Seeing Jesus
EDITOR'S LETTER
The Bible has a lot to say about how to be blessed. Blessedness can be understood as a happiness and satisfaction that is not based on circumstances, but on the contentment found in God. Here are just a few verses so you may see how you can be truly blessed.
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Psalm 32:1 goes to the heart of the matter, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” The forgiveness of sins is the key to blessedness because this is the only way a person can be at peace with and have joy in God. No wonder David concludes the psalm by saying, “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous.”
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful”
Psalm 84:12 says, “O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” This psalm explains the state of a person who trusts in the Lord and seeks satisfaction and joy in His presence. Verses 4 and 5 speak about the blessedness of dwelling in God’s house and finding strength in Him. The great desire of a Christian is to be in God’s house, not in the company of the wicked. This is further emphasised in Psalm 1:1, 2, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
John spoke about the blessedness of obeying God’s commandments in Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” The result goes far beyond this life on earth, but to eternity and dwelling with God forever in heaven.
This is expanded in Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” This is not just obedience to look good in the eyes of people, but out of a true desire to please God and live wholeheartedly for Him every day.
Jesus began the famous Sermon on the Mount with The Beatitudes, which describe the blessed state which Christians experience (Matthew5:3-12). All these things are opposite to the natural thinking of the world. Read though them carefully and you will find the true way to have joy in God. Although the person made righteous by God may suffer persecution and tribulation, he will even find blessedness amidst all of that because a much greater reward awaits him.
Seeing Jesus
I have often tried to imagine what the first five minutes with Jesus Christ in heaven will be. But I have in vain sought to picture the novelty and freshness of that wondrous time when the soul filled with amazement, will exclaim, “The half has never been told me.” The Queen of Sheba was astonished when she saw all the glory of King Solomon. But he was a mere nobody compared with our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh! What it will be to see Him!
– Charles Spurgeon
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Are People Mammals?
Mammals are commonly defined as being a class in the animal kingdom. To call people mammals is to also call them animals. Modern science will state this as fact. For example, I read this: “Yes, humans are animals. More specifically, we’re mammals, and even more specifically, we’re great apes.” Well, I don’t know about you, but I definitely know that I am not a great ape or anything like one!
Genesis 1 gives us very clear teaching about what people are. It is true that man was created on day 6, the same day as mammals and other land animals. However, there is a stark distinction.
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Verse 24 says, “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’; and it was so.”
Verse 26 brings in something new. It begins with the words, “Then God said,” which tells us that this happened after all the land animals were created. What did God say? “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Here is something totally different. In all the previous acts of creation, God spoke things into existence. On this occasion, He actually made man. Genesis 2:7 expands on this by saying, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”
But there is an even more significant difference. God made man in His own image. This places people on a totally different level than the rest of the living creatures God created, because we bear the image of the Creator. Animals don’t, so therefore it is not biblical to classify people in the same group as animals simply because they possess similar qualities. As image-bearers of God, people are very different from animals. They have an eternal soul and the ability to reason, to believe in God, to worship Him and to live for His glory; something no animal can do.
God also placed people on a different level. The second part of verse 26 and also verse 28 say that God gave people dominion to rule over every living animal. Hebrews 2:7 says that God made man “a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honour, and set him over the works of [His] hands.” There are many other places where God makes clear distinctions between people and animals. In Genesis 9:3, God said to Noah and his family, the only people living on earth at that time, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.” This was referring to animals, only because in verse 6 it is made clear that man was not to kill another person ; “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.”
Jesus did not come to earth to die for the animals; He came to die for people. God’s word is given for people to read and obey, not for animals.
The devil works deceitfully through the system of the world to bring in subtle changes that seem reasonable and accurate, but are lies that go against the pure teaching of God’s word. Gradually, more and more deceitful teachings come forth so that now there are many people who are more concerned about preserving the life of animals than they are of their fellow human beings. Some people refuse to eat animals because they claim it is showing cruelty to animals; something which is in direct opposition to the teaching of God’s word which permits people to eat animals. So be careful not to blindly accept the so-called scientific teachings of the world. Evaluate them in the light of God’s word and make your judgements based on what God says, not what God-denying scientists claim.
Attending Church Services Always
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Twelve Reasons for Attending Church on a Wet Sunday:
God has blessed the Lord’s Day and hallowed it, making no exceptions for hot or cold or stormy days.
I expect my minister to be there. I should be surprised if he were to stay at home on account of the weather.
By staying away I may lose the prayers which may bring God’s blessing and the sermon that would have done me great good.
My presence is more needful on Sundays when there are few than those days when the church is crowded.
On any important business, rainy weather does not keep me at home, and Church attendance is, in God’s sight, very important.
Such weather will show me on what foundation my faith is built; it will prove how much I love Christ. True love rarely fails to meet an appointment.
Though my excuses satisfy myself, they still must undergo God's scrutiny, and they must be well grounded to do that.
There’s a special promise that where two or three meet together in God's name He will be in the midst of them.
An avoidable absence from the church is an infallible evidence of spiritual decay. Disciples first follow Christ at a distance, and then, like Peter, do not know Him.
My faith is to be shown by my self-denying Christian life, and not by the rise and fall of the barometer.
Such yielding to surmounting difficulties prepares for yielding to those merely imaginary, until thousands never enter a church, and yet think they have good reason for such neglect.
I know not how many more Sundays God may give me, and it would be a poor preparation for my first Sunday in heaven to have slighted my last Sunday on earth.
(From “The Memoirs of Frances Havergal”)
Although the focus of this list is on attending church on a wet Sunday, it really applies to every situation that may cause you to neglect church attendance. These same principles can be used if you are feeling tired, a little sick, or faced with family, work or sporting commitments.
Pass it on for Eternal Benefit
56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God,
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59 When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
60 So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent He had placed among men,
61 And delivered His strength into captivity,
And His glory into the enemy’s hand.
You may have noticed a pattern as we have looked through this psalm. The psalmist records marvellous things that God did for Israel to deliver them and provide for them, and then looks at the way the Israelites responded to God. Unfortunately, it was never good because the people repeatedly rebelled against the Lord God who had been so good to them. We see the same again in these verses.
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The earlier verses in this psalm summarise God’s lovingkindness to His people Israel from the period recorded in Exodus 13 through to Joshua 24 as He led them safely through the wilderness to the land He had promised to give them. Upon arrival in the land, He drove out the nations who lived in Canaan and gave the land as an inheritance to the Israelites. You would think that the Israelites would be eternally grateful and express that by worshipping and serving God. Not so.
Verse 56 says, “Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, and did not keep His testimonies.” The people were faithful to God while Joshua lived and led them in God’s ways (Judges 2:7), but the next generation is described as one “who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). There can only be two reasons for this. Either their parents were not faithful in teaching them about the Lord and the wonderful works God had done for them in the manner God had instructed, or this generation wilfully rejected God and turned their back on the teachings they had received from their parents.
“Failure to obey the command of the Lord to destroy all the people living in the land had disastrous consequences.”
Judges 2:11-13 explains that the Israelites in the generation after Joshua didn’t just become indifferent toward God, but were very open in their rejection of God and in breaking the first two of the Ten Commandments. “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.” The people followed the wicked, idolatrous practices of the Canaanites who lived in the land before them – people of whom God told the Israelites to utterly destroy. Failure to obey the command of the Lord to destroy all the people living in the land had disastrous consequences.
The second commandment is long and the message goes out loud and clear that the Lord God hates all idol worship because it results in the worship and glory that is due to Him alone being given to some lifeless idol that can do nothing to help anyone. God is described as “a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5) who will not tolerate idol worship. That is why He became angry and furious (verses 58, 59) when the Israelites worshipped the idols of the nations.
“The ark of the covenant was a sacred object that symbolised the presence of God with His people.”
God could not overlook the sin of the Israelites whereby they gave worship and glory to idols which was due to Him alone. Verses 60 and 61 refer to an incident whereby He showed His displeasure with the people in a dramatic way. The ark of the covenant was a sacred object that symbolised the presence of God with His people. It was the only item in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle. One day, the Israelites decided to take it out to battle with them in a war against the Philistines. They treated it as a magic charm instead of a reminder that God is holy and must be obeyed. The writer of 1 Samuel says that the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant during that battle (1 Samuel 4:11), but here we see the psalmist reporting that God delivered it into the hands of the enemy. Both are true, and are just looking at the incident from different perspectives.
The psalmist emphasises that this was an act of God’s judgement because of Israel’s sin of idolatry and failure to obey Him. This provides a good lesson for you. Acknowledge God as your God. See Him as a holy God who desires holiness in His people, and be diligent to obey Him with the help of His Spirit.
We hope you enjoyed the excerpts from this month’s volume of The Christian Informer.
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