Week of 5 Easter A
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:http://www.commontexts.org/
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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.
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Podcast Download: Week of 5 Easter A
Sunday 5 Easter A
First Posted April 20, 2008;
Podcast: Sunday 5 Easter A
Psalm 33:1-11 - Our Lord and Creator;
Acts 17:1-15 - Proclaiming the Gospel;
1 Peter 2:4-10 - Christ the Cornerstone;
John 14:1-12 - The Way; the Truth; the Life;
Psalm Paraphrase:
Those who delight in what is good and right and true will rejoice in the Lord. It is appropriate for the morally and ethically upright to praise uprightness. Let us praise the Lord with music and singing, with a new song and with loud shouts of praise.
“For the Word of the Lord is upright, and all his deeds are done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord” (Psalm 33:4-5). Everything in the universe was made by the breath and the Word of God. He restrained the waters of the oceans as in a bottle. He stored up water underground as in warehouses.
Let everyone on earth fear the Lord and be in awe of him. What God declares comes into existence, and what God commands comes to pass. The best plans and counsel of the world amount to nothing apart from God. God's plans and counsel are eternal, and his purpose is fulfilled through all generations.
Acts Paraphrase:
On Paul's second missionary journey, with Silas and Timothy, they came to Thessalonica, in Macedonia. As was their custom, they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and for three weeks Paul preached and taught the Gospel, showing by the Bible scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah (Christ) and that it was necessary that Jesus suffer and be crucified and rise again on the third day. Some of the Jews as well as many devout Greeks (proselytes) and more than a few women of high status were convinced and joined Paul and Silas.
But the Jewish religious leaders were jealous, and they recruited troublemakers from the rabble to cause a disturbance, and they went to the home of Jason, where the missionaries were apparently staying. But they didn't find the missionaries there so they grabbed Jason and dragged him before the city authorities. They accused the missionaries of “turning the world upside down” and acting against the authority of Caesar by declaring another king, Jesus. They charged Jason with aiding and sheltering the missionaries. The authorities made Jason put up a security bond before they released him.
The brethren (Christian believers) sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea (Berea), a city of Macedonia a distance away. When they arrived, Paul and Silas again went to the local synagogue. The Jews of Beroea were more honorable than the ones in Thessalonica, and they were eager to hear the Word of the Gospel, and they examined the Bible texts to verify the things these missionaries were teaching.
As the result, many believed, Greek proselytes, both men and women, as well as Jews. But the Jews of Thessalonica heard where Paul and Silas had gone, and they came to Beroea and stirred up the crowds against the missionaries. So the Berean believers also helped Paul to get safely away by boat and went with him as far as Athens. Then they returned with a message to Silas and Timothy, who had stayed in Beroea, to join Paul in Athens as soon as possible.
2 Peter Paraphrase:
(Peter was “discipling” new believers.)
Jesus is the “living stone,” rejected by worldly people (particularly Jews), but chosen and precious in God's judgment. Believers are to also be like living stones, built into the Church, with Jesus as the cornerstone. Christians are called to be a holy priesthood, offering pleasing spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. God's Word foretold that God was laying a chosen and precious cornerstone in Zion (Jerusalem; the temple mount; the City of God; the Church). God's Word promised that those who believe (trust and obey) Jesus will never have reason to be ashamed.
To those who believe in Jesus, he is chosen and precious, but Jesus is a stumbling block who will cause unbelievers to stumble and fall. Jesus is the stone that the builders (the Jews) rejected, but who is the cornerstone of God's eternal kingdom.
John Paraphrase:
After celebrating the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples his final instructions before the betrayal and arrest he knew would take place that night. He told them not to worry or be sad; they believed in God and should continue to believe in Jesus, despite the circumstances of Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus’ crucifixion was necessary in order to prepare a place for Jesus’ disciples in God’s eternal kingdom in heaven.
Jesus promised to return and would take them to be with Jesus in heaven. Jesus told them that they knew the way to eternal life in heaven. Thomas said that they didn’t know where Jesus was going so how could they know the way? Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Jesus said that those who know Jesus know God the Father.
Philip asked Jesus to assure them by showing them God the Father. But Jesus asked Philip if, after years of close daily fellowship with Jesus, Philip still did not know Jesus? Those who have seen Jesus have seen God the Father. Did they not believe that Jesus was in God the Father and God in Jesus? Jesus told them that the words and deeds of Jesus were not by his own power and authority, but by the power and authority of God dwelling in Jesus. Jesus asked his disciples to believe on the basis of Jesus’ word; or else to believe because of the works they had witnessed Jesus do. Jesus declared that those who believe in Jesus will do the same kinds of works Jesus did, and even greater, because Jesus’ was going to God in heaven.
Commentary:
The entire Universe was created by the Word and breath of God. God’s Word has creative force. What God declares, comes into existence (Genesis 1:3); what he commands, will be done. Mankind’s plans and wisdom are fleeting, elusive, and subject to God’s will and approval. God’s plans and his counsel are eternal.
God’s plan and purpose for this Creation has always been to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey God’s Word. This lifetime is our opportunity to seek and come to know God (Acts 17:26-27). This is only possible through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (John 14:6), who has been “designed into” Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14).
God has given us his Word in the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word lived out in human flesh in this world. Those who delight in what is right, and good and true, who are morally and ethically upright, will recognize the Bible as the Word of God, and Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s Word of the promised Savior and eternal King, the Son of God.
God has given us his Word because he wants us to know his plan and purpose for Creation. He wants us to know and learn how to live well in this Creation, and to have eternal life with him. He wants us to seek and come to know and have fellowship with God. If we will believe (trust and obey) God’s Word we will have the promise of forgiveness of our sins (disobedience of God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), salvation from eternal condemnation and death which is the penalty for sin (Romans 6:23), restoration to fellowship with God which was broken by sin (John 14:23-24), and eternal life in the kingdom of God, the new Creation restored to paradise (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).
If we know and believe God’s Word we will know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. The Bereans were eager to hear God’s Word and they searched the Bible scriptures to see whether the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true and accurately taught by Paul.
Those who opposed the Gospel at Thessalonica didn’t want to hear God’s Word. They wanted to hold onto “their religion” and “their tradition.” The Gospel threatened to turn “their world” upside down. It isn’t “their world;” it is God’s world.
Jesus Christ it the “cornerstone” of God’s Creation. Jesus is the foundation on which we must build our lives in order to have eternal life in God’s kingdom. We will either build on Jesus Christ, or he will be the stone which will cause us to stumble and fall into eternal condemnation and eternal death.
Paul was a “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8; Acts 9:10-12, 17-18) disciple of Jesus Christ making “born-again” disciples of Jesus Christ, fulfilling the Great Commission which Jesus gave to his disciples to do (Matthew 28:19-20), after they themselves had been “born-again” (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5, 8). He was proclaiming the Gospel fully and accurately, and some responded with faith (obedient trust) and became disciples of Jesus Christ, and some rejected and opposed the Gospel. Those who opposed the Gospel were unable to prevent others from receiving it.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of God to the world in human flesh. Jesus made the invisible God visible (Colossians 1:15). The indwelling Holy Spirit is the ultimate revelation of God to us individually and personally. The words and works of Jesus, recorded in the Bible and testified to by every truly “born-again” Christian are sufficient for us to know and believe in Jesus. One cannot truly know and believe in God apart from knowing and believing Jesus.
Do you know and believe Jesus? Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Monday 5 Easter A
First Posted April 21, 2008;
Podcast: Monday 5 Easter A
Psalm 66:1-6, 14-18 - Praise the Lord!
Let us sing with joy to the Lord, and praise his glorious name. How awesome are your deeds O Lord! All your enemies cringe in fear before you. All people of the world will worship you and praise you and your name (honor; character; authority).
Know and remember what the Lord has done. His deeds are awesome among men. “He turned the sea into dry land; men passed through the river on foot” Psalm 66:6). For such deeds his people rejoiced greatly in him.
I will fulfill the vows I made when I was in trouble. I will give offerings and sacrifices to thee.
Draw near, all those who reverence God and hear my testimony of what the Lord has done for me. I cried aloud and praised him. The Lord would not have listened, if I had loved iniquity in my heart.
Those who seek and examine the deeds the Lord has done for us will rejoice and praise him. His power and authority are truly awesome, beyond human ability or understanding. Even the demons cringe in fear (James 2:19). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10a, Psalm 111:10)!
Commentary:
Two of the great acts of God’s deliverance of his people in the Old Testament are the parting of the Red Sea so that Israel could pass through it to escape the Egyptian army, and then, after the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the parting of the Jordan River, so that they could enter the Promised Land on dry ground, without getting their feet wet.
The history of God’s dealing with Israel is also intended to be a metaphor and parable of life in this world. The escape from Egypt through the Red Sea corresponds with what the Lord has done for us through baptism into Jesus Christ. We have escaped from bondage to sin and death from the “Egypt” of this world. Then we learn to be guided by Jesus Christ, the “New Moses,” and the Holy Spirit, the pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21), through the spiritual “wilderness” and “darkness” of this world, and pass through the “river” of physical death and into the eternal Promised Land of God’s eternal kingdom in heaven.
When we encounter trouble which is beyond our power and ability, he will hear and help us when we call upon him in faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. I personally testify to that truth (see personal testimonies, sidebar, top right). The Lord is God, whether we acknowledge him or not, but he is not obligated to be all that being a righteous, loving God implies, to those who do not accept, trust and obey his Word through Jesus Christ, his Son, the “living Word, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in this world in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14).
God has already provided the deliverance we need to escape bondage to sin (disobedience of God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10) and eternal death, which is the consequence of sin (Romans 6:23). Jesus is God’s one and only provision for our deliverance and salvation from eternal destruction (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). If we are not willing to accept, trust and obey Jesus, the Lord won’t listen to our prayers for deliverance (see Conditions for Answered Prayer, sidebar, top right). The offerings and sacrifices the Lord desires from us are our surrender to his will in obedient trust and our praise and thanks for his great works on our behalf.
Jesus is the ultimate revelation to the world of God in human flesh (Colossians 1:13-15; 2:8-9). The Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34) only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17), is the ultimate revelation of God to us personally and individually. The Lord wants us to seek and come to know him (Acts 17:26-27), and the place to start is to read and know the Bible. There we can begin to know the great things the Lord has done for us and can claim the promises he has given us. Then we will have reason and opportunity to praise his glorious name and his awesome deeds.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Tuesday 5 Easter A
First Posted April 22, 2008;
Podcast: 5 Easter A Tuesday
Acts 17:22-31 - The Meaning and Purpose of Life;
Paraphrase:
Paul was in Athens waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him, and he noticed that the city was full of idols (Acts 17:16). Paul had an opportunity to address the Athenians in a public forum, so he began by saying that he had noticed that the Athenians were very “religious,” since Paul had seen the shrines and objects of their worship. Paul had noticed a shrine to an “unknown god.” Paul said that what they worshiped as unknown, Paul now proclaimed to them.
God, the creator of everything in this world, who reigns as Lord of heaven and earth, doesn't live in shrines built by men, or need help from humans to do things for him. He has no need for us to give him anything; he is the one who has given us everything, including life and breath. “And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:26-27).
Paul was formally educated and familiar with Greek writings, and quoted Epimenides and Aratus to say that in God “we live and move and have our being” and “are indeed his [God's] offspring” (Acts 17:28). Since we are his children, we shouldn't think that God is like some earthly object like silver, gold, stone or wood, created by the art and imagination of humans. God has excused past times when we were ignorant, but he now commands all people everywhere to repent (turn from sin to obedience to God's Word), because he has set a Day of Judgment, when all people will be judged, by a person, Jesus Christ, whom God has appointed, and has affirmed this to the world by raising him from the dead.
Paul had been persecuted for preaching the Gospel and had to flee to Athens, and while there, waiting for his missionary helpers, he made the most of his opportunity to preach the Gospel. His usual practice had been to go to local Synagogues, but here instead he gathered a crowd at the local forum, the Areopagus, and presented the Gospel. Paul started with what he had observed about their culture and presented the Gospel in that perspective.
Our situation is the same in our culture today in many respects. There are many signs that people are “religious,” but there is also a lot of idolatry. People still worship idols of gold and silver (wealth and material possessions) and the work of their hands (career, success, family, etc). In many instances nominal “Churches” have become “shrines,” built by humans, to the unknown God, because the congregation and leadership have allowed secular culture to enter, influence and change them, instead of being an influence in the community for Christian discipleship.
They think they know God, but God is unknown to them personally and individually, because they haven't been “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8) spiritually by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 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).
God has always intended to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey him. This Creation has been designed to give us the opportunity to seek and come to personally know, trust and obey God. God has given us the freedom to choose whether or not to trust and obey him and the opportunity to learn by trial and error that his way is our best interest.
God knew at the beginning of creation that if we had freedom to choose, we would need to be forgiven, so he designed Creation with the Savior “built in” (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is God's one and only provision for the forgiveness of our sins (disobedience of God's Word; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).
God is not going to tolerate disobedience forever. There is a day of Judgment coming when everyone who has ever lived will be accountable to God through Jesus Christ, the righteous judge whom God has appointed (Matthew 25:31-46; 28:18). Those who refuse to accept Jesus and trust and obey him, will be condemned to eternal destruction in Hell. Those who accept Jesus and trust and obey him will be “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and will receive eternal life in God's kingdom in heaven (paradise restored to perfection).
God has revealed his Savior, Jesus Christ to the world, and has attested to him by raising him from the dead to eternal life. Jesus is the only way to forgiveness and salvation, spiritual enlightenment, personal knowledge of and fellowship with God, and eternal life in God's kingdom (Matthew 14:6).
The New Testament is the eyewitness account of those who experienced Jesus' resurrection, including Paul, the prototype of the “modern,” “post-resurrection,” “born-again” disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ, as we all can be. Paul and all modern, “born-again” disciples personally testify that Jesus is risen and eternally alive. He is God in human form (Matthew 1:23; Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28).
Jesus is alive and present in this world today. He is very near to us, but we are spiritually blind and must “grope” until we find him. If we seek him we will find him (Matthew 7:7-8). Only Jesus can heal our spiritual blindness. Only Jesus can make us spiritually alive.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Wednesday 5 Easter A
First Posted April 23, 2008;
Podcast: Wednesday 5 Easter A
1 Peter 3:15-22 - Discipleship:
Paraphrase:
Let Christ be reverenced in our hearts. When anyone challenges our hope in Christ let us always be ready to defend our faith, but with gentleness and reverence. Let us avoid doing anything for which we would be ashamed, so that those who revile us for doing what is right according to Christ's teaching may be put to shame. Better that we suffer unjustly for doing what is right than justly for doing what is wrong. Christ, though sinless, also suffered unto death once for all for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that we could enter into God's presence. Jesus died in the flesh, but arose to spiritual life.
In the days of Noah, the people didn't heed the warning of Noah, and God was patient with them during the building of the Ark (120 years*; Genesis 5:32; 6:3; 7:6). Only eight people were saved through the waters of the flood; and every other living person died and their spirits were imprisoned in Hell. Baptism now corresponds to the Flood. Through Baptism, we have a cleansed conscience in God's judgment, because of the resurrection of Christ. The risen Jesus has ascended into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with all authority given to him over the angels, and all powers and authorities subject to him (compare Matthew 28:18).
Peter was making disciples of Jesus Christ in accordance with Jesus' Great Commission to his disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) to be carried out after they had been “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8; Luke 24:48; Acts 1:4-5,8) by the “baptism” (“anointing;” 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). Disciples are to learn and apply Jesus' teachings in their lives. We are to reverence Christ by trusting and obeying him.
We need to read and know the Bible, so that we will be prepared to defend our belief in Jesus to those who challenge us (2 Timothy 2:15). As we live according to Jesus' teaching we will be aware and be able to avoid doing anything which would give a reason for the enemies of the Gospel to revile it and us. Suffering for doing God's will and what is right, unjustly, is far better than suffering justly for what is unrighteous.
Jesus is our example of suffering for righteousness. His suffering and death for our unrighteousness made it possible for his righteousness to be attributed to us by God, so that we can enter God's presence.
Jesus died physically but was raised to spiritual eternal life. By his death and resurrection, we can be freed from the fear of death which keeps us in bondage to Satan and the power of sin (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Noah is a forerunner, an illustration, of Christ. He preached repentance to the people by word and action during the time of the building of the Ark, but the people didn't take him seriously. God made a covenant with Noah, through whom Noah's household was saved, but those outside his household perished.
The souls of those who disregarded Noah's warning are eternally imprisoned in Hell. God gave the people who lived before the coming of Jesus the same patient forbearance and opportunity for salvation that he gives us now in Christ. Those who disregard the warning of Christ will receive the same fate as those who perished in the days of Noah.
The Flood of Noah's day corresponds to Christian Baptism. Baptism is spiritual, rather than physical, cleansing. Baptism is a Covenant between God and us, through Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are saved through the flood by the New Covenant of grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Peter was a “born-again” disciple making “born-again” disciples of Jesus Christ, in accordance with the Great Commission. He was calling people to repent and be baptized into Jesus Christ, and teaching them to obey all that Jesus taught; to trust and obey Jesus. As the new believers did so, they were “baptized” with 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). It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that we are made spiritually alive. If we are spiritually alive in Jesus Christ, we can be sure that we will be raised from physical death to eternal life as Jesus was.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
* “Noah,” Easton’s Bible Dictionary:
Online Reference:
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/HTML_Bible_Tools/EBD/T0002700.html#T0002741Easton’s Bible Dictionary, digital module, BibleTime freeware download:
http://www.bibletime.info/
Thursday 5 Easter A
First Posted April 24, 2008;
Podcast: Thursday 5 Easter A
John 14:15-21 - “Baptism” of the Holy Spirit;
Background:
In Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples after the Last Supper on the night Jesus knew he would be betrayed, he was preparing his disciples for what would soon follow.
Paraphrase:
Jesus said that those who love him will obey his commandments. Jesus will intercede for them with God the Father, who will give them a Counselor who will remain with them forever. The Counselor is the Spirit of truth, (divine, eternal truth; not what the world falsely calls “truth;” compare 1 Corinthians 1:17-25). The world cannot receive the Spirit of truth, because it neither recognizes nor knows truth. Jesus’ disciples know him [the Spirit of truth], “because he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).
Jesus promised not to leave his disciples alone; he will come to them. Jesus said that soon the world would no longer see Jesus; but his disciples will see him. Because Jesus lives, his disciples will also live (eternally). In that day his disciples will know with certainty that Jesus is in God the Father and the Father is in Jesus; and in the same way, Jesus’ disciples will be in Jesus and Jesus in them. “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest (reveal) myself to him” (John 14:21).
Commentary:
Anyone who truly believes in Jesus is going to trust and obey what Jesus says. One cannot claim to love Jesus without knowing, keeping and applying Jesus’ teachings in one’s daily life.
This passage is Jesus’ promise of the “baptism” (gift; “anointing”) of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the conditions of its fulfillment. 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).
Jesus is the only way to forgiveness of sin (disobedience of God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), salvation from eternal death (the penalty for sin; Romans 6:23), restoration of fellowship with God which was broken by sin; and eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom (Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Jesus is the only way to know divine eternal truth; Jesus is truth. Jesus is the only way to know and have fellowship with God the Father (John 14:6).
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9); the Spirit of Truth. Jesus promises to be with his disciples and they will know that it is Jesus, that he is eternally alive, and that Jesus will be eternally within them by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit is event of spiritual “rebirth” Jesus warned that one must have (John 3:3, 5-8), now, in this lifetime, in order to see signs of the kingdom of God around us now, and to enter into it in eternity. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, Jesus’ disciples have a personal knowledge of and fellowship with Jesus, and the assurance that they have eternal life.
The Holy Spirit is the Counselor who guides Jesus’ disciples according to God’s will, and empowers them to do it. He is the teacher who will teach Jesus’ disciples all spiritual knowledge (John 16:13). He calls to the disciples’ remembrance all that Jesus taught (John 14:26), and the appropriate Word of God in the moment that the disciple needs it and he speaks through his disciple (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11-12).
Worldly truth, even “scientific” truth, seems so real, but it changes over time. Pluto’s status as a planet is a contemporary example. God’s Word is the truth which is eternal and unchanging.
“Born-again” disciples of Jesus Christ experience the presence of the Lord within them, and can understand what Jesus was saying about being one with God the Father and with his disciples (John 14:20). The world cannot see Jesus, but his disciples do. I personally testify to these truths.
The meaning and purpose of life in this temporal world is to seek and find God (Acts 17:26-27) and Jesus is the only way. This lifetime is our only opportunity to be spiritually reborn to eternal life, and obedient trust in Jesus is the only way.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Friday 5 Easter A
First Posted April 25, 2008;
Podcast: Friday 5 Easter A
Jeremiah 29:11-14 - A Future and a Hope;
Romans 8:24-28 - Hope and Blessing;
Jeremiah Paraphrase:
Jeremiah had been allowed to remain in Israel when the remnant of Israel went into exile in Babylon. Jeremiah prophesied to the exiles in Babylon by letter, assuring them that, although they were in exile, the Lord would fulfill his promise to bring them back after seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10; 25:11; 27:7). The Lord had plans for their well-being, not evil, so that they would have “a future and a hope.”
The Lord wants them to return to him and call upon and pray to him; and when they do, he promises to hear and answer them. “You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:13-14).
Romans Paraphrase:
Christians await the coming eternal kingdom, and our redemption from bondage to decay of this present world (Romans 20:20-23). This is the hope in which we are saved. One does not hope for what one already has, but if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait patiently for it.
The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the “first-fruits,” the “security-deposit,” on the fullness of life in the eternal kingdom of God in Heaven (Romans 23). The Holy Spirit helps us overcome our human weakness. We don't know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit intercedes on our behalf, expressing concern and sympathy for us beyond human expression. God knows our deepest needs, and the Spirit intercedes for us according to God's will, since the minds of the Spirit and of God are one.
“We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Commentary:
Judah, the remnant of Israel, had plenty of warning of the consequences of their disobedience and idolatry, by the example of the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel by the Assyrians in 721 B.C.. They also had ample warning by the prophets like Jeremiah in the years following, up to the moment when Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C..
God promised, through Jeremiah, before the attack on Jerusalem that the exiles would return after seventy years, and God's promise was wonderfully fulfilled. From the destruction of the temple to its restoration in 517 B.C., is the period of seventy years.
God is completely good! Like a good father he wants what is best for his “children.” In a sense, we are all his children because he is our Creator. The people of Israel were his “chosen” people, whom God had “called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28b). Judah had disobeyed God's Word and God's warning about the consequences of disobedience and idolatry, so God allowed them to be conquered and taken into exile. The period of exile was to teach them to return to the Lord in obedient trust. The Lord gave them a future and a hope.
God's Word is eternal and eternally true, and is fulfilled over and over as the conditions of its fulfillment are met. God intentionally used the history of Judah's exile as a parable and metaphor for us. The consequences of disobedience of God's Word (the definition of “sin”) and idolatry (love of anything or anyone as much as or more than God) is eternal exile in the “Babylon” of Hell.
In another sense, we are all in exile in the “Babylon” of this present world. In this lifetime we are to learn to seek and find the Lord, and he promises that if we earnestly seek him he will allow himself to be found by us (Jeremiah 29:14). We are to learn to trust and obey God's Word, and as we do, he will show us that his Word is absolutely reliable and trustworthy.
As we learn to trust and obey the Lord, he will restore our circumstances to the favor God intended, and he will bring us out of the “Babylon” of this world and into the “Promised Land” of his eternal kingdom.
Note that seventy years is a lifetime for those who were adults at the time of the exile. The people who returned from the exile were a new generation, the “New People of God.” That also applies to us. Christians are the “New Israel,” who have been spiritually “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8) during our exile in the “Babylon” of this world. Not only have we inherited the role and the “religion” but the promised spiritual renewal.
Christians are “born-again”(John 3:3, 5-8) disciples of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26c). We are to learn to trust and obey God's Word, in the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, the Word of God, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified (John 1:1-3, 14). As we trust and obey Jesus we will receive the gift (“baptism;” “anointing”)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).
Jesus is the image of God in human flesh. All Jesus' works reveal that God is good, loving, and forgiving. We first “see” the nature of Jesus in the Bible. As we trust and accept him as Lord who we willingly obey, he will come to us by his Holy Spirit and we will experience God's goodness personally and individually.
The Holy Spirit is a foretaste of the life to come in the kingdom of God, the new Creation in Heaven. Creation will be restored to perfection of paradise. There will be no more death, sickness, decay, evil, or sin.
We don't see Heaven yet, and our physical bodies are still subject to sickness, death and decay, but we have a “taste” of the things to come through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have fellowship now with our Lord through the Holy Spirit, but it is not the fullness of the fellowship we will have with him in Heaven. So we have wonderful hope of a future which we can confidently look forward to and eagerly await.
The Holy Spirit helps us know, understand, remember, and do God's will, and we discover that God's will is wonderfully good. We don't even really know what we want and need or what is truly best for us. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to know our needs and God's will, and to intercede on our behalf in accord with God's will. We need to learn how to pray in the Holy Spirit.
We are all called according to God's purpose. God's purpose is to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey God. We are free to choose whether or not to accept God's call.
Saturday 5 Easter A
First Posted April 26, 2008;
Podcast: Saturday 5 Easter A
John 17:20-26 - Jesus’ Prayer for the Church;
Paraphrase:
After the Last Supper, in Jesus’ high priestly prayer, he prayed for the Church; for all who would believe through the testimony of his apostles (messengers; of the Gospel). He prayed that the Church would be indwelt by the Father and the Son through the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that they would be united in one purpose, and that the world would know that Jesus has been sent by God. The glory God has given Jesus, Jesus has given to his Church so that the Church would glorify God and be united in one body with the Father and the Son, and that the world would know that God has sent Jesus and has loved them as he loves Jesus. Jesus asked God his Father to grant his disciples to be with Jesus in his eternal kingdom, to experience his glory, and the love God has for Jesus from before the creation of this world. The world doesn’t know God, but Jesus has known God and Jesus has made God known to his disciples so that they may love Jesus as God has loved Jesus.
Commentary:
Jesus has been God’s one and only provision for our salvation (from eternal condemnation) and eternal life from the beginning of Creation. This lifetime is our opportunity to seek and find God (Acts 17:26-27), which is only possible through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. Jesus is the only one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). Only by the gift (“baptism;” “anointing”) of the Holy Spirit are we “re-born” to spiritual, eternal life (John 3:3, 5-8). 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).
Jesus’ original disciples were the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry and their testimony is preserved in the New Testament. Jesus demonstrated the disciple-making ministry that the Church is to follow, and commanded them to wait for the “baptism” of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8) and then go into the world and make “born-again” disciples, teaching them to obey all that Jesus teaches (Matthew 28:19-20).
It is only by the indwelling Holy Spirit that the Church is united and empowered to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ to the world. It is only by the indwelling Holy Spirit that we experience the love God has for Jesus and for us.
Jesus is the fullest revelation of God to the world; Jesus is God in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28). The Holy Spirit is the fullest revelation of God to us personally and individually. Only through Jesus can we have a personal fellowship with God through his indwelling Holy Spirit.
There is much apparent disunity in the nominal “Church” today, which compromises its mission. The Church is the body of “born-again” disciples of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is a matter of obedient trust. Calling oneself “Christian” doesn’t make it so (Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:21-25). We aren’t saved by church “membership” or by church “ritual” like “confirmation” or water “baptism.” We must be willing to be disciples first, in order to make disciples.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
