Note: This is a Three-Year Lectionary based on the Lutheran Book of Worship 3-year lectionary (for public worship), "Prayers of the Day..." (Propers), p. 13-41, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978. It is based, with only minor variations, on the Revised Common Lectionary, used by many denominations, including the Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches:
and:
http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/usage.html
The daily readings are the Propers (Lections) for the following Sunday, so that the daily devotions can prepare us for worship. Additional lections are from Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church, "Scripture lessons for Matins and Vespers," United Lutheran Church of America, General Rubrics VIII. Scripture lessons for Matins and Vespers, p. 299 - 304, Philadelphia, 1918.
The previous 2- year Bible Study based on the Lutheran Book of Worship, Daily Lectionary for personal devotions p.179-192, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978, is available at:
http://shepboy.snow.prohosting.com
Please Note: I will post weekly by Saturday, noon, (with God's help), Pacific time (UTC-8:00) for the week of the Church Season which begins on Sunday. Please scroll down for the desired day, or save the week to your desktop/hard drive.
23 Pentecost – Sunday (variable)
Posted October 19, 2008
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 -- Holiness;
Psalm 1 -- Rewards of Righteousness;
1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10 -- Testimony by Example;
Matthew 22:34-40 (41-46) -- The Great Commandment;
Leviticus:
God told Moses to tell the congregation of Israel that they must be holy (perfect in goodness and righteousness) because God is holy (good, righteous, and worthy of our devotion). God commanded his people to practice justice, without partiality to the poor or rich, the weak or the powerful. They are to judge one another by the standard of God’s righteousness. They are not to participate in slander, nor to seek the death of a neighbor. God is Lord.
God’s people are not to hate their brothers or argue with their neighbors, or they will be accounted as sinful. They are not to take vengeance or carry a grudge against their own people. They are to love their neighbors just as much as they love themselves. God is Lord.
Psalm:
The person who does not follow the advice of the wicked or the example of sinners or associate with scoffers will be blessed. The law of the Lord will be his delight, and he will meditate on it day and night. That person will be like a tree planted near water; it will produce its fruit in the proper season and it will not wither in drought. He will prosper in all that he does.
Not so of the wicked; they are like chaff blown away by the wind. They will not be exonerated in the judgment; they will not be among the congregation of the righteous. The Lord knows the reward of righteous and the outcome of their deeds, but the wicked are on the path to eternal destruction.
Thessalonians:
The Thessalonians (the congregation at Thessalonica in Macedonia, which Paul had established) had received the Gospel through Paul’s preaching, not just in words, but accompanied by the power and the Holy Spirit and full assurance. Paul and his missionary co-workers (Silvanus, also called Silas, and Timothy, Paul’s protégé), had set the example for the Thessalonians to follow, and the Thessalonians had followed the missionaries example, as the missionaries were following the example of Jesus Christ.
They had received the Word with great joy, despite much affliction (persecution from the Jews). So the Thessalonians had become an example for all believers in Macedonia, and neighboring Greece (Achaia). Their testimony to the Gospel and their faith was not only in words, but by the testimony of their example, which made words unnecessary. Everyone throughout the region had heard of the welcome the Thessalonians had given Paul and his co-workers, and how the Thessalonians had been converted from idolatry to serve the true, living God, and to wait for the return, from heaven, of God’s Son (Jesus Christ), who God raised from death, who delivers us from the wrath of God’s coming Judgment.
Matthew:
The Pharisees and Sadducees, Jewish religious leaders, were angry and jealous of Jesus, and were seeking a way to destroy him (Matthew 22:15). Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, a group of Pharisees came to Jesus and a lawyer among them asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment. Jesus replied that to love God with all one’s heart, mind and soul is the greatest commandment, and the other great commandment is to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Jesus declared that these two commandments summed up the law and prophets (the Jewish Bible).
While the Pharisees were gathered, Jesus asked them what they thought of the Christ (the promised Messiah); whose son was the Christ? The Pharisees answered that he was the son of David. So Jesus asked how, if the Christ was David’s son, why David, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit called him Lord. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet.” If he is David’s Lord, how is he David’s son. No one was able to answer, and they were afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.
Commentary:
God has always intended to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey God. This Creation allows us freedom to choose whether or not to trust and obey God’s Word and the opportunity to learn from trial and error that God’s way is good, possible, and our very best interest. But this Creation and we ourselves have been limited by time, because God is not willing to tolerate disobedience and idolatry forever, or at all in his eternal kingdom.
God has been progressively revealing himself to the world. He first began to reveal himself through his Creation. Then he began a personal relationship with Abraham, continuing to reveal himself through his dealings with Israel, recorded in the Bible.
Jesus is the fullest revelation of God to the world in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28). The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives, (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey him (John 14:15-17), is God’s fullest revelation of himself to us personally and individually.
God called Israel to be his particular people, of all the people of the earth, and taught them his law, his standard of righteousness, by which they were to live. Israel was to demonstrate to the world that God’s law is good and that God is righteous, good and loving (Deuteronomy 4:6-8).
Jesus has been God’s plan from the very beginning of Creation, and has been designed into it. Jesus is the illustration of God’s nature and the example of God’s Word fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in human flesh in this world (John 1:1-5, 14).
Jesus is the manifestation of God’s plan for this Creation (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right), which he accomplished through Israel even though Israel was disobedient and idolatrous. Jesus’ crucifixion is the center of history. The people of Israel had fallen away until Jesus was the last faithful person in Israel. From then on Jesus was the beginning of the new people of God, the Church of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the only door (John 10:7) though which all must pass to have eternal life and fellowship with God our Creator. Jesus is the only way to know divine truth, to be restored to fellowship with God which was broken by our sin (disobedience of God’s Word), and to have true, eternal life now and forever (John 14:6).
Those who accept, trust and obey Jesus will be blessed, and those who reject and refuse to trust and obey Jesus will be eternally destroyed on the Day of Judgment at the end of our lives. We have the freedom to choose, but the choice has eternal consequences.
The Thessalonian Christians had heard the Gospel, and received it not just as words; not just with intellectual assent, but with application; with obedient trust. As they began to apply the Gospel in their daily lives they experienced the power, joy and assurance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. They had believed and had then come to know with certainty for themselves (John 6:68-69) the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. The Thessalonians’ changed lives testified more eloquently than words.
Jesus had taught his disciples by word and example, and had modeled the method of making disciples. Then he had commanded them to go and make disciples, not of themselves but of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20), after they had received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8).
Paul (Saul of Tarsus) is the prototype and example of a “modern,” post-resurrection,” “born-again (John 3:3, 5-8), disciple and apostle of Jesus as we all can be. He hadn’t known Jesus during Jesus’ earthly ministry. He came to a personal revelation on the road to Damascus as he intended to persecute Christians (Acts 9:1-22). Paul was discipled by a “born-again” disciple, Ananias, until Paul received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and then Holy Spirit “discipled,” guided and empowered Paul.
Paul began carrying out the same Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) given to the Twelve of Jesus’ original disciples. Paul was a “born-again” disciple making “born-again” disciples of Jesus and teaching them to obey all that Jesus taught. Timothy was a disciple who Paul discipled until Timothy received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:6), and then Paul told Timothy to follow Paul’s example and make other disciples (2 Timothy 2:2).
Paul was following the example of the risen and ascended Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and so was Timothy. They “discipled” the Thessalonians, who were spiritually reborn as they followed the example of Jesus Christ through Paul and Timothy.
The Church is to be a disciple-making organization. A Christian is by definition a disciple of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26c) who has been spiritually reborn by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
In Jesus’ day, Judaism had ceased to be a relationship with God and had become a “religion,” a means to manipulate God’s favor, and other people. The religious leaders had lost sight of the fact that they were to be stewards of God’s family and shepherds of God’s sheep. They cared more for their worldly status and position than the spiritual condition of their people (Matthew 27:3-5).
The religious leaders thought they knew all about God, but they didn’t know God personally. They were willing to acknowledge the earthly parentage of the Messiah, theoretically, but failed to recognize that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, the son of David and the Son of God (Matthew 1:1-17; 21:15-17). They thought they were righteous because they thought they obeyed the Law of Moses, but didn’t love God or their fellow humans as much as they loved themselves.
So how are we doing, Church? Are we making disciples or “fair-weather members?” Are we learning and applying Jesus’ teachings in our daily lives so that the worldly people around us will see our changed lives? Do we think we’re saved because we’re members of a church, or because we’ve participated in some church ritual, or because we teach Sunday School or sing in the choir?
In too many instances America and the nominal Church, at least in America, are in the same spiritual condition as Israel and Judaism at the time of Jesus’ first advent (coming). Are we ready for Christ’s return?
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
23 Pentecost – Monday (variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
Posted October 20, 2008
Psalm 63:1-8 -- Spiritual Thirst;
My soul thirsts for the Lord my God. My body is faint for you as though in a desert without water. So I have seen you in the sanctuary; I have seen your power and glory. I will use my voice to constantly praise you, because your steadfast love is better than life itself. As long as I live I will bless you; I will lift up my hands to you and call upon your name.
My soul is satisfied as one who is feasted on marrow and fat. I praise you with a joyful heart when I meditate on you in my bed during the night. You have helped me, and I sing with joy in the shelter of your wings. My soul clings to you and your right hand upholds me.
Commentary:
I’m convinced that the meaning and purpose of life is to seek and come to know and have fellowship with God our Creator (Acts 17:26-27). God promises that when we seek him with our whole being he will allow himself to be found by us (Deuteronomy 4:29). Now is the time to seek him, while he is near and can be found by us (Isaiah 55:6).
Jesus is the only way to come to know divine eternal truth, to be restored to fellowship with God which was broken by sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and to have true eternal life (John 14:6). Jesus is God in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28). Only Jesus can reveal God the Father to us (John 14:7; Matthew 11:27).
The only way to have personal knowledge of and fellowship with Jesus and God the Father is by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). Jesus reveals himself and God the Father to us through his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:21, 23; Romans 8:9). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
We have been created as eternal beings (souls) in physical bodies (John 5:28-29). Jesus’ miracles of resurrection and his own resurrection demonstrate that there is existence beyond physical death. We have been born physically alive but spiritually dead. This lifetime is our only chance to be spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) to eternal life, and this is only by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit within us.
This world is a spiritual wilderness. We are dying eternally of spiritual thirst, and Jesus, by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit is the only source of spiritual “living water” (John 7:37-39). People try to satisfy their spiritual thirst with worldly substitutes which will never satisfy or save them from dying eternally of spiritual thirst. Only those who recognize their spiritual thirst and come to faith (obedient trust) in Jesus can be saved.
We can experience the Lord’s power, glory and steadfast love through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We experience the joy of his presence within us. His Holy Spirit inspires our praise of his name. As we live in obedience to his Holy Spirit we experience his power and ability to help us and to answer our prayers. He comforts us and upholds us by his indwelling Holy Spirit. We are confident of his eternal protection upon us by his indwelling Holy Spirit. He is able and faithful to bring us through every situation in life.
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
Posted October 21, 2008
Amos 5:18-24 -- Righteousness and Justice;
Woe to “God’s people” who long for the day of the Lord. Why would they desire the day of the Lord? It is not going to be a day of light, but of darkness. The people think they will have escaped a lion, but will find themselves confronted by a bear, or as though they were safe inside their house when instead they are bitten by a snake. The day of the Lord will be a day of gloom and darkness.
The Lord says to his people that he hates their feasts and “solemn assemblies.” The Lord refuses to accept their sacrifices and offerings. The Lord tells them to stop the noise of their songs. The Lord refuses to listen to their instrumental music. “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24).
Commentary:
Amos was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel from about 760-750 B.C.,* during the reign of Jeroboam II. It was a time of peace and prosperity, and Israel regarded that as a sign of God’s approval. But their peace and prosperity was not because of their reliance on God, but on their own military power. It was also a period of social injustice, immorality, and shallow religion.
The people of Israel thought that in the day of the Lord they would be exalted and vindicated. They thought their religious rituals could manipulate God’s favor, although they were far from obedient trust in God’s Word. They thought they would be delivered from their worldly rivals, but instead would fall under the condemnation of God’s judgment against them.
The Lord doesn’t desire religious ritual, offerings and sacrifices. He doesn’t delight loud music and singing, without sincere intention of worshiping and serving the Lord, by obedient trust in his Word. What God wants is for his people to apply his Word in their daily lives, to work for social, economic and moral justice, and to do what is righteous in God’s judgment according to his Word.
The Northern Kingdom refused to heed the warnings of the prophets, like Amos. Amos was thrown out of the sanctuary at Bethel which was a place of idolatrous worship in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the divided monarchy.
The Northern Kingdom was conquered and essentially wiped out of existence by kings Shalmaneser and Sargon, of the Assyrian Empire, in about 721 B.C. All the able-bodied people of the northern ten tribes were carried off to other lands and aliens brought in settle the land. They intermingled religion and race with the remnant of the ten tribes to become the Samaritans at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
In many ways America and the American Church are in the same situation today as Israel and Judaism at the time of Amos. We’re living in an era of unprecedented power and prosperity. We think our success is the sign of God’s approval. Many people believe that they can manipulate God’s favor by attending church for an hour on Sunday, if they don’t have something else to do; to listen to “Christian” music on the car radio, as they go about their daily business; to bow their heads before eating their Big Macs.
We think church membership will exempt us from the Day of Judgment, while all around us there is social, economic and moral injustice in our land. We’ve become so used to immorality that we cease to notice, and we tolerate it even within our “nominal” Churches, even among our clergy.
It is not those who call themselves God’s people, but those who trust and obey God’s Word who are the true people of God. It is not those who call themselves “Christian,” but those who trust and obey Jesus’ teaching and example, and do God’s will like Jesus did, who are authentic Christian disciples (Matthew 7:21-27).
Church membership and participation in church rituals is not “fire insurance” protecting us from Hell. Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will save us from the wrath of God which is coming upon this world in the Day of Judgment. We must be spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, introduction to Amos, p. 1107, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.
23 Pentecost – Wednesday (variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
Posted October 22, 2008
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (15-18)
Unlike unbelievers, who have no hope (of resurrection), Christians can have certainty that, through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, their fellow believers who die before Jesus’ return will be raised from the dead by God just like Jesus was. Paul declared by revelation of God’s Word through the indwelling Holy Spirit that believers who are still alive at Jesus’ Second Coming won’t have any advantage over those who have died. It won’t make any difference.
The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout of command, the cry of the archangel and the blast of a trumpet. The dead in Christ will arise first, and then the believers who are still alive will be caught up in a cloud to meet Jesus in the air, and we will be with the Lord eternally. So with these words we should comfort fellow believers.
Commentary:
Jesus’ miracles of raising the dead, like Lazarus (John 11:38-44) and Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9:18-26), and Jesus’ own resurrection, demonstrate that there is existence after physical death, not nothingness, and not reincarnation (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus promised that the dead will be raised on the Day of Judgment (John 5:28-29), just like Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb.
Jesus ascended into heaven after his resurrection, witnessed by his disciples. He was caught up into the air and a cloud took him out of their sight (Acts 1:9), and he will return on the Day of Judgment the same way (Acts 1:10-11). When Christ returns, his disciples will be caught up with him in the same way (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
We are all born into this world physically alive, but spiritually unborn. This lifetime is our opportunity to be spiritually “born-again” and this is only possible by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus gives the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
Every truly “born-again” Christian testifies personally that Jesus is eternally alive. We have personal daily fellowship with him by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9).
Paul (Saul of Tarsus), the author of this text, was “discipled” by a “born-again” disciple, Ananias, until he was “born-again” (Acts 9:10-18), and then he began making “born-again” disciples (the Thessalonians; Timothy; see 2 Timothy 1:6-7), and teaching them to make “born-again” disciples (2 Timothy 2:2), in fulfillment of the Great Commission which Jesus gave to his disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), to be carried out after they had been “born-again” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8).
Jesus is going to return on the Day of Judgment to judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5) in both the physical and spiritual senses. Everyone who has ever lived will be accountable to the Lord for what we have done in this lifetime. Jesus is the standard by which all will be judged. Those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and have trusted and obeyed Jesus will have been “born-again” and will enter eternal life with the Lord in God’s heavenly kingdom. But those who have refused to accept Jesus as Lord and have refused to trust and obey Jesus will be condemned to eternal destruction in Hell with all evil Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
23 Pentecost – Thursday (variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
Posted October 23, 2008
Matthew 25:1-13 -- Wise and Foolish Maidens
Jesus taught in parables (fictional stories of common everyday experiences used to teach spiritual truth). Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is like ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five were wise and took flasks of extra oil, but the foolish ones did not. They all fell asleep waiting for the bridegroom who had been delayed.
But at midnight there was a shout that the bridegroom was approaching and the maidens were to go out to meet him. All the maidens arose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish maiden’s lamps were going out because they were out of oil, and the foolish maidens asked for oil from the wise maidens. The wise maidens were afraid that there wouldn’t be enough to last for all the maidens, and told the foolish ones to go and buy more oil from the merchants.
While the foolish maidens were gone buying more oil, the bridegroom came “and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10). Afterward, the foolish maidens came and knocked on the door, and asked the bridegroom to open the door for them, but he denied knowing them. So Jesus advises us to be alert and watchful, because we don’t know the day or hour of his coming.
Commentary:
Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment to judge everyone who has ever lived. He is the bridegroom of the Church and the Church is his bride. At his coming he will consummate the great wedding feast he instituted at his Last Supper on the night of his betrayal (Matthew 26:26-29).
We are like the maidens, to be watching and waiting for Christ’s return. He will return at an hour we are not expecting (Matthew 24:36, 44). In order to be ready to meet him when he comes we must prepare now for his coming.
We need to obtain the spiritual oil which will keep us prepared until he comes, and that spiritual oil is the gift (the “anointing;” and see Psalm 23:5b) of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
This lifetime is our only opportunity to seek and come to know personally and have fellowship with God the Father, our Creator, and Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way to restoration of fellowship with God which was broken by sin (disobedience of God’s Word), to know divine truth, and to have true, eternal life (John 14:6). Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness of sin and salvation from eternal condemnation (Acts 4:12).
The foolish maidens didn’t realize they didn’t have enough oil until the bridegroom was at hand. They had wasted the time they had, napping, when they should have been getting the oil they needed.
The Second Coming is not some far off event that we don’t need to think about right now. Some people seek to know the signs of Christ’s return, so they can put off preparing until then, but then it will be too late.
The Second Coming will assuredly be within our lifetime, in the sense that at our death time stops, for us, and we will immediately be at the throne of judgment. No one can be sure they will live to see another day. Today is the only day we can be sure of. Today is the Day of Salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2), now is the time obtain to the “oil” of salvation.
At the Day of Judgment every one who has ever lived will be accountable to the Lord for what we have done in this lifetime, and the standard against which we will be judged will be Jesus Christ. Those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and have trusted and obeyed Jesus, will have been spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8), and will enter eternity in God’s heavenly kingdom. But those who have rejected Jesus, and have refused to trust and obey Jesus will be condemned to eternal destruction in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
23 Pentecost – Friday (variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
Posted October 24, 2008
Isaiah 32:1-8 -- Coming Age of Justice;
In the coming age, the king will rule with righteousness, and his princes will govern with justice. They will be like a refuge from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a desert and like the shade of a great rock in the wilderness. Then the eyes of the seeing will be opened, and the ears of the hearing will give heed. Those who were rash will have good judgment, and the tongues of stammerers will no longer stutter, but will speak clearly. Fools will no longer regarded as noble, and the deceitful will no longer be regarded as honorable.
The fool speaks foolishness; he plans iniquity, and does what is ungodly. He says of the Lord what is false, so that those who are spiritually hungry are unsatisfied and their spiritual thirst is unquenched. The deceit of those who are deceitful is evil. They devise schemes to ruin the poor with lies even when the plea of the poor is just. But those who are noble do what is noble, and by doing so they will prevail.
Commentary:
The coming age is the kingdom of God and the universal reign of Jesus Christ. Jesus will return on the Day of Judgment and will condemn all his enemies to eternal destruction, but those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord, who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will have been spiritually “reborn” and will live eternally with Jesus in God’s heavenly kingdom.
Jesus is the eternal king of righteousness. The leaders of his people will rule justly according to God’s Word. We will have shelter from evil and the spiritual storms and struggles of this life (Revelation 21:3-4).
Right now people have the freedom to shut their eyes and stop their ears against God’s truth. Satan blinds and deafens those who are perishing spiritually (2 Corinthians 3:14-16; 4:4). But the veil of spiritual blindness is removed through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
Through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit the “veil” of spiritual blindness is removed. The Holy Spirit opens our minds to understand the scripture (Luke 24:45). He teaches us all things, he calls to our remembrance all of Jesus’ teachings. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of divine eternal truth who leads us into all truth (John 14:16-17; 16:13-14).
This world has different standards of righteousness, justice and wisdom than the standard of God’s Word (1 Corinthians 1:17-25; 2:1-8). But God’s Word will prevail. In this world the spiritually ignorant and deceitful are rewarded but they will not survive the Day of Judgment. Worldly “justice” favors the rich and powerful and hinders and oppresses the poor and humble. There are many false teachers in the world who teach what is false concerning the Lord and would deprive the spiritually hungry and thirsty what will truly satisfy them.
Jesus is the only one who can satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. Jesus is the “bread of eternal life” (John 6:35). Jesus is the source of “living water (John 4:13-14); and that spiritual water is the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
23 Pentecost – Saturday (variable)
To be used only if there is a 24 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
Posted October 25, 2008
Romans 13:1-7 -- Christian and State;
Mark 12:41-44 -- The Widow’s Offering;
Romans:
Christians are to submit to the authority of government. There is no other source of authority except what comes from God, and God has instituted the authority of civil government. Those who resist civil authorities are resisting what God has appointed, and will incur judgment. If one does right, one need not fear civil authority since civil authority is not a threat to good but to bad conduct. If we don’t want to be afraid of civil authorities, we should do what is right, and then we will have their approval, because they are servants of God for our benefit. But if we do what is wrong we should be afraid, because God has given the authorities the power to execute God’s wrath on wrongdoers. So we must conform to civil authority not only from fear of God’s wrath but for a clear conscience.
Christians are also to pay taxes, because civil authorities have God’s authority to collect them. So we are to pay every authority what is due them: taxes, revenue, respect, and honor to whom it is due.
Mark:
Jesus was in the temple and he watched people giving their tithes and offerings in the treasury. Many of the wealthy were putting in large sums. Then a poor widow came and put in two half-pennies. Jesus called his disciples to him and told them that the poor widow had contributed more than any of the other contributors, because they gave from their abundance what they could spare, and she had given all that she had, her entire livelihood.
Commentary:
Christians are to be disciples of Jesus Christ and to learn to live according to Jesus’ teaching and example. If we are trusting and obeying Jesus we will not need to fear the civil government. All civil authority comes from God and those who are in authority are accountable to God for their administration of his authority.
There are instances where the civil authorities are misusing their power. When the civil government requires Christians to do what is contrary to God’s Word, then Christians must resist, as in World War II Nazi Germany.
The same things apply to Church authority. As long as the authorities are governing according to God’s Word, we should submit to that authority.
Unfortunately there are too many instances of abuse of civil and religious authority in the world today. The Bible is the standard by which we must measure both civil and religious authority. Too many “nominal” Christians have never read the entire Bible and do not know God’s standards of righteousness and justice.
The poor widow is an example of a believer who does the best that she can to trust and obey God’s Word. She is obedient to more than just the “letter” of the law, and she does so in love and gratitude to the Lord.
The Lord notices the motive as well as the act. If we love Jesus we will do what he commands, gladly out of love and rather than grudgingly.
Everything we have is from God, including the free gift of forgiveness, salvation and eternal life in paradise restored, if we’re willing to accept it through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. If Christians are to respect and obey civil authorities and church authority, we should certainly respect and obey Jesus Christ’s (Matthew 28:18) and God’s authority above all. God asks us to return a tithe (ten percent) of what we have. Do we give the secular world their taxes, revenues, respect and honor and not give the Lord what we owe and he deserves.
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
