No Other God

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
2 Timothy 2:19-21

The first verse of our text today sums up a critical truth for the Christian: God is sovereign in the lives of His people but that doesn’t negate our responsibility!  As Php 1:6 says, we are “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”.  God gets the glory for our salvation.  He started us in this race, and He will see to that we cross the finish line; however, He still commands us to be active in pursuing righteousness and instructs us to, “Be holy, for I am holy”! (1Pe 1:16) We have a responsibility to work against sin and strive after holiness.  We are to do everything in our power to cleanse ourselves and be vessels for honor.  Our study in Acts has revealed that God works in mighty ways through these earthen vessels, but if we want God to use us for His glory, we must be vessels that are clean and pure.

In 1Ti 3, we find the qualifications for bishops/elders, these men God has called to lead and pastor His church.  The primary call of such men is to feed the church by faithfully preaching the word of God.  Remember Jesus’ instruction to Peter when He asked if Peter loved Him?  “Lord, you know I love you,” Peter replied.  Jesus’ response was, “Feed my sheep”! (Joh 21:17) That’s the preacher’s primary task.  What’s interesting in 1Ti 3:2 though is that the man’s ability to teach the word is not the first thing listed in the qualifications for a pastor.  The first qualification is that he must be “blameless”, a word that means he’s not seized by any vice but is devoted to Christ alone!  The next few qualifications elaborate on this blamelessness until finally we get to the seventh item in the list: “able to teach”.  The point is, this man leading a life of holiness is of far greater importance than his ability to teach the word well.  Why is that?  Because an unholy life will render his ministry ineffective!

Whether we’re church leaders or not, that truth still applies.  Ungodly living will destroy our witness of Jesus Christ!  The fact is that a continually unholy walk reveals we don’t really know Him at all: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1Jo 2:3-6) Many church members need to hear the scolding words of Elijah to the Israelites: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal [or insert any other idol here], follow him.”  If the LORD is indeed God, then He deserves our full devotion.

It is true, we have the treasure of the Holy Ghost in these earthen vessels (2Co 4:7), and by the Spirit we are enabled to work mightily for God’s glory.  But remember, Christian, you can offend the Holy Ghost and render yourself ineffective in the kingdom!  1Th 5:19 says we can “quench the Spirit,” and Eph 4:30 tells us we can grieve the Holy Ghost.  These warnings are written to believers!  How can you avoid these terrible sins, you ask?  V. 22-24 says you must “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. ”  In other words, holy living will keep us from hindering the Holy Ghost’s work through us!  Let us then cleanse ourselves that we might be “sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

Jamie

Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
Acts 6:3

Last week, we began looking at God using men in whom His Spirit dwelled to fulfill His sovereign purposes. There are many examples in the book of Acts that show individuals equipped for their calling by the Spirit of God. One such example is in our text today where the early church was instructed to identify men who were qualified to care for certain widows that were being overlooked. A key characteristic of these men was that they had to be “full of the Holy Spirit”. This qualification prompted an important question: how can you tell a man is full of the Holy Ghost?

I think the best way to answer this question is by our Lord’s statement in Mat 12:33: “a tree is known by its fruit”. If a person has not been saved, he is in one of two states as described in Luk 11:24-26. In this passage, a man is previously filled with an unclean spirit that has now departed, most likely from the effect of the preached word of God; however, the man’s soul remains empty. The word of God can have a powerful effect on people, and they may clean up their act for a season though not truly redeemed. As the story goes, this man ends up being in worse shape because the wicked spirit returns, finds his previous home tidy and empty, and moves back in with seven other demons worse than himself! The point is that a lost person at any given time is either filled with one or more unholy spirits or he is empty. That is not the state of a person who has been born again! As Jesus is casting out demons earlier in this chapter (Luk 11:20-22), He describes Himself as the stronger Man who rescues the sinner from the power of a strong man (the devil). When Jesus saves a soul, He doesn’t leave it empty and unguarded.  He kicks the evil spirit(s) out, and the Holy Spirit moves in permanently! As we read in our text last week,  the Spirit that Christ gives will “abide with you forever“! (Joh 14:16)

When a person then becomes filled with the Holy Ghost, there will be clear evidences of the indwelling Spirit, and you will be able to recognize that tree by the fruit it bears! What fruit is produced? Well, Gal 5:22-23 tells us very clearly that “the fruit of the Spirit is…”

love – “God is love” so it is no surprise that the first and foremost evidence of the Holy Ghost would be love. “…everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” per 1Jo 4:7.

joy – Jesus acknowledged that His disciples would have sorrow when He went to the cross, but their experience after His resurrection would be that “your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you”. (Joh 16:22) Such is the case for the Christian…happiness is short-lived, but joy which our Lord gives is eternal!

peace – The child of God knows a unique peace that only comes from the Lord. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (Joh 14:27) It surpasses all understanding per Php 4:7. Not only does the Christian possess peace, but he strives after it.  In fact, he makes it according to Mat 5:9! “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

longsuffering – I like this word! It is a little weightier than simply saying “patience”. The Christian suffers long. He puts up with a lot because he knows God put up with a lot from him! How can he not forgive and patiently endure with others when God has been so merciful to him? Therefore, he walks “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:2-3)

kindness – This word implies nothing less than the love and grace bestowed on us by God in giving His only begotten Son for our sins! “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:7) The Holy Ghost produces the same level of self-sacrificial kindness in the believer.

goodness – This word comes directly from the Greek word translated “good” in Mat 19:17 when Jesus says “there is none good” but God. It is impossible to produce the “goodness” this word conveys except the God who is good lives in you! Now we understand why the standard is set so high for us by God in 1Pe 1:16: “Be holy, for I am holy.”

faithfulness – Though the NKJV translates this word “faithfulness”, it is simply the Greek word “faith”. The idea here is that a person in whom the Spirit dwells is continually guided by his faith and not by his natural sight for “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. (Heb 11:1) The Christian lives with an awareness of eternity, setting his “mind on things above, not on things on the earth”. (Col 3:2)

gentleness – There is a meekness and humility in the man filled with the Spirit that is not common in the world. He is burdened for the souls of men regardless of who they are or what they’ve done.  He is a servant to their souls and “in humility [the same Greek word “gentleness” in our text] correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth”. (2Ti 2:24-25)

self-control – Finally, the Spirit-filled individual is under the power of only One, namely Christ! Peter, John, Paul, James, and Jude (see 2Pe 1:1, Rev 1:1, Tit 1:1, Jam 1:1, and Jud 1:1) all refer to themselves as servants (literally, slaves”) of Jesus Christ. They are not slaves to the lustful desires of the flesh and shun anything that would seek to replace the Lord in their lives. Paul puts it like this: “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” (1Co 6:12)

As Gal 5:23 continues on concerning these fruits of the Spirit, “Against such there is no law.” No law can stand against a soul in whom God’s Spirit dwells! As Rom 8:1 confirms, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

Jamie

 

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, who the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Joh 14:16-18

We have been recently studying Act 8, a passage that some would use as a proof text to say that as believers we should look for a “second blessing” of the Spirit of God. In other words, some teach that after salvation, there is a baptism of the Holy Spirit we should seek. In Act 8:16-17, after the people of Samaria believed the word of God, we do read the following concerning the Spirit: “For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” So, should we be dissatisfied after salvation until we receive a “second blessing”? To answer that question we must acknowledge the uniqueness of this period in the early New Testament church. Miraculous events were happening in order to prove the fulfillment of the promised Spirit. Now that we are fully on this side of Pentecost (i.e., we know the promised Spirit has indeed been given), Rom 8:9 teaches us clearly that, if we are saved, we possess the Spirit of God: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

If you don’t have the Spirit dwelling in you, you’re not saved. That passage can’t be any clearer on that point. So, if you are saved, the Spirit of God dwells in you!! I say all of that because my desire is that we understand the fullness of that which is presently ours if we have indeed been born again. We live in a thrilling time being on this side of Pentecost, and the promise by Christ in our text above has now become reality! There is a distinct difference between the presence of God’s Spirit then and now, and Christ sums it up by saying of the Spirit: “He dwells WITH you and will be IN you”.

The Old Testament church was not without the aid and influence of the Holy Spirit. There are multiple instances where we see the Spirit active in the lives of men for some special purpose. One example is in the life of Samson. In Jdg 14:6 we read, “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart”. This superhuman strength was not of Samson’s doing. Rather it was the Spirit of God acting through him. We read a second time in v. 19, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he…killed thirty of their men,” and then again in 15:14, “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire”. But when Samson’s hair was cut (an act of disobedience to God), we find that his strength failed because “the Lord had departed from him”. (16:20)

We find then that the church’s relationship with God’s Spirit in the Old Testament was conditional and transient. The Spirit would come in response to a present need or leave as a result of disobedience. We see the saints’ awareness of this coming and going of the Spirit in David’s confessional psalm. One of the fears following his sin with Bathsheba was that the Holy Spirit would leave him. He cries out in Psa 51:11, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

If this Old Testament experience describes the present relationship of the church to the Holy Ghost, then we absolutely should seek a “second blessing”, and a third, and a fourth, etc. But, I’ve got some good news, brethren! The Spirit of the living God is in you to stay!! He was merely WITH the church before, but now He is IN you. When Peter writes concerning the saints suffering for Christ’s sake in 1Pe 4:14, he says this suffering is evidence that “the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” That word “rests” is the same word Jesus uses of the rest He will give those who come to Him! (Mat 11:28) We know Christ’s rest to not be a temporary thing but rather an eternal one; likewise, the Spirit is now a permanent resident with the believer! Let us rejoice today at the fulfillment of that which Christ promised in Joh 14:16-17: ” And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth”.

Jamie

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.
Eph 4:26-27

A question was raised in our study last week concerning the text above. This verse seems to suggest that anger is okay at times. Is that true? After all, Jam 1:19-20 says, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Is there then such a thing as “godly anger”? If God is love, do those two terms even go together?

Well, we can be certain that God does indeed display anger. “God is a just judge,
and God is angry with the wicked every day.” (Psa 7:11) Nah 1:2-3 tells us that though God is slow to anger, He gets angry nonetheless: “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.” God gets angry at people. In fact, Eph 2:3 tells us that prior to salvation we “were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” I read a bumper sticker the other day that said, “God is not mad at you.” The truth is that if you are outside of Christ, He is! The passages above remind us that there is no peace with God except in Christ. If outside of Him, you are daily under God’s anger and wrath, and only His patience and longsuffering prevent your destruction.

So, if God is angry, then there must be valid reasons for us to be angry at times. We see that Jesus was angry as He entered the temple filled with moneychangers. After making a whip, he chased them out saying, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (Joh 2:16) His example here gives us a clue as to the valid basis for anger. Why did Jesus behave that way? Joh 2:17 tells us, “Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.'” He was consumed with a desire to glorify His Father! He couldn’t stand to see this place reserved for the worship of God turned into a supermarket to fill men’s wallets.

This account gives us the key to testing whether or not we are sinning when we become angry. Often, anger comes from a self-centered desire to not be mistreated. Jesus never responded in anger to personal attacks (which he received often). Rather than defend Himself, He left us this example: “‘Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously”. (1Pe 2:22-23) His teaching in the sermon on the mount of Olives was to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”. (Mat 5:44) When we get angry, we should check to see if we’re focused on ourselves or on the Lord. The primary issue isn’t the anger itself but rather the motive behind the it. According to 1Co 10:31, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” So be angry only for God’s glory!

Inevitably, we fail on this point. What then? What about the times anger gets the best of us? As our main text today instructs us, “do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” Don’t open the door to Satan by leaving this sin unconfessed. Even if our anger was in reaction to someone who first mistreated us and probably should apologize, we should admit our wrongdoing in our sinful anger and forgive that person. Don’t let the sun go down without dealing with those things. Don’t hold on to anger and let it fester. It will still be there in the morning and only get worse. Honor the Lord by being the one to apologize first! Remember, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Pro 15:1)

Jamie

Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved.
For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.”
And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Rom 9:27-29

“The remnant will be saved.” Isaiah frequently returned to the idea that God had a particular people among the nation of Israel, a remnant, that He was carefully preserving.  What Israel deserved because of her rebellion was to be totally wiped off the planet, even as Sodom and Gomorrah was, but God in His mercy chose to save a portion of the whole.  Isaiah prophesies again in 10:20-22: “And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return; the destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.”  Why will it be this way? He continues in v. 23, “For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a determined end in the midst of all the land.” God will see that it is so!  As he says again, “For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” (Isa 37:32)

So, why does the Apostle Paul introduce this topic in Rom 9?  Because this chapter is all about God’s sovereignly working in the earth to show, as we saw last week, “He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” (Rom 9:18) God is the One in absolute control, not man! Just prior to our text today, Paul states that God is calling a people unto Himself both of the Jews and the Gentiles. (v. 24) It is one glorious church, united in faith, that will be comprised of those from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation”. (Rev 5:9) And Who gets the credit for such an accomplishment in the lives of men? Paul continues in Rom 9 by quoting Hosea saying, “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.” (v. 25) Only God gets the glory for such a beautiful structure made up of these living stones! (1Pe 2:5)

In light of this truth, we see a parallel between the Old Testament term “remnant” and the New Testament term “elect”. The apostle makes this connection later in Romans when he speaks of his lost countrymen. He is encouraged to know that not all are unbelievers, and “at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Rom 11:5) The principle concerning the remnant and the elect is exactly the same. God has a people that He chose to preserve for no other reason but that it was His gracious will! This choice by God was a work prior to the creation of the world and one that He would see to its ultimate fulfillment. Perhaps no passage says this any plainer than Eph 1:3-6:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

God gives no other creature credit for the salvation of His people. It is an act performed by Him “according to the good pleasure of His will”. This truth is good news for all the children of God. Why? Because the God that began that work in you will also complete it! (Php 1:6) God has not only saved them, He has made full provision for keeping them!! They are safely in the His hand, and as Jesus said, “no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” (Joh 10:29) Can Satan bring any accusation against this chosen people? No way! The Lord has done too good of a job!! “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” (Rom 8:33) There’s no lost sheep this Shepherd ever pursued that got away! “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Rom 8:29-30) The days will get darker as the Lord’s return draws near, but His children will make it to the end “because God from the beginning chose you for salvation”. (2Th 2:13) Even in an age when it can be said that “unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved”, we will also find to be true at that time that “for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Mat 24:22)

Jamie