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). BDT

[phkrause]

September 9, 2023
Cut Off
“For he was cut off out of the land of the living.” (Isaiah 53:8)

The prophet Isaiah foretold that Jesus, as “My servant” (Isaiah 52:13), would be despised. Sure enough, religious mobs sneered at Him. Now in Isaiah 53:8-10, our Lord’s coming death is described. What a pivotal moment for God and for us!

The text adds glimpses into what Yahweh had in His mind for this event. “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb [silent], so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). His silence and willingness to be led to His own slaughter shows us His grim resolve. He didn’t protest or try to avoid it. He knew exactly what He was doing, and here’s why: “For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isaiah 53:8).

Daniel later used the same phrase to foretell the same event: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26). If not for Himself, then for whom would He die? “[He] gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father” (Galatians 1:4).

“And he made his grave with the wicked....Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him” (Isaiah 53:9-10). He was buried as though He deserved death! How could Yahweh feel pleased with this? It was so “that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (Ephesians 1:10). He has earned our praise forevermore through this ultimate sacrifice. BDT

[phkrause]

September 10, 2023
Dividing the Spoil
“He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death.” (Isaiah 53:12)

In Isaiah’s Suffering Servant passage, Isaiah 53:8 relates that the Servant would die. Isaiah 53:9 then relates how He would be buried. So, how can it be that “he shall prolong his days” (v. 10) or that “I will divide him a portion with the great” (v. 12)? Evidently, He must rise from the grave, and after His resurrection, the Servant would receive “a portion with the great” and share His inherited “spoil” (v. 12). What will that look like?

Other prophecies detail this future. For example, the Lord will share a land inheritance with a resurrected Abraham. “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8).

That future will include kingship over the entire earth shared with the Old Testament King David. “For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them” (Jeremiah 30:8-9).

Why not add some more traditional spoils? “Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee” (Isaiah 60:9). The Servant’s sufferings have purchased a glorious future for those who trust in Him. BDT

[phkrause]

September 11, 2023
A Response to Threat
“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor the arrow that flieth by day.” (Psalm 91:4-5)

Today we remember the unprovoked attack on America by Muslim terrorists. Despite attempts to make the country more secure, the threat remains scarcely abated. What should the Christian’s response be? In our text above, we see we have no cause for fear. The physical danger may be real, but our Lord promises protection in tender words likened to a mother bird’s care for her young. Our ultimate deliverance is guaranteed by His sure promises. Trust in His power and truth sustains us as surely as a shield and buckler.

Our hope cannot rest in military might. God does not promise temporal safety to all, for millions have succumbed to undeserved violence. Our last hope is of a different order, firmly grounded in “the LORD, which is my refuge” (Psalm 91:9). He responds to our trust and worship with the promise “with long [better translated as ‘eternal’] life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation” (v. 16). Much more interested in our response to troubles than in our deliverance, He desires us to believe and serve Him, trusting Him even in perilous times.

A New Testament application of this principle is in 1 Peter 3:14: “If ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.” The remedy? “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

Jesus Christ is our example and inspiration. “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3). Fixing our eyes upon Him, we have no cause for fear. JDM

[phkrause]

September 12, 2023
The Remarkable Psalms

“And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” (Acts 13:32-33)

Here is a clear instance in which the gospel (“glad tidings”) was preached in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit, through the psalmist David, promised that one day the Son of God would rise from the dead—the “first born from the dead” (Colossians 1:18). The Lord Jesus actually used certain psalms to prove His own deity, quoting Psalm 110:1 (Matthew 22:43- 45) and Psalm 82:6 (John 10:34-36) in support of His claims.

This unique passage in the book of Acts offers another fascinating item of information that is often overlooked. By identifying the second psalm as such, the writer (guided by the Spirit) tells us in effect that the chapter divisions of the book of Psalms were there by divine ordination right from the first. Furthermore, since each of the psalms is a poem, with clear-cut verse divisions, this longest book in the Word of God was evidently subdivided into chapters and verses by divine inspiration. Similar divisions were later added to the other books by biblical scholars in the Middle Ages, but they were in the psalms from the beginning. It is not surprising, then, that we can find many remarkable examples of design in the very structure of the book of Psalms (e.g., the 22 stanzas of eight verses each in Psalm 119).

This second psalm is the first of the so-called Messianic psalms, but actually the Lord Jesus Christ and His glorious gospel of salvation are clearly present in every one of the 150 psalms. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12). HMM

 

[phkrause]

September 13, 2023
Reconciliation

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10)

It is interesting to note that as important as is the doctrine of the atonement in Christian theology, the word itself occurs only once in the King James New Testament. It is in the very next verse after our text. “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (v. 11).

The Greek word is translated “reconciliation” in 2 Corinthians 5:18: “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” Thus, the doctrine of atonement is the doctrine of reconciliation. Men are separated from our holy God both by their sin nature and also by their actual guilt of committed sin. But through the substitutionary death of Christ for our sins, “we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” That is, God has already reconciled sinners to Himself by the sacrificial death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem is that sinners are not actually reconciled to God until they personally accept this free gift of God’s love to them.

But we who “have now received the atonement [that is, reconciliation]...joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:11). A part of that joy should be in the fact that God has now “given unto us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Thus, it has become our great privilege to tell others that they can be completely forgiven and eternally saved. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). HMM

 

[phkrause]

September 14, 2023
Do You Believe Genesis?

“[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” (Hebrews 1:2)

The only source of knowledge detailing how God created the universe is revealed in the clear and inspired text of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). We can learn generally “about” God by examining His marvelous creation. As the psalmist wrote, “Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:2-3).

However, we cannot know the specifics of how our Lord Jesus Christ created His awesome creation unless we listen to the words of Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning [time] God [source] created [energy] the heaven [space] and the earth [matter].” So, in order to truly know God, how He created, how He operates, and how He redeems, believers must look to all 66 books of the Bible. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).

Moreover, the apostle John, being moved by the same Holy Spirit, wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3). This excludes evolution and a progression of life through natural selection.

Hebrews 11:3 affirms that “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.” Either you believe in Genesis, or you don’t. CCM

[phkrause]

September 15, 2023
The Pragmatic Life

“And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.” (Luke 19:13)

This “parable of the pounds” indicated to Jesus’ disciples that they should not wait idly for the second coming of Christ, thinking “that the kingdom of God should immediately appear” (Luke 19:11), but that they should stay busy, using whatever abilities and opportunities they had in the Lord’s service until His return. The word “occupy” is an unusual word, the Greek pragmatenomai, from which we derive our modern word “pragmatic,” meaning “practical,” and it only occurs this one time in the New Testament.

There is another related word, however, also occurring only one time, in 2 Timothy 2:4: “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” Here the word “affairs” is the Greek pragmateia, and Paul is cautioning those who would be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ” against becoming involved in the pragmatic affairs of civilian or business life, if they would really be pleasing to their commanding officer.

At first, there seems to be a contradiction. Jesus says to stay busy with the practical affairs of life until He returns. Paul says not to get involved with pragmatic things.

There is no real contradiction, of course, if motivation is considered. Whatever may be our vocation in life, as led by the Lord, we are to perform that job and all the other daily responsibilities of life diligently and faithfully, for His sake.

If we allow these things to become an end in themselves, however, or use them for other purposes than for His glory, then we have, indeed, become tangled up in the affairs of this life, and this displeases Him. He desires that we be diligent in whatever He has called us to do until He comes, but to be sure it is for Him, not for ourselves. HMM

[phkrause]

September 16, 2023
Three Worldly Powers
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16)

 

This well-known passage identifies three fountainheads of ungodly power that will, if unchecked and unguarded, ensnare a believer into a sinful lifestyle.

 

Sensual power (lust of the flesh) is a body-oriented and emotion-driven reaction to fleshly appetites that can never please God (Romans 8:8) and is in constant warfare with the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:17). We are told to “flee” these “youthful lusts” (2 Timothy 2:22) that are a “corruption” (2 Peter 1:4) of the “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) God-designed human body.

 

Visual power (lust of the eyes) is an intellect-oriented and imagination-driven stimulation of wishful thinking that will take control of behavior (Matthew 6:22-23) if not carefully curtailed (Job 31:1; 2 Peter 2:14). Although impacting men more than women, this kind of “lust” will “conceive” sin instead of merely reacting to it (James 1:13-15).

 

Personal power (the pride of life) is a self-oriented and ego-driven desire for dominance that has no ethic or limiting factor other than the praise of men, not God (John 12:43). Such pride, dominated by the “natural mind” (1 Corinthians 2:14) and a “deceitful” heart (Jeremiah 17:9), spirals into a self-love that twists and distorts human behavior into a litany of ungodliness that loves pleasure rather than God (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

 

Giving in to these “worldly” powers may grant us pleasures for “a season” (Hebrews 11:25), but will surely make us an “enemy of God” (James 4:4). May our Lord Jesus grant that we stay armed against such “wiles” (Ephesians 6:11), covered and protected with the “whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17). HMM III

[phkrause]

September 17, 2023
The Name Above Every Name

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9)

Three primary names for God are used in the Old Testament: Elohim, Jehovah, and Adonai. In the New Testament, both Jehovah and Adonai are translated as “Lord” (Greek kurios) and applied to Christ. This word is also applied occasionally to human “lords” but is specifically used as a name or title of God or Christ no less than 663 times.

His human name was Jesus (“Jehovah is Savior”), but this is used by itself only 22 times in the epistles—always with special emphasis on His humanity. Although it was the common name used repeatedly in the gospel narratives, it is significant that the disciples and other believers almost always addressed Him personally as Lord, never simply as Jesus. Unbelievers and demons, on the other hand, never addressed Him as Lord.

The name Christ means “anointed one” and is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah. Thus, Christ is His divine title as God’s anointed prophet, priest, and king; Jesus is His human name, as our example and Savior; Lord is His title of spiritual relationship to those He has saved. All three names are of paramount importance. Thus, Peter said: “God hath made that same Jesus...both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). His “full name,” so to speak, is therefore “the Lord Jesus Christ.” This complete name is used over 100 times; Christ and Lord are used even more.

In the great testimony of His coming exaltation, Paul says He has been given “the name” (the definite article is in the original) above every name. At this “name of Jesus” (with the “of” indicating the possessive—that is, “the name now belonging to the man Jesus who died on the cross”), every knee must bow, and every tongue must someday confess “that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11). HMM

 

[phkrause]

September 18, 2023
Identifying Antichrists

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1 John 2:18)

Evangelicals expect “the” Antichrist to be revealed in the future, yet there are more warnings about “many” antichrists who are currently and actively plotting evil. John lists two specific identifying factors that enable us to spot these “anti” Christs.

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22).

“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist...and even now already is it in the world” (1 John 4:3).

This much is clear. Anyone who refuses to accept the incarnated Christ as the Son of God is anti-Christ. Perhaps we need to see this term in its simplicity. Those who are “anti” Christ (oppose, reject, against, opposite to, before, instead of, in place of) are antichrists!

Peter warns that false prophets and false teachers are also “anti” Christ—and that they may well come from among the Lord’s visible Kingdom.

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1).

Thus, we are told that Satan’s “ministers also [are] transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:15). No wonder we should have caution. This is the last time (days), and we need to be alert! HMM III

[phkrause]

September 19, 2023
To Die Is Gain

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

Although the glorious resurrection bodies that have been promised all believers must await the return of Christ, even the spirit-existence after death is better than this present life for the believer. Paul himself expressed “a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23)—“to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Thus, it is “gain” when a Christian dies! Since Christ, in His resurrection body, is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, the spirits of “sleeping” Christians are also there. The intermediate state is somewhat analogous to the dreaming state, in which the consciousness travels to various places and experiences while the body is asleep. In fact, death is called “sleep” for the Christian (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

However, in some amazing way, these conscious spirits of believers are still distinct and recognizable. Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:3), as well as Samuel (1 Samuel 28:12-19), were identifiable in their spirit-form, even by people here on Earth.

One of the greatest blessings of dying and going to be with the Lord will be the joy of returning with Him “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13). “Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him....And the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16), just before the “rapture” and glorification of the saints who are still living. As wonderful as it might be to live until Christ returns, it will be even better to be with Him!

The death of a Christian, therefore, may be a time of loss and grief for those left behind, but it is a time of joy and blessing for the one who dies, including a happy reunion with those who have gone before. HMM

 

[phkrause]

September 20, 2023
Whom Do You Know?

“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

A person who thinks he is a Christian, or hopes he is a Christian, probably isn’t a Christian. One should know when it comes to this most important of all questions. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). It’s a matter of who you know, not what you know. Paul said: “I know whom I have believed”—that is, he knew the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

But just how can we know that we have eternal life? In the first place, we know because He has said so in His Word. Furthermore, He knows us! “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).

We also “know...that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13), which “beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). If the Holy Spirit truly has become a part of our lives (as He surely has if we genuinely came to Christ as lost sinners, trusting Him alone for forgiveness and salvation, and yielding our lives and eternal souls to Him), then we will also come to love the Word that He inspired. “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments....But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:3, 5).

There are many other things we can know when we know we are saved. Best of all, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). HMM

[phkrause]

September 22, 2023
Propitiation

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)

Most words in the King James Bible have one or two syllables. Our text verse, for example, has 21 such short words and only one big word; but that word, “propitiation,” has five syllables, and so has elicited much complaint from folks who don’t like to use dictionaries. What does “propitiation” mean?

 

The Greek word is hilasmos and occurs just two other times. These are as follows.

“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3:25). “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

As an aside, note that these two verses contain two words of two syllables, three of three syllables, and 48 of one syllable. But both also include “propitiation,” and that seems to be a problem. Nevertheless, propitiation is certainly the most accurate word to convey the meaning of the original. The dictionary gives “expiation” and “conciliation” as definitions, but that probably doesn’t help much.

In any case, the action of the Lord Jesus in submitting His body to be a substitutionary sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins and to endure God’s wrath against all the sins of the world, thereby enabling Him to be reconciled to us, with Christ’s perfect righteousness credited to our account, is seen in these three verses to be a basic theme of this great truth of Christ’s propitiatory work on the cross. And surely, as John says: “Herein is love,” that God would so love us that He would offer up His Son, and Christ would so love us that He would die for us. Surely, this is love! HMM

[phkrause]

September 23, 2023
What Do Fig Trees Do?

“Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” (James 3:12)

The answer to these rhetorical questions obviously is “no.” A fig tree cannot become an olive tree in one growing season, or in a million of them. Nor can a grapevine evolve into a fig tree, no matter what happens to it (grafts, mutations, chemicals, radiations, anything).

In the very first chapter of the Bible, each kind of plant God created was given the genetic information by its Maker to reproduce only its own “kind” of plant, not to diverge into some other kind, although its offspring could develop into many varieties of the parental kind (but even that only within strict limits). The same was true with the animals. Ten times in Genesis 1, God, in five verses, tells us that each created kind of plant and animal was coded to reproduce just its own kind (Genesis 1:11-12, 21, 24-25).

Just in the event that some skeptic might reject Genesis 1 as factual, the same theme is reiterated in the New Testament, not only in our text but in Paul’s great chapter on death and resurrection. “God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds” (1 Corinthians 15:38-39).

This biblical truth is confirmed by every scientific observation ever made on plants and animals—whether living, dead, or fossilized. No one has ever seen a frog evolve into a prince, or a vine into an olive tree, either in the present or in the fossil record of the past. “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that man should fear before him” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). HMM

 

[phkrause]

September 24, 2023
Boldness in Prayer

“In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.” (Ephesians 3:12)

There is a wonderful exhortation and promise in Hebrews 4:15-16: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted [that is, ‘tested’] like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

We aren’t to come presumptuously or arrogantly to God in prayer, but we can come boldly! This is not by virtue of our own merits but because Christ Himself has opened the way for us. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Because He has been fully tested yet free from sin, and because of the shed “blood of Jesus” and the opened veil “through his flesh,” if we come “by the faith of him,” we do have “access” to God’s “throne of grace” and can boldly present our petitions. These must, of course, be dependent upon His will, for “this is the confidence [same Greek word as ‘boldness’] that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And...we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

But, whether a particular request is granted or denied in accord with God’s greater wisdom, or whether the answer is delayed until God’s more propitious time, we can always “find grace to help in time of need.” He is our great high priest, our mediator, our advocate with the Father, our intercessor, and we can surely pray with “boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.” HMM

 

[phkrause]

September 25, 2023
How to Know the Will of God
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The key to knowing God’s will is willingness and determination to follow it before knowing it. “If any man will [literally ‘wills to’] do his will, he shall know” (John 7:17).

The best indicator whether one is really willing to follow God’s will is whether or not he is now following that part of His will that is already known as revealed in His Word. This requires first knowing and believing, then obeying the Word, especially those portions dealing with God’s general will for all Christians. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). Then, if one indeed is following the revealed will of God, he may ask in confidence (1 John 5:14-15) for the Lord to indicate His will in a specific matter on which there is no explicit biblical teaching (see also James 1:5-6).

God will then answer, though it may not be immediately. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). It may not be in accordance with our preferences or personal judgment, but it will always be for the ultimate best. “For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit...maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:26-28).

God will lead in two ways in the absence of specific Scripture guidance (which must always take precedence, of course). One is by providential circumstances, the other by inner witness of the Spirit, and these two must agree. Then, if all the terms have been met, one should proceed to follow God’s will as best he can, knowing that God will redirect him if he has made a mistake. God does want us to know His will, and He will “direct our paths.” HMM

[phkrause]

September 26, 2023
But When You Sin
“And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)

There is no suggestion anywhere in Scripture that any person can be sinless. “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23), the Bible boldly declares. “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Repentance toward God (Acts 20:21) and salvation by God (2 Corinthians 7:10) eternally settle the issue of the sinful condition inherent in us (Ephesians 2:1-8). However, even though we have been “made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21), we still commit sinful acts (1 John 1:8-10).

Hallelujah for the Advocate! What a blessed promise it is that is recorded for us that the same Jesus Christ who died for our sins, who rose from the grave in glorious victory over sin, “is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).

Although our security in the completed work of Christ Jesus is “for ever” (Hebrews 10:12), our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) stands ready to rebut the constant efforts of Satan to flaunt our sins before the holy throne of God (Revelation 12:10). We have no standing there on our own. Our life, even though forgiven and rescued from sin, still is tainted with the deeds and consequences of evil choices. Even the body in which we live houses “no good thing” (Romans 7:18).

Were it up to us to be holy, we would quickly be defamed by the reality of our life. The child of God, though redeemed by “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19), has no ability to plead Christ’s work in person before the throne. “Wherefore he [Jesus] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). HMM III