Dispensations

I'm studying Ephesians right now and have come to verse 10.  In this verse we see the word dispensation.  What is a dispensation?  It is the Greek word is oikonomia.  It means the management of household affairs, or administration.  It's simply the rule of the house, the way things operate for this time.  It is used 4 times as dispensation (I Cor. 9:17, Eph. 1:10, 3:2, & Col. 1:25) and 3 times as stewardship (Luke 16:2-4).  Some translations will use the word stewardship rather than dispensation.  I use the NKJV, which is based on the Textus Receptus.  In Eph. 3:9 there appears a word for fellowship--koinonia.  But some translations are based on the Alexandrian text, which uses the word oikonomia in that verse instead  Just something to be aware of.  The NKJV reads, "fellowship of the mystery", the ESV reads, "plan of the mystery", and NASB reads, "dispensation of the mystery."

 

Heb. 1:1 – God works in different ways in different times. This does not mean that God tried one thing and it didn’t work so He tried something else. The reason for each of these periods is to lead man to the cross, until the final period where Christ will reign forever.

 

These dispensations help us understand the overall plan of scripture. They help us have a big picture perspective.  Understanding these dispensations particularly helps us understand how we are no longer under the law.

 

So, what are the different dispensations?  There are seven, here is a list.  I interpret them slightly differently than some.  You may ask, "who cares?"  Does this information really do us any good in our day-to-day life?  For one, I will use them to explain the Sheep and the Goats post.  And I see a very practical aspect applied to our parenting.  I will post about that soon.

 

1. Innocence (Gen. 1:28) – from creation to the fall. How long did it last? We don’t really know, but we do know it ended when they sinned. They were no longer innocent at that point.

 

2. Conscience/Moral Responsibility (Gen. 3:7) – from the fall onward. You now know good and evil, I will leave you to your conscience to choose between those. But man tends toward evil, so we get up to Gen. 6:5 and God says that ALL the purposes of man were evil continually.

 

3. Government (Gen. 8:15) – from the flood onward. After the flood there were consequences for evil. Man was still accountable to his conscience to choose between good and evil, but God added an incentive. He says that anyone that takes a human life will have his taken away. We see the value God is placing on human life here. If you can’t govern yourself, someone else will have to. See also Rom. 13.

 

4. Promise (Gen. 12:1) – from the call of Abram onward. This promise was not based on anything Abraham had done; it was unconditional. All Abraham had to do was believe. This promise is still available to us by faith, as well. So this dispensation, too, has not gone away. Gen. 12 & Gal. 3, 4. God is now teaching humans to trust in Him.

 

5. Law (Ex. 19:1) – from Mt. Sinai until Jesus (or specifically John the Baptist—Luke 16:16). Promise does not end and the Law did not bring justification. It brought a picture of the Savior. It brought many, many types and shadows to point us to the cross. You can study everything in the law, from the Sabbath, to the Feasts, to the elements of the Tabernacle, to the Dietary Laws, to the specific instructions to the priests on how to administer offerings, to the laws for declaring leprosy cleansed, and you will see Christ through and through. Beyond all the symbolism, the law was meant to frustrate man and show him he could never make it on his own, even with conscience and human government.

 

6. Church (Acts 2:1) – from Pentecost until the rapture. This is sometimes called the Age of Grace (I do not agree with this title) or the Dispensation of Faith (again, I don’t think this is entirely accurate), or the Dispensation of the Spirit. This is the mystery Paul is talking about, the secret that was hidden, not revealed in the OT, that Gentiles and Jews would be part of the same Body, and that the Spirit would indwell us. These were mind-blowing truths. This is one of the reasons Paul prayed for revelation for the people he was writing to. We need to pray this pray, too, that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to these profound truths.

 

· Do we still have moral responsibility (#2)? Yes, but now we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, to give us the power to choose right and wrong, and our human spirits have been recreated in the image of Christ—it wants to follow after Him.


· Do we still have human government (#3)? Yes, we do, but if we walk according to the Spirit, we don’t have to be afraid of the government. If they put us to death for righteousness sake, the Bible says we’re supposed to be happy.


· What about the law? Does it still stand? I Tim. 1:8-10 says that the law is not for the righteous—we have been made the righteousness of Christ—but for the lawless, the ungodly, the sinners. The law still stands to point people to Christ, to show them their need. The law still stands as a standard in our world, that if people would follow it, our world would be a better place to live in. The law does not justify us, but it sets the standard and grace gives us the power to live it.

 

7. Kingdom (Rev. 20:4) – from Armageddon onward. The visible rule of the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth. We can see II Sam. 7:12-16, Is. 9:6-7, Luke 1:31-33, Rev. 3:21, and Matt. 25:31. He came once to die, the second to reign.

  

Now, the thread that is common throughout all these dispensations is grace. That is why I do not call the Church Age the Age of Grace. Every single age has been the age of grace. It was God’s grace that blocked Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life. He did not want them to live forever in their fallen state. It was grace that God had on Cain when He marked him and sent him away. It was grace that saved Noah and his family. Grace called Abram out of Ur. Grace redeemed Israel from their bondage to the Egyptians. Grace came and dwelt among us. Grace will rule on a literal throne forever and ever. The other side of this coin is faith. You can read about people of faith throughout all the past in Hebrews 11. Just like them, we are saved by grace, through faith, in whatever age we live.

The Sheep and the Goats

To finish my series on Matthew 25 I have to include the Sheep and the Goats. At first I would have called this the parable of the Sheep and Goats, but I don't know if this qualifies as a parable. It does use some symbolism, though. To read about the first parable in this chapter click here. To read about the second parable click here and here, for part two.

I'm trying to keep my tag list as clutter-free as I can and include mostly books of the Bible, to be more of a cross-reference system. But if I were tagging traditionally, I would tag this blog with words like law, grace, wrath, works, punishment, condemnation, justification, sanctification, heaven, and hell. So think of those things as you read through this.  After you read this, I have a few questions for you.  I will publish a Part 2 to this post to address those questions.

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’  Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Have you ever wondered about this story in the Bible?  Have you ever felt condemned reading it?  Does it make you squirm?  What does it tell us about law and grace?  What about unconditional love?  What about verses like Romans 8:1, I Thessalonians 1:10, I Thessalonians 5:9, II Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:4-6, or Ephesians 2:8-9?  Does this story illustrate verses like Revelation 22:12?
I would love to hear your thoughts and I will post a follow-up soon.  Thanks!

Parable of the Talents pt. 2

This is part two of two posts on the Parable of the Talents. You can read the first part here.

I asked some questions last time, and here I will lay out what I believe the answers are. But remember, do your own study, come to your own conclusions.

Who is the lord? God.

Who are the servants? Christians. Not all believe this. I have heard it preached that the foolish servant was not a believer. I don't agree because in verse 14 you see the lord called his own servants. This reminds me of Romans 8:28. These are the called. These are the lord's servants, the unsaved are not serving God. And God is not lord of the unsaved.

What is a talent? A talent was a measure of weight used back in Bible times. This was a weight of gold or silver given to these servants. This is why I have always heard this passage taught in the context of financial stewardship, but I believe this has a broader application. I believe that the word talent means just that--a talent or a gift. There are many, many passages that refer to gifts God has given us. Some that come to my mind are Romans 12:6, I Corinthians 7:7, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 3:7, Ephesians 6:7-8, I Timothy 4:14, II Timothy 1:6, I Peter 4:10, Proverbs 18:16. God has given you a gift, or gifts. What have you done with them?

What does this parable mean? This parable illustrates the Bema Seat of Christ. The Bema Seat in Roman times was the seat of judgment. Jesus was brought before the Bema Seat to see Pilate (Matthew 27 & John 19), and Paul was brought before the Bema Seat to see Gallio, in Achaia, and Festus, in Caesarea. We will all stand before the Judgment (Bema) Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10 & II Corinthians 5:10). I believe this is what I Corinthians 3:9-15 is referring to. Our works will be judged, but our spirit's will not. That was done when Christ hung on the cross. All sin was judged when He took the penalty. This is about rewards.


What is the outer darkness? I have always heard this referred to as hell. Some will teach that the servant that buried the talent wasn't really saved and is sent to hell. Others will teach that all were saved, but the servant that buried his talent lost his salvation, and thus was sent to hell. But I present a third option to you.

Outer darkness in Greek is exoteros skotos and it means simply the darkness outside. Charles Stanley, Kenneth Wuest, Erwin Lutzer, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, and Warren Wiersbe all agree this is not hell. Thayer's Greek/English Lexicon says that the outer darkness is "the darkness outside the limits of the lighted palace." Kenneth Wuest in his Expanded Translation of the Greek New Testament said, "The outer darkness is the darkness that is outside of the King's banqueting house." That is very interesting to me, in light of what I presented about the Parable of the Virgins and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. You can read about that in this post.

What does weeping and gnashing of teeth mean? This phrase has always sounded so strange to me. Obviously the weeping part is simple--it is weeping. And gnashing of teeth means profound regret.

So, is the outer darkness a place apart from God's light and joy, where we will weep and feel profound regret? IF...we do not steward the gifts and talents that God has given us? Remember that Revelation 21:4 says that God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. Why are they crying?

Whatever it is, it is not a place of punishment. Remember Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus." Are you in Christ? If so, you have nothing to fear. All sin was judged at the cross. If you have accepted the work that Christ did on your behalf, God has forgiven you of your sin, and therefore you cannot be punished.

Parable of the Talents

This parable follows the Parable of the Virgins, that my last post focused on. I am splitting this post up into two parts, so stay tuned. A few questions to think about--"What does this parable mean? Who is the lord? Who are the servants? What is a talent? What is this outer darkness? What does weeping and gnashing of teeth mean?"

Matthew 25:14-30

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.

19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Wise and Foolish Virgins

Matthew 25:1-13

¹ “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
⁶ “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
¹³ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

I have been pondering this topic of the race for many months now and I see how many things in the Bible tie into it. If you want to read my post on The Race, click the link. Paul compared our Christian life to a race. He said he was pressing on to win the race and receive the prize. Later in his life, he said he had fought the good fight, he had finished the race, and he knew the prize was awaiting him. He told us in Hebrews 12 how to run that race, how not to get tripped up.

This is important because I know that a lot of Christians don't view their lives as a race. Rather they view Christianity as a ticket to heaven, a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, and that is the extent of their relationship with God. They hear about God's saving grace and sit back and don't ever find out anything else about Him and His plan. They sit around and don't ever do anything, telling themselves and others that they aren't saved by works (which is true). They don't ever take the time to enter into relationship with God, they don't even know him. They are like a bride that had a wedding, but doesn't want to live with the groom.

I heard something recently that was great -

"Between conversion and resurrection is discipleship."

Salvation is not the end, it is the beginning. How is your race going? Are you a disciple or a convert? Are you moving forward or regressing? I don't believe you can remain stationary in this race.

That is why I want to bring up this parable of the virgins. This story tells us of the consequences of running the race well, or not running well.

The general belief is that the wise virgins are Christians, but the foolish are not. I don't agree. Another view is that they are all Christians, but the wise virgins are the ones that get raptured, the foolish ones do not. Again, I don't agree. There are just too many things in the Bible that indicate that the WHOLE church is raptured. And that is a topic for another post.

I believe that all 10 are Christians. First, because they are virgins, they are pure. When we get saved, we are made new, pure, clean. We are made the righteousness of Christ (II Corinthians 5:21). We didn't deserve or earn our salvation (Ephesians 2:8).

Next, notice that all 10 virgins have oil in their lamps. Oil in the Bible represents the Holy Spirit. They would not have the Holy Spirit if they were not saved. Now most who read this (and I did before, too) assume that the foolish virgins didn't have any oil (because of verse 3), but notice in verse 4 that the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. The vessel was apparently a separate container, so that they could keep their lamp full. And this is confirmed in verse 8 when the foolish say their lamps are going out. This tells me they did have oil at one time, but no reserves. Their lamps were lit, but they were going out. So they all started out with oil. They are all Christians that started out filled with the Holy Spirit.

Why did 5 of them get into the wedding and 5 did not? And what is the wedding? Revelation 19 tells of the marriage supper of the Lamb and the wife that has made herself ready. Verse 9 says, "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" I take this to mean there is really a literal wedding and marriage feast. And so only those that have made themselves ready get to enter. How do we make ourselves ready?

By keeping our lamps full of oil. This is walking in the Spirit (Romans 8:6, Galatians 5:16-26). Obeying the voice of the Spirit. Yielding in everything to the Spirit. Less of me, more of Him. This is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment decision. We don't just decide one day and then every day after that we are set. Again, it's not about starting, it's about finishing. There are many, many examples in the Bible of people that didn't finish well--Samson, Gideon, King Saul, Solomon, to name a few. These are to show us how NOT to live. (Romans 15:4)

Revelation 19:8 tells us that the bride is dressed in fine linen, clean and bright, and that linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So, you can't just sit still, you have to act! That is the only way you move forward in this race.

But...

You cannot just make up your own acts. This is what got Abraham in trouble. He had a son of his own will, Ishmael. That was not God's plan. Romans 14:23--whatever is not from faith is sin. What is faith? Faith is responding to God's grace. Is your action a response to God's grace, or is it an action to gain something from God, to get God to move? This is how you determine if it is of the flesh or of the Spirit. If it's in response, it's of the Spirit. If it is to gain, to make God pity you and do something for you, it is of the flesh. These works of the flesh will be burned up (I Corinthians 3:5-17). To obey is better than sacrifice (I Samuel. 15:22). You must be filling up with God's Word in order to know what His Spirit is asking of you. Remember my post on fruit? It fits perfectly with this post, click here to read.

Now, this does not mean that some of us attain perfection. Remember what Paul said in Philippians 3:12, "I have not achieved perfection." This is THE apostle Paul talking here. He wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, but he said he had not achieved perfection?!? None of us ever will. But notice his next statement, "I press on to possess that perfection." None of us will be complete and perfect until Christ comes back (Philippians 1:6). But we press on. This includes repenting when we fail (I John 1:9).

This is where it is helpful to know the difference between spirit, soul, and body. Our spirits are complete, they are made perfect. It is our soul that takes a lifetime to be regenerated, transformed, and sanctified. Our bodies on the other hand will be made perfect, in an instant, when Christ returns.

So those that sit around and say you're not saved by works, you are right. But that is justification and that is your ticket to heaven. However, your sanctification takes an effort on your part. It is the Holy Spirit that does the work, but you have to yield to it. This seems to determine whether you get in to that wedding feast or not.

Now is your chance. It's never too late. You can start moving forward in this race. You can fill up with oil. You can be ready for when the bridegroom comes!

So then, is this wedding one of the prizes that Paul referred to? Could it be one of the rewards? I don't know. This brings up an interesting question that may rattle you a bit. If you are like me, you have been taught your whole life that if you are a Christian you are part of the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. But Revelation 19 and this Parable of the Virgins seems to indicate otherwise. But don't listen to me, dig in and be like a Berean--search the scriptures daily to see if these things are so (Acts 17:11).

A Lesson in Agriculture

I gave my kids a lesson in agriculture this morning. I thought I would share it with you.

Do you want fruit? You will first need some seed.


Plant the seed into good soil.

Then water it.
Your plant will also need a good source of light.
Finally, you need time. Lots of it. Your plant will not grow overnight and will not bear fruit overnight. The amount of time needed depends on what you planted, say tomatoes, melons, or apples, for example. Tomatoes can bear fruit in 90 days, melons take at least 100, and apples can take a few years. But your hard work and patience has paid off and you will reap the rewards--your fruit!
Sound simple? What happens if you leave one of those ingredients out of the formula? You will not get fruit. Simple enough. If you don't plant a seed, you don't get fruit. If you don't have good soil, you will not get fruit. If you don't water, you will not get fruit. If you plant a seed in fantastic soil and water it everyday, but leave it in an unlit closet--you won't get fruit! If you do all the right things, yet don't give the plant enough time, you won't get to enjoy the fruit!

Let's put this into a spiritual context. What is fruit? Fruit is our works, our obedience, our good choices. You want to bear fruit spiritually?

First you will need to plant a seed--God's Word. (Luke 8:11)
Plant it into good soil--your heart. (Luke 8:11-15) We could go on a tangent here about the condition of the heart being right, but I will save that for another time.

Water it regularly--water is God's Word and the Holy Spirit. (Hint--once a week isn't enough!) (Ephesians 5:26 & John 7:38-39)
Expose it to a good source of light--that is also God's Word and the Holy Spirit. John 8:12 speaks of Jesus as the light, but John 1:1 tells us Jesus is the Word. Psalm 119:105 tells us the Word is light. The oil in the Parable of the Virgins (Matthew 25) is a picture of the Holy Spirit, the source of light in our life. John 14:26 tells us that the Holy Spirt will teach us all things. Afterall, it only makes sense that the author of the Scriptures would be the One to explain them. (II Timothy 3:16)Finally, you need time--that is patience. (Luke 8:15) Spiritual fruit doesn't come overnight, it comes in its season (Psalm 1:3). Never give up, no matter how long it takes.

Alas--fruit! There is a lot of emphasis on fruit and rightly so! But we HAVE to know HOW to get that fruit. We can't go to the spiritual store and buy the fruit. We can't take anyone else's fruit. We can't just make up our own fruit (not sure how one would do that, but I do see people make up their own works that were not directed by God--remember Abraham and Hagar!). Oh, and that fruit--you do want it, because Jesus said in John 15 that every branch that does not bear fruit will be taken away! But notice that He tells us just a few verses down (vs. 5) that we can do nothing without Him. We must never forget that--it is through His power!

I hope you see a pattern here--want fruit? You need the Word, planted in your heart, sprinkled with more Word, illuminated with more Word, and patience. Word, Word, Word.

I tried to keep this as simple as I could, since it was for my kids. I know there are more aspects to the parable of the sower. I went over this and then asked them, "okay, how do you make right choices (this is the fruit)?" The first response was, "make good choices." I said, "that's the fruit. How do you get the fruit?" The answer was, "prayer?" People, it takes repetition. So, we went over this list again. Word, Word, Word. Yes, prayer is a part. You can ask God to reveal things to you, to give you wisdom, and He will through His Holy Spirit, but it will be in proportion to how much you feed on His Word. So, I asked them again, this time they got it. They said, "plant a seed in good ground, water it, give it light, and be patient." Can we adults get this, too? It may take a few times of going over it, even for us. I sincerely hope you do get this as it is vital!

Why Did God Save You?

Why did God save you? Or rather, what did He save you for? Have you ever thought about it? There are general answers and specific answers, and this is beyond the basic answer of, "God is love, God saved me because He loved me."

Let's think about this a different way.

Why did you marry your husband? Why did he marry you? Was it so you could keep his house clean? Was it so that he could keep your car running right? Or move heavy objects around the house? How about opening those tough jars? Why did you have kids? Was it so there would be extra hands to help around the house? NO.

Relationship is primary. We married our spouses because we enjoyed spending time with them. We had kids to have more people in our family, to spend time with.

Marriage is the picture of our relationship with God, the church is called the Bride of Christ. See Ephesians 5. God wanted a family, that is why He saved you. See Galatians 4. He wants to spend time with you. He knows all about you, He wants you to know all about Him.

Let's flip this around--what if I never have time for my husband or kids because I’m too busy serving them. I'm doing the laundry, the dishes, the cooking, but never stop to spend any time with them. There’s not much relationship, is there? Many in the church are doing just that. They are in up to their eyeballs with service, but never make time for relationship with God. God wants Marys and Marthas, but Mary comes first. Read about Mary & Martha in Luke 10.

God wants to be your all in all. He wants to be the most important thing in your life. He will not take second place.

So, how do we spend time developing that relationship? Will it grow with a once a week meeting? (i.e. church) How would your marriage do, if you sat down to spend time together just once a week? How well would you know your children, and they get to know you, if you only saw them once a week?

Spend time with God in conversation. That can be prayer, He talks back through His Word and sometimes a still small voice. That voice needs confirming, most often through His Word, sometimes through experiences. I have a friend that wanted to bless a practical stranger, at the gym where she works out. She asked God to show her what flavor of ice cream to buy this girl, so that she would know God's love. She distinctly heard the word strawberry. She would never have thought of that on her own, my friend is a big-time chocolate lover. She bought the ice cream and sure enough, strawberry was this girl's favorite flavor. This opened the door for my friend to tell this girl how much God loves her, He loves even the little things about us, He cares about what flavor ice cream we like. This is an example of hearing from God that could not be confirmed directly in His Word, but was confirmed in a sure way.

Now on the topic of prayer--what is it? Again, back to the easily understood picture of the family. Do you get together to spend quality time with your husband and then run down a list of things you want from him? Things you want him to do? Does he take you out on a date night and then proceed to tell you he has a big meeting in the morning and needs his shirt ironed, and lunch packed? Or do you sit and complain to him of your miseries? "I’m not paid enough, I can’t ever catch up on the laundry, the kids are wearing me out!" Do you sit down with your kids and go through a list of what is to be expected of them? NO! You spend time with your spouse and kids getting to know them, talking about your dreams, ambitions, goals, sharing fun experiences together. There are times for requests, but this isn’t our primary communication! It should be the same with God. We spend time in His Word, getting to know Him. Not out of our sense of obligation to Him, not to be worthy, but to be in relationship. Not to complain, not to run down our list of wants, but to get to know Him more. And the more we know, the more we trust.

What other ways can we communicate with God? Through worship. We were created for His pleasure. Rev. 4:11 KJV Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. This is not a forte of mine, I am not a gushy person. When I want to worship, I open the Psalms. I do sometimes listen to worship music, but I am very, very picky that the lyrics be scriptural—and a lot aren’t.

Study of His Word The Bible is God's Word, it is God speaking to us. You want God to talk to you more? Read more. He's given us 66 books that reveal Himself to us. All we have to do is open it up and we can hear from Him anytime. The Jews believe that study is the highest form of worship. Us Westerners think of learning and study as a chore, and we think it ends when we finish school. In the Jewish Talmud, the term education was synonymous with "heavenly work." Yes, it is work. You have to work at your marriage. You have to work at being a good parent. If we don't put in any effort, then we don't really love.

Action We cannot simply think in our hearts that we love God and we cannot simply say with out mouths that we love God. There must be some proof. It costs us nothing to say it. Notice Revelation 2:5 says to get back to the first work. Relationship is work. Our marriage’s won’t work if we just tell our spouse’s we love them, but never show them. Our kid’s will not feel our love if it is never backed up with action.

God proved His love to us, by His action. We prove our love to Him, by our action.

And this is where the motives of our heart are very important. Are we sitting down to pray and read our Bibles to check religion off of our “To Do” list? Are we trying to earn God’s favor? We must have pure hearts when we come before Him, for He knows our thoughts afterall. See Hebrews 4:12 and John 4:24.

What about service? Aren't we supposed to be doing a job for the Lord? I'm glad you asked. The answer is yes, but it must be in proper priority, and with the proper motivation of heart. If all God wanted was servants, He didn't need to create mankind, He could have stopped with the angels. Remember the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10. We are to be Marys first (sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning and worshipping), then Marthas (serving). Again, I bring up the comparison of the family. Husbands, wives, and children all have duties in the home, but we discussed previously how if service was all they did, the relationships in the family would break down. Service is a form of worship, but if we don’t have these other things in place—prayer and study time, service doesn’t mean anything. I Samuel 15:22 – to obey is better than sacrifice. We cannot just make up things to do that are in service to God. We must be doing things out of obedience. Romans 14:23b—whatever is not from faith is sin. So, if God didn’t tell us to do it, it is not from faith, it is not out of obedience, EVEN if it is a good thing, then it is sin. Did we hear God tell us to do such and such? Are we sure that is God’s will for us? How do we know? We only hear from God if we are spending time with Him, regularly. We can sacrifice all day long, all year long, all our lives, but when we stand before the Lord, He says, “I never asked you to do any of those things.” See I Corinthians 3—those works will be burned up in the fire. See also the Parable of the Virgins in Matthew 25. The virgins (Christians) that didn’t keep their lamps continually full of oil (the Holy Spirit) did not get to go in to the wedding (see Revelation 19:7-9). Revelation 19:8 tells us that the wedding garment is the righteous acts of the saints, but are these acts we just come up with on our own? I don’t believe so. Back to I Samuel 15:22—obedience is supreme, how are we to obey if we never take the time to listen to what God is telling us? Therefore time for prayer and study is key.

Revelation 2:1-7

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Let's get back to our first love. Let's repent and do the first works.

The Pendulum

I see the pendulum swinging, always to one side or the other, rarely does it rest in the middle. The pendulum I speak of swings between grace and faith. It seems people want one or the other, but rarely a mix. They want to lean to one side or the other, but not balance between.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

I see a mixture of grace and faith here. I see balance. It does not just say we are saved by grace, it says by grace, through faith. And grace is not just for salvation. This is how we get through each and every day--by God's grace, through our faith. This is how we do anything we do--by God's grace and through our faith.

It is when the pendulum stops in the middle, it is at rest. This is the place of rest mentioned in Hebrews 3 and 4, and the yoke mentioned by Christ in Matthew 11:29-30.

I see many that latch on to the faith aspect, they want to do something, but then they discount the grace side. They do things in their own strength and don't give God the glory. Or they give God the glory, but turn around and tell others how to rise above and don't include the key detail of God's grace.

It seems grace isn't welcome in a lot of churches. Pastors would rather tell their flock about faith, what they can do, but without grace this is just willpower. The word grace has become taboo because, to a lot of pastors it is equated with sinful living. If people know all about God's grace, they will just do whatever they want! But we can't pick and choose topics from the Bible, like it's a salad bar. We must teach the whole counsel of God. Teaching faith without grace is humanism that has crept into the church.

Grace is what Paul is talking about in Galatians 5:16. When you rely on God's grace, and take the step of faith He is asking of you, you will be empowered by His spirit, to rise about the lusts of the flesh.

Remember Rahab in the city of Jericho (Joshua 2). The two spies came to scope out the city. She told them she believed they knew the one true God and asked them to spare her family. She has faith here. The spies tell her they will spare her if she will hang a scarlet cord out of her window. She does--that is the act of proving her faith (James 2:17). Her family is spared (saved) by grace, through her faith.

Remember Moses with the Israelites at the Red Sea (Exodus 14). They were cornered with no way out. The Egyptian army was behind them, they had mountains on each side and in front of them was the Red Sea. God already told Moses He would save the Israelites. Moses had faith in God's promise. God tells him to lift up his rod. Moses obeys--this is the act of proving his faith. God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites traveled through to safety. God saved them by His grace, through their faith.

Remember Joshua preparing to conquer the city of Jericho (Joshua 6). God promised the Israelites the land over 400 years earlier. Joshua believes this, as he told Moses 40 years earlier, when he was one of the 12 spies. And God confirmed this word to Joshua just before this battle. God tells Joshua to have the army and the priests march around the city of Jericho. How very strange? They were to march around the city once each day for six days. Then on the seventh day, they were to march around seven times and then blow their trumpets. All of this was what proved their faith. God brought the walls crumbling down. God gave them the victory by grace, through their faith.

One thing I see in all three of these stories is how miniscule the part we have to play. We do have to act, we do have to obey, we do have to step out in the natural, but it's always something so much smaller than what God is going to do. That way, there is no question who did the saving, who gets the glory. And our step is not of our doing. It's not something we make up. This is not where you set rules for yourself. You will end up breaking your own made up rules. For example, "God I really need you to help me out. I promise to read my Bible an hour a day." We are not bargaining with God, or manipulating Him. We are asking for His help. He will ask you to take a small step, to test your faith. You take that step, and then His grace kicks in and empowers you to overcome.

The pitfalls I see of using my faith, without acknowledging God's grace--it's all me, this leads to pride, I'm not as likely to give God glory and trust in Him, I trust in myself. I do achieve a pseudo-abundant life, but it's a false success, built on a sandy foundation. There are not many storms, because I have chosen to build my house in the prime location, far from the beach. After all, life is all about my choices, right? But one day the storm will come, something big that is out of my control. Then my house will come crashing down because I have been in the habit of fixing things myself, not turning to God. Hopefully at that moment I will repent and see my need for God. If not, I may blame God, when it wasn't His fault.

The pitfalls I see of solely relying on God's grace, yet never exercising faith--I don't have to do anything, Jesus did it all (and that is true, but we have to prove our faith), I don't have to commit to church, I don't have to study my Bible, I don't have to ask you for forgiveness, because God forgives me. I don't have to teach my children, God's grace will keep them in church. I stay bound up in my strongholds, I never see true freedom. I never achieve the abundant life, because I never build any foundation. The wind and the waves tear my house down in every storm. Hopefully, during one of these storms, I will think to ask God what I need to be doing, to show Him I do have faith.

I hope you see that you will walk in victory, you will be building on the rock (see Matthew 7:24-27) only when you walk in the balance of grace and faith. It is shifting sand on either side of the middle. This is a moment-by-moment, day-by-day decision. We will all be tempted at one time, or another, to shift to either side. If you do, simply repent, and get back on track.

The Odds

I promised at the beginning of my Christmas Prophecy series to answer a few questions. What are the odds that one man could fulfill all these prophecies? Is it likely that many other people in our world coincidentally fulfilled some of these prophecies also? Or could it be that Jesus organized this and made things in His life fit the Scriptures?

To answer those questions, I consulted The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, by Josh McDowell. This book is an amazing resource! If you have questions about the validity of the virgin birth, the reality of the resurrection, the historical reliability and accuracy of our Bible, and more, please check this book out. Our faith is not based merely on feelings, but facts.

McDowell deals with every possible question and criticism. He even brings up incongruities and contradictions, like if Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, why do they record his death? McDowell was an atheist, and in college was challenged to prove the Bible to be untrue. He did intense homework, including travel throughout Europe to access various documents, and became thoroughly convinced for himself and became a believer.

If you, too, have doubts about Jesus, God, and the Bible, I challenge you to prove them. Check out Josh McDowell's materials and also C. S. Lewis'. C. S. Lewis was also an atheist. He was highly intelligent--he taught at both Oxford and Cambridge universities. (Christianity doesn't defy rational thought, it is actually the most logical thing in this world.) But he became a believer, too. You can find out why in his books. My favorite is Mere Christianity.

I covered 24 different prophecies about Jesus in my Christmas Prophecy series. There are actually 61 listed in Josh McDowell's book. If you include types of Christ and all the symbolism of the Old Testament, there are many, many more. What are the odds that one man would fulfill 24 prophecies, or 61, or what about just 8?

Let's examine just eight prophecies. These eight, specifically, were totally beyond the human control of Jesus. He could not have possible planned them.

1. Place of birth - Bethlehem

2. Time of birth - for more explanation on this one, see the book. I did not specifically go into detail on this one in my series.

3. Manner of birth - by a virgin

4. Betrayal

5. Manner of death - crucifixion

6. People's reactions (mocking, spitting, staring, etc.)

7. Piercing

8. Burial

These could not have been engineered by the Christ.

Now, this list of eight prophecies is slightly different, and this is where the odds come in. Peter Stoner published a mathematical analysis for Science Speaks, and it was carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members.

1. Place of birth - Bethlehem

2. Preceded by a messenger (John the Baptist--Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1, fulfilled in Matthew 3:1-2) - I did not include this one in my series

3. Entering Jerusalem on a donkey

4. Betrayed and crucified

5. Sold for 30 pieces of silver

6. Money to be thrown into God's house & Money used to buy Potter's field

7. Silent before accusers

8. Crucified and with thieves

I am not a scientist or a mathematician, but I know the logic goes something like this. You look at each prophecy individually and figure the odds. Such as, what are the odds of a person being born in Bethlehem? I know Bethlehem has always been a small town, do you think there have been one million people born there over time? That would make the odds of being born in Bethlehem 1 in 1,000,000. What are the odds of someone being betrayed by a friend and the results are crucifixion? That one seems pretty slim. I know that Peter Stoner was even generous in his figuring of each individual item. Let's say 1 in 1,000 people in the world have been betrayed by a friend and crucified. How many people have been sold for 30 pieces of silver? Joseph was sold for 20. How many people are silent and don't even try to defend themselves in court, EVEN though they are innocent? That one seems incredibly slim, but again, shall we say 1 in 1,000? These aren't the real numbers, but that is to give you the idea of how Peter Stoner figured these. Then he takes all these and adds them together.

Doing all the calculations for each prophecy (remember, mine weren't the real calculations), Peter Stoner came up with this total. The odds that one man could fulfill all eight of these things is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. That is a 1 with 17 zeros behind it. It looks like this--100,000,000,000,000,000. That is a really, really big number. That's not millions, or billions, or trillions. That's one hundred quadrillion!!! So the chances of one person fulfilling all eight of these prophecies is 1 in one hundred quadrillion!

That's hard to visualize, so let's think about it like this. Suppose that was your chance of winning a lottery prize. Say I told you all you had to do to win the prize money is pick out the red-marked silver dollar out of a group of unmarked silver dollars. Not too bad, you say? Well, the area of unmarked silver dollars for you to pull from is the state of Texas. And those unmarked silver dollars cover the ENTIRE surface of the state, AND are stacked two feet deep. I've just thrown the red-marked silver dollar in there somewhere, you have one chance to pull it out. Are you going to try Dallas, how about Houston, how about up in the panhandle, how about down near the Rio Grande? I hope now you can see how utterly impossible these odds are! And that is just for eight prophecies! Jesus fulfilled many, many more. (If you would like to dig into this further and see the probability of Jesus fulfilling 48 prophecies, you need to check out The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, by Josh McDowell, or even track down a copy of Science Speaks, by Peter Stoner.)

Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord of lords. He could not just merely be a man that taught some good moral lessons. You just can't leave it at that. If he taught some good moral lessons, but wasn't really God incarnate, then that says he was either a liar or a raving lunatic. Do you want to listen to the moral lessons a liar has to teach? That makes him a hypocrite. Same with lunacy. I don't know about you, but if I know someone is certifiably insane, I'm not going to trust their teachings. That leaves the only other alternative, that Jesus was in fact God, come in the flesh, the Bible is true, every Word, and I had better make sure I am right with the God of the universe. I have a choice to make. You have a choice to make.

"You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." --C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity

Christmas Prophecy 24

The Messiah would rise from the dead!

Prophecy -

Psalm 16:10

For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Fulfillment -

Matthew 28:6

He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Mark 16:6

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

Luke 24:46

Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.

Acts 2:32

This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

Acts 13:26-33 (NLT)

“Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles—this message of salvation has been sent to us! The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath. They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway.

“When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead! And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel.

“And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus.

Our faith means NOTHING without this all important detail. This is the gospel, that Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. (I Corinthians 15:1-4) He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred at once. (I Corinthians 15:5-6) But if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and our faith is empty. (I Corinthians 15:14) If Christ is not risen, your faith is in vain--devoid of truth, useless, and of no purpose, you are still in your sins!

This Christmas season I want you to see more than the birth of Christ, I want you to see His sacrifice, His substitutionary death for you, His payment for your sins. But none of this means anything if He didn't rise from the grave.

He is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. (Ephesians 1:20 & Hebrews 8:1)

One day, He will come back for us. (I Thessalonians 4:16-18) One day, He will rule and reign on a literal throne, on the earth, and He will remain forever and ever. (Luke 1:31-33, Isaiah 9:6-7, Daniel 7:14)

This is good news! He will put an end to injustice, pain, suffering, misery, fear, worry, dread.

Won't you accept the gift? (Ephesians 2:8)

Most of the information in these posts has been from The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, by Josh McDowell. Check it out for much, much more detail. And check out my next post where I deal with the questions I brought up in the first post.

This is part of our Christmas Prophecy series. To read all the other entries, click on any of these:
Christmas Prophecy 1
Christmas Prophecy 2
Christmas Prophecy 3
Christmas Prophecy 4

Christmas Prophecy 5

Christmas Prophecy 6

Christmas Prophecy 7

Christmas Prophecy 8

Christmas Prophecy 9

Christmas Prophecy 10

Christmas Prophecy 11

Christmas Prophecy 12

Christmas Prophecy 13

Christmas Prophecy 14

Christmas Prophecy 15

Christmas Prophecy 16

Christmas Prophecy 17

Christmas Prophecy 18

Christmas Prophecy 19

Christmas Prophecy 20

Christmas Prophecy 21

Christmas Prophecy 22

Christmas Prophecy 23

Christmas Prophecy 23

The Messiah would be laid in a rich man's tomb.

Prophecy -

Isaiah 53:9

And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Fulfillment -

Matthew 27:57-60

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.

I don't really know why this detail is significant, but if it is in the Bible, it has to have meaning. Every detail, every name, every jot and tittle has significance, if it is in the Bible. The Holy Spirit inspired over 40 men to write 66 books that we call our Bible. The Holy Spirit also oversaw the details of the councils that canonized the books that we have included in our Bible.

Did you know there were other books written? There was a Book of Enoch and a Book of Jasher (this one is referenced in Joshua 10:13 and II Samuel 1:18), there was a third epistle that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that is "lost." Whatever books didn't get included was completely planned by the Holy Spirit. What we have, we have for a reason, and everything included in it, is there for a reason.

Perhaps Jesus was laid in a rich man's tomb because it had the giant stone as the door. This makes the resurrection miracle all the more awesome! Without that giant stone it would have been easier to say that the disciples just stole His body. But to move that big giant stone, while Romans soldiers were on guard?!? It just isn't plausible. But that reason is purely my own conjecture.

This is a continuation of our Christmas Prophecy series. Here is a list of the previous entries:
Christmas Prophecy 1
Christmas Prophecy 2
Christmas Prophecy 3
Christmas Prophecy 4

Christmas Prophecy 5

Christmas Prophecy 6

Christmas Prophecy 7

Christmas Prophecy 8

Christmas Prophecy 9

Christmas Prophecy 10

Christmas Prophecy 11

Christmas Prophecy 12

Christmas Prophecy 13

Christmas Prophecy 14

Christmas Prophecy 15

Christmas Prophecy 16

Christmas Prophecy 17

Christmas Prophecy 18

Christmas Prophecy 19

Christmas Prophecy 20

Christmas Prophecy 21

Christmas Prophecy 22