Something Greater

Isaiah 1, Part 1: Rebuke and Redemption Isaiah 1:1-9 God lays upon Isaiah a vision of rebuke and judgement against the nation of Judah and the capital city of Jerusalem. God rebukes their sin and rejects their shallow religion. Yet in his mercy God offers a choice and promises relief and restoration. God rebukes the nation's sin. Isaiah 1:1-9 (ESV) The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be st...

Psalm 6: How Long? To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord - how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. Psalms 6:1-...

On Display Jesus had broken through the sin-hardened ignorance of Paul. "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:15-16 (ESV) FOREMOST: protos (foremost in time, place, order or importance); from pro ("fore", in front of, prior or superior to) "Foremost" occurs many times in the Bible. Simon was described as foremost of the apostles, not in order of time, but in importance (Matthew 10:2). The command to love the Lord our God is the first commandment, because of time , being the first command given by God. (Matthew 22:38). Paul was certainly not the first person in the world to sin. Paul is saying that as a sinner, he was most important . Really? M...

Spiritual Ignorance Paul described his past as a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent opponent. He knows firsthand how the "certain persons" are acting in Ephesus, because he once was the same. He used the Law of God as a weapon and a rod , exerting control over others and protecting his own power and influence. Paul had used the law unlawfully. But Jesus graciously forgave and transformed Paul. "But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 1:13-14 (ESV) Ignorance causes unbelief , and actions flow from that unbelief that can hurt one's own self and others. IGNORANTLY: agnoeo (not to know, to ignore); from a (not) and noeo (to exercise the mind, to observe, to comprehend or heed); from nous (the intellect, the mind, meaning); from ginosko (to know absolutely) We use a similar word in English: agnostic. "Agnostic" ...

It's Not Okay to Lie How would you respond to someone who casually says, "It's okay to lie because all I have to do is ask God for forgiveness and He will forgive me?" Paul expected a similar question from his Roman readers: "If our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?...If through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?" Romans 3:5,8 (ESV) Paul's answer: God is Judge of the world! A judge rewards right and administers punishment for wrong . Were God to forgive sin simply because one asked for forgiveness, God would cease to be a righteous Judge. God does not forgive because people ask Him for forgiveness... He cannot unconditionally forgive sin and still remain the righteous Judge of the world. The entire world is held accountable to God for violating His Law (Romans 3...

Doing Good Works versus Undeserved Grace How would you communicate the concept of undeserving grace to someone who is hung up with doing good works to get into heaven? How could you relate this truth from your own application in life? There are hundreds of laws, commands and parables in both the Old and New Testaments that require obedience. They can be summed up in just two: "Which is the great commandment in the Law? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) There is absolutely no doubt that the Bible teaches that people are to obey God's commands by living a life of good works. We are to treat God, and other people, with love . LOVE: agapao (to love in a social or moral sense, to have a strong personal atta...

The Stars What experience causes you to stand in awe of God? For me, it is looking from high above a valley well after the sun has set. The stars fill the sky so abundantly more than when I look up from my backyard. Thousands, millions, billions of stars...huge, global-sized orbs of flame and heat...pinpoints of power that is beyond even the mid-sized star we call The Sun. If our understanding is accurate regarding the speed of light, the stars are millions of millions of miles away from us! We think that the nearest star to us, aside from our sun, Proxima Centauri, just over 4 light years away . It would take four years, traveling at the speed of light, to reach this nearest star! The farthest recorded star is approximately 25 billion light years away! (http://www.astronomyexpert.co.uk/howfarawayarethestars.html) And the number of stars is uncountable! One best guess is that there may be as many as 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in our universe. (http://www.esa.in...

Merciful Vengeance "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:19-21 (ESV) AVENGE: "Ekdikeo", to vindicate, retaliate or punish; from "ekdikos" (carrying justice out, a punisher) and "dike" (right, as self-evident, justice) and "deiknyo" (to show) WRATH: "Orge", desire, reaching forth, excitement of the mind, violent passion, punishment; from "orego" (to stretch oneself, reach out, long for) REPAY: "Antapodidomi", to requite (good or evil); from "anti" (opposite) and "apodidomi" (to give away) HEAP: "Soreuo", to pile up; from ...