A Study in Ezra Week 1 Part B

Ezra was a descendant of Hilkiah (Ezra 7:1), the high priest who found a copy of the law during the reign of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:14). 

Ezra, as a priest, was unable to serve during the captivity, but he gave his time to a study of the Word of God — he was “a ready scribe in the law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6).  Ezra was a great revivalist and reformer.  The revival began with the reading of the Word of God by Ezra (Nehemiah 8).  He organized the synagogue, founded the order of scribes, helped settle the canon of Scripture and arranged the Psalms.

Chapter 1

Verse 1 — “Cyrus, king of Persia” was one of the most enlightened rulers of the ancient world.  He was a subject of predictive prophecy. He was named before he was born — almost 200 years before he became king of Persia. He is a type of Christ.

Verses 2-4 — “The LORD God of heaven” is a designation of God which is peculiar to Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel. In the post-captivity books He is “the LORD God of heaven.” Cyrus gave permission to the Jews to: (1) return to the land, (2) rebuild the city of Jerusalem, and (3) rebuild the temple.

Verses 5-11 — Very few avail themselves of this opportunity (see Ezra 2:64, 65).  Most of the captives are now settled and satisfied in Babylon.  They still their consciences by giving generously to those who do return. Cyrus returns the vessels of gold taken from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar.

Chapter 2

Verses 1- This is about the return under Zerubbabel. Total number who return at this time under Zerubbabel:

Total congregation: 42,360. Servants and maids: 7,337. Singers, both male and female: 200. Grand total 49,897. There were 4,289 priests, 347 Levites.

Chapter 3 – Chapters are about the rebuilding of the altar and the temple. Notice how well organized the rebuilding of each is.

Verses 1-6 — Preparation is made for rebuilding the altar. The purpose of the altar was to make sacrifices to the Lord of burnt (cooked) offerings. Under the New Covenant, we do not have an altar at which to make sacrifices. We have only two sacrifices worthy of offering to God: The sacrifice of praise and the sacrifice of ourselves (Romans 12:1 & 2).

Verses 7-9 — Preparation is made for rebuilding the temple. We no longer have a temple. Under the New Covenant, we ARE the temple. God’s word is in our hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit. In fact, NONE of the ceremonial and/or legal requirements of the Old Covenant are applicable to those under the New Covenant.

Verses 10-13 — The foundation is laid with mingled songs of praise and tears of mourning (see Haggai for the explanation of this seemingly contradictory reaction to the rebuilding of the temple).

Chapter 4:1-24 —There were those who tried to stop the rebuilding of the temple. The enemies’ first effort at disrupting the rebuilding of the temple is to offer to become allies. This is absolutely rejected. In the second effort to hinder the work, the enemy seeks to disrupt the building by various means. The third effort to stop the rebuilding of the temple is a letter sent by the enemy to Artaxerxes with false accusations. The contents of the letter are given. The enemy succeeds in sending a letter to Artaxerxes, and he shoots back a reply that the work is to cease.  The suspension of work continues until the time of Darius, king of Persia.

Chapter 5 Verses 1-17 — Haggai and Zechariah encourage the people to resume rebuilding of the temple.  When the leaders are challenged, they appeal to Darius. Darius grants permission to resume the rebuilding of the temple. 

Chapter 6:1-22 — Darius issues a decree which confirms the original decree of Cyrus. The temple is rebuilt under the inspiration of Haggai and Zechariah.  God is identified here as the God of Israel (not Judah).  This means there were some from all tribes in Jerusalem at this time. Those who returned are likewise identified here as “the children of Israel.” The language here is more explicit: “all Israel.” The emphasis again is upon the Word of God. The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are observed again.

We see organization as a characteristic of God from the order of creation, the building of the temple, the rebuilding of the altar and the temple and in the rebuilding of the wall in Nehemiah. If we are to be like Him we must be organized.

God has once again (as in Esther) taken the necessary steps to ensure that the lineage of David is secure until the coming of Messiah.

A Study in Ezra - Week 01 - Part A

Four things to look for in Ezra:

1.  What does Ezra say about the character of God?

2.  What does Ezra say about God's love of His creation?

3.  What does Ezra say about God's plan of redemption?

4.  Whether Ezra relates to the Old Covenant or to the New Covenant...and how.

God told His people that if they chose to break their covenant with Him, He would again allow other nations to take them into slavery (Jer. 2:14–25). In spite of God’s repeated warnings from the mouths of His prophets, Israel and Judah chose to reject their Lord and to participate in the worship of foreign gods.

The Jews’ return from the Babylonian captivity seemed like a second Exodus, sovereignly patterned in some ways after Israel’s first redemption from Egyptian bondage. The return trip from Babylon involved activities similar to those of the original Exodus: 1) the rebuilding of the temple and the city walls; 2) the reinstitution of the law, which made Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah collectively seem like a second Moses; 3) the challenge of the local enemies; and 4) the temptation to intermarry with non-Jews, resulting in idolatry.

The decrees, proclamations, letters, lists, genealogies, and memoranda, many of them written by the Persian administration, attest to the sovereign hand of God in Israel’s restoration. The primary message of the book is that God orchestrated the past grim situation (captivity) and would continue to work through a pagan king and his successors to give Judah hope for the future (return). God’s administration overrides that of any of the kings of this world, and thus the book of Ezra is a message of God’s continuing covenant grace to Israel.

Here is an outline of Ezra:

I. The First Return under Zerubbabel (1:1–6:22)

A. Cyrus’ Decree to Return (1:1–4)

B. Treasures to Rebuild the Temple (1:5–11)

C. Those Who Returned (2:1–70)

D. Construction of the Second Temple (3:1–6:22)

1. Building begins (3:1–13)

2. Opposition surfaces (4:1–5)

3. Excursus on future opposition (4:6–23)

4. Construction renewed (4:24–5:2)

5. Opposition renewed (5:3–6:12)

6. Temple completed and dedicated (6:13–22)

II. The Second Return under Ezra (7:1–10:44)

A. Ezra Arrives (7:1–8:36)

B. Ezra Leads Revival (9:1–10:44)

 The events in the book of Esther are just about in the middle of the chronology of the book of Ezra.

 The book of Ezra witnesses that God keeps His covenants quite apart from the keeping of those covenants by the Jews. As people of the New Covenant, that must be considered welcomed news to us.

 Ezra, like Esther, is the story of how God kept the lineage of David complete until the coming of Messiah, Jesus, Christ.

Ezra reports how the sovereign hand of God moved kings and overcame varied opposition to reestablish Israel as Abraham’s seed, nationally and individually, in the land promised to Abraham, David, and Jeremiah.

A Study Esther-Session 01

Esther – An introduction

Part 1

The book of Esther is an account written in story form. It would be very unfortunate to try to interpret any part of it without putting it in its place in the narrative.

The account of Esther took place between the events of Ezra 6:15 and Ezra 7:9.

How do we know God was in the book of Esther, even though His name does not appear in it? Three Old Testament passages lead to that conclusion:

Zechariah 12:10-14 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”

Nehemiah 7:6-7 “These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum and Baanah.”

Zechariah 3:8 "Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.”

There are certain passages that are often used for inspiration. “…for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) is one of those. While it is an inspirational line, in this instance it is to be applied to Esther. Hers was a significant and dangerous action. In this instance it indicates the importance of her decision where your salvation and mine are concerned.

Esther 4:14 does not place importance on my decisions because God has chosen me for such a time as this. It places importance on Esther’s decision to take the steps necessary to save the Jews from extinction. There is likely little any of us can do that will save the Jews from destruction. Esther’s decision changed the course of human history.

One important question will settle whether Esther should have canonized: What would have happened if King Xerxes had done as Haman wanted and killed all of the Jews?

We would have no Jesus. 

Does Your Church Preach Repentance and Faith to Achieve Salvation?

Look, I am quite aware that the primary purpose of the church gathering each Sunday is for worship and to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The latter is why we meet on Sunday instead of Saturday.

That said, there is a legitimate question to be asked: If an unsaved person visited your church, would he (or she) know what the "fuss" is all about?

Would he know of his condition in relationship to God?

Would he know that repentance is absolutely necessary to establish a relationship with God?

Would he know that salvation is a gift of God's grace and is realized by faith in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary?

Proper understanding of and application of Scripture will always lead to the need for repentance, for confessing Christ as Lord and for belief in what He has done through His death burial and resurrection. That is the sum-total of what Scripture is about.

ANY sermon that does not reveal every person's sin problem and the solution to that problem in Christ has failed to fulfill God's desire for that sermon.

Every service should involve worshiping God. Every service should involve celebrating Christ's resurrection. Every service should also include why we need salvation and how repentance and belief in Christ is necessary to achieve it.

A Study in Hebrews Week 6 (Chapters 6 & 7)

(Get your Bible out and read the verses as we study.)

Hebrews Chapter 06

Many Hebrew Christians wanted to go back to Judaism, with its rules and regulations. 

Verses 1-3: Let’s grow up! Grow up from the works of the Law. Israel was in a pattern of keep-break-keep-break…baby stuff.

The laying on of hands is a reference to the ceremonial washings of the Old Testament. Christians of Jewish heritage wanted to go back and do those things (Galatians). The “laying on of hands” sprung from ceremonial washings in OT.

Verses 4-9: Is this about whether it is possible for a saved person ever to be lost?

Many theologians have shied away from this passage.  Some hold the position that it is possible to lose your salvation.

Some contend that the “if” is hypothetical. Others say this is talking about those who “profess” but have not really accepted Christ.

Some hold that it is impossible for those who have turned away from Christ to be brought “back” to Him because they never were with Him to begin with.

Still others teach that we have a sure salvation (Romans 8:1 & 33-37; “My sheep hear my voice…eternal life…they shall never perish…”). It is about His ability to hold on to you. “…it is impossible for those who have tasted (not eaten)…” the gospel and who do not embrace it to come back to it.

Some say this is not about salvation at all. They say this is about believers and their rewards. This is for the repentance of believers. It is about the fruit, not the root, of salvation. Paul is talking about the things that accompany salvation. They are in danger of losing their reward.

(Verse 6) “Fall away” is the Greed word, “parapipto,” which is the same phrase used of Christ in the Garden when He “fell” on His face in prayer. It means to fall down, and does not refer to apostasy.

(Verse 8): Works do not save you, but they give evidence of your salvation. Before you are born, heredity determines your life. After you are born, your environment determines your life. Before you are born again, works do not enter into your “goodness.” After you are born again, works are important to witness to your salvation.

Verses 10-20: We are to minister to the saints. We are not to be lazy Christians. We must not say, “OK, I’m saved. Now I’ll sit back and enjoy my salvation.”

(Verse 15): After waiting Abraham received his promise.

(Verse 18): The two unchangeable things are: the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. These are the condensation of the four principles in Romans 8.

1) The birth of Jesus is important, but not the point.

2) Christ (the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah) always has been (John 1:1ff).

3) He came for one reason...to die a sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary for the remission of sins and sealed that deal with His resurrection (Romans 10:9 & 10).

Trusting in the birth of Jesus will gain you nothing. Trusting in, and only in, Christ's finished work at the cross of Calvary and His resurrection will gain you eternal life.

Hebrews Chapter 07

In Hebrews 5:10 and 6:20 we were told that Jesus is “…in the order of Melchizedek” (refer to Genesis 14:17-24).

In Chapter 7, Paul (whom I believe to be the author of Hebrews and uses it as a  Hebrew commentary on his letter to the Romans), expands on the Melchizedek analogy.

The Verses

Verses 1-3 – “Melchizedek” means my king is righteous. He was king of Salem (Jerusalem), which means peace.

He was not a priest by virtue of the Mosaic Law, but of the “most high God.”

We have no record of his parentage, and had no “pedigree.” There is no record of the end of Melchizedek’s priesthood.

Verses 4-12 – Abraham had given Melchizedek a tenth of the spoil (Genesis 14:20).

Melchizedek is greater than the Levitical priesthood. You and I are in Adam (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:22). You and I are in Christ (Romans 8:1; Ephesians 1:1).

Aaron’s priesthood belonged to the Mosaic Law. Christ has delivered us from the Law.

The purpose of the priesthood is to bring perfection— to restore and continue the relationship to God. The Levitical priesthood was powerless.

Verses 13-19 – This section shows us a contrast between two types of priesthood: Law vs. Power (Law restrains — power enables); Commandment (external) vs. Life (internal); Carnal (flesh) vs. Endless (eternal life); Changing vs. Unchanging; Weakness and un-profitableness vs. Nigh to God; Nothing perfect vs. Better hope.

Verses 20-24 – Here we have a quote from Psalm 110. The “better covenant” in verse 22 is the New Covenant. The Levitical priesthood was interrupted by death. Christ is the perpetual, perfect priest (vs 23-28).

Verse 25 – This is the key verse of this section and the center of the gospel. Christ is not dead, but living. Emphasize the death and resurrection of Christ — but go on from there (see Romans 8:34; Revelation 1:18). He died down here to save us; He lives up there

to keep us saved. He is able to keep on saving us.

“To the uttermost” is all the way through; completely; perfectly. “Intercession” is intervention. “We shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10).

Verse 26 – Christ “became us,” that is, He is just what we needed. He is “Holy” in relation to God. “Harmless” is free from malice, craftiness, or cleverness. “Undefiled” is free from moral impurity. “Separate from sinners” — He is like us, yet He is unlike us.

Verses 27-28 - This underlines the value of the sacrifice. Christ is the sacrifice that the Aaronic priesthood could not provide.   

Christ is the final word in priesthood.

Which Do You Choose?

You can live under God's new deal or you can live under His old deal, but you cannot live under both.

God's old deal was called the Old Covenant. It was a covenant of law, behaviorism, guilt and condemnation.

God's new deal is called the New Covenant. It is a covenant of grace and mercy. It uses the Old Covenant to show why we need a Messiah. It is the covenant in which God has provided that Messiah.

Under the old deal, you had to know and abide by the Mosaic Law, which included the Ten Commandments and some 600 other rules and regulations. If you did so, so they thought, you would please God and He would accept you. (That was never the way it was intended to work, but that's the way the religious leaders interpreted it to the people...likely to preserve their leadership and power,)

Under the new deal, Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements of the Law, the rules and the regulations. Get it? He fulfilled them. Why? Because we could not.

Also under the new deal, Jesus provided the way of salvation based on the grace of God and His unending mercy. If you have repented of sin and trusted in, and only in, the sufficiency of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, you will be saved and released from the requirements of the old deal.

Goody! Goody! Now we can do as we please and God will turn a blind eye to our sin!

Sorry. It does not work that way. If you have truly repented and trusted in Christ, and if you understand what you have done in doing so, you are overwhelmed with the mercy He has shown you and can only love Him more each day for what He did for you. You cannot love Christ and want to do what He does not want you to do...and you will KNOW what that is. If you don't love Him more each day, and if you don't KNOW what He wants you to do, you are not saved.

Frankly, since you cannot abide by the terms of the old deal, you would do well to accept the terms of the new deal. It's free, it's eternal and by it you live in and with Christ forever.

The Prodigal and the Robe

It’s one of the best known illustrations given by Jesus. It’s the account of the Prodigal Son. It’s found in Luke 15, and is a part of a series of “losts.” There are the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.

A man had two sons, one of whom wants his inheritance in advance. So, the man divides ALL of his assets and divides them between the two. One son stays home and does what a good son does. The other becomes either rebellious or adventurous and leaves home to “sow his wild oats.” He spent all he had and ended up working for a pig farmer, the last place a Jewish person would have wanted to work, because pigs were considered unclean. He then decides he was better off at home, so he returns to a father who, unexpectedly, treated him like a king, threw a party and caused jealousy in the heart of the “good” son. The father then tells the gospel story (which he had never heard) of how the dead can live.

There are many important points in this parable. There is the greed of the son. There is the rebelliousness of the son. There is the pugnaciousness of the son. There is the extravagance of the son. There is the stupidity of the son. There is the wastefulness of the son. There is the misfortune of the son. There is the uncleanness of the son (he was working in a pig pen, remember?).

Then there is the time the young man came to his senses, recognizing his plight. There is his decision to return home, fully expecting to be rejected and relegated to the lowest position on the farm, a slave.

There is the father’s persistence in watchfulness. There is his reaction to seeing the son approaching home and there is his unexpected welcoming of the dirty, filthy, swine smelling prodigal.

Finally, there is the great celebration over the homecoming of the son. There is the other son’s jealous reaction and the father’s explanation.

Those are all acceptable applications of the account, but they are not the point.

The point of the “story” of the Prodigal Son is salvation.

Sin is ugly. It is uglier than pig slime. It is so ugly that God cannot so much as look upon it. He must turn His back on it (like He did when Jesus was on the cross). Most of us trivialize sin, not realizing how disgustingly vile it is to God. We wallow in it like the son did in the pig pens. We stink of it. We are slimy in God’s eyes because of it. Like the Prodigal Son, we are not worthy of being called sons of God.

There must come a time when we realize the ugliness of our sin and repent of it, as the Prodigal son finally did. Then we must turn to God just as we are, filth and all, asking Him to take us in, undeserving though we are. We must be willing to come to Him as slaves, the lowest of the low. 

When we do, something really wonderful happens.

In the parable, the father runs to his son, embraces him, slime and all, throws his finest robe over him and calls for a feast!

In our sinful state, God the Father sent God the Son to us with His arms open wide on the cross. He threw the robe of the shed blood of Jesus over us, covering all of our nasty, rotten sin…just as we are. And that’s how He accepts us, covered with the robe of the righteousness of Christ.

God has allowed us to become a part of His family. He has prepared a place for us. He has called for a feast at a special wedding: the marriage feast of the Lamb.

It has been rightly said that the Son of God became a Son of Man so that the sons of men might become sons of God!

Like the prodigal son, recognize your sin, repent of it and come to the Father through faith in, and only in, the finished work of the Son at the cross of Calvary.

Saved by the Branch?

You fell from a cliff. Half way down, you get caught in a branch sticking out from the cliff wall. YOU ARE SAVED!!

Then the branch pulls from the cliff wall and you plummet to the ground.

You might have thought you were saved by the branch, but you were not really saved. You put your trust in the strength of the branch. Bad decision!

Some people put their trust in an emotional response to the beautiful story of salvation in the Bible. They get all hyped up and excited about this "new found" spirituality and fully expected it to saturate their lives from the moment they were "saved."

Only "spirituality" is like the branch. It might make you think you are saved when you are really not saved. When you come "unsaved" you are disappointed beyond words. You might abandon the idea of Christianity, become despondent or become an atheist.

That is so sad. People put their faith in faith. They put their faith in emotions. The put their faith in some ethereal god out there somewhere. They then are surprised when that kind of faith fails them.

To be saved, one must not put his faith in spirituality, in faith or in a generic god.  To be saved one must repent of sin, recognize Christ as Lord and commit his faith to the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

Nothing else will prevent your fall.

This Says It All

Give 'Em A Good Warm-Over

A pastor preached a message on David and Goliath on a fine Sunday morning.

A few weeks later, he preached from the same passage, gave the same illustrations and drew the same conclusions.

Then, just to make certain everybody had heard it, he preached from David and Goliath once again.

Now, some of you are thinking, "This must be a joke. What's the punch line?"

No punch line. This is no joke.

Does it occur to pastors that when they "preach" from the same passage over and over, use the same illustrations over and over, draw the same conclusions over and over and use the same cliches over and over, the congregation might get the idea that they are too lazy to develop a new sermon?

Out of 66 books, are there not enough passages to keep a pastor busy with new material?

There is one message (and only one message) that bears repeating every single Sunday. It is a message found in every book of the Bible. It is the message that Christ paid the sin debt we owe. 

If a pastor thinks that message is boring, maybe he should reconsider his calling. It was the apostle, Paul, who said, "I have resolved to know nothing while I was with you but Christ and Him crucified." That is our only message. It does not deserve to be tacked on as the caboose of some other message, it must BE the message.

Can't find Jesus in the whole Bible? Consider this:

Jesus In Every Book of the Bible

In Genesis, He's the Breath of Life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our High Priest
Numbers, The Fire by Night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' Voice
In Joshua, He is Salvation's Choice
Judges, Law Giver
In Ruth, the Kinsmen-Redeemer
First and second Samuel, our Trusted Prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He's Sovereign

Ezra, true and Faithful Scribe
Nehemiah, He's the Rebuilder of Broken Walls and Lives
In Esther, He's Mordecai's Courage
In Job, the Timeless Redeemer
In Psalms, He is our Morning Song

In Proverbs, Wisdom's Cry
Ecclesiastes, the Time and Season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the Lover's Dream

In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet
In Lamentations, the Cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He's the Call from Sin
In Daniel, the Stranger in the Fire

In Hosea, He is Forever Faithful
In Joel, He's the Spirits Power
In Amos, the Arms that Carry Us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He's the Great Missionary

In Micah, the Promise of Peace
In Nahum, He is our Strength and our Shield 

In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zechariah, our Fountain

In Malachi, He is the Son of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is Fire from Heaven
In Romans, He's the Grace of God
In Corinthians, the Power of Love
In Galatians, He is Freedom from the Curse of Sin

Ephesians, our Glorious Treasure
Philippians, the Servants Heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity
Thessalonians, our Coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our Mediator and our Faithful Pastor

In Hebrews, the Everlasting Covenant
In James, the One who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd
In John and in Jude, He is the Lover coming for His Bride

In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

      The prince of peace
      The Son of man
      The Lamb of God
      The great I AM

      He's the alpha and omega
      Our God and our Savior
      He is Jesus Christ the Lord
      and when time is no more
He is, HE IS, HE IS THE GREAT I AM.

So come on, you preachers who can't take the time to find Jesus in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament; get with God's program!

When you claim to "preach the Word...all of it," are you talking about using it as a bunch of DOs and DON'Ts, a list of things we do (or don't do) to please God? Or are you finding in its pages from Genesis to the Revelation the good news of Messiah crucified, buried and resurrected? He's there. If you were called to preach, He is who you were called to preach about. If you cannot preach Christ, you were not called to preach.

A MATTER OF REDEMPTION

When I was a student at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, I saw a billboard that contained the message:

JESUS SAVES.

Underneath it some wag had written: 

GREEN STAMPS.

At first I thought to myself, "How crude and disrespectful! Why would anybody be so irreverent as to put that kind of graffiti on a billboard that obviously was expressing someone's faith?

Then I got to thinking about it. 

Do you remember Green Stamps? 

When you went to the grocery store or bought gasoline, the clerk would present you with a certain number of little stamps that you could lick and stick into little books. After you had collected so many books of stamps, you could take them to the S & H Green Stamp store and trade them in for merchandise.

How could those little books of stamps get you merchandise?

It turns out that participating stores placed a small "surcharge" on each product. They kept a small percentage of that "surcharge" and gave the rest to the S & H Green Stamp company, the redemption store.

In other words, you were able to obtain the merchandise because the price for the product had already been paid. You had the S & H Green Stamp book to prove it.

When I thought of that, it suddenly occurred to me, "That is exactly what Jesus has done for us. We can live eternally in the presence of God because the price for our sin had already been paid by Jesus at the cross of Calvary!"

Jesus is the source of our redemption! He saves us!

Saves us from what? 

Jesus saves us from our fear of death. To a Christian, death is not a period at the end of the sentence of our life. Death is a transition to our home! When we sing "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passin' through. My home has been laid up, somewhere beyond the blue..." we are not just saying pretty rhyming words. We are expressing one of the major meanings of our salvation! When we die, we are called to our real home.

Jesus saves us from the penalty of our sins. What we earn when we sin is eternal death. That's the paycheck for sin. It means we have offended God. He cannot so much as look at sin. When Jesus became sin for us on the cross, God turned His back on His Son! Every single person who has ever lived, who lives now or whoever will live is under the curse of sin and has no hope of salvation apart from the grace of God manifested in Christ. We deserve eternal death, but in Christ we receive eternal life as a gift from God!

Jesus saves us from becoming enamored with the trappings of this life.  He delivers us from putting family ahead of Him. He delivers us from putting work ahead of Him. He delivers us from putting entertainment ahead of Him. He delivers us from vain philosophies, from pagan mysticism, from arrogance, pride, hatred and anger. When Jesus saves us, He becomes the center of our lives. (If Jesus is not the center of your life, maybe you should determine whether or not you have really been saved)

Jesus saves us to a real, powerful, meaningful purpose to our lives. He becomes the hub around which the rest of the spokes and the rim of our lives revolve. He becomes the in-all, of all, by-all and through-all of everything we are, think and do.

When we stand before God with Jesus by our side, He sees us through Jesus' eyes. Before Him we then stand redeemed. The price for our sin has already been paid. We have the Holy Spirit to prove it!

That should be exciting enough to make even a Baptist shout, "Hallelujah!"

A Study in Ezekiel-Week 01

One rendering of Ezekiel's vision

This book will be studied in an overview fashion.  The basic meanings of the passages will be dealt with.

Ezekiel was a priest (Ezekiel 1:3) but never served in that office, as he was still a young man when he was taken captive during the reign of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:10-16). He was contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel. Ezekiel spoke to the captives who had been brought to the rivers of Babylon. 

While the other captives wept when they remembered Zion, Ezekiel exulted in the greatest visions ever given to any prophet.  “Ezekiel is the prophet of the Spirit, as Isaiah is the prophet of the Son, and Jeremiah the prophet of the Father.”

Ezekiel was the prophet of the glory of the Lord. The meaning of Ezekiel is seen in the coming glory during the kingdom. Ezekiel looked beyond the sufferings of Christ to “the glory that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11).

Chapter 1 - Displaying the glory of God

Verse 1 - Whereas Jeremiah was the "weeping prophet," Ezekiel is the prophet of visions. His visions were not like those of the founders of the cults: Mary Baker Eddy, Charles T. Russell, Joseph Smith and the like. Ezekiel's visions conform to the message of the Bible, theirs did not.

Verses 2-4 - This is a vision of the presence of God, a Theophany. The lights are brighter than the sun. 1 John 1:5 tells us that God is light. Hebrews 12:29 describes Him as a consuming fire. Acts 26:13 reveals that Paul saw a light from Heaven brighter than the sun.

Verses 5-14 - Intelligent purpose is demonstrated. They reflect the power of God over the whole earth. In each of the creatures we see the face of a man. This is prophetic of the incarnation. It looks to Christ.

The cherubim's job is to show the holiness of God. They are the servants of God. They follow Him going where He orders them to go and doing what He tells them to do.

Verses 15-25 - In the wheels we get a sense of the ceaseless activity and never ending omnipotence of God. God is moving forward. He never goes backward. If we go backward, we are not following God.

These are not the wheels of a UFO, an airplane or some futuristic vehicle. There were eyes around the edge of the wheel. They could see all things. We cannot escape God. He sees and knows everything.

When the cherubim moved, the wheels had to go with them. The Spirit of God had control of the cherubim. Where the Spirit went, the cherubim had to go. God spoke and the cherubim stood still and lowered their wings. His voice was like a mighty army; like an ocean whose waves could not be stopped. His voice brought fear into the heart of a man; a fear that was the beginning of knowledge and wisdom.

Verses 26-28 - Ezekiel saw a throne. It shone like sapphire. On it was a person like a man. This was the preincarnate Christ and Ezekiel had to fall on his face in front of Him and he worshipped Him.

The four faces (Revelation 4:6-8) remind us of the four Gospels in which Christ is revealed in four aspects: in His kingship — symbolized by the lion (Matthew); as a servant — symbolized by the ox (Mark); in His perfect humanity — symbolized by the face of a man (Luke); in His deity  — symbolized by the flying eagle (John).

We must recognize the power and sovereignty of God. When we do, we will recognize our sin and its consequences. We must repent of our sin and turn in faith to Christ. We must trust in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary. Then will not only survive being in the presence of God, we will joyfully be with Him in eternity.

Chapter 2 – The Prophet’s call and enduement with power for the office.

Verses 1-2 – The Holy Spirit comes upon Ezekiel in preparation for his office. Israel had once again been rebellious. 

Verses 3-5 – This is about the prophet’s call. He is to speak for God, but will not be heard or obeyed. What they need is a savior. We’ll see the Savior later in the book.

Chapter 3 – The Prophet’s preparation; office as watchman

Verses 1-6 – Ezekiel is told to eat the scroll. The scroll represents the Word of God (Christ).

Verses 7- 8 – God warns of the reaction to and the reception of the message of Ezekiel.

Verses 9-14 – God prepares Ezekiel for the resistance of his people. When we share Christ, we will likely encounter resistance. But we have to share, because Christ said to.
Chapter 7 – Prophecy of final destruction of Jerusalem

Verse 15 – He is a prophet to the captives. His message was heavy duty, and Ezekiel brooded over it before delivered it.

Verses 17-19 – As the watchman on the city walls, Ezekiel is responsible for giving God’s warning. When we are righteous in our own “power,” we will fail. It is when we receive the righteousness of God through Christ that we will succeed by being saved from the penalty of unrighteousness.

Chapter 4 – The Judgment of Jerusalem – The false prophets were telling the people they would have peace. Ezekiel will confirm the word of Jeremiah: You’re not going to have peace. Jerusalem will be destroyed. Governments think they can bring peace. They cannot and they will not. Paul wrote: “When they say ‘peace, peace’ sudden destruction looms. There is only one Prince of Peace, Jesus.

Verses 1-3 – Sign of the tile. Ezekiel was to draw the city of Jerusalem and then break it. The iron pan between him and Jerusalem showed that the city would fall. The defiled bread symbolizes the other issues Israel would face. The bread of the world leads to destruction. The Bread of Life (Jesus) leads to eternal life.

Verses 4-5 – In symbolic action, the prophet lies 390 days on his left side and eats defiled bread.

Verse 6 – The prophet lies forty days on his right side (one day equals one year), depicting the coming siege.

Chapter 5 – The Sign of prophet shaving hair

Verses 1-5 – Ezekiel shaved off his hair (unusual for a priest), divided it into three parts. The three parts depict the three judgments of Jerusalem.

Verses 12- 17 – The judgments are spelled out: The destruction, the judgement of the survivors and the scattering of Israel. The world should heed the warning that without Christ they are doomed. But they will resist the warning.

Chapter 6 – The Sword is to fall upon Jerusalem & the remnant will be saved.

Verses 1-7 – The Word of the Lord is to show the God is the Lord. Choose Him or judgement. The world will not provide shelter. Only God can---through Christ.

Verse 8 – The remnant. There will be a few who will be saved. The road to eternal life is narrow and there are few that will find it. Christianity is a very narrow, by design of God. We need to be warning the world that God will judge their sin. They need to come to God through Christ.

 Verses 1-11 – The concept here is that God is not to be “fooled” with.

Verse 12 – The time is come. This is the prophecy of the final judgement of Israel.

If you are a Christian, God has chosen you to live triumphantly and to tell others about Christ. Whether they want to hear it or not is irrelevant. We are to tell them that to be saved they must place their faith in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary.

Are you a "Godian" or a Christian?

Most people (including many pastors) who think of themselves as Christians make a distinction between God and Christ, often without realizing it. They speak of God, especially when reading or teaching from the Old Testament, as a sort of deity similar to Allah or Buddha only greater.

Let me be clear. God is not merely superior to Allah or Buddha, He is God and they are not. Allah is an evolution of the fabled moon god and Buddha was just an Asian philosopher. God is the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator of all that is. Jesus is His equal, and is a part of Him.

You see, God the Father is not Jesus, He is not the Holy Spirit, but He is God. God the Son is not the Father; He is not the Holy Spirit, but He is God. God the Holy Spirit is not the Father; He is not the Son, but He is God. To speak of one as noninclusive of the other is blasphemy and heresy.  

God manifests Himself Biblically in three persons, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but as only one God. He always has, does now and always will. He was present in three persons in Genesis 1:1; He was present in three persons in Revelation 22:21 and He is present in three persons now.

The function of the Holy Spirit is not to do things for us, but to point us to Christ. The purpose of Christ is not to perform miracles for us, but to intercede for us to the Father. The Father is referred to as the "Godhead." That includes Christ and the Holy Spirit.

When we close our prayers with the phrase "in Jesus' name," we are not just tacking an incantation on the end of our prayer, we are reaffirming that Christ is the one in whom we trust for our salvation and who brings us into right relationship with the Father; an eternal relationship.

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him (Christ) to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11)

That triune God made covenants with His chosen people, Israel. There were seven of them, collectively referred to as the Old Covenant. They were: the Edenic Covenant, the Adamic Covenant, the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Palestinian (Land) Covenant and the Davidic Covenant. 

Those covenants applied to Israel, not to Christians (whether Hebrew or Gentile). Christians have no relationship to God through the Old Covenant. Their relationship to God is through, and only through, the New Covenant, who is Christ.

When we preach or teach from the Old Testament (which is the record of the Old Covenant), we are preaching and teaching from the section that applied to the nation of Israel. That does not mean that it does not apply to Christians, but it applies to Christians in a very different way.

Hebrews 8:13 tells us that the Old Covenant is obsolete. Do you believe the whole Bible or just the parts you like? If you believe the whole Bible, you must accept Hebrews 8:13 and discover how it relates to the rest of Scripture. (If you don't accept Hebrews 8:13, which is a part of the Bible, you might as well throw the whole thing out, because if part of it is wrong, there is no part of it you can trust.)

The whole point of the "Hall of Faith" (Hebrews 11), as the logical conclusion of Hebrews 4-10, is that the Jews of the Old Covenant are saved the same way Christians are saved: by faith in Messiah (Christ). It was not their faith in Godianity that saved them. The Jews were saved by their faith in the coming Messiah. Gentiles and Messianic Jews are saved by faith in the Christ of the New Covenant (a concept Jews would readily understand). 

Every word, phrase, verse, chapter and book of the Old Testament is about the Christ of the New Covenant. When we preach or teach from it, we MUST discover and relate HOW that section applies to the coming New Covenant, or we miss the point, in effect, lying about its meaning and application.

For instance, the story of David and Goliath is not the story of good over evil. It is not the story of "one person plus God equals a majority." It is not the story of God enabling David to defeat Goliath with a stone. The story of David and Goliath is an Old Testament picture of how God would overcome sin (the Philistines) through His Christ of the New Covenant.

If one reads the story apart from the context of all Scripture, that will never be the point of the story. But when it is read in the context OF Scripture, it can have no other meaning.

So! Are you a "Godian" or a Christian? If you are a "Godian," you are lost. You need to come to Christ, the person who is the New Covenant. You must place your faith in, and only in, His finished work at the cross of Calvary. Only He can cause you to "...rise up on wings as eagles" and enable you to enter Heaven for all of eternity.

SALVATION - THEN WHAT?

In the minds of many Christians, after one is saved there are still plenty of rules to follow. There are lists of DOs and DON'Ts and Old Covenant principles to follow.

They say, "If you don't believe it, just read James. It is nothing more than a book of rules for Christian living, right?"

WRONG.

James is a description of the lives of those who have come to Christ. It is not a list of how Christians SHOULD behave, it is a revelation of how Christians relate to Christ. Christians listen and serve, they love the brethren, they demonstrate their faith in deeds, speak kindly toward one another, make wise decisions, submit to God, live for today and are patient prayers who are comfortable in their faith.

James points to, and only to, the Lord, Jesus Christ. It's not about us, it's about Him.

People who combine Old Covenant rules with New Covenant freedom (not license) have a Biblical name. They are called "Judaizers."  Theirs is no gospel at all. It is the "different gospel" of Galatians 1:6-10.

"Well, what about the Old Testament heroes? Didn't David sin and didn't God give him a 'second chance?'" I hear you ask.

That is a very sophomoric and un-Biblical reading of the life of David.

Of course David sinned. We all do. That is not an excuse for sin, it is just who we are. That is why we (David and us) need Christ. Without Christ we will die in our sins and will spend eternity in Hell.

David was saved the same way we are saved; through faith in Christ. His was a faith in a coming Christ, ours is faith in the Christ who has come.

Those who preach "the God of the second chance" denigrate the gospel, unless they explain that the second chance is not another chance to be good, but is the new life in Christ that transforms and renews our minds.

Manasseh's disobedience and despicable behavior  in 2 Chronicles 33 does not illustrate God's second chance, it illustrated the depravity of man and therefore his need of Christ.

Nothing in the Bible is about the people in the Bible. The people are used to illustrate truths about the character of God. The Bible is not about us, it is about Him.

From word one to the last "Amen" of the Book of the Revelation, the Bible is about God's character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption (Christ).

Jesus did not say, "If a person accepts me and follows the rules he will be saved and will please God." He said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:32) He also said, "The Son of Man must be lifted up." (John 12:34)

Since He has been lifted up from the earth (on the cross and at His ascension), it is Jesus who draws us to Himself. And if we are saved, we are saved by, and only by, His life, death, burial and resurrection.

There is nothing more. If Christ is not enough, He died in vain. If there is some "second blessing," as it is practiced in some churches, Christ is not enough and He died in vain. If Christ is not enough and we need to adjust our behavior ourselves to please God, He died in vain.

Jesus does not need the help of certain kinds of worship, certain kinds of music, certain kinds of prayers, certain kinds of offerings or certain kinds of praise. He is sufficient in-and-of Himself, or He is not sufficient at all.

So, after salvation - then what?

After salvation - Jesus. That's all. Jesus.

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. There's just something about that name.

Why would we preach anything else and pretend we're "preaching the Word?"