afterWORD Matthew 7 PART 2 Narrow Gate and Way

Let's start it right this time:
Consider the following literal and cultural context in your thinking about this set of verses, by imagining what the use of these words and the images they might have sparked in the hearers of Jesus in that time and place.  These thoughts are not intended to say that this is absolutely what He meant. Rather meditate on the words in hopes the richer connotations might expound on the history and setting of His sermon and expand your joy in Christ.


Last time we talked about genealogy in context of what some historians describe about the first century and OT Jewish culture and its influence on the hearing of the passage on the tree and its fruit "after its own kind."  Today is entirely literal.  It involves a couple words in the English language--narrow, broad/wide--but in the original language it is four words.  In Matthew 7:13-14 it talks of a narrow gate and narrow way that leads to life and a wide gate and broad way that leads to destruction.  Let's consider these six words.

gate.  Construct in your head the picture of a gate, something on this side leading to the gate, a path or road on the other side. Only don't think of a picket or chain link fence gate like today.  Rather the opening is really the gate, not necessarily just a piece of swinging wood or metal.  It is an opening in a boundary.  Think of the gate of a sheepfold, which may merely be an opening in a foot or two thick stone wall (and the shepherd standing in the gap is the "gate") or even the gates of a walled city like Jericho with 40 ft thick walls. 

wide is the gate.  The original word would conjure a gently sloping wide open field. Spread out and flat. Doesn't sound like much of a boundary, and it would take an incredible hinge if it were chain link or wood.
broad is the way.  spacious, broad.  That does not mean just that it's a wide open field but there's plenty of room to walk and no one pushing against you going the other direction (you'll see in a second).  You can also envision the space in front of you, not really any way to mark your progress walking across a field or a desert (again, you'll see in a second).
"Indeed the safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." - C. S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters

narrow (strait) is the gate.  narrow because of obstacles around it (think Straits of Magellan).  The root word this is based on means suffering.  The original language gives an image of an opening so tight that you would have to suffer to squeeeeeze through it, leaving behind anything you carry because it's so tight, and even then it is still painful to pass through. 
narrow is the way. narrow because of a crowd. Literally the word means groaning, affliction, suffering, tribulation, a throng.  It's not that there isn't a wide path, it's that there's difficulty walking forward through all the people pressing against you opposing your progress.  Every step forward is a burden.  Imagine a NY city street, you could get carried the opposite way.  Only, they aren't just traveling in a different direction, they are troubling your progress.  Progress is an important aspect of this word "narrow".

Go back to that picture. A gate, on the incoming side incredible obstacles leading to a painfully tight fit through a potentially thick boundary.  Come out on the other side to meet a way pressed through a throng, a tumult of people, progress is difficult and groaning with persecution.

way that leads to life. This word "way" is little but packs a punch. It means the physical road, the route or directions, the distance, the act of traveling that road, and even the progress along the route being traveled.  All in one little word.  In English we think some of this too but not all at the same time.  The way to the store, I'm on my way (or for you texters, OMW), show me the way, which way, along the way, ONE WAY, WRONG WAY...way too much information?  It's the route to take, the road you walk to get there, and the progress you've made to your destination...sometimes all at once.  Chew on this, we'll come back to it.

It's a sermon:
So why mention this suffering strait gate only found through the obstacles that comes out headlong into the groaning suffering throng way leading to life?

Immediately before v12.  Therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 

These are the blessednesses...I have come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.  These are the true demands of the Law.  Therefore, be the salt. Do all things whatsoever to all the throng that cause groaning, bless those who persecute you, pray for those who spitefully use you...for this is the Law and the Prophets...that leads to life. And there are few who find it (the gate, the way, the life).

Immediate after v15ff.  ...this is the Law and the Prophets...beware of FALSE prophets--ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing.  You have heard by them of old the Law says this, but I say otherwise.  True conversion is a gate amid obstacles.  The true road to life is strait, suffering, through the throng (not with it). And consider those who tell you almost the truth but not quite, the false, the imposter, as the persecutors.  It's not just those who hate the gospel to stand against you in the throng as you pursue faith. It's also those who make it hard to pursue through false teachings, slowing you down, relaxing your pursuit, steering you out of the truth into the high grass where it's harder to walk and see the steps of those who have gone before.  But your job in faith is doing ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER to all men (even those in the throng working against you) as you believe they should do to you--that's the REAL Law and the Prophets!

Is Jesus saying this is the blessednesses (Matt 5) and the true demands of the Law?  Does v12 ring true with Matt 5?  Does true and false ring true with Matt 6?  Is He saying suffering what it takes to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God even if persecuted for righteousness sake is the way to true life?  He is the author (Matt 7:24), and He comes to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt 5).

Want an application?  Well, this is as close as I can get:
1. who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame...I AM the WAY, the Truth, and the LIFE. (Alpha and Omega, the source and the destination, the seed and the exceeding great reward).  No man comes to the Father but by ME.  He is the suffering gate amid obstacles, the groaning way against the throng, and the Life awaiting. 

2. What good father who's son asked for bread would give him a stone.  You want blessing? It's not comfort and relaxation.  That is not true blessing. Poor in spirit, persecuted for righteousness sake, the narrow way--that is true blessing because it gives us Him more perfectly and closely.  for so persecuted they the prophets of old. 

Every NT writer talks of this:
Acts 9:15-16, Rom 8:15-19, 2 Cor 1: 5, Phil 1:29, Heb 2:10;11:25, James 5:10, I Pet 2:20ff, Rev 2:8-11

3. the light of the body is the eye.  Did you know that if your printer is without black ink, it won't print color pictures correctly?  that's just good advice.  But keep in mind "secret" in the sermon is not the same as darkness.  How you see black and white (truths) changes how you receive colorful joy.  James tells us that persecution is not working against us but actually is evidence God is working for us, to perfect our faith and bring us joy.  James 1:2-4.  What you see is what you get.  So now, for the joy set before you, despise the shame, take up your cross and follow the author and finisher of your faith who was made perfect through suffering

One Sermon.
Part 1 and Part 2 of this afterWORD come together in John 8, starting in verse 31 and really going to the end of the chapter. "then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him... "

If you have a few minutes this week, consider the text yesterday with the Jewish culture as you read John 8, looking for the words "seed" and "My word in you" and "father" and "fruit" and "come from".  And then think on today's words in the original language as you read "continue" "life" "free" "keep". 

afterWORD Matthew 7 PART 1 Genealogy

Life Truths Family,
I labored a long time over this week's study of Matthew 7. I am still laboring and worry that the lesson was too much, or uneven. Maybe you got that clue when we finished the small group and introductory discussion with 10 minutes left in class...

I want to offer two critical texts as a follow up that we didn't have what I felt was sufficient time to cover as they deserve (or were too delicate to go into depth), thinking rushing would do it disservice or even cause more harm than good.  The purpose of these two parts, much like the rest of the lesson, is to illumine the whole sermon on the mount as an actual sermon.  We sit as a congregation for a 20-40 minute sermon. But you can easily talk through Matt 5-7 in much less time.  But if you approach it as a sermon, given in one standing, contiguous session to people in a very different culture, you'll have to understand that culture and that setting on the mount to get the richer bigger picture as well as the richer detailed picture.  And flip the tapestry of scripture around to see the threads on the back, and two of the biggest, most colorful knots in this sermon are these two, but to untie them would take significant time and without understanding their colors might cause us to rush and break the strings rather than follow them to fruition.

So I want to take these two in different emails.  Read or dump as you feel necessary. It may take a few minutes to read it all, but hopefully it will be worth your while.

The first is an expansion of "a tree and its fruit" and the second, the broad vs. the narrow way.

word 1. tree and its fruit: genealogy
core phrase: depart from me workers of iniquity, I never knew you.
competitive phrase: did we not prophesy, cast out demons, perform miracles in Your name?
culture:  all Israel is steeped in the first 5 books, and you'll see at the beginning of Matthew he says "this is the genealogy of Jesus," tying the King to the Davidic kingdom as well as to Abraham and the founding of the faith.  It matters what tree you come from.
core word: genealogy - "generations, birth, history, where it came from." 
context: 
   Gen 2:4 - g of creation (though most English versions translate "generations" or "history" it's same word)
   Gen 5 - g of Adam  6 - g of Noah    10-11, 25, 36, 37 and so on.  We call it a family tree.

In creation, He made animals to produce "after their own kind" (Gen 1:20ff) and it repeats in the description of the ark, animals coming in that then repopulate the earth "after their own kind", the ability to reproduce is a definitive function of creation.  When I learned "evolution" as a theory xx years ago, the definition of "species" back then was "two species that breed would have an offspring that was infertile."  The Bible uses the word "kind" and describes it similarly as ability to procreate. 

In the plants (Gen 1:11ff) He says "yielding seed...and fruit after his kind whose seed is in itself..."

With that context, think again "a tree is known by its fruit" it can only produce seed (in its fruit) after its own kind.  It's not a surface picture of an apple tree bearing an orange. Not at all.  It's about the seed within the fruit, that the tree produces after its kind.  It's not a picture of the fruit but the seed carried by the fruit.  Apple tree seeds can only be carried in an apple.  This would be heavily laid on anyone in the Jewish tradition of the scriptures.  Or anyone with any sense of farming or agriculture or husbandry even today.

One last little tidbit, the word "know" in Jewish culture is a euphemism for you-know-what, as it is written in Gen 4:1 "and Adam KNEW his wife Eve, and she bore a son."  If you go back and read the scriptures where God speaks of the seed, it's not a mere standpoint of descendants in a record book.  Activities had to happen to get those people born, very intimate acts.  So when they said "we did these amazing things in Your name" He says, "you're not my children simply because you claim my name, I never knew you, so you are not of the righteous seed."  Or "your fruit is not after righteous kind."  It's not just a symbol of relationship as in we have friends we know very well. 

Workers of iniquity.  This is profound.  You bore iniquity because the Lord wasn't part of the conception.  Consider the child of the bondwoman and the child of promise.  Both produced mighty nations.  Both were offspring in the human sense from Abraham. But the "seed of faith" was when Abraham believed God, not when he tried to accomplish of his own human effort.  God may have blessed Ishmael, but Isaac was fruit of the tree after its kind that led to Jesus. 

Consider going back through all of scripture and studying the word "seed" (suggest KJV or a Strong's concordance to keep the words straight with the original language).  Also the word "fruit" or "tree"
I will put enmity between your seed and the woman's seed...
story of Tamar... (also in Matthew's genealogy)
tree planted by the river, fruit in its season
a farmer sowed seed, in the night the enemy sowed tares in among the wheat...
some fell by the wayside...among thorns...stony ground...fertile soil...bear fruit.
bear fruit that is meet with repentance
fruit of righteousness
fruit of the Spirit...
you must be born again...born of the flesh is flesh, of the Spirit is Spirit...


Ok, I know I know, too much.  Maybe also TMI.  Well let me at least ask the question, "how does this make the Sermon on the Mount one cohesive sermon?"  Well tie it to the beginning and the end.  Matt 5 --blessed are ye BECAUSE the Lord has done all these things (where faith came from)...so bear fruit after its kind.  I came not to abolish the Law, I wrote it! I'm here to fulfill it in your midst. Our Father, Thy kingdom come. Matt 7 -- He taught as one having authority (He was the author) not as a scribe (someone who studies it or copies it).

Next time, Matthew 7:13-14.

Love you folks!  Thanks for reading this far and letting me blab on and on.

Tim

afterWORD Revelation Blood and Adam

Life Truths faithful servants,
This week we got waaaaay too aggressive in studying Revelation, and for that I apologize.  But I wanted to try to develop a systematic approach for your private reading of this incredible book.  I hope there was some good in what we did, though I recognize several were overwhelmed at how fast and how much we were covering.  Point taken...

But I'd like to hit one point we glossed over, and that's numbers.  As such, this week's afterWORD is dam.  Not like beaver's build. It is the Hebrew word for "blood."  In numerology it is represented by the number 44. 

We were talking about blood moons (full lunar eclipse that is aligned exactly such that red light from the sun bends around the earth and makes the moon look blood red).  Specifically a tetrad, which is four consecutive blood moons.  In this case, we're specifically talking about a tetrad that exactly falls on Jewish feast days.  In just about a month, we'll have the fourth blood moon of the current tetrad falling on feast days, and it's only the fourth to have occurred in the last 500 years (only 10 since 1AD). Even more specifically, in the middle of the four blood moons was a full solar eclipse. 

So the word "dam" means "blood" and numerically equals 44 through a millenial old system equating letters with numbers.  The third of the fourth blood moons occured on 4/4 (Passover) and was the shortest full eclipse expected in the entire 21st century. Guess how long it lasted...yep, 4 minutes 44 seconds.

That's 4/4 4:44 of the "44" moon.  Let's not go down the path of "moon," but suffice to say it's got more to it, too.  Crazy stuff.

The next blood moon occurs September 28th, 2015, also falling on a high day, Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles.  It's always interesting to consider blood with the Passover, spreading the blood of the lamb on the doorposts (also having to do with 4).  And of course, the crucifixion that occurred on Passover when Christ the Lamb of God was sacrificed to take away the sin of the world. 

For those who missed, the three previous tetrads of this nature occurred:
1492--Spanish Inquisition, persecution of the Jews (some escape to the Americas with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage)
1948--establishment of the Jewish state
1967--reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli rule for the first time since 70AD.  (6 day war)

Next word.  "A-dam".  Isaiah talks of the Messiah as the second Adam or Son of Man, and rabbinical tradition says the only thing that can save man is "44 plus one" or through blood of a "man" plus one, the Messiah.  "dam" plus "a" or aleph, numerically the first letter of the alphabet, is A-dam.  This is in Isaiah, but we'll recognize it more clearly where Romans 5 describes Jesus as the second Adam, as one man sin entered the world, so through the One Man death might be defeated. 

What is the tie?  Some say that 44 is relevant in that if you put Israel's number of kings (including Absalom unseating David and David returning), you get 44.  Similarly there have been 44 presidents...Some say the 44th president will spell disaster (or "blood") to Israel and 44 plus one will bring Israel's greatest triumph. 

Whatever the case, numbers mean a lot in the scripture.  Here are a couple just to toy with:
Genesis 1

1 There are 7 words

2 There are 28 letters = 7 x 4

3 The sentence divides into 2 equal halves.
The first 3 words contain 14 letters = 7 x 2
The second 3 contain 14 letters = 7 x 2

4 The second half divides into 2 equal halves
“The heavens” contains 7 letters
“And the earth” contains 7 letters

5 The 3 nouns God, heavens, earth have 14 letters = 7 x 2

6 The numeric value of the 3 nouns is 777 = 7 x 111

7 The numeric value of the verb created = 203 = 7 x 29

8 The middle word and the word after it contain 7 letters

9 The middle word and the word before it contain 7 letters

10 The value of the first and last letters of the first half = 42 = 7 x 6

11 The value of the first and last letters of the last half = 91 = 7 x 13

12 The value of the first and last letters of all the words taken together = 1393 = 7 x 199

13 The value of the first and last letters of the first and last words only = 497 = 7 x 71

14 The numeric value of the 1st letter of the first and last words is 7 = 7 x 1

15 The numeric value of the last letters of the 1st and last words = 490 = 7 x 70 = 7 x 7 x 10

So there are 15 features of 7 in a single sentence.

(I'll spare you the primes and triangular numbers).

afterWORD Revelation 1 Turning Away

If you haven't seen it yet, suggest you start on the foreWORD for this week: 
http://forewordsandafterwords.blogspot.com/2015/07/foreword-and-afterword-revelation-1.html


afterWORD.  Turning Away.
Revelation 1 introduces the Seven Spirits and the seven churches.  As you review the lesson this week, think on Rom 8:26 
Romans 8:26 (ASV) And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered;

Incredibly helpful, just as in Revelation, to know that He walks with us in the Spirit and does not leave us alone, even interceding for us when we don't know what or how to pray. 

But not this starts with "and" so go back a few verses.  The Spirit helps us with groanings in like manner as...

Romans 8:22-25 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

I mentioned Sunday we've put in our dossier to Haiti  for international adoption, finally! I also mentioned there is a little girl in an orphanage there that was born during the time of the earthquake, and as far as we know has known nothing but this orphanage.  She is special needs in ways we still don't understand.  There are caring people there, some that love the Lord and love this child.  

I don't know if she would understand or remotely grasp the luxury of a home in VA, USA with clean water right out of the tap, lots of fresh and safe food, her own room, toys to play with, doctors and medicine, even vacations at the beach.  Makes me think of CS Lewis describing us as little children who go on making mud pies in the slums unable to picture the offer of a holiday at the sea.  But how could she?  She's lived there her entire life, in an institution with 60+ kids, in an impoverished country riddled with all kinds of troubles. She knows nothing different.  Unless someone reveals it to her.  And what then?  Will she ache for the day we come to take her home?  Or will she have no idea what she's never had and not think much about it?

And what about you?    

So with that perspective, read one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible again:  

Romans 8:27-28 ...and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.

This is the Spirit which lives in us, a seal of promise for His coming again.  So...how now shall we live?

I know this is a long email, but if you got this far, oh boy!  I hope you kept your spoon (dessert time)! 
Are you seeing this?  Go back to the little girl in Haiti. She can't do things for herself.  She can't pull herself up by her bootstraps (she doesn't even own boots), she can't earn her way out of the orphanage.  She is where she is. It's been a year and a half or more of Robyn and I doing paperwork, two or so years before that when we started getting the call to start the process, plus at least 10 years before that praying for adoption (Robyn much much longer).  And yet, before this little girl was born, before her mom was pregnant, before the earthquake, the Lord was ordaining a family to love her deeply and completely, to do whatever it took however long it took to come for her and take her home to be with us where we are.  And how much more the Father, since before time ever was, has been seeking you and me, who cannot do anything to save ourselves from the mess we are in, and willing to pay so great a price...

Romans 8:29-39 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Okay, now read the lyrics of the song:

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon the cross

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed to hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that kept Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom 

I really love you peoples.  

Tim

afterWORD 1 John 1:1-4, "backsliding"

LifeTruths Families,
What a blessing it was for me this morning, great discussion in Proverbs and 1 John.

John says it all starts with the Eternal God, and He chose to become flesh and dwell among us, to be a high priest who in all points could feel what we feel, yet without sin.  He chose to bring many brethren into the house through suffering like us. 

Therefore, John tells us there was a sound that hit his ears, that he could understand. He looked with awe, came near it, studied it, reached out with full power of his hands and held it, experienced it with power, not just an experience but life, the life of Eternity.  And God is glorified as we are satisfied with a God who desires that we visit, that we come boldly, that we put our hands in His hands and His side, a God that desires not only to visit His people but desires to be touched by His people, and we are satisfied most fully with joy when we cling to Him.

Ok, several asked me at the end of class since I didn't get back to Prov 14:14 about "backsliding" so I thought I'd put a few words in email. (yeah, right).  I'll try to be succinct. I'm open to discussion and different opinions.  Please do let me know if any of this blesses you.


Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways : and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
"backslider" in English (use KJV for standardization) only appears here.  "backsliding" appears in Jeremiah 2:19, 3:6, 3:8, 3:11, 3:12, 3:14, 3:22, 5:6, 8:5, 14:7, 31:22, 49:4 and Hosea 4:16, 11:7, 14:4.  Of significant note, Hos 14 says "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned away from him."  (gee, wonder why...maybe Isaiah 53?)

The word in Prov 14:14 is cuwg, pronounced "soog", it s a primary root word meaning to flinch. (Oh, wow!) It can literally mean to go back, retreat, or figuratively mean to apostatize.  In general it is translated "backslider" here, in other places to drive back, go back, turn back or turn away.  I wonder if we joked across a fellowship supper to another Christian saying,  "oh you apostatizer!" if they'd finish their cornbread or just pick up their tea and leave (stopping of course for a piece of cake, especially if it's on a paper plate).

Just to nail it down, that word cuwg, shows up in 14 places in the OT. Try Isaiah 42:17, "they shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods."  But it's different than not ever knowing about God, for Zeph 1:4-6 says "I will consume man and beast...and them that are turned back from the Lord and that have not sought the Lord nor inquired for Him."

A bunch of places is Psalms where it ties enemies, shame, and confounding. Like Ps 53:3  "Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."  David asks God that He not let us flinch:  Ps 80:18 says "we will not go back from Thee: quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name."  (He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life")

There is no soft word like this in the New Testament. Closest is what we're coming to in 1 John, "apostate". 

But Ps 53:3 is quoted in Romans 3:  there is none that seeks after God, no not one.  So in a sense, "backsliding" is all of us before He quickens us.  Now the closest description of the full language of Pr 14:14 applied to someone in the church is Hebrews 6.  "it is impossible to taste and turn back..."  The good seed was planted and it brought up thorns (do a search on "thorns" and see how many times the Bible speaks in this way).  Some say this means we should all be moving forward in maturity, others think it means you were a Christian and denied the faith, or you turned back.  Others say the thorns are false converts, not having ever received with joy in the first place. (parable of the guy that buried his talent, or the parable of the sewer where the seed that fell on wayside, on rocky ground, or among thorns.) These were not prepared to receive the seed with everlasting, life altering joy.  Initial excitement, maybe, but not lifetime joy like in 1 John 1:1-4.

"For that which is from the beginning...lifetime...joy..." is the formula , as He sees fit: "for you were once dead in your sins, but God hath quickened you..."

One last point, PR 14:14  the words "shall be satisfied from himself" are there for vernacular in our language. They don't exist in the transcript.  There are only 6 words in the verse:
"flinch"
"heart--feelings, intellect, will, center of being"
"filled to satisfaction"
"a trodden road or course of life"
"good (in the broadest sense)"
"man"

glad I'm not a translator.  But if you were looking at ancient writings of prose, they like to compare.  So it would make sense to me if it says

"apostates at the core of their being are satisfied with the trodden path, a good man is satisfied not by the path but in [being, doing, having, pursuing, living] good..."

Hmmm, sounds like Matt 7:13-14:  Enter by the narrow gate, for broad is the gate and wide is the path that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in by it; but narrow is the gate and narrow is the path that leads to life, and there are few that find it.

The satisfaction is not the road but the Master we walk with all the days of our life.  "And to them that believed, He said, 'if you continue in My word, then you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:28-32).

I love you folks. I pray today you find the satisfaction of your very souls to filling. Now pass the tea and let's get some cornbread and pie. no, seriously...

afterWORD Malachi 3 Depth Perception

LifeTruths family,
Sorry we didn't get to do the full survey of the minor prophets in class. There were so many amazing things we discovered this quarter, it would have been great to have recapped at least some of them.  And so many critical ties to the Old and New Testaments in these little messages, oracles, burdens.

One thing I thought would be valuable as a transition from studying the end of the Old Testament to the study of the end of the New Testament is to link you to some very interesting diagrams I mentioned in class by Clarence Larkin. He was an American Baptist preacher who studied, taught, and wrote a lot of interesting detailed descriptions, tying together various prophetic images and times tables through books like Isaiah, Daniel, Malachi, and into Revelation. 

The "mountain peaks" I so terribly drew Sunday is listed on the left side of this page:

http://clarencelarkincharts.com/

Worth a look anyway. It's interesting when you read some of the prophecy of the OT and there is little to no distinction of two comings of Christ, it's just one event, the great and terrible day of the Lord.  And in pockets where they saw something of the first coming (Ps 22, Is 53), the suffering servant, to look upon the One whom they pierced, the receiver of the full brunt of the wrath of God, they couldn't get a full grip on its meaning let alone the depth of its eternal power.  I can't, and it happened.  How could they?  Blessed are they that do not see and yet believe...

You could say they had a depth perception problem.  Of course, we have the same thing looking back. Even Pastor Ray said in his sermon on Sunday that "as far as the east is from the west...if you are traveling east, you never go west."  I wonder if that is at all tainted by the fact that we had Pythagoras, Ptolemy, and Eratosthenes and many others to convince us the world was round, but the Psalmist in writing that line knew only a flat, finite world.  Is it possible to view the NT without having to first acclimate ourselves to the knowledge that the prophets of the OT had when they received their visions?  Maybe perhaps time is not just mountain peaks but itself has horizons like a sphere, and we can only see so far in one direction, whether forward or backward, without losing perspective.

If you click in the middle of that page and see the chart on the Revelation, he tries to line up the various images of prophecy and the full spectrum of human history.  Mind boggling.

One last thing I'll mention as a close of the Minor Prophets (named that by the length of the books, not by the value or extent of their vision), and that is the tie between prophecy, the gospel, and the church.  Malachi heard clearly from the Lord that our righteousness is imputed, about being spared from wrath and remembered as His "own son who works for him" (Mal 3:16-18).  He spoke of the need of an intercessor and revealing His own arm of salvation. He talked of a book of remembrance of those who feared the Lord.  He spoke of giving His people spiritual discernment of those who serve and those who don't, what is of God and what is not of God. These things captured in a mere 3 verses in Malachi will take all of the letters of John, Jude, and Revelation to unpack.

Very exciting! My email signature from Jonathan Edwards captures it in one line what just took me a whole blog to say:
"Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected."

afterWORD Nehemiah 7 Love of Truth

Church family, living stones,
This week we talked in Nehemiah 7 (after running all over on a mystery chase) that our first step in "playing our part" is to examine to see if we are in fact genuine, if we can trace our existence as heirs to the Kingdom back to the work of Christ on the cross and a repentance unto faith, without any works of our own to pretend to add to it.

I found this quote tonight in Wiersbe's 50 People Every Christian Should Know, in chapter 11 (pgs 65-66) on John Henry Newman (1801-1890). 

It is unfortunate that Newman did not known the better evangelical men of that day. He saw only (or perhaps only wanted to see) a ministry that emphasized correct doctrine and dedicated zeal, but lacked Christian character and true spiritual power.  R.W. Church described evangelicals as people with "an exhausted teaching and a spent enthusiasm."  The evangelical churches were "respectable" and popular with men of position, but (added church) "they were on very easy terms with the world."  If there was one thing Newman hated with a holy zeal, it was a religion of words without reality, words that described an experience but failed to effect it in the lives of people...
One final observation: When I read Newman's sermons, I find myself examining not only my own heart but also my preaching.  I find myself asking: Am I a faithful physician of the soul? Am I preaching to the conscience?  Am I faithful to declare truth, not simply my "clever ideas" about truth? Do I offer Christ as the only Redeemer?  Do I get beneath the surface and help my hearers where they need it most?

It strikes me to ask privately and openly about my part in our fellowship or any fellowship for that matter, whether preacher, teacher, encourager, worker, or witness of His goodness.  If I am genuine, wonderful. If I am zealous for the right reasons for the right purposes in our time together, great.  If I am genuine but not of the most use by our Master, then I must more faithfully render my role or more honestly understand it.  I challenge each of us, in the fellowship of the class, in the local body, in the body of Christ, and to the world around us to "know whom I have believed..."

Are you genuine?
What is your role?
Where is your zeal placed?
Are you a conveyor of the love of truth?

afterWORD Nehemiah 5-6 Prophet's Reward

Well the follow up list is much worse than usual today. We covered Nehemiah 5 and 6 yesterday and I managed to miss a couple cross references worth showing today.

1. small group discussion [Judges 10:1-5]
For those who missed, as you know we've been doing a small group discussion on verses from the book Pastor Ray preached from. This week was Judges 10:1-5, two complete stories in those 5 verses. Each week we take the passage and answer one of the gospel storytelling questions:

• what did you like about the story?
• what did you not like about the story?
• what does the story tell you about man?
• what does it tell you about God?
• what are you going to do with it?
• who are you going to go tell now?

Tola and Jair. The question was "what are you going to do with this?" Tola and Jair served 23/22 years respectively. Tola did his work, up in the mountains, died and was buried. Jair had 30 sons, 30 towns named after him that still are there today. So what are you going to do about it? Seek a name, serve whether you have no name and no one remembers?

Go read Gen 50:24-25
Ex 13:19
Joshua 24:32
And ask the question, how did those bones get there? Who carried those bones around for 40 years and during the conquest of Canaan?

here's the afterWORD:
Now read Heb 11:22. Joseph was accounted for his faith to say "take my bones with you." Jesus said, "he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward."  What kind of faith does it take to serve in the shadow, to do the labor and toil? And what kind of faith does it take to serve the faith of others?


2. Nehemiah 5-6. We walked through the two passages and found that Nehemiah was an amazing leader, but so much moreso he was a tremendous example of following.
a. he "consulted with himself" (sought deeply what the right thing to do was, evidence God had endowed Him with the Spirit for this task)
b. he made a "covenant with the people" and entered a faithful relationship
c. he "continued the work" always dedicated wholly in fear of God to the burden for the people the Lord had given him
d. he interpreted "counsel with prayer" and sought the Lord's character in what others outside and inside told him, even testing the prophets against the Word of God to find them false.

3. afterWORD
When Nehemiah spoke to the leaders and the priests about financially enslaving their own people, who he was trying to buy out of slavery said, "shall I now by our brethren from you?!" And "they had nothing to say." Romans 3:10-18 makes an inescapable case that no one seeks after God. Rom 3:19 says the Law is so comprehensive, complete in exposing our guild, it leaves us utterly indefensible, and it stops our mouths (Rom 3:19)

Nehemiah could have take the governor's portion but chose not to be a burden to the people God had given him a burden to serve. Put in context of Tola, Jair, and Nehemiah, look back at Romans 3:1-9. Whether you claim tradition, upbringing, position, or name, they do not offer you righteousness in God. Rather, as we serve we must remember "we are no better than they" and that the burden we have for others should be Christ-centered, aimed at showing them God's glory and righteousness--not our own. So whether we have rights or not, a name or not, we can't make God famous or more righteous or more glorified by our righteousness (ours is but filthy rags). Rather

a. our transparency and passion for "truth" can show God's glory in His work in us through faith (v4)
b. our transparency in failure can show God's righteousness in contrast, even His righteous judgment (v5-6), for we cannot earn anything of ourselves
c. our pursuit of holiness for the joy of His glory shown through us or even in spite of us is our only hope when under attack of slander of the enemy and lies of the false brethren (v7-9)
d. including ourselves in "for all have sinned" gives us the only hope of showing the exceeding glory of God in that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (v10-23)



Conclusion.
Lord, fill us with a burden for others constrained only by a fear of You. Fuel the burden with a pursuit of your glory, in context of, through admission of, because of, in spite of, and regardless of our sin. That all might believe and repent and give You the glory You alone are due.

afterWORD Ezra 9-10 Married to Perfection

Life Truths family,
This week's afterWORDs are not mine.  Suggest you have a hanky ready though.  I'm not going to lie to you, this may hurt a lot.  But "He pierces with the Word that He might then apply the balm of the Word."

This week we founded our conversation on the principle of justice: starting in Joshua 19 (recall we're doing a weekly small group discussion from the Bible book Pastor Ray is preaching through). It was of sorts a running start through Ezra 1-8 in order to look squarely into the deep hurt, agony, and struggle by all accounts in Ezra 9 and 10. This is where the repatriated Israelites put their foreign wives and children away for the purity of the remnant's sake.  Right? Wrong?  I think in general what came through our conversation left a lot of loose ends about what in the world this means about holiness, sanctification, consecration, and purity in individuals, families, marriages, and what role faith should play now that we've not only heard OF God but seen Him face to face in the person of Christ...

And then last night, the other foot fell:

“The creation of the world seems to have been especially for this end: that the eternal Son of God might obtain a spouse, towards whom He might fully exercise the infinite benevolence of His nature and to whom He might, as it were, open and pour forth all that immense fountain of condescension, love and grace that was in His heart, and that in this way God might be glorified.”
–Jonathan Edwards, “The Church’s Marriage To Her Sons, And To Her God,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 25, Sermons and Discourses 1743-1758. Ed. Wilson H. Kimnach (WJE Online Vol. 25), 187.

What we learned through the words of Ephesians and 1 Peter, through the life example of Hosea, and through the shed blood of Christ on the cross--who "while we were yet sinners" ""for the joy set before Him" "gave Himself for [the church]"  "endured the cross, despising the shame" "that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she should be holy and without blemish."

afterWORD?  In the language of creation, God brought all of creation to His Son to show that there was not a mate for Him to be found of this world.  And the bride He took was weak, deceivable, deceived, fallen, riddled throughout with unrighteousness and replete with selfish and self-corrupting unholiness. We were and are infused with our world, but we are redeemed and married to perfection.  For what is man that You should be mindful of him? and what is man that he could be holy?

But Jesus didn't put us away as an act of holiness or justice...Instead, His justice is swallowed up in love.  Through all His power in holiness, giving all of Himself even to the point of bloodshed, He "exercise[s] the infinite benevolence of His nature...and pour[s] forth all that immense fountain of condescension, love, and grace that [is] in His heart, and that in this way God might be glorified."