Job 36
Doing this again with different prayer request as I have been having a difficult time with the Funeral of my cousin. Please for give me.
CHAPTER: JOB 36
Elihu believes he is defending God verse 1- 4
Elihu also proceeded
and said
Suffer me a little
and I will show you that
I have yet to speak on God’s behalf
I will fetch my knowledge from afar
and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker
for truly my words shall not be false
he that is perfect in knowledge
is with you
Elihu believes sinners are called to repentance verse 5- 10
BEHOLD
God is mighty – and despises not any
HE is mighty in strength and wisdom
HE preserves not the life of the wicked
but gives right to the poor
HE withdraws not HIS eyes from the righteous
but with kings are they on the throne
Yea – HE does establish them forever – and they are exalted
and if they be bound in fetters
and be held in cords of affliction
THEN HE shows them their work
and their transgressions that they have exceeded
HE opens also their ear to DISCIPLINE
and commands that they return from iniquity
Elihu believes there are consequences verse 11- 15
IF they OBEY and SERVE HIM
they shall spend their days in prosperity
and their years in pleasures
BUT IF they OBEY not – they shall perish by the sword
and they shall die without knowledge
BUT the HYPOCRITES in heart heap up wrath
they cry not when HE binds them
they die in youth – and their life is among the unclean
HE delivers the poor in his affliction
and opens their ears in oppression
Elihu encourages Job to repent verse 16- 21
EVEN so would HE have removed you out of the strait into a broad place
where there is no straitness
and that which should be set on your table
should be full of fatness
BUT you have fulfilled the judgment of the wicked
judgment and justice take hold on thee – BECAUSE there is wrath
beware lest HE take you away with HIS stroke
THEN a great RANSOM cannot deliver you
Will HE esteem your riches? NO – not gold – nor all the forces of strength
desire not the night – when people are cut off in their place
take heed – regard not iniquity
for this have you chosen rather than affliction
Elihu reminds Job of God’s works verse 22- 25
BEHOLD God exalts by HIS power – who teaches like HIM?
Who has enjoined HIM HIS way? or who can say
You have wrought iniquity?
Remember that you magnify HIS work – which men behold
every man may see it – man may behold it afar off
Elihu reminds Job of God’s involvement in creation verse 26- 33
BEHOLD – God is great – and we know HIM not
neither can the number of HIS years be searched out
for HE makes small the drops of water
they pour down rain according to the vapor thereof
which the clouds do drop and distill
on man abundantly
Also can any understand the spreading of the clouds
or the noise of HIS tabernacle?
BEHOLD
HE spreads HIS light on it – and covers the bottom of the sea
for by them judges HE the people
HE gives meat in abundance
with clouds HE covers the light
and commands it not to shine by the cloud
that comes between – the noise thereof shows concerning it
the cattle also concerning the vapor
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to
my Maker. (5414 “ascribe” [nathan] means to give, to hand down, to
set, to attribute or credit to, to cause to receive, to teach, to allow,
grant, surrender to someone, or permit)
DEVOTION: Here is the young man, Elihu, saying that he will give righteousness to his Maker. He is going to say that righteousness comes for God.
However, we have to understand that to use the word, God, is sometimes a problem because we have to know the persons definition of “God.” Too often we find in our society there are many definitions for the word “God.” It is a name that is used by many people but they don’t have the same meaning to all that use the word.
The god of society is different from the God of the Bible. Even here in the book of Job we find that Elihu has a different understanding of who God is and what happens to those who are followers of the God of the Bible.
His definition doesn’t seem to include a God that tests HIS own people to cause them to mature in the faith. He seems to think that if someone believes in God he or she will only do things that are approved of God. l
He doesn’t think that anyone who is truly serving his “God” would go through all the things that Job has gone through. He thinks that Job is a real bad sinner because of all that he is going through.
He didn’t know that the God of the Bible would send HIS SON, Jesus Christ to the cross to die for the sins of the world. He would have thought that Jesus as one of the worst sinners to enter the world because of all the trials the LORD allowed in HIS life while HE was walking this earth.
God doesn’t fit into the mold of many people in our world. Many think that HE is either someone who is like Santa Clause who gives everyone gifts except those who are real naughty. It is the Christmas type of god that gives presents only to those who are nice.
We need to make sure that we are not falling into the trip of believing that the God of the Bible is the Santa Clause of this world. HE is not that! HE has set down throughout the Bible what HE expects of those who are genuine followers of HIM.
If someone says they are a follower of the God of the Bible they will act in a certain way at all times or confess their sin and refocus on doing what God wants them to do. Job was doing what the LORD expects but in his case there was an action that will be explained at the end of the book of Job.
Our explanation will be given at the Judgment Seat of Christ while those who think they are followers of God but are not will have it explained at the Great White Throne Judgment where all those who might have been religious will find out that just being religious is not enough. The Pharisees and Sadducees thought they were in favor with God but they were not. We still have some of each group in our churches today.
CHALLENGE: Each of us needs to be sure that we are worshiping the RIGHT GOD which is the God of the Bible, not the god of this world.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 11 If they hear and serve HIM, they shall end their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. (5273 “pleasures” [na‘iym] means contentment, satisfaction with circumstances, sweet, delightful, lovely, agreeable, or beautiful)
DEVOTION: My favorite hymn is “Trust and Obey.” The song tells us there is no other way. Here we find Elihu saying the same thing.
If we submit to the authority of the LORD then we will have the end results mentioned in this verse. If we worship the LORD then we will have the results mentioned in this verse. If we practice these two things then we will finish our days in prosperity and contentment.
Elihu has some true beliefs but some false beliefs are with the true ones. He thinks like the health and wealth people of our day that if we are obedient to the LORD we will only have beautiful days and prosperity. There are many in fundamental churches that believe that if they don’t sin any big sins they should have an easy life.
The problem is that those who are faithful to the LORD are going to be pruned to be more faithful. The Bible says that those HE loves HE chastens. Again if there is no sin problem, HE also prunes through suffering to help us grow.
Many in the same fundamental churches think that all those who are poor or in jail or unhealthy are those who have sinned greatly. That is a WRONG belief.
Remember to check all our beliefs at the door of the Word of God. Too often we let society or false beliefs influence our lives. Elihu had a high opinion of God but a low opinion of what Job was going through in his life.
God does bless those who submit and serve HIM. However, in HIS times of blessing, HE also sends more trials for our growth. Our responsibility is to trust HIM and live our lives in contentment with whatever HE sends our way. The Scripture says it is for our good!!!
CHALLENGE: Focus on the LORD. When circumstances seem to be going in a direction we don’t like, remember the LORD knows what HE is doing. Praise HIM!!! We are prosperous without earthly goods.
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13 But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when HE binds
them. (7769 “cry” [shuwa] means to utter aloud a request for help with intensity, to ask for aid, to implore help, outcry, plead for relief, with a focus that the asking is intense or desperate)
DEVOTION: There seems to be two reactions regarding those who will face the judgment of God because of them not having a proper relationship with God. The only ones who have a proper relationship with God are those who have genuinely trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation and try to live for HIM for the remainder of their life. This includes asking for forgiveness for sin and living a life that is pleasing to the LORD according to the Scriptures.
Those who are in the category of Pharisees and Sadducees who were religious but not genuine believers will face eternity in hell with the devil and his angels. This is a much larger group who think that religion is enough. It is generally a religion that is made up by man to make sure that they do enough good deeds to outweigh their bad deeds. That is not a Biblical definition of a genuine believer.
Those who are genuine know that they sin daily and have to confess these sins to the LORD and correct their actions according to the Word of God. It is a life of continual confession and service that is pleasing to the LORD.
Only the hypocrites think they can live as they please without daily checkups with the LORD.
We need to keep short accounts with the LORD. We have to watch our thinking that we are OK with God if we have said a prayer or attend church. Genuine believers have a daily walk with the LORD that includes confession, service and regular checkup with the LORD through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
CHALLENGE: How was your check up with the LORD today?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
:24 “Remember that thou magnify [שָׂגָא, saga’ (7679), to increase, grow},
magnify, grow great] His work, which men behold)
DEVOTION: Elihu now gets to the center of what he wishes to say to Job (and the three friends). Rather than ask about why God has done what he has, Elihu points out that the chief responsibility of those who call themselves followers of Yahweh should magnify God’s great works. Paul mentions the same idea in Romans 1:20.
Most conservative scholars think that Job lived at about the same time as the other early fathers in Genesis (even though his name is not recorded in any of the genealogies). So Job was closer to the Garden of Eden than we are, and was able to recall the story of God’s creation which started in Genesis. He did not have the benefit of God’s later revelations about Himself such as men like Moses or David.
Those who attack the idea of creation (regardless of whether it is through teaching evolution or not) seek to take away the greatness of a God who would be able to speak the world into existence. Many seek to minimize or eliminate the idea of God from the origins of the universe. Yet, we as believers should be praising Him for His role in that.
We should also be praising Him for His ongoing work in sustaining the world, and everything in it (including us, His children). His work includes our salvation, which came about long after Job died, and was consummated in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has brought each of us to faith, and we should constantly think back to the day of our salvation, giving praise to the God who made it all possible.
With a life like this, who could find time for anything else but praising the God we worship with our words and thoughts?
CHALLENGE: Do we actually come to Sunday church with the intention of praising and thanking God for all that He has done for us? (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)
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: 26 Behold, God is great, and we know HIM not, neither can the number of
HIS years be searched out. (7689 “great” [saggiy] means exalted, of
high moral or intellectual value, elevated in nature or style, excellent,
pertaining to a very high status of a person, or mighty)
DEVOTION: Elihu had it right in the fact that we can’t understand the greatness of God. We can only try understand who HE is and what HIS is doing in our world. HE is working in our lives and we don’t ever completely understand all HE is doing to correct us and help us live a life that is pleasing to HIM.
If we ever think that we have arrived at a perfect understanding of God and our relationship to HIM we are lying to ourselves. We are to be learning about this relationship from the time we made a commitment to HIM until we see HIM face to face. It is a growing relationship. It should never be one that is stagnate.
Too many individuals who think they have a working relationship with the LORD not really working at it with HIS help. They are satisfied with what they are doing and think God should be satisfied as well. This is never true until we die.
Our daily walk with the LORD should always be one of AWE at the possibility that we can walk with the LORD and talk with the LORD each day. It should be a relationship that we want to be close to HIM and obey HIM every day.
When we think of God do, we always think about HIS greatness regarding our relationship with HIM? HE has forgiven all our sins because of what Jesus did on the cross.
This should make us a very thankful person who wants to please HIM in all that we do and say.
Elihu didn’t fully understand what he was saying because he didn’t have the relationship with the LORD that he thought he had. Many people are just like him. Thinking their relationship is fine when in reality we have to work on that relationship each moment of every day.
Our responsibility is to be someone who is growing in our closeness to the LORD. That takes work each day.
CHALLENGE: Do you believe that your relationship with the LORD is one that is growing or that is stagnate? Don’t let your relationship get stagnate!!!
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Hypocrites don’t pray when they are bound verse 13
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 2, 5, 22, 26
Righteous verse 3
Maker verse 3
God is mighty in strength verse 5
God is mighty in wisdom verse 5
HIS eyes are on the righteous verse 7
HE establish kings verse 7
HE opens ears to discipline verse 10
Wrath verse 18
God exalts by his power verse 22
Teacher verse 22
God is great verse 26
Present involvement in creation verse 27- 33
HIS tabernacle verse 29
Spreads HIS light verse 30
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Elihu verse 1-33
Thought he could speak on God’s behalf
Ascribe righteousness to my Maker
My words shall not be false
Perfect in knowledge
Poor verse 6, 15
Righteous verse 7
Kings verse 7
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
False words verse 4
Wicked verse 6, 17
Transgressions verse 9
Iniquity verse 10, 21, 23
Obey not verse 12
Without knowledge verse 12
Hypocrites verse 13
Unclean verse 14
Esteem riches verse 19
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Righteousness verse 3
Perfect in knowledge verse 4
Righteous verse 7
Discipline verse 10
Return from iniquity verse 10
Obey verse 11
Serve verse 11
Prosperity verse 11
Pleasures verse 11, 18
Deliverance verse 15
Table full of fatness verse 16
Justice verse 17
Ransom verse 18
Magnify work of LORD verse 24
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Perish verse 12
Die verse 12, 14
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DONATIONS:
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QUOTES regarding passage
In Job 36:24, Elihu corrects Job for judging God: “Remember to magnify his work.” He seems to be saying, “Listen Job, it is your duty to magnify God, and not to question him when he chastens you.”
Thus śāgāʾ is used both for God’s causing nations to grow great and for men to enlarge God’s glory by recognizing and praising his works.
The by-form śāgâ, is used similarly. Cf. Job 8:7, 11. Psalm 92:12 [H 13] reminds us that, “The righteous … shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon,” while “the ungodly … increase [only] in riches” (Ps 73:12)!
The above notes present part of the biblical philosophy of life intertwined about these little words, śāgāʾ and śāgâ. God causes the nations to grow great and he also causes the righteous to be increased at their end! The rich may grow in this world’s goods, but they soon fall; while the godly grow more solid and enduring, like that of the great northern Palestinian cedars! Our task is to magnify him for all this! (Cohen, G. G. (1999). 2233 שָׂגָא. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., pp. 870–871). Chicago: Moody Press)
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In 37:16 Elihu described God as “perfect in knowledge.” That he should so describe himself (v.4b) has elicited the remark from Rowley that “Elihu is a stranger to modesty.”
Kline (WBC, p. 485) suggests the words “one perfect in knowledge” (v.4b) possibly refers to God, as similar terminology does in 37:16. It is certainly unlikely Elihu would claim for himself the same perfection he attributes to God. Habel (Job, 1985, p. 494) uses the word “reasoning” instead of “knowledge” here and uses “mind” in 32:6, 10, and 17. But H.L. Ginsburg long ago suggested that the word used here and in 32:6, 10 comes from a cognate root that limits Elihu’s perfection to his speech (Arab. dʿw, “to call”; cf. Pope, p. 243, on H.L. Ginsberg and the Qumran Targum). That meaning is strengthened here by the feminine plural millāy (“my words”) in v.4a paralleling the feminine plural dēʿôṯ (“utterances”) in v.4b. On this basis Elihu was claiming to be one “perfect of utterance” because his speech derived from God (see Notes on v.3) who is the source of perfect words.
It is interesting that in 37:16, where he was speaking of God’s perfect knowledge (words are not the subject), Elihu used the masculine plural (cf. majesty) as a divine appellative. Here, however, he used the feminine plural in agreement with “my words” (millāy) in v.4a. (Smick, E. B. (1988). Job. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 1021). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House)
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Again he referred to God as my Maker (cf. 4:17; 9:9; 32:22; 35:10; 40:19). Not lacking self-confidence, Elihu affirmed that his words were correct and that he was perfect in knowledge. However, the words “one perfect in knowledge” may refer to God, as they certainly do in 37:16. This view is supported by the recently discovered Ebla tablets (Mitchell Dahood, “Are the Ebla Tablets Relevant to Biblical Research?” Biblical ArchaeologyReview 6. September–October 1980:58). (Zuck, R. B. (1985). Job. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 762). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books)
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If he be our Maker, we have our all from him, must use our all for him, and be very jealous for his honour. That his management should be very just and fair (v. 4): “My words shall not be false, neither disagreeable to the thing itself nor to my own thoughts and apprehensions. It is truth that I am contending for, and that for truth’s sake, with all possible sincerity and plainness.” He will make use of plain and solid arguments and not the subtleties and niceties of the schools. “He who is perfect or upright in knowledge is now reasoning with thee; and therefore let him not only have a fair hearing, but let what he says be taken in good part, as meant well.” The perfection of our knowledge in this world is to be honest and sincere in searching out truth, in applying it to ourselves, and in making use of what we know for the good of others. (Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 727). Peabody: Hendrickson)
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36:4 One who is perfect in knowledge. Elihu made what appeared to be an outrageous claim in order to give credibility to his remarks. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Job 36:4). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers)
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Ver. 4. For truly my words shall not be false, &c.] But strictly true; he would take the utmost care to say nothing but the truth, with the greatest impartiality and sincerity, so that what was said might be depended upon; truth spoken briefly, clearly, and on so important a subject as the righteousness of God, deserved attention. He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee; meaning either God, whose knowledge is perfect, who knows all persons and things; knows himself, his nature, persons, and perfections; his thoughts, counsels, and purposes; all his creatures, angels and men; the hearts of all men, their thoughts, words, and works; he, the omniscient and omnipresent God was with Job, from whose presence there is no fleeing; and therefore it became him to be careful of his thoughts, words, and actions; that he did not entertain any unbecoming thoughts of God, and say anything unworthy of him, or do anything that tended to his dishonour; since he was present with him, and nothing could escape his notice: or else Elihu means himself; suggesting, that he who undertook to speak for God, and plead his cause and clear him from the charge of unrighteousness, was no novice, but one that thoroughly understood the point in hand; and though no man is perfect in knowledge in an absolute sense, yet may be in comparison of others; or however may be upright and sincere in his knowledge; which sense the word used often has; and so it may signify, that as he was a sincere searcher after knowledge, and had through divine goodness attained to a competent share of it, even of sound and not superficial knowledge, he should be honest and upright in the communication of it; and this he might choose to observe the more, to excite the attention of Job to what he had to say; though it may be the truest reading of the words is, perfect knowledge, or perfection of knowledge is with thee, that is, in his own apprehension, so Jarchi; and may be understood either ironically, or rather really, insinuating that Job was a man of such consummate wisdom and knowledge, that he would easily see the force of his reasonings, and the justness of them, and acquiesce in them; and having thus prefaced his discourse, he next enters upon his subject. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 478). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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36:2–4 Elihu presents his final speech as something offered on God’s behalf (v. 2), emphasizing that, unlike Job (see 34:35), he has understanding that comes from outside himself (36:3) and that he is perfect in knowledge (v. 4), something he will later ascribe also to God (see 37:16). Again, he seems more arrogant than he realizes, as young men sometimes do. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 923). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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“In the world ye shall have tribulation.”
—John 16:33
Art thou asking the reason of this, believer? Look upward to thy heavenly Father, and behold him pure and holy. Dost thou know that thou art one day to be like him? Wilt thou easily be conformed to his image? Wilt thou not require much refining in the furnace of affliction to purify thee? Will it be an easy thing to get rid of thy corruptions, and make thee perfect even as thy Father which is in heaven is perfect? Next, Christian, turn thine eye downward. Dost thou know what foes thou hast beneath thy feet? Thou wast once a servant of Satan, and no king will willingly lose his subjects. Dost thou think that Satan will let thee alone? No, he will be always at thee, for he “goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Expect trouble, therefore, Christian, when thou lookest beneath thee. Then look around thee. Where art thou? Thou art in an enemy’s country, a stranger and a sojourner. The world is not thy friend. If it be, then thou art not God’s friend, for he who is the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Be assured that thou shalt find foe-men everywhere. When thou sleepest, think that thou art resting on the battlefield; when thou walkest, suspect an ambush in every hedge. As mosquitoes are said to bite strangers more than natives, so will the trials of earth be sharpest to you. Lastly, look within thee, into thine own heart and observe what is there. Sin and self are still within. Ah! if thou hadst no devil to tempt thee, no enemies to fight thee, and no world to ensnare thee, thou wouldst still find in thyself evil enough to be a sore trouble to thee, for “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Expect trouble then, but despond not on account of it, for God is with thee to help and to strengthen thee. He hath said, “I will be with thee in trouble; I will deliver thee and honour thee.” (Spurgeon, C. H. (1896). Morning and evening: Daily readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster.)
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Do not Speak Evil Against a Brother
Excerpt
The next sin James deals with is censoriousness, or speaking evil against a brother. Someone has suggested that there are three questions we should answer before indulging in criticism of others—What good does it do your brother? What good does it do yourself? What glory for God is in it?
The royal law of love says that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. To speak evil against a brother, therefore, or to judge his motives, is the same as speaking against this law and condemning it as worthless. To break a law deliberately is to treat it with disrespect and contempt. It is the same as saying that the law is not good, and not worthy of obedience. “He who refuses obedience virtually says it ought not to be law.” Now this puts the one who speaks evil of a brother in the strange position of being a judge rather than one who is to be judged. He sets himself up as being superior to the law rather than subject to it. But only God is superior to the law; He is the One who gave it and the One who judges by it. Who then has the audacity to usurp the place of God and judge another? (MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2238). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)
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The passion of patience
Though it tarry, wait for it. Hab. 2:3.
Patience is not indifference; patience conveys the idea of an immensely strong rock withstanding all onslaughts. The vision of God is the source of patience, because it imparts a moral inspiration. Moses endured, not because he had an ideal of right and duty, but because he had a vision of God. He “endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible.” A man with the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue; he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it; things come with largeness and tonic to the life because everything is energized by God. If God gives you a time spiritually, as He gave His Son actually, of temptation in the wilderness, with no word from Himself at all, endure; and the power to endure is there because you see God.
“Though it tarry, wait for it.” The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. “What shall I render unto the Lord?” said the Psalmist, “I will take the cup of salvation.” We are apt to look for satisfaction in ourselves—‘Now I have got the thing; now I am entirely sanctified; now I can endure.’ Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.” If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing; if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of relaxation spiritually. (Chambers, O. (1986). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering.)
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Instantaneous Creation
“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, The Institute for Creation Research)
Daily Hope
Today’s Scripture
Romans 7:1-13
Every town, city, county and state, has a set of laws that they have enacted for their wellbeing. They establish these laws in accordance with the standards they have agreed upon and residents as well as visitors are held to that set of rules. These guidelines cover a variety of activities and vary from place to place. To follow the established laws of a community or state you previously lived in will create problems in your current location.
Being a Christ follower can be difficult as we try to understand the Bible and how the writings of God apply to our daily lives and activities. The Old Testament gave laws and commandments that initially appear we are to have accountability toward and follow. The New Testament emerged from the Old and subsequently questions arose about sin and the observation of the Old Testament law. In Romans five through eight Paul seeks to assist the new believer in this quandary.
Paul continues to work through the series of questions regarding the problem of sin that he began writing in chapter 5 and, how sin affects the believer. He now approaches the third question in verse seven by asking, “Is the law sin?” His answer, “Certainly not”! The point he is seeking to emphasize is that sin is revealed for man to see and understand by the law. The law is good but does not have power over the believer as he is dead to it and remarried to Christ.
Paul uses the illustration of marriage in verses one to four to reinforce the point that the believer has been set free from the law by yielding to Christ and becoming a new person in a new kingdom. Paul’s intent was not to discuss marriage but to use it to graphically describe the legal relationship God placed between a man and woman and correspondingly to the believer and the law.
In this passage the word “law” is used in every verse, one to nine, and then the word “commandment” is used in verses nine through thirteen. The importance of this, is seen in how we keep the law and its teachings for everyday living. We have died to the law to be married to Christ (v.4). Accordingly, we are to serve Christ by keeping His commands but not the strictness of the letter of the law.
In the book of Hebrews, the author tells us that we are now under a different priesthood in Christ, the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:11). By changing the priesthood of the believer there became a necessity also for a change of the law. Verses 15-19 of Hebrews 7 states that there is an annulment of the former commandment and “… a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God” (v.19). The law gives us instructions and we are to be obedient because we are desiring to follow Christ’s instructions. Where the two, law and love, intersect we obey readily, not because we must but because we desire to demonstrate our love for Christ.
We all recognize that laws are important elements of maintaining order and decency in life and society. We are challenged to be obedient and good citizens in whatever state or municipality we are residing. Laws may change but we are to be obedient to a greater authority and bring honor to Him by maintaining His standards of abiding by man’s and God’s laws.
Please be aware that I will be out of the office for the next week so I will not be writing a Daily Hope during the dates of October 4-8. Thank you for your faithfulness and I look forward to starting again October 11.
With an Expectant Hope, Pastor Miller
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OUR FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
…if any man sin… 1 John 2:1
John is concerned fundamentally about our walk with God and our fellowship with Him, and therefore he says, “My little children, these things write I unto you…” because sin always ultimately breaks fellowship with God and therefore immediately casts us off from the source of all our blessedness. It is no use saying you want to walk with God and then deliberately sinning. The moment you sin, fellowship is broken; the moment you fall into transgression, you interrupt the fellowship. The one thing that matters is fellowship with God. I do not know what may await you. You may be tried, you may be persecuted; there may be war and calamity; there may be terrible things awaiting you. The one thing that matters is that you are right with God. That being so, do not sin because sin breaks the fellowship.
Not only that—sin is utterly inconsistent with our profession. It is totally inconsistent with our professed hatred of sin and with our professed desire to be delivered from it. Christians are people who realize and know that sin is the central problem in life, and they therefore say that they want to be delivered and emancipated from it. So if they continue to sin, they deny what they profess to believe. Such a position is completely inconsistent and self-contradictory.
And sin also leads always to an evil conscience. When men and women sin, they are under a sense of condemnation, they are unhappy. I am speaking true to experience, am I not? “Little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” Sin will rob you of happiness and joy and will give you a sense of condemnation.
A Thought to Ponder: The one thing that matters is fellowship with God.
(From Walking with God, pp. 17- 18, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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UnshakableThings
“And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:27)
In this present evil world, there are many pressures that would tend to shake our faith and tempt us to compromise. Paul would exhort persecuted believers “that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled” by such things, but rather to “stand fast” in the truths God has taught them (2 Thessalonians 2:2, 15).
The “hope set before us:…we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (Hebrews 6:18-19). The “word” to which our text refers is from Haggai 2:6-7: “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come,” who will establish “a kingdom which cannot be moved” (Hebrews 12:28).
Note God’s amazing promise: “The heavens shall vanish away like smoke,…but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished” (Isaiah 51:6). Similarly, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). (The Institute for Creation Research)
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The earth may crumble, and even our bodies may return to dust, but God’s Word endures, and so do His righteousness and His kingdom and His great salvation! If our hope is in Him and His Word alone, and if we are seeking to do His gracious will, then our faith and our destiny can never be shaken. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isaiah 66:22). HMM
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Romans 15
We are to conduct our lives in a way that glorifies God.
INSIGHT
When we become Christians, we exchange our citizenship on earth for citizenship in heaven. Therefore, we live according to the value system in heaven, not the value system on earth. On earth we look out for ourselves, and we satisfy our own wants and desires. In heaven we look out for the welfare of others. This does not mean that we neglect ourselves and our families. Other passages in Scripture indicate that we are to love our spouses, children, and parents and care for their needs, which brings this teaching into balance with other truths. (Quiet Walk)
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