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100923 faithposting
Oct. 9th, 2023 10:57 amDUDE I THINK I FINALLY GET LUKE 11:12???
Its because a scorpion LOOKS like an egg when its all crouched up! So Jesus is saying, GOD WON'T TRICK YOU WITH THE ANSWERS TO YOUR PRAYERS!!!
Oh my gosh that's one of my BIGGEST FEARS and I NEVER KNEW HE WAS REASSURING ME.
Back during my pagan days I was repeatedly warned that you have to phrase your prayer requests VERY CAREFULLY because if a "god" detests a loophole, or something it can twist to mean different, IT WILL. Like its a game where they see just how much they can screw you over for fun, while NEVER ACTUALLY DOING what you asked-- OR not doing, for the record-- because you, a mere foolish mortal, have NO RIGHT TO RECEIVE ANYTHING, let alone the gall to ASK. So you get mocked and pranked by these uncaring "deities." It didn't help that this happened in my childhood, too, with family & strangers alike. People thought it was funny to say one thing and do another, to get my hopes up and then punch them out cold.
But GOD ISN'T LIKE THAT. As shocking as it sounds, God ACTUALLY WANTS TO DO GOOD FOR YOU. Not only does He WANT TO HEAR your prayer requests, but He DOESN'T TRICK YOU when He answers!!!! You don't have to be paranoid that He's going to find some way of claiming "well you didn't say NOT to give you this," etc. No, GOD IS A GOOD FATHER and when you come to Him as a needy trusting child HE DOTES ON YOU IN LOVE.
I mean really, think about how I treat Xenophon! I would NEVER even THINK of not giving her what she asked for-- more and better even-- just because I love her that much and want to give her all I can in that love!!
...I need to just sit with that for a minute. I'm actually in shock a bit. I'm so used to scared prayers, but now, this is telling me that isn't even a concern. Man.
God really is just as Good as I've ever dared to hope-- and unfathomably better.
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On to Grant for the commentary today.
"Martha served in evident thankful devotion. Lazarus, in communion with Him, sat at the table. Mary, in adoring worship, anointed His feet with costly ointment... Here are characteristics that should be true of every believer. For though one may have more outstanding ability for service, another more attracted by communion, or fellowship, another specially delighting in worship, yet all should be true of every child of God in some measure at least."
This is good to reflect upon.
How do I "devotedly serve" the Lord? How do I "prepare a meal for Him", like Martha?
How do I "sit in communion" with the Lord? How do I "join Him at the table" like Lazarus?
How do I worship the Lord "in adoration"? How do I "wipe His feet with my hair" like Mary?
What food do I give? What company do I offer? What perfume do I pour out?
...
"The Lord defends Mary with simple, gentle words. She had done this in view of His burial... Other woman came too late to anoint His body, for He had risen then."
(FIX THIS, IT'S DANGEROUSLY TANGLED. PRAY ABOUT IT.)
This struck me. "The poor are always with you," but not the Lord, Who would soon die... and yet, would not each poor man die too? What good would your alms or ointments do them then? I think Jesus was teaching a double lesson. I speak very loosely. The women "came too late" when Christ Resurrected, yes, but in metaphor, we should never wait until AFTER death to honor a soul. When they are with God, our judgment will be set.
When they resurrect with Christ, it will be too late to aid them.
We can pray for their soul, like putting spices in the grave, but if
Mary anointed Christ FOR burial WHILE He lived.
...
"It is the common people whom God prepares to give honor to His true King, a witness from many lips that ought to have shamed the leaders to a realization of their own willful blindness."
God gives grace to the humble, because they are open & trusting & lowly enough TO receive & cooperate with it.
This truth is so clear in the world even now. The most powerful faiths, the most beautiful souls, the most honorable hearts, are those of the simple and common folks who love & serve Jesus with simple ardor and so overflow with hidden grace. There is a purity to their lives that is blinding to the proud.
...
"The Pharisees were nonplused and afraid of popular opinion, which they saw as favoring the Lord. This infuriated them, and served to bring out all the more fully the wickedness of their hearts, for they had to wait for the treachery of a false disciple, and for darkness in which to arrest Him."
This is scary in two ways: first, how a sinful heart DOES RECOGNIZE God's favor and righteousness, and it gets infuriated. It doesn't check itself, reconsider, or surrender to truth. It gets ANGRY. This is Isaiah 6 from yesterday! They SEE, for sure, but they don't comprehend, because they won't, as their pride refuses to give God any foothold. Secondly, that sinful heart goes further and instead of repenting it rebels, KNOWING it is acting against God, BUT now also knowing that it CAN'T oppose Him in broad daylight, for its own reputation and safetys sake, as the evidence FOR God is apparent. So it acts underhandedly. It hides in shadows. It waits for the night. It creeps in the dark. It even uses treachery & lies & subterfuge-- it pretends TO be on God's side, then bites like a snake! It CHOOSES BETRAYAL for its own ends. It uses the most malicious means it can find, with no shame, BECAUSE THOSE SHADOWS HIDE THE TRUTH from their own wicked hearts. They wait for the sun to set, before daring to act, but KNOWING they HAVE to dare, BECAUSE IT'S WRONG.
It's appalling. It's pure evil. And we've done it. Lord have mercy on our hideous past!!
"The hour before Him He knew would be unspeakable agony: would He pray that He might be spared from it? No, for He had come this far with the settled, sublime purpose of facing this hour in the infinitely great sacrifice of Himself. He would unfailingly perform the most marvelous work that the universe has ever known. For He came to do the Father's will, and therefore His prayer is simply, "Father, glorify Thy name."...the Father says that He had already glorified His name, no doubt in the incarnation and devoted life of the Lord Jesus. He would glorify His name again in His matchless death and resurrection."
I know this sounds like common sense but it still means a lot to me as a Christian.
Jesus was God. He KNEW before His Incarnation even WHAT He was going to have to suffer. However... as a human He still had to EXPERIENCE it, something He COULDN'T DO AS GOD.
He knew His death would be utterly excruciating, and impossibly so-- since He could not be killed, He would suffer tortures and agonies that no mortal man could survive, and He would keep on going. It was a miracle that His Body held together long enough TO be crucified, but it was also inevitable-- the Cross alone would be His death.
So as a human of course He was terrified.
...
"That solemn event of the cross IS the judgment of this world: by it all the power of Satan, the prince of this world, has been annulled. The Lord announced it as "now". The world is therefore no longer under probation, but under sentence of judgment. The cross has ended the world's trial: it has been there manifested as criminally guilty; and by the cross of Christ, the strong man (Satan) has been bound, the blessed Lord triumphing over him in the very thing in which Satan thought to have destroyed Christ.
By [His death] He has drawn all men to Himself. He does not [here] speak of salvation but of judgment: His death brings all under His authoritative judgment: He has the right to judge as regards all: none can escape having to do with Him."
Heavy stuff here, but it's essential.
The most shocking bit = the Cross ANNULS Satan's power???
- The Cross is FOREVER "NOW." This is literally shown at MASS!
- The world is NO LONGER UNDER PROBATION. That stunned me. Nevertheless it IS true, because the Cross is the deciding factor. It is the means of salvation AND condemnation, depending on how we stand in regard to it.
- The biggest shock of the Cross is that it is a SYMBOL of this same dual sentence. It is our salvation ONLY because it is ALSO OUR DEATH SENTENCE. The Cross is so powerful an image because we know that WE should be dying on it. But there Christ is, in our place, willingly. And THAT is what we MUST recognize every time we look upon a crucifix-- our innocent Savior choosing to be executed instead of us sinners... because He loves us.
- This paradox of purpose is lastly shown again in Christ’s very victory over Satan, taking all his wrongful weapons & turning them against him. Jesus took death and stripped it of power, making it a door to life. Jesus took sin and poured His Blood upon it, and erased its stains. Jesus took the Tree of Knowledge and nailed His Eternal Truth to it, then gave His Sacrificed Body as the real Fruit that shows us what both sin and righteousness are.
...
"The Lord does not answer their questions, for it was not merely their intellect that needed correction. If they needed enlightening, they must realize that He Himself was the light, and put their confidence in Him rather than in their own understanding, which left them only in confusion. Let them walk [in the light], that is, follow Him, instead of settling down in the morass of their own rationalizing. While light was there, make use of it, or they would be plunged in deeper darkness than before, ignorant of where they were going. All they really needed was to believe in Him, the true Light, in order to be children of light. If they refuse this, then they are not ready for teaching. So leaves them, hiding Himself from them."
Our own shameful pride in our feeble intellect & understanding-- which all this typing arguably is a temptation to-- attests to this. All we ever do is confuse ourselves. If ever we DO grasp some truth, it is IN CHRIST and ONLY in Him.
We need to remember this always. Christ IS Wisdom; He IS Knowledge-- if we seek either, we MUST seek HIM...and we must realize that in giving them, He can only give HIMSELF.
Human "wisdom" is empty & goes in circles forever. It's exhausting & drives one to tears. It's why Jade's ranting is so upsetting. We probably sound exactly the same, all vapid arrogant babble, but we're WORSE because WE'RE talking about JESUS!!
...1 Timothy 2:11-12 haunts me. I can learn, but only in silence, and I cannot ever teach. This is fair. So... Should I stop talking about Scripture? Or is that the devil trying to trick me?
Maybe it's okay if I just keep this to myself. But then how do I witness to this faith journey, if I want it all to be for God's glory? Should I? Do I even have that right? Where do I properly draw the line? I can't trust my own judgment.
...
"One who believed on Him was also believing on God the Father, who had sent Him. For in the midst of darkness He had come, shining with the light of God's glory, in order that every one who believed on Him would no longer be part of the surrounding darkness.
Yet, though He was the Light that exposed evil, if men refused to believe on Him, He was not here to judge them (as He will in a future day); for He had come in pure grace, not to judge, but to save the world. Of course grace despised will bring eventual judgment, but salvation has been offered now to the world for nearly two thousand years, showing the great heart of this blessed Savior. Nevertheless, one who rejected Him and His words is forewarned that the same word He has spoken will judge that person in the last day. For His word is absolute truth that cannot be frustrated; it will triumph."
Jesus, in His Life and Self, exposed evil at every turn, simply because He WAS goodness Himself, as BEING the glory of God. Wherever He went, whatever He did & said, it was OF God's glory and FOR God's glory, and its pure light threw into stark contrast all that was dark & evil in men's hearts. But it also didn't damn them to that darkness! Jesus, AS Light, called all men to come out of darkness and come to Him, not to be destroyed by the brilliance, but to be transformed. I love that so much. God Himself, in Jesus, came to expose evil & banish shadows so that He could change us into goodness & light with Himself.
...
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Next up is Gill.
"This he said, not that he cared for the poor,.... He had no affection for them, and was unconcerned about them, and took no care of them to feed and clothe them; he was no ways solicitous for their support, refreshment, and more comfortable living."
Absolute SHOCKING proof that "faith NEEDS works," and that likewise "our words NEED actions" to be proven true!!
I never thought about this. Wow. Judas can claim he's "concerned for the poor" all he wants, but if he didn't love them, and wasn't concerned for their welfare, and didn't make an honest and sincere effort to care for their basic needs, NOT just throwing money at them... then he doesn't actually care about them at all. And those criteria apply to ALL professed Christians. We cannot just offer blandly kind and commendable sentiments. We cannot just drop envelopes in the basket. We MUST DO SOMETHING, because CHRIST DID.
"Judas had the bag, and bare what put therein = the word rendered a "bag", is adopted by the Rabbinical Jews, into their language; and is sometimes read "Gloskema"... and is used by them for different things; sometimes for a bier, or coffin, in which the dead was buried... sometimes for a chest, or coffer; and so the Septuagint use the Greek word, in 2 Chronicles 24:8, for the chest into which the people put their collection; and it may be so interpreted here... it may signify the chest or coffer, which Judas had the care of, the keys of which were in his hands, and whatever were to be put into it, he bore, or carried thither..."
I'm sorry, i read this and all I could think of was "he carried the keys to his own coffin." He had the means to lock it shut, or open it up. He chose the latter. But he had the choice! No one else had the keys!!
"The death of Christ is signified by the falling of the corn of wheat into the ground, and dying, and shows that Christ's death was not accidental, but designed; it was determined in the counsels and purposes of God, and intended for his glory and the redemption of men; even as wheat falls out of the hands of the sower, not casually, but on purpose, that it may die and spring up again, and produce an increase... the death of Christ was voluntary, both on his Father's part, and on his own; and was real, and not in appearance only, and yet was but for a short time; as the corn of wheat that dies, soon revives again, and is quickly above ground, so Christ, though he really died, did not long continue under the power of death, but rose again the third day, and now lives for ever."
Gill likes run-on sentences, haha. But it's endearing; it suggests an enthusiastic outpouring.
Nevertheless my family struggles immensely with this point, and so it is important for me to grasp properly if I am meant by God to help guide them to His Truth: that His death was voluntary, purposeful, and beautifully designed.
There are so many strikingly elegant details in the metaphor, which actually illustrates Christ's death so well it's astonishing.
This wheat grain was SOWN. It was PLANTED ON PURPOSE. It did not randomly die.
This planting was done with the ABSOLUTE EXPECTATION of germination, growth, and fruition. It is SUPPOSED to die IN ORDER TO FURTHER LIVE.
When wheat is planted, and dies, it INCREASES. The grain does not stay singular. It MULTIPLIES into MANY GRAINS-- arguably IMAGES OF ITSELF.
And THAT point is the amazing proof of OUR HOPE IN CHRIST, that yes, we too will live again through Him.
THAT'S what hit me about this next point: "it dies for real, BUT quickly revives, and is soon above ground."
Does that apply to ALL death? Even "dying to self"? Do we have a hope of our soul soon reviving "above earthly things" even in that mortification? Because I've realized that I actually think of it as a "nailed coffin," a "no exit" road, which is why I dread it. I see it AS JUST DEATH-- with no hope of anything after. I never considered the wheat.
...
"Christ [also] intimates by this simile, that if he had not died, he should have been alone; not without his Father, and the blessed Spirit; nor without the holy and elect angels, but without any of the sons of men, who all fell and died in Adam; and had not Christ died, none of them would have lived; none of them could have been justified; nor could their sins have been expiated; nor would any of them have been regenerated: Christ [would] have been without them in heaven; wherefore He chose rather to die for them, that they might be forever with Him, than be alone in the human nature. And He further observes hereby, that his death would be productive of much fruit; which may be understood both of a large harvest of souls, that should be saved, among Jews, and Gentiles, and especially the latter; and of the blessings of grace, as redemption, justification, peace, pardon, and eternal life, that should follow upon it."
...There is so much ineffable Love in that divine choice I could cry. My heart hurts. It's so astoundingly compassionate.
The fact that in a very real sense He would have "been ALONE" without us, EVEN in heaven, even in His completeness and perfection and eternal joy... that's what's so amazing. He lacked NOTHING. He still did NOT "need" us. We fallen wretches still did not damage or impair the essential bliss of God. BUT... in His perfect love and mercy, in His Heart that CHOSE to take on humanity as the Son... I can barely articulate it. He saw our fallen state and our poor lost lives and HE WANTED US TO BE WITH HIM. He ardently desired our salvation and restoration and UNITY with Him and THAT is where the word "alone" becomes applicable-- because He wanted to be IN RELATIONSHIP with us, and until He achieved that, He was "alone."
...
ALSO WAIT IS THAT WHAT "HARVEST OF SOULS" MEANS???? That they're PART of the "new wheat" that Christ's death has flourished into, each new grain a soul reborn in Him and united to Him???
I NEVER understood that phrase AT ALL. I am neither a farmer nor a gardener, I know nothing. Therefore I must seriously do heavy research on this phrase... But this was the first lightbulb!
...
"whoever is so in love with this present temporal life, as to be anxiously careful of it, and takes all precautions to secure it; and rather than to expose it to any danger, chooses to deny the faith of Christ, and desert his cause and interest; as such an one shall not long enjoy this life, so he shall come short of an eternal one..."
How far should that denial be stretched to apply? How much self-preservation is a Christian allowed to have?
I wonder if its easier than it seems.
I'm TOO afraid of sudden death. I DAILY panic about the constant risks of anaphylaxis, heart attacks, strokes, poisoning, explosions, bombings, riots, murders, rapes, etc. I go through the day shaking with the looming awareness of possibility. BUT does that fear CAUSE ME TO DENY CHRIST??? Again, how far do I stretch the definition of denial? My conscience says "as far as you possibly can."
...
"on the other hand, whoever seems careless about [his earthly life], and not to consult the safety of it, but is unconcerned about it; yea, as if he was throwing it away, as of no great moment and significancy, rather than do anything to preserve it which would be scandalous to himself, and be dishonourable to his Lord and master; [such a man] "shall keep it unto life eternal": he shall be preserved in his temporal life, in a remarkable manner, until he has done the will and work of God, notwithstanding all attempts upon it; and he shall [presently] appear to have that spiritual life, which is the beginning and pledge of, and which springs up unto, and issues in eternal life; and that he shall enjoy in the world to come."
...
My personal fear with this is that, for me, that "carelessness" feels like suicidal ideation. I've lived that way before.
But if my faith was stronger, that wouldn't happen. That's a FACT.
The next concern is to "not do anything to preserve one's life that would dishonor Christ and scandalize his faith"... and how far do we stretch THOSE definitions? Too easily that becomes scrupulous paranoia, but too little and we risk damnation...
...but then there's that next line, which I've NEVER heard before.
If a man gives no thought to preserving his mortal life, GOD WILL DO IT FOR HIM.
What??? You mean God might actually want me to live????
THAT seems scandalous, to be blunt, but... I know God is kinder than I ever dreamed. I cannot doubt that statement, even if it's crazy.
"This Christ said to let his disciples and followers know, that they must suffer and die, as well as he, though not on the same account, and for the self-same reasons; and that their sufferings and death in his cause, and for his Gospel, would turn to their advantage."
This is important to remember that we all DESERVE our crosses. We ARE condemned sinners. Our deaths have NO honor or merit. Our sufferings are justly inflicted and never as much as our sins demand. And it is ESSENTIAL TO OUR SALVATION THAT WE HUMBLY ACCEPT ALL THIS. Only then can CHRIST do ALL the work.
I must accept my cross without protest as a helpless hopeless death-row scumbag and bleed all the way to Golgotha knowing that even this is going easy on someone like me, before I can see the Man nailed up next to me through gore-blurred eyes and admit with my dying breath that HE has done no wrong.
