This passage provides guidelines for pastors and ministers.

…BE SHEPHERDS – This first injunction may seem confusing, because in modern Christianity many church leaders use the title of “pastor” (which originally meant “shepherd” or “sheep herder,” and still does in some languages, like Portuguese). Some even have their members address them as “Pastor ___,” which is a little confusing in light of Jesus’ explicit warnings in Matthew 23:8-12. In any case, people whose title is already “pastor” or “shepherd” might think they are automatically being a shepherd. Titles, however, are not the same as behavior. This passage enjoins us to act like shepherds taking care of flocks in the way we treat the members in our churches – with care, self-sacrificing love, and genuine concern for their well-being. This is the opposite of thinking of members as sources of tithes, subordinates to order around, or the numerical measure of one’s greatness as a religious leader. Rather than seeing ourselves as the commander of a legion or the executive of an organization, we should view ourselves as protectors, guardians, and nurturers. Too many church leaders think the members are there to serve them, when it should be the other way around.

NOT BECAUSE YOU MUST, BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE WILLING - We must ask ourselves why we are doing this – why are we pastoring? Even men in unpaid ministry positions, like those in Maranatha, can find themselves doing things merely to appease or impress their supervisors or the denominational leadership, or out of fear of the church hierarchy. It is easy to find pastors who hold a flurry of special events (small seminars, special workers’ meetings, etc.) before a local visit from the directors of their organization. This passage instead encourages ministry “because you really want to,” that is, compelled by a genuine love of Christ and love for the people (see 2 Corinthians 5:14). Our motivations matter to the Lord, and are probably more obvious to the members than we think.

NOT GREEDY FOR MONEY - The worst reason for doing ministry, which is lamentably common, is that it provides an easier opportunity for income than alternative sources of secular employment – some people are in ministry as a career to avoid having to earn their living through manual labor. Suppose for a moment that your country outlawed receiving any money or other compensation whatsoever from the ministry or from church members, but otherwise allowed churches to function freely – in other words, all ministry had to be on a strictly volunteer basis, with no salary, no sponsorship from foreign churches, no income or assistance related to the ministry at all. How many pastors would there be in your country? In the New Testament period, this would not have changed anything. We fear that today, very few would be willing to be pastors if they had to support themselves completely with secular jobs, as the Apostle Paul did. Worse, it is easy to find pastors who are egregious in their greed, begging for donations and then using the contributions to support a life of luxury. Some will even lie to donors in order to solicit assistance.

NOT LORDING IT OVER THOSE ENTRUSTED TO YOU – The Bible simply forbids authoritarian styles of leadership for pastors, here and elsewhere (Matthew 20:25-26; Mark 10:41-43; Luke 22:25-26; 2 Corinthians 1:24). Titus 2:15 does mention encouraging and rebuking “with all authority,” but this refers to confidence in the eternal truth of what we are saying, not to our relationship style with the church members. Do we teach the members to obey us, or to obey the Lord? Do we expect members to be submissive to the ministry no matter what, regardless of how awful his behavior becomes? “Lording it over” means reminding the members of “who is in charge,” warning them against “touching the Lord’s anointed” (the person saying the warning), or treating it as a sin when people question things or ask for explanations - instilling fear to manipulate them into submissiveness.

BEING EXAMPLES - We should not expect or require more of the members than we ourselves do. Pastors must exemplify the level of brotherly love, humility, prayer, study of the Word, and evangelism to which the members should aspire.

In Hebrews 11:1 it says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Sometimes faith means trusting God for something that we cannot see yet in the material world around us, something that even goes against what we see with our eyes and hear with our hears.  Many people, after praying in faith, conclude by declaring that they completely trusts God to fulfill the promises –  thanking God for something before it even happens.

Many people think of faith merely in terms of a certain feeling, or a strong religious opinion that people hold for a period of time. True faith, by contrast, interacts with the prophetic realm. Faith from eternity connects us to God’s unfolding plan or project of salvation, so faith keeps in step with what God is doing at the moment. Human feelings and opinions (the things that unbelievers think of as “faith”) are merely temporary and do not represent eternal truth.

Today, people think they have faith just because they feel vaguely aware that God exists.  Jesus had a higher definition of faith.  In Matthew 17:20 He said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  We all need to grow in this area, trusting God for things that seem impossible when we know God has promised to do something.

Faith is not just reassuring ourselves that God is right there by our side. It is also seeing that time itself is a feature of our frail human existence, and that God is focused on the prophetic plan.  The Word says faith is evidence of things not seen. It is evidence of what is not seen by human eyes, but instead by revelation from the Holy Spirit. True faith comes only from the Holy Spirit; it is not a human choice, a human feeling, or a human opinion.

There is a crisis of faith, however, that emerges in the world before the Rapture occurs. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Man’s human religions talk about faith as something elusive, that they can never fully grasp. That is because the faith God gives us comes only from HIM – not from ourselves – and we have it only as we live our lives within God’s prophetic plan, his project of Salvation.

God wants us to use faith to carry out His plans and complete fulfill His Project.  Faith opens the door for God to do miracles.  God does miracles.  Unfortunately, many religious leaders think it is a matter of “faith” to plan an event without having the funding already in hand, but this is not true faith in God.  There is no example of that type of “faith” in the Bible, where someone plans something while he still lacks the funds for it.  Jesus, in fact, ridiculed people who do this in Luke 14:28-30. It is fine if we walk in faith that God will some day provide us with the means to fulfill what He has called us to do.  Even so, wisdom requires that we not plan things unless we already have the funds in hand.

Religious leaders who plan events that they cannot possibly afford – which is what they call “by faith” – then go around begging people to send them money to rescue them from the disaster of having to cancel the event that they planned.  Sadly, they are lying to themselves that this is biblical faith.  All they are doing is setting up a situation where they can pressure and manipulate people who have money (usually because they work hard laboring at regular jobs) into sending funds to those who want to relax in full-time ministry positions.  Any unbeliever could plan something without money and then beg friends and relatives to rescue him.  This is not faith. Faith and wisdom will not contradict each other.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, KJV)

Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.”

That night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in…”

This chapter teaches us important lessons about God’s nature, about our relationship with the Lord, and about how we should pray.

The desire to construct a big building “for God” is one of the most commonplace religious aspirations. In every culture, all through history, people have felt the urge to build a special place for worship and teaching. Many pastors feel that it will be an big accomplishment, leaving some kind of significant legacy, if they oversee the construction of a church. In this chapter, David wanted to build a magnificent temple for the Lord, a place to house the Ark of the Covenant, which was in a tent.

Fortunately, David inquired of the Lord first, by asking the prophet Nathan. It was not God’s will for him to do it. Later, God would allow David’s son to build a temple, but God makes clear that buildings are not necessary for His eternal Kingdom.

LEARNING ABOUT GOD – The prophet initially told David to do whatever he wanted, that the Lord would bless whatever he did. This was incorrect. The Lord spoke to the prophet that very night and told him to retract his statement and instruct David to refrain from building a temple. Many Christians today believe that God has no particular opinion about a lot of things they do, that God leaves a lot of things up to us and blesses whatever we want to do. It is hard to find any support in the Bible for that notion. Instead, the Bible portrays God as having a strong opinion about almost everything we do, especially when it relates to worship or spreading the faith, but most people do not bother to ask because they do not really want to know what God thinks; they want to follow their own ideas and desires. Here, in perhaps the only instance in the Bible where someone says that God has no particular will on a point and will bless any decision the person makes, the Lord immediately intervenes and corrects this. We need to discern God’s will, and not assume that God “is fine” about whatever we decide.

LEARNING ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM – David wanted to provide a house for God, but God responds (1 Chronicles 17:7-15) that He has built a house for David instead – David had it the other way around. Often believers think in terms of what they can do for God, what contribution they can make that would bless the Lord. The Bible teaches instead that God Himself has a Project of Salvation, which Jesus carried out and accomplished for us already. We participate in it, but we must never forget that God built “a house” (a place of refuge or safety) for us, and our job is to stay close to Him and participate in whatever He is doing. The Lord’s words to David in this chapter are a mixture of loving promises and a gentle rebuke. The Lord challenged David to remember that He had done everything for David – when David was nothing, a nobody, the Lord called him and established him as king over Israel.

LEARNING HOW TO PRAY - David’s prayer, in response to the prophecy, is in verses 16-27. David begins by humbling himself before the Lord, acknowledging his complete dependence and deep indebtedness to the Lord. He even admits to the Lord that he has received far more than he deserved (so many people adopt the opposite attitude toward the Lord, thinking God somehow deprived them of their rights). It is good for us to begin our prayers with humility and thankfulness like this. David then pleads for God to fulfill his promises. This is a prayer pattern throughout the Bible – godly men mention God’s own words and promises as they intercede, asking Him to bring those words to fulfillment. David concludes by declaring that He completely trusts God to fulfill the promises – he is thanking God for something before it even happens. Some believers start every prayer this way, but David concludes on this note, after humbling himself before the Lord and putting his requests before God.

Paul was on his second extended missionary journey.  Originally, he planned to revisit the churches in planted on his first tour and assess their progress (Acts 15:36-41).  The churches back then had no means of communicating with each other regularly, and there was no centralized management or control.  Each church had to learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s direction, receiving only occasional visits or letters from Apostles or other leaders.

Paul gave each church the new letter from the Apostles (Acts 16:4).  The churches in those days were growing daily in numbers (Acts 16:5), something churches today usually cannot do even with their expensive equipment, public facilities, international conferences, and professional clergy.

God then interrupted Paul’s plans and sent his team in a new direction.  They had attempted to go to Asia and Bithynia, but the Spirit had restrained them.  Instead, God gave Paul a vision in which a Macedonian man stood and pleaded with him, “Come over to Macedonia, and help us.”  Obeying the revelation, they traveled to Philippi, in the state of Macedonia.  They met there Lydia at a Jewish prayer meeting, and “the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message (Acts 16:14).  She and her family converted and they started a house church in her home.  Most of the first-century churches met in homes.

Trouble began when they cast out a demon from a fortunetelling slave girl.  A riot ensued that ended with Paul and Silas in prison, their backs shredded from a lashing (Acts 16:23), their feet fettered.

Serving God does not exempt from trials and pain.  The difference is that we have the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, and God’s grace over our lives.  We can bring our difficulties before God and sing praises will full confidence that He is with us no matter what may come our way.  Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, while the other prisoners were listening to them.

The miracle occurred close to midnight (Acts 16:25).  Today we live in the prophetic time that is close to “prophetic midnight,” the hour of the return of the Bridegroom to take the Bride or the Rapture (Matthew 25:6; see also Exodus 11:4; Luke 11:5; Acts 27:27).  Today, many around us lay imprisoned in sin.  Our mission is to testify with our words and behavior that we belong to a living God, that He answers our prayers and has the solution to our problems.  We need to pray for those who are lost.  We should pray that the power of God manifests itself with signs and wonders, so that salvation and deliverance will occur.  When unbelievers hear true, fervent prayers or truly reverent worship, it can draw them to God.

The jailer was alarmed when he realized that an earthquake had opened the jail.  He was about to kill himself, because he was afraid he would have to face harsh punishment from his superiors.  Many will be desperate when they come to the moment of encountering God.  Paul pleaded with him, “Don’t harm yourself!”  As long as man continues in his sin, he is doing himself harm (Jeremiah 7:19; Jeremiah 25:7).  He heads toward eternal death.  We must rescue the lost souls (Isaiah 42:6-7).

Paul called out, “We are all here.” The church is still in the world, until the Rapture.  While we are here, there is still hope for the lost.  We are the light of the world.  The jailer realized he was in darkness and called for light.  Man needs light in this hour of darkness.  Guided by that light, which represents the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He then ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Spiritual light reveals man’s true condition.

Paul’s message was simple.  “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved – and your family.”  Paul was not a sensational preacher.  The jailer had true faith, the type of faith that acts - he and his family received baptism that night.  Presumably, they joined the nascent house church in Philippi, which had already grown enough to be a group of “brothers.” (Acts 16:40)

This verse describes what they had to do with the blood when they brought a burnt offering – before the burning it, they would drain the blood and sprinkle it on all sides of God’s altar.  In the same way, we need the blood of Jesus to touch EVERY AREA of our lives – all sides.  Everything must be consecrated, every area of sin forgiven, every facet of our lives under its protection.  This is the opening passage of Leviticus, a book entirely about priestly sacrifices and other priestly duties – all of which foreshadow the work of Jesus, our Great High Priest.

The sacrifices of the Old Testament foreshadow the various aspects of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross.  His atonement was multi-faceted, and we see different facets in different Old Testament passages.  For example, Abraham’s attempt to offer his son Isaac in obedience to God’s command (Genesis 22) illustrated the concept of substitution - God provided a ram at the last minute, in the same way that Jesus took our place when he died.  On the other hand, the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12) illustrated Jesus’ blood as spiritual protection.  The scapegoat in Leviticus 16 vividly illustrates removing sin from our lives – the goat would take the sin out of the camp into the wilderness.  The “life in the blood” in Leviticus 17 illustrates the life from the Holy Spirit that we receive through Christ’s sacrifice.

The process of sanctification or consecration through the Blood is apparent throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  Consecration always starts with the sacrifice, with shed blood.  The use of the blood in Leviticus 8 to ordain Aaron the priest illustrated consecration of a minister through Jesus’ blood.

What is consecration?  Consecration means “set apart for God’s purposes” or “separated from sin and spiritual uncleanness.” It is interchangeable with the word “sanctification” or “holiness.”  The definition of consecration has two components – separation from sin and dedication for God’s purposes (that is, the will of God).  The blood of Jesus not only brings forgiveness, but it also marks us as God’s possession, set apart for Him.  Jesus completed the necessary work to consecrate us when he shed his blood on Calvary, and when He poured out the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  This effect of the blood of Jesus begins to apply in our own lives as soon as we receive His salvation.  That is when the blood of Jesus sets our lives apart for God’s Eternal Project, and the Holy Spirit indwelt us, producing a transformation in our character.

Consecration is both an act and a process.  The process of consecration is what we experience day by day as we grow in spiritual maturity, becoming ever more steadfast in our obedience to Christ.

Consecration implies ownership.  We become God’s possession or property (sometimes the Bible even refers to us as his “inheritance”).  “For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession.”  (Psalm 135:4).  Believers in Christ are “those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”  (Ephesians 1:14).  Through Jesus’ blood, God has “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”  (2 Corinthians 1:22).  In rural societies, people sometimes mark or brand their livestock so that everyone will know that a particular animal belongs to that owner as the herds graze freely in the fields.  Similarly, God marks us as his own possession through the Blood.

As this verse (Leviticus 1:5) suggests, every side or area of our lives should belong to God.  This means we must not split our lives into compartments, serving God sometimes and serving ourselves (or the world) other times.  That is like stealing from Him, because He sprinkled the blood of his Son on every side.  We consecrate our professional lives to him, doing our secular labor for the glory of God.  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”  (Colossians 3:23).  We consecrate our family lives to Him.  We consecrate our free time to him.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  (Colossians 3:17).

“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44)

“...sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar...”  (Leviticus 1:5, KJV)

2 Samuel 15:14 - So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come on!  Let’s escape!  Otherwise, no one will be delivered from Absalom!  Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.”

The kingdom of David in the Old Testament is a prophetic foreshadowing of the spiritual kingdom of Jesus.  David followed God with his whole heart.  He did not exalt himself, but let God raise him to the kingship in due time.  The Scriptures later compared all the other leaders who followed David to him — particularly regarding if they followed God with their whole heart.

David led the people of God: in their battles, in their victories, in teaching, in worship, and in praise.

In the New Testament, Jesus fulfills all of these things. He followed the Father with all of his heart.  Jesus did not exalt himself; instead, the Father exalted him when he gave his very life for us.  Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. (John 8:54; see also John 5:31; John 7:28).  Today, the Lord evaluates our lives the same way — by asking if we follow and seek God with our whole heart as Jesus did. As head of the Body, Jesus leads all of the Body’s actions: in battles, victories, teaching, worship, and in praise.

Absalom illustrates those who subvert the rule of Jesus by human strategies and political manipulation. Absalom acquired a chariot, horses, and fifty bodyguards.  He replaced God’s power (50-Pentecost) with human strength, resources, and ideas.  He positioned himself between the people and David, the rightful king.  People began to rely on Absalom’s opinions rather than David’s rightful rule.  He gradually began to appear to be the rightful ruler.  He used shallow “affection” to win the peoples’ emotional loyalty — extending his hand, his embrace, his kiss out of a desire to manipulate and control.

Those who stay loyal to Jesus will escape. For a period, it appears that David tolerated this action.  Jesus is very patient — always wanting people to repent.  Sometimes he will allow us to experience the logical conclusion of our sin; sometimes this is judgment enough.  In addition, David waited to see if the people would follow Absalom or if they would remain loyal to him.  Similarly, Jesus always wants us to follow him first.  Nevertheless, he lets this be our choice.

Did David abandon Jerusalem, or was he driven out? Perhaps Absalom would say that David left the Kingdom; but David had no choice but to leave in order to preserve God’s project.  David wept over the rejection he felt and the loss this situation represented for the kingdom, regardless of who would prevail in the end.  Sometimes our own situations with our brethren feel ambiguous like this today.

The people of Israel could have stood up and cried “enough!” and deposed Absalom themselves, but they did not.  Similarly, there is a grave danger for servants in churches where leaders are drawing people’s loyalties toward themselves.  Our loyalty always must remain with Jesus and with his rule.  Eventually, the majority of the Israelites allowed their loyalties to be swayed from David — the rightful king that God had appointed — to Absalom.  At this time, Absalom made it clear that he was not going to be satisfied with having people’s love, affection, and loyalty.  He wanted to rule the whole kingdom himself, even if he had to kill his father in the process.

The same thing can happen with leaders in a church.  They start out serving the Lord as best as they know how.  Then little by little, they inject more and more of themselves into the work and eventually they decide that they really want to be in charge.  As a result, they dilute Jesus’ own dominion over the church.  Jesus’ rule and human control are mutually exclusive or incompatible.  Men cannot control the church and claim that God is in control.

Conclusion - For a time, David was not able to rule in Jerusalem.  There was even a bloody battle in the forest (in the world) where the forest consumed more of the people of Israel than the battle itself did before David was able to rule again.  Even so, David eventually came back to Jerusalem.  Remember that God always has a plan to take his faithful Church forward.  Meanwhile, the faithful servants of the Lord must take care to follow the Son of David, keep their loyalties and love first and foremost with Jesus, find, and live in God’s plan, wherever it leads.

But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”    The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

“The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied.

This is a lesson about hearing from God and knowing God’s will for our lives.  This story occurs during a period when the Israelites were divided into two kingdoms – a northern kingdom, usually called “Israel” or “Samaria” (Samaria was the capital), and a southern kingdom, called “Judah,” headquartered in Jerusalem.  Sometimes the northern and southern kingdoms were at war, and sometimes they were allies, as in this chapter.  The kings of Judah, the southern kingdom, were physical descendants of David, and a few of them (not the majority) were righteous, godly men.  Jehoshaphat was one of their most godly kings.  The kings of Samaria, the northern kingdom, were all bad, except for a mixed character named Jehu.  Ahab was one of their worst kings.  Jehoshaphat apparently felt intimidated by Ahab, and was willing to do almost anything to forge a deeper alliance between their kingdoms.  During a summit between the two leaders, Ahab proposes that they launch a war against  Aram (a people group from modern-day Syria and Iraq), to retake part of Israel’s territory (Ramoth-Gilead in modern-day Jordan) that the army of Aram had occupied.

1. Ahab’s First Mistake - Ahab had surrounded himself with prophets who would always tell him what he wanted to hear.  They had a financial incentive to do so because Ahab provided their food, lodging, and livelihood.  This was their full-time ministry.  They could not risk offending their patron and the relationship tainted their prophecies.  Sadly, this is the state of a lot of “prophecy” and “prophets” today.  They constantly prophesy prosperity, health, and victory for their hearers.  This is what everyone wants to hear, and these self-proclaimed prophets make their living making these hopeful pronouncements over people’s lives.  They are not really hearing from God most of the time, but they keep making prophetic pronouncements and people love it.  The people might be headed for disaster, like Ahab in this story, but these full time ministers do their job and give false hope and inspiration. Christians are like Ahab when they tolerate only prophecies that they like.  (See also Lamentations 2:14; 2 Timothy 4:3).  We must be willing to accept whatever God says.

Even Maranatha churches are not immune to this.  We should feel concerned if nearly all the spiritual gifts are affirmations of the status quo or promises of glorious breakthroughs about to occur – despite ongoing serious problems there that remain unaddressed.  Those in leadership positions must be especially vigilant to resist the temptation to promote or surround themselves with “yes men” who constantly have “revelations” that conveniently support whatever the leader thinks or plans to do.  Our flesh naturally enjoys such endorsements, but the fear of the Lord should make us afraid of such self-delusion (Galatians 6:4).

2. Jehoshaphat’s Plea - a godly person feels nervous about phony prophecies and false inspiration.  They seek a person who will tell them what God is actually saying, whether it is positive or negative.

3. Ahab’s Second Mistake - Ahab hated Micaiah, the one true prophet there, because he did not like hearing words of correction or warning or rebuke.  He was very immature.  This is a sure path to self-destruction, when we listen only to optimism and inspiration and reject genuine warnings.  Even the court attendant tried to pressure Micaiah to go along with all the other revelations that had been favorable (1 Kings 22:13).  Micaiah must have sounded sarcastic with his favorable answer, because Ahab demands that he speak the truth (1 Kings 22:17-18).  We must not despise the truth.

4. Ahab’s Third Mistake – Ahab decided to disregard Micaiah’s prediction of his death and go into battle anyway (due to ego issues).  Then he did something bizarre – he wore a disguise and coerced Jehoshaphat into dressing like him, trying to “beat the curse” or prevent God from fulfilling the prophecy (2 Kings 22:30-33).  This was futile, of course.  Yet people think like this – they refuse to repent or obey God, and instead try to work around the warnings.  This is the madness of religion – believing enough to be afraid, but not believing enough to obey.

Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.

Psalm 119 is an extended song about God’s words – his law, his commands, his ongoing revelation in our lives, and the Living Word (Jesus).  Each verse teaches the believer something about how God intended us to interact with his words and assimilate them into our lives.

“Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.” – Notice how the response to God’s blessing is OBEDIENCE.  Many churches recite the slogan every week that says, “God is good – all the time!”  We cannot stop there, merely reminding ourselves of God’s goodness.  God’s “kindness leads us to repentance” (Romans 2:4).  He extends his mercy with a purpose, to transform our lives.   “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” – This points us to a very important doctrine – the REVEALED WORD.  This phrase about “opening the eyes to see things in the Law” is similar to the phrase used in the Gospels for what happened to the disciples after the resurrection.  “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45)  The Bible is a spiritual book, and true understanding of it comes by revelation from the Holy Spirit, not merely through reading and study.  In an instant, Jesus gave the disciples understanding of the Word beyond that of the Rabbis and Scripture scholars.  Then they understood that the Old Testament all points toward Christ (see Luke 24:44-47).

As it says later in Psalm 119, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”  (Psalm 119:130).  We want to see preachers do just that, to preach the revealed Word, instead of just parroting things they read in Christian books or heard other preachers say.  The revealed Word actually feeds people’s souls.

The Bible itself says that the “letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6), so we must look beyond the literary analysis of the Scriptures for spiritual food.  Jesus challenged the religious leaders of his day for their mistaken emphasis on the letter of the Scripture. “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.  These are the Scriptures that testify about me.”  (John 5:39)  The Old Testament is really about Jesus.  In this sense, all of the Word is prophetic, not just the “prophetic books” like Isaiah or Joel.  We see Jesus in the story where Abraham nearly sacrifices his only son Isaac – pointing forward to the way our Heavenly Father would offer His Only Son.  We see Jesus in the Passover Lamb, in the story of Jonah in the belly of the fish, and in the Bronze Serpent that Moses lifted up for the healing of the people.

How do we obtain the revealed Word, instead of mere human understanding of the Bible?  This verse gives us the key – we must ask the Lord for it.  This verse becomes our prayer: “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”  We need God to help us see things in the passage that an unbeliever could not discern if they read it.  “Wonderful things” are the revealed doctrines, the eternal truths about Jesus.  An essential part of the true believer’s relationship with the Word is this miracle: revelations about its spiritual meaning.  God wants this for every believer and every church.

I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.  “Stranger” here means “foreigner” or one who does not belong.  True believers feel out of place in this world because this is not our home; our home is in heaven, once we are born of the Spirit.  Our alienation here makes us especially desperate to hear from the Lord and know His will each day, because the world around us is so corrupt and confusing.  The New Testament is very clear about this concept: “I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11; see also 1 Peter 1:1).  “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.  And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.  People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.”  (Hebrews 11:13-14).  This should describe us today.

]]> http://www.kingwoodbiblestudy.com/archives/402/feed http://www.kingwoodbiblestudy.com/archives/398 http://www.kingwoodbiblestudy.com/archives/398#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:49:18 +0000 drustevenson http://www.kingwoodbiblestudy.com/?p=398 Isaiah 40:11 - “He gently leads those who have young.”

There are several ways to increase how much we hear God speak to us.  God is never obligated, of course, to any man, but the Bible shows us some circumstances in which people are more likely to receive personal, direct revelation from Him.  This verse describes one of these special circumstances.

The chapter overall declares God’s protection over His people, and the first part of this verse portrays Him as a gentle Shepherd who gathers us in his arms.  “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart…”

The phrase, “Those who have young” in this verse refers to sheep who have recently produced offspring.  Spiritually, this refers to believers who are bringing other people to Christ and teaching them to be faithful disciples or saints – that is, producing “new lambs” in Christ’s flock.  “Those with young” are the people in the church who do personal evangelism and discipleship.  We are not speaking here of someone with the title of “evangelist” (in most churches, a title people simply claim for themselves) or with any official designation as such, nor about people officially put in charge of new converts.  The people with these titles and official roles may indeed be evangelizing and making disciples, but the title is not the reason, nor is it necessary.  Any member of the church can be active in sharing their faith in Christ with others, and in befriending and assisting the newcomers in their church.

A few members of the church develop a real passion for sharing their faith, reaching the lost, and helping new believers mature in the Lord.  They devote time to praying for their family members, friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, etc.  When the other church members are praying about their own problems, these members are “wrestling in prayer” for  the newcomers, so that they “may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” (See Colossians 4:12, describing how Epaphras did this in the early church).  They “always prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks” anything about their faith, their church, or the Bible (see 1 Peter 3:15), and they “make the most of every opportunity” to tell outsiders about salvation (see Colossians 4:5; Ephesians 5:16).  They watch for openings in the conversation to mention the Lord or their church.  They fast and pray for their words to take effect in the hearts of those with whom they speak.  The Lord honors these faithful servants, and gives them spiritual fruit – new people to disciple.  Either they Lord will use them to bring lost souls to salvation, or to help disciple new converts, or both.  They are “those who have young” among God’s flock.

We wish everyone were like this.  Churches that are flourishing spiritually have more members like this than other churches do.  Part of our understanding of the church as the Body of Christ is that God wants ALL the members to be proactive in reaching the lost souls in their social networks and to take initiative in following-up with people who visit the church, even if the visitors came because of other members.  Evangelism and discipleship then becomes a team effort in the church and the newcomers feel integrated into a spiritual family.

“He gently leads those who have young.” God “leading” us refers to divine guidance, that is, direct revelation through dreams, visions, prophetic words, or the first verse of the Bible to which we open after prayer.  We have observed that there are more spiritual gifts or revelations in preparation for a church service when unbelievers or new converts will be present; and there are fewer when the service has only established church members.  The reason for this is that God places a priority on reaching the lost and helping new believers have profound experiences with Him (see Matthew 18:12-13; Luke 15:4-7).  So the church will often experience a surge in prophetic words, visions, and dreams when the members are bringing new people to the services.  ”Gently” refers to God’s tone in these revelations.

Similarly, the individuals who are most engaged in outreach and discipleship will experience God guiding them and speaking to them – directly, or through revelations to other members in the church.  God honors their faithfulness and speaks to them, and gives them revelations to assist them in reaching the lost or discipling the spiritually young (see, e.g., Acts 8:26-29; Acts 10:19-20; Acts 16:9).  These experiences then deepen the faith and passion of these faithful, proactive believers, which makes them even more effective and compelling in their witness for Christ.