Put Not Your Trust in Princes

In the book of Judges, a common refrain is a lack of submission of the people to their leader.  On two occasions the book says, “In those days there was no king in Israel.  Everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25).  In these statements, some have seen a reference to the future time when Israel would have a monarchy under Saul (I Samuel 8-9).  However, I believe the reference to be one of their submission to their rightful king – God.  Earlier in the book of Judges, Gideon was asked to become the ruler over Israel after leading their deliverance from the Midianites.  His response tells us who the true leader of Israel was.  Gideon replied to the request, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you” (Judges 8:23).  The ruler of Israel was none other than the Almighty God.

In I Samuel 8, we see for a second time the people of Israel clamoring for a human king.  This time they will not be dissuaded.  Even after warning the people of the wicked behavior of the king they were asking for (I Samuel 8:9-18), they are still adamant that they need a human king.  Their explicit words were, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations” (I Samuel 8:19–20).  For one looking back on the history of God’s people, such a desire and decision can be difficult to understand.  A nation that is chosen, favored, and ruled by God wants to be like the common nations to the point of rejecting God (I Samuel 8:7).  In their mind, all that was lacking for their success was the skill of a talented man leading them.

If we are not cautious, we can be influenced in a like manner today.  We all desire wise leadership and the blessings that can come with such.  However, we must remember that the problems of this world are not foundationally things that a man can solve.   They are not political, financial, or social in nature.  The problem is one of sin (Romans 1:18-32).  With that being the case, God is the only remedy.  So often we see as part of our work getting people to see the positive attributes of a certain man who is seeking a leadership position in our nation.  This can be a good and right thing to do, but it also has limitations.  We must spend the majority of our time, by far, getting people to see the glory, majesty, and sovereignty of God.  He is the answer.  If more people come to believe in the God of the Bible, the problems in this world will shrink back.  This is what was needed in the days of Samuel when Israel asked for a king, and it is what we need today.  As you consider this, think on the words of Psalm 146:

“Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.

The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the LORD!”

The Mind of a Servant...

In my opinion, Philippians 2:5-11 is one of the most beautiful sections of the Scriptures.  Those verse describe the ttitude that a Christian is to have as we seek to help and show concern towards our brethren.  The verses say, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (ESV)  The powerful point here is that Jesus should be our example.  He did not look out for His own interests.  His actions could never have been considered vain.  The inspired Apostle Paul tells us that even though Jesus was God, He left the Heavenly realm and took on flesh, experiencing humanity while remaining sinless (Hebrews 4:15).  All of this was done because of the love He had for His creation.  He humbled Himself to the point of becoming a servant who was willing to die for those He served.  What a beautiful example for us to look to as we seek to serve our brethren.  Do you “have this mind”?

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The Active Pursuit of Training a Child

            In Proverbs 22:6 Solomon says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (ESV)  For many years I have heard this verse directed toward various young adults who have fallen away after being raised in a home where church attendance was the norm. Solomon’s words here have provided much comfort for the families of the wayward and are beneficial when coupled with prayer and Godly action.  At the same time, I am struck by how little the passage is quoted outside of this scope. The statement by Solomon is one of cause and effect, where spending too much time on the effect will be detrimental.

            Solomon begins by stating what must be done – “train up a child”.  I am reminded of the instruction which the Apostle Paul gave to the fathers of children in Ephesus, “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4 – ESV)  It is obvious that our Lord desires that an effort be put forth by the parent. It is an effort that will be costly in terms of time.  An effort to really teach, or “train up”, a young person as God desires will undoubtedly require more time than is spent in the local assembly and bible classes. Parents must seek to teach their children as God instructed the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (ESV) As you can see, this will not be a time for rest and relaxation.  This will be a period of time for diligence and extreme care for the souls of those young ones that we love so much. 

            Second, Solomon continues his statement, “Train up a child in the way he should go”.  This is the direction that the parent is to train towards.  Very few parents provide absolutely no training or instruction to their children.  It is extremely common to see parents teaching their children those things which are important to them involving various worldly pursuits.  Solomon, however, speaks to us of spiritual things. It stands to reason that anyone who must “train” another must have a certain mastery of the subject.  If a parent is to provide this training, they must have a knowledge of and interest in spiritual things.  It naturally follows that the parents themselves must spend time studying the scriptures.  Once again, this will involve more time than that spent in the weekly Bible classes and worship services.  Time spent in different efforts (even worthwhile endeavors) must be considered when we plan our time to study God’s word.  Many claim that personal time for study is difficult to find. However, when a survey is taken of their daily activities, often plenty of time is spent in pursuit of activities which are far less important.  Simply put, training children “in the way” they should go will require a knowledge of the Way, and therefore time spent in study of the Way.

            The parent must then be diligent to put forth their knowledge in the teaching of their children in the right way.  This will also require time- no shortcuts will suffice!  Sometimes it is perceived by parents that they are indeed spending this time in teaching their children, yet when the child is addressed in bible class the preparation is not evident.  When the child is asked about their home preparation for class, many times they will say that there had not been time to do so.  I, as well as many other Bible class teachers, have witnessed this multiple times.  This is where the parent needs to be completely honest with themselves and aware of the time they spend in home spiritual studies with their children.  One way to do this is similar to what a nutritionist would encourage the person who desires to lose weight to do.  A person may become frustrated, perceiving that they aren’t eating very much, yet the weight will not come off.  The nutritionist would tell them that there are probably things that they are consuming that they aren’t counting.  They would usually encourage them to engage in keeping a food journal where they would write down everything that they ate.  The parent can do this with their home spiritual studies as well.  Take one or several weeks and write down every time that you engage in a spiritual exercise with your children, being sure to record the time and the duration.  You can review your journal at the end of a set time and ascertain if you are really allotting the amount of time to spiritual training that you perceive.

            This may seem to many to be too much effort to put forth for such things, but it is an effort that will be well worth it when your children are older.  You will be one who views this passage as one which is instructional for parents instead of one to be quoted in despair and anguish over the spiritual loss of an adult child.  Remember, to end up with a child that does not depart from the way they should go they must be “trained up” by a loving parent.  If you are a parent or plan to become one, please keep in mind the extreme importance of your role, remembering that you are responsible for the little one(s) which God loans to you.  Be a good steward of their souls for God.

Is Jesus Truly Your Lord?

            The Christian sits in a prime spot as one who understands the wonderful works of God on behalf of all mankind.  We understand the great sacrifice Jesus made in leaving the glory of the heavenly realm (Philipp. 2:5-11), leading a life filled with temptations and persecutions (Mark 8:31), and innocently suffering a horrific death on the cross (Heb. 2:10-15).  We understand that He suffered all these things for us because He loved us and desired to deliver us from the guilt of our sins, and make payment for them with his own blood.

            We also perceive from the writings of Jesus and the Apostles that we have access to God’s grace, through this sacrifice of Jesus, through our faith shown by obedience.  We know that sinful man puts on Christ and becomes a Christian by repenting of a sinful life, confessing Jesus as the Son of God, and being immersed in water for the remission of our sins.  In Romans 6:23 the writer describes it as “the gift of God”.  We learn from the New Testament that we MUST enter into a relationship with Jesus wherein He is described as our “LORD”.  But this begs the question of each and every Christian, “Is Jesus truly the Lord of your life?”

        Jesus said some very difficult things for us to stomach in relation to this.  When sending out the Apostles, He gave them several instructions and teachings to prepare them.  Among these teachings we find His words in Matthew 10:37-39, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (ESV)  From this scripture we can certainly see that Jesus intended to have nothing short of the full allegiance of His followers.  Indeed for any to give Him less would render them “not worthy” of Him.  If these relationships- father, mother, son, daughter- were to be counted as secondary to our relationship with Jesus, then what can we conclude about other areas of our life?  What about our jobs, our health, our hobbies, and even just time to rest?  Are we putting these above God? This is certainly a subject which should make us consider our ways.

        We must consider if we place Jesus as the Lord of such areas of our life as our time.  Do we give Him the proper place in our day to day activities?  Do we set aside a time each day to read and study His word? After all we tout it, as the Apostle Paul does, as “able to make you wise for salvation” and given that we may be equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:15-17)  Do we set aside proper time to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Day worship services?  Are our lessons studied and completed the day or night prior?  Do we plan to get enough rest to properly approach the Lord’s throne in service to Him the next morning?  Are you habitually running late to the services of our Lord and Savior?  Do you miss some Sunday evening services due to time mismanagements such as taking a nap without setting an alarm to wake you?  Undoubtedly, our time is a major area where we need to give the Lord authority over us.

        We generally desire to also keep our money under our authority as well.  However, this is also inconsistent with making Jesus the Lord of our life.  We must see that the scriptures see our physical blessings, which would include our money, as being blessings from the hand of God.  Consider the words of Paul in I Timothy 6:17, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”  We have all been blessed by God beyond most in this world.  None of us has a need for anything, yet do we keep our riches from Him?  This is not merely applicable to the amount placed in the collection on the Lord’s Day.  Do we inquire of the Lord as to what will be suitable for the child of God to spend our money on?  When planning activities or vacations do we make our decision based on the revelation of God?

        Perhaps the most important area of our life that we must surrender unequivocally is in our approach to the God-breathed, Holy Spirit inspired scriptures.  This seems as if it should be too obvious to the child of God to mention here.  However, we do not have to be acquainted with the Lord’s body for very long before encountering those who would seek to alter His Word.  We are constantly battling against the redefinition of sin.  His Word on modesty, marriage, and morality are constantly under attack by those who desire to make sin appear to be something which we cannot know, much less judge.  Principles in the Scriptures on topics such as modest dress are constantly attacked and many seek for more “freedom” in this area.  Yet, in this as well as other areas of our lives, God seeks our sanctification. (I Thess. 4:1-8)

        So the question remains for the child of God: Is Jesus truly the Lord of my life?  Are there areas of your life that you retain for your own?  If you selfishly cling to habits, ways of life, false views of scriptures, or any such thing that is foreign to the will of God, then repentance is required.  God will have nothing less than your full allegiance, which means treating Jesus in the same way which John the Baptist did- “He must increase, and I must decrease.”  If you desire the full blessings of God, his desire of sanctification for you, then heed the words of Paul spoken in Romans 12:1-2, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”.

                                                                                                                              -David Wheeler

Cleaning His House

Jesus cleansing the Temple

The Life of our Lord was filled with events that must have been a wondrous sight to behold.  Apart from those narrated in the scriptures, John 21:25 tells us that “there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (NKJV)  The child of God exhibits wisdom when he studies these events and ascertains how the principles taught apply to we who live in the Kingdom.

One of the more well known passages records our Lord driving out merchants from the Temple (John 2:13-17).  Jesus sees a common practice in the first century, people buying and selling in the Temple area.  There would have been those who exchanged foreign currency for the native currency to pay the Temple tax, the Jewish shekel.  There were also those who sold animals for sacrifice to those who had none.  The text tells us that when Jesus saw what they were doing, he made a whip of cords and drove them out, turning over the tables of the exchangers as He did this.  He then commands that they take those things out of the Temple, and cease making His Father’s house a place of merchandise. 

Some take the view that Jesus was enraged at the greed of the merchants in the Temple.  However, simple logic defies this as an explanation for His anger and actions.  It would not have taken very many steps for Him to encounter this type of greed among merchants on any section of Jerusalem’s roads.  Yet, we never read of Jesus having a similar reaction toward those who sold at the marketplace.  In His own words He tells why He was angered.  They had made the Temple a place where activities other than worship of the Creator were engaged in. 

In order to understand how this principle applies to us we must acknowledge that the worship of the Lord has changed from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.  What was a physical worship under the Old Law is now a spiritually based worship in the New Law.  Colossians 2:16-17 makes this distinction clear where it says, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.“ This verse communicates to us that the child of God no longer needs to regard the physical requirements of the Old Law.  They were merely shadows of the substance which we now realize in the New Testament, Jesus Christ.  So the Temple where Jesus performed this cleansing is no longer a part of the worship of the child of God.  So what can we learn from this encounter?

The worship of God is now spiritual in nature (John 4:24).  So if the Jews of Jesus days had profaned the worship of the Almighty, can we do the same?  The answer is a resounding “yes!”  There are many churches today who claim to base their actions on the teachings and examples from the New Testament, yet their teachings and actions bear little resemblance to the church of the Bible.  The easiest area to see this is in the activities that have permeated churches in the last 100 years.  We can go to myriad churches and see plays, concerts, comedians, basketball, movies, televised sporting events, coffee bars, even some who require paid attendance to hear lectures.  What would the actions of our Lord be if He were to come into an assembly which practiced such things?  Clearly, one can see that He would view the activities in much the same way that He viewed the moneychangers and merchants in John 2.  Can you imagine seeing the Lord with a whip or perhaps a winnowing fork in His hand driving these modern day merchants from the assemblies meant to honor Him? 

Friends, we must be vigilant to keep the spiritual worship of our Lord pure and undefiled from human additions and ideas.  There are many admonishments in the scriptures not to add to or take away from His word.  Proverbs 30:6 says, “Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”  Not adding to His word would also involve not adding to His worship, an act which he views as treasonous according to John 2.  The Jews in the Temple on that day were blessed to see exactly how the Son of God viewed those things that they were engaged in.  However, those who take part in such additions now will get no such visit from the Lord to remind them how He actually feels about their actions.  They are expected to read the New Testament and make the connection that if God was displeased with His place of assembly being changed for the sake of convenience in the Old Law, then He certainly would be opposed to changing our spiritual communion in His name for the sake of our enjoyment.  In fact, we would do well to think about who is truly being worshipped by such additions. Ourselves!