Many prayers answered...

Thank you for your many prayers this week as we served in El Cotorro. We had our challenges, but God provided in every situation! Pastor William and his family send their warmest regards and thanks for sharing us with them for the week.

Below I have included some pictures from our week illustrating the project and will be posting more on Facebook later. It is amazing however how things work out. One of the things that Pastor William has been praying about for over a year now has been for the ability to purchase a home near the church so that they would have more space for materials and worship. This was an almost impossible dream, but thanks to friends from Colorado the funds were provided, and this week while we were there Pastor was finally able to secure a home two houses down from the church. This is an incredible blessing because for the last 4 years William and his family have lived at the church while it has been under construction. This blessing will change their lives and hopefully allow the project to speed up.

Please continue to pray for Pastor William and his family! Also, be praying if you would like to be involved in this project, we have another team heading down in October. October 6-13, 2017

Good Morning from Las Brisas

Good morning everyone, as most of you read this post our team will be hard at work about the Lord's work in El Cotorro. We appreciate your prayers while we are here!

This year has proven to be especially challenging. We struggled to find people to participate this year, and even then, we lost several participants before the deadline to go right up to just this past week. We’ve had missing passports and found passports, we’ve had sickness, even death attack our team member’s families. But we know without a doubt that this is where God desires for us to be. We know that God has a plan for each of those on the team and that we will be a blessing to Pastor William and his family at Las Brisas Iglesia Baptista.  

Our team this year consists of myself, Pastor Alex, Chrissy Bullard, Edie Nicholson, Pavel Bacallao, Pavel’s son Jaccell, and Tom Red from our sister church in Big Pine.

I look forward to our return next week and sharing with you the incredible blessings we received and gave on your behalf! Thank you for your prayers for safety and traveling mercies. Pray also that the Gospel message would be proclaimed!

Pastor Jonathan

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Looking at our passage this week in Hosea I can’t help but be reminded God’s redemptive work in his Son. Hosea chapters 4-5 we see this picture of a courtroom in which the judge is reading off the charges against his people. At the end of chapter 5, the sentence is pronounced, the Lord proclaimed in 5:15 “I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face; they will search for Me in their distress.” He was going to leave the people of Israel to their own devices until they were ready to repent.

Israel and Judah were weak and sick, and instead of turning to the Lord they turned to the King of Assyria and the only thing the Lord could do was to step back and wait for them to realize their predicament.

In chapter 6 we hear a plea of repentance from the people. However, it isn’t unusual for an individual when accused in a trial to express regret and remorse over what they have done and ask for a second chance. Which is what in this case we see Israel doing, except God in is sovereignty wasn’t fooled. God recognized their feigned repentance and proceeded to expose their hypocrisy.

The Lord calls their loyalty out like a “morning mist” vanishing like the “early dew.” Meaning that they are claiming loyalty now when it benefits them but as soon as the circumstances change they are gone.

To provide some substance to their faith, God sends His prophets with the Word of God, but over and over the people turned a deaf ear.  God doesn’t desire our relationship with him to be shallow, filled with empty words and emotions. He doesn’t want our hearts to be excited one day and frigid the next. Hosea 6:6 is a common theme throughout scripture “For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”  

God recognized the superficial nature of their sacrifices and rejected them. There is but one sacrifice which while it pained Him, He couldn’t refuse. The sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t for himself, it was made for us. It was made that we might be reunited much as Gomer to Hosea with our Lord.

The power of Christ’s sacrifice, however, wasn’t found in his death. It was found in His Resurrection. What a glorious event that defeated death, hell, and the grave once and for all who believe. But just saying oh I believe in God is far from sufficient, we need to demonstrate true repentance.  

Happy Resurrection Day! 

Are You Cheating?

Last week we finished our study of Amos, a guy called by God from the Judean countryside to serve as a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel. This week we start a four-week mini-series on the Prophet Hosea. Hosea even though he is preaching around the same time as Amos, has a slightly different approach. Now, to be fair, there are times in scripture we see prophets taking some unusual methods to get the attention of the people. For instance, Isaiah for three years embarrassed the people by walking the streets dressed like a prisoner of war. The prophet Jeremiah carried a yoke on his shoulders for several months. The prophet Ezekiel even used a haircut at one point as an object lesson to get his point across.

The question is why did they need to do these things? I mean the prophet Jonah preached a super simple message repent or die, and here these guys are putting on a show….

To be fair these peculiar things as Wiersbe puts in were in fact “acts of mercy.”[1] The people were suffering from selective hearing, and they were allowing the sound of God’s voice to be drowned out and were no longer heeding the Covenant. The Lord called Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others to these strange things with the goal of shocking the people, waking them up to listen to what God had to say.

Hosea was no different from the rest of the prophets, he was called to live out a painful object lesson to wake up God’s people. Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute by the name of Gomer who would then bear three children, two of which likely were not even Hosea’s. Then just when things didn’t seem like they could get worse Gomer left him for another man, leaving Hosea to buy back his own wife.

So why did God instruct this man of God (some think Hosea was a priest) to endure these challenges?

Well, it paints a vivid picture of what the children of Israel had done to God by chasing idols and prostituting themselves, committing spiritual adultery. We face the same challenges and temptations today. Look at what James the half-brother of Jesus said in James 4:4: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (ESV)

Church, lest we face God’s wrath we need to heed what Hosea wrote. Each of the individuals in this story—Hosea, Gomer, and the three children—teach us critical spiritual lessons about the relationship between God and his people.

Israel had played the harlot, but God would take her back, just as he does for us when we cheat on Him.

The question we need to ask ourselves are we being faithful and true to our betrothal? When we allow other things, important things such as family, work, school, friends, to come between us and our relationship with God, we are cheating on Him. We must guard against this! Do these things matter? Yes, without a doubt and God cares just as much as you do if not more for these areas of your life but the thing you have to remember is that while God cares for your family he also cares for you. I love the illustration, when you get on an airplane they instruct you to put on your own oxygen mask first when faced with an emergency. If we don't focus on our own walk we can't hope to help anyone else!

May the words of Hosea encourage us to remain faithful to our first love!

See ya Sunday!

[1]Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Amazed (Hosea, Joel), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 316

Don't Starve...

Amos has so many lessons upon which we can meditate. The sermons he preached in chapters 3-6  compelling. Calling on the people to “Hear this word…” Urging them to see the error in their ways, to see that their pride and complacent behavior was the source of their fall.

The prophet’s record ends with five distinctive visions of judgment which God gave to His servant: a vision of a plague of locusts (7:1-3), a vision of a devouring fire (vv. 4-6), a image of a plumb line (vv. 7-9), a vision of a basket of ripe fruit (8:1-14), and finally a vision of the ruined temple (9:1-10). Amos then closes his message on a positive note as he describes the future glorious kingdom that God has promised to His people (vv. 11-15).

In chapter 8, our blue-collar prophet shares of a day of bitter mourning. A day we often refer to as “the Day of the Lord.” We see many vivid pictures in which we are told of what will happen “on that day” on the day of bitter judgment.

The Lord through His prophet proclaims that this coming judgment would, in fact, be like a famine (vv. 11-14), not only of literal food but also of spiritual nourishment. Amos knew as do we that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deut. 8:3 ESV) echoed by Christ in Matthew 4:4. Thus, these days would be days in which people would cry out for help, but they would indeed find no sustenance.  What a tragedy it is that all around we have plenty of "religion" but no Word from the Lord!  People stagger like drunks from place to place, always searching to find food and drink for their bodies as much as spiritual sustenance for their souls.

Today we experience this all too often in one of two ways. We are either famished, not receiving any nourishment spiritually or we are feasting on the wrong things, much as a diet of junk food and Coca Cola will surely destroy us from the inside out eventually causing our bodies to fail.

We are in a sense starving ourselves, consuming the Word one day a week and feasting on junk the other seven.

Think about it…. If you only ate once a week how healthy do you think you would be?

Don't Settle...

Last week we looked at the eight oracles or prophetic words Amos had for Judah, Israel, and the surrounding nations. This week, we see our country prophet zeroing in on "the family" (Amos 3:1). From Amos chapter three to chapter six we see our prophet preach a series of sermons each one building on the previous, each one addressing various issues that were facing Israel and Judah.
When he reaches chapter six, we find what I think is the source of their problems. He addresses two issues in chapter six which are intricately related. Complacency and pride. Amos 6:1 starts off proclaiming woe to those who have become complacent and ends expressing the Lord's hatred of pride. How are these related? Well let's consider what complacency means - The Oxford Dictionary describes complacency "a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements."

So you see, while Amos was telling them "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion" (Amos 6:1 NIV) he was setting them up to receive the knockout punch a few verses later when he says:  "The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself—the Lord God Almighty declares:

“I abhor the pride of Jacob
    and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
    and everything in it.” (Amos 6:8 NIV)

Catch that? The Lord abhor's the pride of Jacob. He is disgusted with those who sit complacently, perfectly content with what they have achieved. Thus sitting back and wait on the "Day of the Lord" to arrive knowing their salvation is secure, not worried about their brother.

Let's bring this up to today. Do we fall into the same trap? Israel and Judah were experiencing the best days economically, their social standing was secure, they weren't warring with their neighbors.

In the church today, (talking universal church here) we have more than we have ever had. We have access to resources no other generation has had yet are we taking advantage of the blessing which God has bestowed upon us or are we sitting complacently admiring with our achievements?

Are we embracing a "Field of Dreams" mentality (if you build it they will come) or are we actively sharing our faith with all who would listen?

I want to challenge you this Easter season - take advantage of the willingness of people to go to church and invite them! Go out of your way to find people, even people you think would never give the church the time of day. But don't just invite them to share with them what God has done for you and bring them!

Let's not let our pride stand between us and obedience to God!

See ya Sunday!

The Country Prophet

Week 5 in our survey brings us to the Book of Amos. We are going to spend a couple weeks here so I wanted to give you some of the important contextual thoughts in writing such that you might be able to refer back to it. Amos himself gives us a timeline for when the book was written:

"The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa—what he saw regarding Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." (Amos 1:1 HCSB)
So, in verse 1 we find all sorts of relevant information. We find our author, Amos. We find his profession and his location "one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa." We see the purpose of declaring "what he saw" (interestingly this is probably better translated his vision concerning). We also see a timeline "in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." So now we can go back and figure out when Uzziah and Jeroboam both reigned, look for records of an earthquake and come up with a date of around 755 BC.

Now, Amos' book is divided into three sections: First, we have a series of "oracles" concerning sin and judgment of eight nations (ch. 1-2). Second, we have a series of "sermons" concerning the sin and judgment of Israel (ch. 3-6). Finally, we have a series of "visions" regarding the sin and judgment of Israel (ch. 7-9).

I think that if Amos were walking out streets today, he would likely feel very much at home. Amos lived in a time much like ours when society was changing radically.

Wiersbe points out that both Israel and Judah were at peace with their neighbors, which meant that their wealth and energy could be used for developing their nations instead of fighting their enemies.

With both kingdoms experiencing prosperity; their cities were expanding rapidly, and a new wealthy merchant class was emerging in society. They were moving from an agricultural society to a commercially driven society and were experiencing the problems and benefits associated with that change.

But, the lesson we learn in these first two chapters is a powerful one. Amos is seemingly echoing Obadiah's and Jonah's message that God is concerned with more than just the deeds and faith of the children of Israel. Amos makes it clear that apostasy and cruelty will be treated the same. God condemned the nations for their cruelty and Israel and Judah for their apostasy.

God cares about all the nations, His desire made evident in the New Testament through His Son. John 3:17 "For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."

I hope you are looking forward to this survey as much as I am! See ya Sunday!

Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Concerned (Amos, Obadiah), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 344-343.

Lessons from Jonah

Week four in our series takes to the book of Jonah. Jonah takes a different form than the other prophets. We find the focus less on Jonah and his message and more on personal Jonah's story. A story of a man running from God then, running to God, of running with God, and finally running ahead of God.

Jonah is a valuable book for us today. It demonstrates great value for three distinct groups of people. 

It has value to those of who preach the gospel. Jonah was instructed to preach to people he didn’t think worthy and chose to reject God’s will for him. He shirked his responsibility which God had placed on him. As ministers of the Gospel, we must always seek to preach without prejudice against the people sitting in the pews.

The Book of Jonah is also of value to ALL Christians! Jonah’s story is one which should remind us that a selfish, narrow-minded, sectarian spirit is not the spirit which God desires of us. We should rather be concerned for all, we should be concerned for the wicked hearted men and women of this world, whoever and wherever they are. 

Finally, the book of Jonah is of great value to SINNERS. Destruction is coming, it is inevitable. However, we find just as God had mercy on Nineveh when they heeded the message, so too will He have mercy on us when we heed the message of those he has sent to preach it. Salvation is available whenever and wherever true repentance and obedience is present.

May the example of Nineveh's repentance always remind us of the words of Christ:

“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's proclamation; and look--something greater than Jonah is here!” (Mt 12:41 HCSB)

Friends, the city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah; the question for us is, have we repented at the preaching of One (Jesus) Who is so much greater?

The Day of the Lord = A Day of Restoration

This week we will be concluding our initial study of the book of Joel. As with all the prophets, when we examine them we find they are very similar in nature. Consider these five steps in each of them in some way.

(1) A warning of impending judgment because of the nations’ sinfulness;

(2) A description of the sin;

(3) A description of the coming judgment;

(4) A call for repentance; and

(5) A promise of future deliverance.

With these five points in mind as we examine Joel, we come to learn much more detail about the “Day of the Lord.” Most people who have been around church even just a little when they hear the term “Day of the Lord” visualize God’s wrath poured out or perhaps the removal of the church. The prophet Isaiah is pretty clear when it comes to describing what’s going to happen…

Look, the day of the Lord is coming— cruel, with rage and burning anger—

To make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it.

Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light.

The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shine.

I will bring disaster on the world, and their own iniquity, on the wicked.

I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and humiliate the insolence of tyrants… (Isaiah 13:9-11 HCSB)

However, there is much more to the “Day of the Lord” than judgment and wrath. Yes, that is a critical aspect of it, but there are other just as essential realities we must see. “The Day of the Lord” is also categorized by a pouring out of divine blessings. Look at what the prophet Micah had to say:

On that day— this is the Lord’s declaration—
I will assemble the lame and gather the scattered, those I have injured.
I will make the lame into a remnant, those far removed from a strong nation.
Then the Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from this time on and forever.
And you, watchtower for the flock, fortified hill of Daughter Zion,
the former rule will come to you, sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem. (Micah 4:6-8 HCSB)

You see the “Day of the Lord” is a day of judgment, but it is also a day of restoration for those who are in Christ Jesus. We have a choice, we can receive the fullness of God’s wrath, or we can receive the fullness of God’s blessing which would you prefer to see on the “Day of the Lord”? 

The Day of the Lord

Last week we began our new series in the Minor Prophets. We were looking at the Book of Obadiah and the danger that pride presents in the life of the believer. We also briefly touched on a common theme throughout many of the prophets, and that is the “Day of the Lord.” This week as we begin our study of the book of Joel we are again confronted with this topic. The book of Joel is wrought with imagery of a judgment so full and so complete that none had ever seen the likes. If there had been mass media in Joel’s day, the headlines would read “LOCUSTS INVADE THE LAND! NATION FACES CRITICAL ECONOMIC CRISIS! No Relief in Sight…”  

When I was in college years ago, I took a class on how to write my sermons and Bible study lessons, the metaphor we used was Hook, Book, Look, Took. Well, Joel has the people on the hook here.  Everyone was concerned about this economic catastrophe that was taking place…

 I love what the Bible Expositor’s Commentary has to say: “Joel wanted the people of Judah to understand what God was saying to them through the plague and the drought. In our own times, the nations of the world are experiencing severe droughts and famines, frightening epidemics, unexpected earthquakes, devastating floods, and other "natural disasters," all of which have greatly affected the national and global economy; yet very few people have asked, "What is God saying to us?" Joel wrote his book so the people would know what God was saying through these critical events.” (Wiersbe, 2003)

As we prepare each in our own way for the “Day of the Lord” may we bring glory and honor to God!

I hope that you will join us on Sunday as Pastor Craig leads us through the study of the Book of Joel!

Warren Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Amazed (Hosea, Joel), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 334.

Minor Doesn't Mean Less Than...

An Introduction to the Minor Prophets

Many might ask why do we need to Study the Old Testament? What value is there to be found in these ancient antiquated writings of men before the first advent of Christ?

I would counter with the argument that while we today are no longer under the Old Testament as a system of justification that the Old Testament is of great value for us today for several reasons. First, the Old Testament was written for our learning, it is a source of comfort and hope for us today. Paul in Romans 15:4 states “For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures.” (HCSB, 2010)

The Old Testament was also written for our admonition so that we might learn from other’s mistakes and avoid them. (1 Corinthians 10:11) “Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”(HCSB, 2010)

Finally, as with all scripture inspired by God, the Old Testament is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:14-17 HCSB, 2010)

This holds especially true with regard to the writings referred to as the Minor Prophets.

My hope and prayer are that this post will serve a two-fold goal, first that it wets your appetite for studying these minor prophets and second that it will serve as your reference guide as we journey through the next months studying the proclaimed coming of Christ and his Gospel in these Old Testament books.

So, what are the Minor Prophets? Well, the short answer is that they are a collection of twelve books that make up the final part of the Old Testament. From Hosea to Malachi we have an eclectic collection of men from different walks of life, many of them overlapping, but each with a critical message from God.

If you are willing to take the time to study these books you will find your life enriched as you expand your knowledge and understanding of God’s holiness, righteousness, justice, and mercy. You will also grow in your understanding of God’s dealings with men.

As we prepare for our exploration of these writings, let’s spend some time answering some critical questions which will allow us to digest God’s word each week as we study.

So, we’ve looked briefly at WHAT the Minor Prophets are, but a slightly more pressing question is WHO were the prophets?

The Old Covenant had different voices in which it was recorded, five different types of instructors. You have Moses, the Lawgiver (Nehemiah 8:1,14; 9:13-14; John 1:17; 7:19). You also have the priests, these were those who administrated the law (Leviticus 10:8-11; Hosea 4:6; Ezekiel 22:26; Malachi 2:7) (Ellis, 1991). There were the wise men, who gave counsel (2 Samuel 14:1-24; 20:16-22). The psalmists, poets who were known as the "sweet singers" of Israel (Ellis, 1991) (2 Samuel 23:1; 1 Chronicles 6:33). And finally, there were the prophets, these were the communicators of the Word of God.

Literally, a prophet is a spokesman for someone else. The word prophet according to the Hebrew dictionary literally means “to boil up like a fountain.” Thus, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, a prophet being a spokesman for God (2 Peter 1:21) was given a message to be relayed, and they had no other option but to proclaim it! (Jeremiah 20:7-9). The prophets were primarily "forth-tellers," though sometimes they were "fore-tellers" in that God's word often pertained to future events. By the way, the fulfillment of these prophecies is a strong proof of inspiration!

There are a few other designations which define the role of a prophet. In 1 Samuel 9:9 they were called “seers.” 1 Kings 17:18 and 1 Samuel 9:6 they were referred to a “man of God.” They were known as a “servant of God” in 1 Kings 18:36 and 1 Chronicles 6:49. The prophet served as God’s “messenger” in Isaiah 42:19 and in Ezekiel 3:17; 33:7 they were assigned the role of “watchman.”

The prophets of the Old Testament were men, but they were also servants of God, men who were divinely appointed and inspired to proclaim the message they were given. There were times which the message applied to the then present day, as they served as watchmen of the people of God. There were still other times, God’s message pertained to the future, and as such, they were “seers” of things to come.

It is important to note that there are different classifications of prophets in that you have “oral” and “literary” prophets.

The oral prophets were those such as Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17; 2 Kings 2), Nathan (2 Samuel 12), Gad (2 Samuel 24:11), and Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29) who left no writings bearing their names.

Which leaves the “literary” prophets. These were those who left books bearing their names. The literary prophets are subdivided into Major and Minor Prophets. This traces back to Augustine (Ellis, 1991). The distinction between the major and minor pertains only to the length of the books.

The "major prophets" include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel. The "minor prophets" consist of twelve books in all, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Another important thing to note is that in considering the “literary” prophets is that when you look at the table of contents in your Bible the order of the books is not chronological. For the sake of establishing a sound basis in our Biblical understanding, we are going to move through them chronologically rather than as they are found in the Biblical Canon.

Now, any time you begin to assign dates to things in scripture you open yourself to controversy. Thus, for the purposes of this guide and the purpose of our preaching series, we will stay within the estimates agreed upon by most conservative scholars.

The dates for breakdown are extracted from The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wiersbe, 2002):

NINTH CENTURY (EARLY ASSYRIAN PERIOD)

      1. Obadiah (ca. 845 B.C)

      2. Joel (ca 830 B.C.)

      3. Jonah (790-750 B.C.)

      -- These three prophets were active during the period known as "The Divided Kingdom" in Israel's history. The empire of Assyria was just beginning to make its presence known in Israel.

EIGHTH CENTURY (ASSYRIAN PERIOD)

      1. Amos (755 B.C.)

      2. Hosea (750-725 B.C.)

      3. Isaiah (740-700 B.C.)

      4. Micah (735-700 B.C.)

      -- In 722 B.C., we know the northern kingdom of Israel was taken into Assyrian captivity. These four prophets were tasked with proclaiming God's message as the nation was being threatened from the north.

SEVENTH CENTURY (CHALDEAN PERIOD)

      1. Jeremiah (626-586 B.C.)

      2. Zephaniah (630-625 B.C.)

      3. Nahum (625-612 B.C.)

      4. Habakkuk (625-605 B.C.)

      -- The Assyrians were eventually defeated by the Babylonians; these four prophets served as God's messengers during the period the Babylonian empire threatened the kingdom of Judah.

SIXTH CENTURY (THE EXILE)

      1. Ezekiel (593-570 B.C.)

      2. Daniel (605-536 B.C.)

      -- Like many of their countrymen, these prophets were taken into Babylonian captivity; from Babylon, they served as God's messengers to both captives and kings

SIXTH AND FIFTH CENTURIES (POST-EXILIC PERIOD)

      1. Haggai (520 B.C.)

      2. Zechariah (520-518 B.C.)

      3. Malachi (ca. 440 B.C.)

      -- Following the return from Babylonian captivity, God used Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people to rebuild the temple.  Sixty to eighty years later, Malachi was used as an instrument to bring about reform in the priesthood during the period of Ezra and Nehemiah which we studied last year in more depth. 

So, we’ve seen the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, let’s take a few moments in closing and examine our basis for understanding the message of the prophets.

In studying the prophets, there are three things in which you need to keep in mind.

     1. You must always seek to understand the political, social and religious conditions of the times. Any interpretation must consider how the message was relevant for the people to whom the prophet spoke. We often see the secondary fulfillment of prophecy in the New Testament, but this must be understood in context and should only be understood as applied by inspired writers of the New Testament. We must guard against making interpretations that are purely speculative. Also, any application to recent events must be carefully harmonized in light of the New Testament.

      2. You must also consider God's relationship to the nations of the day other than Israel and Judah. The writings of the prophets often revealed how God would direct their destiny and also how he judged them. Considering this can also provide insight as to how Christ rules the nations today (Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:5; 2:26;27).

      3. The final thing you must look for is any teaching regarding the Messiah and His coming kingdom (Acts 26:6-7; 28:20). While the primary mission of most of the prophets was to facilitate the repentance of  God’s people from idolatry and wickedness many left a message of hope for the future, pointing to the advent of the Messiah who would ultimately arrive and establish a kingdom which stands for eternity.

The final thing I want to address with this post is six of the major themes that are developed by the Minor Prophets in their writings. We see them consistently throughout scripture and further elaborated by the New Testament writers, but the Prophets provide a unique perspective which benefits our study.  

      1. The holiness of God - God is absolutely pure, absolutely righteous, and absolutely just; he is unnecessarily merciful, amazingly tender, perfectly loving, and forever patient.

      2. The sovereignty of God – Simply, He rules the universe and is above all.

      3. The immutability of God's Word (I heard a great sermon by Dr. Al Mohler on the immutability (or unchanging nature) of God at the Jax Pastor’s Conference, so when we look at this theme in a few weeks I will share it with you!

      4. The wretchedness of sin, we tend in today’s culture to whitewash sin, but the truth is God abhors sin, and will not tolerate, overlook, nor excuse it. Graciously he is willing to forgive those who humbly repent.

      5. Repentance and righteousness are the clarion call of the prophets. God’s punishment for the wicked is severe, but his mercy is great in loving-kindness upon the righteous who approach the throne with a broken spirit and contrite heart of true repentance.

      6. The worship due to God -  We don’t worship for ourselves we worship. The prophets outline for us and remind us that the proper reverence, awe, and respect for God will inevitably cause one to praise Him and give thanks for His wonderful grace and mercy!

So, why do we study the minor prophets? Because in them we learn about the nature of God, His holiness, justice, righteousness, and mercy. We learn of the workings of God, as He deals with the nations, bringing judgment upon the guilty. Ultimately this can help us in our relationship with God today, giving us a comfort and hope to face the future, recognizing that God is in ultimate control.

I hope that you are as excited about this series as I am!

See you Sunday as we start with Obediah – be sure to read it and be ready!

References

(2015). Retrieved from Bible History Online: http://www.bible-history.com

BibleGateway. (n.d.). Retrieved 09 24, 2015, from http://biblegateway.com

Ellis, E. E. (1991). The Old Testament in Early Christianity. Germany.

HCSB. (2010). Holman Christian Standard Bible. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Keathley, H. (2004, May 19). Bible.org. Retrieved 09 2015, from https://bible.org/article/jacob

Wiersbe, W. (2002). The Bible Exposition Commentary. David C Cook.

Two Opposing Boasts

This week as we close our journey through the book of Galatians we see a critical contrast. We see two very different boasts. We have the boasts of the flesh and the boasts of the cross. Throughout his Epistle, Paul has been encouraging the churches not to cave into the primal desires of the flesh. The Judaizers brought a compelling argument, but their motivation was flawed. They sought to boast in the flesh for two reasons, first to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ (v12) and second to boast in the flesh of the Gentiles (v13) which boils down to pride. Those boasting in the flesh were trying to avoid a fight, and to put it in modern terms they were trying to brag about their numbers. In doing this however as we have seen elsewhere in Galatians (2:11-14) they were inconsistent. You see they were focused solely on the externals, but we know that God doesn’t favor us because of externals he has favor on us as his children because of what is on the inside.

                In contrast, we see the boasts of the cross. This was the boast of Paul. This boast stands against the reasoning of the day, and Paul knew it. 1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us “for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.”  You see the cross for the Jewish people was a curse (Deut 21:23; Gal 3:13). Yet it is in this cursed cross which we are set free, and it is in this cursed cross in which Paul boasts. This was no easy task. It required a change in priorities for Paul. Circumcision, once important to him, has now become irrelevant (Gal 1:11-17) the only thing that matters now is the fact that he is now a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Ep. 4:20-24). Paul has gone from boasting about himself and his accomplishments to boasting in the transforming power of Christ.

We need to be ever cautious that we don’t imitate the Judaizers. When we are faced with being ridiculed for our faith, do we accept for what it is a blessing? James 1 reminds us that trials lead to endurance which in turn leads to maturity in the faith, completeness. The threat of persecution and ridicule did not keep Christ from the cross nor should it dampen our passion for serving. We must also check our pride at the door. This simple human emotion has been the downfall of so many throughout the generations. Are we seeking to impress others with our accomplishments just for the sake of popularity?

 What do you boast in today? Do you boast in yourself, in the things that you have done to earn favor with God? Or do you boast in the righteousness of God, in the power of the cross of Christ?

(Galatians 6:11-18) “Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting. Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised—but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves; however, they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh. But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world. For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation. May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy to the Israel of God!

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body scars for the cause of Jesus. Brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

Sowing Well

So, I wrote about reaping what you sowed a couple of weeks ago, but we never made it that far on Sunday morning. This week we are back on that passage, so I wanted to refresh our thoughts on the subject and go into greater detail on a verse that I had previously glanced over but hadn’t paid much attention.

The more I've studied this passage, the more uncomfortable I am preaching on it. Not because it is some complicated theological topic or a divisive doctrine but because of the right contextual subject matter of it. Read the passage and see for yourself:

The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher. Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith. (HCSB Gal_6:6-10)

It would be real easy just to breeze right past verse six. I mean really easy. Verse 7 is such a great proverbial truth and is so easy to preach, but we can't leave out verse 6.

"The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher." (HCSB Gal_6:6)

I have to say I read this verse over and over and checked commentary after commentary just be sure because I couldn't believe what Paul was saying but sure enough, he was telling the churches in Galatia to pay their pastors. Now sure there are other lessons you could glean from this passage, but that is the verbiage that Paul uses.

Now to be clear Paul wasn't advocating six figure salaries for the elders/pastors of the church. Don’t miss Paul's primary concern in this passage; he is talking about money, but his concern isn’t the money

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What was Paul’s burden? The furtherance of the gospel. Paul knew that the God-ordained means for accomplishing this was the steady proclamation of the Word of God by faithful teachers. But these teachers would be greatly hindered if they could not take care of their daily responsibilities. He knew they would have to make their rent payment or buy feed for their donkey. Therefore, Paul is recognizing that by caring for the needs of the teacher, the church says in effect, "We want the Word of God taught faithfully and effectively, so we will help support you."

This excerpt from the Bible Exposition Commentary explains it like this:

“We must realize the spiritual principle that lies behind this precept. God does not command believers to give simply that pastors and teachers (and missionaries, Phil. 4:10-19) might have their material needs met, but that the givers might get a greater blessing (Gal. 6:7-8). The basic principle of sowing and reaping is found throughout the entire Bible. God has ordained that we reap what we sow. Were it not for this law, the whole principle of "cause and effect" would fail. The farmer who sows wheat can expect to reap wheat. If it were otherwise, there would be chaos in our world.

But God has also told us to be careful where we sow, and it is this principle that Paul deals with here. He looks on our material possessions as seed, and he sees two possible kinds of soil: the flesh and the Spirit. We can use our material goods to promote the flesh, or to promote the things of the Spirit. But once we have finished sowing, we cannot change the harvest.

Money sown to the flesh will bring a harvest of corruption (see Gal. 5:19-21). That money is gone and can never be reclaimed.

Money sown to the Spirit (such as sharing with those who teach the Word) will produce life, and in that harvest will be seeds that can be planted again for another harvest, and on and on into eternity. If every believer only looked on his material wealth as seed, and planted it properly, there would be no lack in the work of the Lord. Sad to say, much seed is wasted on carnal things and can never bring glory to God.” (Wiersbe 2003)

To whoever might actually read this, please heed Paul’s plea and care for those who teach, not out of obligation or tradition, but because you love the Word of God and want to see it spread to the ends of the earth.

What are you sowing?

See you Sunday!



Bibliography
HCSB. 2010. Holman Christian Standard Bible. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Wiersbe, Warren. 2003. Bible Exposition Commentary – Be Free (Galatians). WORDsearch CROSS e-book. Colorado Springs, CO