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Does Your Love Grow Cold?

Matthew 24

Today’s passage recounts the same information we read in yesterday’s passages in Mark.  Mark is thought to be the first of the Gospel’s written.  This is because Matthew and Luke contain similar, at times word for word, passages.  Now this may seem a waste of time for an individual studying these books.  Isn’t one reading of the shared passages enough?  Remember that each of these Gospels was a letter written to a specific audience.  Even though these passages are very similar, sometimes there are slight variations that offer greater understanding of the story in question.

The following passage in Matthew expresses a similar passage in Mark but it is worded differently and offers a poetic image that, in my opinion, better communicates an important truth.

Matthew 24:9-14

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Mark also says that the followers of Christ will suffer difficulties, and even death, for His sake.  Mark goes on to encourage the reader to be ready for Christ’s return, as does Matthew, but Matthew warns the reader what it means to not be ready.  Those that are not ready for Christ’s return are those who “fall away, and betray one another and hate one another”.  Matthew says that the love of these individuals will have grown cold.  I love that imagery “the love of many will grow cold”.

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  That is a lot of love my friend.  Upon submitting our lives to the authority of Christ we are given His Holy Spirit which infuses us with His love.  That is a lot of love you have residing within you brother.  Do you remember when you met the woman who would become your wife?  Your love was hot then wasn’t it?  Has that love grown cold?  If so what is your relationship like with your wife?  I can tell you why your relationship cooled.  It was because the focus of your love shifted from your wife back to yourself.

When we let our love for God grow cold the focus of our love shifts away from Him and back to ourselves, our relationship with Him suffers greatly.  This is the falling away Matthew described.  With the love of God cold and dead in our heart, hatred is the result, separation from God is the result, death is the result.  Do you know when Christ will return?  What will He find in you when He does?  Will your love have grown cold?  I pray not brother, I pray not.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Like Father Like Son

Genesis 26-27

Being a godly man is hard; being a godly father even harder.  The eyes of our children are always upon us whether young or old.  We never stop being a father even when they have grown and have children of their own.  A child needs both a father and a mother but so many homes in America today have only mom.  They say that a boy needs a dad but so does a daughter.  Now there are cases where a dad passes away and that can’t be helped, but when a man doesn’t take care of his marriage so it ends in divorce, or when a man commits a crime so he ends up in prison, that man has failed as the man God intends him to be.

Today we read of how Isaac settled in Gerar.

Genesis 26:6-7

“So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.”

Isaac claimed that his wife was his sister for fear of being killed.  Where have we heard that before?  Oh yes, his father did the same thing.  I’m sure Isaac learned many good things from his father but he also learned some of the bad as well.  Granted the stories of Abraham telling folks Sarah was his sister all occurred before Isaac was born, but I can envision the family sitting around the camp fire telling stories of days gone by.

What stories of your past do you share with your children?  Do tell with a grin of your mischievous days?  What about the things you do and say now as a father?  Do your kids hear you say things or see you do things that are a bad example?  Brothers we are all human which means we stumble from time to time.  When we are single men those stumbles are bad but not as damaging as when we have a family which we are supposed to lead in a godly, self-sacrificing way.

It isn’t easy being the man God wants you to be.  In fact, only real men need apply.  You have an incredible responsibility placed on your shoulders by God Almighty.  You cannot shrug it off.  You must find a way to be strong in your faith and in your example.  When you stumble before the eyes of your children they must see you broken hearted, repentant, and forgiven before God.  You cannot justify, excuse, or laugh off your stumbles.  If you do they will as well and you will have failed them.

God gave you a wife and children for a reason.  They belong to Him, and He has assigned you as His steward, charged with their physical and spiritual well-being.  Guys, watch what you are doing because you are being watched!

Have a blessed day,

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

A Ready Defense

James 5 – 1 Peter 3

We begin 1 Peter today after a short final chapter in James.  I’ll provide an outline below.  I have desired this year to find guidance on being a Godly man as we read through the Bible together.  Here is a passage by Peter that addresses our role as husband.

1 Peter 3:7

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

What is your attitude toward your spouse?  What I find interesting in this passage is the connection to treating our wives well and unhindered prayers.  Do we ever see a connection between our walk in Christ and our relationship with our wives?  Actually there is a connection not simply where our wives are concerned but with all people, even the lost.  Bottom line, do you live with your wife in an understanding way?  To live with anyone in an understanding way is to put yourself into their shoes as it were; or put another way – do unto others as you would have done unto you.

No doubt you want respect and understanding from your wife.  Do you give her respect and understanding?  Or, have you ever felt your prayer life dry and yourself distant from God?  How have you been treating your wife?  The sin that has been handed down generation upon generation from Adam and Eve to you and me is self-centeredness.  Even in our practice of faith we often times become self-centered.  We want to be in right relationship with God but we don’t seem to understand that to do so we must be in right relationship with others.

As a child of the living God, a Man of God as it were, you have a mission field.  Your mission field is where ever God has planted you.  Your field gets bigger as you show yourself faithful.  Your first mission field is your marriage.  Your second mission field is your household.  It is only after we have these fields under proper development that we will find God enlarging our field.  These two fields are the “kiddie” fields.  It is not enough to simply take care of these two fields.  You must continue in your growth to other fields as God directs but there is no moving on in God’s will until you take care of fields one and two.

When you are ready to move on to other mission fields, and that should be right away, Peter gives you guidance.

1 Peter 3:15

“ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

Are you today prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you?  Wait a minute!  Back the truck up!  They can’t ask you about the hope that is in you unless they SEE the hope that is in you.  Can they see the hope that is in you?  Are you living a life that would make others say “I want what he has”?  You’ve got to get that working first.  Then you need to be ready to make a defense.  This is all rather elementary for a Christian you know.

I think at some point I will list some resources and methods for sharing your faith.  You need to be ready; we all do.

OUTLINE

1 Peter

As the early decades of the church’s expansion through the Roman Empire passed, it grew explosively in numbers. Christians were increasingly viewed as a distinct people—and were seriously misunderstood. Their fierce allegiance to Christ, that kept them from participating in worship of the Emperor and state gods was viewed as a lack of patriotism. Their strict morality, their private meetings for worship, all engendered suspicion, rumors, and a growing hostility. Jewish Christians were often slandered by their old communities, Gentile Christians by their old companions. And in various parts of the empire official persecution developed, to the extent that in some places individuals were executed merely for admitting that they worshiped Jesus Christ.

Against this background of increasing misunderstanding and cruelty by the majority, Peter writes a warmly pastoral letter. He understands their struggle and speaks encouragingly of the hope that will sustain them. And he reminds the scattered communities of believers to which this letter is addressed that living in pagan society calls for humility and submission.

Early tradition tells us that the Apostle Peter wrote this letter from “Babylon,” understood as an early Christian code designation for “Rome.” Peter had been the leading disciple during Christ’s life on earth. He clearly took the lead in the emerging church in Jerusalem and Judea as well. His later years were spent in evangelistic travel, with a special focus on reaching members of the worldwide Jewish community for Christ. Tradition tells us that both Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome in the mid to late a.d. 60s.

Suffering in Scripture

The Hebrew language contains many different words for pain and suffering. Some express intensity, others are synonyms with slightly different shades of meaning. These may focus on physical pain, on sadness or sorrow, on mental anguish, grief, troubles, or general stress. The New Testament vocabulary is more limited. In general words for suffering in the New as in the Old Testament tend to focus more on mental distress than the physical pain.

In Greek culture suffering was viewed as an evil afflicting humanity that was beyond mankind’s ability to control. Thus suffering is a matter of fate, and Greek tragedies typically portray individuals who are victims of life’s blind injustice. The New Testament, however, takes a radically different approach. Key words for suffering in the New Testament are frequently used in descriptions of the death of Christ. There the strongest possible language is used to remind us that Jesus suffered by God’s express will (cf. Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 17:25; 24:26; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 1 Peter 1:11). In Jesus we learn that suffering, though painful, is not an unmixed evil.

Peter particularly picks up and emphasizes this thought. A person who suffers for doing wrong has no comfort: He has brought his suffering on himself. But whenever a Christian suffers despite doing what is good he or she becomes a companion of Jesus, who also suffered despite doing nothing but good. In this case the believer can be sure that God is actively involved in his situation, permitting injustice and suffering for a good purpose of His own. We may not understand that purpose. But looking at the wondrous good God accomplished through the suffering of our Lord and His glorification, we can be sure that when we suffer as Christians both good and glory will result.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF 1 PETER

I.       LIVING IN HOPE                        1

II.      LIVING IN SUBMISSION          2

III.    LIVING WITH SUFFERING      3–4

IV.    CLOSING EXHORTATIONS     5

CONTENT OUTLINE OF 1 PETER

Salutation (1:1–2)

I. Hope and Holiness (1:3–2:12)

A. God’s Salvation (1:3–12)

B. Our Lifestyle (1:13–2:12)

1. Hope and holiness (1:13–16)

2. Reverence (1:17–21)

3. Love (1:22–25)

4. Quest for maturity (2:1–12)

II. Submission to Others (2:13–3:7)

A. To Rulers (2:13–17)

B. To Masters (2:18–19)

C. Christ’s Example (2:20–25)

D. In Marriage (3:1–7)

III. Suffering Unjustly (3:8–4:19)

A. God’s Supervision (3:8–13)

B. Suffering for Doing Good (3:14–17)

C. Christ’s Example (3:18–22)

D. Abandoning the Old Life (4:1–6)

E. Call to the New Life (4:7–11)

F. Consolations in Suffering (4:12–19)

IV. Final Exhortations (5:1–11)

A. To Elders (5:1–4)

B. To Younger (5:5–9)

C. A Doxology (5:10–11)

Final Greetings (5:12–14)

Richards, L. O. (1991). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.). Wheaton: Victor Books.

Have a defensive day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

A Wise Fool

Proverbs 31 – Ecclesiastes 2

Well, we finished Proverbs today and started Ecclesiastes.  I really enjoyed Proverbs and intend to spend some more time in them on my own.  I think I could take one verse a day and find great profit in pondering the truth there-in.  I think it is fascinating that Proverbs ends with a discussion on the makings of an excellent wife.  I know many of us have an excellent wife while others are still searching.  I also know there are some who read this description and think their wife doesn’t measure up.  If you are thinking along that line I’d like to turn the question around on you.  When your wife reads in the scriptures what makes an excellent husband would she feel you measure up?

Fellas, we can’t control how others act or think or speak; we can only control ourselves.  The problem with griping that our wife doesn’t measure up to the biblical standard is that the same can be said of us.  Instead of focusing on the speck in our wife’s eye maybe we should be looking at the plank in our own.  As the spiritual head of our home it is incumbent on us to live a godly life.  It is by our faithful example that our family will be led.

I remember a story of a brother in Christ who was married to an unbeliever.  I’m not sure if he married her after he was already a believer or not but regardless his wife was antagonistic toward his faith.  She ridiculed him, berated him, and put him down.  The demands of his employment and marital situation left him little time to read his Bible.  His response was to make time.  He got up every morning at 3am to read his Bible.  I’m saying every morning!  He was faithful.

His wife noticed.  One morning, while he sat reading his Bible she came down stairs and spoke to him.  She told him that she couldn’t understand how he could be so consistent in his faith in the face of all that she threw at him.  He never rose to the bait she kept throwing out.  He never failed to get up to read his Bible.  His behavior led her to believe that maybe, just maybe, there was something to his faith after all.  She asked him to tell her about it.

Now I know most of us are married to Christian women; what a blessing!  I’m also sure that if we focused on how they are supposed to be we would find fault.  As I’ve said, however, if they look at you they will find fault as well.  You can do nothing directly about their faults but you can do everything about your own.  By doing so you may just provide the leadership they need to address theirs.

Now, about Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote this book along with Proverbs and the Song of Solomon.  As J. Vernon McGee says, Proverbs is the wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiastes is the foolishness of Solomon.  He says that Ecclesiastes is “the dramatic autobiography of his life when he was away from God.”  Remember that Solomon was eventually led away from God by his intermarriage with foreign women and the influence of their foreign gods.

I’m going to provide the outline of this book followed by Dr. McGee’s commentary on the book.  Ecclesiastes is a very different kind of book from the others in the Bible and I think it important for us to understand that before we get too far into it.

McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Outline

I. Problem Stated: “All is Vanity,” Chapter 1:1–3

II.  Experiment Made, Chapters 1:4–12:12
(Seeking Satisfaction in the following:)

A.  Science, Chapter 1:4–11

B.  Wisdom and Philosophy, Chapter 1:12–18

C.  Pleasure, Chapter 2:1–11

D.  Materialism (Living for the “Now”), Chapter \2:12–26

E.   Fatalism, Chapter 3:1–15

F.   Egotism, Chapters 3:16–4:16

G.  Religion, Chapter 5:1–8

H.  Wealth, Chapters 5:9–6:12

I.    Morality, Chapters 7:1–12:12

III.  Result of Experiment, Chapter 12:13–14

“To correctly understand any book of the Bible, it is important to know the purpose for which it was written. We need to back off and get a perspective of the book. We need to put down the telescope on the Word of God before we pick up the microscope. The necessity for this is more evident here than in many of the other books of the Bible.

This is human philosophy apart from God, which must always reach the conclusions that this book reaches. We need to understand this about Ecclesiastes, because there are many statements which contradict certain other statements of Scripture.

Actually, it almost frightens us to know that this book has been the favorite of atheists, and they have quoted from it profusely. Voltaire is an example. Today we find the cynic and the critic are apt to quote from this book. And it is quite interesting to note the number of cults that use passages from this book out of context and give them an entirely wrong meaning.

Man has tried to be happy without God; it is being tried every day by millions of people. This book shows the absurdity of the attempt. Solomon was the wisest of men, and he had a wisdom that was God-given. He tried every field of endeavor and pleasure that was known to man, and his conclusion was that all is vanity. The word vanity means “empty, purposeless.” Satisfaction in life can never be attained in this manner.

God showed Job, a righteous man, that he was a sinner in God’s sight. In Ecclesiastes God showed Solomon, the wisest man, that he was a fool in God’s sight. This is a book from which a great many professors, Ph.D.s and Th. D. s, and preachers could learn a great lesson. In spite of all their wisdom, in spite of all attempts at being intellectual, unregenerate men in the sight of God are fools. That, my friend, is something that is hard to swallow for those who put an emphasis upon their I. Q. and the amount of knowledge and information that they have accumulated.

In Ecclesiastes we learn that without Christ we cannot be satisfied—even if we possess the whole world and all the things that men consider necessary to make their hearts content. The world cannot satisfy the heart, because the heart is too large for the object. In the Song of Solomon we will learn that if we turn from the world and set our affections on Christ, we cannot fathom the infinite preciousness of His love; the Object is too large for the heart.

The key word is “vanity,” which occurs thirty-seven times. The key phrase is “under the sun,” which occurs twenty-nine times. Another phrase which recurs is “I said in mine heart.” In other words, this book contains the cogitations of man’s heart. These are conclusions which men have reached through their own intelligence, their own experiments. Although Solomon’s conclusions are not inspired, the Scripture that tells us about them is inspired. This is the reason for the explanatory: “I said in mine heart,” “under the sun,” and “vanity.”

…This is not a book without rhyme or reason—not just a bunch of verses stuck together. It begins with the problem stated: All is vanity in this world. Then we will find that experiments are made. Solomon will seek satisfaction through many different avenues, in many different fields. He will try science, the laws of nature, wisdom and philosophy, pleasure and materialism, as well as living for the “now.” He will explore fatalism, egotism, religion, wealth, and morality. Then in the final verses of the book he will give us the result of his experiments.

Keep in mind that the conclusions in each experiment are human, not God’s truth. This is man under the sun.

Do not misunderstand what is meant by “inspiration” when we say that the Bible is inspired by God. Inspiration guarantees the accuracy of the words of Scripture, not always the thought that is expressed. The context should be considered, and attention paid to the person who made the statement and under what circumstances the statement was made. For example, in the betrayal of Christ by Judas, the record of the event is inspired, but the act of Judas was not God-inspired; it was satanic. Also the statements that Solomon makes, while he is searching for satisfaction apart from God, are not always in accord with God’s thoughts. Inspiration guarantees that what Solomon said has been accurately recorded in Scripture.”

Let us not be fools my friends.  Let us learn wisdom from Solomon’s foolishness!

Have a faithful day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!