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My Brother’s Keeper

1 Corinthians 5-8

Sexual immorality was a huge problem for Corinthian men back in Paul’s day and it is a huge problem for American men today.  Now to be fair prostitution was an accepted practice back then and thankfully it is not accepted today in America even though it is practiced.  Still, ours is an extremely sexual society which worships nudity, physical pleasure, and lustful lifestyles.  Just as man has corrupted the earth he has corrupted sex.  As a creation of God sex is a beautiful gift shared between a committed husband and wife.  As a toy for man sex is an exercise in self-centered pleasure seeking.  Self-centeredness is the source of all sin.  Every sinful act, every corrupt aspect of this world stems from man’s self-centeredness.  It is self-centeredness that separates us from God and each other.  No wonder the world is such a miserable place.

Much of what Paul has to say to the Corinthians in today’s reading has to do with sexual immorality.  Evidently there was a man in the church who was having sexual relations with his father’s wife and not only felt no shame but bragged about it.  I found one aspect of what Paul had to say particularly interesting.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’”

Do you notice that Paul says that we are not to judge or disassociate ourselves from the sexually immoral outside of the church?  How could we take the good news to the world if we didn’t associate with lost people?  Paul specifically says we are not to judge the lost for that is God’s job.  He goes on to say, however, that we are to judge those who are within the church.  That doesn’t sound natural does it?  We are more likely to give a pass to those who are more like us than those who are different, and yet God would have it the other way around.

When you and I accepted Christ we committed to a new lifestyle.  We are now to shine the light of Christ in a dark and dying world.  When we allow members of the church to act no differently than the lost, the church becomes irrelevant.  When we allow fellow believers to behave sinfully we are allowing the leaven of sin to work its way through the body of Christ.  This is a cancer that eats away at the body as a whole as well as each of its members.  We do not do our brothers and sisters in Christ any favors when we condone their sinful behavior, and such willful blindness does not go unseen by the lost.

This is what I take from Paul’s words today, show love to the lost by pointing them toward Christ and show love to your brothers and sisters in Christ by pointing them toward holiness.  Again I recommend that you get an accountability partner and start holding each other accountable.  We are our brother’s keeper.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Marital Bliss

Song of Solomon 1-8

The Song of Solomon is also known as the “Song of Songs” or more completely “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s”.  I’m sure that when first written the reader needed to sit with a bucket of water ready to put out any smoldering fires that this hot marital love song might ignite!  Today some of the imagery is lost on us.  I suggest you be very careful if you ever try to quote the Song of Solomon to your wife as a gesture of your love.  It doesn’t always translate well.  The last phrase of chapter 4 verse 1 is a case in point.

Song of Solomon 4:1

“…Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.”

I don’t know about your wife but mine would not respond favorably to that particular “compliment”.  Some men might actually get a frying pan upside the head if they made such a statement today.  The point here is that God made man and woman to be “one flesh” in marriage.  Your marriage is a blessing.  Sex is a blessing given to those who unite in holy matrimony.  It is not only okay to enjoy sexual relations with your wife it is advisable.  More than that, your wife is the only legitimate outlet for your sexual fulfillment.  I don’t know what challenges you might face in your marriage but, after your relationship with Christ, there is no other relationship more important.  If you don’t have that relationship going well, everything else is going to be out of whack.

Enjoy your wife my friend.  Give her the priority in your life that God intends.  Don’t view her as an object for your own gratification but as a wonderful gift and blessing from God.  Treat her like that and things will go well for you; of that I have no doubt!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

We Fall Down, We Get Up

Job 22-26

Guys, it’s late and I’m worn out.  I am going to try and keep it short today.  The following verse really stood out to me today.

Job 24:15

“The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
and he veils his face.”

When we think of adultery we think of a married man having sexual intercourse with a woman who is not his wife.  This is physical adultery but adultery doesn’t stop there.  Jesus made it clear that adultery included ones thought life.

Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

We are not only judged by our actions but by our thoughts as well.  Guys, let’s get real here.  A pretty woman can turn our heads.  Our thoughts can often turn to sex and when it does targets of opportunity present themselves even if only targets for our thoughts.  Many of us give ourselves a pass on these little passing thoughts; there was a time when I did.  Men, it is not easy to keep tight control over our thoughts.  In fact I believe it takes a strong man, a spiritually mature man, to succeed in this task.

One of my favorite songs is by Bob Carlisle entitled “We Fall Down”.  At the heart of the song is the refrain of a monk who, when asked what the monks do behind the monetary walls, says “we fall down, we get up”.  Guys, just because we fail from time to time to reign in our wandering eyes and minds, it is no reason to throw in the towel and surrender to sin.  The battle must continually be fought.  This is because we will improve our self-discipline in the process.  If we surrender we are likely to find ourselves wandering ever further from God.

Pornography is an epidemic.  It is claiming many a man who might otherwise be godly.  Pornography sinks its hooks into us when we surrender the battle.  This is why we must never give up, we must never surrender.  When we fall down we must get back up.  Understand that sneaking down to the computer in the middle of the night or sneaking a peak at filth on your cell phone or at a library or office computer is a high risk low reward gamble.  Even if your wife, your kids, your friends, co-workers, and fellow Christians have no idea, God knows it all and He calls it adultery.

Brothers, I implore you, don’t stay down.  When you fall, don’t give yourself a pass; don’t make excuses.  Acknowledge the fall to the Father and ask for His forgiveness.  Then, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go and sin no more.  Real men get back up!

Have a blessed day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Rebellion

Ezekiel 20-21

Well brothers, there are a couple of things on which I would like to comment.  I remember a day many years ago when I was going door to door to share the Gospel.  At one particular house a man answered the door and was willing to speak with me for a few moments.  As I shared with him his need for a savior he told me he was a Catholic but that he viewed Jesus as just a really good guy who set a really good example but that He was not God.  He offered as proof of this statement the fact that Jesus referred to Himself as “The Son of Man”.

Have you ever wondered about that?  We have been hearing here in Ezekiel God refer to Ezekiel as the son of man.  Is there a connection?  Well let me share with you some thoughts from a couple of commentaries.

“Jesus used the term “Son of Man” as His favored description for Himself. It has been suggested that the title “Son of God” is Jesus’ divine name (Matt. 8:29); “Son of David,” His Jewish name (Matt. 9:27); and “Son of Man,” the name that ties Jesus to His earthly mission. The term itself is based on Daniel 7:13–14, where it served as a reference to God.”

Dockery, D. S. (1998). Holman concise Bible commentary: Simple, straightforward commentary on every book of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

“IN FOCUS – “son of man”

(Heb. ben ?adam) (2:1; 3:1; 17:2; 24:16) Strong’s #1121; 120: The expression son of man is used nearly one hundred times as a title for Ezekiel (2:1). It serves both to emphasize the difference between God the Creator and His creatures, and to mark the prophet Ezekiel as a representative member of the human race. Ezekiel’s life was a living parable or object lesson to the Hebrew captives in Babylon (compare 1:3; 3:4–7). In word and deed, Ezekiel was a “sign” to the house of Israel (12:6). Jesus adopted the title Son of Man because He too is a representative person—the “last Adam” who became a life-giving spirit (Matt. 8:20; 1 Cor. 15:45). The title of Son of Man for Jesus also alludes to Daniel’s vision of the heavenly being who is “like the Son of Man” (Dan. 7:13). Thus the title Son of Man for Jesus highlights the mystery of the Incarnation, the fact that Christ is both divine and human. As the God-man, Jesus became a glorious sign for all of sinful humanity (Luke 2:34)…”

…Son of man: Ezekiel uses this phrase more than ninety times to refer to himself. It emphasizes his humanity in his God-given role as a spokesman for God. The meaning of the phrase is “human one.” In the OT, only Dan. 7:13 and  8:17 also employ this phrase. In the NT, Son of Man is used frequently by Jesus for Himself. With this phrase Jesus was calling Himself “the Human One,” the long-awaited Messiah who came as God in the flesh (Luke 21:27; John 1:14; 2 John 7). Thus the expression Son of Man is not a contradiction of Jesus’ divinity, as is sometimes alleged.”

Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

Finally this verse stood out to me as a challenge to all men today.

Ezekiel 20:8

“But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.”

Have you cast away the detestable things that your eyes have feasted upon?  You know what I’m talking about.  Our society today idolizes sex, and it is difficult for a man to turn his gaze in any direction without his lustful nature being assaulted by some vision that pulls his heart away from God.  That is not, however, an excuse to continue in this sin.  The issue isn’t what the world around you is doing.  The issue is your decision to submit to your Heavenly Father and obey Him.  Once you have truly decided to obey Him you will find the strength to resist the world.  If you continue to stumble here it is because you are rebelling against God and are not willing to listen to Him.  You don’t want to give it up.

This is hard to hear, I know.  It is hard for me to say it for I am a man like you and my senses come under attack just like yours.  I have stumbled and it hurts; it burns.  It hurts because that is not who God created me to be.  It is not who He created you to be.  He created us to worship and glorify Him.  It is our willfulness, our desire to be our own god that keeps us from obeying and submitting completely to Christ.  The world and its idol sex have only the power over us that we give it.  It is a choice and we must learn to choose differently.  Allowing our eyes to feast upon this idol is a willful rebellion against your Creator and Savior.  It cannot continue.  It must stop now.  In His strength you can cast that detestable thing aside.

Have a rebellion free day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Sex, Love, and Marriage

Ecclesiastes 11 – Song of Solomon 4

Well guys, we’ve arrived at the Song of Solomon.  I thought Ecclesiastes was challenging but the Song of Solomon has given me fits.  There are a lot of theories about why this book is in the Bible and what it means.  There are a lot of scholars who see this book as some kind of allegory for God and Israel, or for Christ and the believer or church.  Some think it is some kind of play with two or three actors.  I’m going to share with you some of what “The Bible Knowledge Commentary” has to say about the Song of Solomon.

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“The Song of Songs (called the Song of Solomon in some Bible versions, e.g., kjv, nasb) is perhaps the most difficult and mysterious book in the entire Bible. A cursory glance at the Song’s history of interpretation reveals a diversity of opinion unequaled in the study of any other biblical work. The Song has been interpreted as: (a) an allegory, (b) an extended type, (c) a drama involving either two or three main characters, (d) a collection of Syrian wedding songs (a view held by E. Renan, J. Wetzstein, Umberto Cassuto, and others) in which the groom played the role of a king and the bride played the role of a queen, (e) a collection of pagan fertility cult liturgies (held by Theophile Meek), and (f) an anthology of disconnected songs extolling human love (held by Robert Gordis).

Viewed as an allegory, the details of the book are intended to convey hidden spiritual meanings, with little or no importance attached to the normal meanings of words. Jewish tradition (the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Targum) viewed the book as an allegorical picture of the love of God for Israel. Church leaders, including Hyppolytus, Origen, Jerome, Athanasius, Augustine, and Bernard of Clairvaux, have viewed the book as an allegory of Christ’s love for His bride, the church. Origen, for example, wrote that the beloved’s reference to her being dark (Song 1:5-6) means the church is ugly with sin, but that her loveliness (1:5) refers to spiritual beauty after conversion. Others said the cooing of the doves (2:12) speaks of the preaching of the apostles, and some have suggested that 5:1 refers to the Lord’s Supper. These examples show that the allegorical approach is subjective with no way to verify that any of the interpretations are correct. The Song of Songs nowhere gives an interpreter the suggestion that it should be understood as an allegory.”

I think that last sentence is important.  “The Song of Songs nowhere gives an interpreter the suggestion that it should be understood as an allegory.”  The Bible is full of allegory but I think it tends to be fairly clear when allegory is being used.  Perhaps I am wrong about that but I find it hard to believe that an entire book of the Bible is some kind of allegory with no way for us to know for sure.  While I believe the Bible can be understood on many different levels, we should never ignore the most obvious and basic meaning of the text.  The Song of Solomon is about the beauty of marital love.

Any boy of 12 or 13, and maybe even younger these days, can tell you about sex.  Far too many grown men have no understanding of true, God-ordained, marital love.  Every living creature has sex.  If you believe the humanist, we are no better than animals.  I could not disagree more.  The union of man and wife is a spiritual matter; we are to become one flesh.  Marriage is of such a spiritual make-up that it is itself used in the Bible as an allegory for Christ and the church.  When we look at the opposite sex as simply a receptacle for our sexual desires, we are no better than animals; but that is not what God intended.  He did not create women to be your receptacle.  He created women to be a partner to man; one man, one woman to become one flesh.

Why are we to become one flesh?  Brothers, it is my contention that we are not complete without a wife.  I realize I’m going out on a limb with that statement and I stand ready to hear opposing views but here is why I believe that.  When God formed man out of the dust, in His own image, and breathed life into him (something He did not do with the other creatures He created, by the way) man was one complete being.  Let me repeat myself; this complete being was made in the image of God.  Realizing that it was not good for man to be alone, He brought various animals forward to be man’s companion.  None were suitable.

At this point God put this original man to sleep and divided him.  Woman was taken out of man.  The image of God was split.  A man is not complete, in terms of the image of God, without a woman.  When we view women as objects, we are not only demeaning them, we are demeaning ourselves.  We are also rejecting the sumptuous banquet that is marital love for the scrapes under the table that are animal sex.  Let me continue the commentary from “The Bible Knowledge Commentary”.

Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“The purpose of the book is to extol human love and marriage. Though at first this seems strange, on reflection it is not surprising for God to have included in the biblical canon a book endorsing the beauty and purity of marital love. God created man and woman (Gen. 1:27; 2:20-23) and established and sanctioned marriage (Gen. 2:24). Since the world views sex so sordidly and perverts and exploits it so persistently and since so many marriages are crumbling because of lack of love, commitment, and devotion, it is advantageous to have a book in the Bible that gives God’s endorsement of marital love as wholesome and pure.”

OUTLINE

I.        The Superscription (1:1)

II.       The Courtship (1:2-3:5)

A.       Introduction: The expressions of longing, insecurity, and praise (1:2-11)

1.       The theme of longing (1:2-4)

2.       The theme of insecurity (1:5-8)

3.       The theme of praise (1:9-11)

B.       The growth of love and its intensity (1:12-3:5)

1.       Mutual praise (1:12-2:6)

2.       The refrain (2:7)

3.       A visit to the country (2:8-17)

4.       The beloved’s fear of losing her lover (3:1-4)

5.       The refrain (3:5)

III.      The Wedding (3:6-5:1)

A.       The wedding procession (3:6-11)

B.       The wedding night (4:1-5:1)

1.       The beauty of the beloved (4:1-7)

2.       The king’s request (4:8)

3.       The king’s praise of his bride’s love (4:9-11)

4.       The king’s praise of his bride’s purity (4:12-15)

5.       The consummation of the marriage (4:16-5:1)

IV.      The Maturation of the Marriage (5:2-8:4)

A.       Indifference and its resolution (5:2-6:13)

1.       The problem: The wife’s indifference and the husband’s absence (5:2-8)

2.       The attractiveness of the lover (5:9-16)

3.       The lover in his garden (6:1-3)

4.       The reconciliation: The lover’s praise of his beloved (6:4-13)

B.       Praise of the beloved and her love (7:1-10)

1.       The beloved’s charms (7:1-6)

2.       The lover’s desire (7:7-9)

3.       The refrain of mutual possession (7:10)

C.       An invitation from the beloved (7:11-13)

D.       The beloved’s desire for a greater intimacy (8:1-4)

V.       The Conclusion: The Nature and Power of Love (8:5-7)

A.       A picture of love (8:5)

B.       An explanation of love (8:6-7)

VI.      The Epilogue: How Love Began (8:8-14)

Brothers, as we consider this book let us consider our wives, our partners, our help-meets.  Let us put sex in its rightful place.  It is a glorious blessing from God when it is viewed and enjoyed as God intended.  It is sin when we do otherwise.  God has much to teach us.  I pray we will learn our lesson well!

May your thoughts today be on the blessing of your wife!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Yet another day of Bible reading, Genesis 13-16, where so much is going on that I hate to be restricted to one topic.  Let me make this clear.  I am restricted to one topic for the sake of your time and allowing others to comment on any topic they wish from the days reading.  Just because I’m going to talk about the Abram, Sarai, Hagar, Ishmael deal doesn’t mean you can’t throw out a comment on Lot’s choice of settlement, or Abram’s subsequent rescue of Lot and the meeting of Melchizedek, or God’s promise of the land of Canaan to Abram’s descendants.

To make your comments just click on the orange “Comments” link in the upper right-hand corner of this post.  If no one has yet made a comment the link may read “no comments”.  Come on now guys – I know you have a lot to say so let’s hear from you!

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

So, let’s talk about being the man of the house, Godly manhood, and sex.  I thought that last bit would get your attention!  In Genesis 13:16 God promises Abram that his descendants will be as the dust of the earth.  That’s a lot of descendants by the way.  By Genesis 16:2, seeing as she still is childless, Sarai decides to take matters into her own hands.  “God has kept me from having children so I’ll just have children through another woman!”

How often do we feel as though God has promised us something but since it’s taking a while to be fulfilled we assume we must be meant to take matters into our own hand.  Now don’t get me wrong I’m not the type that believes we should sit around waiting for God to do all the work.  That’s not the way the Big Guy operates.  He does indeed expect us to take action.  The issue here is that Sarai’s choice of action is clearly against God’s intentions.  God will not fulfill a promise by having people violate His law.  Granted they didn’t have the Mosaic Law but they knew God’s intention for monogamous marriage as was illustrated when Pharaoh had unknowingly taken a married Sarai to be his wife.  Even Pharaoh knew it was wrong to violate the marriage relationship and that God was incensed.

So, in Genesis 16:2 Sarai says to Abram “Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her”.  She actually says “Please” go have sex with this other woman!!!  In response, does Abram say “Now dear, I know you are anxious to have children and God has indeed promised many descendants but this is just something we are not going to do because God wouldn’t fulfill His promise by having us breaking His code of conduct”?  Does He stand up as the spiritual head of the house and say no?  No he does not, and I wonder what each of us would say if our wives encouraged us to do the same.  “Well honey, if you say so.”

This is a recurring problem throughout the history of manhood; manly passivity; a lack of spiritual leadership.  The serpent offered the fruit from the forbidden tree but did Adam say “No dear, we are not going to do this”?  Nope.  He didn’t speak up to stop the snake in his tracks and when his wife told him to eat the fruit he did.  Did God say “Okay, you’re off the hook since your wife told you to do it”?  Nope.

I’m a big believer in trying to keep peace in the house but that can never be an excuse for behaving in a sinful way.  And by the way, does Abram not see the train wreck that is coming by having a second wife?  He doesn’t think there will be a problem between Sarai and Hagar?  You know why he doesn’t think there will be a problem?  Because he isn’t thinking with his head.

You know what I’m talking about.  We can allow our desires for sexual adventure to shut down our brain and compel us into behavior that is corrupt and depraved.  And I can hear the excuses now.  “But honey, you told me to do it!”  “I was just following your orders!”  “I just wanted to keep peace in the house!”  Let’s get real guys.  What would we do in that situation?  Do you think any of those excuses would wash after the fact?  It didn’t for Abram.

Guys, to be a godly husband and father, to be a godly man, we must, as Christ told us, deny ourselves and follow Him.  Our decisions can’t be about what we want, but about what God would have us do.  The over commercialized WWJD, what would Jesus do, has never been more pertinent than when faced with making the right decision.  Abram thought with something other than his brain.  He did not follow God’s obvious will.  As a result, great turmoil and trouble was introduced, not only into his life, but the life of his family and the life of his descendants to this day.

Your actions have consequences.  Say no to pornography. Say no to lusting after women not your wife.  You cannot just pursue your own personal desires.  God has made you His steward of your marriage and your children.  I say “your marriage and your children” but they are not yours.  They are His and you have been given the job of putting yourself second and the care and feeding of them first.  You are not your own.  You were bought at a price.  Stop acting like you’re the boss.  You aren’t.  Start acting like the saved, blessed servant you are.

May God continue to bless you.

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!