Notice the focus is on the children in this next passage...
" 'Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child - this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 'And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me. 'But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away - it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. 'Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but woe to that person by whom the offense comes. 'If your hand or your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 'And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire. 'See to it that you don't despise one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of my Father in heaven." - Matthew 18:4-10 CSB
I rarely use this translation but it is the only one that came close to what I am seeing as the main point of the passage. Don't cause little ones to be 'scandalized' or 'stumble' (Strong's G4624 - skandalizo) over who Jesus Is and what He has done.
I wish every bitter 'ex-member' who just has to spew garbage everywhere about what they were once apart of would read this and it would sink in deep. Folks may have been wrong. Likely someone was somewhere. 'Offenses will inevitably come.'
I never want to be a person who adds to the offences of others by being offensive myself.
Wrongdoing is wrong. This passage isn't justifying abusers. I see incredible transparency here. God says He knows that this system He has set up for mankind to use free will to receive Him and walk by faith is going have some painful side effects. God's system leaves room for repentance but not everyone is going to use that room as it should be used.
I read this and think, 'It would be better for me to pluck out my 'eye' than to focus only on negatives and then voice my doubts and criticisms in a careless way so that people would get a slanted picture of who Christ Is.'
God will deal with those who use His system to hide. Men should deal with people who hurt and take advantage also. Our leaders are people who should be accountable for their actions and the actions of people they actively endorse. We do what is needed. We have that responsibility but it isn't our 'ministry'. We must focus on Christ. He Is pure. In Him we can worship and have peace and freedom that is found nowhere else.
We must use discretion and shelter the little ones. They are the focus. God's angels are watching over them. We should follow that example.
--
Showing posts with label Disciple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disciple. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Monday, April 3, 2017
Being His Disciple
I woke up with this next passage on my mind...
"Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:25-27 ESV
Jesus taught in a Hebrew style. He uses parallelisms. The Psalms and Proverbs is full of them. This would classify as a synonymous parallelism. One statement builds on and is equivalent to the next. Claiming co-crucifixion with Christ and hating sentimental attachments with people go hand in hand.
"And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" - Luke 9:60-62 ESV
When I was growing up we had a term for people who made a claim to be something they admired but did not resemble. It was 'poser'. They wore the shirt but lacked the commitment or qualities of the band or movement they claimed to be a part of.
Jesus was making a statement here. His cross was a part of who He was. In a fallen world the cross is where a holy person goes. You can't be called a disciple if you have no cross. You can't be HIS disciple unless you have HIS cross.
This isn't salvation. Salvation is believing in Christ. This is discipleship and there are other benefits involved in discipleship. Intimacy is one. If you want to 'know' Jesus then you have to be where He Is. Wearing a Christian T-shirt doesn't make you a disciple. Identification with His cross and detachment from the controlling influences of sentimentality are key ingredients.
It isn't a works program. It is a value system. I want to have God's value system and I look to Jesus to see what that means. The way into that system is through His cross. He has born the pain of it. We pick it up and there are echoes. Not everyone will like what we are doing. Our life no longer belongs to us. Our hands rest on a plow that moves straight ahead without deviation. We plow straight lines of grace thinking. If we fail we repent and get back up again and say, 'That wasn't Jesus but the fact that I can rebound is evidence of His place in my life.'
Why say we follow Christ if we don't resemble Him? It is only going to confuse people and later it will all burn up like wood and hay on a fire.
No, Let's pick up His cross. It is a light burden and an easy yoke if we have forsaken everything else.
--
"Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:25-27 ESV
Jesus taught in a Hebrew style. He uses parallelisms. The Psalms and Proverbs is full of them. This would classify as a synonymous parallelism. One statement builds on and is equivalent to the next. Claiming co-crucifixion with Christ and hating sentimental attachments with people go hand in hand.
"And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" - Luke 9:60-62 ESV
When I was growing up we had a term for people who made a claim to be something they admired but did not resemble. It was 'poser'. They wore the shirt but lacked the commitment or qualities of the band or movement they claimed to be a part of.
Jesus was making a statement here. His cross was a part of who He was. In a fallen world the cross is where a holy person goes. You can't be called a disciple if you have no cross. You can't be HIS disciple unless you have HIS cross.
This isn't salvation. Salvation is believing in Christ. This is discipleship and there are other benefits involved in discipleship. Intimacy is one. If you want to 'know' Jesus then you have to be where He Is. Wearing a Christian T-shirt doesn't make you a disciple. Identification with His cross and detachment from the controlling influences of sentimentality are key ingredients.
It isn't a works program. It is a value system. I want to have God's value system and I look to Jesus to see what that means. The way into that system is through His cross. He has born the pain of it. We pick it up and there are echoes. Not everyone will like what we are doing. Our life no longer belongs to us. Our hands rest on a plow that moves straight ahead without deviation. We plow straight lines of grace thinking. If we fail we repent and get back up again and say, 'That wasn't Jesus but the fact that I can rebound is evidence of His place in my life.'
Why say we follow Christ if we don't resemble Him? It is only going to confuse people and later it will all burn up like wood and hay on a fire.
No, Let's pick up His cross. It is a light burden and an easy yoke if we have forsaken everything else.
--
Monday, February 6, 2017
Disciples Or Believers
This morning I am reading passage after passage where the word 'disciple' (Mathetes - Strong's G3101) is used.
"Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple... So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:27, 33 ESV
It is pretty clear that there are some groups that believe that the word disciple is synonymous with the word believer and others that don't. The passages above are the primary reason. Today, I wanted to read the other passages, especially in the book of Acts, to see for myself.
"Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:" - Acts 11:29 KJV
One trend you see clearly is that these disciples have unity. They band together to do things. Even when there are differences they go to God and work them out.
"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" - Acts 15:10 KJV
Leadership was very concerned about them and they were concerned about the leadership.
"But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him." - Acts 19:30 ESV
"I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." - Acts 20:29-30 ESV
We know that a believer is 'one' who believes. The scripture is clear on this but from the context of word usage we can see that a disciple is someone who bands together with other disciples and things get accomplished.
Missions is done by disciples.
Some believers seem to do fine on their own... others really don't. The cohesive group dynamic provides stability. The shared vision gives focus. Grace is given and received in the group. Jesus is lifted up and present in a special way.
"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." - Matthew 18:19-20 ESV
Dying to self is not automatic. We pick up Christ's cross and self is negated. If we don't or won't it isn't going to affect our position in Christ but it sure will affect our experience. The group is where the rubber hits the road. The band of brothers and sisters is where words are spoken that come from Heaven.
If you know me you know I am very pro-Church but what I see in Acts isn't a Church dynamic per se. The Church has seeds in the Gospels and is defined in the epistles and this Greek word is only used in the Gospels and the book of Acts. These disciples become the engine of the Church. They are the core that makes things happen because God uses the life they have laid down in the group. The Church then serves the community and has an impact on the world. The Church gives God's work a name in that community so that people know where to go and find Him.
I decided I would be a disciple long ago and I reaffirm that decision again day after day. When the group I am with blesses me or rubs me the wrong way I decide again that I won't go solo. I will take up my cross and let God move me if that is what is needed. That is what I see in the scriptures. That is my model. If I am isolated by circumstances beyond my control then I won't go negative against the other disciples of Christ. I will pray and consider myself as counted among them. I will repent to God on their behalf and choose to love and serve. My Bible shows me a life like this. I have seen people live like this. Some have been loved and some hated but they lived before God as men and women of integrity. It is possible because God is in it.
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." - Matthew 18:20 ESV
Amen.
--
"Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple... So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:27, 33 ESV
It is pretty clear that there are some groups that believe that the word disciple is synonymous with the word believer and others that don't. The passages above are the primary reason. Today, I wanted to read the other passages, especially in the book of Acts, to see for myself.
"Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:" - Acts 11:29 KJV
One trend you see clearly is that these disciples have unity. They band together to do things. Even when there are differences they go to God and work them out.
"Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" - Acts 15:10 KJV
Leadership was very concerned about them and they were concerned about the leadership.
"But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him." - Acts 19:30 ESV
"I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." - Acts 20:29-30 ESV
We know that a believer is 'one' who believes. The scripture is clear on this but from the context of word usage we can see that a disciple is someone who bands together with other disciples and things get accomplished.
Missions is done by disciples.
Some believers seem to do fine on their own... others really don't. The cohesive group dynamic provides stability. The shared vision gives focus. Grace is given and received in the group. Jesus is lifted up and present in a special way.
"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." - Matthew 18:19-20 ESV
Dying to self is not automatic. We pick up Christ's cross and self is negated. If we don't or won't it isn't going to affect our position in Christ but it sure will affect our experience. The group is where the rubber hits the road. The band of brothers and sisters is where words are spoken that come from Heaven.
If you know me you know I am very pro-Church but what I see in Acts isn't a Church dynamic per se. The Church has seeds in the Gospels and is defined in the epistles and this Greek word is only used in the Gospels and the book of Acts. These disciples become the engine of the Church. They are the core that makes things happen because God uses the life they have laid down in the group. The Church then serves the community and has an impact on the world. The Church gives God's work a name in that community so that people know where to go and find Him.
I decided I would be a disciple long ago and I reaffirm that decision again day after day. When the group I am with blesses me or rubs me the wrong way I decide again that I won't go solo. I will take up my cross and let God move me if that is what is needed. That is what I see in the scriptures. That is my model. If I am isolated by circumstances beyond my control then I won't go negative against the other disciples of Christ. I will pray and consider myself as counted among them. I will repent to God on their behalf and choose to love and serve. My Bible shows me a life like this. I have seen people live like this. Some have been loved and some hated but they lived before God as men and women of integrity. It is possible because God is in it.
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." - Matthew 18:20 ESV
Amen.
--
Friday, February 5, 2016
Publicly Or Privately?
I was thinking this morning about dealing with problems privately versus publicly. Oh how important it is to know which one must happen. If we deal with something publicly when it should be done in private then we expose someone but if we keep everything private then we can become accessories to crimes to avoid exposure.
"Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool." - Proverbs 17:9-10 ESV
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church." - Matthew 18:15-17a ESV
It is out of order for the Church to know things that no one has discussed face to face first. But there is an order that escalates issues. People need layers of actual accountability. Men need to have someone who can rebuke them. They need someone who is willing to humbly get in their way as much as they need for there to be respect in the relationship just like a woman needs someone who will care that she is crying even if there is nothing to be done but to just stand there caring and listening.
I want to expose the abuser and cover the victim but issues are rarely that cut and dry. Many times this happens the other way around in this world and people bristle at the injustice of it.
By exposing the abuser we may inadvertently drag the victims out into the public as well. We need wisdom. Oh, Wisdom is so needed.
I carry some secrets that I will carry to my grave because there are situations that need to be covered. Exposure should sometimes happen for a season and a reason but sin is ultimately covered so I don't want to know people after the flesh either. God's history is a redemptive one. I want my history to be redemptive also.
"It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." - Matthew 13:32 ESV
Some of these birds are dirty birds. The Church should be a place of rest for everyone but not a place to hide from everything.
"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing." - 1 Corinthians 5:1-3 ESV
"For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure - not to put it too severely - to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him." - 2 Corinthians 2:4-8 ESV
"For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it - though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us." - 2 Corinthians 7:8-9 ESV
Even if something must be exposed the end result should be one where people 'suffer no loss.'
"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:11 ESV
This is God's work and I don't want to play God in people's lives.
It is a balance that we must find as we are on our knees. Formulas only go so far. We need God's heart and God's mind. We need courage. We need convictions. We need mercy. God is faithful to supply us with all we need.
Let our Churches be places of worship and voluntary accountability to spiritual authority.
This is not me rebuking anyone in particular. This me thinking about God's structure and marveling at it. This is me reminding you and myself that holiness is wonderful and that people need a place of refuge. People need to be covered and people need to know that they will be safe and that issues will be handled with clarity and discretion.
This is me reminding myself that as a man I must walk as a man.
God please bless us and raise us up as wise people that can make hard decisions with integrity. Real men and real women are so needed in this world. People with backbone and kindness. There is a gap but who will stand there? God. Help us to be the ones who do in our generation. Without You we can do nothing. With You all things are possible. Thank you God. Thank You. Thank You.
--
"Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool." - Proverbs 17:9-10 ESV
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church." - Matthew 18:15-17a ESV
It is out of order for the Church to know things that no one has discussed face to face first. But there is an order that escalates issues. People need layers of actual accountability. Men need to have someone who can rebuke them. They need someone who is willing to humbly get in their way as much as they need for there to be respect in the relationship just like a woman needs someone who will care that she is crying even if there is nothing to be done but to just stand there caring and listening.
I want to expose the abuser and cover the victim but issues are rarely that cut and dry. Many times this happens the other way around in this world and people bristle at the injustice of it.
By exposing the abuser we may inadvertently drag the victims out into the public as well. We need wisdom. Oh, Wisdom is so needed.
I carry some secrets that I will carry to my grave because there are situations that need to be covered. Exposure should sometimes happen for a season and a reason but sin is ultimately covered so I don't want to know people after the flesh either. God's history is a redemptive one. I want my history to be redemptive also.
"It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." - Matthew 13:32 ESV
Some of these birds are dirty birds. The Church should be a place of rest for everyone but not a place to hide from everything.
"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing." - 1 Corinthians 5:1-3 ESV
"For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure - not to put it too severely - to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him." - 2 Corinthians 2:4-8 ESV
"For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it - though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us." - 2 Corinthians 7:8-9 ESV
Even if something must be exposed the end result should be one where people 'suffer no loss.'
"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:11 ESV
This is God's work and I don't want to play God in people's lives.
It is a balance that we must find as we are on our knees. Formulas only go so far. We need God's heart and God's mind. We need courage. We need convictions. We need mercy. God is faithful to supply us with all we need.
Let our Churches be places of worship and voluntary accountability to spiritual authority.
This is not me rebuking anyone in particular. This me thinking about God's structure and marveling at it. This is me reminding you and myself that holiness is wonderful and that people need a place of refuge. People need to be covered and people need to know that they will be safe and that issues will be handled with clarity and discretion.
This is me reminding myself that as a man I must walk as a man.
God please bless us and raise us up as wise people that can make hard decisions with integrity. Real men and real women are so needed in this world. People with backbone and kindness. There is a gap but who will stand there? God. Help us to be the ones who do in our generation. Without You we can do nothing. With You all things are possible. Thank you God. Thank You. Thank You.
--
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Dig In Deep And Build
"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." - Luke 6:46-49 ESV
Convicting words. What are these things that Jesus is saying for people to do but they are not doing? Here are a few from the same chapter.
Love your enemies (6:27), do good to the haters (6:27), bless those who curse (6:28), pray for those who abuse (6:28), turn the other cheek (6:29), give to the beggar and the negligent borrower (6:30), be merciful (6:36) and point a finger at yourself first before you criticize (6:41-42)
"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." - Luke 6:37-38 ESV
When people walked with Christ they saw the rock and water sprung out from this rock. When people heard the Apostles preach they saw the rock. Grace teaching resonates in your heart and makes you say, 'I can live here. This is a solid place. I won't have to rely on my own ability here. God will be my stability.'
When you find the spot where you know there is a grace foundation dig in. Dig until you hit something solid and then commit to the message, person or ministry by building a place to live there. Move your family, change your job and commit your time if that is what is necessary. Be a disciple. Be filled with the Spirit. Love, bless, pray, forgive and give. Digging in by focusing on the stability of the foundation and not the momentary contradiction of sinners. Respond by grace instead of reacting in the flesh because of The Rock.
Why call Jesus 'Lord, Lord' and then live far away from Him on some sandy soil in sight of the rock but not on the Rock?
Is it too much trouble to move and give up what you have already built? Maybe you don't like the people who live in that neighborhood. Living there is going to require more forgiving and turning the other cheek.
When the storm comes you will be glad you built on the Rock. You will be glad it was no flimsy temporary structure. You will be glad you dug in deep because the structure will survive.
--
Convicting words. What are these things that Jesus is saying for people to do but they are not doing? Here are a few from the same chapter.
Love your enemies (6:27), do good to the haters (6:27), bless those who curse (6:28), pray for those who abuse (6:28), turn the other cheek (6:29), give to the beggar and the negligent borrower (6:30), be merciful (6:36) and point a finger at yourself first before you criticize (6:41-42)
"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you." - Luke 6:37-38 ESV
When people walked with Christ they saw the rock and water sprung out from this rock. When people heard the Apostles preach they saw the rock. Grace teaching resonates in your heart and makes you say, 'I can live here. This is a solid place. I won't have to rely on my own ability here. God will be my stability.'
When you find the spot where you know there is a grace foundation dig in. Dig until you hit something solid and then commit to the message, person or ministry by building a place to live there. Move your family, change your job and commit your time if that is what is necessary. Be a disciple. Be filled with the Spirit. Love, bless, pray, forgive and give. Digging in by focusing on the stability of the foundation and not the momentary contradiction of sinners. Respond by grace instead of reacting in the flesh because of The Rock.
Why call Jesus 'Lord, Lord' and then live far away from Him on some sandy soil in sight of the rock but not on the Rock?
Is it too much trouble to move and give up what you have already built? Maybe you don't like the people who live in that neighborhood. Living there is going to require more forgiving and turning the other cheek.
When the storm comes you will be glad you built on the Rock. You will be glad it was no flimsy temporary structure. You will be glad you dug in deep because the structure will survive.
--
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The Sending of the Seventy
"And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." Luke 10:17 KJV
This is a great verse. Perhaps we happily look at this and say, 'See God gave them authority then and we have that authority now.' It give us a sense of joy and relief even though we are not facing down demons on a day-to-day basis... maybe not at all.
If we look at the verses before we see that that authority didn't start or end with the demonic. It was a certain mindset the seventy were to have with people and provision.
They needed a kind of faith bravado that only a person sent by authority can have.
"Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' " Luke 10:5-11 ESV
Notice that the message was one of peace. It was the grace message but the messenger was not picky about their provision and the people in the house had to disregard the look of the messenger.
A person that hears the grace message and receives it from whoever God sends is a child of that message.
" 'He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.' Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.' " Luke 10:16-17 NKJV
They are hearing a sound that comes because a messenger is present but did not originate in the messenger.
The bravado of faith and victory had made the seventy giddy with joy.
"And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.' " Luke 10:18-20 ESV
Jesus lived in finished work victory. To Him Satan was (is) already defeated. It is the gathering of people that gives Him joy. It is seeing the grace message of peace settle into someones inner man and make a home there that is a cause for celebration.
Which names were written in Heaven? Surely it was the seventy he sent but it was also all those whose houses the disciples had eaten in... all those that received the message of peace.
I want to live boasting of the healing power in the message I bring. Some boast in themselves and the clean look they present to the world but that has no value... and no power.
I want to eat at the first house that opens it's door and lets me in. There may seem to be more comfortable accommodation down the street but the house that receives the message has a child of the message in it. That child has their name written in a book in Heaven.
Lastly, I want to loudly and dramatically shake off the dust if that is what the situation calls for. Quietness is not meekness it is cowardice in those situations. If grace is not welcome neither are we.
Then we will have joy... not lukewarm comfort. We will have joy with heat and new fellowship.
This is a great verse. Perhaps we happily look at this and say, 'See God gave them authority then and we have that authority now.' It give us a sense of joy and relief even though we are not facing down demons on a day-to-day basis... maybe not at all.
If we look at the verses before we see that that authority didn't start or end with the demonic. It was a certain mindset the seventy were to have with people and provision.
They needed a kind of faith bravado that only a person sent by authority can have.
"Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' " Luke 10:5-11 ESV
Notice that the message was one of peace. It was the grace message but the messenger was not picky about their provision and the people in the house had to disregard the look of the messenger.
A person that hears the grace message and receives it from whoever God sends is a child of that message.
" 'He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.' Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.' " Luke 10:16-17 NKJV
They are hearing a sound that comes because a messenger is present but did not originate in the messenger.
The bravado of faith and victory had made the seventy giddy with joy.
"And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.' " Luke 10:18-20 ESV
Jesus lived in finished work victory. To Him Satan was (is) already defeated. It is the gathering of people that gives Him joy. It is seeing the grace message of peace settle into someones inner man and make a home there that is a cause for celebration.
Which names were written in Heaven? Surely it was the seventy he sent but it was also all those whose houses the disciples had eaten in... all those that received the message of peace.
I want to live boasting of the healing power in the message I bring. Some boast in themselves and the clean look they present to the world but that has no value... and no power.
I want to eat at the first house that opens it's door and lets me in. There may seem to be more comfortable accommodation down the street but the house that receives the message has a child of the message in it. That child has their name written in a book in Heaven.
Lastly, I want to loudly and dramatically shake off the dust if that is what the situation calls for. Quietness is not meekness it is cowardice in those situations. If grace is not welcome neither are we.
Then we will have joy... not lukewarm comfort. We will have joy with heat and new fellowship.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)