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Retired pastor

Daily Bible thoughts 791: Wednesday 14th January 2015: Ephesians 4: 20-24

Theses verses supply the doctrinal heart of an intensely practical section of ‘Ephesians’. The entire range of individual, yet inter-connected, exhortations to follow find their basis in this radical change that is conversion. I read on one occasion that in the early church, when someone was going to be baptized, they took off an outer garment before going into the water. When they came up out of it, they put on a clean white robe. This was emblematic of taking off the old life and putting on the new. Note three things about the new life in Christ:

The new life is all about Jesus (20, 21).It starts with hearing about Him (21) and coming to know Him as a real Person (20). Part of this involves hearing the truth about Jesus, and the truth Jesus Himself taught. It also entails following the truth that Jesus is (21; see John 14:6). You may remember from yesterday that Paul’s insistence that we should live a new life was ‘’in the Lord’’ (17), and it is because we are ‘’in him’’ (21) that we can do so. Just as a bird is at home in the air, and a fish in the sea, so we believers are at home in Christ. He is our supernatural habitat; the very atmosphere that surrounds us. We can follow the truth of Christ’s life and obey the truth of His teaching because of this vital union with Him (John 15).

The new life begins with repentance – a change of mind leading to a change of behaviour (22, 23). I believe Paul, in today’s passage, has in mind something that not only happened at conversion, but which must continually happen as we live the Christian life. It’s a day by day, and even moment by moment, thing. But he is in particular looking back to that decisive beginning of the life of discipleship in which someone makes a clean break with sin. One preacher said to the congregation at the end of his sermon, ‘I want to invite you to make a step of commitment and come down to the front of the church building to give your life to Christ. But don’t come out here unless you’re prepared to leave your favourite sins behind you in the seat where you’re sitting!’ In our pre-Christian existence we all had a problem in the area of our ‘’thinking’’ (17) so something radical has got to happen in our ‘’minds’’(23). (By the way, our minds will still come under assault even after we have turned to Jesus and will require constant protection. Think about chapter 6 verse 17a in this connection. It is important to always remember that these temptations are ‘’deceitful’’ (22). They tell you lies. They are expert liars, and they find us only too willing to swallow them.)

The new life is about the restoration of God’s image (24; see also Colossians 3:5ff.). God doesn’t just want to forgive our sins, as marvellous as that is, but to restore in us the image of Himself that was marred and defaced at ‘the fall’. His purpose in sanctification is to glorify us (Romans 8: 30). It is to make us exactly like Him. As we are in this process of being made like God, we are exhorted to copy Him even now (See 5:1). C.S. Lewis observed that if you could see your ‘brother’ now appearing as he one day will, you would be tempted to fall down and worship him! God is going to make him so like Himself and cover him with glory.

Finally, the language of ‘putting off’ and ‘putting on’ implies that conversion is not something that is just done to us, but that which we are actively involved in. Everything we do is only done by the grace and power of God. We know this. We couldn’t do it without Him. Nevertheless we have to decide to turn away from sin and embrace Christ’s way. It is a choice we must continue to make every day of our lives.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that I’m a new creation in you, called and enabled to live a new life.

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Daily Bible thoughts 790: Tuesday 13th January 2015: Ephesians 4: 17- 1

In John Stott’s break down of the structure of ‘Ephesians’, he says that God gives people new life, bringing them into a new society in which they have new standards. The section dealing with these ‘new standards’ starts here at chapter four verse seventeen and goes through to chapter five verse twenty.

When you are in Christ you are supposed to live differently (17), and along with the apostolic insistence about this, we are going to see that there is also a divine infilling (Ephesians 5:18) to make it possible. The Christian life begins with repentance which is an ‘about turn’. The word to repent literally means to change your mind. It’s a change of mind leading to a change of behaviour. It is a fact that ‘’futility of thinking’’ lies behind all pre-Christian conduct, and the Bible always connects the dots between the way we think and the way we behave. As we think in our hearts, so are we! That is why you have to repent in order to live the life God is calling you to.

It is imperative to live a new life once you are in Christ. Paul’s language is strong. But his insistence is not his own, but Christ’s: ‘’…I …insist on it in the Lord…’’ The new standards are set by Christ. Indeed they are shaped by who Jesus is. We are intended to be a reflection of Him (20, 21) The call to Christian discipleship is not on a ‘take it or leave it’ basis. We are under orders to live differently. Jesus Christ is ‘’Lord’’ (17).

So before someone becomes a Christian they are ‘’separated from the life of God’’ (18). This is at the heart of being spiritually ‘’dead’’ (2:1); it is to be cut off from God. Someone in that state has a problem with their ‘’thinking’’ (18) and ‘’understanding’’ (18). They are ignorant regarding the most important matters. And not only do they have blind minds, but they also have hard hearts (18b). Most of all this is hardness towards God, but it often shows itself in hard-heartedness towards people. But the loss of ‘’sensitivity’’ is particularly God-ward in direction, and shows itself in doing things that displease Him (19) and wanting to do ‘’more’’ of them.

It’s been said that the last words of (19) could be engraved on the tomb of every materialist: ‘’…with a continual lust for more.’’ Materialism is like drinking sea (salt) water; the more you have, the more you want!

When God raises you from death with Christ, He makes it possible for you to live in a way that is totally different (2:10), and He ‘insists’ that you do.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for setting me free from that old, futile, sin-dominated way of thinking and living.

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Daily Bible thoughts 789: Monday 12th January 2015: Isaiah 65:1-17

When God ‘’called’’ to His people they ‘’did not answer’’; when He ‘’spoke’’ they ‘’did not listen’’ (12). We know from our reading of this great prophetic book thus far that if we do not listen when God speaks to us, we cannot expect Him to listen when we try to talk to Him in prayer. He calls us to turn from our own sinful ways that are displeasing to Him (12b). Think back to Friday’s notes on chapter 64 (verses 4-7 especially).

God takes the initiative in salvation (1). But so many of the people He revealed Himself to turned away from Him to idols and disgraceful practices (2-5), for no religion can be better than its gods! So the Lord was going to bring punishment upon His sinful people (6, 7, 11 and 12).

But, thankfully, this is far from being the entire story. Amidst the prevalent unfaithfulness there was a godly remnant (8-10). There were those who genuinely did seek the Lord, and He promised His blessing to them. God would take care of them. Beyond the inevitable exile there would be a new dawn; a new beginning for God’s chosen people.

This chapter is headed ‘’Judgment and Salvation’’ in the ‘New International Version’ of the Bible. It is true that both ‘options’ are ‘on offer’ here (13-17). We can turn from our sins, to the Lord, and find blessing; or we can turn from Him to our idols and have judgment. Someone observed that ultimately all God does in judging people is to confirm the choices they have already made. So be wary of what you desire for it will surely be yours. As C.S. Lewis said, in the final analysis there are only two kinds of people in this world – ‘’those who say to God, ‘Your will be done’; and those to whom God says, ‘Your will be done.’ ‘’

Thought: What is God saying to me today? What am I doing about it? What am I going to do about it?

Prayer: Lord God, help me to approach you with a clean heart. I want to repent of all my sin so there is no blockage in the prayer channel.

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Daily Bible thoughts 788: Friday 9th January 2015: Isaiah 64

Isaiah’s ‘prayer for revival’ continues through this chapter. This sort of prayer asks God to come back (63:17: ‘’Return’’ ) and ‘’come down’’ (64:1). Prayer for revival has intensity: ‘’Oh…!’’(1), and I fear that too much contemporary praying lacks this heart – cry; this anguished ‘Oh’. It also is prepared to ‘’wait for’’ God to manifest His presence and power (4). Isaiah called on God to ‘’come down’’ and make His ‘’name known’’ to His enemies (1, 2), just as He made His Name known to Pharaoh centuries earlier (Ex.14: 3, 18). God made the mountains tremble when He came down on Sinai (3; see Ex. 19:18). Revival prayer is also holy prayer. If we cherish sin in our hearts God will not listen. At (5) Isaiah pauses in his prayer and recalls how Israel continued to sin against God’s ways, and sin creates a barrier. It did for the Israelites; it will for us. If we want to pray effectively for an outpouring of God’s Spirit we must be earnest and patient, as we have seen; but also have to be committed to purity, and turning from everything wrong in our lives as God shows us what He wants us to change. It’s important to ‘keep short accounts’ with God.
In (6, 7) Isaiah confesses on behalf of his people. He is praying himself – obviously! – but he has to confess a general prayerlessness among God’s people. There is probably a need for us to do the same: ’’No one prays to you or makes the effort to reach out to you.’’ The Message. It’s not the case that no one is praying in the contemporary church. Far from it. Yet there is such a need for a great outpouring of the Spirit of prayer. The prayer meeting is pretty ‘desolate’ in many church settings.
God is rarely called ‘Father’ in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 63:16), but in (8-12) Isaiah pleads with God as a son with his father. It’s been said that he asks God to remember, not their sins, but their standing as His children. In (10, 11) he looks ahead and sees the terrible punishment to be inflicted by means of the Babylonians.
‘’Isaiah’s prayer ends with a question; God’s answer to the question will be given in the final two chapters of Isaiah. In many ways, Isaiah’s prayer in this chapter is a model prayer for all of us who sometimes find ourselves ‘’wasting away’’ because of our sins (verse 7). Note that Isaiah’s prayer begins in the previous chapter with praise (Isaiah 63:7);here it ends with the humble expectation of God’s answer. That’s a good beginning and ending for any prayer.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1070.
Warren Wiersbe, writing on this chapter makes the point that there is a ‘missing demonstration’ of God’s power, and it is linked to ‘missing intercession’ on behalf His people, and ‘missing submission’ among His people.
Prayer: ‘’Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend…’’ The Message.

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Daily Bible thoughts 787: Thursday 8th January 2015: Isaiah 63:7-19

‘’…many good things…many kindnesses.’’ (7)

We too have experienced God’s immense blessing: ‘’Compassion lavished, love extravagant.’’ The Message. He has done great things for us and we are glad. How should we respond? a.) By telling (7a); by praising (7a), and by not rebelling (10). We surely don’t want to grieve His Holy Spirit, which is always a possibility (Ephesians 4:30). He has been so good to us, carrying us through all the days of our lives, just as He did for Israel (9). We don’t want to disappoint Him (8), or in any way turn our Divine Friend into a Foe (10).

But God’s disciplinary acts are meant to bring His people to their knees in prayer, intensely seeking Him afresh. This is what we see in (11-14). It’s a prayer for revival, or, at least, the preliminary to it. When God turned away from His people, they ‘’recalled the days of old.’’ (11). They asked, ‘’Where is he?’’ ‘Where is our great wonder-working God who visited us in such power in days gone by, and who magnificently glorified His Name?’ They longed for their God to return to them as in the past. ‘’And what happened to the One who set his Holy Spirit within them? Who linked his arm with Moses’ right arm, divided the waters before them. Making him famous ever after…’’ The Message.

At verse 15, Isaiah’s prayer on behalf of Judah begins. It continues throughout chapter 63. It is a prayer for God to ‘’Return’’ (17). That in essence, is what prayer for revival is, and there are a number of examples of such prayers in the Bible. ‘’Isaiah’s prayer reflects the feelings of a people who have rebelled against God, lost His protection and blessing, and now recognize their sin. They feel abandoned; they remind God that they are His children and He is their Father. And they ask Him to return to them as before. Many believers have uttered similar prayers, and we know that God hears them; God will never abandon His children, His servants (verse 17), who confess their sins and place their trust in Him.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1069.

Prayer: Revive your mighty work among us O Lord our God, for the honour of your Name.

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Daily Bible thoughts 786: Wednesday 7th January 2014: Isaiah 63: 1-6

This bloody, but triumphant picture is one of God in His judgment of the nations. It is a portrayal that lots of people find repulsive, and even as believers we can struggle with it. But the reality is that God is the Judge of all the earth. He will only ever do what is right and just and fair. But He will judge all people. However, the prophetic books, like ‘Isaiah’, show that this will not happen until there has been ample warning. God is longsuffering and sends back His prophets repeatedly, calling people to repent. He does not close the door of the ‘ark’ until a long period of preaching has elapsed. The day of opportunity to turn to God and be saved is a long one. But it is not open- ended. It will come to a close. God is ‘’mighty to save’’ (1b), but He is also mighty in judgment. His enemies will not triumph over Him; He will conquer them.

There is coming a day when all the things in the world we wish were judged are going to be. Every wrong will be righted; each injustice will be overturned. The problem for us is that there are things we don’t want to have judged, like our sins. But they too will come under judgment if we don’t trust in Christ.

But here also is our hope, and I believe we pick up in this passage a number of echoes of Jesus. His garments are ‘’stained crimson’’ but He is also ‘’robed in splendour.’’ He trod ‘’the winepress alone.’’ He went to the cross for our sins so that we can be free from their condemnation and judgment, if we trust in Him. The cross is about salvation for all who believe because it is also about God’s judgment on sin. The cross does not overlook sin, but condemns it, showing how exceedingly sinful it is. It demonstrates both God’s justice and love. It shows that God is just and does not overlook sin. It also reveals that He is love and wants to save sinful people. It is through Christ alone that anyone can be saved (3, 5).

‘’ It is a victory obtained by the grace of God in Christ over our spiritual enemies. We find the garments dipped in blood adorning him whose name is called The Word of God, Rev. 19:13. And who that is we know very well; for it is through him that we are more than conquerors over those principalities and powers which on the cross he spoiled and triumphed over.’’ Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus for your glorious triumph at the cross.

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Daily Bible thoughts 785: Tuesday 6th January 2015: Proverbs 23:19-28

Here are three more sayings of the wise men, from that collection of 30 proverbs that begins at chapter 22:17.

The first is a warning against excessive living, particularly with regard to food and drink (19-21). There are practical reasons for self-restraint. If you go down the route of over-indulgence it will take your money and sap your strength and health. Again, we marvel at the down to earth wisdom of the Bible. If only the world heeded it! This could have saved a lot of people a lot of problems over the Christmas season. ‘’Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk; don’t eat too much food and get fat. Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags.’’ The Message. Live like that for too long and you may well end up featuring in a documentary about obesity or binge-drinking! Perhaps both!!

The second proverb concerns honouring father and mother throughout life, and bringing joy and delight to them (22-24). Live in a way that will make your parents proud, if at all possible. The writer envisages doing this by obeying the ‘’truth’’ (23) taught by parents. For him, this will mean the truth that is in God’s Word, or in agreement with it. This is an important word to us all. Whatever God our Father has shown us we should cling to tightly, and live it. ‘’Buy truth – don’t sell it for love or money.’’ The Message. ‘’Do not sell the truth at any price…It costs something to live by the truth, but it costs even more to abandon the truth.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.429. (See also Proverbs 4:7)

The third is about the danger of falling into sexual immorality and adultery, and the destructiveness of such behaviour (26-28). This is a repeated theme in ‘Proverbs’. The ‘fruit’ may look delicious on the tree, but once eaten it is found to be poisonous.

How many lives and marriages could be saved by this Bible passage alone!

Prayer: Lord, let your Word spread through all the earth, and cause men to hear and heed its wise truth. Thank you Lord that ‘a fence at the top of the cliff is better than ‘an ambulance at the bottom.’ Thank you for your ‘fences’ – lovingly put in place to protect us; not to ruin our fun!

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Daily Bible thoughts 784: Monday 5th January 2015: Ephesians 4: 7-16

In his commentary on ‘Ephesians’, John Stott makes the point that not only is there ‘saving grace’, by which we come to faith in Christ; there is also such a thing as ‘serving grace’ by which we express our faith in Christ in particular ministries (7). I believe we could paraphrase this verse by saying, ‘But to each one of us gifts have been given…’ Each part of the body of Christ has a job to do (16). In an atmosphere of honest love, the church grows, and ‘’builds itself up’’ as each member is fully and appropriately employed (15, 16). But it all comes ‘’From him…’’ i.e. the Lord Jesus who is ‘’the Head’’ of the church (15). In the earlier part of the passage it is made clear that the victoriously ascended Lord Jesus gives these ‘grace gifts’ to the church. The Jesus who ‘’descended’’ in the incarnation has also ‘’ascended’’ and His presence fills ‘’the whole universe.’’ (9, 10). The quote in verse 8 is from Psalm 68:18. That psalm pictures God returning to the heavenly sanctuary following the overthrow of Israel’s enemies. Because He is the conqueror, He has a booty; a largesse to distribute. These words are applied by Paul to Christ. They clearly are significant in what they say about Paul’s view of the identity of Jesus. He is none other than God. He has come through death victorious, and the gifts He gives are the spoils of victory. (It’s interesting to note that when a Roman General returned from battle as a winner, he would have a triumphal procession through the streets of Rome. The streets would be thronged with cheering crowds. His defeated foes would walk, heads bowed in shame, behind the conquering army, and the General would throw out the booty, the spoils of battle to the people on both sides of the road. What a picture this is!)

In particular, Paul speaks about the ascended Lord Jesus giving the gift of leaders to His church (11). There are a variety of leadership gifts. These people all lead, but not necessarily in the same way. They don’t all do the same things. But here is the key point. Why have they been given to the church? The answer is in (12): ‘’to equip the saints for the work of the ministry’’ as one translation puts it. Stott says that leaders are not given to the church to monopolise the ministry but to multiply the ministries. Leaders are there to help God’s people detect, develop, discipline and deploy their gifts. As they use them the body of Christ, the church, will be ‘’built up’’ (12).

What will it look like for the church to be ‘built up’? It will mean two things in particular: unity and maturity. The unity is ‘’in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God…’’ As the spokes of a wheel get closer to the hub, the closer they get to each other. So it is with Jesus and the church. The maturity is about Christlikeness – the church becoming more and more like Jesus.

When David Watson was rector of ‘St. Michael Le-Belfrey in York, he was one of the most famous clergymen in the United Kingdom. But he told his congregation, ‘’When people come in here and ask who the minister is, say ‘We all are’.’’ Such a comment beats in time with the rhythm of this passage.

Jesus is Lord and He is building His church through the ‘spoils of war.’ Praise God for all His gracious gifts. We go from victory to victory as we use them in the power of the Spirit.

Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus for giving my life such eternal significance.

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Daily Bible thoughts 783: Friday 2nd January 2015: Ephesians 4: 1- 6

Paul, as we have previously seen, regarded all of his life as being under the sovereign control of Christ, so he could recognise that there was a purpose even in his imprisonment (see 3:1). He was a prisoner ‘’of Christ Jesus’’ (3:1), and ‘’for the Lord’’ (4:1). His entire life, whether in good experiences or bad, was about Jesus.
There is urgency about living godly lives in this world: ‘’I urge you…’’ (1). At this point we move into the practical section of the letter where Paul is encouraging the Christians to apply all of this great doctrine in everyday life. Truth is to be lived-out. Sermons are to walk out of church in many pairs of shoes. Belief has got to get into your feet. The Authorised Version of the Bible talks about walking worthily of our calling. As someone pointed out, there is nothing spectacular about walking. It’s just putting one foot in front of the other and moving in the right direction.
We tend to read these New Testament letters personally, and it is right to consider how we, as individual Christians, can live lives that please and glorify God. As we go through the practical section, we will come across things that we must apply to our personal (and even private) lives. But never forget that the letters were written to groups of Christians. In looking at this section you have to bear in mind all that has gone before in ‘Ephesians.’ Jews and Gentiles have been brought into a new,united community in Christ. The old hostility and divisions have been removed. So in these verses Paul exhorts the church to be the church. The church is ‘’one body’’ (4). There is a ‘’unity’’ (3) in the church that is already given by ‘’the Spirit’’. But we Christians have an urgent responsibility to ‘’Make every effort…’’ to maintain this unity. Like in a marriage, where two become one, everyday there has to be work to express that oneness. Total humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, love – these qualities oil the wheels of a marriage. They also enable Christian brothers and sisters to live out their God-given unity, even though as people they may be so different. One of the main reasons why the Christian community doesn’t always look like the united ‘body’ God has made it to be is down to the level of our ‘effort.’ We have to continually work at being the church God is calling us to be. When we live together humbly, gently, patiently, with forbearance and love, we live lives worthy of our calling.
In verses 4 to 6, Paul makes reference to the triune God: ‘’…one Spirit…one Lord…one God and Father…’’ The unity the church is called to is like the unity in the Trinity. It is a unity in diversity. Yet it is a unity of complete harmony. As we will see in the next study, we are all so different, and that’s a good thing. But although we may bring a variety of gifts to the table, we are one people in Christ. God wants that to be obvious to the world, and it will be an utterly compelling reality (John 17:20-23). A united church is a powerful evangelistic argument in itself.
Prayer: Loving Lord Jesus, I can see that the unity of your church means so much to you. You bled and died for it. May that unity never be damaged or broken at my hands. As far as it lies within me to do so, I want to live at peace with every other person in your church. This is my desire. Please give me your grace to be a unifying member of the body of Christ.

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