A few years ago, our youngest son went to Nepal with the purpose of looking into a ministry and hiking to base camp of Mount Everest. Because his body was not acclimated to high elevations, he hired a Sherpa to carry his backpack toward the end.
In a similar way, Paul “bows [his] knee before the Father…that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through the Spirit in your inner being” (Ephesians 3:16). Why did Paul want this for these believers? “So that you…may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18–19). Imagine coming to comprehending something that surpasses knowledge? It would only be through the power and work of “the Spirit in your inner being.” The question for us is; are we letting Him do that? To scale any spiritual mountain, we must have the Spirit’s power giving all that we need. As these spiritual vistas fill our hearts, we will be driven to tell others.
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When we look at the entire body of Paul’s writings, containing an amazing scope of truth from the sinfulness of man, God’s saving grace, His eternal purpose for the Church, and how strong biblical leadership will be passed on to the next generations, it is a wonder that there is so much more. We might think that what was revealed to Paul was complete and nothing remained to be told.
Even with the expansive revelation given to Paul, He still says “how unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” (Romans 11:33). There is more! Let’s see how he describes the gospel of God’s grace given to Him. “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things” (Ephesians 3:8–9). Paul felt unworthy to receive such a revelation; the gospel that contained the “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” But that propelled him even more to proclaim these riches because they had been a “mystery or secret” for so long. He wanted this light to be divinely revealed to every Gentile heart. The idea of “mystery” also conveys there is always more to learn. Oh, that we had this passion! The more we see how “unsearchable” these riches are, the more we will want to share it with those who have never heard. God will take care of the “how” if we are filled with the “what”! Paul wrote his letters with specific people and churches in mind, not just subject driven. Since the Early Church was young in their faith, his letters were intended to further establish them in the gospel of grace, and in some cases, to correct errors or misunderstandings that came into the Church through false teachers or lack of sound doctrine. We must also remember the huge difference between earning God’s favor by keeping the Law and receiving favor by grace.
As Paul wrote “to all those in Rome who are loved by God,” he took eleven chapters to outline the gospel in detail so there would be no doubt about its foundation and how the gospel should be understood. At the end of these chapters, it is as if Paul cannot hold back the praise that is filling his heart at the moment, and must express his feelings in worship. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” (Romans 11:33). These early chapters have outlined the depraved state of mankind on the one hand, and on the other, the measureless grace of God that made us His own possession in spite of our condition. This alone is worthy of our abandoned worship and praise. Yesterday we looked at the “steadfast/everlasting” love of the Lord, perhaps one of the most comforting characteristics of our God. As we study God’s Word, we find there are other features of His relationship with us that spans far beyond our short life here.
In giving the Law to Moses, there are places where God lets us look into the future by drawing comparisons between those who hate Him and those who keep His commandments. “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20:5–6). That phrase “to thousands of” literally means “to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Notice that the blessing of “steadfast love” is 250 times greater than the infliction of judgment for rejecting His commands, but it is based on how we respect God’s Word. This principle is repeated in Deuteronomy 7:9-10, except that those who “hate” God in this reference are “destroyed.” Why does God give us such a clear comparison? These consequences are experienced in this life, which should make us stop and carefully consider the immediate effect on the next generations. I often remind parents with children that their example is watched and felt by them from birth and will impact the next generations long after we are gone. What we do now, matters! There are so many situations we all face that cause doubts to arise in our minds. We either feel alone and isolated from others without support, or we begin to doubt our value before God. These times are when we must resort to God’s presence and Word to adjust our thoughts and emotions.
Here are verses that should reassure us and remind us of God’s disposition toward His children. “Remember your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O Lord!” (Psalm 25:6–7). “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children” (Psalm 103:17). Jeremiah was a prophet who suffered so much for being faithful to the Lord in the face of a nation that had been so unfaithful. Yet, God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued My faithfulness to you” (Jeremiah 31:3). What an amazing God! Let these glorious words fill your heart with hope and truth! From time to time, we want to give you an update on significant developments in this ministry. From past experience with ministry in India, we were often left disappointed because of traditional barriers that hindered grasping biblical principles. We are convinced that this is a mission frontier that has a high priority. Think about these statistics:
· Population unreached with the gospel = 1,313,878,000 · People Groups = 2,717 (2,445 unreached) God has shown us in other parts of the world that God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) has equipped and motivated the Church to disciple and prepare believers to disciple others. With GPHD either translated or being translated into 15 languages, we wondered what the next language should be? As you can see from the Joshua numbers above, India has a huge need. According to Ethnologue, Hindi is the 5th largest language in the world and spoken by over 189 million people. We have a reliable translator who is willing to do the work and print the books. Please pray with us that the translating will be done quickly, accurately and printing costs will be reasonable and with good quality. Jesus gives us a very interesting, and challenging, measure of love. We recall His visit to a Pharisee’s house for a meal in Luke 7:36-50. As they “reclined” at the table, “behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind Him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment” (7:37–38).
There is no doubt that God orchestrated the visit of this woman during this meal so she could expend such lavish love and appreciation on Jesus. This event reveals several things: · The Pharisee, a religious leader in the community, really did not know who Jesus was. · Because he did not really know Jesus, he did not know Jesus’ heart for hurting people. · The Pharisee did not know either, how sinful his own heart was. His lack of love for Jesus and others revealed the poverty of his own heart. · The Pharisee did not know the freedom of forgiveness because he had never faced his own sins. When we begin to see our sins as God does, then forgiveness becomes a huge stimulation to love that grows with our sense of God’s forgiveness. Jesus states this clearly by saying, “he who is forgiven little, loves little” (7:47c). How does your love measure? Many words and actions have been used down through human history to express love, whether it was genuine or merely pretend. There is one thing that is certain, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
How can we show our love in return? My mind goes to Mary in John 12; “Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (12:3). No words were spoken, but her actions spoke what words could not say. God spoke to us of His love through the giving of His Son; an action unparalleled by any human being. Mary express her love for Jesus through an act that was severely criticized by others, but Jesus defends her; “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” (12:7). Do you show your love for Jesus, just by your actions? If you add words, make sure they match what you do for Jesus. How do you measure your love for Jesus? I am sure you and many others would point to the outward things you do as an evidence of your love for Him. Are they really a good measure?
Jesus made the point clear as to what measuring standard we should use for our love for Him. “Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:24). In other words, the degree of obedience of His Word is the degree that we love Him and honor the Father. I cannot profess with my mouth to love Jesus and with my actions ignore what the word of God instructs me to do. Again, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (14:15). There is no partial idea in these verses. Love for Jesus cannot be a partial, or a part-time commitment! If it is partial, it tells others what we think of our Savior. Our obedience is part of our witness. As the reality of why we have been left here on earth begins to saturate our hearts, we should realize that not keeping (obeying) the Word is a direct reflection of our love for the Son of God who died to save us. What will He say to us on that Day when we stand before Him (2 Corinthians 5:10)? As news reaches my ears of what is taking place in so many churches and denominations--the turning away from biblical truth on so many issues, I am heart broken. The value of human life from God-given conception, the sanctity of marriage as representing Christ and the Church, and God’s divine order in creation and authority, all are being attacked.
Where do we begin to place our spiritual feet on these and so many other issues? I believe Paul partly addresses this question in 2 Timothy 2:15. FIRST, “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.” We must stop trying to seek man’s approval (see Galatians 1:10). Men, leaders, and organizations are not our final judge or the One we give an account for our faith, teaching and deeds. His Church is not ours to teach however we wish or to shepherd in a careless manner. SECOND, make sure there is nothing in your life or ministry that you are ashamed of. If there is, get right with the Lord immediately, and if necessary, with others. Every unresolved sin affects the whole body of Christ. THIRD, “rightly handle the word of truth.” DO NOT add your opinion to difficult passages or soften the truth to make it more appealing to the audience. Numbers may increase and outward appearance may look good, but we will answer to the Lord for how faithful we were to His Word. |
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