Worship and Respond

June 2, 2013 Background Scripture: Isaiah 6 Lesson Passage: Isaiah 6:1 – 8 I am well aware that it can be short-sighted and narrow-minded to dare to embrace any particular book of the Bible as a favorite among the sixty six. However, I must admit that I am always more than a little excited when it is time to study from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah was without doubt the greatest of the writing prophets. The book that bears his name is a microcosm of the entire biblical scene. From the creation to the re-creation, it’s all in there. In our lesson today, we review the passage that is often referred to as the record of Isaiah’s official call into the ministry. We could hardly do justice to the lesson passage without an overview of the entire background scripture. In Chapter 6, Isaiah recalls his vision of the exalted Lord in his glory. The scene is the heavenly temple that served as the pattern God gave Moses to use for the layout of the tabernacle and subsequent to that, the same pattern was used for the various Jewish temples. I say this was the actual temple because of the physical presence of the Lord’s throne as well as the angelic beings whose sole purpose appears to be the continuous worship of the Lord (And some Christians complain if we go pass an hour and a half on Sunday!). The sound of the worship of the angelic being is enough to shake the posts of the temple door. The worship of the Lord says nothing about his past actions which exude praise from the mouths of the grateful as it does from those who reverence him and are aware of his past goodness. On the other hand, true worship speaks of who he is and not what he has done. He is unblemished in his absolute holiness. He is holy, holy, holy. The vision caused Isaiah to see himself in the context of pure holiness. The vision also caused him to see the condition of those he was surrounded by. The reality of it all caused fear to grip Isaiah. He knew he could not continue to exist in the presence of such holiness and therefore he expressed an expected end to his own existence. Woe is me! As Isaiah confessed his spiritual condition, it came forth in the form of true repentance. This was enough to cause the Lord’s mercy to spare Isaiah and the Lord’s grace to restore him. One of the angelic beings brought a hot ember from the altar and placed it on Isaiah’s mouth—the self-acknowledged source of his shortcoming as far as his actions were concerned. Isaiah was told that he was now spiritually cleansed by this action. Only after he had been cleansed did Isaiah state that he heard the Lord’s voice. Isaiah’s sin had been purged and his actions were forgiven. Isaiah was now ready to respond to the Lord’s desire for him. Isaiah had seen the Lord and he had observed true worship. What the Lord expressed as a desire, Isaiah expressed a willingness to perform. True worship and repentance should position us for service. If we are unwilling to be of service for the Lord’s sake, have we repented of our sins and truly experienced worship? They go hand-in-hand. After we have worshiped the Lord, then we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to do His will. This is our most noble response to worship. Robert C. Hudson May 22, 2013

Patient Hope

May 26, 2013 Background Scripture: 2 Peter 3 Lesson Passage: 2 Peter 3:3 – 15a, 18 As the Apostle Peter closed out his second letter to the Jewish Christians who were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire, he did several things in striking form. First, Peter clearly indicated that this is his second letter he is writing to the same group. (Certainly, anyone new to the faith subsequent to the first letter being sent would want to have access to it or at least its contents.) Secondly, he acknowledged the Apostle Paul as a beloved brother. This is important since those who study the early church history recorded in the book of Acts as well as Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia would note that Paul had confronted Peter concerning Peter’s hypocritical actions among the Gentile Christians. Without Peter’s note in this letter, it would be easy for some to falsely conclude that the two did not get along as Christian brothers. So Peter did not simply make reference to Paul but he referred to him as a beloved brother. The third thing that Peter did in the closing of this letter is probably more important theologically than anything else in the closing. Peter declared that Paul’s letters should be considered in the same context as the Old Testament writings. He referred to Paul’s letters as scripture. He cautioned them who ignorantly struggled with Paul’s writings by noting that some of Paul’s writings contain divine mysteries that cannot be understood intellectually. Again, it is significant that he referred to Paul’s writings as scripture because at the beginning of this letter he stated that the writers of the Old Testament did not write of their own will but wrote as they were directed by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:20 – 21). Peter’s second letter should be considered along with 2 Timothy and Jude. In all of these, there is reference made to the last days before the return of Christ to the earth in bodily form. The readers are both warned and encouraged to live holy lives that are pleasing to God. The challenge for the church in the last days will not come from them on the outside but rather from them on the inside. They will consider their own life experiences to be greater than the prophecies of God. They will limit their own decisions to whatever knowledge they might have gained through personal observations outside of unfulfilled prophecies. They will make fun of them who rely on the word of God for guidance rather than their own human senses. Peter compared them to the wicked generation that lived during the days of Noah. They chose to ignore the warnings God sent them and were totally unprepared when the great flood came and destroyed them. Likewise, there will be some who will be unprepared when the world will be destroyed by fire. The day of destruction will surely come. Peter encouraged believers to patiently hold on to the promises of God. God will fulfill all that He has promised. In spite of the great destruction that is to come, Christians are assured that they will be spared and a new home will be prepared for eternal existence in the presence of God. Knowing these things, Christians should continue to grow in grace. This growth is effected through diligent study of the scriptures and the application of those scriptures in our daily lives. When Christ appears, we will not be ashamed but have unspeakable joy to be found of him living according to his precepts and commands. Robert C. Hudson May 18, 2013

Active Hope

May 19, 2013 Background Scripture: 1 Peter 4 Lesson Passage: 1 Peter 4:1 – 11 “So, what are ya gonna do ‘bout it?” That simple question from the school yard playground from years past still carries with it a suggestion of rhetoric with a clear expectation that recent information we have obtained should spur us to some type of action. The fact is that this new information or the reminder of information that we have been in possession of but have not acted on still demands a response. The Apostle Peter’s letter to the Jewish Christians who were dispersed as a result of religious persecution contains a threaded message of hope. In spite of the situation and in spite of their circumstances, Peter wrote to remind the Christians that they had a living hope because of the example and power of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they were encouraged to receive the mind of Christ and use it as a weapon in the spiritual warfare of life. Or in the words of the Apostle Paul, they should allow this renewed mind to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of the will of God. A life of salvation is lived victoriously when we walk after the precepts and examples of Christ and not according to the sinful desires of our flesh. Christians should fully accept that their past life was a life of sin and contrary to the will of God. However, now that we have been saved and are being sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, we are no longer slaves to our sinful desires and therefore we must take the mastery over them. Love should be our new mode of living as we move about within the social complex of this world. A life of love moves us further from the sins of the past that would seek to haunt us and destroy our witness. Many who were once part of our social circle will no longer be. This new life will seem strange to them as they recall days past when we—like them—ran after the things of this life that we thought at one time would ultimately bring us happiness. Now that we are saved, we know that all who pursue a sinful way of life will be brought into judgment because of it. This is all the more reason for us to strive to live a life that is pleasing to God that we may set an example for them that we may win them, with our actions, to the obedience of Christ. How we live is an expression of what is within us. If we are filled with anger, malice, jealousy, or ill will or any other such emotions or attitudes, these things will manifest themselves through our daily living. Contrariwise, being that we are filled with the hope that has come through the knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ, that same hope ought to be manifest in the way we live. It is our day-to-day living that makes our hope active. When our walk lines up with our belief, or put another way, when our living reflects our faith, then the hope that is within us is made active in the world around us. “So, what are ya gonna do ‘bout it?” In the words of a popular secular song, we should “walk it out”. Robert C. Hudson May 9, 2013

Sure Hope

May 12, 2013 Background Scripture: 2 Peter 1 Lesson Passage: 2 Peter 1:2 – 15, 20, 21 Sometimes all we have to hold on to is what we hope for. The hope that is within us causes us to prepare ourselves to experience an expectant future. Hope is much more than wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is purely imaginary or within the mind of the person whereas hope is based on something tangible. Hope is engendered by something or someone beyond the person. Often, hope is based on words that form the basis of a promise. In our lesson today, Peter assures us, who have obtained the same kind of faith he had from God through our Lord Jesus Christ, that we have also received exceeding great and precious promises. Just the adjectives and the adverb used to describe the promises of God to the redeemed is enough to stir up hope in us. “Exceeding great” implies that these promises of God are beyond great. These promises exceed great. Likewise, these promises of God are also precious which indicates value. Just the description of the promises is enough to cause hope to well up on the inside of believers. For one thing, God’s promises make it possible for us to receive of His divine nature. Christians have a choice in this life. We can continue to wrestle with our fleshly nature and live frustrated in this fallen world, or we can partake of the divine nature which God makes available and live victoriously. Note that the divine nature does not exempt us from troubles and hardships in this life but rather the divine nature allows us to handle them differently knowing that they are temporary. As we have received salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have likewise been called to participate in his glory and virtue. We should grow beyond merely professing faith to living a virtuous life. As we experience living as such, we grow towards a walk in divine love. We both receive divine love and allow it to be reflected in our daily living. Then, the knowledge of Jesus Christ will bear fruit in our life. When this doesn’t happen, Christians remain worldly and slaves to our passions. When we are continuously reminded of God’s expectation of us, it helps us to continue to grow in grace. Peter desired to continue to put Christians in remembrance of God’s promises even after his death. Perhaps that is one of the reasons he wrote this letter. Peter based his desire on his eyewitness account of what happened with Jesus and not on his ability to trick people into believing even as he did. Peter reminds the reader that his word of prophecy is like all prophecy of scripture. It is the result of the work of the Holy Ghost and not the will of the one speaking. This word of prophecy is made sure through its partial fulfillment that Peter and others gave witness to. It is this witness to the partial fulfillment of the precious promises that Peter based his assurance on. It was also the assurance that Peter had that by writing this letter he could constantly put the redeemed in remembrance of God’s promises long after his own death. Thanks to the eyewitness accounts of Peter and others who served along side him, today we have a sure hope. Robert C. Hudson May 3, 2013